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0~1 Is TL-ERE A SANTA CLIAUS? THE following excerpts, reprinted from the pages of Tthe Newv York Sun, are from an éditorial written by the, late Mr. F. P. Church'. ':My littie friends says there is no Santa Claus. Please tell me the truth; is there a/ot Santa Claus?" v, Virgmnia O'Hanlon. Here. is Mr., Cburch's answer:, "Virginia. your littie.-frienids are wrong. Tbey have been affected bv the skepticism of a skeptical age. Tbey do flot believe except they see. They think that notbing can be whicb is not comprehensible by their littie minds. Al . minds, Virginia,. are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere inseet. in his intellect, as com- pared with the boundiess world about hipi. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exista as, certainly as love and geperosity and devotion, exist, and you know that they abound. Alas! how dreary would be th e world if *there were no Santa Claus! There would' hé no ChIl dlike faith .thenr no poetry, no frmance. . We sbould have. no en joyment, 1 except in sense and. sigbt. The- et ernal light .with. whÎcli cbildhoocl listhe worI&d NIVOUld be extinguisbed. "Not believe in Sauta Claus! You might as well not believe in fainies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch on Christmnas Eve to catch Sauta Claus, '-t-----. ~. ~.-*; 7 7 7 7: 7