Adelaide
VAN DIEMAN'S LAND
The Young Savages
Little Mickey
FAR OFF.
ASIA.
Of the four quarters of the world--Asia is the most glorious.
There the first man lived.
There the Son of God lived.
There the apostles lived.
There the Bible was written.
Yet now there are very few Christians in Asia:
though there are more people there than in any other quarter
of the globe.
THE HOLY LAND.
Of all the countries in the world which would you rather see?
Would it not be the land where Jesus lived?
He was the Son of God: He loved us and died for us.
What is the land called where He lived? Canaan was once its name: but now
Palestine, or the Holy Land.
Who lives there now?
Alas! alas! The Jews who once lived there are cast out of it. There are
some Jews there; but the Turks are the lords over the land. You know the
Turks believe in Mahomet.
What place in the Holy Land do you wish most to visit?
Some children will reply, Bethlehem, because Jesus was born there;
another will answer, Nazareth, because Jesus was brought up there; and
another will say, "Jerusalem," because He died there.
I will take you first to
BETHLEHEM.
A good minister visited this place, accompanied by a train of servants,
and camels, and asses.
It is not easy to travel in Palestine, for wheels are never seen there,
because the paths are too steep, and rough, and narrow for carriages.
Bethlehem is on a steep hill, and a white road of chalk leads up to the
gate. The traveller found the streets narrow, dark, and dirty. He lodged
in a convent, kept by Spanish monks. He was shown into a large room with
carpets and cushions on the floor. There he was to sleep. He was led up
to the roof of the house to see the prospect. He looked, and beheld the
fields below where the shepherds once watched their flocks by night: and
far off he saw the rocky mountains where David once hid himself from
Saul.
But the monks soon showed him a more curious sight. They took him into
their church, and then down some narrow stone steps into a round room
beneath. "Here," said they, "Jesus was born." The floor was of white
marble, and silver lamps were burning in it. In one corner, close to the
wall, was a marble trough, lined with blue satin. "There," said the
monks, "is the manger where Jesus was laid." "Ah!" thought the traveller,
"it was not in such a manger that my Saviour rested his infant head
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