{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_72694/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_72694","id":"gutenberg_72694","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72694","summary":null,"tags":["Bethlehem","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n  Italic text displayed as: _italic_\n\n\n\n\n  THE CHRISTMAS CITY\n\n  BETHLEHEM ACROSS THE AGES\n\n[Illustration: HOLY NIGHT\n\n  _From the painting by Zenisek_\n]\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  CHRISTMAS CITY\n\n  BETHLEHEM ACROSS THE AGES\n\n\n  BY\n\n  LEWIS GASTON LEARY, PH.D.\n\n  AUTHOR OF \u201cTHE REAL PALESTINE OF TO-DAY\u201d\n\n  [Illustration: Decoration]\n\n\n  New York\n\n  STURGIS & WALTON\n  COMPANY\n\n  1911\n\n\n\n\n  Copyright 1911\n\n  BY STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY\n\n\n  Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1911\n\n\n\n\n  THIS LITTLE BOOK ABOUT THE\n  CITY OF DIVINE MOTHERHOOD\n  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED\n\n  TO MY OWN MOTHER\n\n[Illustration: _CONTENTS_]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  THE CHARTER OF PRE-EMINENCE                                         17\n\n  I THE WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM                                          21\n\n  II THE GRAVE BY THE ROADSIDE                                        25\n\n  III THE GIRL FROM BEYOND JORDAN                                     35\n\n  IV THE BOY WHO WAS TO BE KING                                       43\n\n  V THE ADVENTURE OF THE WELL                                         51\n\n  VI THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS                                              59\n\n  VII THE BLOSSOMS OF MARTYRDOM                                       67\n\n  VIII THE STORY OF THE STABLE                                        73\n\n  IX THE EPITAPH OF THE LADY PAULA                                    83\n\n  X THE SCHOLAR IN THE CAVE                                           93\n\n  XI THE CHRISTMAS CORONATION                                        105\n\n  XII SOME BETHLEHEM LEGENDS                                         117\n\n  XIII THE LONG WHITE ROAD                                           129\n\n  XIV THE HOUSE OF BREAD                                             145\n\n  XV THE CHURCH WHICH IS A FORT                                      155\n\n  XVI THE SACRED CAVES                                               165\n\n  XVII THE GUARD OF THE SILVER STAR                                  175\n\n  XVIII THE SONG OF THE KNEELING WOMEN                               181\n\n  XIX ACROSS THE AGES                                                187\n\n[Illustration: _ILLUSTRATIONS_]\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  Holy Night, _from the painting by Zenisek_      _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                                    PAGE\n\n  The Tomb of Rachel                                                  31\n\n  The Church of the Nativity                                          79\n\n  The South Transept of the Church of the Nativity\n  and one of the Stairways leading\n  down to the Sacred Caves                                            97\n\n  St. Jerome and the Lion                                            123\n\n  The Bethlehem Road                                                 133\n\n  Bethlehem Girls                                                    137\n\n  Bethlehem                                                          149\n\n  Interior of the Church of the Nativity                             161\n\n  The Altar of the Nativity                                          169\n\n[Illustration: _THE CHARTER OF PRE-EMINENCE_]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHARTER OF PRE-EMINENCE\n\nMicah 5: 2-5\n\n\n\u201cBut thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the\nthousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that\nis to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from old, from\neverlasting.... And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the\nstrength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and\nthey shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.\n\n\u201cAnd this man shall be our peace.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: _THE WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM_]\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS CITY\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM\n\nSt. Paula, A. D. 386\n\n\n\u201cWith what expressions and what language shall we set before you the\ncave of the Saviour? The stall where He cried as a babe can best be\nhonored by silence; words are inadequate to speak its praise. Where\nare the spacious porticoes? Where are the gilded ceilings? Where are\nthe mansions furnished by the miserable toil of doomed wretches? Where\nare the costly halls raised by untitled opulence for man\u2019s vile body\nto walk in? Where are the roofs that intercept the sky, as if anything\ncould be finer than the expanse of heaven? Behold, in this poor crevice\nof the earth the Creator of the heavens was born; here He was wrapped\nin swaddling clothes; here He was seen by the shepherds; here He was\npointed out by the star; here He was adored by the wise men....\n\n\u201cIn our excitement we are already hurrying to meet you.... Will the day\nnever come when we shall together enter the Saviour\u2019s cave?\n\n\u201cHail, Bethlehem, house of bread, wherein was born that Bread that came\ndown from heaven! Hail, Ephrathah, land of fruitfulness and fertility,\nwhose Fruit is the Lord himself.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: _THE GRAVE BY THE ROADSIDE_]\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE GRAVE BY THE ROADSIDE\n\n\nThe history of Bethlehem is the romance of Bethlehem; a story of love\nand daring, of brave men and beautiful women. We do not know that\nstory in great detail; but here and there across the centuries, the\nlight breaks on the little Judean town and we catch a fleeting glimpse\nof some scene of tender affection or chivalrous adventure. And it is\nstriking to notice how many of these incidents involve womanly devotion\nand self-sacrifice, both before and after the Most Blessed of Women\nsuffered and rejoiced in Bethlehem.\n\nLong, long centuries before that first Christmas was dreamed of, the\nstory of Bethlehem begins. And lo, the earliest episode has to do with\na birth day.\n\nIn the yellow evening light a little band of nomadic shepherds is\nstraggling along the dusty road past the high, gray walls of the outer\nfortifications of Jerusalem\u2014not Jerusalem the Holy City, but Jerusalem\nthe Jebusite stronghold, which is to remain heathen and hateful for a\nthousand years until, in that far-distant future, the arrogant fortress\nshall fall before the onslaughts of the mighty men of David.\n\nAt the head of the long line of herds and pack-animals and armed\nretainers walks the chief, Jacob ben-Isaac. A generation before, he\nhad passed along this same ancient caravan route going northward; but\nno one would recognize that frightened, homesick fugitive in the\ngrave, self-confident leader who travels southward to-day. For now he\nis Sheikh Jacob, full of years and riches and wisdom; Jacob the strong\nman, the successful man and, in his own rude way, the good man.\n\nAn hour\u2019s journey beyond Jerusalem there appear shining on a hilltop to\nthe left the white stone houses of Bethlehem, at the sight of which the\ntired herdsmen grow more cheerful and the slow-moving caravan quickens\nsomewhat its pace; for close under those protecting walls the tribe\nof B\u2019nai Jacob will shelter its flocks for the night, safe alike from\nwolves and from marauding Arab bands.\n\nBut just as they reach the spot where the road to Bethlehem branches\noff to the left from the main caravan route, there is a sudden change\nof plan. The hope of camping at the town is abandoned, and one of the\nlow, black, goat-hair tents is hastily set up right by the roadside.\nThen there is an excited bustling among the household servants, and a\ntime of anxious waiting for Sheikh Jacob, until Bilhah, the handmaid,\nputs into the old man\u2019s arms his son Benjamin, his youngest boy, who is\nlong to be the comfort of the father\u2019s declining years.\n\n[Illustration: THE TOMB OF RACHEL\n\nIn the background the town of Beit Jala]\n\nSoon, however, the cries of rejoicing are hushed. From the women\u2019s\nquarters comes a loud, shrill wail of grief. And before the B\u2019nai Jacob\nbreak camp again the leader raises a heap of stones over the grave of\nRachel\u2014his Rachel\u2014a gray-haired woman now and bent with toil, but still\nto him the beautiful girl whom he loved and for whom he labored\nand sinned those twice seven long years in the strength of his young\nmanhood.\n\nMany years afterward, when Benjamin was a grown man and Jacob lay dying\nin the distant land of Egypt, the thoughts of the homesick old sheikh\ndwelt on the lonely grave by the roadside.\n\n\u201cI buried her there on the way to Bethlehem,\u201d he said.\n\nHer tombstone remains \u201cunto this day,\u201d the Hebrew narrator adds.\nIndeed, even to our own day, a spot by the Bethlehem road, about a mile\nfrom the town, is pointed out as the burial place of Rachel. Probably\nno site in Palestine is attested by the witness of so continuous a line\nof historians and travelers. For many centuries the grave was marked by\na pyramid of stones. The present structure, with its white dome, is\nonly about four hundred years old. But there it stands \u201cunto this day,\u201d\nrevered by Christians, Jews and Moslems, and the wandering Arabs bring\ntheir dead to be buried in its holy shadow.\n\nSuch is the first Biblical reference to Bethlehem. A son was born\nthere! More significant still, there was a vicarious sacrifice\u2014a laying\ndown of one life for another.\n\n[Illustration: _THE GIRL FROM BEYOND JORDAN_]\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE GIRL FROM BEYOND JORDAN\n\n\nIn the Book of Judges are recounted the adventures which befell certain\nBethlehemites in those lawless days when \u201cthere was no king in Israel\nand every man did that which was right in his own eyes.\u201d But the people\nmentioned in this history were no longer dwelling in the city of their\nbirth; and we are glad of an excuse to pass by the tale of reckless\ncrime and merciless vengeance. Yet here, too, if the story were not too\ncruel to repeat, we should find a woman dying for one whom she loved.\n\nEven in that rough frontier period, however, there were interludes of\npeace and kindliness; and like the cooling breeze which blows from\nsnow-capped Lebanon upon the burning brow of the Syrian reaper, is\nthe sense of grateful refreshment when we turn from the heartrending\nmonotony of scenes of cruelty and lust and treachery to the sweet,\nclean air of the whitening harvest fields of Boaz of Bethlehem.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen the two strange women entered the square there was great\nexcitement among the chattering busy-bodies who were waiting their turn\nto fill their earthen jars at the public well; for one of the travelers\nwas seen to be no other than old Naomi, who long years before had gone\naway across Jordan with her husband Elimelech to better their fortunes\namong the famous farm-lands of Moab. Now the wanderer has returned to\nthe old home, poor and widowed and childless\u2014no doubt to the secret\ngratification of the more cautious stay-at-homes, who had never dared\ntempt fortune by such an emigration to distant Moab, and who were still\nno richer and no poorer than their fathers\u2019 fathers had been.\n\nThe other woman was younger, a foreigner, a widow, so the gossip ran,\nwho had married Naomi\u2019s dead son. The women at the well smiled at her\nquaint accent, for the dialect of Moab is quite different from that of\nthe Bethlehem district. But many a stalwart young farmer dreamed that\nnight of the lonely, appealing eyes of the stranger from beyond Jordan.\n\nEven middle-aged Boaz is stirred when the next morning he finds the\nslender Moabitess among the women who are gleaning in his barley field;\nfor romance is not always dead in the soul of a mature and wealthy\nlandowner. Boaz, for all his grizzling hair, is a hero who makes us\nfeel very warm and comfortable about the heart. He is so generous,\nso thoughtful, so humble in his final happiness. He has already been\ntouched by the story of the faithfulness of the young widow who said to\nher mother-in-law,\n\n \u201cEntreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after\n thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I\n will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.\u201d\n\nSo the rich man drops a hint to his servants to let fall carelessly\nlittle heaps of grain where the new gleaner can easily gather them. He\nremembers the rough, dissolute character of the itinerant harvesters,\nand warns them to treat the young woman with respect and courtesy.\nAt noontime he invites her to share the simple luncheon provided for\nthe farm-hands. A few weeks later the lonely rich man discovers her\naffection for him, and our hearts beat in sympathy with his as, with\ncharacteristic modesty, he exclaims,\n\n \u201cBlessed be thou of Jehovah, my daughter: thou hast shown more\n kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou\n followedest not young men, whether poor or rich.\u201d\n\nBut as well might one attempt to retouch the soft colorings of the\nJudean sunrise as to re-tell the beautiful idyll of Ruth. Old Josephus\nquite misses the delicate beauty of the story; for he concludes his\nsmug paraphrase by saying, \u201cI was therefore obliged to recount this\nhistory of Ruth, because I had a mind to demonstrate the power of God,\nwho, without difficulty, can raise those that are of ordinary parents\nto dignity and splendor.\u201d\n\nThey lived together happily ever afterward. Even sad Naomi found a new\ninterest in life when she took into her lonely old arms the form of\nlittle Obed. For this bit of Bethlehem history, like the first, and\nlike the greatest later on, ends with the coming of a baby boy. And\ndoubtless, if the whole of the tale were told us, we should some day\nsee grandmother Ruth crooning over Obed\u2019s son Jesse, who was to be the\nfather of a king.\n\n[Illustration: _THE BOY WHO WAS TO BE KING_]\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE BOY WHO WAS TO BE KING\n\n\nAn ancient Hebrew commentary on First Samuel says that Jesse became \u201ca\nweaver of veils for the sanctuary.\u201d This may be why the story of David\nand Goliath compares the giant\u2019s staff to \u201ca weaver\u2019s beam.\u201d Whatever\nhis occupation, the grandson of rich Boaz must have been a man of some\nmeans, and influential in Bethlehem society. Also he had seven fine,\nstalwart sons. Indeed, he had eight sons; but, as we all know, the\nyoungest was out tending the sheep when Samuel came.\n\nThe rough and ready era of the Judges, when every man did that which\nwas right in his own eyes, was now gone forever. Israel had a king;\nand a tall, handsome figure of a man King Saul was. And for a while\nhe was a king who defeated foreign invaders on every side. But Saul\u2019s\ncharacter could not stand the test of the sudden elevation to a\nposition of power and responsibility. His strength lay in brilliant,\nspectacular efforts, rather than in a patient, well-organized rule.\nQuarrels arose between the jealous tribes of Israel. Conquered foes\nprepared new and better equipped forays against the poorly protected\nfrontier of the new kingdom. Worst of all, Saul broke with his tried\nadvisers and became prey to an irrational, suspicious melancholy, which\nprevented him from coping with dangers which a few years earlier would\nonly have aroused his ambitious energy.\n\nSaul had failed; so Samuel, the veteran prophet, judge and king-maker,\nwent quietly to Bethlehem to select a new leader who should direct the\ntroublous destinies of Israel.\n\nIt was doubtless the same farm where the young stranger from beyond\nJordan had gleaned the sheaves of barley almost a century before. How\nproud Naomi would have been if she could have lived to see those tall\ngreat-grandchildren of Ruth and Boaz! How excited we boys used to get\nas we saw the seven sons of Jesse standing there in a row, and waited\nfor old Samuel to tell us which one was to be the king! Surely it must\nbe the eldest, Eliab, who is so tall and handsome, the very image of\nwhat Saul was in his youth. No, it is not Eliab, perhaps just because\nhe is too much like King Saul. Abinadab is rejected and Shammah, too;\nand the prophet\u2019s eye passes even more rapidly over Nethaneel and\nRaddai and Ozem.\n\nThen Samuel turns to the father with a perplexed frown.\n\n\u201cAre these all your sons?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u2014that is, all that are grown up. David is only a boy. He is taking\ncare of the sheep this morning.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall him, too,\u201d commands Samuel. \u201cLet Abinadab mind the sheep for a\nwhile.\u201d\n\nSo in a few minutes David is brought in. He is fair in complexion, like\nso many Judean Jews to-day, but his skin is burnt to a deep tan by the\nsun of the sheep pasture. His eye has a captivating twinkle, and he can\nhardly keep from humming a tune even in the presence of the prophet.\n\nWe guessed it all the while! This is indeed a royal fellow; and the\nold prophet touches the thick brown hair of the shepherd lad with a\nstrange, loving reverence as he tells him that some day he must be his\npeople\u2019s king.\n\nThis time I think that Josephus is probably right. For he tells us that\nwhile they were all sitting at dinner afterward, Samuel whispered in\nthe boy\u2019s ear \u201cthat God chose him to be their king: and exhorted him to\nbe righteous, and obedient to His commands, for that by this means his\nkingdom would continue for a long time, and that his house should be of\ngreat splendor and celebrated in the world.\u201d\n\nSurely wise old Samuel must have given the boy some such advice as\nthat.\n\n[Illustration: _THE ADVENTURE OF THE WELL_]\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE ADVENTURE OF THE WELL\n\n\nIt was a long while, however, before David really became a king. As his\nframe grew into a sturdy manhood, he fought with lions and bears and\nPhilistine champions. His sweet singing brought him to the notice of\nSaul and he became the king\u2019s favorite musician, until the jealousy of\nthe half-crazed monarch drove the young man into exile. Then for years\nthe former shepherd lived a wild, half-brigand life among the caves of\nthe rugged steppe-land south of Bethlehem, gradually gathering around\nhim a company of intrepid outlaws, administering rough justice over a\nnumber of villages which put themselves under his protection, making\nsudden forays into the Philistine country just to the west, and again\nso hotly pursued by the soldiers of the relentless Saul that he was\nforced to seek an asylum among the enemies of Israel, who were always\nglad to forget old scores and welcome this dauntless free-lance and his\nredoubtable band of warriors.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt may have been during this outlaw period, or it may have been shortly\nafter David\u2019s accession to the throne, when his kingdom was still\ndisorganized, and an easy prey to foreign invaders. At any rate, David\nand his band were hiding in the cave of Adullam, a few miles from\nBethlehem. The little company was for the moment safe, but the country\nall around was overrun by foreign troops, and even Bethlehem, the\nscene of so many happy boyhood memories, was occupied by a Philistine\ngarrison.\n\nNo wonder that David felt very weary and discouraged as he thought of\nthe old home town in the hands of heathen soldiers. No wonder that he\nsometimes became irritable and petulant, and wished for things that he\ncould not have. There was a spring right by the cave of Adullam. The\ninhabitants of Palestine, however, can distinguish between water drawn\nfrom different sources, in a manner which seems marvelous to our duller\ntaste. Yet we need not believe that the water in the City of David was\nany better than that of the cave of Adullam in order to sympathize with\nthe tired, homesick cry\u2014\n\n\u201cOh, that one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem,\nwhich is by the gate!\u201d\n\nThen there was a little stir among David\u2019s bodyguard. One soldier\nwhispered to another, who nudged a third; and soon three dark forms\nslipped quietly away from the circle of lights around the campfire. For\nthose rough outlaws idolized their fair-haired young leader, and they\nhad been worried and grieved by his recent fit of melancholy.\n\nAt midnight there was a sudden rattling of the well-chain in the square\nby the Bethlehem gate\u2014then a challenge from the startled Philistine\nsentry\u2014a rush of soldiers along the stony street. But the three\nseasoned warriors slipped easily through the camp of the half-awakened\narmy. They turned and doubled through the familiar maze of narrow,\nwinding streets until they came to the steep terraces at the south of\nthe town, where they dropped out of sight among the perplexing shadows\nof the olive orchards, through which they made their way swiftly back\nto the wild steppe-land and the mountain fastness where the band kept\nwatch over their sleeping chief.\n\nMighty men they were, these three, and it is no wonder that their\nexploit became one of the favorite tales of Hebrew history. But when\nthey offered David the water for which he had longed, there came a lump\ninto his throat and he said, \u201cI can\u2019t take it. My thoughtless wish\nmight have cost too much. It would be like drinking my brave men\u2019s\nblood, to drink that for which they have endangered their lives. It\nis too precious to drink. I will pour it out on the ground\u2014so\u2014as an\noffering to Jehovah.\u201d\n\nSurely the God of Battles esteemed that simple libation as holy a thing\nas holocausts of bullocks and rams, and forgave many of the sins of\nthose rough, hard outlaws because of the loving devotion they showed\ntoward one whom He had chosen to be the deliverer of Israel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAn old legend says that after the mystic Star had guided the Wise Men\nto the Saviour\u2019s cradle, it fell from heaven and quenched its divine\nfire in \u201cDavid\u2019s Well.\u201d And surely, if the Star had fallen, it could\nhave found no more fitting resting place than the Well by the Gate,\nwhose water had been won by such unselfish adventure and dedicated with\nsuch tender gratitude.\n\n[Illustration: _THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS_]\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE NIGHT OF NIGHTS\n\n\nIn the short twilight of the winter evening a husband and wife are\ntrudging wearily along the road which winds past the high gray walls\nof Jerusalem\u2014no longer Jerusalem the proud capital of the dynasty of\nDavid, but a mere provincial town of the mighty Roman Empire, whose\nstreets are dizzy with the shouting of a dozen languages and thronged\nwith crowds of Greeks, Romans, Persians, Armenians, Ethiopians, and\ntravelers from even more distant lands, who rub shoulders carelessly\nwith the fanatical Pharisees and intriguing Sadducees whose mutual\nbickerings make them a laughing-stock to their Gentile masters; while\nthere sits upon the throne of David a half-breed underling Edomite,\nthrough whose diseased veins flow the cruelty and lust and cowardice\nand treachery of turgid streams of unspeakable ancestry\u2014Herod, called\nin grim jest, \u201cthe Great.\u201d\n\nDecember in Judea is a cold, dreary month, with penetrating storms\nof rain and sleet. It may even snow; and sometimes the drifts lie\nknee-deep on that highroad from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. So they hasten\ntheir steps, these footsore travelers who have come all the way from\ndistant Galilee at the command of their Roman rulers; for darkness is\ncoming on, and this night, of all nights, they must find a safe, warm\nresting-place.\n\nBut when Bethlehem is at last reached, their cheerful anticipation\nchanges to utter, weary dejection; for the village inn proves to be\nalready overcrowded with other Bethlehemites who have returned to their\nbirthplace to be registered there for the census.\n\nOnly in the stable is there room; and this is a low, dark place, half\nbuilding, half cave. In front, it is walled up with rough stones; but\nat the rear it extends far into what seems to have been originally a\nnatural opening in the hillside. Around three sides of the stable runs\na low, level shelf, with an iron ring every few feet, to which the\nbeasts are tied as they eat the fodder spread before them on the stone\nledge. This manger is not an uncomfortable resting place for the hardy\nmuleteers, who often sleep there on the straw. But it makes a hard bed\nfor Joseph\u2014and for Mary.\n\nThe sky has cleared now, and through the open door can be seen a square\nof twinkling stars, one of which shines with unusual brilliancy.\nWithin, however, it is very dark; for the lantern of the night-watchman\nshines only a little way through the sombre shadows of the stable. The\ncattle and horses have finished munching the grain. The last uneasy\nlowing ceases. It is very still, except in one far corner where the\nstrangers cannot sleep.\n\nAnd then there is a baby\u2019s cry. And the bright star shines with\nglorious radiance over David\u2019s City. And upon the drowsy shepherds in\nthe fields where the Moabitess gleaned, there bursts a wondrous light\nand the sound of heavenly singing.\n\nFor the fullness of time has come. Upon the humble Judean town has\nburst that glory sung by the prophets of old. The long line of Rachel\nand Ruth and royal David has at last issued in the King of kings.\n\n[Illustration: _THE BLOSSOMS OF MARTYRDOM_]\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE BLOSSOMS OF MARTYRDOM\n\n\nBut even at that first Christmastide, Bethlehem must again be the scene\nof innocent suffering in another\u2019s place, as for the Christ-child\u2019s\nsake some twenty baby boys in the little town are put to death by order\nof King Herod, whose diseased, suspicious mind trembles at the thought\nof even an infant claimant for his throne.\n\nFive hundred years before, when the strong young men of Bethlehem had\nbeen sent away into Babylonian exile, the loud wailing from bereaved,\nheart-broken homes had recalled to Jeremiah that other sad mother\nburied there by the lonely roadside. So now again, the awful outrage,\nperpetrated almost within sight of that venerable tomb, seems to be\nlinked across the long centuries with the first Bethlehem grief; and\nonce more, in the words of the Lamenting Prophet, there is\n\n    \u201cWeeping and great mourning,\n     Rachel weeping for her children;\n     And she would not be comforted,\n      Because they are not.\u201d\n\nThe Blossoms of Martyrdom\u2014so a fourth century poet calls these little\nones who were the first of all to suffer death for Christ\u2019s sake.\nAnd in that countless throng of those who \u201chave come out of great\ntribulation\u201d there must surely stand in the foremost rank the little\nband of Bethlehem children whose blood was shed because an infant\nSaviour had been born into an unwelcoming world.\n\n\u201cAnd God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: _THE STORY OF THE STABLE_]\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE STORY OF THE STABLE\n\n\nBetween the years 1480 and 1483, Brother Felix Fabri, a learned German\nmonk of Ulm, made two voyages to Palestine, during the course of which\nhe collected information of all sorts about the holy places, which he\nlater published in a large and important book. Some of his statements\nabout Bethlehem are very accurate. Others do not strike us as quite so\nconvincing.\n\nAccording to these stories told by Brother Felix, Boaz inherited\nfrom his father Salmon, who had married Rahab of Jericho, a large\nmansion built at the very edge of Bethlehem, so that part of the house\nprojected outside the town wall. In the rock underneath the main\nbuilding was a natural grotto which was used as a cellar, and also as\na dwelling room during the hot months. The house passed in due time\ninto the possession of Boaz\u2019 grandson Jesse, whose son David was born\nin the lower room. After David became king, however, the family removed\nto Jerusalem, the deserted homestead gradually came into a state of\ndisrepair, and finally the part in the rock was used as a public\nstable. This degradation of the once splendid mansion was permitted\nby Providence, so that at last the great Son of David might be born\namid humble surroundings, and yet in the very place where His famous\nancestor first saw the light.\n\nAfter our Lord\u2019s Ascension, His mother lived for fourteen years,\ndwelling in Jerusalem, whence every month she and her friends made a\npious pilgrimage to Bethlehem, that they might worship at the cave of\nthe Saviour\u2019s birth. This so enraged the Jews that finally they defiled\nthe stable and blocked up its entrance with stones.\n\nFollowing the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, in A. D. 70,\nChristians were again allowed to dwell in the Holy Land and to visit\nthe place of the Nativity, which they cleansed from the Jewish\ndefilement and hallowed by their worship. But in the year 132, the\nEmperor Hadrian laid waste the city of Bethlehem, placed in the sacred\ncave a statue of Jupiter and, as a crowning insult, instituted in the\nvery Grotto of the Nativity the iniquitous rites of the Adonis cult,\nwhich continued to be celebrated there for almost two hundred years.\n\nThis, however, was the last heathen desecration of the holy spot.\nIn the year 326 the pious Helena, mother of the Christian emperor,\nConstantine, \u201ccleansed the place of the sweet Nativity of our Lord,\ncast out the abominations of the idols from the holy cave, overthrew\nall that she found there, and beneath the ruins found the Lord\u2019s manger\nentire.\u201d In the manger she discovered the stone on which the Blessed\nVirgin had placed the Babe\u2019s head, and the hay and the swaddling\nclothes and Joseph\u2019s sandals and the long, loose gown which Mary wore.\n\n[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY]\n\nThese were all carried to the capital, Constantinople, and remained\nfive hundred years in the Cathedral of St. Sophia, until Charlemagne,\nreturning from the conquest of Jerusalem (so says Fabri), begged\nthe relics as the reward of his holy labors and took them with him to\nthe West. The hay was bestowed in the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore in\nRome, the manger in St. John Lateran, and the garments in the cathedral\nof Aix-la-Chapelle.\n\nAfter St. Helena had purified the place of the Nativity, she erected\nabove it a church of wondrous beauty, but in such a manner that the\nrock beneath and the cave in which the Saviour was born should remain\nuntouched. Whereupon the Jews of Bethlehem in derision nicknamed the\nsaintly empress \u201cthe Woman of the Stable.\u201d\n\nBut by the time we reach St. Helena and the building of the Bethlehem\nchurch, legend is beginning to merge into history.\n\n[Illustration: _THE EPITAPH OF LADY PAULA_]\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE EPITAPH OF THE LADY PAULA\n\n\nThe church at Bethlehem is crowded to the doors with a reverent\nassemblage, which overflows into the public square and fills all the\nnearby streets with silent, sad-faced worshippers. It is four hundred\nand four years since the blessed Nativity of our Lord, and the slow,\nsolemn music which sounds faintly from within the heavy walls of the\nancient church is the requiem of the noblest, sweetest, saddest lady\nwho ever made her home in Bethlehem for Christ\u2019s sake.\n\nThe funeral procession had seemed like a triumphal march. The bier\nwas borne upon the shoulders of bishops, whilst other bishops carried\ncandles beside it and led the antiphonal singing of the choirs. Beside\nthese dignitaries walked the sweet-faced sisters from the great convent\nwhich the dead woman had founded, and barefooted brothers from the no\nless famous monastery which she had endowed. Strange figures followed\nin the procession: wild, shaggy hermits who for the first time in\nyears had come out of their caves in the wilderness of Judea, and nuns\nbound to perpetual self-immolation, whose unnatural pallor told of\nincessant vigils broken this once only, that they also might have a\npart in the final honors shown to their beloved and godly benefactor.\nAged Jerome was there; the foremost scholar in all Christendom, but\nnow bent and weary with the realization that world-wide fame is but a\npaltry substitute for the companionship of a faithful friend. Beside\nhim walked the proud bishop John of Jerusalem, not long since the enemy\nof Paula and Jerome and at bitter strife with the convent of Bethlehem;\nbut now, it seems, a sincere mourner of one before whose pure and\ndevoted spirit even mighty hierarchs must bow in humble reverence.\n\nBut those whose hearts grieve most sincerely cannot all gain admission\nto the church. The square before the entrance is crowded with the poor\nand the sick and the outcast who are waiting patiently until the long\nceremony shall end. Then these humble folk will slip into the quiet\nchurch at eventide and pray beside the coffin of their beloved friend,\nwhile unrestrained tears roll down their haggard faces\u2014tears for her,\nand them, and Bethlehem.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt hardly seems seventeen years since the coming of the Lady Paula\nstirred the quiet life of Bethlehem. All the world knew of the young\nRoman widow, of noble family and enormous wealth, who had renounced the\nluxurious life to which she had been accustomed and had aroused the\ngossip of the capital by her coarse dress and incessant devotions and\nthe menial duties which she performed in her efforts to relieve the\ncondition of the crowded slums of the city. And then the wealthy lady\nhad broken the last ties of her old life, so the rumor ran, and had\nleft Rome forever in order to dwell in holy Bethlehem with her daughter\nand their friend and teacher, the reverend presbyter Jerome.\n\nFor a time Paula and her daughter lived quietly in a small rented\nhouse, until the completion of a convent which was erected at her\nexpense. A monastery was next built, of which Jerome was made the head,\nand in connection with this, a hospice for the entertainment of the\nstrangers who in greater and greater numbers came hither to visit the\nholy places and to study under the famous teacher.\n\nThereafter Paula was the very spring of Bethlehem life and Christian\nactivity. She managed the affairs of her various establishments with\npatience, tact, and great executive ability; and yet found time to\nperfect her Greek and to learn Hebrew, so that under the guidance\nof Jerome she might read the entire Bible in the original tongues.\nPilgrims from far and near taxed the resources of the famous hospice,\nand gifts to innumerable charities at last exhausted even the large\nfortune she had inherited, so that she became not only poor, but in\ndebt. And reading between the lines of his own correspondence, we can\nsee that not least among the godly woman\u2019s worries was the care of\nthe great, but somewhat crabbed old man whom later centuries were to\nhonor as \u201cSaint\u201d Jerome. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say\nthat Christendom is indebted to a woman for its most important and\ninfluential version of the Bible; for it is easy to conceive that the\nVulgate translation might never have been completed by Jerome, without\nthe constant aid and encouragement which were so freely bestowed on the\naged author by his friend.\n\nAll these varied and exacting tasks were undertaken by one who\nnever enjoyed robust health. Paula was often prostrated by serious\nillness and she further overtaxed her strength by incessant fasts and\nmortifications, until at last the life of the eager, self-sacrificing,\nloving, faithful woman burnt itself out at the age of fifty-six.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe funeral service is over now. The long procession has left the\nchurch, and for three days the poor whom Paula loved can worship at her\nbier. Then the tender, weary, faithful heart will be laid at rest in a\nvault beneath the church, \u201cclose to the cave of the Lord,\u201d and above\nher cavern sepulchre lonely old Jerome will inscribe these lines:\n\n    \u201cSeest thou here hollowed in the rock a grave;\n    \u2019Tis Paula\u2019s tomb, high heaven has her soul,\n    Who Rome and friends, riches and home forsook\n    Here in this lonely spot to find her rest.\n    For here Christ\u2019s manger was, and here the kings\n    To Him, both God and man, their offerings made.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: _THE SCHOLAR IN THE CAVE_]\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE SCHOLAR IN THE CAVE\n\n\nOne of the caves beneath the church at Bethlehem has a window; but\nthe small opening is so high up in the wall that very little light\nenters, and it is some time before the outlines of the room can be\nclearly distinguished. It is a square cell, about twelve feet across.\nThe window is on the north side. At the west a narrow stairway goes\nup to the monastery. At the south a door leads through a series of\nother caves to the Grotto of the Nativity. On the eastern wall hangs a\ncrucifix. In the center of the cell is a roughly-made desk, cluttered\nwith books and papers, while other heavy volumes and thick rolls of\nmanuscript are piled here and there upon the floor.\n\nIn front of the desk sits an old, old man, whose lean, emaciated form\nis clothed in a long, brown robe which, though of very rough material,\nis neat and clean. His hair is sparse and gray, and his flowing beard\nis white as snow. His face is thin and pale, seamed by deep wrinkles\nworn by physical suffering and spiritual anguish; but about the mouth\nare other lines which tell of a stern, unconquerable spirit. The eyes\nare kind, but very weary, and reddened by much study, and he rests them\nnow upon his long, thin fingers as he ceases his work for a moment and\nlistens reverently to the muffled music of the service in the church\nabove.\n\n[Illustration: THE SOUTH TRANSEPT OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY AND ONE\nOF THE STAIRWAYS LEADING DOWN TO THE SACRED CAVES]\n\nIt is sixteen years since Paula died. The old man is the presbyter\nEusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, better known as St. Jerome; the most\nfamous scholar of his age and by far the greatest man whose name has\nbeen associated with Bethlehem during all the Christian era. His little\ncavern cell is the literary center of the world.\n\nFor more than a generation Jerome has pursued his scriptural studies\nhere, under the ever-present inspiration of the holy associations\nwhich cluster so closely about the cave. Here he has often spent long\nnight hours in gaining that perfect mastery of Hebrew and Aramaic\nand Greek which enables him to grasp the most subtle meanings of the\nsacred writings. Here his pen has moved with such feverish activity\nthat more than once he has completed the translation of an entire Book\nin a single day. At this rude desk have been written words that shook\nEurope; for Jerome has been the friend of popes and the adviser of\ncouncils. From this humble cell have gone forth learned commentaries,\ncontroversial articles, translations of the Greek Fathers, a voluminous\nand widely-circulated correspondence, and that which future generations\nwill value most highly of all, the splendid revision of the entire\nLatin Bible\u2014the Vulgate. This tremendous literary activity has won for\nits author the reputation of being the foremost writer of the age, and\nhas made Bethlehem the goal of innumerable pilgrimages by admiring\nstudents.\n\nThe death of Paula, however, seemed to mark the turning point in\nJerome\u2019s career. During the long, lonely years since then he has never\nenjoyed the same scholarly quiet, and he has had to cope with repeated\nand varied misfortunes. The very winter she died was one of unusual\nseverity, which sorely tried his physical powers, already weakened\nby disease and by long-continued privations. The Isaurians came down\nfrom Asia Minor and devasted northern Palestine, so that the monastery\nwas overcrowded with fugitives; and with Paula gone, the supervision\nof the various religious establishments in Bethlehem was thrust more\nand more upon Jerome, who we may believe was not especially gifted\nas an executive. Heartrending tidings came from Italy, telling of\nBarbarian invasions which at last culminated in the sack of Rome by\nAlaric. Jerome became involved in bitter theological controversies,\nwhich resulted in an estrangement from some of his oldest friends and\nonce at least endangered his life, when a mob of angry partisans set\nthe monastery on fire, killed one of the inmates, and forced the aged\nscholar to flee for refuge to a neighboring fortress. Recently the care\nof the monastery and hospice has occupied all the day, and although he\nhas tried to work on his commentaries at night, his failing eyesight\nhas finally become so weak that he can hardly decipher the Hebrew\nletters by candle-light.\n\nJerome\u2019s spirit, however, is unbroken by defeat. His last works may\nshow something of the irritability of illness and age, but there is\nnever any thought of relaxation or compromise, or any weakening of\nfaith. And perhaps the great man never seems greater then when we see\nhim at the age of eighty, sitting here in his cavern cell, so sick\nand lonely and indomitable. His translation of Scripture is not yet\naccepted as the Bible of all Western Christendom, his sainthood is as\nyet undreamed of, his dearest friends are dead or alienated, the dread\nadvance of the Barbarian hordes is threatening the very existence of\ncivilized Europe, and the brilliant era of ecclesiastical literature of\nwhich he has been the brightest light is already fading into a dull,\nspiritless gloom.\n\nThe evening shadows deepen upon the little cave at Bethlehem, as upon\nthe vast, dying Roman Empire. The chanting of the priests in the church\nabove ceases. The familiar square characters of the dearly-loved\nHebrew manuscript grow faint and blurred before the scholar\u2019s eyes. He\nputs away his pen with a sigh. No disciple takes it up. \u201cThere is no\ncontinuation of his work; a few more letters of Augustine and Polinus,\nand night falls over the West.\u201d\n\nSo they bury him there in the cave, close to faithful Paula, close to\nthe birthplace of his Lord.\n\n[Illustration: _THE CHRISTMAS CORONATION_]\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS CORONATION\n\n\nIn the year of our Lord 1101, on the very birthday of the Saviour and\nat the birthplace of the King of kings, Bethlehem is to witness the\nmost gorgeous, striking scene in all its varied and dramatic history;\nfor the long, cruel centuries of Moslem domination are over at last,\nthe banners of the victorious Crusaders now float proudly above the\nramparts of Jerusalem, and the mighty Baldwin, Count of Flanders by\ninheritance and Prince of Edessa by right of conquest, is to be crowned\nthis Christmas Day the first Christian king of Palestine.\n\nTwo years earlier, when the Saracens heard that the Western armies were\napproaching, they destroyed the Christian quarter of Bethlehem, leaving\nstanding only the Church of the Nativity; but the gallant Tancred came\npromptly to the rescue of the frightened, homeless citizens with a\nhundred picked knights, and, as a reward of their valor, it was this\nlittle band who, looking northward from a hill near Bethlehem, were the\nfirst of all the Crusaders to gain the longed-for view of the Holy City.\n\nAs soon as Jerusalem was taken and the Moslem army put to rout, the\nCrusaders set to work to rebuild the nearby City of the Nativity,\nand now that a ruler has been chosen for the new Latin Kingdom of\nJerusalem, the coronation ceremony is to take place at Bethlehem;\nfor Baldwin, with a modesty not entirely in harmony with his previous\nambitious and selfish career, has refused to be crowned in the Holy\nCity where great David had his throne. Doubtless also the shrewd Count\nof Flanders is not blind to the dramatic possibilities of a Christmas\ncoronation in the Christmas City.\n\nSo to-day the plain, sombre interior of the Church of the Nativity is\nall ablaze with brilliant coloring. Along the walls of the nave are\nbattle-worn standards, blessed by pious bishops in distant counties by\nthe Rhine and the Rhone and the Northern Ocean, and sanctified since\nby many a gallant exploit before the walls of Nicea and Antioch, so\nthat their escutcheons now bear crimson quarterings which were not\nembroidered there by the lovely ladies in the lonely palaces across\nthe sea.\n\nAt the rear of the church are ranks of sunburnt men-at-arms in\nbattered chain-armor, whose stern, self-possessed demeanor throws into\ngreater contrast the nervous, curious excitement of the Bethlehemite\nChristians, who have put on their brightest tunics in honor of their\nvaliant deliverers from thraldom to the Saracens. The transepts are\ncrowded with bishops and the great feudal lords who have thrown in\ntheir lot with the new kingdom, for the sake of the rich fiefs which\nare at Baldwin\u2019s disposal. The garments of the nobles glisten with\njewels, and the dignitaries of the church are resplendent with gold and\nlaces. Here and there upon the gorgeous scene the high windows of the\nchurch cast narrow, slanting beams, and the tinted lamps shed their\nsoft glow upon the mass of variegated, orient hues, which are yet held\nin one color harmony by the insistent repetition of the crimson crosses\nwhich shine on every breast.\n\nWhere the lamps are most numerous and the light from the windows of\nthe transepts shines brightest, Baldwin of Flanders kneels before the\ngreat altar and bows his proud head in a semblance of humility as the\njeweled crown is placed upon his brow by the noble Daimbert, archbishop\nof Pisa, patriarch of Jerusalem and temporal lord of many a broad fief\nand populous village in Judea.\n\nSurely now the veteran warriors chant again that martial Psalm\nwith which they have advanced so often to the assault of infidel\nstrongholds, \u201cLet God arise, let His enemies be scattered.\u201d And the\nloud battle-cry of the Crusade, which has echoed above many a desperate\nconflict, now rolls back and forth from wall to wall of the ancient\nchurch with deafening reverberations, \u201cGod wills it! God wills it!\u201d And\nthis Christmas Day the glad music of the _Gloria in Excelsis_ rings\nwith a new note of triumph. For the Holy Land is at last reconquered.\nThe Sepulchre and the Manger are cleansed. A Christian king is to reign\nin millennial peace and prosperity over the sacred hills of Palestine.\n\nDuring the century following the successful issue of the First Crusade,\nBethlehem took a leading part among the cities of the Latin Kingdom\nof Jerusalem. In 1110 it was elevated to the rank of an episcopal\nsee, whose fiefs included large tracts of land scattered all through\nPalestine. The Church of the Nativity, which the Crusaders found to\nbe somewhat bare and dilapidated, was thoroughly restored and adorned\nby rich gifts. The Byzantine emperor, Manuel Comnenos, had the walls\nbeautified with magnificent mosaic pictures, made of colored glass\ncubes set in a background of gold. Among the other mosaic saints, the\nartist Edfrem was allowed to introduce the portrait of the generous\nemperor. More modest donors presented the church with a baptismal font\nwhich bore the simple inscription that it was given by \u201cthose whose\nnames are known to the Lord.\u201d\n\nNow that Palestine was no longer under Moslem rule, pilgrims thronged\nfrom every Christian country to visit the holy places, and Bethlehem\nwas crowded with even greater multitudes than during the days of St.\nHelena or St. Jerome. At Christmas time the vast concourse of clergy\nand nobles and pilgrims celebrated the festival with gorgeous pomp in\nthe restored and now magnificent church. There were peals of ringing\nbells, and triumphant choruses of praise, and swinging of priceless\ncensers, and above the great throng of worshippers a golden star was\npulled across the church, while young men on the roof chanted the song\nof the angels.\n\n\u201cIn those days,\u201d Brother Felix tells us, \u201cBethlehem was full of people,\nfamous and rich. Christians of every country on earth brought presents\nthither, and exceeding rich merchants dwelt there.\u201d\n\nBut with peace and wealth, the Christian population of Bethlehem\nbecame more and more enervated and corrupt, until it is said that at\nlast one of the leading men of the town planned to commit a deadly sin\nwithin the very precincts of the sacred Cave of the Nativity. When this\nwas reported to the Moslems, they saw that virtue had departed from\ntheir Christian rulers, so they were not afraid to rise up against\nthem, and soon they drove them out of all Palestine.\n\nThis is only a tradition; but it sounds almost like an allegory of the\nactual issue of the Crusades and the lamentable fate of the short-lived\nLatin Kingdom of Jerusalem.\n\n[Illustration: _SOME BETHLEHEM LEGENDS_]\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nSOME BETHLEHEM LEGENDS\n\n\nNumberless traditions have sprung up concerning the sacred places in\nand about Bethlehem and the holy persons who dwelt there. Many of these\ntales are really beautiful, and even when they will not bear a too\ncritical inspection, there is often a moral overlaid by the extravagant\ndetails of the narrative.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe story of the First Roses is told in the words of Sir John\nMandeville, who heard it in Bethlehem in the year 1322, except that\nthe spelling of the old knight has necessarily been modernized.\n\n\u201cAnd between the City and the Church is the Felde Floridus, that is\nto say, the Flowery Field: forasmuch as a fair Maiden was blamed with\nwrong and slandered; for which cause she was doomed to the Death; and\nto be burnt in that place, to the which she was led. And as the Fire\nbegan to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as\ntruly she was not guilty of that Sin, He would help her and make it\nknown to all men, of His merciful Grace. And when she had thus said,\nshe entered into the Fire, and anon was the Fire quenched and out: and\nthe Brands that were burning, became red Roseries; and the Brands that\nwere not kindled, became white Roseries, full of Roses. And these were\nthe first Roseries and Roses, both white and red, that ever any Man\nsaw. And thus was this Maiden saved by the Grace of God.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe chapter of the Koran entitled \u201cMary\u201d tells how a palm tree near\nthe birthplace of Jesus miraculously let fall its ripe dates in order\nto satisfy His mother\u2019s hunger. Practically all early Moslem visitors\nto Palestine speak of seeing this tree and note the fact of its being\nthe only one of the kind growing in the district. This made the\nmiracle even more marvellous, as date-palms have to be artificially\ncross-fertilized before their fruit will come to maturity.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA twelfth century pilgrim tells us that \u201cevery year in the middle of\nthe night, at the hour when Christ was born, all the trees about the\ncity of Bethlehem bow their branches down to the ground toward the\nplace where Christ was born, and when the sun rises, gradually raise\nthem up again.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAbout a mile outside of Bethlehem is still pointed out the \u201cField of\nPeas,\u201d but the story of the origin of these small, round stones has\nundergone a number of variations. This is the way it was told to Henry\nMaundrell, who visited Palestine about the year 1700.\n\n[Illustration: ST. JEROME AND THE LION\n\n From the painting by Rubens\n]\n\n\u201cNear this Monument (Rachel\u2019s Tomb) is a little piece of ground in\nwhich are picked up a little sort of small round Stones, exactly\nresembling Pease: Concerning which they have a tradition here, that\nthey were once truly what they now seem to be; but the Blessed Virgin\npetrify\u2019d them by a Miracle, in punishment to a surly Rustick, who\ndeny\u2019d her the Charity of a handful of them to relieve her hunger.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAccording to a medi\u00e6val biography, St. Jerome was one day studying in\nhis cell at Bethlehem, when there entered an enormous lion, limping\nfrom an injured paw. The tender-hearted saint bound up the wound,\nwhich speedily healed, whereupon the great beast was overwhelmed with\ngratitude and attached himself permanently to his deliverer.\n\nThe lion followed Jerome about everywhere like a dog, and slept at the\nfeet of the holy man while he was pursuing his Scriptural studies.\nUpon occasion, however, the complacent creature was not above minding\nthe monastery donkey when it was put out to pasture, or even acting\nas a beast of burden; while at night the fearful roar of the saint\u2019s\nprotector brought terror to the hearts of any evil-doers who might be\nprowling near the monastery grounds.\n\nThe story was accepted without question during the Middle Ages, and\nmany a valiant Crusader was willing to make oath that he had seen the\nghosts of the saint and his attendant lion strolling silently among the\nhilltops of Judea in the midnight shadows.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA whole group of legends tell of the miraculous deliverances of the\nChurch of the Nativity from destruction by the Moslems.\n\nAt one time the Sultan gave orders to dismantle the interior, and carry\noff the precious marble slabs from the floor and walls of the church.\nBut when the workmen prepared to tear away the wall near the stairways\nwhich go down to the sacred cave, suddenly there came out of the solid\nstone a serpent of enormous size, who struck at the piece of marble\nbefore which the Moslems were standing. And lo, the rock split under\nthe force of his fiery tongue! Swiftly the reptile glided to the next\nslab, which he likewise cracked; and so he passed through the church,\nsplitting in all no less than forty pieces of marble, after which he\ndisappeared as mysteriously as he had come. The Sultan and his helpers\nwere stricken with terror at the apparition, and gave up their purpose\nto deface the church.\n\nThe cracks in the marble apparently disappeared as soon as the danger\nwas past; but in substantiation of the truth of the story, medi\u00e6val\npilgrims were shown traces of the serpent\u2019s path, which appeared as\nthough the stones had been marked by an intense flame.\n\n[Illustration: _THE LONG WHITE ROAD_]\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE LONG WHITE ROAD\n\n\nThe Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem opens out upon two historic highways. The\none which gives its name to the gate leads westward to the sea; the\nother, which we are to take, passes southward along the Valley of\nHinnom between the Sultan\u2019s Pool and the western wall of the city, and\nthen climbs over the brow of a steep hill on its way to Hebron, beyond\nwhich the caravan trail leads farther on to the South Country and the\ndesert and the land of the Pharaohs.\n\nA good walker could go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem in a little more\nthan an hour, for the distance is hardly five miles; but it will be\nmore pleasant to stroll along leisurely, studying the other wayfarers,\nand stopping now and then to admire some rugged old olive tree or to\nwatch the changing colors on the distant hills.\n\n[Illustration: THE BETHLEHEM ROAD (To the Right)\n\nFrom the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem]\n\nAs soon as we are fairly started down the Hebron road, we begin\nto pass little companies of men and women who are coming up from\nBethlehem to the Holy City with their merchandise. There is a striking\ndifference between the appearance of these people and that of the other\ninhabitants of Judea; a difference not only in dress, but in feature.\nThe men wear large yellow turbans, and have full lips, long noses, and\nhigh, sloping foreheads, so that they fit in very closely with our\ncommon idea of the Hebrew type. They are not Jews, however, but\nChristians, and it is said that in the veins of many of them flows the\nblood of the Crusaders. The boys we meet are frank and independent,\ntramping merrily along, with little caps on their heads, their one\nlong, loose garment tucked up into the leather belt, and their brown,\nbare legs ending in tremendous slippers which flop clumsily with every\nstep.\n\nThe women of Bethlehem are known throughout Palestine for their\npeculiar headdress. Over a high cap is thrown a large white kerchief\nor veil, which falls behind the shoulders and often reaches below the\nwaist. Seen from behind, the Bethlehemite woman is a square of blue\nskirt, topped by a tall triangle of white; from the front she looks\nlike a nun of some unfamiliar order. It is a singular costume, but\nyou soon come to like it, and when the clean, white headdress is seen\nin the distance, it is pleasant to be able to recognize its wearer as\na woman of Bethlehem. As we pass one little company after another, we\ncannot help looking rather closely to see what kind of women these are\nwho are coming out from the town of Ruth and of Mary.\n\n[Illustration: BETHLEHEM GIRLS]\n\nOutside of poetical romances, one does not find many examples of\nOriental beauty. There are multitudes of pretty children, and the\ngirls of twelve or fourteen have large, soft eyes, regular features\nand graceful figures; but early marriages and the subsequent drudgery,\ncombined with a lack of proper dentistry, usually turn them into\ntoothless, wrinkled hags at an age when they should be most\nattractive. There are exceptions among the richer classes and among\ngirls who have been educated in schools connected with European or\nAmerican missions; but on the whole there are very few fine-looking\nwomen over twenty-five years old to be found in Palestine.\n\nWe are therefore surprised to notice that many of these Bethlehem\nwomen are really handsome; not with the rich, voluptuous beauty which\nis usually associated with the East, but with a matronly dignity\nwhich appeals more strongly to our Western eyes. We enjoy watching\nthat young mother who is carrying the baby upon her shoulder; she is\nsuch a straight, slender woman, with clean-cut features and honest\neyes. We like the old woman beside her; an old woman who looks like a\ngrandmother, not like a withered witch, and who carries herself with a\ndignity that wins our admiration.\n\nIt may be due to nothing more than good food and pure water, or to\nthe great headdresses which make it necessary to stand so erect; but\nwhatever the cause, it seems to us that not even in Nazareth have we\nseen so many self-respecting, motherly-looking women as in this town\nwhich once witnessed the apotheosis of motherhood.\n\nAs we stroll along the well-paved road, we pass one spot after another\nwhich is not only connected by tradition with the sacred history, but\nwhich has been noted by such a long succession of pious pilgrims that\neven the most trivial fables seem to bind us more closely with the\ninnumerable throng which for nineteen centuries has been treading with\nreverent feet this ancient highway to the birthplace of our Lord.\n\nOff to our right is the W\u00e2di el-Werd, \u201cThe Valley of Roses,\u201d which\nrecalls the quaint tale of Sir John Mandeville. At the left of the\nroad is a well by which Mary is said to have rested on her way to\nBethlehem, and in which a few days later the Wise Men found again the\nreflection of the guiding Star. Some distance further on, near the\nvenerable monastery of St. Elijah, the \u201cField of Peas\u201d is still strewn\nwith its little, rounded stones. A sudden rise in the road broadens our\nhorizon so that we can see, off to the left and very far below us, the\ndark blue waters of the Dead Sea. Six or seven miles to the southeast\nthere rises the striking profile of the Frank Mountain, shaped like a\ntruncated pyramid, upon whose platform lie the ruins of Herod\u2019s famous\ncastle. Glimpses of Bethlehem itself are caught now and then between\nthe surrounding heights. We pass the tomb of beautiful, warm-hearted,\nimpulsive Rachel, the sadness of whose lonely burial by the roadside\nhas touched the hearts of passers-by for nearly forty centuries.\n\nHere we leave the main road, which goes on southward to Hebron,\nand turn in to the left to Bethlehem. \u201cDavid\u2019s Well\u201d has long been\nidentified with a series of cisterns hewn in the rock some distance\nbefore we reach the modern city. Somewhere in the fields below us Ruth\ngleaned among the harvesters of Boaz. Somewhere among those same fields\nthe youthful David tended his father\u2019s sheep. Somewhere above them rang\nthe glad music of the angelic Gloria. Somewhere on the long hilltop,\nnow covered by the white, closely-built houses of the town, the Saviour\nof the world was born.\n\nThe heart must be dead to romance as well as to religion, which does\nnot beat with a strange, solemn excitement upon entering the Christmas\nCity.\n\n[Illustration: _THE HOUSE OF BREAD_]\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nTHE HOUSE OF BREAD\n\n\nBethlehem Ephrathah, which was once \u201clittle to be among the thousands\nof Judah,\u201d is now one of the largest and wealthiest Christian towns in\nall Palestine.\n\nThe Hebrews called it _Beth Lehem_, \u201cthe House of Bread\u201d; and its\nmodern Arabic name is no less significant\u2014_Beit Lahm_, \u201cthe House of\nMeat,\u201d that is, of course, the Prosperous City. The soil takes on\na greater fertility as Jerusalem is left behind; but we are hardly\nprepared for the beautiful greenness that is seen when a sudden turn\nin the road brings into view the two large Christian towns of Beit Jala\nand Beit Lahm. One is on an eminence to the right of the Hebron road;\nthe other is on an elevation to the left; and they both look very clean\nand white and well-to-do, in the midst of their vineyards and orchards.\n\n[Illustration: BETHLEHEM\n\nThe massive buildings at the left are all connected with the Church of\nthe Nativity]\n\nBethlehem, which is the larger of the two, is built along the summit\nof a crescent-shaped hill, about two-thirds of a mile long, with its\nconcave side toward the north, so that practically the entire town\nis spread out before us as we approach it from Jerusalem. At the\nright-hand horn of the crescent are large, square buildings belonging\nto various Latin monastic orders. At the left are the dark, heavy walls\nof the Church of the Nativity, with its low, open belfry. Between these\nlarger structures is a confused mass of closely-built white houses,\nwhose profile is broken only by the tall, slender spire of the chapel\nof the German Mission. Immediately in front of us the steep slope of\nthe hill below the town is carefully terraced, and planted here and\nthere with small olive and fig orchards.\n\nThe town is the market of all the district around, which is rich in\nagricultural products. For many centuries Bethlehem has also been\nfamous for the manufacture of souvenirs, which are sold to pilgrims\nand tourists, not only here, but in Jerusalem and Damascus and Beir\u00fbt.\nRosaries, paper-cutters, cigarette holders and stamp boxes are made\nfrom olive wood, the bituminous \u201cMoses-stone\u201d from the Dead Sea is\nshaped into little vases and paper weights, and mother-of-pearl is\ncarved into elaborate bas-reliefs of sacred scenes. The shop-keepers\nare busy and energetic, and a prosperous self-respect seems\ncharacteristic of everything about the place.\n\nThe inhabitants number eight or nine thousand, nearly all of whom\nare Christians; adherents of one or other of the Oriental Catholic\nchurches. The population seems to be increasing; for we found some of\nthe streets almost impassable because of the piles of stone and lumber\nfor the new buildings. The modern Bethlehemites have lived up to the\nancient reputation of their town for fierce and reckless courage; and\nuntil comparatively recent times there were frequent and sanguinary\nclashes between the Christian and Moslem residents. The latter,\nhowever, were completely driven out of Bethlehem about seventy-five\nyears ago, and their houses destroyed; and though some few have\nreturned, the Moslems still number only three or four per cent of the\npopulation.\n\nIn Palestine to-day there is much that is unclean and unhealthy,\npoor and degrading; and many sites that should be hallowed by the\nmost sacred memories have been profaned by the hands of idolatry and\noppression. Even Bethlehem and Nazareth have not entirely escaped; yet\nthese two have somehow kept a peculiar dignity; and, indeed, it seems\nfitting that the place where our Lord was born, and the place where He\nmade His earthly home, should maintain a certain pre-eminence among the\ncities of the Holy Land.\n\n[Illustration: _THE CHURCH WHICH IS A FORT_]\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nTHE CHURCH WHICH IS A FORT\n\n\nThe Church of St. Mary in Bethlehem or, as it is more commonly called,\nthe Church of the Nativity, was built about the year 330, during the\nreign of the Emperor Constantine; and, as we have already seen, a very\nancient tradition ascribes its erection to the emperor\u2019s mother, St.\nHelena. Through all the wars which have raged over Palestine and during\nwhich the city of Bethlehem has again and again been devastated and its\nhouses and castles and monasteries overthrown, the old church alone\nhas escaped destruction. It is no wonder that its preservation has so\noften been ascribed to miraculous interventions. Although the building\nhas been slightly altered and restored from time to time, its essential\nfeatures have not been changed, and there can be little doubt that this\nis the oldest church in the world.\n\nExcept for the single low belfry, the heavy, confused mass looks more\nlike a fort than a religious edifice. Besides the central church,\nthere lie practically under the same roof three large monasteries,\nbelonging to the Greek Orthodox, Gregorian Armenian, and Roman Catholic\ncommunions. The collection of buildings is at the extreme eastern\nend of the town, so that while the front faces the public square of\nBethlehem, the rear is at the very edge of a steep cliff, below which\nstretches the open country. Viewed from the east, the massive pile\nresembles a great feudal castle overlooking the farm lands of the\nvassals in the valley beneath.\n\nThere are very few windows in the thick stone walls, and the main\nentrance from the square is by a single narrow door, so low that one\nmust stoop in passing through. The two other doorways at the front\nhave been walled up and this one purposely made so small, for fear of\nattack by the Moslems. Yet to-day we find just inside the vestibule a\nhalf-company of Turkish infantry. It seems strangely incongruous that\nMoslem soldiers should be encamped in a Christian church, but we shall\nsee later that there is a good reason for their presence here.\n\n[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY\n\nShowing the high stone wall which separates the nave from the choir and\ntransepts]\n\nThe church proper is only about one hundred and twenty feet long and\nthe whole interior cannot be seen at one view; for, as an additional\nprotection in case of conflict with the Moslems, the transepts and\nchoir are concealed by a high wall built right across the church, so\nthat from the entrance only the nave is visible. This is plain to the\npoint of bareness. Except for a few dimly burning lamps, the only light\ncomes from small windows set high up in the wall, just under the roof.\nAbove the reddish limestone columns which separate the nave from the\naisles can still be seen the remains of the famous mosaics given by\nthe Emperor Comnenos; but these are so badly defaced that it is often\ndifficult to determine the subject of the pictures. To the right a\nsmall door leads to the Greek monastery; another door at the left opens\ninto the buildings belonging to the Latin monks. The dividing wall\nat the back is pierced by three doors. Two of these can be entered by\nno priests except those of the Greek Orthodox Church, but the use of\nthe third is shared also with the Armenian clergy. The Roman Catholic\nmonks enter the transepts directly from their adjoining monastery: they\nhave little to do, however, with the part of the building which is\nabove ground.\n\nThese entrances bring us abruptly from the impressive simplicity of\nthe nave to the transepts and choir, which are well lighted and are\nalmost oppressive in their lavish ornamentation. The great altar facing\nus belongs to the Greeks, and in front of it are the stalls of the\nGreek clergy and the tall patriarchal throne. The smaller altar of\nthe Armenians is off at one side in the northern transept. Lamps of\ngold and silver swing from the ceiling; bright-colored pictures hang\nhere and there; tawdry, tinsel decorations glitter everywhere; and on\nthe upper part of the walls are portions of quaint mosaic pictures\nrepresenting scenes from the life of Christ. All that we have yet seen,\nhowever, is a mere antechamber to the holy places which lie in the rock\nbeneath the church.\n\n[Illustration: _THE SACRED CAVES_]\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nTHE SACRED CAVES\n\n\nAt each side of the central altar of the Church of the Nativity a\nnarrow stairway leads down to a series of six underground chambers,\nwhich undoubtedly were originally natural caverns, although they have\nsince been somewhat enlarged and the native rock in many places has\nbeen overlaid with marble slabs. In one of these caves St. Jerome is\nsaid to have lived; in the next he is buried, near to the tomb of his\nfriend and pupil, Paula. In other chambers the monks point out the\nexact spot where the worshipping Magi stood, the opening in the wall\nfrom which a spring miraculously gushed forth out of the solid rock\nfor the use of the Holy Family, the place where the angel appeared to\nJoseph and commanded him to go down into Egypt, and the corner where\nthe soldiers of Herod massacred a number of children who had been\nbrought here for refuge.\n\nThe largest cave, and the first we enter from the church above, is\nabout forty feet long. At one end of it there is let into the pavement\na large silver star with the inscription, _Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus\nChristus natus est_, \u201cHere Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THE ALTAR OF THE NATIVITY\n\nIn the floor beneath is seen the Silver Star]\n\nIf the inscription is true, there is no other spot on earth so sacred\nas this, save only Calvary and the Garden Tomb. And it is quite\nprobable that the stable was really in a cave; for in hilly Judea it\noften happens that a house or an inn is built on a slope, with the\nliving quarters entirely above ground, but with the stable beneath\npartly excavated in the rock. Sometimes, indeed, there is a natural\ncavern which, with very little alteration, can be used for housing the\nanimals.\n\nTradition concerning the place of the Nativity goes back to the very\nearly ages of Christianity. In the middle of the second century Justin\nMartyr states that Christ was born in a cave. In the third century\nOrigen says, \u201cThere is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was born,\nand the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes.\nAnd this site is greatly talked of in surrounding places, even among\nthe enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was born\nthat Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians.\u201d In the\nfourth century Eusebius tells of the building of this very church by\nSt. Helena, who \u201cdedicated two churches to the God whom she adored,\none at the grotto which was the scene of the Saviour\u2019s birth, and the\nother on the mount of His ascension. For He who was \u2018God with us\u2019 had\nsubmitted to be born even in a cave of the earth, and the place of His\nnativity was called Bethlehem by the Hebrews.\u201d And from the fourth\ncentury on, there is an unbroken chain of testimony concerning the\nidentification of this particular cavern with the scene of the Nativity.\n\nThe star is in a little recess at the end of the cave, and above it is\nan altar, small but very richly furnished. Of the fifteen altar-lamps\nof gold and silver which hang around the star, six belong to the\nGreek, five to the Armenian and four to the Latin monks, who divide\nin this way the ownership of most of the shrines in the church. The\nfloor of the entire cave is of marble, upon its walls are marbles and\nrich tapestries, and many lamps hang from the ceiling; yet, on coming\nfrom the bright transepts above, the first impression is one of deep\ngloom. The low roof can hardly be distinguished, and the back of the\ncave is lost in impenetrable darkness. The smoking lamps give to the\natmosphere a heavy, reddish color. The chanting of the priests in the\nchoir overhead is heard only as a dull murmur. We are the only visitors\nto-day, except that in front of the little altar there kneel four\nFrench nuns, great tears rolling down their pallid faces as they pray\nin a frightened whisper.\n\n_Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est!_\n\n[Illustration: _THE GUARD OF THE SILVER STAR_]\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nTHE GUARD OF THE SILVER STAR\n\n\nOur eyes are now growing accustomed to the subdued light, and off in\none corner of the cave where the gloom is very deep, a form is slowly\ncoming into view. Dark, indistinct, immovable; it would be possible\nfor a worshipper to come and go, and never see that shape at the end\nof the altar; but by day and by night it is always there\u2014the Moslem\nguardian of the Silver Star. That is why there is a garrison in the\nchurch above. The soldier is half-fed and paid not at all, and his blue\nuniform is ragged and dirty; but he holds a modern repeating rifle in\nhis hand as he stands there by the hour without moving a muscle, ready\nwhen need comes to face valiantly any odds in the performance of his\nduty.\n\nHe needs to be brave; for when the Christmas season comes round,\nBethlehem is thronged with worshippers of the Prince of Peace. They\nfill the church to overflowing. They rush down the narrow stairways\nthat lead to the little cave, and there they crowd and curse and fight\nfor a glimpse of the Silver Star; so that sometimes the air grows foul\nand the lamps burn even more dimly and women faint and strong men fall\ndown and are trampled to death in the horrible confusion.\n\nAnd quiet does not come with the passing of the Christmastide; but all\nthrough the year the monks from the convents above quarrel over the\npossession of the little shrine, and open warfare is not uncommon.\nThen the rival parties snarl and scratch; they seize heavy lamps and\nholy candlesticks from the altars, and priestly garments are torn and\npriestly heads are broken, until soldiers from the Turkish garrison\ncome down and assist the sentry in clubbing the unruly ones into\nsubmission.\n\nI often wonder what the silent sentinel thinks about as he stands there\nhour by hour, watching the smoky lights that glow above the Silver\nStar.\n\n[Illustration: _SONG OF THE KNEELING WOMEN_]\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nTHE SONG OF THE KNEELING WOMEN\n\n\nWe turned in sadness of heart to shake the dust of Bethlehem from our\nfeet. Up out of the cave and out of the transept we hurried; but then\nwe took the wrong door, and instead of reaching the public square,\nwe found ourselves in the church of the Franciscans. It was the time\nof the vesper service, and among the shadows of the unlighted nave\nthere stretched long lines of kneeling women. They were all natives of\nBethlehem, with the tall white headdress whose spotless cleanness is in\nsuch contrast to the costumes of most Palestinian villagers.\n\nIt was a service of song, and every woman seemed to be taking part.\nAfter the officiating priest chanted each brief stanza, the loud chorus\nwas taken up by the full volume of sweet soprano voices. As the light\ndied away, and the white-veiled forms of the kneeling worshippers grew\nindistinct and dreamlike, the music of the oft-repeated chorus sank\ninto our hearts, and we stayed on and on, until our anger against the\nsham and idolatry in the caves below had all been driven away and there\nremained only the Bethlehem calm.\n\nNone of us knew the name of that evening hymn. It was very simple, yet\none of the sweetest melodies we had ever heard. We shall never forget\nthe song, or the calm faces of the women who sang it. I have listened\nfor it since in many cathedrals. Two years later I went back to the\nBethlehem church in the hope of hearing it again; but there seemed to\nbe no vespers that evening. We could not understand the words of the\nsong; we could not even tell whether it was in Latin or Arabic, but I\nlike to believe that it was a hymn about the Babe of Bethlehem. And\nnow, when I think of that village among the beautiful hills of far-away\nJudea, the bigotry and jealousy do not seem so very important. I am\neven ready to forgive the Moslem guardian of the Silver Star, for the\nsake of that nameless melody of the women of Bethlehem.\n\n[Illustration: _ACROSS THE AGES_]\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nACROSS THE AGES\n\n\nNight falls. The stars shine brightly through the clear Judean air. We\nwalk very slowly down the winding road, and often stop to look back to\nthe hilltop where the thick-clustered houses of the little town stand\nso clear and white against the blue-black sky. Yonder lies Bethlehem,\nbathed in soft, silvery starlight which cleanses it from every trace of\nviolence and bigotry and crime, and paints only pleasant memories of\nlove and valor and hope.\n\nThere the lonely heart of the Moabitess found its haven. There the\nsweet singer of Israel set to melodious measures the story of the\nfields and the mountains and the divine Shepherd\u2019s care. There a\nwondrous Child was born, for whose sake wise men and tender women\nleft home and friends across the sea, that they might dwell near the\nhallowed, humble spot of His Nativity. Within the vague, dark shadow\nof that ancient church, the noblest-born of earth have gathered to do\nhomage to the Lord of lords and King of kings. And across the stillness\nof the night there seem to echo again the sturdy shouts of dauntless\nwarriors who made the mountains ring with their triumphant cry of\nfaith, \u201cGod wills it! God wills it!\u201d\n\nYes, God has willed it all, even in the hardest, darkest hour of\nBethlehem\u2019s long history. Before our lingering steps lie the noisy\nbazaars of Jerusalem and the busy, practical, modern world to which we\nmust so soon return. But we have been to Bethlehem; and across all the\ntroublous ages, bursting from every shining star, and drowning with its\nsweet music the perplexities of our own weary lives, there rings the\nglad refrain of the Angel\u2019s Song\u2014\n\n  GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON\n  EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD\n  MEN.","title":"The Christmas city : $b Bethlehem across the ages","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13072}