The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 46

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46 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Ieen erected, in the building of which the!
| German Empress has taken special interest, |

In the blessed Christmas time millions turn | contributing a large sum to that purpose.

their thoughts to Bethlehem, the birth place, We need not go to Bethlehem to find and
| worship the Saviour. He comes to us in the

of our Saviour.
Bethlehem means ‘‘Bread Town’’ and mas) Gospel: Wherever the Gospel is preached

probably thus called on account of the fer-/there is a Bethlehem, a ‘‘house of bread,’’
tility of the soil around it, The town, situated/in which Jesus, the Bread from heaven, is}
sbout two hours’ walk south of Jerusalem, | brought to sinners. May we receive this Bread |
numbers some four or five thousand inhabit-| in true faith, and then see to it that it is also

- "From heaven above to earth I come
good news to every home.”

sed singing, he said with a |
amma, more! ‘This is the i
d and Lord.’’’ ‘Then he fell |
isp to awake in the company of ;

e perfect round the throne of {

Bethlehem.

ristmas Service in New Zealand.

ants, who mostly engage in the manufacture
of crucifixes, bracelets, etc., from cedar and
other hard woods. These goods are sent to
all countries of the world.

The general appearance of the town is like
that of other towns in Palestine. The streets
are narrow and crooked; the houses flat-
roofed, mostly small, with the fronts all walled
up, with the exception
of. one small door.
East of the town are
green hills, where to
the present day yet
shepherds are seen
watching their sheep.
It was on these ficlds,
it is said, that David
kept his father's sheep
and was anointed king
by the prophet Sam-
uel. Sloping plains
stretch away to the
northward, and it was
on these plains, it is
said, that the angel of
the Lord came upon
the shepherds in the

blessed Christmas
night and brought
them the good tidings
of the Saviour’s birth.

Naturally, the chief
_ attraction of the town

lies in its historic in-
terest, and each year
thousands from many Christian lands come
there to visit the birth place of the Saviour.
A magnificent church has been erected over
the traditional site of the place where Christ
was born. It is the joint property of the Greek
and Roman churches. In the portion belong-
3 ing to the Greeks there is a cave lighted by
= fourteen silver lamps. At the bottom of the
caye is a large flat stone into which is carved

a star with fourteen rays composed of glitter-

ing inlaid precious stones. It bears a Latin

inscription, the translation of which is: ‘‘Here

_ Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary.’’
_ That this is the exact spot of Christ’s birth
is, of course, more than doubtful. Each year

_ thousands of pilgrims come to this place to
“worship, many of them bringing valuable pre-
- sents. All that enter leave their shoes and
“sandals without, and as soon as they reach
the front of the stairs entering the cave, they
rostrate themselves with their faces to the
avement. A Protestant church has recently

oy

| brought to those that are perishing for wan
| of it.

t ee ee

' Little Eugene.

|

In a small town in Germany there lived in
1871 a little boy, Eugene by name. Hi
only five years old. He took great delight

ide wide sea a vessel was making
ew Zealand. It was not a steamer;

vas a sailing boat, and six months
ve passed before it reached the far-
d whither it was bound.

eé was one on board whose name has
since been widely
known, the mission-
ary Samuel Marsden
—returning to his post

as chaplain in Austra-

lia, but with his mind

full of plans for the

Houses in Bethlehem. -

conversion of New
Zealand. There was
another, a dark

skinned man, paleand
weak and wretched,
wrapped in an old
great-coat and not
likely to live, as it
would seem, to the
end of the voyage.
And he was a New
Zealander, named
Duaterra. It was not
accident; it was God’s
ordering that these
two should meet in
the same ship.
Duaterra had had
a strange life. He

wanted to see the

the hymns that his older brothers and sisters| world and had gone on board a whaling vessel

learned and sang at home. His favorite was
Luther’s Christmas hymn ‘‘From heaven above
to earth I come,”’ of which he especially loved

the third verse:

“This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need will aid afford;
He will Himself your Saviour be,
From all your sins to set you free.’’

‘‘Mamma,”’ said he, ‘‘of all verses in the whole
world this is indeed one of the most beauti-
ful. It is also very easy to learn.” During
the season of Advent his little sister took the
small-pox, and Eugene and his father also be-
came sick. Still the little fellow was able to
stand with the rest under the shining Christ-
mas tree and with beaming eyes recite his fa-
vorite Christmas hymn ‘From heayen above
to earth I come.” Then he had to be taken
to bed, and by New Year’s Day he was all
covered with small-pox. —At his Tequest his

which touched at New Zealand. ‘Then he had
passed from one ship to another; now six
months on land; now cast on a desert island
and living for many weeks on seals and sea-
fowl; cheated, robbed, ill treated, he lived
through it all, and at last found himself in
England. 3

‘‘Now,”’ said Duaterra, ‘‘my greatest wish
will be granted—I shall see the chief of this
wonderful people,’? and he asked to be taken
to Windsor to see the king. But again he
was deceived; the captain who had promised
to take him there only made excuses, and, re-
fusing even to pay him his wages, put him on
board the vessel on which Mr, Marsden em-
barked, to send him back to New Zealand.

But ‘he found a friend at last. ‘Through
Mr. Marsden’s kindness he recovered from
his illness, and after spending six months with

mamma sang one hymn after another for him, | him in his house at Sydney, he returned.to his

among others also the Christmas hymn

Own Country a Christian.