surprise. If I interpreted aright their meaning, it was, "Can this
prince take any interest in the welfare of a Hebrew woman?" Seeing
that my own eyes encountered hers with a look of friendly concern, she
spoke, and said:
"She is better."
Her voice had a mellow and rich cadence in it, wholly different from
the low, silvery tones with which the Egyptian ladies speak.
"I rejoice with you," I said.
She slowly shook her superb head, about which the jet-black hair was
bound in a profusion of braids. There were tones in her voice, too,
that again recalled Prince Remeses. Hence the secret of the interest
that I took in conversing with her.
"Why do you shake your head?" I asked.
"Why should the Hebrew wish to prolong life?"
She said this in a tone of deep emotion, but continued her occupation,
which was now copying a leaf of brilliantly colored hieroglyphic
inscriptions into the sort of running-hand the Egyptians make use of
in ordinary intercourse. There are three modes of tracing the
characters of this system of writing; and scribes adopt one, which,
while it takes the hieroglyph for its copy, represents it by a few
strokes that often bear, to the uninitiated eye, no resemblance to the
model. This mode the Hebrewess was making use of, writing it with ease
and elegance.
"Life to you, in this palace, under such a gentle mistress as Osiria,
cannot be bitter."
"I have no want. I am treated here as if I were not of the race of the
Hebrews. But, my lord," she said, elevating slightly her noble-toned
voice, though not raising her eyes, "I am not so selfish, believe me,
as to have no thought beyond my own personal comfort. How can I be
happy, even amid all the kindness I experience in this virtuous
family, when my heart is oppressed with the bondage of my people? Thou
art but a stranger in Egypt, O prince,--for I have heard of thee, and
who thou art,--and yet thou hast seen and felt for my people!"
"I have, indeed, seen their misery and toil; but how didst thou know
it?"
"From the venerable Ben Isaac, whose son Israel thou didst pity and
relieve at the fountain of the shepherds." She said this gratefully
and with feeling.
"Thou didst hear of this?"
"He was of my kinsfolk. They told me of your kindness with tears and
blessings; for it is so unusual with our people to hear in Egypt the
voice of pity, or behold a look of sympathy!"
"I hope the lad recovered," I said, feeling that her knowledge of that
little incident had removed from between us the barrier which
separates entire strangers. Besides, dear mother, it is impossible for
me, a Syrian, to look upon the Hebrew people, who are also Syrians by
descent from Abram, the Syrian prince, with Egyptian eyes and
prejudices. They regard them as slaves, and look upon them from the
position of the master. I never have known them as slaves, I am not
their master, and I regard them, therefore, with interest and
sympathy, as an unhappy Syrian people, who deserve a better fate,
which I trust their gods have in store for them. Therefore, while an
Egyptian would feel it a degradation, or at least infinite
condescension, to converse familiarly with a Hebrew of either sex, I
have no such inborn and inbred ideas. Miriam was in my eyes only a
beautiful and dignified Syrian woman, in bondage. No doubt, if the
proud and queenly Luxora had passed by, and discovered me in
conversation with her, she would have marvelled at my taste; or have
been displeased at an impropriety so unworthy of my position; for
though, wheresoever I have seen Hebrews domesticated in families, I
have observed the affability and kindness with which their faithful
services are usually rewarded by those they serve, yet there cannot be
a wider gulf between the realms of Osiris and Typhon, than between the
Egyptian of rank and the Hebrew. The few thousand of the more refined
and attractive of both sexes, who are to be found in palaces and the
houses of nobles, are too limited in number to qualify the feeling of
contempt with which the miserable millions of their brethren, who toil
in the brick-fields south of On, between the Nile and the desert, and
in other parts of Egypt, are universally regarded. Even the lowest
Egyptian is deemed by himself above the best of the Ben Israels. What
marvel, therefore, that the handsome, dark-eyed youths who serve as
pages, and the beautiful brunettes who wait upon mistresses, have a
sad and timid air, and wear a gentle, deprecating look, as if they
were fully conscious of their degradation!
"He is well," Miriam answered, "and desires me to ask you (I pray you
pardon the presumption!) if he may serve you?"
"I learn that a stranger cannot take a Hebrew into service," I
answered.
"True. We are the servants of the Egyptians," she said, sadly. "But
the great Prince Remeses, son of Pharaoh's daughter, will suffer it if
you ask him. Will you do this for the lad? Otherwise he will perish in
the field, for his spirit and strength are not equal to his tasks."
"The prince is absent, but I will ask the queen," I answered, happy to
do so great a favor to the youthful Hebrew, in whom I felt a deep
interest, inasmuch as it is our nature to feel kindly towards those
for whom we have done offices of kindness.
"I thank you, and his father and he will bless you, O Prince of Tyre,"
she said, taking my hand and carrying it to her forehead, and then
respectfully kissing it; and as she did so, I saw a tear fall upon my
signet finger.
"I feel much for your people," I said.
She continued her task in silence; but tears began so rapidly to rain
down upon the papyrus, over which her head was bent, that she was
compelled to turn her face away, lest she should spoil her work. After
a few moments she raised her face, and said, with shining eyes--
"Pardon me, my lord prince, but your few kind words, to which my ears
are all unused, have broken up the sealed fountains of my heart. It is
seldom that we children of Jacob hear the accents of sympathy, or find
any one to manifest concern for us, when not personally interested in
doing so."
At this moment, the sound of the sistrum before the sacred altar of
the temple, fell upon my ears; and, turning round to the east, I laid
my hands across my breast, and bowed my head low in worship, it being
the signal that the hierarch was offering incense and libations.
To my surprise, the Hebrew woman pursued her work, and remained with
her head, as I thought, more proudly elevated than before.
"Do you not worship?" I asked, with surprise.
"Yes, the One God," she answered, with dignity.
I started with surprise, that a bondwoman should declare, so openly
and familiarly, the mystery which even Remeses scarcely dared to
receive, and which I had accepted with hesitation and awe.
"How knowest thou there is One God?" I said, regarding her with
deepening interest.
"From our fathers."
"Do all your people worship the One Unity?"
"Not all," she answered, a shadow passing across her queenly brow.
"The masses of our enslaved nation know only the gods of Egypt. They
adore Apis with servility. They are the first to hail the new-found
calf-god, if, by chance, he be found in the nome where they toil. They
are ignorant of the true God, and degraded by their long servitude
(for we are all born in bondage--_all_!); they worship the gods of
their masters; and pots of flesh which are sent from the sacrifices by
the proselyting priests, as bribes to make our chief men bow down to
Osiris and Apis, are temptations enough to cause these elders daily to
deny the God of their father Abraham. Jacob and Joseph are become
Egyptians, and the knowledge of the undivided God is preserved only by
a few, who have kept sacred the traditions of our fathers."
This was said with deep feeling, and with an expression of anger
mingled with sorrow.
"What do you worship?" I asked.
"The God of Abraham."
"Abram was a Syrian prince," I said. "He must have worshipped fire,
and the sun."
"In his youth he did. But the great Lord of heaven revealed Himself to
him as One God, and thenceforth he knew and worshipped only the Lord
of heaven and earth."
"How knowest thou mysteries which are approached with the greatest awe
by the most sacred priests?"
"Abraham, our father, gave to Isaac, his son, the knowledge of One
God, God _of_ gods!--above, beyond, higher, and over the fabulous
Osiris, Apis, Thoth, Horus, and all other so-called deities. Isaac
left the knowledge with his son Jacob. From Jacob it descended to his
twelve sons, princes by birth; and we are their progeny; and though in
bondage, and tempted to bow down ourselves to the gods of Egypt, yet
there remain a few in Israel who have never bowed the knee to the
black statue of Apis, or crossed the breast before the golden image of
Osiris."
"What is the name of the One God you, and minds like yours, worship?"
I asked.
"He is called the One Lord; not only Lord of the sun, but Lord of the
lords of the sun. He is One in His being, One in power, and yields not
His glory and dominion to others. Such is the tradition of our faith."
"How hast thou resisted the worship of Egypt?" I asked. "Hast thou not
from a child been an inmate of this palace?"
"Yes, my lord prince. But my mother taught me early the truths of the
faith of Abraham, and I have held firmly to the worship of my fathers,
amid temptations, trials, and menaces. But all the gods of Egypt have
not turned me aside from the One God; and my heart tells me that in
Him, and Him alone, I live, and move, and have my being!"
I regarded this noble-looking bondwoman with surprise and profound
respect. Here, from the lips of a female, a slave, had I heard the
mystery of God made known, by one who worshipped boldly the Divine
Unity, which the wisdom of Remeses shrunk from certainly
acknowledging; but felt after only with hope and desire.
"Prince," she said, looking up into my face, and speaking with
feeling, "dost thou believe in these gods of Egypt?"
I confess, dear mother, I was startled by the question. But I replied,
smiling--
"I worship the gods of my own land, Miriam."
"Are they idols?"
"What is an idol?"
"An image or figure in stone, or wood, or metal, or even painted with
colors, to which divine homage is paid,--visible representations of
the invisible."
"In Phœnicia we worship the sun, and also honor certain gods."
"Then thou art not above the Egyptians. I saw thee bend in attitude of
prayer at the sound of the sistrum. Dost thou believe that the sacred
bull is God,--who made thee, and me, and nature, and the sun, and
stars, and upholds the universe? Dost thou believe Apis or Mnevis at
On, or Amun at Thebes, either or all of them, GOD?"
"Thou art a wonderful woman!" I exclaimed. "Art thou not a priestess
of the Hebrew people?"
"Not a priestess. I simply believe in the unity of God, which you
ought to believe in; for thou art open and ingenuous, and not afraid
of truth. A priestess I am not, yet in my family and tribe is
preserved sacredly the knowledge of the God who spake from heaven to
our ancestor, the Syrian. Canst thou believe, O prince, that a bull is
God?" she asked again, almost authoritatively.
"No, I do not," I answered, without disguise.
"Dost thou believe that all minor deities will ultimately be lost in
one God?"
"I do, most certainly."
"Then worship Him! Thou art a prince. I hear thou wilt become a king.
What would be your opinion of your subjects, and ambassadors of other
lands, also, if, instead of presenting petitions to you, they should
offer them to your grand-chamberlain, your royal scribe, your chief
butler, or chief baker,--mistaking them ignorantly for you?"
I made no reply, dear mother. The argument was irresistible. It will
be long, I feel, before I recognize in Apis, or in any statue of
stone, or any figure of a god, the One God, whose existence Remeses
first hinted at to me, and which the Hebrew has made me believe in;
for my own reason responds to the mighty truth! Do not fear, my dear
mother, that I shall return to Tyre an iconoclast; for I cannot set up
a faith in the One God in my realm, until I have His existence
established by infallible proofs. In my own heart I may believe in Him
and adore Him, whom my reason sees through and beyond all material
images of Himself; but, with Remeses, I must secure a foundation for
this new faith, before I overturn the ancient fabric of our mythology
of many gods.
She resumed her work. It was coloring the wings of an image of the
sun, which, encircled by an asp, his head projected, and with extended
wings, adorned the beginning of one of the leaves. The sun was
overlaid with gold; the asps were painted green, and brown, and gold,
while the feathers of the wide wings were blue, orange, purple,
silver, and gilt. It was an exquisitely beautiful picture.
"That is a god," I said, after watching for a time her skilful pencil;
"and yet you design and color it."
"The potter is not responsible for the use that his vases are put to.
The slave must do her mistress's work. I fulfil my task and duty by
obedience to the lords who are over me. Yet this is not a god. It is
the emblem of Egypt. The eternal sunshine is symboled in this golden
disk. The entwining asp is the winding Nile, and the two wings
represent Upper and Lower Egypt, extending along the river. It is an
emblem, not a god. In Egypt, no temple is erected to it. It is used
only in sculpture and over pylones of temples. Yet," she added, "were
it a god, I could not refuse to depict it. Commanded to do, I obey.
The condition of my people is one of submission: if a king rules well,
he is approved; if a slave obeys well, he also is approved."
At this point of our interesting conversation, I saw the
noble-looking, gray-bearded Prince of Uz pass along the corridor,
preceded by the page of the reception-room. Seeing me, he stopped and
said with benignity and courtesy:
"Prince of Tyre, it is a pleasure for me to meet with you here! I am
about to leave Egypt for Damascus, and learn from her majesty, the
good queen, that you have a galley which goes in a few days from
Pelusium to Tyre. I have come hither, knowing you to be a guest of my
friend the high-priest, to ask permission to sail in her. I have but a
small retinue, as my caravan has already gone through Arabia Deserta,
on its way to Upper Syria. I take with me but my secretary, scribe,
cup-bearer, armor-bearer, courier, and ten servants."
I assured the venerable prince that it would give me the greatest
pleasure to surrender to him the cabin and state-chamber of your
galley, my dear mother. And he will be the bearer of a letter from me
presenting him to you. I have already spoken of him in my account of
my first banquet with the queen. He is a prince, wise, good, virtuous,
and greatly honored, not only for his wisdom, but for the patience,
like a god's, with which he has endured the most wonderful sufferings.
At one time he lost sons, daughters, servants, flocks, herds, houses,
treasures, and health: yet he neither cursed the gods nor sought
escape in death. In reward for his patience and endurance, the
heavenly powers restored to him all things; and his name is now but
another term for sacred submission to the divine decrees.
Having courteously thanked me for granting his wish, he looked closely
at the Hebrew woman, and then said to her--
"Is it true that thy people worship the One God?"
"It is true, O prince!" she answered modestly.
"This is the true wisdom of life, to know the Almighty, and be
admitted into the secrets of the Holy One! Behold! happy is the man
who attaineth to this knowledge. The world gropes in darkness in the
daytime, and stumbles in the noon-day as in the night, not seeing the
pathway to God. Blessed art thou, O daughter of the wise Abram, the
princely Isaac, the good Jacob--the three great Syrian princes of the
East--in that thou knowest, thou and thy people, the traditions of thy
fathers! Can a man by searching find out God? Can the priests by their
wisdom find out the Almighty to perfection? Their light is darkness!
but the sons of Israel Ben Abram have the knowledge of the Most High,
and are wiser than Egypt!"
Miriam regarded the majestic old man with eyes expressive of wonder
and joy. They seemed to ask: "Who art thou?" He understood their
interrogating expression, and said:
"Daughter of Abram, offspring of wise kings, who walked with the One
God, who found Him and came even unto His seat, when darkness covered
the hearts of all men, I also worship GOD! I am of the family of the
King Melchisedec, who knew Abram thy father! They both had knowledge
of the mystery of the Divine Unity! They were friends, and worshipped
God, the Almighty, when the understanding of men knew Him not and
denied the God that is above, and the spirit of God who made them, and
the breath of the Almighty that gave them life. Our God speaketh
everywhere, yet man perceiveth it not, neither doth he know His voice!
Touching the Almighty--who can find him out? The world lacketh wisdom,
and is devoid of understanding, to bow down to the work of their own
hands, and see not Him who laid the foundations of the earth, who hath
stretched His line upon the heavens, and to whom all the morning stars
sang together at their creation, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy!"
The venerable Syrian uttered these words with an air of inspiration.
His eyes were fixed inquiringly upon my face, as if he directed his
speech to me alone.
"I would know the God that you and the Hebrews know and worship," I
said, with emotion. "I no longer recognize Deity in stone and metal,
nor God in Osiris and Apis, nor the Creator of all in the sun--who is
but a servant to light the world."
When I had thus spoken, the eyes of the Hebrew woman beamed with
pleasure, and the Prince of Uz, whose name is Ra-Iub, or Job, took my
hand in his and said, with a smile of benignity--
"Thou art not far from the house of Truth, O Prince of Tyre! May the
Almighty instruct thee, and He who ordained the ordinances of heaven
enlighten thee! He alone is the Almighty! Can Apis, or Io, or Adonis,
the gods in whom you believe, give rain and dew, the ice and the hoary
frost? Can they bind up the wintry seas of Colchis, so that men may
walk upon the frozen face of the deep, as upon marble? Can Apis or
Bel-Phegor bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands
of Orion? Can they bring forth Mazzaroth in his season, guide Arcturus
with his sons, and hang Aldebaran and Sirius in the firmament? Can
they send forth the lightning, and give to thunder its voice? My son,
there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
understanding to them that seek it. Behold, God is great, and we know
Him not, neither can the number of His years be searched out; yet
whosoever prayeth unto Him, He will be favorable unto, and will
deliver his soul, and his life shall see the light of the living! Deny
not, my son, the God that is above!"
"But where, O wise man of God, is the Almighty to be found, and
whither shall my understanding go out to find the place of His
throne?" I asked, feeling like a child at his feet, under the power of
his words. "I am weary of idols," I continued, catching the spirit of
his speech, "and with worshipping myths born of the ignorance of man.
Where shall the Maker be found? Show me His seat, O man of God, that I
may fall down before His footstool!"
"God is everywhere, but His throne is in thy heart. His wisdom has no
price, neither can it be gotten for gold. The depth says, It is not in
me! The sea saith, It is not with me! It cannot be weighed in the
balance; nor can it be valued with the gold of Ophir; and the exchange
of it shall not be jewels of fine gold. The topaz of Ethiopia shall
not purchase it, nor shall the coral and pearls of the isles of the
sea equal it; for the price of the wisdom of God is above rubies! The
fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and lo the Almighty is found of them
who humbly seek Him. An idol, my son, is a snare, and the false gods
of the world lead to destruction; they have eyes but see not, ears but
hear not, feet but walk not, hands which bless not, mouths that speak
no wisdom! But God is the Maker and Father of His creatures, and
concealeth His glory in the secret places of His heaven; yet the pure
in heart shall find Him, and they that plead with Him shall not be
mocked. He will come unto thee, and abide with thee, and thou shalt
know the Almighty as a father. I have tried Him and He has proved me,
and though He sorely afflicted me He did not forsake me, and in the
end came to me with more abundant honor and blessing."
"Will God pardon transgression?" I asked, giving utterance in this
brief question to a thought of my heart that no mythology could
answer.
"There is no promise to man, that transgression against a sacred and
sinless God can be forgiven. We must hope in His mercy at the end! I
have prayed, in my affliction, O prince, for a Day's man--one to stand
between me and the Almighty, to plead for me! My heart hath yearned
for One; and I feel that the yearning of my heart is a prophecy."
"Dost thou believe a Day's man, or mediator, will be given by the
great God to man, to intercede for transgressors against His
holiness?" I asked, between sweet hope and trembling fear.
"We have a tradition that has overleaped the flood and come down to
us, that One will yet stand between earth and heaven to plead with the
Creator for His creatures, and that the Almighty will hear His voice."
"Is not this feebly typified in Horus, the son of Osiris, who presents
the souls of the dead and acts as their friend?" I asked.
"Without doubt," answered the Prince of Uz. "This belief is found
shadowed forth in all faiths of every land. But I must not detain you,
my lord prince."
I then accompanied the white-haired Prince of Uz to the galley in
which he had crossed the Nile, and taking leave of him, promised to
see him ere he sailed.
Believe me, dear mother, there is but One God, and that an idol is
nothing on earth, not even the god-created sun. I have since had
another long conversation with the Prince of Uz, and he has convinced
me that in worshipping images and attributes we offend the High God,
and degrade our own natures.
Farewell, dear mother.
Your devoted son,
SESOSTRIS.
LETTER XIX.
CITY OF ON.
MY DEAREST MOTHER:
It is many weeks since my last letter was written. The interval has
been occupied by me, in visiting all places of interest in Lower
Egypt, previous to my voyage up the Nile, to the kingdom of the
Thebaïd. But the intelligence that your last letter contains, of the
misunderstanding arising between you and the King of Cyprus, and your
fear that war may ensue, will compel me to abandon my tour to the
Cataracts, and return to Tyre, unless the next courier brings more
pacific news. But I trust that the wisdom and personal influence of
your ambassador, Isaphris, will result in an amicable termination of
the difficulty. I have no doubt, that the haughty King of the Isle
will make due concessions, for his treatment of your shipwrecked
merchantmen, when your ambassador disclaims all intention, on the part
of your majesty, of planting an invading colony in any part of his
shores, and assures him that the vessels, which he supposed brought a
company of Phœnicians to occupy his soil, were driven thither when
bound for Carthage and distant Gades. But should he refuse to release
your subjects and to restore their vessels and goods, war would
inevitably ensue, and I will hasten home to conduct it in person. Do
not delay sending me the earliest intelligence by a special galley.
Until I hear from you, I shall linger in Lower Egypt.