The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-12-26


think never mentioning II but to ask Tor
drink Of water out of the old well to
which be used to 90 In childhood
village so small and unimportant that II
had to be separated In mind from smother
Bethkhen then existing and 70 was call
ed Bethlehem of Judea. There was 4
great capital OF Jerusalem; there wero
the 10 beautiful cities on the beach Of
Galilee. any of them good place to be
born In; thsre were great towns famous
at that time, but the nativity we today
celebrate Yves In village which Christ
intimated had been called by some "tho
least among the princes Of Juda." Christ
himself was to make the town famous
for oil time and oil eternity. So heroes
In later days by their deeds have given
celebrity to neighborhoods that would
never otherwise have been heard Of be-
yond the radius Of few hundred miles.
What place for Christ to arrive at and
to start from! The hero Of the sterni-
ties!
. o men and women of Messianic op-
portunity, why do you nor make the
place Of your nativity memorable tor
your philanthropies-by the churches you
build. the free libraries you open, the col
leges you endow? Go back to the village
where you were born, ms George Peabody
went back to Danvers, Mass, and with
your wealth bless the neighborhood
where in childhood you played and near
by where your father and mother sleep
the last sleep. There are scores of such
villages In America being generously re-
membered by prosperous men during life
or helped in their last will and testament,
and there are hundred neighborhoods
waiting for such benediction from their
prosperous sons. BY some such charity
invite the Bethlehem angels to come back
again, and over the plain house of your
nativity ring out the old anthem Of
Good will to men," Christ, born in an
obscure place, made 1t SO widely known
by his self sacrifices and divine charity
that all around the earth the village Of
Bethlehem, has its name woven In gar
lands and ehanted In "Te Deulns" aud
built In houses Of prayer.
But 1t Is time we see some Of the sun
shine breaking through the shadows on
that cradle. For we must have jubilance
dominate the Christmas festival. That
was Walter Scott's opinion when in
"Marmion" he wrote:
A Christmas gamboI oft would cheer
poor mans heart through half the yeas.
Purpose Of the Visit.
1t was while the peasant and his wife
were on visit for purposes of enroll
ment that Jesus was born, The Bible
translators got the wrong word when
they said that Joseph and Mary had gone
to Bethlehem to be taxed" People went
no farther then to get taxed than they do
now. The effort Of most people always
has been to escape taxation. Besides
that, these two humble folk had nothing
to tax. The mans turban that protected
his head from the sun was not worth tax
ing; the woman's sandals which kept her
feet from being cut by the limestone rock,
Of which Bethlehem is mostly made up,
were not worth taxing. No; the fact is
that a proclamation had been made by
the emperor that all the people between
Great Britain and Parthia and of those
lands included should go to some appoint
cd place and give their names In, be reg
stered and announce their loyalty to the
Roman emperor. They stood up before
the officer Of the government and answer
cd the questions: what is your name?
Where were you born? When were You
your hand and swear that you will sup
port the empire of Caesar Augustus"
During that patriotic and loyal visit the
first cry Of the Divine Boy was heard.
They had walked 50 miles over rough
road to give in their names and take the
oath of allegiance. Would we walk so
miles to announce our allegiance to our
King, one Jesus? Caesar Augustus want
ed to know by the record on which that
man and that woman wrote their names,
or had them written, just how many peo-
pie in his empire he could depend on in
case of exigency. How many men would
unsheath sword for the Roman eagle,
and how many women could be depended
on to take care Of the wounded on bat
tlefields2 The trouble Is that in the king
dom of Christ we do not know how many
can be depended on There are SO many
men and women who never give in their
names. They serve the Lord Oh the sly.
They do not announce their allegiance to
the King who, in the battles to come,
will want all his troops.
In all our churches there are SO many
half and half disciples. SO many one
third espousers. They rather think the
Bible Is true, at any rate parts Of it, and
they hope that somehow Christianity
will disenthrall the nations. They stay
away from church on communion days
and hope when they have lived as long
as they can in this world they can some
how sneak into heaven. Oh, give in your
names! Be registered on the church rec
ord down here and in the Lambs Book
Of Life up there. Let all the world
know where you stand, IL you have to