Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-09-06

| EDGAR 4. FOLK.
! prominence as the scene of that beauti- |
! full pastoral poem and love story COM
bined, THE Idylls OF Ruth" }
| You recall the story. But let me sug-
! gest that you read over again the Book
of Ruth Read it straight through. 1t
will repay you. The story is told. by
! the way, that at literary club some one
! read the story Of Ruth, changing the
/ names. what a beautiful stbry," ex-
| claimed membmers OF the club. Where
| did you get it?" Strange that people
| should hunt in bypaths for literary gems
and leave the great storehouse contain
! ing the most wonderful literature in all
the world untouched,\ and by many I'M
known. This Moabitish maiden, Ruth,
was rewarded for her fidelity to her
mother-in-law, Naomi, and for her sweet
nnaidenly modesty by becoming the wife
of the wealthy Boaz and the grandmoth-
err of King David. The field of Boaz,
. where Ruth CLEANED among the reapers
is near Bethlehem and is pointed out
I to pilgrims.
CITY OF DAVID
/ Bethlehem is Of still greater interest,
though, because 1t was the "city of Oa-
vd." This was his home. Here he was
( born Here he played in youth on the
! hillsides. Near here he kept his fathers
sheep. 1t was around here that he slew
the lion and the bear that came against
the sheep Here he was anointed by
Samuel to be king as successor to Saul.
From here he was summoned to be the
| armor bearer and musician to Saul. Here
he received the inspiration for many OF
his beautiful psalms, including Inc most
beautiful of ALL beginning 1.-The Lord is
my shepherd"
I But Bethlehem is of greater interest
IL TIL IL -
one far greater than David great Da-
1 vid's greater son." Jesus the Christ 1t
/ was In the fields near here, while keep
ing watch over their flocks, that some
shepherds were startled one night by an
J angel standing by them and the glory
! OF the Lord" shining round about them.
To the affrightened shepherds the angel
said: BE not afraid; for behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy which
shall be unto all the people; for there
J is born to you this day in the city of
David, a Saviour who is Christ the
Lord" Duke, 2:10 H. And suddenly
there was with the angel multitude of
the heavenly host praising God. and say
, ing; glory to God in the highest and on
earth peace among men, in whom he is
we'll pleased" duke, 2;1S, 14) Oh! gra-
cious; wonderful event; most gracious
event in all history. that the Son of God
should become the Son of man, that be-
! ing God, he should become the Goldman;
/ God in man; that by thus partaking OF !
/ human nature he might take mans place |
under the law, and become his substi-
| tute and sacrifice for sin. No wonder
| the angels were so happy they could
not stay at home, but must come to earth !
to announce the glad news, No wonder
"a multitude of the heavenly host join
| ed in the chorus of glory to God in the !
highest for sending his son to die for
men. Awestruck, the shepherds left
their flocks and went to Bethlehem to I
verify the wonderful story told them by
the angels.
! A recent writer says very beautifully
/ of Bethlehem: Here he feels new joy
! in the fulfillment of the promise which
{ the prophets longed for, but their earth |
! ly eyes saw not. Here the songs he
loves takes on new sweetness. And how
| many of them belong to Bethlehem!
From Handlers triumphant chorus, For
unto us a Child is BORN to the latest
J and simplest Christmas carol; and from !
J the good old-fashioned, time-honored
| hymn, While shepherds watched their
flocks by night to Phillips Brooks ex- I;
quisite %, Little Town of Bethlehem |
they ring In his ears and give fit ex- |
preston to his feelings. And what but |
poetry and music, consecrated by the |
love of Christian hearts. can worthily :
in the very shepherds field that is point |
ed out, and certainly within ia range of !
vision as one stands there and looks |
about, was heard the song of the angels !
announcing the Saviour's birth. No event !
in all earths history was so fit to be in J
troduced with song. A perfect burst Of
melody accompanies it in the Gospels. !
There is a quartet of earth and a cho- |
rus of heaven. Zacharius sings his Ben ,
ndf nd ina Inf MIN 0fv11ff 10
Elizabeth breaks forth with her Beati- !
tude; and Mary, clear as the lark, sings
her Magnificat. When else on earth
were ever heard four voices such as
these. singing each its solo, blending /.
with the rest into one unapproachable /
anthem? And above them all bent the an
gels with their Gloria. One reads of this !
in other places; he hears il in his heart |
at Bethlehem
Then came the visit of the three wise |
men from the east, bringing their gifts
of gold, frankencense and myrrh to lay
at the feet of the Christ child.
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNO-
CENTS.
And once again the scene was changed.
Herod, so-called the Great" was king
Of the Jews. He is thus described: "Of
mangificent presence, leonine strength
and courage, a master of all martial
and manly exercises, Of versatile genius.
possessed of energy that knew no
fatigue and a will that acknowledged
no defeat, he was man who would !.
have made his mark in any condition of 4
life" At the same time though, he
was crafty, cruel, inordinately vain, ut
terly selfish, insanely Jealous suspi-
cious Of every one, craving after love,
and yet doing that which made love
impossible. lie married Marianne, the
niece OF AntisoEus, said to be the most
beautiful woman OF the age" the fair
flower Of Jewry." In order to assure the
possession of the throne to himself he /
had Ambiguous. who had surrendered. put
to death, zen Aristopulus, the handsome
1S-year-oid brother of Marianne; then
her grandfather Hyrcanus, then later. in
a fit OF jealousy, his own beautiful yife.
Marianne Later, the two sons of Mari
anne, and finally his own first born son,