The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-27

Chicago, December 20-In this sermon
 the story of the magis quest receives a
 new setting and the lesson of Christian
 hope and encouragement is drawn from
 their experience. The text Is Matthew
 it. l, Behold, there came wise men from 1 the eastp'
 When, in 5s6 A. D., St. Augustine was 1 sent to convert the British isles to Christianity, Pope Gregory commanded
 his missionary as far as possible to har- monize the Christian ordinances with the
 heather feasts. The result is that many 1 of the customs associated with Christmas i have their origin not in the birth of
 Christ, but in heather festivities It is
 my purpose today to tell the simple
 Christian story, as found in the Bible, and
 to apply some of it's benefcent teachings
 to the practicalities of everyday life.
 The account of Christ's birth is not only
 simply told, but very briefly told Some
 of us are apt to think too briefly. We
 would like to have known all the details
 of that wondrous event which is destined
 to transform the world We deplore the
 loss of any fact relating to our Lord But 1 the historians would not have us concern
 ourselves with the accessories of the pie 1 ture, but with that glorious life and death in which our eternal destiny Is
 bound up. They briefly state the main
 facts and proceed to the narrative so mo-
 mentous to the whole world.
 l A few years ago a southern correspond ;, ent hurried to the telegraph office and
 sent this message to the editor of a great 1 New York daily: Fearful railroad acci- 1 dent! Many killed Many injuredl Column l story Shall l send it?" The New York
 editor telegraphed back, Send me 500
 words-all I want The correspondent telegraphed again, Cannot be told in less 1 than 1200." The editor tersely replied,
 Story of the creation of the world told 1 in 600 words Try it." But if the story
 of the creation is told in 600 words, the 1 story of the nativity is even more simply l and briefly told. The account of Jesus 1 birth is about as simply told as the
 record of her baby's advent which 1 fond mother writes in the family Bible. l Gertrude, or Jane or Mary; born June l 8, 1SSS." A dozen verses in all more than
 contain the simple story of Christs birth. The second chapter of Matthew's gospel
 runs like this: Now, when Jesus was
 born, in the days of Herod the king" In
 the east they did not reckon time so
 much by the year as by the time this or l that king sat upon the throne.
 The Magi Defined.
 Then this simple account of the nativity | goes a step further. The birth of Christ
 is connected with startling incident The
 name of Peregrine White is never men | toned but the explanatory statement Is | also made that she was born on the | Mayfower when the pilgrim fathers were
 on their journey to live in a new world. v l Christs birth is hardly ever mentioned | without an associate statement. When 1 Jesus was born that was the year the | wise men came from the east, saying,
 'sWhere is he that was born king of the 1 Jews, for we have seen his star in the
 east and are come to worship him." The 1 magi have been the theme for many an l artists brush, poets song, as well as min l ister's sermon. If in the short account Of | the nativity it was important enough to | note the visit of these wise men, surely 1t | will not be wasted time for us in Christ | mas discourse to consider who were the l wise men, from whence they came what | they did when they knelt and worshlped | at the manager, where they went after l they had seen the newborn Christ.
 Who were the magi? They were the | wise men. They were not fools, not ig-
 noramuses, not silly star gazers. They 1 were not tramps going from place to l place because they were too lazy to | work. They were the intellectual giants l of the east They were such intellectual | giants that when they appeared in Jeru- | salem they startled all the sages of the | Herodian era with their grasp of affairs | and mental power They belonged to l class that was the repository of all the ] scientific knowledge of the time. They were the observers of natural phenomena, l the philosophers of their day, the leaders l in the world of mind When Matthew de- | scrbed them as .'wise men" he knew | that the description would be clearly un- 1 derstood as applying to men whose erudi- | ton and mental ability placed them among the aristocracy of knowledge
 The Three Wise Men.
 l As with Homer or Socrates. the per | sonal lives of these men are all wrapped i up in mystery. Their names, their posi- 1 tions, their influence over their country
 men, are all matters of conjecture. Pro- l fesor Sandy in his "Christmastide" gives | a strange legend He writes that the | number of these wise men that came from | the east was three He writes that the | first of these magi was very old man, 1 with long white beard. His face was l wrinked with thought, and his limbs were tottering. His name was Melchior. l The second was very young man. His l cheek was smooth and ruddy, his step 1 firm and athletic, his arm strong and
 powerful. Yet his mind was clear as his
 searching eye. His name was Caspar. l Truly he was prince among men! The | third sage was a middle aged Moor called 1 Balthasar In his hair and beard was | the backness of the midnight. The mus | cles stood out in knots upon his swarthy l neck. The legend declares that these 1 three men followed the guidings of hug 1 bird, whose one eye glttered like a mor- l ster star But whether the sages were l three or five or ten, whether their names were Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar, whether the star in the east was the monster eye of a huge eagle or no,