Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1890-11-20
against a nlcnk rintry Sky. l climbed up to

| against bleak wintry sky. I climbed up to
| it, as through = bleak wintey sky Jesus
| descended upon IL. His way down was
from warmth to chill. from bloom to bar
| rcnness, from everlasting June to a sterile
| December. II Iwerc going to Palestine as
botanist. and to study the fora OF tho
| land. would go In March. but l went as u
| minister of Christ TO study Jesus. and so
went in December. l wanted to sec how
| the worlds front door looked when the
| heavenly stranger entered it.
| The town OF Bethlehem to my surprise Is
| in the shape Ct u horseshoe, the houses en-
| tending clear onto the prongs OF the horse
shoe. The whole scene is more rough and
rude than cal be imagined. Verify, Christ
| did not choose n soft. genial place In which
| to be bern. The gate through which our
| Lord entered this world was gate OF rock.
n hard. cod gate, and the gate through
which he departed was swing gate OF
| sharpencd spears. We enter n gloomy
church built by Constantine over the place
| where Jesus was born. Fifteen lamps,
| burning day and night and from century to
century. light our way to the spot which all
| authorities, Christian and Jew and Moham-
| mcdan. agree upon Us being the place OF our
saviour $ birth. and covered by IL marble
| slab. marked by a silver star sent from
| Vienna, and the words: Here Jesus Christ
was born of the Virgin Mary"
But standing there, l thought. though
| this is the place OF the nativity, how differ
| ent the surroundings of the wintry night in
| which Jesus came, At that tme it was
| Khan or n cattle pen. l visited one OF these
| Khans now standing and looking just as in
| Christ's time. We rode in under the arched
| entrance and dismounted. We found the
building Of stone and around an open
| square without roof. The building Is more
than two thousand years old. 1t is two
| stores high. In the centre are camels,
| horses and mules. Caravans halt here for
the night or during long storm. The open
square Is large enough to accommodate a
| whole herd Of cattle, flock of sheep,
| caravan OF cameis. The neighboring Be-
| douins here End market for their hay,
straw and meats. OF from this center there
are twelve rooms for human habitatlon.
| The only light is from the door l went
| into ono OF these rooms and found woman
| cooking the evening meal. There were
| six cows in the same room. On little
elevation there was some straw where tho
PEOPLE sat and slept when they wished t.
rest. 1t was In a room similar to that our
| Lord was born.
This was the cradle OF q king and yet
what cradle ever held so much? Cvillza-
| ton! Liberty! Redemption! Your pardon
and mine. Your peace and mine! Your
| heaven and mine! Cradle OF Universe!
Cradle OF a God! Tho gardens OF Solomon
We visited this morning were only type OF
what all the word will be when this i!ust-
rious Parsonage now born shall have COM
pleted his mission. The horses OF finest
limb, and gayest champ OF bit and subllnl.
est arch OF neck that ever brought Solomon
down to these adjoining gardens. was but
poor type OF the hos upon which this Con-
| querOr, born In the barn, shall ride, when,
according to a!~calyptic vision, all tho
"armies OF heaven snail follow him upon
white horses" The waters that rush down
these hills into yondcr three great reservoirs
Of rock, and then pour in marvellous aque-
duct into Jerusalem till the brazen sea is
full. and the baths arc full, and SLOAN is
full. arc only an imperfect typo OF the riv-
ers OF delight which, as the result OF this
great Ones coming, shall roll on for the
shaking of the thirst OF all nations. The
palace OF Lebanon cedar from which the
imperial cavalcade passed out in the early
morning and to which it returned with
glowing cheek. and jingling harness, and
lathered sides, is feeble OF architecture
into which this One born this winter month
on these bleak heights shall conduct us
when our sins are all pardoned, our battles
all fought, our tears all wept and our work
| all done.
Standing hero at Bethlehem, do you not
sec that the most honored thing in all the
earth is the cradle +? To what else did loosen
ed star ever point? to what else did heaven
lower balconies OF light filed with chanting
immortas? The way the cradle rocks the
world rocks. God bless the mothers all the
world over! The cradles decide the destinies
OF nations. In ten thousand of them are.
this moment, the hands that will yet give
benediction OF mercy or hurl bolts OF doom.
the feet that will mount the sleeps toward
God or descend tho blaste0 way, the lips
that will pray or blaspheme. Oh the cradle!
1t is more tremendous than the grave.
Where are most OF the leaders OF the
twentieth century soon to dawn upon US?
Are they on thrones2 No. In chariots7
senatorial halls? No. In counting-housesi
No. They arc in the cradle. The most
tremendous thing in the universe. and next
to God is to be mother. Lord Shaftes-
bury said ''give me a generation OF Chris
tian mothers and will change the whole
phase Of society in twelve months" Oh,
the cradle! Forget not tho one in which
| you were rocked. Though old and worn
out, that cradle may be standing in attic
or barn. forget not the foot that swayed It.
dropped upon it. the faith in God that
? made way for 1t. The boy. Walter Scott
did we'll when he spent the first fve-guines
piece he ever earned rs . present to hii
| mother.
. Dishonor not the cradle, though 1t may
: been q cradle in barn, for I think 1t was .
t Christian cradle. That was great cradle
. in which Martin Luther lay, for from 4
= came forth the reformation Of the sixteenth
t century. That was great cradle In which
= Daniel O'Connell lay, for from it cam,
/
/; while men have eyes to read. or ears Il
8 hear. That was q great cradle In whicl
r Washington lay, for from 1t came forth tn
Il happy deliverance of . nation. That Was
It great cradle In which John Howard lay, TO
n from 1t came forth mercy that will no
IS cease until the last dungeon gets the Bible
k and light and fresh air. Great cradles Il
d which the John Wesleys, and the Johl
d Knoxes, and the John Masons lay, for fror
d them came forth an all-conquering evan
70 gelization. But the greatest cradle &
u which child ever slept or woke. laughed O
% cried, was the cradle over which Mar
10 bent, and to which the wise mon brough
frankincense, and upon which the heaven
'e dropped song. Had there been no manager
l. there had been no cross. Had there bee
q no Bethlehem, there had been no Golgoths
ot Had there been no Incarnation, there he
', | been no Ascension. Had there been n
start, there had been no close.
1t Standing in the chill khan of a Saviour
y humiliation, and seeing what He did for vi
q l ocl- hot hnv "a wa for Hin, sTThav