The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-12-31

had Been Euccefrfull suppose that DEL
egation Of wise men. who were 70 re-
port 10 Herod immediately after they
discovered the hard bed IN the Bethle-
hem eaaVanksry. had obeyed orders
and reportedi Suppose the beast carry
Tag the Madonna and the Chnd in TIE
tight had stumbled and nurs to death
tie riders! Suppose Archelzus had got
Bis hands on the babe that his father
had failed TO hnd. Suppose that among
the children dashed from the Bethle-
hem house tops or separated by sword
Of the enragsd constabulAry Jeans had
Psrishedl
Then. to begin on the outmost rim Of
my subject, Christmas festivities would
never have been observed, ChristmGs
carols never sung. christmas gifts
never bestowed. Christmas games never
played, Christmas bells never rung.
What an awful subtraction from the
worlds brightness would have been the
making Of December IS like other days
OF the yearl GloriouI dAyi After
Frightening England aud Holland and
Germany for centuries It stepped across
the sea and pronounced its benedie-
ticn on our shoreA. Why. We never get
over our childhood Christmasosi
Father and mother joined in them.
They forgot their rheumAtisms and
shortnsss Of breath, and for awhile
threw OF the orrows Of . lifetime while
they struggled with rs As to who should
first IN the morning shout the Merry
Christmasl" Then there were all the
innocent aIluremsnts As 10 who brought
the presentA and the worderment a. 70
how Sls!ghs drawn by reindeer could
come down the perpendicular. and
afterwArd the disappointment a. some
older brother OF E~istsr, with all the
pride Of discovery. tried 70 persuade Us
that the chimney had not been the chan
mel Of generous descent. oh. what
times they were. the Christmasea Of our
boyhOod and girlhOod dsyss We sul
feel In our pulses some Of the sxu-
beranee which we then unWittingiy
STORED up for future times. when the
eye might lose some Of It's luster and
the foot some ofin spring and the heart
acme Of its rebound How holly and
rosemary and ivy and mIstletos looked
tntsrwoEenl The PuritAnI may not
have liked the day, and John Calvin may
have pronounced it su~persttious and
feared It would bring into religious OBJ
servauce the saiurnalia Of the heather,
the decorations Of ivy Inappropriate be-
cause ivy bad been dedicated to Baechus
ard misi,stoe had been associated With
Druidical rites. but we testify that
Christmas never did US any harm, and
the only objection wa ever expressed
wal that il was so long q time from
Christmas 10 ChrstmaS. Eeelssiastieal
controversy as TO whether It ought 10
be celebrated on the 9th OF January, or
2sth Of March, or29th Of September, or
2sth OF December. did not bother us
then any more than it bothers ui now.
Can you imagine what = sterilization
Of the worlds literature would be the
removal OF all Christ v did and aid2
IL would tear down the most Important
shelves Of yonder congressional librury,
and Of the vatican library, and Of Brit
lab museum, aud Berlin and Bonn and
Vienna and Madrid aad 81. Petersburg
libraries, and St. paul's life would have
been an impotSibity, and his spisilss
would never have been written, and 81.
John. from the baialtie cavsrns Of
PatnoS, would never have heard the
seven trumpe,s or seen the heavenly
wall with IL layers Of illumined crystal
lizAiion. oh. wise men Of the east, l
Am % glad you did not report to the i'm
psrial scoundrel nj Jerusalem where
the babe was, for the hounds would have
Hoon torn TO pieces the Lamb. and I am
40 glad that not only did you bring the
franhneens and the myrrh 10 the
room In that earayansary, but that you
brought the gold which paid his travel
lug expenses and those Of Joseph and
Mary In that long and dangerous fight
70 ea4s 4REsyBt-&pa RssdissFaefg-1
irg and board there and paid their way
baekagaln! Well enough to bring to the
barn Of the SaVour's nativity the
flowers, for they Aromaaized the dread.
full atmosphere Of the stables, but the
geld was Just then the most important
Offering. So now the Lord aocepta
! your prayers, for they are the perfums
Of Heaven, but He asks also Tor the gold
which will pay the expenses Of taking
Christ TO all nationA
Still further remarhns upon the mar
row escape which you and l and tbs
world had in the diverion Of the per
secutors from the place Of nativity, lev
me say that had that Herodic raid upon
the swaddllng clothes been successful
the world would never have known the
value Of 3 righteous peace. Much has
been made Of the fact that the world
was at peace when Christ came. Yes.
But what kind Of . peace was ~ It
wa q peace worse than war. It the
peace Of q graveyard. The Roman
eagles had plucked out the worlds eye.
sight and plunged their beaks through
the heart Of dead nations. It was q
peace like that spoken Of by dying In.
dian ehisftain when . Christian home
missionary raid 10 him: "You have
been a warrior and / suppose have bean
In many fsuds, but you must be al peace
With all your enemies in order 10 die
Alright" The dying chieftaan replied,
That's easy enough. ! am at peace
with al my enemies, for I have killed
all Of them"
That wai the style of peace on earth
when Christ came, but the spirit Of ar
bitraton, which ia to garland the tomb
OF this century and coronet the brow Of
the coming century, is consequent upon
the midnight anthem above bethlehem.
two bars to that music, the first of d.
vine aicriptiOn, and the second of earth,
~ paeihcation. GLORY to God and
peace to men," In His manhood
Christ pronounced the same doctrine:
blessed are the msrciful." Before the
Bethlehem star flashed its significance
the theory was. 'Blessed Is wholesale
eutthroatery. Blessed are those who
can Kill the most antagonists. Blessed
are those who can most nhllfully
WELD the battlsax. Blessed are those
who can stab the deepest with spear or
roll a chariot wheel over the most
wounded or put his chargers hoof on
the most dead" The entirely new tho
ory Of our Christ was blessing for ours
fngj prayer for those who despitefully
use you; fouudnes 10 turn spears into
pruning hooks. rsdhot furnaces to
melt swords into molds shaped like
49,