From the
Editorial Page of The New York Sun, written by Francis P. Church, September
21, 1897
"Yes, Virginia, there is a
Santa Claus"
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication
below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its
faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
"Dear Editor--I
am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun, it's so.'
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?"
Virginia O'Hanlon,
115 West Ninety-fifth Street
Virginia, your
little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of
a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that
nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little 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 boundless world about him, as measured
by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of 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 child-like 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 all the chimneys on Christmas eve to
catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming
down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no
sign that 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 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 all 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.
Christmas
Stockings