Leaves for a Christmas Bough: Love, Truth, and Hope

"Leaves for a Christmas Bough" by Anonymous is a collection of children's stories and letters. The recollections of the many pleasant hours that passed with a certain juvenile circle, not fifty miles from Boston, and associations connected with this joyous season, have induced the feeble effort of collecting a few stray leaves for its amusement. Excerpt: «A LETTER FROM SANTA CLAUS, FOR CHRISTMAS, 1849. My dear Children: As I have always been in the habit of meeting with you on this Anniversary, and as I cannot expect to see you all together this year, for the sake of old times I am going to write you a letter. Perhaps you are not aware that I have been a silent spectator of your daily occupations, but so it is. I generally take a nap from one year to another, so after our glorious celebration at the „Bee-Hive,“ I packed myself away in the stove-pipe for that purpose; but the hum of merry voices kept me awake, and thus I lay and listened to what was going on.»