The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-11-08

years ago and always failing by the
unanimous verdict of all who examine
and compare. The color of modern
painting fades in fifty years while the
color of the old masters is as we'll pre-
served after 800 years as after one year.
l saw last winter on the walls of ex-
humed Pompeii paintings with color as
fresh as though made the day before.
though they were buried l,SOO years
ago. The making of Tyrian purple Is
an imp~ossibility now. In our modern
potteries we are trying hard to make
cups and pitchers and bowls as exquisite
as those exhumed from Herculaneum,
and our artificers are attempting to
make jewelry for ear and neck and fin
ger equal to that brought up from the
mausoleums Of 1000 years before Christ.
We have in our time glass in all shapes
and colors, but Pliny, more than l. 800
years ago. described a malleable glass
which, IL thrown upon the ground and
dented, could be pounded straight again
by the hammer or could be twisted
around the wrists, and hat confounds
all the glass manufactures OF our own
time.
These aqueducts of solomon that l
visited to-day, finding them in good con-
dition 5000 years after construction,
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 a~ncients
had art more exquisite and durable; nor
architecture, for Roman coliseum and
Grecian a%cropolis surpass all modern
architecture; nor cities, for some OF the
ancient cities were larger than ours in
the sweep OF their pomp. But our at
tempts must be in moral achievement
and gospel victory. In that We have
already surpassed them, and in that di-
rection let the ages push on. Let us
brag less of worldly achievement, and
thank God for moral opportunity.
We are on this Dec mber afternoon.
on the way to the cradle of Him who
called Himself greater than Solomon,
We are copips apeh the chief cradle of
ali the werid, not lined with satin, but
strewn with straw. not shelteredP BY q
palace, but covered bya barn, not pre-
sideded oyes. by q Princess, but lowered
utCAIbye Poooohb B'i's Job q llo
scanopy of which Is angelic wings, and
the lullaby Of which is the first Christ
maj carol ever sung, and from which all
the events of the past and all the events
OF the future have and must take date
Us being b, C. or A. D-before Christ or
after Christ.
] said to the tourist companies plan
ming our Oriental journey: Put us in
bethlehem in December. the place and
the month 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 writer's are there in
February or March or April, when the
valleys are In embroidered sheet Of wild
flowers, and anemones. and ranunculus
are flushed as though from attempting
to climb the sleeps, and lark and bull
finch are flooding the air with bird
orchestra.
But ] was there in December. a win
ter month, the barren beach between
the two oceans of redolence. l was told
that / must not 60 there at that season,
told SO before ! started, told so In
Egypt, the books told me SO, all travel
ers that ! consulted about it told me SO.
Bnt was determined to, see Bethle-
hem the same month in which Jesus ar
rived, and nothing could dissuade me.
WAS ] not right in wanting to know
how the Holy Land looked when Jesus
came to it? He did not land amid
flowers and song. When the angels
chanted on the famous birthnight all
the fields Of Palestine were silent The
glowing skies were answered by gray
rocks. AS bethlehem stood against a
bleak, wintry sky, 1 climbed up to it,
as through q bleak, wintry sky Jesus
descended upon it. His way down was
from warmth to chill, from bloom to
~barrenness, from everlasting June TO a
sterile December. II / were going to
Palestine as a botanist and to study
the fora Of the land, ! would go in
March, but l went as q minister of
Christ to study jesus, and SO l went in
December.
The town Of Bethlehem. to my sur
prise, Is in the shape Of a horse shoe,
the houses extending clear onto the
prongs OF the horse shoe. The whole
scene more rough and rude than can be
imagined. Verify, Christ did notchoose
o soft, genial place in which to be born.
The gate through which our Lord
entered this world was o gate Of rock, a
hsrl, cold gate, and the gate through
which he departed was a swing gate OF
%sharpened spears. We enter a gloomy
church built by Constantine over the
place in VIII oh Jesus was born. Fifteen
lamps burning day and night and from
century to century light our way to the
spot wh:oh all authorities, Christian
and jew and Mohammedan, agree upon
as being the place Of our Say ours birth,
and covered by 0 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 tho place Of the nativity, how
different the surroundings Of the wintry
night In which Jesus camel At that
time 1t was q khan or cattle pen. Vis-
tied one OF these khans, nov standing
and looking just as In Christ's time.
We rode in under the arched entrance
and dismounted, We found the build
INK Vi SLOh0 duu hTOuuH az OpCh S4uoiO
without roof. The building 10 more
than 9. 200 years old. 1t is two stories
high. In the center are camels, horses
and mules Caravans halt here for the
night or during o long storm.
The open square IL large enough to
accommodate q whole herd of cattle, Q
flock of sheep or ravan of camels.
The peighboring Bedouins here find
market for hay. straw and meats. OF
from this center there are twelve rooms
for human habitatlon. The only light
is from the door. ] went into one of
these rooms ami found q woman cook
ing the evening meal. There were six
COWS in the same On a little
elevation there was some straw where
the people sat and slept when they
wished to rest. 1t was In a room SINH
lar to that our Lord was born.
This was the cradle Of a King and yet
what cradle yer held so much? Civil
lizationI Liberty! Redemption! Your
pardon and minel Your Heaven and
minel Cradle Of a universe! Cradle Of
a GodI The gardens Of Solomon we
visited this morning were only q type
Of what all the world will be when this
illustrious Parsonage now born shall
have completed His mission. The horse
OF finest limb and gayest champ Of bit
and sublimest arch OF neck that we
brought Solomon down to these adjoin-
ing gardens was but a poor type Of the
horse upon which this Conqueror, born
in the barn. shall ride, when accord,
ing to apocalyptic vision all the armies