Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-12-29
supervise their decisions, there is no such
power; their decision is firal.-Sendfor Nor
The Christ Child.
4 CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE.
nu nav " n nsr;als


What. another pair of guests Martha
come hither and see what thou canst do TO
this poor child. Verify the house and ineag
OF David is goodly multitude, and no small
trouble withal to the keeper of 30 small al
inn as mine ! And if my old eyes do no
deceive me-Heaven send her safe deliver
ance, and the house of David another good
ly son
But whore am to lodge them The yer,
house-top is covered thick with sleepy Beth
lehemites come home againf or the taxing, ani
even the court yard has its crowd of NOISY
fellows whose bed must be the pavement
and are not the stones in the streets Of tn,
city of David softer to the bones of his wear,
sons than cushions and shawls o1fne cameri
hair in a strange land2 But this poor child
must have gentle care. And yet my house
, is bursting full.
Fret not thyself, Jonadab, though thy
house be somewhat too small, or else the
house of David too large. Bid a servant
make clean and ready the little stable, and
will lay the poor child there it will be bet
ter for her than the best chamber in the inn
| quiet and by itself
The Lord be with thee, child Thou
bringest blessing to this house. What is
thy name?
, MGy.
1t Is sweet name, but there are tears in
it, and thou art near the time of thy sorrows
but even as the angel of the Lord came to
give our mother Sarah joy of her son which
was TO be, SO let his angels give thee Joy =
they oftentimss do come to such as thou
And as for me, will be thy mother Have !
not borne seven sons?
Ho. master of the house rise, and give
US entrance. We be q company of shepherds
from the neighboring hills. and are come to
worship the Messiah. Knowest thou not,
good Jonadab, that amongst the other sons
OF David he Is guest at thine house We
be sent hither by sky-full of angels Bring
US quickly to the manger where lies the new
born iniant,- the Prince and Saviour of Is
rael.
Martha Martha Where is the woman
When went she out at night before Angels
and an infant, did you say All, well. then.
she and the angels be gone on the same er-
rand HAPPY we shall find them all in the
stable yonder Angels and women do always
throng about newborn babes.
How my old bones do ache If Bethlehem
were not the city of David. and near to the
end of my journey, | would declare the court
of this inn were paved with harder stones
than those our father Jacob had for his pill
low. Why told not my name and office to
the hostf Nayhap he would have given me
a softer bed How light it is as light as
dawn, and yet it cannot be far on in the third
watch, h,-surely not as late as cock-croving
What star is that One might wish to be n
shepherd and watch his hocks all night if
such nights as this come often. Can it be
the star l saw in my dream-the star of Mes
siah l am old and the promise must be
| nearly ripe
Verify this passes all belief Here come
we, leaving our hocks to the wolves sent by
3 tk.r-
the sky all sblaze with the light OF n new
star the Prince of Israel lying within
stones throw, and we shouting to sleepy
Jonsdab there. and crying at the top of our
voices, " The Messiah show US the Mes
siah ~ And vet all these fellows lie and
sleep upon the stones AZ If thslr ears were
dead, and stones and sleep were more to
them than the new kingdom OF the Christ
| No. there rises one an old man. by the way
he lifts himself. How much he is like good
old priest Simeon, whom we saw at Jerusa-
en-, last Pentacost And who are these late
travellers hammering at the court yard gate
| Ho Jonadab If thou wilt not hasten to
come and show US the Christ-child, bestir
thyself to let these strangers il thou canst
make them double charge for calling thea
out Of thy bed.
Come in. my lords. Ny poor house is
honored by such guests. These are the days
of the tax paying. and our little city is over
run. But there Is always room for such as
you these common folk can sleep another
/ time.
Sleep is rot our srrand. We be como from
the far country at the eastward. though latest
| from Jerusalem, directed hither by the priests
and elders there. and also by that bright star
| which hangs so low over this place. He must
| be here whom We seek, for the star that
. fsnr1 sl ne he.
fore Us ike the pillar of fire before your
| fathers in the desert. now stands still. as if
| to sav. - Here thou shalt find the infant
| king"
| Peace be 20 Won, most noble sirs. | am an
! old man, priest Of the Most High God
Blessed be We that come from whence our
! fathers once were bondmen, TO worship the
Prince OF Israel Here shall We see HIM. as
! saith the prophet Micah " But thou. Beth
/ lehem. little as thou art amongst the thou
sands OF Judah. out Of thee shall come forth
unto me He that shall reign in Israel And
/ he shall stand in the strength Of Jehovah,
and be great unto the ends of the earth"
| And the Most High spake unto thy ser
want also. even unto me, and said. Simeon.
/ beloved of the Lord, thou shalt not
/ die until thou hast seen the Christ.
And this must be his star. for sure
| ly no other star could shine SO like y sun.
| But wherefore, good sirs. at sight of it and
/ you come not forth our scribes and elders
from Jerusalem TO worship, 1t seems they
gave you right direction OF the way but
stayed at home themselves
| With reverence We salute the, holy man,
and do thee homage for thy pnestly Office,
and also for thy gray hairs and gracious wis
dom. Thy servants found the chief priests
and elders at Jerusalem greatly occupied
with subtle questions of their law, SO that
| they had no time but to point us out the way
to the city OF David, bidding Us bring them
tidings OF the Christ If haply We should find
him. sId atterward, when they had fully
| judged the matter in hand. they also would
come down and worship him.
What question of our law could FL their
minds, could stay them when Messiah's star
shines in the sky
Thy servants be not learned in thy law.
save that thy fathers in Chaldea did teach our
fathers how that the God of Israel did work
strange and mighty wonders for his people.
The same they also heard from certain priests
OF Isis and Osiris, in Egypt. And 1t hath
come down to US that great and mighty
| Prince was once promised to thy people, snd
| these be the days when all men look for him.
| To this also agreed the scribss at Jerusalem.
| But the matter Of their SO great concern
whereof they said 1--WE cannot 60 down to
Bethlehem till We have fully judged it, was
on this wise A blind ASS had fallen into
| pit. and the owner thereof vowed by the
| golden snutfers OF one of the lamps in the
temple, if he were got safe out again. to wear
| a new phylactery OF thrice the breadth Of his
old one. Nevertheless, though the ass was
pulled out no whit the worse. the owner
therefore held to his old phylactery, because,
meanwhile, some thief had stolen away the
snuffers. WhereupOn all the scribes and
| Pharisses set upon him, but certain learned
Sadducees came to his defence, and present.
| ly the whole city was in grievous dispute
for though they all agreed that to swear by
the gold of the temple were binding oath,
| yet whether the snuffers were !" of the tein-
ple' or no they could not determine the
more especially since they had bean carried
| away, and were not like to be brought back
again.
Therefore, seeing that they could not make
speedy end OF the business having to
search through thousand, tbree-score and
seven books of the rabbins for authority
thsreon-we saluted them and straightway
departed.
What folly is this Would that the blind
ass were of the breed of him with whose jaw
| our father Samson slew a thousand. and that
| his Jaw were in mine hand. and the strength
| of Samson in my gray hairs Then would
go to Jerusalem and lay about me amongst
the priests of Israel who give more heed to o
parchment text sewed on II garment than to
the star of the Prince Emmanuel.
But here cometh good Jonadab. Show US,
l pray thee, the infant king of the Jews.
Come hither he is in this manager. An
infant king cradled in msnger Why did
not the woman tell ME? she should have had
the best the inn afforded. Alas alas what
will become of me and my house If ever he
comes to the throne,
Hail to the Child of the highest, of whom
the angels told us Behold the mercy of
God, which hath showed to US poor shepherds
the first appearance of his Son. 'Tis good