Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1900-01-11

hem has its naTo woven in giFlands and
chantel in "Te Deums' and quilt in houses
OF PRAYER.
But il Is tine we see eone OF the sun-
shine breaking through the shadows on
that cradle. For we must have jGbilance
dominate the Christuas festival. That
vas Walter Sso.t's opinion when Ia Mar
mion" he wrote.
4 Christmas ganbol Oft would cheer
A poor mans heart through half the year.
TWAS while tho peasant and his wife were
On n visit for the PURPOSES OF enrolment
that Jesus was born. TIE Dibl. trans!ators
got the wrong word when they said that
Joseph and Mary had gone TO Bethlehem to
Se taxed" peoDle"went no farther then to
&c. taxed than they do now. The effort Of
most people always has been to ESCAPE
taxation. Besides that, the-e two humble
folk had nothing ID tax. The mans tur-
ban that protected his heal from the sun
was not worth taxing; the oman sandals
which kept her feet IF m being cut By :he
limestone rock, OF which Bethlehem -
mostly N 4de up. were not worth taxing.
No; the fact Is that a proclamation had
been made by the emperor that all the peo-
pie bet ween Great Britain aud Plrthia an |
OF those Ianis included shoIld - to sone
appointed place and give their name, in,
he re .~i-t"r@t a~ndannouuce their loyalty u
the Hontl emp ror.
lUFv Ual Nhiht1 ti-tity NlitE5 oh9E u
rough road to give their naras and tax,
tho oath OF allegiance. Would We walk
eighty miles to announce our allegiance to
our king, one Jesu-2 Caesar Augustus
wanted 70 know by the record on which
that man and that woman wrote their
names Or hal tho written, just how many
people in his empire he coald depeni on in
case Of .xigeacy. How many nea would
unsheathp sword for the Roman eagle and
how many wonea could % depenle on 20
take care OF tho wounl.1 on bItticfiells?
The tro1b'e il thai IN tt kingdom Of
Christ we 10 not know hos, mani can BE-
depended on. There are 50 MANY men and
women who never give in their names.
They serve the Lorl on the sly. They DO
not announce their allegiance TO t!e king
who, in the battles to come, vii want
all His troops. In All our churches
there arc 50 many half AMI half disci-
Piles, 50 miny ohe-thirl espousers.
They rather think the Rible is trne, at any
rate parts Of it, and they hope that some
how Christianity viii disenthrtii tle ma.
tons. They stay away from church on
communion days and hope when they have
lived as long as they can in this W rid they
can somehow sneak into heaven. On, give
in your names. Beregi-t@red on the chnrch
record down here aud in the Ltmh's Book
Of Life up there. Let all the world know
where you stand, ii yGu hav. y 90 as far
rs Joseph AMI Mary walked, il you have TO
90 eighty miles baior. Won ilni jl-t tbs
right form OF worship aud Jas therigat
creed.
Another clean Of sunshine striking
through the shadows above that Christie
cradle WAS the fact Of 4 special divine
protection. IIerod was determined upOn
the clilla destruction. The mqn-ter put
all his wits together III stratagen for the
stopping IF that young life just started.
He dramatiZel piety; he suddenly got re-
f;,;,,,-. ~. -1,,i i..,-, t,;4 ,la., nny t..,
chariot and have steeis whipped up, so
that he could kncei at that cradle. We
haze to sfNjIe 1T what the npcri1l villain
said when he ordered, G. and search
diligently for the young Chiid, AMI when
We have found Him bring me word, that l
NAV 90 and worship Him also" Dore's
picture Of the "Massacre Of the Innorents"
ut IIerOas commani-a picture full OF
children hurled over wallis and dashed
against streets and writhins under assas-
sins f~oot-giye3 Us Il Iittlo impression OF
the manner in which Herod would have
once got his hands on 1t. Bat Heroi
could not 1lul that cradle. All
the detectives be sent cut failed
in. tho search. Yet it hal been
pointed out By ilashiisht from the
midnight heavens. All the neich5orhood
knew about it. The angelic chorus In the
cloud had called musical attention TO it.
No sentinel guarded 1t With draw sword,
passing UP ami down By the piliow of that
Bethlehem caravansary. Why, then, was
it that the cradle was not de-poilei of It's
treasure? Because il was divineiy pro-
tacted. There were wings lowering that
mortal eve coul! not see; there We're armed
immortais whose t-andished sword mortal
eye could not follow; there were ehariots
Of the Omnipotent the rumble OF whose
wheels only supernaturals could hear. Goi
had started through tn" cradle to save our
yCAril and mot intp nAJl1 Ctnn Him
You cannot reasonably account for that
unhurt cradle except on the theory OF q
special, divine protection. And most
cradles arc likewise defended. Can you
understand why SO many children, with all
the cpidemics that assault them, ind all
their climbing to dangerous heights, and
all their p~erilous experiments with cxplo-
-ives and their running against horses
hoofs. and daring OF t~rolleys an! carts fas.
driven, yet somehow get through, especi-
ally boys Of high spirit and that are going
t. amount to much? l account for their
coming through all right, with only Il few
woundAand bruises, by the fact that they
are divinely protected. All your charges
of"Don't do this and Don't DO that
ard Don go there seem to amount to
nothing. They are the same reckless crea-
lures about whom you ar con.tantly anx-
ious and wondering wha. is Tie matter
now Div.nely protected.
Another CLEAN Of light. scattering some
OF the gloom OF that Christic pillow III
Bethlehem, was the feet that it was the
starting place Of the NEST wonderful OF all
careers. Looking at Christ's He from
mere worldly standpoints it was amazing
beyond all capacity Of pen or tongu or
canvas to express. Without taking 4 years
curriculum III any college or even a day a.
= any school, yet saying things that the
migttiest intellects Of subsequent days
have quoted ard tried TO expound! Grea,
/, literary works have for the most part been
the result of much elaboration. Edmun
Burke rewrote the conclusion OF his speech
against Warren Hastings sixteen times.
Lord B%rouGham rewrote his speech in be.
half OF queen Caroline twenty times, bu.
the sermon on the mount seemed extern.
lortneous. Christ WAS eloquent withou,
ever having studied one ofthe laws OF ora.
tory. h was the Sreatesrorator that evel
lived. l. Wa No an eioIuence Demos
theui" or Clcrr0uia or. ike that Of JeaI
Baptistr MassillOn or like that which Will
lam Writ, himself q Grea. orator. was over
: cone with in Log cabin meeting house O
} Virginia, when the blind preacher erie,
; out in his sermon, "Socrates del like
philosopher. bI. Jesus Christ diei iiks 4
, God