Editor’s note: In 1897 the editor of the New York Sun publishedthe following response to a letter he had received from a childquestioning the existence of Santa Claus. The response has becomefamous as an editorial piece expressing the wonderment ofChristmas. We share it here with you.

Dear Editor,

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is noSanta Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Sun, it’s so,” Pleasetell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

115 West Ninety-Fifth St.

New York

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affectedby the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe exceptthey see. They think that nothing can be which is notcomprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whetherthey be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe ofours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as comparedwith the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligencecapable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly aslove and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that theyabound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! howdreary would be the world be if there were no Santa Claus! It wouldbe as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be nochildlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable thisexistence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.The eternal light with which childhood fits the world would beextinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe infairies? You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all thechimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if theydid not see Santa Claus, coming down, what would that prove? Nobodysees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.The most real things in the world are those that neither childrennor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Ofcourse not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody canconceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseenablein the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noiseinside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not allthe strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith,fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and viewand picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real?Ah, Virginia, in all the world there is nothing else real andabiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever! Athousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10 thousand yearsfrom now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven MS 39602,or send e-mail to bjacobs@dailyleader.com.