The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-12-23
TIMES RICHMOND. VA SUNDAY, DECEMBER % 1900.

with difficulty and opposition. Peculiar in
their life and customs, the Jews had al
ways resisted "a, census, believing it to be
4 contrary to the Will of Jehovah. and they
only submitted now from necessity.
Under this etlict from Rome every one
m1sst be enrolled, and under their Jewish
law each must repair to his fathers
city, whore the legal records were kept.
AT the time of the captivity, among other
! disasters. ca large number of the early re-
cords were lott or destroyed. To repair
| this rational calamity, Nehemiah and Ezra
undertook the great work of collecting
them from various sources (oral and other
wise), and finally complied the Book of
Chronicles. This gave the record from the
Gays OF Adam, unbrokell, to their own
time, and it was considered a matter Of
such Vital Importance that these genealo-
sical tables be continued that men called
''scribes" were employed in each town to
keep a full and accurate record of each
family; tine idea being that thus, and thus
only, could they be certain of the ancestry
| of the long expected Messiah.
Among the many groups OF traVelers
vending their way 10 Bethlehem, few
cared to notice couple weary and foot
sore, who with difficulty pursued their
journey to tho end. In obedience 10
Caesars command they had left their
home in Nazareth and made the long
journey Ga distance Of about sixty miles,
on foot. We have no reason to think that
a poor carpenter and his wife could have
made it in any other way. Few, except
the great, ever rode in Judea and still
fewer drove. 1t was the custom to travel
leisurely, camping out at night, SO we
may believe they walked, resting along
the road side, until they reached the town
of David.
With what interest they viewed it!
Near by was the tower. which still marks
the grave of the ever beloved Rachel,
whose death left her husband broken
hearted; here once lived the father of the
infant prophet Samuel; here the gentle
Ruth cleaned in the wheat fields Of HOaz;
here David was born and in these fields
he had his victorious encounter with the
ZION and bear, who would have devoured
his flock: here was built the great kahn
Tor i,rn) on the road to Egypt, and here
the remnant of tho royal tribe of Judah
made their last stand after the invasion
of Nebuchadnezzar. All these memories
and a thousand more thronged their
hearts as they made their weary way into
the town where they hoped to find shell
ter.
This kahn, or inn LITERALLY "a nights
rest,'') was originally "a plot of ground
near a. spring or we'll (y0u VIII Iemen-
Der the we'll at the gate of Bethlehem for
which David longed) aud allotted for use
Of travellers as a camping ground. They
were often secured further by a low wall
or fence. In later times some wealthy
Prince Cor benefactor) raised the wall and
built a few arches, united them to the
wall by a roof, closed them by doors, and
divided them by partitions, thus providing
a separate room for each party. While
the cattle were Uttered in the central open
space. or in sheds abuttiI4s on the outside
wall, or perhaps in natural caves around
It Such was the inn at Bethlehem. A
poor place at best, it was on this night
crowded With an unusual number Of
guests so that when they finally got
hearing they were told there was no
room for them in the ill.l.'' It may not
have been roughly said, nor urlSindly
meant. The ilEn-keeper merely stated
fact and thought no more about 1t. Yet
had he known, how different it all might
have been.
The one opportunity for which all the
ages had waited and which the destiny
of the world hung came to him that night
and was lost
Meekly they turned away into the open
square among the medley OF cattle con-
gregated there, who We're being fed ana
prepared for the night, trying to lind
some place to rest amid all that din and
confusion. Presently the cries of men and
beasts grew less; the noise dies away; the
stars come out one 10y one. and the little
tow, of Bethlehem and finally the whole
world is wrapped in sleep-careless, heed
less sleep. Men sleep, but Heaven is in
an axtasy and the angels mover in glad
expectation.
For at md-light-O, wonder OF wonders!
into that sQualid court the Christ-child
was born. Into a world OF darkness, and
colo and poverty, came tlfat Royal Babe,
whose birth has changed the whole world.
With stiffness he came as come Gods
best gifts How calm the rising and set
ting of the glorious sun; how st.cl falls the
blessed dew; how quietly glide the sea-
sons: how ,loiseless pass the years!
His virgin mother takes her mantle and
tears it into strips Of "swaddl.tTg' clothes |
to cover the soft, fair limbs exposed to
the bleak midnight air. and then some
kird-hearted driver leads away his cattle |
from the stals.. so that the little, tender, |
HELPLESS babe can have a manager for his |
bed. |
Was there ever so humble a birth? Was |
there ever so rude shelter? Well may |
the poet say:
"Cold on his cradle the dew drops are