The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-19
By WILLIAM 7. ELLIS.

great times. certain great places and
certain great men who have stood OUT
as landmarks of history. These are
the monuments along the highways
of time. The places are such as
and to understand even these lew
words is to know something OF the
sweep of the centuries-Carchemlsn,
Nineveh, Babylon, Arbela, Memphis.
Rome, Athens, Tours, Waterloo. Inc
times and the men are Indicated as
the days Of acknowledgements, Cyrus,
Alexander, Rameses, Caesar, Jesus,
Augustine, Columbus, Gutenberg,
Luther. Washington, Napoleon, Lin
coin.
Every person who has considered
the tides of time will agree that the
most momentous period, the most
momentous place, and the most mo-
mentous person in the long annals OF
the human race was the beginning or
the Christian era, the little strip or
land along the Mediterranean, ana
the man Christ Jesus, CIVILIZATION
has enshrined its stinla of these
three factors-which are in reality
one factor, the Man-in the calendars
which it hangs upon it's walls.
The Worlds Greatest Celebration.
Concentrating an era, a place and
a person is Christmas, the most uni
versal of all the many holidays kept
by humanity. Other great lays there
are III the WO1lu. ~
Bairam, at the close of Ramadan; the
Chinese New Year the various feStal
days of Hindus and Christ
mas comes nearest to being absolutely
universal. 1t is kept by some per-
sons in all lands, and it is observed
by q greater number OF persons. 1t
represents the crossroads of history.
1.-The hopes and fears Of all the years,
Are met in thee tonight
Trace the tides of history, and it
will be seen that here they turned.
The little town Of Bethlehem, at this
season the capital of human hearts
everywhere. has a more imperial
place in the worlds records than
either Rome or Babylon. From it
flows the genius of modern civiliza-
ton, the impetus of our culture, the
character of our social institutions,
the slogans OF our age. Let the
mind brood upon Christmas, consid-
ering what the world of today would
be without it, and it looms into a
greatness perhaps unsupported before.
Throughout the past year the Sunday
schools of the world have been study
ing the history of the Jews; Christmas
Is the elimination of it all.
A Visit to Modern Bethlehem.
There are several cures for undue
reverence Of mere geographical loca-
ton which may be taken. One is a
visit to the modern town OF Bethle-
hem. It is but an hours drive from
Jerusalem, over a fairly good carriage
road; and lucky is the visitor who
does not have a laxative dragoman
by his side. The scenery, in it's ma
tural phases. is that which was fami-
liar to the PatriarchS, to David, and to
David's Greater Son. The buildings
are new, but the hills are the same.
Bethlehem itself has been complete
ly transformed, even as the event Of
that first Christmas has transformed
the world. No longer Is it a hillside
village, with q crude khan for way
farers 1t has many modern buildings,
NIL monuments to The Babe. The
chief industry Of its busy little shops
is the working in mother Of pearl
Men, women and children toll at this
dusty trade. The shells are brought
from h Red Sea, and are worked
into beadstringA such as every Mos
lem gentleman carries in lieu of q
cane. and into buttons and souvenirs
for travellers.
A strong European tinge Is noticed
in the faces and bearing of these
Bethlehem people, for most of them
can claim the blood of the Crusaders
IN their veins. The head-dreSs Of the
women seems to have been borrowed
from Europe of the Middle Ages.
Their bodices, embroidered in dark
StuffS, are distinctive wherever seen.
The enterprise of the people is shown
by the fact that they are emigrating
In such large numbers to America.
The site Of the is covered
by h present Church of the Nativity,
an unimposing agglomeration OF build
lngs which testifies to s~ectarian strife,
and not to the grandeur of the su-
preme event here enacted. On every
side the visitor finds evidences of con-
~froversy. The Greek Catholics, the
Roman Catholics and the Armenians
control the property jointly, and to
keep them from flying at one an
others threats there is ever a Turk
1sh military guard upon duty at the
Manger-a Moslem to keep the
Christians from warning at the cradle
OF the Prince of Peace! From the
grotto containing the mange itself
probably an authentic site-to the al