in the New York Sun in 1897.
I am 8 years old. Some of my friends say there is no
Santa Claus. Papa says if you see it in the Sun, it is so.
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by
the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what
they see. They think that nothing can be which is not compre-
hensible by their minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be
men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is
a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the bound-
less world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of
grasping the whole truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a
Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and
devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your
life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the
world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if
there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then,
no poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence. We should
have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light
with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in Fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men to watch in chimneys on
Christmas evening to catch Santas Claus, but even if they did not
see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody
sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign there is no Santa Claus.
The most real things in the world are those that neither children
nor men can see. Did you ever see Fairies dancing on the lawn?
Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody
can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and
unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and
see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the
unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united
strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.
Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain
and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.
Is it real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real
and abiding. No Santa Claus? Thank God, he lives and he lives
forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart
of childhood.
Charles Dana
Editor
"Let there be magic at Christmas,
Let the gingerbread men all smile...
Let new teddy bears have their very first hugs,
Let us all be like children awhile...
Let nutcrackers dance in fantasy,
Let whistles on toy trains sound...
Let laughter and love be everywhere...
Let the joy of Christmas be found!"
THEIR OLD, FAMILIAR CAROLS PLAY,
AND WILD AND SWEET
THE WORDS REPEAT
OF PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO ALL!
~ HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
