Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
Virginia
O'Hanlon, Francis P Church and the famous New York Sun editorial
Virginia O'Hanlon was the
eight-year-old daughter of a New York City doctor. She heard some of
her less fortunate friends speak of the possibility that there was
no Santa Claus. She approached her father with the question "Is
there a Santa Claus"? Whether her father was being evasive over
a difficult question, or to sow the seeds of independence, he
suggested that she write to the question and answer column of the
New York Sun. One of his favorite aphorisms was "If you see it
in the Sun, it's so." Young Virginia agreed to write the
newspaper
We like to envision Francis P Church
as the pro-typical crusty, old newspaperman. We don't know that. We
do know that he was a veteran journalist. He reported on the Civil
War for the New York Times, had been editor of both the Army and
Navy Journal and Galaxy Magazine. By the time the Fall of 1897
rolled around he had been with the New York Sun for about 20 years
and was now an editorial writer. Whether it was because of his
experience or thoughtfulness, the difficult and controversial
subjects of the day were given him. So young Virginia's letter
landed on his desk. As is practiced still on editorial pages it was
published without a byline and still today his reply fills us all
with the hope of the season
Francis Church died in April, 1906.
Virginia O'Hanlon went on to a 47-year career as and educator in the
New York City public school system. She died at the age of 81 in
May, 1971. Virginia's original letter still exists as the first page
of a scrapbook she kept and still kept by the family. Francis
Church's editorial was reprinted each year until the NY Sun went out
of business in 1949
Is
There a Santa Claus
by Francis Pharcellus Church
Published in the New York Sun, September 21, 1897
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
Virginia,
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 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
childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this
existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The
external 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 un-seeable 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, 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 lives forever. A thousand years from
now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to
make glad the heart of childhood.
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