Virginia O’Hanlon Santa Claus letter written in 1897 by Francis P. Church
“Dear Editor–I am 8 years old.
“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
“Papa says,
‘If you see it inThe 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
scepticism of a sceptical 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.
.
.
Francis P. Church
September 11, 1897
.
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