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(By William Ordway Pardrlge.) place where the Boy Christ pushed Hl
Kings have waged warfare, armies lost plane over the work bench, while Ills father
battle bolts long yearn
ami won
Tyrants their
have hurled
But lo! the Virgin and her little Hon
HUH rule the world. K ATK1N A THASK
1 ID YOU ever And a larks' nest hld-
III den among the wheat T If so, you
may understand how the quiet and E t d of , return to the b
beautiful city of Nazareth nestles cUy (hftt )ook( out upon p,aln
down among the hills of Gall
lee. If Palestine was the country of all
the world for the Messiah to come to, then
was Nazareth, of all the cities of the an
cient civilization, the very one for Illm to
be born In.
You must cross the great plains of Es
draelon, you must go over the shoulder of
Ollbna, where Saul fought that last fatal
stood silently regarding the work and
measuring the ability of his Son to follow
him In his chosen craft.
We know very little from history, from
written facts, of that life after birth In the
hillsides of Bethlehem, of the flight Into
beautiful
of Es-
draelon, which for centuries has been the
granary of Palestine. But, as Aristotle
somewhere says, "Poetry is truer than his
tory," and when one visits the spot and Is
taken possession of by the Christ that is
still alive In the Holy Land, one may per
haps divine thoughts of that life which are
closer to reality than If some historians
like Joeephua and others had jotted them
. ... , , , . . . . . - aw- lino riwruuuB mm uiui-i unu juhom . v "
battle, and keep along at the right of the . ,,,.,,, , tm .
... . , . . . . down from the standpoint of the Roman or
great plain which had been the granary ..
of Palestine for 11,000 years before the
coming of the Matter, and seems to lose
Greek world.
You must watch the little boys at their
mouth to carry his voice over the hills,
that there Is only one God and Mohammed
Is his greatest prophet one minaret alone
tells the traveler and the artist that the
little town is now a Mohammedan posses
sion. All about us are signs of the Chris
tian faith. The most interesting spot per
haps of any Is the small chapel built over
the workshop of Joseph on a height which
commands the surrounding country to the
south and north and from the threshold of
which the Christ Child could see the distant
bills of Samaria, where in later life He was
to stop and talk with the woman at the
well and to Impress upon her the fact of
His divinity.
Krene of the Nativity.
The happiest painting of the past years
that has been made Is, perhaps, that of
Hoffman, of the boy Christ disputing with
the doctors. But It Is not a great work
of art and it is not true to the conditions
that existed at that time, nor in coBtume
or guise to the Child It represents. It is
slings of woven cord, throw stones for you ln no Ben"e ""eniai or eastern, oui is a
with the accuracy that Oavid had In the use painting made In the studio of the artist.
nappy lu conception. u appeals iu ma
popular sense because the painter has In
fused Into the face of the Child something
of the divine life He possessed. But this
is an age that demands truth; it Is no
longer satisfied with flowing draperies and
trains of following angels and stsge scenery
and I count It a happy thing that the age
demands not only truth, but character; It
shows that man Is coming Into closer re
lationship with the Author of all truth
God Himself. When we think, for Instance,
of the Child being born In the stable ln
Bethlehem, the Anglo-Saxon imagination
thinks of such a stable as we see here on
the east or west side apart from the dwell
ing and surrounded by coarse attendants
and by the accessories which go to make up
the-modern stable.
But In the east, at that time, the stable
portion of the
non. nf It. fertility when other narts of P'ay along the hillsides, see how gracefully
Galilee and Judah are sterile and their they move their flowing Rarments. have
vineyards a matter of history. 1111 you come em ioiiow your norse ana, wnn meir
to the little quiet village of Naln. Here you
ret the flritt ellmnsn of the minaret and
Christian towers of Nazareth. t his little sling of the same order, to un
A grent deal has been written by learned derstand what that boyhood was like. The
men about the childhood of Christ, Its en- does -.ot change, and in 2,000 years, de
vlronment, and the city of Nazareth, where P'te the armies that have devastated Pal
that boyhiod was largely spent. But after estlne. that roadway of the ancient world
the traveler has been upon the spot Itself, which on'? r' miles ln length and
and has spprrached It with a feeling of perhaps eighty miles in width, it has re
reverence and that strange stirring ot the nialned the same country. The same skies,
soul that comes when one Is In the presence the same flowers, the sweet May pink that
of the hills and valleys which once knew smiled into the face of the Master smiles
His footsteps, the picture drawn by learned In your face today, and. above all. Mount
and literary men Is Inadequate, and must be Hernion looms beyond, covered with eternal
relegated to the book shelf and the en- snows as It was when the Christ Child saw
cyclopaedia. tDe ,uu over 11 '000 7'
Tlsaot had the rare privilege of traveling ltrmi irtar Fuind 1st Types,
through the Holy Land with a man who pos
sessed not only great Intelligence, but who We must take that Child out of the hands
had lived as many years In that land as 'f the old masters, out of the conventional
did the Master Himself Herbert B. Clark, draperies that have been wrapped about
nn...i . Tt.ru.n1nm In the last few Him and place Him lu the llgbt-tlowing
m.v. .., t thl article has had garment that the Arab and Bedouin boy was merely a division or
the opportunity of vUltln this quiet, un- wears tolay. He must have His hair flow- large khan, or Inn, where the traveler
assuming little town of Nazareth, nestled Ing In the wind or bound about with the stopped for rest and refreshment, and
so sweetly among the hills cf Galilee, and cloth of cotton which He may at will draw which one sees In Italy and other countries
has seen with his own eyes the places where over His face to protect Him from the today. A large space Is Inclosed by a wall,
the Christ Child played and worked and wind or burning sun. We must look Into with huge gates for an entrance, which are
dreamed cf that kingdom which was not to the blue eyes which one meets occasionally shut at night to keep out marauders snd
be built with hands today and which were not uncommon in brigands. The divisions between the trav-
lre-.. of the hrlst rhlM. he days wheu Nazareth was a Roman pos- eler and his camel or donkey are of a
session. We must abandon the Idea of His fragile nature.
It is not so much learning that Is going dllipulln( wn the doi.,ors In the Temple One can see such a khan on the road from
to make us understand the childhood or the UIlder,tan(J (nat He mi.rely talked as Jericho to Jerusalem, known as the Inn of
most wonderful personality that the world d)j today )n he oute, courti (he Oood SamBritani where. In truth, re-
has ever knewn as It Is sympathetic appre- ulon mU(,n ,ha, hafJ conie down t0 freibment i, furnished to man and beast,
elation of-perhaps I may call It dreaming ambolll,al way that the Arab And no doubt the ipot that potted out
oveir-the spots whers those little feet chu,ch of the Nat,v,ty M mereiy
passe,i so ugnuy ... - . . ,. ,.r.hw nla.,. of .he . portion or a part of a khan, where the
for the sheep on the bins anove wu thousands of Bedouins with their trsveler rested his horse or donkey, and
then a town of no 11 tie '"'-- Tot go.t."t Twho have had their camp- either at. alongside of his beast or in an
LWd-.:". ng ground theVfrom prehistoric times, adjoining room that had no door for ul-
shepherd s staff and looking '"m the ireat i g v but mprely a ,.,, column or
csravan route far out upon the great plain Tbey have been ul 7 to ..rensthen the roof. Let us. then.
ot Esdraelon.
ln rev
Child by the great masters
deVlng ths Pictures of the Christ they have been strong enough sgaln to get forget our modern Idea of a stable and
v the great master, on. must ac- possession of the land which they felt b.- think of th, , b rthp,.ce . :.ur u ,u .
knowledge a lack of th. reality .chthe "Ztewi YnXnglng! One any child might have been born except that
present age demands. Even In th. Dresden well P" "' J " JMB"Mt the o( , Roman prince or one of the Roman
Madonna, said to be th. greatest painting lonely minaret, from wnu n at "" V .,i.locracy It might be well to do awar
In th. world, which has been multiplied a sheik call. th. few Mohammedan, who . " '':, el' ? "7
.. . .w. I. .hi. rhriuii.n oitv to orarer. sua u
It closer to our own childhood and our own
children.
The poem hangs on the berry bush
When comes the poet's eye.
And the whole street Is one masquerade.
When Shakespeare passes by.
Every child life Is miraculous, it we have
the Insight to see it. That He was a re
markable child cannot be doubted, and yet
we muBt remember that at the age of 12 In
the eaet a girl Is given ln marriage and a
boy Is often as far developed as a man of
20 ln our land. He does not have to con
tend with the physical sciences; be does not
have thrust upon him bouks and pamphlets
without number, to confuse and distract
hi plain and simple thinking. Christ was
educated as were all the children of His
time, first by the lovely and lowly Mary,
His mother, a beautiful type of the purest
and most gentle womanhood, and a type
that the Roman church has used to dignify
woman, so that her place has risen from
that of a slave or toy to that of a com
panion and helpmate of man. His father
was a man of more than ordinary ability.
Tradition, which lives for thousands of
years In the east, represents him as a seri
ous, hard-working man, whose interest was
largely In his workbench and In develop
ing his children to the best of his ability.
Workshop ot Joseph.
But to return to this simple work
shop, where the Chr'st Child spent
many hours ot His day, when His
brothers were tending the Bhecp
upon the hillside. He brought his wonder
ful creative ability to bear upon the simple
workmanship which was produced by Jo
seph, His fnther. In those days the craft ot
the carpenter was very different from what
It Is today. Today He would be called a
master workman, for then men cared for
the impress of the hand upon the work, and
each carpenter could turn out all the de
tails of the house and bring to bis work
the art and training that were necessary to
lift him above a mere Bedouin berdtsman or
a soldier In the armies of Rome.
There is one picture here represented, ex
ecuted by Murlllo, who never visited the
Holy Land, but who, through his creative
genius, and that divine idealism which Is
the artist's birthright, gave to It that won
derful touch which must make it live for
ever. But the face is not intense or for
cible enough. The boys of Nazareth have
keen, sharp faces, deep set eyes, smooth
brows, black or blocd and reddish hair, and
aro quick to learn any word that may serve
them In the direction of their work. The
frequent allusions in the New Testament
to the shepherd and his sheep go to prove
that the Master was familiar with every
detail of the shepherd's life, and one can
scarcely understand that unless he climbs
over the bills with their olive trees and
sycamores, and here and th ere . mprad
grove, and watches some boy of 10 or 12
call to his sheep and sees them turn sud
denly from their grazing and follow bim, or
dart in another direction with the precision
of the shepherd dogs of the Scotch High
landers. The "sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me" and we
know that those little footsteps went in
quest frequently of a lost lamb bleating
upon the hills which had strayed from His
father's flock.
Pope ,ro'a Gift a Wonderful Picture.
Pope Leo XIII gave to that simple chapel,
presided over by the Capuchin monks, a
wonderful picture to the author's thinking
the most remarkable one and the most ac
curate delineation of the subject that has
been produced In modern times. Reproduc
tion can give only a faint idea ot Its beauty
and color and meaning. In the center
stands the Chrlct Child, with face turned
toward the spectator, working intently with
a ground plane upon what appears to be a
cross. We know that the cross dates back
at least 3,000 years B. C, to the Babylonian
and Egyptian kings. At first it meant
power since the days of the crucifixion It
has come to mean sacrifice.
There, then, Is the Christ Child at work.
On the right stands bis father, looking In
tently at the work, and the artist has fore
shadowed in a most happy way the Christ
that Is to be that is, we see that the head
of the father is like the heads of the Christ
that have come down to us through the
ages not the conventional head, but the
traditional bead, and the head that one
sees now and again on the high roads of
Galilee today. The father Is Intent upon
the work, but cn the other side of the
canvas, seated upon the steps of slone and
stucco that lead to an upper sleeping apart
ment, sits Mary, the mother, with the hand
loom arrested for the moment, gazing In
tently upon her child, her heart bent upon
hereon, dreaming half sadly of His future,
with a subconscious thought possessing her
or foreboding of the sacrifice and 111 that
must betide her child.
The artist has made a most happy con
trast between the mother snd the father.
Ou the ground are some doves picking up
bits of straw and the wheat that has fallen
from the manger close at hand, wbere the
donkey is kept which was necessary for
any man who made journeys over the hills
to Samaria, or on to Jerusalem, or down to
the Great Plain and back again.
The simple-hearted monk permitted me
to sit there quietly and study this picture
and seemed surprised that I cared to linger
where the average traveler glanced about,
consulted his Baedeker and moved on. The
artist had come down to Nazareth, had
walked over Its hills, had watched the
children at their play or following the
sheep patiently as they grazed from
hillock to hilltop. Renan and a few German
critics have done their utmost to discredit
the historical accuracy of these spots that
tradition has held to as the birthplace, the
workshop and the place of crucifixion of the
Master, but when all Is told they only give
you their own opinion or what M. Renan
thinks or believes, and for my part I
prefer, with the men who have loved this
life and these holy places, to believe the
traditions and the feeling that possesses
the poet and the artist as be lingers on
these sacred spots. I prefer to believe,
Indeed, that "poetry is truer than history."
With th Womem at the Kuuulaln.
The atternoon Is wearing away, the flocks
are coming in from the hillside and the
(Continued on Twelfth Page.)
