The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-27


feeds greater populations by Its irrigation
but the Jordan Is he queen Il rivers and
runs through all the Bibie. silver tn cad
st ing like beads with hercics, and be ore
night we shall meet on its banks, Elijah and
Elisha, and David. and Jacob, and joshua,
and John and Jesus.
At last between two tress got a glimpse
Of a river. and said, w nat IS thatT The
Jordan" was the qui-k reply. And all
along the line which had beea heightened
by other pilgrims, ONE from America and
some from Europe, and some from Asa, the
cry was sounded the J rdan! The Jor-
DAMP Hundreds Of thousands OF pilgrims
have cha ted on Its b nks and bathed In
its waters. Many Of them dip wet gown
in the wave and wiring It out and carry it
home for their own shrOud. It is an i'm
petuous strem and PUSHES on as though it
were Fastening TO tell its story 10 tae ages
Many an explorer has it whelmed, and
many a boat has l. wrecked Lieut..
Molineux. had copper bottome1 crafts
split upon its shelvings. Oily one
boat that Of Lieut.. Lynch, ever
season when the SHOWS Of Lebanon melt,
the rage of this stream is like the Cone
| maugh when Johnstown persisted, q d the
| wild beasts that may be near run for the
hills, explaining what Jeremiah says: BE
hold. he shall 60 up like lion from the
swelling of Jordan" No river so often
! changes its mind. for Il turns aud twists,
travelling 200 miles 70 do that which in a
straight line might be done in sixty miles.
! Among banks now low, now high, now of
rocks now of mud, and now Of sand, laying
the feet Of the terebnths and oleanders and
acacias, and reeds, and Pistachios, and
silver pOplars. This river marrIes the Dead
Sea to Lake Galilee, and did ever so rough
a groom take the hand Of so fair bride.
% ~, 1. s,l,, -k.lS L.
army of two million Israelites across. Here
the skilled major general of the Syrian
host at the seventh plunge droI ped his lep-
rosy, not only by miraculous cure, but
suggesting TO all ages, that water and plenty
of 1T, has much to do with the sanitary i'm
provement of the world Here is where
some theological students of Elisha's tins
were cutting trees with which to build a
theological seminary, and an ax-head, not
sufficiently wedged to the handle. few off
into the river and sank, and the young man
deplored not 30 much the loss of tho
ax-head, as the fact that it was not
his own and cried "Alasl it was borrow
ed" and the prophet threw stick
INTO the river and in defiance of
the law Of gravitation. the iron ak head
came to the surface and fioatei like a cork
upon the water, and kept floating until the
young man caught it. A miracle performed
which was borrowed and rebuke in all
ages for those who borrow and never return,
their bad habit in this respect 50 established
that 1t would be miracle il they did return
it. Yea; from the bank of this river Elijah
took team of fire, sh owing that the most
raging element is servant Of the good, and
that there is no need that q child Of God fear
any thing; for, if the most destructive
OF all elements, was that day fash
Toned into a vehicle for a depart
ing saint, nothing can ever hurt you
who love and trust the Lord. | am so
glad that that chariot of Elijah was not
made out OF wood, or crystal, or anything
ordinarily pleasant, but out of fire, and vet
he went up without having so much as to
fan himself. When, stepping from amid
the foliage OF these oleanders and tamarisks
on the banks Of the Jordan, he put his foot
on the red step Of the red equipage, and
took the red reifs of vapor in his hands,
and spurred the gailoping steeds toward the
wide open gate of hea ven, it was a scene
forever memorable. So the hottest Attic
tions of your life may roll you heavenward.
So the most burning prosecutions, the
most fiery troubles, may become
uplifting. Only be sure that when
you pull on the bits of fire you drive
Dead Sea. When Latimer and Ridley died
at the stake they went up in Il chariot of
fire. When my friend P. p Bliss, the Cos
pei singer, was consumed with the rail train
tnat broke through Ashtabula bridge, and
then { )ok flame, | said: "Another Elijah
gone up in clariot of fire."
But this river is river of baptisms.
Christ was here baptized and John baptized
many thousands. Whether on these ocoa-
sions the candidate for baptism and the
officer of religion went into this river, and
then, while both were standing, the
water was dipped in the hand of
one and sprinkled upon. the forehead
of the other. or whether the entire form of
the one baptized disappeared for a moment
beneath the surface of the food, 1 do not
declare. While | cannot think without deep
emotion of the fact that nv parents held
me in infancy, to the baptlsmal font in the
old Westinghouse at Sonerville, and as
sumed vows on my behalf, | must tell you
now of another mode of baptism observed
in the river Jordan, on that afternoon in
last December, the particulars of which |
now for the first time relate
1t was a scene of unimaginable solemnity.
A comrade in our Holy Land journey rode
up by my side that day, and told me that a
young man, now studying for the gospel
ministry, would like to be baptized by me
in the river Jordan. | got all the facts 1
could concerning his earnestness and faith,
and through personal examination made
myself confident be was a worthy candidate e.
There were among our Arab attendants two
robes not unlike those used for American
tapestries. and these we obtained. As we
were to have large group of
different nationalities present, l die
tared to my daughter a few verses,
and had copies enough made to al
low all to sing. Our dragoman had man
familiar with the river, wade through and
across to show the depth and the swiftness
of the stream, and the most appropriate
place for the ceremony. Then | read from
the Bible the accounts of baptlSmS in that
sacred stream, and implored the presence
of the Christ on whose head the dove des-
cended at the Jordal. Then, az the oandi.
date and myself stepped into the waters
the people on the banks sang in full aud re-
sounding voice:
On Jordan's stormy banks stand,
And cast wishful eye
To Canaan'S fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie.
Oh, the transporting, rapturous scene,
That rises to my 81 hit:
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers Of delight.
By this time we had reached the middle
of the river As the candidate sank under
| the floods and rose again under a baptism
in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Ghost, there rushed through our
souls tide Of holy emotion, such as we
shall not probably feel again until we STEP
| into the Jordan that divides earth from
heaven. Will those waters be deep9 VIII