The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-11-11
THE RIVER NILE.
A Stream That Yves Ever Twisted
in Gods Sunshine.
Biblical Allusion to the Crystal Cradle OF
Moses-Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage, ID. ID. a.

Talmage, ID. d. -,
DR.. Talmage last Sunday preached
on "Sailing Up the Nile" the second
sermon Of the series, entitled, From
the Pyramids to the Acropolis. or What
Saw in Egypt and Greece Confirma-
tory of the Scriptures" His text was
Ezekiel, xxx, Q: 1.-The River Is Mine
and I Have Made It."
Aha! This is the river Nile. A brown,
or yellow, or silver cord on which are
hung more jewels of thrilling interest
than on any river that 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 mighties of many
ages. 1t was the crystal cradle of
Noses and on its banks Mary, the ref
ugee, carried the infant Jesus. To find
the birthplace of this river was the fas-
cination and defeat of expeditions with
out number. Not many years ago Bay
ard Taylor, our great American traveller,
wrote: ''Since Columbus first looked
upon San Salvador, the earth has but
one emotion of triumph left for her dis
posal, and that she reserves for him
who shall first drink from the fount-
aims of the White Nile undeEthe snow
fields of Kilimanjaro But the dis
covery Of the sources of the Nile by
most people was considered an impossi-
bility. The malarias, the wild beasts,
.he savages, the unclimbable sleeps,
the vast distances stopped all the ex.
petitions for ages An intelligent ma
tive said to Sir Samuel W. Baker and
wife as they were on their way to accom-
plish that in which others had failed:
''Give up the mad scheme of the Nile
source. How would it be possible for a
lady young and delicate to endure what
would kill the strongest man. Give it
up" But the work went on until
Spoke and Grant and Baker found the
| two lakes which are the source Of what
was called the White Nile and bap-
tized these two lakes with the names
of Victoria and Albert. These two
lakeN filed by great rain-falls and by
accumulated SHOWS from the mount.
aims, 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 1000 miles and through a CONT.
nent
But the White Nile would do little for
Egypt if this were all It would keep
its banks and Egypt would remain a
desert. 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, which dashes with
sudden influx into the White Nile,
which In consequence rises thirty feet,
and their combined waters inupdate
Egypt with Z rich soil which drops on
all the fields and gardens as it is con-
Quoted by bitches and sluices and canals
every.whither. The greatest damage
that ever came to Egypt came by the dry.
ing up of the River Nile, and the greatest
blessing by its healthful and abundant
flow. The famine in Joseph's time
came from the lack of sufficient mum
dalton from the Nile. Not enough Nile
is drought Too much Nile is freshet
and plague.
The rivers of the earth are the mothers
of its prosperity. If by some convulsior
of nature the Mississippi should be TAX
en- from North America, or the Anna
zon from South America, or the Danube
from Europe. or the Yenesei from Asia
what hemisphere calamity! Still
there are other rivers that could fer
tilize and save these countries Oul
own continent is gulched, is ribboned,
is glorified by innumerable water.
courses But Egypt has only one great
river. and they are harnessed to draw
all the properties of realms and acre
age semi.intinite. What happens to the
Nile, happens to Egypt The nilome
GER was to me very suggestive as we
went up and down its damp stone steps
and saw the pillar marked with notche.
telling just how high or low are the
waters of the Nile.
When the Nile is rising four crier.
every morning run through the city an
nouncing how many feet the river ha'
risen-ten feet, fifteen feet, twenty feet
} twenty-four feet-and when the RICH
height of water is reached the gates o
the canals are flung open and the liquit
and refreshing benediction is pro
nounced on all the land.
i. As we start where the Nile emptie
into the Mediterranean sea we behol,
a wonderful fulfillment of prophecy
The Nile in very ancient times used II
have seven mouths. AS the great rive
approached the sea it entered the Sc;
at seven different places Isaiah proph
esied: "The Lord shall utterly destro,
the tongue of the Egyptian sea ant
shall smite it in the seven streams.
The fact is they are all destroyed bu
two, and Herodotus said these two re
naming are artificial. Up the Nile w
shall go; part of the way by Egyptial
rail train. and then by boat, and then w
i shall understand why the Bible give
such prominence to this river whicl
is the largest river of all the earth wit
one exception. But before we boar
. the train we must take look at Alex
, andria. 1t was founded by Alexande
!. the Great, and was once the New York
the Paris. the London of the world
Temples, palaces, fountains gardens
pilliared and effiorescent with all ARCH
tectural and Edenic grandeur an
sweetness. Apollos, the eloquen,
whom in New Testament times som