upon earth, and to the spiritual life of Christ in
our souls; for the sanctifying and saving whereof Christ was pleased
both to take a human life, and to lay it down again."{57}

But the English people's love of Christmas could not be destroyed. "These
poor simple creatures are made after superstitious festivals, after
unholy holidays," said a speaker in the House of Commons. "I have known
some that have preferred Christmas Day before the Lord's Day," said
Calamy in a sermon to the Lords in Westminster Abbey, "I have known those
that would be sure to receive the Sacrament on Christmas Day though they
did not receive it all the year after. This was the superstition of this
day, and the profaneness was as great. There were some that did not play
cards all the year long, yet they must play at Christmas." Various
protests were made against the suppression of the festival. Though
Parliament sat every Christmas Day from 1644 to 1656, the shops in London
in 1644 were all shut, and in 1646 the people who opened their shops were
so roughly used that next year they petitioned Parliament to protect them
in future. In 1647 the shops were indeed all closed, but evergreen
decorations were put up in the City, and the Lord Mayor and City Marshal
had to ride about setting fire to them. There were even riots in country
places, notably at Canterbury. With the Restoration Christmas naturally
came back to full recognition, though it may be doubted whether it has
ever been quite the same thing since the Puritan Revolution.{58}

Protestantism, in proportion to its thoroughness and the strength of its
Puritan elements, has everywhere tended to destroy old pagan traditions
and the festivals to which they cling. Calvinism has naturally been more
destructive than Lutheranism, which in the Scandinavian countries has
left standing many of the externals of Catholicism and also many
Christmas customs that are purely pagan, while in Germany it has
tolerated and even hallowed the |186| ritual of the Christmas-tree. But
more powerful than religious influences, in rooting out the old customs,
have been modern education and the growth of modern industry, breaking up
the old traditional country life, and putting in its place the mobile,
restless life of the great town. Many of the customs we shall have to
consider belong essentially to the country, and have no relation to the
life of the modern city. When communal in their character, a man could
no