LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of California. 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 L.AJU kWliA 
 
 Class 
 
'BLITHELY THEY WENT UPON THEIR WAY.' 
 
THE HOUSE 
 OF CHIMHAM 
 
 By 
 
 EDGAR WHITAKER WORK 
 
 •F TBI 
 
 [university] 
 
 Of 
 ^ALIFOfU<i> 
 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 
 150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK 
 
l44 v ^(P^ 
 
 V\f£ 
 
 Copyright, 1909 
 By AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 
 
To 
 
 The Sweet Memory 
 
 of a brown-eyed Boy 
 
 of thirteen summers 
 
 . who was already in love 
 
 with the beauty of the world 
 
 when God called him into His own 
 
 Limitless Beauty 
 
 189831 
 
THE HOUSE OF 
 CHIMHAM 
 
 "CT^HERE is a blessing in the air, 
 
 Which seems a sense of joy to yield 
 To the bare trees, and mountains bare, 
 And grass in the green fields" 
 
 How deep into the great Past the 
 roots of the wondrous story go, and 
 what preparation it had in the in- 
 stincts and chivalries of men — 
 
 How a long-ago kindly deed grew 
 and ripened with the years, and how 
 it contributed to the world's Great 
 Surprise — 
 
 How such kingly forces of men as 
 Friendship, Love and Hope were 
 
6 The House of Chimham 
 
 preserved and beautified through the 
 lapse of time, and were caught up 
 at length into God's own Fine Ro- 
 mance — 
 
 How commonplace names and 
 things were enveloped in a large 
 Purpose, grew silently into a pro- 
 found meaning, and shone in the 
 fine light of Duty, Hope and Ser- 
 vice — 
 
 All this and more is the story of 
 the House of Chimham. 
 
 It began away yonder in a distant 
 century, but its fragrance lingers 
 upon the air ; its beauty hovers 
 above the hearthstone ; its impulse 
 is like iron in the blood of men. 
 
 It began — and it is not finished. 
 It never can be finished ; for it be- 
 longs to that rich store of wonder in 
 the human heart which ages of his- 
 tory cannot exhaust. It is near to 
 all kindly hearts and brave endeav- 
 ors. Its touch rests silently upon all 
 
The House of Chimham j 
 
 loving loyalty, all quiet chivalry. 
 Its grace blossoms with more than 
 nature's spring-time wonder into the 
 fruit of character, and its fulness is 
 the whole world's Desire and Prom- 
 ise. 
 
 All this and more is the story of 
 the House of Chimham. Its material 
 is first history, but afterwards it is 
 something more — it is Imagination, 
 it is Beauty, it is Hope ; it is all 
 that makes life worth the living. 
 
 In the long-ago a man came forth 
 to greet the King, gave him his 
 heart's welcome, brought gifts to 
 him, soothed his sorrow, and sup- 
 ported his need. And as the years 
 went by, those who came after him, 
 bound by some great noblesse oblige, 
 continued to make ready for the 
 King, looked into the face of each 
 guest who came to discern a Greater 
 Presence, until at length in the long 
 reward of time the true King came, 
 
8 The House of Chimham 
 
 the True Guest also of that world 
 which is in the heart of man. 
 
 And when the True Guest came, 
 his coming was the fulfilment of 
 many promises, not alone of written 
 prophecies, but of unwritten proph- 
 ecies that grow richly in the 
 hearts of those who set themselves 
 grandly yet simply to love and serve. 
 
 This is the story of the House of 
 Chimham, some broken words and 
 phrases of which are to be written 
 here. Poor, faded name of the long- 
 ago ! Yet perchance it deserves to 
 be written close to that Name whose 
 light can never fade. 
 
"Of HE Bactrian was but a wild childish man y 
 
 And could not write nor speak, but only loved. " 
 
 If the rocks of Olivet could speak, 
 they would unfold many a tale of 
 pathos. For in days gone by, when 
 men were overshadowed by sorrow, 
 they turned often to the slopes and 
 heights of Olivet, as if its solitude 
 might comfort theirs. So in the 
 day when sorrow pierced his soul, 
 royal David " passed over the brook 
 Kidron, and all the people passed 
 over, toward the way of the wilder- 
 ness." In all the days since that 
 day many have climbed the steeps of 
 Olivet with David, for the heart of 
 man lies buried deep in this fathom- 
 less Book of Life. 
 
 Slowly we see him go out into 
 the land of tears, his pain not of the 
 
io The House of Chimham 
 
 body, but of the soul. " And all 
 the country wept with a loud voice." 
 It is a pity to see a King bowed 
 down and sorrowful ! Behind in the 
 city were the pomp and glory of 
 the kingdom, but the King himself 
 went forth in pathetic solitude into 
 the friendless world. Heavy were 
 his footsteps, but heavier still was 
 his heart, and fear and haste were in 
 his blood. In later days the mem- 
 ory of this painful journey " toward 
 the way of the wilderness" swept 
 across the music of his harp, and 
 left a minor strain trembling in his 
 Hymns of Praise. 
 
 "And David went up by the as- 
 cent of the Mount of Olives, and 
 wept as he went up ; and he had 
 his head covered, and went bare- 
 foot." How often has history told 
 us of the changing order of the 
 world. Early English chronicles re- 
 late the story of King Ine. One 
 
The House of Chimham 1 1 
 
 day Ine feasted royally in his country 
 house. On the morrow he rode 
 forth in the morning, flushed with 
 pride, only to be met by his queen 
 iEthelburgh, who bade him turn 
 back. And when the king returned, 
 he found his house stripped of cur- 
 tains and vessels, and foul with ref- 
 use and the dung of cattle. In the 
 royal bed where the king had slept 
 lay a sow with her farrow of pigs, 
 whilst the queen stood amidst the 
 ruin and said : " See, my lord, how 
 the fashion of this world passeth 
 away." 
 
 It is the lesson all must learn. 
 But there is more to learn. They 
 who travel by way of Olivet out 
 into the land of tears are not alone. 
 The Great Companion is not dead. 
 His shade is round about them to 
 keep them, and the trustful heart 
 will know that He is nigh. And 
 lest the soul may suffer those grave 
 
12 The House of Chimham 
 
 and painful doubts which men are 
 apt to feel toward the Unseen Friend 
 in hours of grief, it is His good will 
 to send companions of the way, who 
 speak our language and share our 
 weakness. 
 
 What a treasure the heart has in 
 the memory of those companions of 
 the way, who drew near and walked 
 with us into the land of tears ! 
 
 Let us write the names of David's 
 friends, who hailed him on the way 
 toward the wilderness. 
 
 Blessed be Ittai the Gittite ! Dim, 
 far-distant name he bears, but his 
 voice like the sweet note of a flute 
 sounds from the banks of the brook 
 Kidron — " As Jehovah liveth, and 
 as my lord the king liveth, surely in 
 what place my lord the king shall 
 be, whether for death or for life, 
 even there also will thy servant be." 
 
 And blessed be Hushai the Arch- 
 ite ! It was at " the top of the as- 
 
The House of Chimham 13 
 
 cent," where the heart leaped in anx- 
 ious haste, and the breath came and 
 went in fear — it was here that 
 Hushai met him, " with his coat 
 rent, and earth upon his head." " So 
 Hushai, David's friend " — his name 
 obscure but his title universal ! — 
 "came into the city ! n 
 
 And blessed be Abishai the son 
 of Zeruiah ! When Shimei cursed, 
 following along the hillside, and 
 throwing stones and dust at the king, 
 then this rude son of a strong 
 mother flamed forth in boundless in- 
 dignation : H Why should this dead 
 dog curse my lord the king ? let me 
 go over, I pray thee, and take off 
 his head." 
 
 And blessed be Jonathan and 
 Ahimaaz, sons of the priests, who 
 went " over the brook of water " 
 for love and loyalty's sake ! And 
 blessed be the nameless woman who 
 " spread the covering over the well's 
 
14 The House of Chimham 
 
 mouth, and strewed bruised corn 
 thereon ! " And blessed be still other 
 companions of his way! These are 
 the chivalries that shorten the way, 
 and gird men with strength and 
 courage. 
 
 And the king traveled on the 
 Way of Sorrow, on over the Jordan, 
 on into the land of Gilead. And 
 when he came to Mahanaim, the 
 greatest though the humblest of his 
 appointed friends came to meet him. 
 Down from the heights of Rogelim 
 he came, an old man of fourscore 
 years. Painters have not often caught 
 his figure upon their canvases, yet it 
 is a majestic and friendly figure. 
 His eyesight was dim, and his ears 
 were dull, but his heart was buoyant 
 with friendship, and his pulses beat 
 the high rhythm of love that makes 
 the music of the world. Out of the 
 wilderness he came, yet his arms 
 were full of gifts and his heart over- 
 
m 
 
 'DOWN FROM THE HEIGHTS OF ROGELIM HE 
 CAME." 
 
The House of Chimham 15 
 
 flowed in welcome. Beds he brought 
 for the king's weariness, and basins 
 and earthen vessels for his comfort ; 
 and for food such abundance as beg- 
 gars description — wheat and barley 
 and flour and parched corn and 
 beans and lentils and parched pulse, 
 and honey and butter and sheep and 
 cheese of kine ! 
 
 This was Barzillai the Gileadite. 
 Out over the long tract of years his 
 deed of friendship shines, with a 
 silver sheen that reaches upward to 
 the sky. Blessed be Barzillai ! 
 
" TPOR life, with all it yields of joy and woe, 
 * And hope and fear, — believe the agedfriend,- 
 Is just our chance o J the prize of learning love. 
 How love might be, hath been indeed, and is." 
 
 Write the name of Barzillai the 
 Gileadite in that none too long list 
 of great and loving friends by which 
 the world has grown rich ! 
 
 All the days of the king's exile 
 Barzillai provided him sustenance 
 while he lay at Mahanaim. " For 
 he was a very great man ! " — great 
 in the gifts of his heart as well as 
 in the gifts of his hands. He was 
 of that gracious circle of men who 
 follow a compact of friendship, and 
 whether in the city or in the wil- 
 derness, they look beyond the faces 
 of men to see the face of the Un- 
 seen. 
 
The House of Chimham 17 
 
 " Hush ! I pray you ! 
 What if this friend happen to be — God ! " 
 
 He knew not how far his good 
 deed would reach. He believed un- 
 consciously in the immortality of 
 goodness. He invested his kindness 
 in the years and left it to gather 
 interest from the skies. Solitary 
 figure of a day long dead — a sil- 
 houette against the blue sky of 
 Gilead ! Yet is he also as a priest 
 of the good things of God, and a 
 prophet likewise " of the wonder 
 and bloom of the world," wherein 
 all may have a share. 
 
 When the peril was over, and 
 the king was ready to return to the 
 city, it was in his heart to show his 
 gratitude to the old man of Rogelim, 
 who without stint had poured out 
 for him in his distress the sweets of 
 friendship. It was the day of the 
 king's departure, and the scene en- 
 acted that day might well be hung 
 
1 8 The House of Chimham 
 
 in the gallery of masterpieces, where- 
 in men are seen in the grandeur of 
 simplicity. 
 
 Down from the heights of Rogelim 
 came the old man, the weight of four- 
 score years not enough to detain 
 him, for he was minded to go a little 
 way over Jordan with his royal 
 friend. 
 
 " Come thou over with me, and 
 I will sustain thee with me in Jeru- 
 salem." It was the king who spoke, 
 anxious to prove his gratitude. 
 
 But the old man had not thought 
 of reward — he had but planted in 
 the desert a few seeds of love, to 
 grow and blossom as they would. 
 
 " How many are the days of the 
 years of my life," he replied, "that 
 I should go up with the king unto 
 Jerusalem ? I am this day four- 
 score years old ; can I discern be- 
 tween good and bad? can thy ser- 
 vant taste what I eat or what I 
 
The Mouse of Chimham 19 
 
 drink? can I hear any more the 
 voice of singing men and singing 
 women ? Wherefore then should 
 thy servant be yet a burden unto 
 my lord the king? Thy servant 
 would but just go over the Jordan 
 with the king ; and why should the 
 king recompense it me with such a 
 reward ? " Thus spoke the old man 
 eloquent. 
 
 "Let thy servant, I pray thee," 
 he continued, with the irresistible 
 appeal of filial regard, "turn back 
 again, that I may die in mine own 
 city, by the grave of my father and 
 my mother." Where is the heart 
 of son or daughter that does not 
 echo the words — "the grave of my 
 father and my mother " ? 
 
 Yet was he not careless of the 
 worth of royal benefits. They were 
 not for him to enjoy, for soon he 
 rtiust be gathered unto his fathers. 
 Men live in their children, and 
 
20 The House of Chimham 
 
 daily the world is lifted by the aspi- 
 rations and sacrifices of fathers and 
 mothers for those who are bone of 
 their bone and flesh of their flesh. 
 And Barzillai said to the king: 
 "But behold, thy servant Chimham; 
 let him go over with my lord the 
 king; and do to him what shall 
 seem good unto thee." 
 
 And the king answered, " Chim- 
 ham shall go over with me, and I 
 will do to him that which shall 
 seem good unto thee." Then came 
 a scene like a cameo set in pearls, 
 fit to be worn as the ornament of 
 peasants or of kings — "The king 
 kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; 
 and he returned unto his own 
 place." 
 
 But Chimham, his son, went with 
 David over Jordan, and on to the 
 royal city of his abode. We know 
 not his stature, nor his mien ; never- 
 theless his name slips into the fade- 
 
The House of Chimham 21 
 
 less history that moves on to the 
 world's great day. 
 
 To the end of his days David re- 
 membered the kindness of the 
 stranger who met him and sustained 
 him in the land of tears beyond the 
 Jordan. At the royal table a place 
 was reserved for Chimham, that he 
 might eat of the king's meat in 
 memory of his father's deed. And 
 when the days drew on that David 
 should go the way of all the earth, 
 the memory of his great friend in 
 Gilead was fresh and strong within 
 his failing heart, and with his dying 
 breath he commended to his son 
 Solomon " the sons of Barzillai the 
 Gileadite." 
 
 And something more King David 
 did, whereon hangs the thread of a 
 wondrous history. To Chimham 
 he gave a portion of his own patri- 
 mony at Bethlehem, a bit of land 
 once belonging to the field of his 
 
22 The House of Chimham 
 
 ancestor, the lusty farmer Boaz, 
 where also the sweet Moabitish 
 maiden had gleaned and sung, 
 anxious only for her daily bread, 
 and dreaming nof of the wonder 
 that should be. 
 
 " The fountains of Hebraic song 
 Are in thy heart, fair Ruth, 
 Fountains whose tides are deep and strong, 
 In deathless love and truth." 
 
 In the same field also David, the 
 shepherd boy, ruddy and of a beau- 
 tiful countenance and goodly to look 
 upon, had watched his flocks and 
 tuned his shepherd's pipes, all un- 
 conscious too of the wondrous his- 
 tory that was beckoning him on. 
 
 So it came to pass that at Bethle- 
 hem, on David's portion of land, 
 Chimham built his caravansary — or 
 khan for the wayfarer. It bore his 
 name, for was it not called Geruth 
 Chimham, the Lodging-Place kept 
 by the son of Barzillai, " which is 
 by Bethlehem " ? 
 
f< T ET me live in a house by the side of the road, 
 
 •^-^ Where the race of men go by — 
 The men who are good and the men who are bad, 
 
 As good and as bad as I. 
 I would not sit in the s corner 1 s seat, 
 
 Or hurl the cynic* s ban; — 
 Let me live in a house by the side of the road, 
 
 And be a friend to man." 
 
 So at Bethlehem, David's town, 
 close to the traveler's way, stood 
 Geruth Chimham, and gave its wel- 
 come, as the old man of Rogelim 
 had once welcomed the king, to the 
 passer-by. It had no outward gran- 
 deur, its walls were plain and its 
 courtyard not over large ; yet was it 
 better than a Palace of Art, for the 
 footfall of man at its threshold was 
 ever a gladsome sound. 
 
 Men looked upon it and knew 
 not that it had an uncommon story. 
 
24 The House of Chimham 
 
 To them it seemed, as so often seem 
 the common mysteries of every day, 
 an ordinary thing that men should 
 keep an inn and welcome the 
 stranger passing by. They saw not 
 — how can men see except their 
 eyes be anointed ? — the light that 
 rested already upon the hill tops of 
 David's town, and drifted in cloud- 
 like masses, as if driven by a master- 
 hand, toward the House of Chim- 
 ham. Nevertheless it was a silent 
 monument of friendship, a reminder 
 of the fact that life is not common, 
 but uncommon, and full of surprise ; 
 and because it was a kindly deed 
 that laid its foundations, the House 
 of Chimham grew in the years into 
 a beautiful history. 
 
 Always the House of Chimham 
 had a wide-open door, and its hosts 
 from generation to generation were 
 men of generous mien. In the 
 Bethlehem inn men were sure to 
 
The House of Chimham 25 
 
 find something more than enter- 
 tainment — they found hospitality, 
 which is a larger and finer grace. 
 Its fame spread near and far, and 
 often the traveler quickened his pace 
 and pushed forward on the way, 
 anxious to lie down at night under 
 the hospitable care of Chimham's 
 khan. Shepherds passing from the 
 pastures of the south-land to the 
 markets of the north, and the 
 drivers of droves of asses also, re- 
 joiced when they saw the hills of 
 Bethlehem, for they said — " Now 
 we are nigh to the House of Chim- 
 ham, where both man and beast are 
 comforted." 
 
 Thus the shadow of Barzillai the 
 Gileadite seemed to fall out across 
 the years, and his gracious hospi- 
 tality renewed itself constantly in the 
 deeds of men. The heritage of a 
 gentle spirit, how good a thing it 
 is! It lies deep in the blood, nor 
 
26 The House of Chimham 
 
 can generations of rude custom 
 wholly expel it. Once or twice only 
 in the lapse of years the House of 
 Chimham had hosts who were un- 
 loving men, whose hearts turned to 
 gain more than to their fellow-men. 
 In those days decay threatened the 
 ancient inn. The flowers that were 
 wont to grow in the pathway that 
 led to the door turned pale and 
 sickly, and the vines that clustered 
 upon the walls fell away. A new 
 presence, something dark and un- 
 wholesome, crept across the thresh- 
 old, and seemed for the time at 
 home in the inn, and the inn itself 
 seemed about to become 
 
 "A spot of dull stagnation, without light 
 Or power of movement." 
 
 It was the decay of selfishness 
 that threatened the House of Chim- 
 ham. But happily other hosts came 
 to take the place of unloving men, 
 and light again the old fire of love 
 
The House of Chimham 27 
 
 on the hearth-stone, and sing once 
 more the old refrain of welcome to 
 weary men. 
 
 Little by little in some strange 
 way the House of Chimham came 
 to embody much that was in the 
 souls of men. It grew to be a 
 shrine of human feeling, a place 
 where the hearts of men leaped up 
 within them, and longed for some- 
 thing better. Often the traveler 
 came and lodged in the House of 
 Chimham, and went on his way a 
 better man. He might not explain 
 what had taken place, nor was he 
 even more than dimly conscious of 
 a change. He ate his food, rested 
 in his humble bed, paid his charge, 
 and received the ancient benediction 
 from his host — 
 
 t( The Lord bless thee and keep thee ; 
 The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be 
 
 gracious unto thee ; 
 The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and 
 
 give thee peace." 
 
28 The House of Chimham 
 
 But as he went on his way, a 
 touch of something strange and fine 
 rested upon him. Nor was this any- 
 thing supernatural that had been 
 done for the guest of the House of 
 Chimham. It was only this — that 
 the spirit of love and friendship had 
 been immured there, and they who 
 came within its walls found a hal- 
 lowed peace. A man in the years 
 gone by had given his hand and 
 heart to the king, and when the king 
 out of his heart's fulness gave him a 
 temporal reward, he added also a 
 spiritual reward. This it was that 
 grew through the years, a pledge of 
 kindness and hospitality in the house, 
 a mortgage of love and friendship. 
 And this it was that fell with the 
 benediction of the host upon the 
 guests of the House of Chimham. 
 
 Welcome indeed in the Bethle- 
 hem inn were those who came in 
 distress to its threshold. Something 
 
"AS HE WENT ON HIS WAY, A TOUCH OF SOME- 
 THING STRANGE AND FINE RESTED UPON HIM." 
 
The House of Chimham 29 
 
 large and generous there was in the 
 spirit of this lodging-place, that ap- 
 peared to expand and cover all the 
 helplessness of men with a divine 
 protection. Men said that the very- 
 walls of the House of Chimham 
 were known to creak and groan in 
 the effort to widen the space within, 
 when there stood at the door a foot- 
 sore and weary traveler. 
 
 Did the shepherd come for shel- 
 ter, anxious and weary from long 
 searchings in the hills for lost ones 
 of his flock? Did men stop for a 
 few brief hours of rest, hastening 
 homeward at the message of disaster, 
 sorrow or death ? Did travelers 
 come bruised by the perils of the 
 way, and filled with many fears, 
 pleading for nightly care ? Did youth 
 come, or middle age, or trembling 
 old age, having found the way hard 
 and long, and the nightfall close at 
 hand ? 
 
 OF THE "* A 
 
 UNIVERSITY ) 
 
30 The House of Chimham 
 
 To all such the House of Chim- 
 ham smiled its welcome, bade them 
 enter and be at rest. And often tired 
 travelers, beset by many fears and 
 perils of life, slept in the House of 
 Chimham, and dreamed that Rest 
 had entered their very souls, that the 
 Dew of Youth had fallen upon their 
 hearts. And in the morning they 
 girded themselves anew and went on 
 their way, for Fear had been left 
 behind. 
 
 Once — it was four hundred years 
 after Chimham built his inn — a 
 party of warriors passed by on the 
 way to Egypt. The battle had gone 
 hard with them, and they were sore 
 pressed with much lighting, and still 
 the fear of the enemy was in their 
 hearts. On this day the walls of the 
 House of Chimham must have made 
 music indeed with their groaning 
 and cracking, for it was no small 
 company with the men of war and 
 
The House of Chimham 31 
 
 the women and the children. Yet we 
 read in an old writing of the time 
 that " they departed and dwelt in 
 Geruth Chimham, which is by Beth- 
 lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, 
 because of the Chaldeans, for they 
 were afraid of them/' 
 
 Most of all the House of Chim- 
 ham gave its welcome to the stran- 
 ger. If there came one who had 
 found the world cold and friendless, 
 who was a traveler from far and 
 sought a friend, but found him not 
 — to him Geruth Chimham was as a 
 land of sunshine. For both in the 
 desert and in the city the Law of 
 the Stranger is written as with the 
 finger of God. Alas ! that men 
 ever forget it. . 
 
" /t PRESENCE that disturbs me with the joy 
 -*-* Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime 
 Of something far more deeply interfused. 
 Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns." 
 
 As the years went by, there came 
 trembling into the hearts of those 
 who kept the House of Chimham 
 a Silent Expectation. Often it was 
 like music heard afar — 
 
 st That swells, and sinks, and faints, 
 and falls, till all is still,' ' 
 
 but leaves in the heart a sense of 
 something sweet. More often it was 
 like unto a voice calling from the 
 mountain-tops to men in the deep 
 valleys, startling the heart's sluggish 
 ways, and wakening the spiritual 
 chivalry of the soul. Not a thing 
 that they were clearly conscious of, 
 
The House of C him ham 33 
 
 not a thing to be boldly proclaimed, 
 it became nevertheless a silent factor 
 of life, round which they drew un- 
 heralded thoughts, clustered quiet 
 hopes, and built the dawn of a beau- 
 tiful Tomorrow. 
 
 If ever any more wise or more 
 bold than others ventured to put in 
 words the meaning of the Expec- 
 tation, their words were halting and 
 their sentences broken. Yet it was 
 plain that a vision was in their minds 
 of some golden Largess of the future 
 that would come to men ; of some 
 rich Friendship that would dower 
 humanity's life in coming days; 
 and, it might even be, of some 
 Coming Guest, whose garments 
 would smell of myrrh and aloes and 
 cassia wood, and whose presence 
 would be like the fragrance and 
 beauty of the rose. 
 
 Even as they spoke of these things, 
 dreaming by the fire and opening 
 
34 The House of Chimham 
 
 their hearts to a guest more thought- 
 ful than the rest, who listened with 
 wonder in his eyes, the thought it- 
 self seemed to elude them. For men 
 in every age have learned that their 
 best thoughts cannot be held captive 
 in words. Words make our feelings 
 common; and they live the best 
 who keep a kingdom of the mind 
 untouched and unexpressed, that still 
 doth let its riches fall silently, like 
 blossoms of heavy-laden trees, upon 
 the common day. If men could al- 
 ways articulate their feelings, the 
 well of life would soon run dry. 
 
 But though the Expectation could 
 not easily be spoken in words, it 
 lived and grew within the hearts of 
 men, and especially in the hearts of 
 those who practiced the old art of 
 love and hospitality in the House of 
 Chimham. To them it grew to be 
 a natural thought, which swelled in 
 their bosoms like the bursting of a 
 
The House of Chimham 35 
 
 rose into bloom. To them it seemed 
 that some grand Traveler came from 
 afar — he was already on the way, 
 and one day he would come and be 
 a guest in the House of Chimham. 
 Guests came and went daily, but 
 they were looking always, however 
 dimly, for another Guest. Bands of 
 pilgrims passed by going up to the 
 city. Eagerly the men of Geruth 
 Chimham scanned the faces of the 
 band, if perchance there might be a 
 Stranger among them who should 
 be— 
 
 "He Himself with His human air." 
 
 Often too they were perplexed 
 and doubtful lest they should fail to 
 know him when he came. Yet an 
 instinct within comforted them, and 
 gave them quiet assurance. And so 
 their hearts sang an unconscious re- 
 frain : 
 
 '« Thou shalt know him when he comes, 
 Not by any din of drums, 
 
36 The House of Chimham 
 
 Nor the vantage of his airs ; 
 
 Neither by his crown, 
 Nor his gown, 
 Nor by anything he wears. 
 He shall only well-known be 
 
 By the holy harmony 
 That his coming makes in thee." 
 
 Little by little it grew to have 
 healing power — this Hope of men's 
 hearts. It was salve to their wounds, 
 it was cordial to their weariness. 
 Still more it was iron in their blood, 
 and in the strength thereof they rose 
 up to do those deeds of faith and 
 courage which are the pride and joy 
 of humanity. For men's minds are 
 to them a kingdom, and their 
 thoughts and hopes are the heralds 
 of royalty. 
 
 Thus something indescribably fine 
 and beautiful came by anticipation 
 to the House of Chimham. Kind- 
 ness dwelt there, not as an alien, but 
 as a child at home. Love walked in 
 and out and shed her benedictions on 
 
The House of Chimham 37 
 
 every hand. Charity dressed herself 
 in ever more beautiful garments, 
 and cast her ornaments with careless 
 freedom about her. Friendship too 
 became a gentle, wholesome com- 
 panion of men, that wooed them to 
 high chivalries of the mind and 
 beautiful deeds of courage. And 
 Faith and Hope looked out of the 
 windows upon the dreary world, and 
 saw a growing Beauty in earth and 
 sky. 
 
 So grew the Desire in the House 
 of Chimham. 
 
' TpROM the gift looking to the Giver ; 
 
 And from the cistern to the river, 
 And from the finite to infinity , 
 And from man* s dust to God's divinity," 
 
 There were great stirrings in the 
 Roman world. Looking out upon 
 his vast Empire from his central 
 throne in Rome, the Emperor grew 
 ambitious to learn the statistics of 
 his realm. " Let all the world be 
 enrolled/' said Caesar; and his com- 
 mand was sufficient to set nations in 
 commotion. In due time from all 
 lands that confessed the sway of 
 Rome the figures should be gathered 
 for the census, and in some room of 
 the Imperial Palace on the Palatine 
 should be kept the written story, 
 prepared by many hands, of the 
 glory of Rome. 
 
The House of Chimham 39 
 
 Into the most obscure corners of 
 the Empire the behest of Augustus 
 reached. In the narrow land of 
 Syria Quirinius was the master of 
 the Census, as he was also governor 
 of the province. No doubt his task 
 was well done : the system was per- 
 fect, the results painstaking and re- 
 liable. How little men knew, from 
 Emperor to governor and common 
 census- taker, that into the midst of 
 these human plans the Glory of God 
 would come ! 
 
 A peasant pair traveled the road 
 to Bethlehem, products of 
 
 " The common growth of mother earth, 
 Her simplest mirth and tears." 
 
 They journeyed from Nazareth 
 of Galilee in the north. At noon 
 on the last day of the journey they 
 passed by the Holy City, and turned 
 southward along the ancient road 
 that led to the "city of David 
 which is called Bethlehem." 
 
4-0 The House of Chimham 
 
 The woman rode upon an ass ; 
 the man walked at her side. She 
 was young and sweet-faced. A look 
 of eager wistfulness lighted up her 
 pensive countenance. At intervals 
 something like a snatch of maidenly 
 song escaped her lips. The man 
 was swarthy and strong ; yet there 
 was about him a great tenderness of 
 soul that made his words gentle and 
 his actions gracious. Blithely they 
 went upon their way : yet withal 
 the man cast anxious glances now 
 and then at the gentle-voiced 
 woman at his side. 
 
 Was ever a more wondrous jour- 
 ney in all the world ? Kings and 
 queens have had their processions, 
 and many eminent ones have walked 
 the pathways of Earth. But the 
 kindly light of sacred story rested 
 not upon any of these. On this day 
 came a man and a woman out of 
 common life : and they walked in 
 
The House of Chimham 41 
 
 the light of God. Wonder of 
 wonders ! that the world should 
 wait so long for this journeying 
 pair. They were going to Beth- 
 lehem to be enrolled, for they were 
 of the house and lineage of David. 
 Slow and uneventful the journey ; 
 but they were traveling, not alone 
 the Bethlehem road, but the road 
 that led onward into the world's 
 Romance, and outward into that 
 wondrous Providence which en- 
 wraps human love and sacrifice and 
 suffering, and lifts " man's dust to 
 God's divinity." 
 
 Jostling crowds passed them on 
 the way, peering curiously into their 
 faces and shouting their rude yet 
 courteous greetings as they hastened 
 by. None among them all knew 
 that they had touched and slighted 
 the Purpose of the Ages. 
 
 «' In the mud and scum of things 
 Something always — always sings." 
 
42 The Mouse of Chimham 
 
 Once they lingered at the place 
 where Rachel died in years gone 
 by, and where Jacob set up a 
 pillar, a place long sacred in the 
 love men bear to women, and 
 women to men. 
 
 " Our father Jacob never loved 
 his fair-faced Rachel better than I 
 love thee, sweet Mary." The man 
 spoke with gentle emphasis. 
 
 "And thou, Joseph," she replied, 
 " thou hast fully won a maiden's 
 heart. Fair Rachel lay down here 
 to die ; but Jehovah's care is round 
 about me." 
 
 u Blessed be His name ! May it 
 be ever so. Yonder is David's town, 
 and soon thou shalt be resting with- 
 in our great ancestor's home." 
 
 They were drawing near to the 
 House of Bread. At the gateway 
 they stopped to drink from the well 
 at the gate, the same where royal 
 David's soldiers drew water in jeop- 
 
The House of Chimham 43 
 
 ardy of their lives, in that splendid 
 rash act of years gone by. Presently 
 they passed through the gate, and 
 turned into a narrow street that led 
 towards the center of the town. Did 
 the voice of the prophet ring proud- 
 ly in their hearts? 
 
 " Thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 
 which art little to be among the 
 thousands of Judah, out of thee shall 
 one come forth unto me that is to be 
 ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth 
 are of old, from everlasting. There- 
 fore will he give them up, until the 
 time that she who travaileth hath 
 brought forth ; then the residue of 
 his brethren shall return unto the 
 children of Israel. And he shall 
 stand, and shall feed his flock in the 
 strength of Jehovah, in the majesty 
 of the name of Jehovah his God; 
 and they shall abide; for now shall 
 he be great unto the ends of the 
 earth." 
 
' r\ LITTLE town of Bethlehem, 
 
 ^ How still we see thee lie! 
 Above thy deep and dreamless sleep 
 
 The silent stars go by. 
 Yet in thy dark streets shine th 
 
 The everlasting light; 
 The hopes and fears of all the years 
 
 Are met in thee to-night" 
 
 The long evening shadows were 
 falling as the travelers entered the 
 city of David ; and the silence that 
 comes with the night in an Eastern 
 village was dropping like dew upon 
 the house-tops. Nevertheless the 
 town was full of strangers, for the 
 decree of Augustus had swept like a 
 wind into the villages of Judea and 
 Samaria and Galilee, and beyond the 
 Jordan as well ; and had brought 
 the children of the House of David 
 
The House of Chimham 45 
 
 from near and far to David's town. 
 How beautiful it must have seemed 
 on that wintry evening, looking out 
 from the hill-top upon the fields 
 that swept gently away into the 
 Judean desert, and farther still, into 
 the great world's history! The two 
 travelers had not been so filled with 
 anxiety as to miss a thrill of eager 
 excitement as they drew near to 
 Bethlehem. To their awakened im- 
 agination it must have seemed that 
 the sky bent down to kiss the little 
 town; and the stars as they came 
 out one by one were like beacon 
 lights along the hills. 
 
 A new anxiety now filled their 
 minds — the fear lest they might fail 
 of a lodging-place. Inquiring in the 
 street for the inn, they were directed 
 to the edge of the town, where the 
 field of Boaz touched it, glowing 
 now in the late shadows of the even- 
 ing light. 
 
46 The House of Chimham 
 
 It was Geruth Chimham , the old 
 lodging-place of Chimham. In that 
 land so unchangeable despite many 
 changes, the ancient inn had stood 
 throughout the years, on the portion 
 of land that belonged to the patri- 
 mony of David. It was standing 
 still, and its door was flung invit- 
 ingly open to the weary travelers. 
 
 A crowd of people filled the court 
 of the caravansary, busy with the 
 evening meal, and talking and ges- 
 ticulating in Oriental fashion. In 
 the babble of speech Joseph and 
 Mary heard with glad hearts the 
 rough bur of their own Galilean 
 tongue. 
 
 The kindly host came out to meet 
 them with the old welcome of the 
 House of Chimham. But alas! there 
 was no room for them in the inn. 
 Every nook and cranny of the hospi- 
 table old khan was filled to over- 
 flowing. The enrolment had brought 
 
The House of Chimham 47 
 
 such a multitude — never in all its 
 history had the quiet town been so 
 full, and many had stayed on beyond 
 their time. The pride of David's 
 people was great. They could scarce 
 be driven away, the host said. The 
 newcomers could see for themselves. 
 The host was plainly distressed. The 
 House of Chimham, he said, was 
 not wont to close its doors to the 
 stranger. But how could it be other- 
 wise ? 
 
 Joseph and Mary turned sadly 
 away. Sympathetic eyes followed 
 them, but none offered them a place. 
 They were in the street again, and 
 facing the necessity of spending the 
 night under the open sky. In the 
 midst of their distress a messenger 
 overtook them. He came in breath- 
 less haste from the innkeeper at the 
 House of Chimham. The host, he 
 cried, was sorrowing for them — he 
 could not let them go away. In the 
 
48 The House of Chimham 
 
 day of King David's need Barzillai 
 had received him and cared for him. 
 Was not the House of Chimham it- 
 self the monument of that friend- 
 ship ? In all its years the House of 
 Chimham had been pledged to hos- 
 pitality. God forbid that any of the 
 house and lineage of David should 
 fail of hospitality in Geruth Chim- 
 ham! 
 
 The messenger grew excited as he 
 spoke. Was not the woman near to 
 the hour of woman's pathetic joy ? 
 In his heart also the host feared to 
 let them go away, lest the House of 
 Chimham might miss some signal 
 blessing of Jehovah. It was the old 
 instinctive Desire to see among the 
 faces of men a New Face of a 
 Stranger grander than all — a Desire 
 born of centuries of love and hope 
 and faith. He could not give them 
 a place in the inn, but in the stable 
 he would prepare them room. Would 
 
"THE EVENING MEAL WAS SOON BROUGHT, WITH 
 A BOTTLE OF WATER." 
 
The House of Chimham 49 
 
 they accept such lowly quarters ? 
 Clean sweet straw should be spread 
 for their bed, and the master of the 
 House would himself rejoice to look 
 after their comfort. The hospitality 
 of the House of Chimham, the mes- 
 senger grandly affirmed, should ex- 
 tend even to the manger and 
 the stall, and the humble beasts 
 should join in welcome to the 
 strangers. 
 
 The man and woman hesitated 
 not a moment. Soon they entered 
 the khan again and made their way 
 among the crowd to the rear. The 
 stable was close at hand. Indeed it 
 was a roomy cave of a hill. Timbers 
 were set up in front, and in the rear 
 and on the sides of the cave were 
 mangers and stalls for the cattle. 
 The host with his servants was 
 bustling to and fro, directing the 
 preparation. The evening meal was 
 soon brought, with a bottle of water. 
 
50 The House of Chimham 
 
 The servants laid a bed of clean 
 straw near one of the mangers. 
 
 So these children of the family of 
 David lay down to rest under the 
 protection of the House of Chim- 
 ham, while the silent stars went by. 
 Strange guidance that brought them 
 — this Galilean pair — out of the 
 years, out of common life, out of 
 the night, into this lowly place of 
 Light. And even as they lay down 
 upon their common bed of straw, 
 the mute cattle standing by, the un- 
 conscious world drew near. And 
 in a little Book of great meaning 
 we come upon a sentence that 
 strikes down to the very roots of 
 our humanity — 
 
 " And she brought forth her firstborn 
 son ; and she wrapped him in swaddling 
 clothes, and laid him in a manger, because 
 there was no room for them in the inn" 
 
 In the silence of that wonderful 
 
The House of Chimham 51 
 
 night in Bethlehem the world's Joy 
 came with the coming of a little 
 child. No pomp of circumstance 
 or power was there. It was a 
 homely, an intensely human scene, 
 as if men were being taught that 
 God is with us — Immanuel — with us 
 in the last and lowest place of life. 
 A palace for a birthplace would 
 have left this truth untold. The 
 low-vaulted stable, the common 
 stalls, the rough-hewn manger, the 
 pallet of straw, the mute cattle, the 
 peasant-folk about, and withal the 
 sweet-faced mother, in the divine 
 art of motherhood, pressing her 
 firstborn to her breast, and laying 
 him, wrapped in swaddling clothes, 
 in the manger close beside her — in 
 such a scene as this at last we know 
 
 " How close is glory to the dust." 
 
 Outside the stars glistened in the 
 cold sky, whilst yonder on the hill- 
 
52 The House of Chimham 
 
 side in the field of Boaz a group of 
 startled shepherds listened to an 
 angel's proclamation — 
 
 "Behold, I bring you good tid- 
 ings of great joy, which shall be to 
 all the people: for there is born to 
 you this day in the city of David a 
 Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." 
 And as they listened, a "choir in- 
 visible" sang the world's anthem — 
 
 " Glory to God in the highest , 
 And on earth peace among men in 
 whom he is well pleased.'' 
 
<< TJ*OR our joy and our health, Jesus Christ of 
 
 A Heaven 
 In poor man's apparell pursueth us ever. 
 And looketh upon us in their likeness ; and that with 
 
 lovely cheer 
 To know us by our kind heart, and casting of our 
 eyes." 
 
 Did the host of the House of 
 Chimham come in the morning 
 with the shepherds from the hills, 
 into the stable of the inn, to look 
 with wonder upon the new-born 
 babe lying so peacefully on the 
 manger-straw? Did he look with 
 gentle awe into the fathomless eyes 
 of childhood and divine aught of 
 the light reflected there? Did his 
 mind thrill with spiritual excite- 
 ment when he remembered that a 
 
54 The House of Chimham 
 
 child of David's house and lineage 
 had been born in the House which 
 David gave to Barzillai's son ? Did 
 his heart swell with the memory of 
 the ancient promises, and did he real- 
 ize in the joy and harmony of his 
 own heart that the Stranger for 
 whom they had looked and longed 
 had come at last — had come, humbly 
 and sweetly as a little child, to take 
 his place in the hearts of men ? 
 
 Or was it later when the travel- 
 worn Magi came from the East, fol- 
 lowing from afar a blazing star that 
 beckoned them on, which having 
 lost once they found again reflected 
 in the waters of a wayside well, and 
 followed until it stood glowing like 
 a heavenly beacon above Bethlehem ? 
 And did the host of the House of 
 Chimham stand in wonder looking 
 on as, with reverent awe, these far- 
 traveled men of the mysterious East 
 opened their treasure and poured 
 
The House of Chimham $$ 
 
 rich gifts of gold and frankincense 
 and myrrh at the feet of the Child 
 born in the House of Chimham ? 
 And did he realize however faintly 
 that the House of Chimham had 
 now received its spiritual reward, 
 even as long ago King David had 
 bestowed upon his kindly host in 
 Gilead a temporal reward ? 
 
 And do we who live in these late 
 days, and read still with wonder in 
 our hearts the story of the Bethle- 
 hem Child, realize that the House 
 of Chimham was the rightful birth- 
 place for such as He ? 
 
 And does the truth dawn upon us 
 in the fulness of these Christian 
 days, that the Christ will always be 
 born in the hearts of those who love 
 and long and believe and serve, and 
 look meanwhile for His Face among 
 the travelers on the road ? 
 
 This is the story of the House of 
 Chimham. 
 
189831 
 
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