was to touch at Pelusium on its way to Carthage, I alluded to a
feeling (which has been increasing in strength for many months) that
prompted me to visit my brethren in bonds in Egypt. It is true, I have
no power. I am but one, and Mœris would, no doubt, gladly seize
upon me if he knew I was in his kingdom. I have, however, determined
to yield to the desire; and next month shall sail in a galley that
goes to Egypt for ebony and ivory. Not long, therefore, after you
receive this letter, which the scholarly Aaron will read to you, will
you embrace your younger and long-absent son. It is expedient that I
go unknown. I wish to observe the Hebrew people, without awakening
suspicion, as to who I am. Should Mœris hear of me, he would
quickly suspect me of planning evil against him. If I can do no more,
I can carry to the elders the certainty of the truth, as they received
it, by tradition, of One God, Lord of heaven and earth, Infinite in
holiness, and Almighty in power. From the holy Prince of Uz, I not
only received this, but many other things of wonderful interest--which
he seemed to know by the voice of God--concerning the creation of the
world in six days, and the formation of man and woman, whom he placed
in a garden of beauty, with dominion over all things. But I will not
go further into these divine and wonderful things, at this time, O my
mother, as I shall hereafter read to you, from the sacred leaves, the
narrative of the acts of creation, as they were written by the Prince
and Prophet of Uz: to whom, before all men, has been revealed the
truth of the Most High, and the mysteries which have been secret from
eternity. Lo! the pages of the book of his patience under God's trial
show, that no man on earth ever before had such illumination of divine
light! Such language as that of his which I have written in the book,
when he speaks of God, could only have been suggested by the
inspiration of the Almighty. He talks of God as if he had sat at His
feet, and daily beheld His glorious majesty, or heard His voice shake
the heavens. Of him have I learned the wisdom of the past; and there
whispers in my heart, O mother, a solemn voice, which bids me hope
that if I fear God, and walk uprightly, and seek His face, and trust
in Him, He will also draw nigh to me, unveil His glory, and speak face
to face with me, as He hath done to His holy servant, the Prince of
Uz! It shall be the aspiration of my heart, to be received into the
divine favor as He has been, and made the recipient of His will, and
of His laws for men! Censure me not,--charge me not with pride, O my
mother! In the spirit of meekness and lowliness do I cherish this hope
The path to the ear of God, and to His favor, the Prince of Uz hath
taught me, is prayer. On bended knees, therefore, seven times a day,
do I bow in supplication before the Holy One Almighty, the Lord God of
Hosts; and more and more do I feel my spirit go forth to Him; and
daily, the infinite distance between earth and His throne seems to
lessen! Nor will I cease to pray to Him, O mother, until I hear His
voice in my soul, and feel the intimate presence of His Being in union
with my own! Then will I reach the height of humanity, which is the
reunion of the creature with the Creator, the restoration in his soul
of the divine image, and the reception into his own of a divine and
immortal life!
My friend, King Sesostris, reluctantly consents to my departure. He
has never ceased his affectionate regard for me, and he has called his
beautiful son, now four years old, Remeses--after me. This child, I
love as if he were mine own. He is intelligent and full of affection,
and already understands that I am about to go away, and sweetly urges
me not to leave him. The Queen Thamonda has prepared many gifts for
you and my sister, whom she loves, though not having seen. Here, dear
mother, the bondage and degradation of the Hebrew is not comprehended.
We are not, in their eyes, crown-serfs. We are but a Syrian nation
held in captivity; and other nations regard us with sympathy, and have
no share in the contempt and scorn with which we are regarded by our
Egyptian taskmasters.
Israelisis the Hebrew, whom Sesostris brought with him five years ago
to Tyre, is now a fine young man, and assistant secretary to his royal
scribe. All that our people want, my mother, is to be placed in
positions favorable to the development of their intellect, and they
will rise, side by side, with any other people on earth. If we were a
nation, with a country of our own, we would give laws to the world.
Farewell, my dear mother. In a few days you will embrace me.
Your devoted son,
MOSES.
LETTER VI.
REMESES IN EGYPT TO SESOSTRIS IN PHŒNICIA.
TREASURE-CITY OF RAAMSES.
It is with gratitude to God, O Sesostris, that I inform you of my safe
arrival in Egypt, after a perilous passage across the sea. Our chief
pilot, finding, after we left the port of Tyre, that the wind was fair
for the mouth of the Nile, and the weather seeming to be settled,
signified to me his intention to leave the coast, and boldly steer
from land to land. Having no knowledge of nautical affairs, I neither
advised nor objected, leaving him to act according to his own
experience and skill: he therefore laid the course of the ship as
nearly straight for Pelusium, as he could ascertain it, by the
position of the sun at noon.
Before night we were surrounded by a horizon of water, and this being
the first time since I had lived on the earth, that I had been unable
to behold it, the situation was wholly novel, not only to me but to
other passengers,--some of whom manifested the liveliest fears, lest
we should no more behold the land. My mind was impressed by the
sublimity and vastness of the view; and the majestic idea of
eternity--boundless and infinite--filled my soul. It seemed as if,
from our deck, I could survey the universe of space, for there was
nothing terrestrial to arrest and confine the eye.
"Who," I reflected, "as he surveys the illimitable sky, and the
measureless ocean over which it extends, can withhold the confession
that there is One God only, the Upholder of worlds and the Governor of
His creation? Who, with such a scene before him, as day with its
splendor and vastness of space, and night with its stars presented
above the sea, could give the glory of the Almighty to another, and
put his trust in such myths as are the gods of Egypt and the deities
of Phœnicia?" I rejoice, O king, that you have listened to the
truths it was my happiness to unfold to you, and that in your heart
you acknowledge and secretly adore the Almighty. May the time soon
come when you will have strength given you, from Himself, to establish
His holy worship in your dominions! A king is God's representative on
earth, and his power is great; and if he exercise it,--not like the
Pharaohs, who reign as if they were gods, but--with judgment, and
fear, and humble recognition of the Infinite source of all power, then
He who is King of kings and Lord of lords, will bless him and cause
him to prosper. When a king acknowledges that his power is delegated,
and that he must be accountable for its use or abuse to his God, he
has gained the highest wisdom that earth can give! Seek, O king, that
wisdom!
Pardon me, my dear Sesostris, for presuming to teach you. I am
diffident in speech when present with you, but you perceive I am bold,
perhaps too much so, when away from you.
We continued, for three days and nights, sailing upon the sea, without
a shore in view, and in a few hours more hoped to find the mouth of
the Nile; when the wind, after a sudden lull, came round to the south,
the air was darkened with clouds, and night came on, enveloping our
ship in the profoundest gloom, amid which we drove, our pilot knew not
whither! It was a night of painful suspense. The seas dashed over us;
our banks of oars were broken or washed away; and not a cubit's
breadth of sail could remain on the mast, while the air was filled
with sharp sand, blown from the Arabian desert.
The passengers and crew were in despair, and believing that every
succeeding billow would go over us and destroy us, they called
frantically upon their gods! The Syrian cried to Hercules, and the
Sabæan upon the sun and upon fire. The merchants of Tyre prayed to
Adonis and Io, the Arabians to Ammon, and the Egyptians vowed
libations and offerings to Apis, Osiris, and Thoth. Our pilot, finding
all hope desert him, burned a cake of incense to the deity of the sea,
and vowed an oblation to all the gods he could in his extremity call
to mind.
Then it was, O Sesostris, that I felt the power and excellency of my
faith in God! Then did the folly, the vanity, and degradation of the
religions of those about me, deeply impress me, and move me to pity.
Calm, serene, confident in the Almighty, who holdeth the sea in the
hollow of His hand, and directeth the stormy winds and tempests of the
skies, I lifted my heart and my voice to Him, whom, with the eye of
instructed intelligence, I beheld seated above the darkness and the
whirlwind, in the ineffable glory and peace of His own heaven, and
directing all things by His will. I felt that He could protect and
defend me, and those who sailed with me; that the night to Him was as
clear as the day; and that even I was not too insignificant to be
cared for by Him, who, in His love, gave voices of music to the little
birds, who painted the lily, and perfumed the flower.
"O Lord God, Holy One, the Almighty, who art the Creator of all
things, if I have found grace in Thy sight, hear my humble petition,
which I now offer before Thee. Let Thy presence be here, and Thy
power; save us who are tossed upon the great sea, and who have no hope
but in Thee. These call upon their idols, but I, O Lord God, call upon
Thee, the God of our fathers. Guard us in our danger, and bring us in
safety to our haven! For Thou art the only true and living God, and
besides Thee there is no God!"
All the people who heard my voice, as I thus invoked the Living God,
and saw my hands outstretched heavenward, turned from their idols and
amulets, and ceased their prayers and cries, to hear me. The
lightnings flashed about us in a continual flame, so that the ship
seemed on fire, and I could be seen by all.
Judge, O Sesostris, my surprise, when instantly the winds--which at
the first word of my prayer softened--ceased to roar; the waves fell
level with the sea; the clouds parted above us, and revealing a bright
moon shining down from the starry sky, they rolled, on all sides,
swiftly away towards the horizon.
This sudden and wondrous change, evidently in response to my prayer,
as a proof that it was heard by the Ear to which I, in fear and hope,
addressed it, amazed me. It was the power and act of my God! I felt it
to be so, and lifting up my eyes and hands to the cloudless skies, I
said--
"Thine, O Lord Almighty, thine be the praise and glory; for Thou art
the hearer and answerer of prayer, and art loving to all Thy
creatures. Thou hast power in heaven and on earth, and on the broad
sea, nor is any thing hid from Thee. Darkness is no darkness with
Thee, and no power can resist thine! Thanks be to Thee, O Lord God on
high, for this manifestation of Thy presence, and this confirmation of
my faith. Let these idolaters likewise glorify Thee, for whose sakes
Thou hast also done this."
When I ceased, I beheld a crowd, made up of all nations, prostrate
around me. The captain, turning away from his god, was burning incense
before me, while the invocations of the crew and passengers were being
offered to me. With horror I drew back and waved them away, saying,
"Rise, men, stand upon your feet! Not unto me, not unto me, but unto
God, the one invisible Creator, give thanks and praise for your mighty
deliverance!"
I then made known to them the mystery of the true God, whose power
they and I had witnessed, and exhorted them to turn from their idols,
and worship Him in spirit and in truth; for that He was their Maker,
and besides Him there was no God. Nevertheless, but for my stern anger
against it, they would have sacrificed a sheep to me, as if I were
Hercules.
In a few hours we reached Pelusium, and to escape the adulations of
the people on shore, to whom the crew made known this miracle of God,
I withdrew privately, and went to Bubastis. After visiting, unknown to
them, the tens of thousands of my brethren, who are engaged in
extending the walls of that place, and increasing the number of
treasure-houses therein, I took boat and came hither secretly, for
fear that Mœris, if he knew me to be in Egypt, might watch my
movements, if not banish or imprison me.
I have now been several days in the bosom of my family. My mother and
father are well; but they, and Miriam with all the other women of our
nation, have tasks of weaving put upon them, which are to be done each
day before they are permitted to sleep. My heart is deeply wounded at
all this. On every side I behold oppression and cruelty. Daily, scores
of the Hebrews perish, and their dead bodies are thrown into ditches,
dug for the purpose, and covered with earth. Often, the wretched men
who dig them are the first to occupy them, for the work goes on day
and night. An edict has been published throughout all Egypt, within
the past month, that no Egyptian shall assist a Hebrew; and that no
Hebrew who sinks down under his toil, shall be suffered to remain upon
the ground, but must be placed upon his feet again, and driven to his
task, until he sinks to rise no more; and to such, neither bread nor
water shall be offered, that they may die! Such, O king, is the heart
of this Mœris!
Yet, with all these extraordinary measures, inspired by his fear, to
lessen the number of the Hebrews, they increase in the most
unprecedented manner. The women bring forth without midwives, and are
put to no inconvenience whatsoever afterwards. Such a state of things
alarms the Egyptian king, and well it may; for it seems to me to be a
direct act of the Divinity, so to multiply the people, that Egypt will
be compelled to liberate them, and send them forth to find a country
of their own.
There is a prophecy which, as I associate more with the elders--who
are slow, however, to give me their confidence, regarding me still as
an Egyptian in feeling and prejudices--I ascertain to be well
preserved, that, at the end of about four hundred years from the days
of Prince Abraham, his descendants shall come out of Egypt a great
nation. This period is drawing to its close. God, who can deliver from
the storm, can deliver from the hand of Pharaoh those who trust in
Him, and call for His Almighty arm to aid them.
MEMPHIS, HOUSE OF AARON.
Since writing the foregoing, my dear Sesostris--for such is the
familiar title, notwithstanding the present difference in our rank and
position, that you condescendingly permit me to make use of in
addressing you--since writing the foregoing, I say, I have been
studying the traditions of my fathers, the Hebrews of old. In them I
have found the following prophecies; and you will observe how
confidently God, the Almighty, is recognized and spoken of as the one
true God:
"Our father Abram, the Syrian, having been born in the great kingdom
of Chaldea, served idols, as did all other men--the knowledge of the
one God, being yet veiled under the multiplicity of gods. Abram, being
just, and possessing those virtues and excellencies which elevate man,
it pleased the one great and mighty God, only and true--who made all
things in heaven above, in the earth beneath, and in the seas that are
thereunder--to make Himself known unto him, as he was one day uttering
a prayer to the sun. Suddenly, he beheld a hand across the disk of the
sun, and the earth was instantly covered with night. While Abram
wondered and trembled, the mighty hand was removed, and the day was
restored. Then came a voice from above the sun--
'O man, and son of man that is clay! dost thou worship the creature,
and know not the Creator? I am the Creator of the sun, the heavens,
the earth, and man upon the earth! Worship me, who alone can create
light, and who maketh darkness! I am God, and will not give my glory
to a creature! The sun is but clay, and thou, O man, art clay also!
Give _me_ thine heart; worship me, the Maker both of thee and of the
sun!'
"Then Abram saw the hand again cover and extinguish the sun; but lo,
instead of night, the universe was lighted by the brightness of the
hand, which shone with the splendor of a thousand suns, so that our
father fell upon his face, as if dead, before its consuming splendor.
When he rose again, the sun shone as before, and he fell prostrate
upon the ground and said:
"'Lord God of the sun, Creator of all things, what is man, that thou
displayest thy glory and revealest thyself to him? I am as a worm
before thee! Teach me what thou wouldst have me to do!'
"Then a still, small voice answered:
"'Arise, go forth from this Chaldea, thy country, unto a land flowing
with milk and honey, which I will show thee; and there I will make of
thee a great nation, who shall bear thy name; for I will make thy name
great, and a blessing to all men; and those who bless thee I will
bless, and those who curse thee, I will curse; and in thee shall all
the families of the earth be blessed!'"
This remarkable tradition then goes on to say, O Sesostris, that the
Chaldean hastened to obey God, and going into the city of Haran, where
he dwelt, gathered his substance, and took his wife, and nephew, and
all his servants, and departed from the land--being then
five-and-seventy years old. By a sign, the Lord God went before him
through many lands, until he crossed over the river of the king of
Sodom into Palestine, when the Almighty, taking him into a high
mountain, showed him all the land, from the lake and fair valley of
Gomorrah and Sodom to the great sea westward, and from Libanus on the
north to the desert of Arabia on the south, saying:
"'Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art,
northward and southward, and eastward and westward, for all the land
which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed after thee!
Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and in the breadth
of it, for I will give it to thee; for the whole earth is mine!'"
"Night fell upon them while they looked from the mountain, and the
Lord God said to our father: 'Look now towards heaven, and tell the
stars if thou art able to number them. So shall thy posterity be. But
know thou,' said the Lord to him, 'that thou, and thy son, and thy
son's son shall be strangers in this land, and thy seed after thee
shall also be strangers in the land shadowing with wings, and shall
serve its kings, and they shall afflict thee four hundred years; but
grieve not, for the nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and
afterwards shall thy posterity come out of that land a mighty people,
with great substance; and he whom I will raise up as their deliverer,
shall lead them unto this land, and they shall enter in and possess
it, and shall become a great people, and be in number as the sands of
the seashore, and as the dust for multitude.'"
Then Abram believed God. We, O Sesostris, are his posterity. Are we
not as the stars of heaven in number, and as the sands of the shore?
The four hundred years are drawing to a close. Will not He who has
brought about the fulfilment of one part of His prophecy, accomplish
also the other? Therefore do I look with hope to our release, ere
another generation passes away. Who shall live to behold it? Who shall
be so blessed as to see this deliverer that is to lead them forth to
the promised land? I may not live to see that day of joyful
deliverance! Perhaps thy son Remeses may behold it. That land,
according to our tradition, is Palestine, through which I journeyed
when I visited the ruins, visible above and beneath the Lake of
Bitumen; near which, also, I beheld that extraordinary statue of an
incrusted woman, on whom the shower of salt fell until it had encased
her alive, and transfixed her to the spot, as if hewn from a column of
salt. The people of that region informed me, that she was a niece of
Prince Abram, overtaken in her flight, when the five cities of the
plain were overthrown by fire from heaven. How beautiful is all that
land of Palestine! It is like a garden for fertility, and is filled
with populous cities, and a cultivated and warlike people. I also
visited the city of Salem, where, anciently, King Melchisedec, the
wise sage, and friend of God and of Abram, dwelt. It is now but a rock
covered with fortresses and the treasure-city of the land. Is this
land yet to be given by God to our people? Is it, indeed, already ours
by the title of God to our Abram, only waiting for us to go up and
possess it? We are then not without a country, though in bondage. This
idea elevates my heart; and I have sought to rouse the dormant
feelings and hopes of our elders and people, with the faith that our
nation has a country reserved for us, by the God of our fathers.
But they shake their heads. They have so long sat in the dust of
despair, that they have ceased to hope. Still, my brother Aaron and I
everywhere try to lift up their feeble hearts, and to encourage them
with the bright future. But one of the old men answered--
"Thou sayest that it is a land filled with a warlike people; that they
are the descendants of the old Phœnician shepherd-kings, who once
conquered Egypt. How, O son of Pharaoh's daughter," he added, giving
me this appellation in his anger, "how can we Hebrews, who know not an
arrow from a lance, or a spear from a bow, who are crushed in spirit
and dwarfed by toil, how are we to conquer such a land, even if the
God of our fathers has given it to us?"
"Does not this foreign land of which the stranger-Hebrew speaks,"
arose and said another, by the name of Uri,--whose son is the most
skilful in Egypt in devising curious works in gold, and in silver, and
in precious stones, having served with the queen's royal
artificer,--"does it not lie beyond Arabia, and are there not many and
strong kings in the way, the armies of Edom, of the Hittites, of the
Philistines, and of the sons of Ishmael! Even though Pharaoh were to
bid us begone to-morrow, to the new country of our God that we boast
of, could we traverse the desert, or do battle with the nations on the
way, much more conquer the warlike people who hold it? Listen not to
this Egyptian-Hebrew, who doubtless would tempt us to leave Egypt,
that we may be destroyed by the warlike people, who will dispute our
march. Doubtless, Pharaoh, his former friend, hath sent him to talk
with us that he might thereby either get rid of us, or seek occasion
to destroy us in a body."
Thus, my dear Sesostris, were my words turned against me. Yet I will
not fear, but shall quietly strive to influence my brethren, and
persuade them to look forward with hope, to deliverance by the arm of
God.
Farewell, Sesostris! May the Almighty give you His divine Spirit, and
fill you with wisdom and judgment, that you may honor Him as King of
kings, and rule your people mercifully and prosperously. To the
beloved queen, Thamonda, I send the most respectful greetings; and
thank her from my heart for giving to your daughter the dear and
honored name, "Amense." May the virtues of the pure Queen of Egypt be
transferred to her; but may her life be far happier! To my namesake,
the bright and beautiful Remeses, give my cordial affection. Tell him
that I hope, when he shall be a man, and like other princes, visit
Egypt, he will not find the Hebrew nation there in bondage, and that,
if he inquires after the people of his father's humble friend, he will
be answered--
"Their God, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, led them forth
to a land given to them for an inheritance, where they now dwell, free
and happy!" Ah, Sesostris, shall this dream of hope thus be realized?
Tell Remeses to lay a bunch of flowers for me upon the tomb of Queen
Epiphia, whose memory and kindness I shall ever cherish deep in my
heart.
I once more write, farewell.
REMESES.
LETTER VII.
AARON TO KING SESOSTRIS.
CITY OF RAAMSES, EGYPT.
TO SESOSTRIS, KING OF TYRE, AARON THE HEBREW, GREETING:
Pardon, O king, thy servant, for addressing an epistle to thee; but
when thou art informed of the reason which has led me to take this
liberty, thou wilt, I feel, acquit me of too great boldness.
Know, O King Sesostris, that my brother, thy beloved friend, who wrote
the letter which I send to thee with this epistle (and which he
himself would have forwarded, but for what I am about to relate), has
fled from Egypt, pursued by the vindictive power of Pharaoh. I will,
as briefly as I can, make known to thee the painful circumstances
which led to this result.