t, stern men, helmeted, with shining armor, sword, and spear, in
perfect discipline, showing the pride of the race which had
conquered the world by force of arms. Here he saw, too, the poor and
the suffering, the beggar, the outcast.

{51}{52}

[Illustration]
FINDING OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE.
Holman Hunt (1821-1910)

From a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton,
Mass., and used by special permission.
[End illustration]

{53}

He began to see, no doubt, as a boy, how much the world needed a
saviour, and he began to form his resolution to be a hero, not a
hero like the Roman soldier, but a hero of peace, one who should
help and uplift humanity. So the days of his boyhood passed, in
study, and work, and play, as he steadily grew toward manhood.

Every year three great feasts were kept by the Jews. The greatest of
these was the Passover. People who could do so, left their homes,
and journeyed to Jerusalem, the great sacred city of the Jews, to
keep this feast; so that all the houses of the city were full of
guests, all the villages near by were crowded with people, and the
hills about were covered with the tents of those who could find no
shelter in the houses. Women and little children were not required
to take the hard journey, though they sometimes went. The journey
had to be made on foot, or on the backs of horses or mules, the men
carrying their food with them, and stopping at night where the dark
found them. When they could arrange it, groups of friends and
neighbors liked to go together, for company and safety. It was then
often a happy journey, though it was never easy, and much as the
boys looked forward to it, they often found that it was tiresome to
tramp all day over the hills, and that they did not sleep as well at
night on the open ground, with the cold stars looking down at them,
as they did in their own beds at home. Yet the boys liked to go.
Boys no doubt liked to "camp out" then, as they do now, and there
was always a touch of adventure; the possibility of meeting robbers,
or wild beasts. Besides, it was taking a part in man's work; for
they were sometimes allowed to go when they were twelve years old.
When they reached this age, they were to "keep the law," as their
fathers did, and that made them feel like men. So it must have been
a great day for Jesus, when he, now twelve years old, was allowed
for the