as well as in art, can sustain no comparison with those other nations we
have spoken of, and to whom we must apply a very different criterion of
excellence. The moral eminence of this people, or the part allotted to
it in high historical destiny, lies rather in the sphere of will, and in
a well-regulated conduct of the will. Moses himself was undoubtedly, as
it is said of him, "versed in all the science of the Egyptians;" for he
had received a completely Egyptian education, which, by the care of an
Egyptian princess, was of the highest and politest kind, and
consequently, as the customs of the country imply, extremely scientific.
Even his name according to the credible testimony of several ancient
writers, was originally Egyptian, and afterwards hebraized; for
_Moyses_,[50] as he is called in the Greek version of the Seventy,
signifies in Egyptian, _one saved out of the water_. But the Hebrew
people were far from possessing that Egyptian science of which Moses was
so great a master; on the contrary, the Jewish legislator seemed to
consider the greater part of that foreign science, in which he himself
was so well versed, as of little service to his object; and in many
instances sought to withhold this knowledge from his nation. Many of the
Mosaic precepts indeed, especially such as have a reference to external
life, to subsistence, diet and health, and which are in part at least
founded on reasons of climate, are entirely conformable to Egyptian
usages, and are found to have been practised among that people; for
these ancient law-givers and founders of Asiatic states did not scruple
to give even medical precepts in their codes of moral legislation, that
embraced the minutest circumstances of life. But to these precepts and
usages the Hebrew legislator has imparted in general a higher import and
a religious consecration. We must not suppose, however, that he has
taken all his laws from this source, or make this a matter of reproach
to the Jewish law-giver, as many critics of our own times have done;
for, to minds enslaved by the narrow spirit of the age, difficult,
indeed, is it to transport themselves into that remote antiquity. It
would be a great error, also, to suppose that all the science which
Moses had acquired by his Egyptian education, he wished to conceal from
his nation, and reserve for the secret use of himself and a few
confidential friends. It is evident, if we regard the subject only in an
historical point of view, that a higher and better element, completely
foreign to the science of Egypt, animated and pervaded all the views and
conduct of this great man, whether we consider him as the founder and
law-giver of the Hebrew state, or as the guide and instructor of the
Hebrew people. In the forty years' sojourn of Moses in the Arabian
desert with Jethro, one of whose seven daughters he married, and who has
rightly been accounted an Emir, or petty pastoral prince of Arabia, this
higher principle silently grew up and expanded in the breast of this
exalted man, until it at last burst forth in all the majesty of divine
power. All that appeared to Moses truly sound and excellent in Egyptian
customs and science, or serviceable to his purpose, he adopted and used
with choice and circumspection. But all that was incompatible with his
designs, and which he knew to be corrupt, he strenuously rejected, or he
gave to it a totally different application, and established a higher
principle in its room.
In the same way he was not disconcerted by the secret arts of the
Egyptian sorcerers, for it was no difficult matter for him to vanquish
them in the presence of the king by the higher power of God. It is thus
we should understand the conduct of Moses in reference to the science
and modes of thinking of the Egyptians; and that conduct will be found
not only perfectly irreproachable in a human point of view, but entitled
to our warmest admiration. If for instance we suppose that Moses, the
first and greatest writer in the Hebrew tongue,--the founder and
legislator of that language also, was, if not the first that discovered,
at least the first that fixed and regulated, the Hebrew alphabet, we may
easily conceive him to have taken the first ten, as well as the last
twelve Hebrew letters from the Egyptian hieroglyphics; for even at that
early period, the hieroglyphics, while they retained their original
symbolical meaning, had acquired an alphabetical use. This supposition
is at least extremely probable, for many of the Hebrew letters are found
in precisely the same form in the hieroglyphical alphabet; though our
knowledge of this alphabet is still so very imperfect, and though we
have deciphered but perhaps a tenth part of all the various literal
symbols which may there exist. But to continue our supposition, Moses
did not wish to take from the Egyptian hieroglyphics more than the
twenty-two literal signs; he neglected the other hieroglyphs and natural
symbols, for he had no need of them. On the contrary, he studiously
excluded all natural symbols from his religious system, and prohibited
with inexorable severity the chosen people the use of images and all
that was most remotely connected with such a service. He well foresaw
that if he made the slightest concession on this point, and permitted
the least indulgence, or left the slightest opening to the passion for
natural and symbolical representations, it would be impossible to set
any restraint on this indulgence, and that the Hebrews when they had
once swerved from the path marked out for them, would follow the same
course as the Pagan nations. The subsequent history of the Jewish nation
sufficiently proves how important and necessary was that part of the
Mosaic legislation which proscribed all that was connected with the
religious use of images. But wherein consisted the peculiar bent of
mind, the moral and intellectual character traced out to the Hebrews by
their legislator and all their Patriarchs? Completely opposed to the
Egyptian science--to the Egyptian understanding, that dived and
penetrated by magical power into the profoundest secrets and mysteries
of nature, the ruling element of the Hebrew spirit was the _will_--a
will that sought with sincerity, earnestness and ardour, its God and its
Maker, far exalted above all nature, went after his light when
perceived, and followed with faith, with resignation, and with unshaken
courage, his commands, and the slightest suggestions of his paternal
guidance, whether through the stormy sea, or across the savage desert. I
do not mean to assert that the whole nation of the Jews was thoroughly,
constantly, and uniformly actuated and animated with such a pure spirit
and such pure feelings--many pages of their history attest the contrary,
and but too well manifest how often they were in contradiction with
themselves. But this and this alone was the fundamental principle, the
first mighty impulse, the permanent course of conduct which Moses and
the other leaders and chosen men among the Hebrews sought to trace out
to their people--this was the abiding character, the great distinctive
mark which they had stamped upon their nation. This too, was the
distinguishing character of all the primitive Patriarchs, as represented
in the sacred writings of the Old Testament.
Independently of particular traits of national character, and the
special destiny of nations, it is philosophically certain, or if we may
so speak, it is a truth grounded on psychological principles, that the
will and not the understanding is in man the principal organ for the
perception of divine truths. And by this, we understand a will that
seeks out with all the earnestness of desire the light of truth, which
is God, and when that light has appeared clear, or begins to appear
clear, follows with fidelity its guidance, and listens to the internal
voice of truth and all its high inspirations. I affirm that in man the
understanding is not the principal organ for the perception of divine
truth--that is to say, the _understanding alone_. On the understanding
alone, indeed, the light may dawn and may even be received--but if the
will be not there--if the will pursue a separate and contrary course;
that light of higher knowledge is soon obscured, and soon becomes
clouded and unsteady; or, if it should still gleam, it is changed into
the treacherous meteor of illusion. Without the co-operation of a good
will, this light cannot be preserved or maintained in its purity; nay,
the will must make the first advances towards truth; it must lay the
first basis for the higher science of divine truth, and religious
knowledge. In other words, as the God whom we acknowledge and revere as
the Supreme Being is a living God; so truth, which is God, is a living
truth--it is only from life that it can be derived, by life attained,
and in life learned. In the present state of man's existence, in this
period of the world--a period of discord, of sunken power, of misery and
delusion--a period, which, as the Indians designate our fourth and last
epoch of the world by the name of Caliyug, is the period of predominant
woe and misfortune; in this present life, the path marked out for man as
leading to the knowledge of divine truth and to a higher life, is the
path of patience, resignation, and perseverance in the struggle of
life--a toilsome probation cheered and supported by hope. Desire or love
is the beginning or root of all higher science or divine knowledge;
perseverance in desire, in faith, and in the combat of life forms the
mid-way of our pilgrimage; but the term of this pilgrimage is only a
term of hope. This necessary period of preparation, of slow and irksome
preparation, and gradual progression, cannot be avoided or overleaped by
the most heroic exertions of man. The supreme perfection and full
contentment of the soul--the intimate union of the spirit with God--and
God himself cannot be thus grasped, wrested, and held fast by a violent
concentration of all our thoughts on a single point, by a species of
arrogated omnipotence--the self-potency of obstinate and tenacious
thought; as the Indian philosophy believes, and as the modern German
philosophy[51] for some time seemed to believe, or at least attempted.
The real character, and even history of the Jewish people are frequently
misunderstood, and ill appreciated; because the men of our times, who in
all their speculations, and whatever may be the nature of their
opinions, incline ever more and more to the spirit of _the absolute_,
are unable to seize and enter into the idea of that epoch of preparation
and progressive advancement which was as indispensable for the
perfection of intellect and knowledge, as of moral life itself. The
whole historical existence and destiny of the Hebrews is confined within
one of those great epochs of providential dispensation--it marks but one
stage in the wonderful march of humanity towards its divine goal. The
whole existence of this people turned on the pivot of hope, and the
key-stone of its moral life projected its far shadows into futurity.
Herein consists the mighty difference between the sacred traditions of
the Hebrews and those of the other ancient Asiatic nations. When we
examine the primitive records and sacred books of these nations, who
were so much nearer the fountain-head of primitive revelation than the
later nations of the polished West;--when we leave out of sight the
moral precepts and ordinances of liturgy comprised in these books; we
shall find their historical view is turned backward towards the glorious
Past, and that they breathe throughout a melancholy regret for all that
man and the world have since lost. And undoubtedly these primitive
traditions contain many ancient and beautiful reminiscences of primeval
happiness, for even Nature herself was then far different from what she
is at present, more lovely, more akin to the world of spirits, peopled
and encompassed with celestial genii; and not only the small garden of
Eden, but all creation, enjoyed a state of Paradisaic innocence and
happy infancy, ere strife had commenced in the world, and ere death was
known. Out of the multitude of these holy and affecting recollections,
and out of the whole body of primitive traditions, Moses, by a wise law
of economy, has retained but very little in the revelation, which was
specially destined for the Hebrew people, and has communicated only what
appeared to him absolutely and indispensably necessary for his nation,
and for his particular designs, or rather the designs of God, in the
conduct of that nation. But the little he has said--the significant
brevity of the first pages of the Mosaic history, involves much profound
truth for us in these later ages, and comprises very many solutions as
to the great problems of primitive history, did we but know how to
extract the simple sense with like simplicity. But every thing else, and
in general the whole tenour of the Mosaic writings, like the existence
of the Hebrew nation, was formed for futurity--and to this were the
views of the Jewish legislator almost exclusively directed. And as all
the sacred writings of the Old Testament, which, by this direction
towards futurity, were even in their _outward form_ so clearly
distinguishable from the sacred books and primitive records of other
ancient nations; as all these sacred writings, I say, from the first
law-giver, who in a high spiritual sense, delivered from the Egyptian
bondage of nature his people chosen for that especial object, down to
the royal and prophetic Psalmist, and down to that last voice of warning
and of promise that resounded in the desert, were both in their form and
meaning eminently prophetic; so the whole Hebrew people may, in a lofty
sense, be called prophetic, and have been really so in their historical
existence and wonderful destiny.
To these four nations, whom we have compared, in respect to the
different shape and course which the primitive revelation and sacred
tradition assumed, among them, as well as in respect to the diversities
in their intellectual development,--the contrarieties in the internal
Word, and higher consciousness of each;--to these nations, in order to
complete the instructive parallel, we may now add a fifth--the Persians;
a people which in some points was similar, in others dissimilar to one
or other of these nations, and which bearing a nearer affinity to some
in its doctrines and views of life, or even in its language and turn of
fancy, and more closely connected with others in the bonds of political
intercourse, may be said to occupy a middle place among these nations.
In ancient history, the Persians form the point of transition from the
first to the second epoch of the world; and in this they hold the first
place, in so far as they commenced the career of universal conquest; a
passion which passed from them to the Greeks, and from these in a still
fuller extent to the Romans, like some noxious humour--some deadly
disease transmitted with augmented virulence through every age from
generation to generation; and even in modern times, this hereditary
malady in the human race has again broken out.
But, considered in a spiritual point of view, and with regard to their
religion and sacred traditions, the Persians must be classed with the
four great nations of the primitive world, and can be compared with them
only; for, in this respect, they so totally differed from the
Phoenicians and Greeks, that no comparison can be instituted between
them and the latter; and no parallel, where the objects are so unlike,
can be productive of any useful result. To the Indians they bore the
strongest resemblance in their language, poetry, and poetic Sagas; their
conquests, which stretched far into the provinces of central Asia,
brought them in contact with the remote eastern Asia, and the celestial
Empire of the Chinese, so completely sequestered from the western world;
with Egypt they were involved in political contests, till they finally
subdued it--and in their religious doctrines and traditions, they more
nearly approximated to the Hebrews; or their views of God and religion
were more akin to the Hebrew doctrines than those of any other nation.
Of the King of Heaven, and the Father of eternal light, and of the pure
world of light, of the eternal Word by which all things were created, of
the seven mighty spirits that stand next to the throne of Light and
Omnipotence, and of the glory of those heavenly hosts which encompass
that throne; next, of the origin of evil and of the Prince of darkness,
the monarch of those rebellious spirits--the enemies of all good; they
in a great measure entertained completely similar, or at least very
kindred, tenets to those of the Hebrews. That, with all these doctrines
much may have been, or really was, combined, which the ancient Hebrews
and even we would account erroneous, is very possible, and indeed may
almost naturally be surmised; but this by no means impairs that strong
historical resemblance we here speak of. A circumstance well worthy of
observation is the manner in which Cyrus and the Persians are
represented in the historical books of the Old Testament, and are there
so clearly distinguished from all other Pagan nations. Among the latter
they can with no propriety be numbered; nay, they felt towards the
Egyptian Idolatry as strong an abhorrence, and in political life
manifested it more violently, than the Hebrews themselves. During their
sway in Egypt, this Idolatry was an object of their persecution, and
under Cambyses, they pursued a regular plan for its utter extirpation.
Even Xerxes in his expedition into Greece, destroyed many temples and
erected fire-chapels in the whole course of his march; for it cannot be
questioned but religious views were principally instrumental in giving
birth to the Persian conquests, at least to those of an earlier date.
This is a circumstance which should not be overlooked, if we would
rightly understand the whole course of these events, and penetrate into
the true spirit and original design of these mighty movements in the
world. From their fire-worship, we must not be led to accuse the ancient
Persians of an absolute deification of the elements, and of a sensual
idolatry of nature; in their religion, which was so eminently spiritual,
the earthly fire and the earthly sacrifice were but the signs and the
emblems of another devotion and of a higher Power. Symbols and
figurative representations were in general not so rigidly excluded from
their religious system, as from that of the Hebrews. Yet, among the
Persians, these had a totally different character from those in the
Indian or Egyptian idolatry. The generous character of the ancient
Persians, their life and their manners, which display such an exalted
sense of nature, possess in themselves something peculiarly winning and
captivating for the feelings. The leading result of the few observations
we have made may be comprised in the following general remarks:--
If a poetical recollection of Paradise sufficed for the moral destiny of
man--if the pure feeling, enthusiasm, and admiration for sideral nature
were alone capable of revealing all the glory of the celestial abodes,
and of the heavenly hosts, of opening to mental eyes the gates of
eternal light--if this were the one thing necessary, and of the first
necessity for man--if it were, or could be conformable to the will of
God, that the eternal empire of pure light should be diffused over the
whole earth by the enthusiasm of martial glory, by the generous valour
and heroic magnanimity of a chivalric nobility, such as the Persian
undoubtedly was--then indeed would the Persians hold the pre-eminence,
or be entitled to claim the first rank among those four nations that
were nearest the source of the primitive revelation. But it is otherwise
ordained; the path alone fit and salutary for man, and evidently marked
out by the will of God, is the path of patience and perseverance--the
unremitting struggle of slow preparation. Thus, as we may easily
conceive, it was not the Persians, distinguished as that nation was by
its noble character, and by its spiritual views of life; it was not the
Egyptians, versed and initiated as they were in all the mysteries of
nature and all the depths of science;--but it was the politically
insignificant, and, in an earthly point of view, the far less important,
almost imperceptible, people of the Hebrews, that were chosen to be the
medium of transition--the connecting link between the primitive
revelation and the full development of religion in modern times, and its
last glorious expansion towards the close of ages. They are now the
carriers, and, we may well say, the porters of the designs of
Providence, destined to bear the torch of primitive tradition and sacred
promise from the beginning to the consummation of the world:--while the
once magnanimous nation of the Persians has sunk from that pure
knowledge of truth, and those high spiritual notions of religion it once
entertained, down to the anti-christian superstition of Mahomet; and the
profound people of Egypt has become totally extinct, and is not to be
traced even in the small community of Coptic Christians, who have
preserved a feeble remnant of the ancient language.
Since now this general sketch of the various and contrary directions
which the human mind followed in the first ages of history has been
rendered more clear and definite by a comparative view of the five
principal nations of the primitive world, it only remains for us to
subjoin some important traits in the history of each, to complete this
picture of the earliest nations; in order to pass over, along with the
Persians, to the second period of the ancient world--a period which is
so much nearer to us, and appears so much more clear and open to our
apprehension.