CHIMHAM AT BETHLEHEM.

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former is the more probable, and more in accordance with the custom of the country. One thing, however, seems clear, that, long after the time of David, 'the inn' at Bethlehem was well known as the khan of Chimham, and that it stood on land which had descended by inheritance from Boaz to Jesse, to

David, and to David's adopted son.' Here was to be fulfilled the prophecy of Micah, But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.'

1 Hepworth Dixon, in his Holy Land, endeavours to carry the argument a step farther, and to show, by a comparison of the phraseology in the books of Ruth and of Jeremiah, that it was erected on or close to the house of Boaz. His arguments are not without weight, but they are far from being conclusive.

2 Micah v. 2, Matt. ii. 5, 6. John vii. 42.

E

We thus come to that event, the glory of which transcends every other which has yet passed under our review. Here the Eternal God veiled, yet manifested, Himself in human form. The King of Glory is found ‘as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' Omnipotence slumbered within an infant's arm. Omniscience lay concealed beneath an infant's brow. In the plain below us, the shepherds were keeping their flocks by night, when they heard the angelic anthem, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' Up that steep rocky path they came to see this great sight. Over that mountain-side the Wise Men brought their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh to pay homage to 'the Desire of all nations.' As we stand in the rock-hewn Chapel of the Nativity gazing upon the silver star on the floor, and read the words HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST, even the most cold and apathetic can scarcely refrain from tears.

But is this the actual spot? Do we really stand on the very place where the Virgin 'brought forth her first-born Son, and called His name Jesus'? There is everything in the surroundings of the place to awaken scepticism. This series of tawdrily-decked chapels, in which all the great events which have happened in Bethlehem are huddled together within one. building, almost compel incredulity. Here, for instance, is the altar of the Holy Innocents, and we are asked to believe that the remains of twenty thousand infants, slain by Herod, lie buried close by the place of the nativity, and we are shown the preserved tongue of one of them! However willing we may be to accept the tradition as to the site, we find it difficult to do so when it is mixed up with such preposterous legends as these.

And yet the evidence for its authenticity is strong, though not quite conclusive. The church stands upon a spot, just outside the village, which the inn or khan is very likely to have occupied. The 'house of Chimham by Bethlehem' was well known to the Jews, as we have seen, and when the khan of a village has been once established, it is seldom that its site is changed. It continues to occupy the same spot from age to age. We know that, so early as the second century, Justin described our Lord's birth-place as a cave near Bethlehem.' And Jerome himself, a native of Syria and familiar with the customs and traditions of the country, took up his abode in an adjacent cave, that he might be near his Lord's birth-place. The fact that the Chapel of the Nativity is a grotto, though calculated to excite suspicion, is not of itself fatal. It is by no means improbable that a cave contiguous to the inn might have served the purpose of a stable. It should further be remembered that the church may stand upon the site of the inn even though the Chapel of the Nativity has been placed in a cave in accordance with an erroneous and misleading superstition. Dean Stanley, summing up the evidence for and against the authenticity of the site, concludes with the remark, 'There remains the remarkable fact that the spot was reverenced by Christians as the birth-place of Christ two centuries before the conversion of the empire

THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY.

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before that burst of local religion which is commonly ascribed to the visit of Helena.' Whilst feeling that the balance of probability is decidedly in favour of

the truth of the tradition, one consideration made me wish to come to a different conclusion. The degrading superstition and the disgraceful discord which prevail here are a scandal to the birth-place of Christianity. Any

thing more alien to the spirit of the Prince of Peace can scarcely be conceived than the bitter hostility which rages amongst the three confessions -Latin, Greek, and Armenian-which share the sacred shrine. The church -a noble edifice, with stately columns, probably brought from the Temple at Jerusalem is no longer used for worship. It is held by a garrison of Turkish soldiers, stationed to prevent bloodshed amongst the monks and the pilgrims. Passing along the subterranean gallery, through the long series of gaudy chapels, acts of idolatry are witnessed the grossness of which recalls the fetish worship of Africa. Even a coldly-scientific geographer like Ritter cannot refrain from exclaiming, Bethlehem has thus become a sacred name and a sacred place, although it is so poor and mean and unimportant; but unfortunately, to many who visit it, its higher significance is lost: they kiss the wood of the manger, but it is mere dry wood to them--they miss the living Spirit which once began that earthly career there which had been prepared for it from before the foundation of the world.''

Leaving Bethlehem on the east, the road winds down a rocky slope, past fields of wheat and barley and terraced vineyards. Innumerable sheep and goats are seen on the hills around, as in the days of Boaz and David. At the foot a level plain is reached, affording good pasturage, and dotted over with clumps of olive trees. This is called the Shepherds' Field, from the tradition that here they were keeping their flocks by night when the angels appeared to them. Soon the scenery becomes wild and desolate. In no part of the world have I seen anything with which to compare it. If the chalkdowns of the South of England were denuded of grass, were heaved up and tossed about in the throes of an earthquake, and the sides of the hills thus formed were cut into ravines by the fury of winter torrents, it would afford some illustration of the weird desolation of this Wilderness of Judæa. The gorge of the Kedron runs steeply down from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, a descent of nearly four thousand feet. The wadies which seam the mountain-sides are dry in the summer, but in the winter they form the beds of roaring torrents. Now and then a glimpse of the Dead Sea is gainedthe deep blue of its waters gaining an additional intensity from the red or purple of the mountains of Moab, which form the background of the landscape. The black tents of the Bedouin, their flocks and herds feeding on the mountain-sides, an Arab horseman, or a string of camels with their noiseless tread, are the only signs of life in this region of sterility.

In about three hours from Bethlehem, the CONVENT OF MAR SABA is reached. It stands on the edge of the gorge of the Kedron, here from a thousand to twelve hundred feet deep, the rocky sides of which are almost precipitous, and at the bottom of the ravine are only a few yards apart. Looked at from beneath, parts of the building are seen to be literally clamped

1 Comparative Geography of Palestine. By Carl Ritter. Vol. iii. p. 339.

CONVENT OF MAR SABA.

to the perpendicular walls of rock, and hang perilously over the abyss. Other portions of the edifice are constructed in chambers cut out of the mountain-side. The labyrinth of caves, chambers, and passages is most bewildering. Only an inmate of the convent can find his way from one part to another. What may be called the land side of the monastery is enclosed. by a high wall of great thickness. The only entrance is by a massive gate, through which no one is admitted unless vouched for by the Greek patriarch

at Jerusalem. Bedouin and women are not admitted at all. The former for the obvious reason that on several occasions, having forced their way in, they massacred all the inmates. Ladies are excluded, because, as Miss Martineau bitterly expresses it, 'the monks are too holy to be hospitable.' The rule of the monastery is very rigid. The monks never eat meat, and subject themselves to severe austerities. Though there is a valuable library, it seems to be entirely unused; indeed, a majority of the ascetics are unable to read, and

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