Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-10-30
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
TIE SECOND DISCOURSE ON
OLD WORLD JOURNEYS.
''e sinds Confirmation of tho Truth of
Tie Scriptures in the Testimony of the
Cities and Rivers and Places oY Ionp
Ago.
The Tabernacle Pu,n,+.

saw AouoTuaCl0 HuInlts
Dr: Ialmage preached on Sailing Up
the Nlle.'' the second sermon of the
series entitled 'From the Pyramids to
me Acropolis; or What Saw in Egypt
ana Greece Contirmatory of the Scrip
lures il His text was Ezekiel xxx, 9,
Inc River Is Mine and Have Made
It." 'o A'i"oo
Ana! This is the River Nile. A brown
or yellow or silver cord on which arc
hung more Jewels of thrilling interest
.lan on any river that was ever twisted
IN the sunshine. 1t ripplcs through the
oook OF Ezekiel, and flashes in the books
Oh deuteronomy and Isaiah and Zeeharia
ana Nahum, and on it's banks stood the
mishtles CT many ages. 1t was the
crystal cradle of Moses, and on its banks
Mary, the refugee, carried the infant
Jesus. To find the birthplace of this
river was the fascination and defeat of
expeditions without number.
AS we start where tho Nile empties
into the Mediterranean Sea, we behold q
wonderful fulfillment of prophecy. The
Mic IN very ancient times used to have
seven mouths. AS the great river ap-
proached the sea, it entered the sea at
seven different places. Isaiah prophesied,
The Lord shall utterly destroy the
tongue OF the Egyptian sea and shall
smltc it in the seven streams" The fact
is they are all destroyed but two, and
Herodotns said these two remaining are
artificial Up the Nile we shall 90; part
OF the way by Egyptian rail train and
then by boat, and we shall understand
why the Bible gives such prominence to
TINS river, which is the largest river of
all the earth with one exception.
But before we board the train we must
take a look at Alexandria. 1t was
founded by Alexander the Great, and
was once the New York, the Paris, the
London OF the world. Temples. pal
aces, fountains, gardens, pillared and
etilorescent with all the architectural
and Edenic grandeur ana sweetness
Apollos, the eloquent, whom in New
Testament times some people tried to
make rival to Paul, lived here. Here
Mark, the author of the second book of
the New Testament, expired under Nero's
anathema. From here the ship sailed
that left Paul and the crew struggling
in the breakers of Melita Pompey's pill
lar is here, about one hundred feet high,
its base surrounded by 80 much nth and
squalor was glad to escape into an air
that was breathable. This tower was
built in honor of Diocletian for sparing
the rebellious citizens.
After having declared that he would
make the blood run to his horses knees,
and his horse fell with him into the blood
and his knees Redeemed, the tyrant took
it for granted that was a sign he should
stop the massacre, and hence this COM
mcmorative pillar to his mercy. This is
the city to which Omar came after build
ing 1,4O0 mosques and destroying 1000
temples and $4,000 villages and castles,
yet riding in on camel, with a sack of
corn, sack of figs and wooden plate
all that he had kept for himself-and
! the diet to which he had limited himself
for most Of the time was bread and water
Was there yer in any other man a COM
mingling OF elements so strange, so
weird, so generous, SO cruol, SO mighty
so weak so religious. so tanatical?
In this city was the greatest female
lecturer the world ever saw-Hypatia.
But the lesson of virtue that she taught
was obnoxious, and so they dragged her
through the streets and scraped her
flesh from her bones with sharp oyster
shells and then burned the fragments of
the massacred body. And here dwet
Cleopatra, pronounced to be the beauty
of all time-although if her pictures are
correct 1 have seen thousand women
in Brooklyn more attractive-and she
was as bad as she was said to be hand
some. Queen, conqueress, and spoke
seven languages, although it would have
been better for the world if she had not
been able to speak any. Ju'ins Caesar
+, conquered the world, yet she conquered
Julius Caesar.
But Alexander, fascinating for this or
that thing, according to the taste of the
visitor, was to me most entertaining be-
cause it had been the site of the great
est library that the world ever saw, con-
sidering the fact that the art Of printing
had not been invented. Seven hundred
thousand volumes and all the work of a
slow pen. But down it all went under
the torch of besiegers. Built again and
destroyed again. Built again, but the
Arabs came along for its final demolition
and the 1000 of the city were heated
with those volumes, the fuel lasting six
months, and were ever fires kindled at
such fearful cost? What holocausts OF
the worlds literaturel What martyr.
dom of books! How many of them have
gone down under the rage of nations.
Only one book has been able to with.
stand the bombardment, and that has
gone through without smell of fire on its
lids. No sword or spear or musket for
its defense. An unarmed New Tesla.
ment. An unarmed Old Testa:r ent. Yet
invulnerable and triumphant. There
must be something supernatural about
it. Conqueror of books! Monarch OF
books! All the books of all the ages in
all the libraries outshone by this one
book which you and I carry to church in
pocket. So methought amid the ashes
of AleXandrian libraries
Butall aboard the Egyptian rail train
going up the banks of the Nile! Looli
out OF the window and see those camels
kneelng for the imposition of their load
And l think we might take from them q
lesson, and, instead of trying to stano
upright in our strength, become CON
scious of our own weakness and need Of
divine help before we take upon US the
heavy duties OF theyear or the week OF
the day, and so knee! for the burden
We meet professions of men and beasts
on The way from their days week, bu,
alas, for the homes to which the poor in
habitants are going, for the most par
novels of mud. But there is something
in the scene that thoroughly enlists US
1t is the novelty of wretchedness and .
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