The San Francisco call. [volume], December 18, 1898, Page 6, Image 6

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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6
Two Christmas Days In Bethlehem,
Artist TSssot 9 the Famous Painter of Sacred Scenes,
Writes About the Sights He Saw In the Holy Land, and How
He Passed a Night In the Very Grotto In Which
Christ Was Born, /
jKe Virgin*
Copyrighted, 1594-1595, by J. J. Tissot.
Speciu.l to The Sunday Call.
WHEX I left Paris in October,
18S6, it was to go to Pales
tine, there to come into per
sonal contact with those
spots sanctified by the pres
ence of the Savior when He trod the
earth.
1 went to Jerusalem and saw that
Via Doiorcsa along which He made H,is
weary way toward Calvary. I saw
Calvary Itself and ail the sacred spots
in the neighborhood, Gethsemane iind
its garden, Bethany and its tomb. But
I r. served for Christinas my visit to
Bethlehem, that little spot destined to
immortality because of the birth of the
Savior within its confines.
On the day before Christmas, accom
panied by the French Consul, I depart
ed from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem,
resolved to see that place and its sanc
tified grotto on the anniversary ot the
very night when Jesus the Christ first
opened his eyes upon the world which
He had come to save. But a.ias, for
the emotions which filled my being, I
could not have chosen a more unfor
tunate time. As we were on our way
I noticed great crowds of people of
every nation on the ia.ee of the globe
hurrying in the same direction,
anxiously, eagerly, as if they feared to
miss some part of an exhibition. We
arrived in Bethlehem, and through the
inlluence of the Consul were permitted
to pass the night in the very grotto in
■which Christ was born.
Throng at the Savior's Birthplece.
To my surprise and horror I found a
seething mass of men and women surg
ing around the place trying to push
each other aside and se< — they knew
not what. I was Infinitely shocked,
for it seemed to me that these thou
sands lacked all reverence for this, the
holiest place on earth to a believing
Christian. I had hoped, burying my
self In reflection upon the wondrous
nativity, to pass the- night in prayer
and meditation. I hardly dared, to do
more than peep at the place in which
the Virgtn had born-.- the world's Re-
deemer — but these people, this mob, ap
peared to lack all sense and sentiment;
I wondered how much they understood,
how deeply they reverenced the Savior.
I was glad when the night was past;
I would have made my escape at once
had it been possible to pass through
that curious, pushing, josiling crowd.
I determined never to come to Bethle
hem when it was being so polluted.
The next year (IsST; I again passed
Christmas eve in Palestine, but it was
In the convent near Jerusalem and
; there was deep sentiment and holy
i revoronc... Never can I forget the ser
mon preached in the chapel by a truly
devout priest of Him whom he glori
fied. What an inspiration in the very
eoi! on which the preacher stood!
"What other subject could he choose but
that of the Christ? How his voice
touched every heart as with extended
. finger ho said: "A stone's throw from
• here He was buried. A little further
;on He was crucified. Through that city
. H>: walked to His death. Just over
: the hills He was taken prisoner after
j His agony in the garden, and in that
direction (pointing to Bethlehem) He
first saw the light."
In the Virgin's Steps.
The holy pleasure of visiting Beth
lfehem under proper condition I enjoyed
a short time after my first unpleasant
experience. I followed the path which
leads from Nazareth to that town to
1 which Mary and Joseph had come at
that critical time in their career. It is
a walk of three days from one town
to the other, but it is worth far more
than the fatigue which must be en
dured to feel that one is walking In
the very footsteps of the Virgin.
Bethleen, or Bethlehem. is also
known by the Hebrew name of Eu
thrata. These words mean the "House
of Bread" and "the land" or "country."
It was indeed to be a "House of Bread"
In a great and spiritual sense after the
birth of the Savior there. The Arabs
give it another name resembling the
first; for they rail it Bait-Lahen or the
"House of Meat." The town itself
dates from the most remote antiquity
Moses speak, of it in the thirty-fifth
chapter of Genesis in connection with
the birth of Benjamin, which took
place, he tells us, wlu-n his parents had
but a little way to come through
Euthiath < which is the same as Beth
lehem), Rachel dying Immediately af
terward.
When Palestine was conquered by
Joshua. Bethlehem, like Jerusalem, was
Inhabited by the idolatrous Canaanites.
and in the division of the conauered
districts it fell to the lot of the tribes
of ,Tud,i.
The situation of Bethlehem, is indeed
most beautiful. Built on the crest of
the mountains of Judea, about two
league* to the south of Jerusalem, its
form is that of a crescent, one end of
which is marked by the Wells of David,
the other by the Grottos of the Nativ
ity. Between the two horns of the
crescent stretches a fertile valley. the
Wady-el-Karoubeh. The descent of
Illustrations by J. J. Tissot.
this valley is very steep and resembles
a circus with low parallel walls, which
keep the earth from sliding down, and
have the form of tier gn tier"M seats.
This valley presents a charming ap
pearance clothed as it is with an abun
dant vegetation in which vines, flg,
olive and almond trees abound.
The view from the top of the ascent
Js bounded on the north by the hill of
Mar-Elias and on the west by the
Mountains of the Desert, where St.
John dwelt; on the- east Beit-Sahour
rises from the little hill where Ruth
gleaned the ears of grain in the fields
of Boaz, while beyond can be seen the
Beveral stony hills, called the Wilder
ness. Still further to the east the rocks
cf Mount Moab stretch along like a
wall, the base of which is bathed by
the waters of the Dead Sea. On the
south Mount Herodion forms a regu
lar cone, on the summit of which a few
ruins indicate the site of the castle of
Herod. It was here that the tetrarch
was interred and later the Crusaders
raised defensive works; hence its more
modern appellation of the Hill of the
Franks.
Where Christ Was Born.
The Grottos of the Nativity are a
scries of natural caves, extending for
a considerable distance in the moun
tains, forming chambers connected
with each other. As a matter of fact
shepherds watching their fiock3 from
the hills avail themselves of these shel
ters in cold or bad weather, and it was
in them that Mary and Joseph, finding
no place in the caravansary, decided
to bake refuge.
tradition as the exact birthplace of the
Chri3t is situated in the lower part of
one of these caves reached by two
Blopes, now converted into flights of
stone steps.
Between the two sets of steps is a
slight depression which tradition indi
cates as the spot to which Mary retired
when the divine child was born. It
was only after the birth that she car
ried him a few paces to a more com
modious place, more sheltered from the
cold, where It was possible to give the
cave something of the semblance of a
room.
There, says the legend, were some
animals; an ox and an ass. However
that may be, Mary found something
there to serve the purpose of a crib in
which to lay her new born child. This
crib, or manger, as it is generally call
ed, is now preserved in the Church <>f
Santa^Maria-Xaggiore at Rome, where
it is visited and venerated by numerous
pilgrims.
Location of the Temples.
The place rendered sacred by the
birth of. the Savior, naturally, has been
a goal of pilgrimage to many thou
sands besides myself. The early Chris
tians flocked to it in crowds. After the
revolt of the Jews, under Bar-Cochba,
the Emperor Hadrian had a temple to
Jupiter erected on the Mount of Olivets
on the very scene of the ascension; a
temple to Venus on Golgotha, and one
to Adonis above the Grottos of Bethle
hem. These three temples remained
standing for one hundred and eighty
years, thus providentially attesting the
rites of these venerated sanctuaries un
tii the time when St. Helena, mother of
Emperor Constantine, replaced them
with basilicas in honor of Jesus Christ.
The Basilica of Bethlehem is still
standing and with the exception of the
io, which is hidden by massive
buildings, is almost intact.
The interior consists of five naves,
divided by rows of columns with Corin
thian capitals, which were probably
taken from the ruins of the Temple of
Jerusalem,' doubtless the source of
much of the material used in the basiii
cas of St. Helena, which were erected
in a very short space of time.
■Where the Shepherds Watched.
Many have wondered how it was
possible for the shepherds to be watch
ing j.i the open air at the time when
Christ was born. The place where the
shepherds were when the angels ap
peared to them is supposed to have
been what is now called Beit-Sahour, a
word signifying "The House of the
[The Wise fiEN journeying to Bethlehem ..,-
Copyrighted, 1894-1 895, by J. J. Tissot
Shepherds." It is surprising at first
sight that shepherds should be watch
ing their flocks in the open air at the
time of the year set for the nativity,
for the cold must have been intense. It
was no doubt to the end of December
that the account In Holy Writ re
fers, but the pastures were not vast
grazing grounds where the sheep were
gathered together in thousands from
every direction, but mere local fields,
where each shepherd tended his own
little group of animals, and there is
nothing in this to surprise any one fa
miliar with the customs of the East.
After the December rains are over
the grass begins to grow again and the
flowers reappear. The severity of the
winters vary very much, and some
especially fine days occur, even in the
very heart of the cold season, when the
6h< pherda of Bethlehem would go down
into the plain with their Hocks, as the
Arabs do now in good season.
The gospels tell us that when the
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1898.
shepherds were surprised by the angels
they were "abiding in the fields, keep
ing watch over their flocks by night."
The night was always divided into
three so-called watches. The shep
herds changed guards every three
hours during the short night of the
summer and every four hours during
the longer nights of the winter. In the
latter case the first watch ended at 10
and the second at 2. while the third
lasted till daybreak. The shepherds on
guard gathered round the campflre
while waiting their turn to rest, and
it must have been to those thus wait
ing that the angels appeared. They no
doubt wakened their comrades to tell
them the wonderful news, and after
ward all went together to Bethlehem,
where they found and worshiped the
Holy Child.
The other personages mentioned in
Scripture in connection with the birth
of Jesus are the Magi. Magi or sooth
sayers are mentioned in the Book of
Daniel as being in the service of King
Nebuchadnezzar. They studied aßtron
omy and interpreted dreams. Those
referred to in the gospels seem to have
been not only wise men, but kings, or
Sheiks of Chaldea and its neighbor
hood. They, too, engaged in the
study of the heavenly bodies and per
haps also worshiped them, a fact which
explains the immediate attention ac
corded to a sien appearing in the heav
ens at the moment of the birth of the
Messiah. The color of their undergar
ments, yellow, indicated their profes
sion.
The Star of Bethlehem.
What was the star referred to in the
sacred record? There is absolutely no
positive evidence on this point. Some
My Visit to the Summer Home .
of the Queen of Spain
By Mrs. FranK. Leslie.
Special to the Sunday Call.
SINCE the recent "unpleasant
ness" -with Spain her country and
people have become a source of
curiosity and interest to us—per
haps on the principle of General Da
mas, who says in the "Lady of Lyons,"
"It is astonishing how I like a man
after having fought with him."
Such being the case, it may be of
interest to the readers of The Call to
hear something about the summer
home of the Queen Regent and the
"Little King," as her son is called.
The Queen is said to be a bit of a bigot,
us suits her position upon the throne
bequeathed by Philip V, but either by
birth or training, she has reached an
impassibility of expression I have never
seen equaled. A mask of marble could
be no colder than her face. She has
really no beauty; her teeth are large
and projecting and inadequately cov
ered by her full lips, and her mass of
ash blonde hair is not lighted up by a
tinge of gold. Her pale blue eyes might
have been pretty had the lashes been
heavier and darker or if brightened
by tenderness or any softening emotion.
Her figure, however, is tall, slender,
graceful and aristocratic in the ex
treme, and her hand 3 and feet are small
and admirably shaped and bear testi
mony to her high birth. She has won
thSrespect of the Spanish people by her
ditrnity. courage and good sense. The
royal' widow's every action is prudent
and her manner grave and self-pos
sessed. Her anxiety to please the peo
ple over whom she hopes that her son
is to rule is exemplified by the assidu
ous manner in which she immediately
gave herself over to the study of the
Spanish language after her husband's
death, and which she now speaks with
the utmost fluoucy even if the accent
leaves something to be desired.
There are women to whom sorrow
brings utter wreckage and others who
Simply congeal and become stron? and
hard as ice and Christina of Austria
s > ms to me one of these.
San Sebastian is almost on the
frontier between France and Spain and
the Queen Regent, after visiting there
for a few seasons, finally adopted it as
the summer home of herself and court.
San Sebastian has much to say for
herself quite apart from the fact that
the bay of La Concha, protected from
the too vigorous rush of the Biscayan
tides by the island of Santa Clara, is
one of the most charming and popular
bathing places in the world.
La Concha has always alluringly
curved her softly rounded arms- the
Bay of Biscay has always rushed to
their embrace— and Santa Clara has
think it was a comet or some other
similar body; others are of the opinion
that it Avas a meteor, resembling more
or less a shooting star, which trailed
slowly along at a little distance from
the ground so as actually to guide the
steps of the Magi. The gospel seems
to sanction the latter interpretation
when it says: The star "came and
stood over where the young child was."
A star, properly so called, would not
have indicated the spot with such pre
cision. Nevertheless, it is clear that
the significance of the sign was re
vealed in some way to the Magi.
Had the travelers exchanged ideas
previous to their arrival? It is very
probable that they had. No doubt their
caravans, though they started from
different points, met beyond the Jor
dan on the side of the mountains of
Moab, whence they entered the prom
ised land, still preceded by the star.
The word "house" used by the evan
gelists to indicate the place where the
Magi found the Messiah seems to point
to the conclusion that during the jour
ney of their visitors from the east Jos
eph and Mary had left the cave of the
nativity for a more comfortable dwell
ing.
It Is impossible to convey the ideas
aroused in the breast of the devout
Christian by the sight of Bethlehem
and its sanctified spots any better or
more clearly than in the pictures in
which I have tried to express my inter
pretation of thos« stirring scenes as
they must have taken place.
If. by my pictures and books, I have
been able to bring the Christ nearer to
the minds and hearts of Christians of
all lands, I am more than repaid for all
my labor. J. J. TISSOT.
ways stood between them. That through
the Queen Regent the world flocked
hither is a mere matter of detail.
Doubtless the prosperity of San Sebas
tian for the past ten years is due to
this influx of the world, but like a gay
new costume on some venerable and
dignified old lady one is rather sorry
to see the improvement and regrets the
stately indifference to fashion that city
and dame alike must lose in trying to
keep up with the world.
Why! it is said that not a decade be
fore Christina came to San Sebastian,
and when it was proposed to get up a
ball In honor of Queen Isabella, the idea
was abandoned because no woman in
the town owned a ball dress and it was
deemed useless to go to the expense of
a costume which could never again be
used until another advent of royalty.
All this is changed now, for more mag
nificent toilets I have never seen than
in San Sebastian a few years ago.
As a frontier town San Sebastian has
been the scene of many stirring events,
and has been snatched by the French
and torn back by the Spanish in half a
dozen terrible conflicts, each one of
which has left its stamp unon the
ancient city. As early as the ninth
century it was conquered by the
Romans, who called the place Izurum
Freed from the Roman yoke, it was
known as Ponosliga, which is Basque
for San Sebastian, and when Spain
having driven out the Moors, became
consolidated into one kingdom, the
Basque provinces of Guipuzcoa, Alva
and Vizcaya drew together refusing to
merge their ancient privileges in the
general government and like the Swiss
showed themselves so determined to
sacrifice life, rather than liberty, that
their claims soon took the form of
rights, and the little seigniory became
an imperlum in imperio governed by
Its own laws, having its own Legisla-
Photographed from the Famous Painting
of Tissot.
ture, tariff, tolls, police and army:
claiming exemption from conscription,
from imposts and from any interfer
ence on the part of Spain in the ad
ministration of justice.
The origin of the Basque people is
lost in antiquity. Noah is for them
quite a modern and familiar cousin. I
am not sure but that they, like the
Scotchman, had a little private and par
ticular ark In the time of the deluge
and declined to mix with Ham, Shem
and Japheth. Their language, as old
as themselves, bears no resem
blance to Latin, Celtic or any other
tongue. It consists of about 4000 words,
some of them sixteen syllables in
length, and it is so difficult that, as the
tradition runs, the devil, wishing to se
Walter Besant Discusses Church Going
One Hundred Years Ago.
tt TOULD you like to know how the people of London
$ \ A / observed their Sunday 150 years ago? The
Q \/ \ / churches were open, of course, and there were
Q I If two services in every one, and in some there
$ were three. Also the responsible and respectable
took his family to church, as a matter of course.
And he was also critical as to the sermon, which was gen
erally doctrinal. He made his apprentices go to church as
Wwell, and demanded the text when they came home as a
Qproof of attendance. Alas! he little knew that the boys
Qwere larking all the morning, and when the congregation
$came out stopped the old women and got the text from
£them.
q However, lam not at this moment concerned with the
goers, but with those who went elsewhere. And
formed the majority. The fields round the town were
.filled with companies of men called Rural Societies, who
about all the morning and dined together at a
Wtavern. The High Constables went their rounds among the
pretending to prevent the profanation of the day,
gbut they were squared by the publicans. A good deal of
business was transacted on this clay in the
w porch of St. Mary-le-Bow, on the Custom House quays,
Cand in the Temple Piazza, after the Bishop of London had
the nave of St. Paul's.
Informers went about threatening publicans, barbers and
"greengrocers for carrying on trade on the Sunday morning
Bunless they paid a little blackmail. A shilling was under-
Qstood to meet the case. Barbers sent their apprentices on
morning to shave the prisoners in the Fleet for
so that they might get practice. Poor French
Opeople walked about Spittal Field, and the fields of Seven
ftDials in search of dandelions to make salad. Children were
after ufternoon service, and a supper was given
afterward to celebrate the occasion. At this supper the
w nurse, it was allowed, could blamelessly get drunk. The
Cbead'.es of churches were bribed by beggars to let them sit
$on the steps and ask charity of the congregation coming
& out. It was the best business of the week. The rails before
w the houses of gentlemen were crowded with beggars.
Ck Ladies on their way to church, or on their return from
Qchurch, were followed by a footman carrying a long sticky
~or by a boy at least. He also carried the prayer books.
~When the ladies got home after church they did not dlsda'n
Oto slap their servants if dinner was delayed. The fields
the Tottenham Court road and the Foundling
wHospital were the resort of the sporting fraternity, who
here assembled to enjoy the innocent diversions of duck
and cat hunting, with prizefighting, quarterstaff
and other sports.
£ The worshipers in Whitefield's Tabernacle, which stood
here, looking out upon the sports, must have been 'edified
«by the language which fell upon their ears from without
$while the preacher expounded the word within. The plea*
£ure gardens were open all day long. People crowded to
them in the early morning for breakfast and stayed all
»day. At two there waa an ordinary; in the afternoon and
an organ recital; there was tea in the alcoves, and
oln the evening there was supper. The company was ex
mixed, but then these good people liked a mixed
"-company. The more it was mixed the better they liked If
CSperhaps because it enabled them to realize the superiority
£of their own virtue.
In the evening, when they reluctantly came away with
much punch as they could hold, they formed themselves
Qinto bands for purposes of protection; while the footnads
out on the road for single passengers, or haply
passengers, whom it was easy and a pleasure
8 And this waa the way of a Sunday in June or July, 1760.
duce the stanch Catholic people from
their allegiange, set himself to learn
their vernacular, and after devoting
several years to the study gave up both
the effort and the people. Hence the
Basque are to this day fervent Catho
lics, and Satan has never had a foot
hold in their domain.
Whether this be the case or not, they
are certainly a singularly noble, sim
ple-minded, honest, truthful people,
hospitable and generous to their friends
and dauntlessly brave to their enemies.
The Casino at San Sebastian, built
by a native of the city, is one of the
most magnificent in the world. The
immense establishment has conversa
tion halls, reading rooms, gorgeous
salons, a superb ball and concert room,
DID you ever hear the story of the conversion of the j
club critic? He criticised everything; he shuddered)
| if . you spoke jj of the Academy; |he fainted if you
talked of any popular novelist; the mere whisper of
• any living actor threw him into writhing 1 agonies.
; He would only acknowledge one living poet, a young j
gentleman of forty, and of bilious aspect and venomous !
tongue, who had brought out two little volumes in white [
and gold. Nobody had read him— it is a Philistine world—
except the club critic. He : found fault every day with
everything on the table. The mutton was execrable; the
wine was either corked or "gone off," or not what it pre
tended to be; and so on.
Now, his friends, who also thought pretty well of them
selves as critics, naturally resented the superiority of this
member; they, you see, could pass the Royal Academy
without a shudder, and they refused to read the one living
poet. But they observed - that, though this ultra-critical i
young man called the mutton bad names, he devoured it '
with apparent pleasure; and, while he cursed the claret,!
he drank it with seeming enjoyment. Also, that he read
the popular novelist secretly, and laughed; and he went to
the theater, and not only laughed, ; but also cried.
■ And one of them at last tried an experiment upon him.
This person repaired secretly to a lady of miraculous powers I
and of great modesty. She said she had spent thirty years
with the miraculous Mahatmas of Thibet, and had learned
how to work their miracles. And she confessed that among
those simple people she had lived as a kind of a goddess.
- So this member of the club went to her and said, "Do
the thing I ask and I will believe and become one of your
disciples." Then he sat down and whispered tremulously.
And there was ra v chink as of coin. And the lady laughed!
and said it should be done. - ■'■.'■'.":•■•
. Then she made a wax image and she called it after 'the !
name of . the critic, and she did not stick pins into it and
put ;it before the flre, but she made mesmeric passes, and
said she was going to 'illustrate telepathy; and she
whispered in the ears of the image. She was really a »
most wonderful woman, and her name, was Sapphira Endor
Then she turned a to that club man and she said- "Go He :
will dine at the club to-night. Dine with him."
The critic did dine at the club. That Is, he sat down
He tasted the soup. Suddenly there fell upon his palate
a sense — only : a sense— of that soup in its perfect form
he sighed, .: he pushed the ) plate away. ; When the fish rd'
peared he tasted it, but with loathing, because the sense of
perfection, ; the'; memory,- of the heights of flavor that fish
ought to possess, fell upon him, so he turned away dl<?
gusted. The unhappy man could' eat nothing So with th«
wine. He knew what it might have been Fe drank
nothing. UldnK
Need I go on? He had become the real critic not the'
sham critic. . He was cursed with the standard of the hiS I
est— the canon of Perfection. ;: ; , me nign- |
This misery lasted three days; he was half starved- hJ
could not read or even write a letter on accmin^nf : iS e
vision of Perfection which pursued him in 6
■■-: "My dear fellow," said ". his friend ■ "I halt m SVS V
seen ■ this coming on. It has been " your misfortn™ f 1 " 06
too fine » a taste. The : only : way to be ™ ,rS f I ? c t0 haVe
criticism, which would kill anyboS-, is to Jjitfvate°WnS e
ness of perception ; then you will like Tp«nv«« ate^ bl - "
than your favorite poet" with the bilious evJZ™^* 1 m ° re :
mous tongue. And you will like thTnLT* * the yen °- !
than your present gods." ; the. Royal Academy better
' "For Heaven's sake let me eft rM «<> ♦*,- v, I
the unhanpy critic, "and I win !fke LL nyn vt h S » horror '" said
Copyrighted, 1894-1895, by J. J. Tissot.
refreshment rooms of different grades,
card, biiliard and music rooms, ladies'
boudoirs, exquisitely decorated, dress
ing rooms, a playroom for children, a
hydropathic establishment, besides all
manner of baths. Pretty little mosques .
for the sale of flowers, of cigars or of
lemonade are found at every turn, as
well as hair dressers' establishments,
where languid gentlemen are shaved to
glow music and the tinkle of perfumed
fountains, all of which goes to prove
that the Queen Regent chose well her
summer home.
MRS. FRANK LESLIE.
Every other Austrian household and
every third Italian family contributes one
member to the national army.