The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-10-28
SAILING UP THE NILE"
The Subject ofDr. Talmage's Second
Sermon OF the Series
Descriptive OF His Tour from the Pyra-
mids to the Acropoils- Evidences Found
on Every Hand Of the Truthful
ness Of tho Scriptures.

LII. 1uiihdSO PiOuShSu iuoo ouhN"J
on "sailing up the Nile" the second
sermon OF the series entitled, "From
the Pyramids to the Acropolis or What
I saw in Egypt and Greece, Confrma-
tory of the Scriptures" His text was
Ezekiel xxx, 8: "The river is mine and
] have made it." ryt
.Ahal This is the river Nile. A
brown, or yellow, or silver cord on
which are h'ssg more jewels Of thrilling |
interest than on any river that was ever
twisted in the sunshine. 1t ripples
through the book of Ezekiel, and
flashes in the books Of Deuteronomy,
and Isaiah, and Zachariah, and Nahum,
and on its banks stood the mightiest OF
many ages. II 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. Not many years ago,
Bayard Taylor ou. great American
traveller, wrote: "Since Columbus first
looked upon San Salvador, the earth
has but one emotion of triumph left for
her bestowal and that she reserves for
him who shall first drink from the
fountain of the White Nile under the
snow fields OF Kilimanjaro." But the
discovery Of the sources OF the Nile by
most people was considered an impossi-
bility. The malarias, the wild beasts,
the savages, the unclimbable sleeps, the
vast distances stopped all the expedi-
tlons for ages An intelligent native
said TO Sir Samuel w. Baker and wife
as they were on their way to accomplish
that in which others had failed: Give
up the mad scheme Of the Nile
source. How would it be possible
for lady young and delicate to en-
dure what would kill the strongest
man? Give it up" But the work went
on until Speke, and Grant and Baker
found the two lakes which are the
source OF what was called the White
Nile, and baptized these two lakes with
the names of Victoria and Albert
These two lakes, filed by great rain
falls and by accumulated SHOWS from
the mountains, pour their waters,
laden with agricultural wealth such as
blesses no other river, on down over
the cataracts, on between frowning
mountains, on between cities living
and cities dead, on for four thousand
miles and through a continent But
the White Nile would do little for Egypt
II this were all 1t would keep its
banks and Egypt would remain des-
ert But from Abyssinia there comes
what Is called the Blue Nile, which,
though dry or nearly dry half the year,
under tremendous rains about the mid
die of June rises TO great momentum,
and this Blue Nile dashes with sudden
influx into the White Nile, which IN
consequences rises thirty feet and theii
combined waters inNndate Egypt with 9
rich soil which dops on all the fields ant
gardens as II Is conducted by bitches
and sluices and canals every whittier
The greatest damage that ever cam'
10 Egypt came by the drying up o
the River Nile, and the greatest blessing
by It's healthful and abundant flow
~ The famine in Joseph's time came from
the lack OF sufficient inundation from
the Nile. Not enough Nile Is drouth
too much Nile is freshet and plague
The rivers Of the earth are the mother
of It's prosperity. II by some convulsio
of nature the Mississippi should b
taken from North America, or the Anna
zon from South America, or the Danub
from Europe, or the Yenesei from Asi
what hemisphere calamity Still ther
are other rivers that could fertilize an
save these countries. Our own cont
nent Is gulched, is ribboned, Is glorifie
by innumer able water courses. B'
Egypt has only one great river, and thu
Is harnessed TO draw all the prosperiti'
Of realms in acreage semi-intnit
What happens to the Nile, happens
Eeypt. The nilometer was TO me vel
suggestive as we went up and down
damp stone steps and saw the pill
marked with notches telling Just ho
high or low are the waters Of the Nil
When the Nile Is rising four criers eve
mA rning run through the city amour
ing how many feet the river has risen
ten feet, fifteen feet. twenty feet, TIVE
ty-four feet--and when the right heig
Of water is reached the gates Of I
canals are flung open and the liquid q
refreshing benediction is pronounced
all the land "a gL.
As we start where the Nile empt
into the Mediterranean Sea we beht
wonderful fulfllment Of prophe'
The Nile in very ancient times used
have seven mouths. AS the great ri'
approached the sea IL entered the sea
seven different places. Isaiah prop
sied: "The Lord shall utterly destl
the tongue of the Egyptian Sea .
shall smite II In the seven stream
The fact is they are all destroyed
two, and Herodotus said these two
uaining are artificial. Up the Nile
shall go; part Of the way by Egypt
fur train and then by boat and we 81
4ihderstand why the Bible gives 81
prominence 10 this river, which Is
largest river Of all the earth, with
exception. But before we board
train we must take q look
Alexandria IL was founded
Alexander the Great and
once the New York, the Pa
the London of the world. Temp
palaces, fountains, gardens, pilla
and effiorescent with all architect'
and Edenic grandeur and sweetn
Appollas the eloquent whom IN
Testament times some people trie
make rival TO Paul, lived here. Il
Mark, the author OF the SCI I'd boo
the New Testament, c. d VI
Nero,s anatbema. From here the