r
thought, and their story is told with that charming artlessness that is
perfect art. They were not men of genius, but plain men, mostly tax
collectors and fishermen untrained in the schools, with no thought of
skill or literary art. Yet all the stylists and artists of the world
stand in wonder before their unconscious effort and supreme
achievement. No attempt at rhetoric disfigures their record, not a word
is written for effect, but the simple facts are allowed to tell their
own eloquent and marvelous tale. The inspired writers mixed no
imagination with their verities, for they had no other thought than to
tell the plain truth; and this gives us confidence in the
trustworthiness of their narrative. These men did not follow cunningly
devised fables when they made known unto us the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, for they were eye-witnesses of his glory.

VI. The Town of Bethlehem

The land of Palestine is divided from north to south by a central range
of mountains which runs up through this narrow strip of country like a
spinal column. About five miles south of Jerusalem a ridge or spur
shoots off from the central range towards the east. On the terminal
bluff of this ridge lies the town of Bethlehem. On the west it is shut
in by the plateau, and on the east the ridge breaks steeply down into
the plain. Vineyards cover the hillsides with green and purple, and
wheatfields wave in the valleys. In the distant east, across the Dead
Sea, the mountains of Moab are penciled in dark blue against the sky.

At the present time the town has eight thousand inhabitants. Its
flat-roofed houses are well built and its narrow streets are clean. It
is a busy place, its chief industry being the manufacture of souvenirs
of olive wood which are sold throughout the Christian world. Its
principal church is the Church of the Nativity, which is built over a
cave that is one of the most sacred and memorable spots on the globe. It
is believed that this cave is the place where Christ was born, and a
silver star inlaid in the stone floor is intended to mark the exact
spot. It was then used as the stable of the adjoining inn, and in its
stone manger the infant Jesus may have been laid.

At the time of this event Bethlehem was a mere village of a few hundred
people. It might have been thought that Jerusalem, the historic
metropolis and proud capital of the country, the chosen city of God and
seat of the temple and center of wo