Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-12-24

ing, "Nvhere is he that is born King
of tho JcwsT"
Most Intellectual Of Their Time.
We have seen hundreds of pictures
descriptive Of the wise men coming to
the manger in every one of which the
artist has tried to put the highest in
tcligcnce into the faces of the men
who were riding upon camel back or
trudging nfoot over the deserts sands;
but. though ii Is significant that the
first seekers after Christ were the wis.
est men of their time the fact need
not astonsh MS. In every age since
that epoch the mighticst intclccts of
the world have been found among the
followers OF Christ the wisest of men
have entered that Bethlehem caravan
sarv to learn of him. About the man
ger SS. Leo, Chrysostom and Ber-
nard. John Wesley Faber. Bourdalouc,
Massillon Rowland Hill, Sturgeon, 10
scph Parker. Dwight L. Moody have
prcach their mighticst sermons. The
greatest hymnoloGists. Charles Wesley,
Tate. Byron. bishops Hebcr and Kcble
have written their poetic masterpieces.
l
Leonardo da Ninci, Guido, Michael An
gclo. Gotto. Lippi, Andrea. Montequa,
pcrugino. Paul Neroncsc, Correggio
and host of others, have exhausted
their genius to reproduce stable. not
a palace; stone crypt, not canopied
crib. Among all the compositions of
GlucS. Mcrdcssohn. Schubert, Chopin
Mozart. Haydn. Wagner and Beetho-
ven there is not greater than Han
dels "NIcssiah." For once Handel sur
| passed Handel. Study the history of
/ William L. Gladstone. Isaac Newton,
Arassiz. Sir William Hamilton, Hugh
/ Miller. Sir William Jones Washington,
the AdnmscS Sir Walter Scott. John
/ Calvin. Thomas Chalmers. and it will
easily be seen that the wise men of
all times have been willing to bow at
thc mangcr. OH my brother never
again in your presence let the iniidcls
and agnostics snccr ut the mentality of
the manager. Worshipcrs. when you
and bow at the foot of the infant
Christ, we are bowling in goodly COM
pany. We are bowling with the intel
lcctual giants of the present and of the
immortal past
Followed the cleaning star.
Where did the wise men come from?
( The far east; The word east is very
indefinite. II might mean eastern Asia
or China. 1t might and probably does
mean Persia or India. At all events,
the east was far Off. 1t was so far off
that these strange travellers must have
startled the inhabitants of the west
ern capital with their peculiar garb
/ ana they foreign accent 1t was SO
far off that in all probability the wise
| men would have been unable to find
the Jerusalem capital had they not
been led by that wonderful star, the
star Of the east. Nh. yes, the magi, in
order to find the manager, had many Il
weary days march. Travelling in their
time had TO be done on foot or on horse
or camel back. They had to tramp
through the parched deserts. They
had to climb the Hottest of mountains
and fathom many deep valley. How
tired they must have become. If Mel
clIior was old in all proba ability he
would never have reached the manger
but for the strong arms of his two
friends. But wherever the three wise
men hailed from, that cleaning star
would bcckon them on and on and on.
And yet, my friends, though the wise
men had to travel a long distance, they
did not have to go any farther than
some sinners will have to travel to find
Christ. My, my, my, how long Il dis
.,r lao Il !,
into the land of sin. Ten, twenty, thir-
" years ago we started. Noun" man,
YOU have not wUrshipcd at the man
ger since your mother died. Young
woman. You have not felt the touch Of
the Manager since the day you almost
/ gave Your heart to Christ in the vii
lage rcvival-almost, but refused. Old
man, for quarter of Il century YOU
/ have never uttered the name of Christ
except in blasphcmy. Yes, yes. the
sinner will have long distance to trav-
el to find the manger. lie must travel
back over the crooked paths Of many
sinful year. But this Christmas, if
he will, he can find the mangcrfnd it
reckoning him from the far country Of
sin even as the star in the east guided
the three wise men to the infant Christ
Hoped For Emigration.
Oh, that today we might see great
emigration from the faroff land of sin
toward the manger. Oh, that today
the prodigalS in the far country might
seek the old homestead of mercy, even
rs the bethlehem caravanSary was
sought Of old. In Imagination we can
picture how the wise men started. Per
haps weeks, perhaps months before
that first of all Christmases these orr
entail sagcs We're working diligently mt
their allotted tasks. one is studying
in one part of the house another in an
other and the third in still another
Perhaps NclchiOr. the aged aStrologer
with IN Astronomical glass is silently
and earnestly studying the heavens
Patiently the aged scientist is watching
and waiting for the stars TO change
their relative positions. Suddenly a
sremor Of excitement shakes his frame
Silently, swiftly, awfully, divinely
there passes before the lens a strange
light 1t does not look So much like a
star as a great orb of light, like dia-
mond Glittering upon the finger Of God
reckoning, always reckoning In great
oyoifpmpnt thp old man Sturuprs ia Mic