The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-11-05

IN OUT ume RluHH IN Ill Shapes hhu al
eolors, but Pliny. more than eighteen
hundred years ago, described malle-
able glass which, II thrown upon the
ground and dented could be pounded
straight again by the hammer or could
be twisted around the wrists, and that
confounds all tie glass manufactures
OF our own time. I tried in Damascus,
Syria, TO bny Damascus blade, one Of
those swords that could be bent double
or tied into knot without breaking.
could not get one Why? The nine
teenth century can not make Damas-
Gus blade. II we 60 on enlarging our
cities we may after while get city as
large as Babylon, which was five times
the size Of London.
These aqueducts Of Solomon that l
visit to-day, finding them in good condi-
tion three thousand years after, con-
struction, make me think that the world
may have forgotten more than II now
knows The great honor Of our age Is
not machinery, for the ancients had
some styles Of it more wonderful; nor
art, for the ancients had art more ex-
.quisite and durable; nor architecture
for Roman Coliseum and Grecian Acrop-
oils surpass all modern architecture;
nor cities, for some of the ancient cities
were larger than ours in the sweep Of
their pomp. But our attempts must be
in moral achievements and Gospel vic
tory. In that we have already surpassed
them, and in that direction let the ages
push on. Lot us brag less Of worldly
achievement, and thank God Tor moral
opportunity. More good men and good
women is what the world wants. To-
wards moral elevation and spiritual at
tainment let the chief struggle be. The
source Of all that will show you before
sundown OF this day, on which we have
visited the pools Of Solomon and the
gardens Of the king.
We are on this December afternoon
on the way to the cradle OF Him who
called Himself greater than Solomon.
We are coming upon the chief cradle Of
all the world, not lined with satin, but
strewn with straw, not sheltered by
palace, but covered by barn, not pre-
sided over by princess, but lowered
over by peasant girl, yet cradle, the
canopy Of which Is angelic wings, and
the lullaby Of which is the first Christ
mas carol ever sung. and from which all
the events Of the past and all the
events Of the future have and must take
date as being b. c. or A. D.-before
Christ or after Christ All eternity past
occupied in getting ready for this cradle,
and all eternity to come to be employed
in celebrating its consequences.
said to the tourist companies plan
ming our Orient journey: "Put US in
Bethlehem in December, the place and
the month Of our Lords BIRTH" and we
had our wish. am the only man who
has ever attempted to tell how Bethle-
hem looked at the season Jesus was
born. Tourists and writers are there in
February or March, or April, when the
valleys are an embroidered sheet Of
wild flowers, and anemones and ranun-
culus are flushed as though from at
tempt 10 climb tho sleeps, and lark and
bullhnch are flooding the air with bird
orchestra. But was there in Decem-
Der, a winter month, the barren beach
between tho two oceans OF redolonce.
was told must not 60 there in
that season, told so before / started.
told SO in Egypt; the books told
me so; all travellers that / con-
suited about it. told me so. But /
was determined 10 see Bethlehem, the
same month in which Jesus arrived, and
nothing could dissuade me- Was not
right In wanting TO see how tho Holy
Land looked when Jesus came TO II? He
did not land amid flowers and song.
When tho angels chanted on the famous
birthnight all tho fields OF Palestine
were silent The glowing skies an
swered by gray rocks. AS Bethlehem
stood against bleak wintry sky,
climbed up to 1t, as through bleak
wintry sky, Jesus descended upon 1t.
His way down was from warmth TO chill,
from bloom 10 barrenness, from ever
lasting June TO a sterile December II
we're going to Palestine as botanist,
and TO study the fora Of the land, /
would go In March, but went as min
lister Of Christ to study Jesus, and so
went in December wanted TO 500 how
the worlds front door looked when the
heavenly Stranger entered II.
The town Of Bethlehem TO my sur
prise is in the shape OF horseshoe, the
houses extending clear onto the prongs
OF tho horseshoe. The whole scene
more rough and rude than can be i'm
agined. Verify, Christ did not choose a
soft, genial place in which to be born.
The gate through which our Lord en-
tered this world was gate Of rock,
hard, cold gate, and the gate through
which he departed was swing-gate Of
sharpened spears. We enter gloomy
church built by Constantine over the
place in which Jesus was born. Fifteen
lamps burning day and night and from
century to century, Christian and Jew
and Mohammedan, agree upon as being
the place Of our Saviour's birth, and
covered by marble slab, marked by q
silver star sent from Vienna, and the
words, "Here Jesus Christ was born Of
the Virgin Mary"
But standing there, thought though
this Is the place Of the nativity, how
different the surroundings Of tho wintry
night in which Jesus camel At that
time 1t was khan or cattlepen.
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 with
outproof. The building is more than two
thousand years old. tits two stories high.
In the center are horses, camels and