360 CHILDREN'S BOOK FOR SABBATH HOURS.

 Yes, my dear, and God so loved the destitution, and he thought it a shame
world that he sent us the precious gift that they should suffer in a Christian
of his dear Son; He took our nature land; therefore he kept watch about
upon Him and was born in Bethlehem; their house, and one night, when the
and it is in remembrance of this, the father sat watching and weeping, and
greatest and best of all gifts, that we love the maidens were asleep, he took a hand-
to make each happy by bestowing gifts ful of gold, and tied it up in a handker-
ourselves; we must all remember this." chief. He waited to see how he could
 But, mother, is there really no Santa bestow it without making himselfknown,
Claus at all ? What does it mean, and and, while he stood irresolute, the moon
where did such a funny name come coming from behind a cloud, showed him
from ?" an open window in the house. So he
 Santa Claus is only a corruption of threw in the gold, and it fell at the feet
'St. Nicholas,' my dears. This good of the father, but Nicholas disappeared.
man, who in old times was called 'the Again, upon another night, he threw the
patron saint of little children,' lived in same sum in the window without being
Asia Minor. He was a most noble and discovered. But the father kept watch
godly man. The chief pleasure of his and, when Nicholas came the third time,
life seemed to be to go around and see on the same errand, he caught him by
what good he could do. He was espe- the robe, and said, 'Oh, Nicholas, ser-
cially fond of little children, and always vant of God, why seek to hide thyself?'
making them gifts and watching over and he kissed his hands and feet in his
them and defending them from harm. gratitude, but Nicholas charged him to
It is said, when he was a little child, he tell no one from whence the gifts came.
was very pious, and in old pictures of And this is only one of the many chari-
him he is often represented almost as an table works he did in his own city.
infant, standing with his hands joined in "There are a great many pictures of
prayer and his eyes raised to heaven. St. Nicholas, some of which are of great
Among other stories told of him, it is beauty and antiquity. There is one
said, that in the city where he lived there called 'The Charity of St. Nicholas,' in
dwelt a certain nobleman who had once which the story I have told is repre-
been very rich, but lost all his wealth sented. The three daughters are repre-
and became poor, and had no means of sented as asleep in bed, the father watch-
even procuring daily bread for himself ing by them, and Nicholas is a young
and his three daughters. He was almost man in simple dress, in the act of throw-
in despair, and the daughters wept at ing the purse in the window. It is said
their father's state, and not having bread that in all the old paintings of this godly
to eat, he became almost desperate. man, this beautiful incident is never for-
 "The good Nicholas heard of their gotten. He is always represented with