"Dost thou mean Moses the Egyptian?" he asked, quickly.
"He was educated an Egyptian, and was supposed to be the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, but was only adopted by her; and being discovered
to be a Hebrew, he left Egypt."
"This same Moses, once Prince Remeses, is now in Midian, where he hath
been these forty years," answered the venerable chief-captain of the
caravan. "He is son-in-law to our prince, who has made him ruler over
all the companies of shepherds in the region that lieth between the
city of Keturah and the sea, and even to the back of the desert,
where, on the sides of Horeb and the valleys thereof, he feeds his
flocks. Moreover, there also he meditates, and writes in a cave--for
he is a man of vast learning, and greatly revered in Midian as a wise
sage. He is married to the daughter of the Prince Ru-el Jethro, and by
her hath had many sons, but two only--mere lads--remain, the rest
having died early. Surely, what man in Midian knoweth not Moses, the
wise shepherd of Horeb?"
Upon hearing this good news, dear father, I rejoiced, in anticipation,
at the pleasure you would receive, when you should read my letter
containing the pleasing tidings. I now asked the good Midianite when
he would return. He said that in seven days he should depart, and that
it would take him eleven days to reach that part of the country where
Moses dwelt. Upon this, my dear father, after making sundry other
inquiries about the route, I determined to accompany him; for I knew
you would value one letter from me, saying I had seen and spoken with
your friend face to face, more highly than many from the hundred-gated
Thebes. I shall be gone but one month, and shall be well repaid, not
only by seeing Moses, whose noble countenance I can just recollect as
a pleasant remembrance of my childhood, but by conferring upon him the
unexpected pleasure of hearing from you by your son, his namesake.
Thus, for your sake, as well as for his, and also my own gratification
in seeing a new and rarely visited country, I take my departure with
the caravan. After I reach Midian, and have seen your old friend in
the land of his long exile, I will write to you fully of all that may
interest you.
May the God of Abraham and of Moses have you always in His sacred
keeping.
Your loving son,
REMESES OF DAMASCUS.
LETTER III.
MOSES TO SESOSTRIS.
LAND OF MIDIAN.
MY VENERABLE AND BELOVED KING AND FRIEND:
With what emotions of joy and gratitude I embraced your princely son,
Remeses, I can feebly express! I give God thanks for this happiness,
vouchsafed to me in my eighty-first year, of hearing from you again,
and by the mouth of your son. I rejoice to hear of your welfare, and
prosperous reign. The sight of the young Remeses revives all the past,
and in his face I see, with delight, your features and smile. I also
perceive that he possesses all your virtues, and, above all, that you
have taught him the knowledge of the true God. His presence here, and
his readiness to come across the desert to see me, gratifies me. It
assures me that I am loved by you both! Although, my friend, I have
not written to you--for, since my flight from Egypt, my life has been
wholly without events--yet, from time to time, by foreign merchants
who have been in Tyre, I have had news of you, and of your prosperity.
Until I beheld your son, I believed that I was quite forgotten!
I shall keep Remeses with me as long as he will remain. My way of
life, however, is humble. We are a pastoral people, and my occupation
is that of a shepherd; for, though I am chief shepherd of the land,
yet do I not disdain to lead my own flocks to feed upon the
mountains,--where, as they browse, I meditate in solitude upon God,
and also think upon the sad condition of my brethren in bondage in
Egypt. Four kings have reigned and perished, and yet the sons of Jacob
toil on, exchanging only one oppressor for another, each more cruel
than the last! But the day draws near for their deliverance, O
Sesostris, my friend and brother! The four hundred years of prophecy
are drawing to a close! On the arrival of every caravan from Egypt I
look for intelligence, that a deliverer has arisen, who, lifting the
standard of the God of Abraham, shall call on Israel to rally around
it, exchange their spades for spears, assert their freedom, and defy
Pharaoh and his power! Who will be this hero of God? Who the favored
man, to whom shall be committed the happiness and glory of leading the
mighty Hebrew nation out of Egypt? Will they hear his voice? Will they
acknowledge his authority? Will they have the courage to follow him?
or has the yoke of Egypt, so long bound their necks down, that they
have no hope nor desire to be free? Thus I meditate upon their fate,
and meanwhile pray earnestly to my God to send the deliverer of my
people; for the time is come when He will remember His promise to
Abraham, and to our fathers!
From the painful accounts that your son Remeses gives me, the cup of
their bondage is full to overflowing!--also the cup of Egypt!--for the
same prophecy which foretells their deliverance after four hundred
years, adds, "and the nation which they serve will I judge." Thus, O
king, do I look forward to the overthrow of the power of Egypt, when
God shall send His angel to deliver Israel from beneath Pharaoh's hand
of iron.
What courage, wisdom, patience, meekness, faith, dignity of person,
and ardent piety, must the servant of God have, who will lead Israel
out of bondage! What man on earth is sufficient for this high office?
What man in all Egypt, among the Hebrews, has God raised up and
endowed with these attributes? Alas, I know none! They are all
oppressed and broken in heart, and the spirit of manhood has died out
within them! But He who wills can do! and He can arm with power the
weakest instrument of His will! Let us trust in Him! for by _His_ arm,
whoever be the agent, they will be delivered.
During my exile I have re-written the book of the life of the Prince
of Uz, with great care, and a larger share of the wisdom of God. At
the same time I have instructed many, in Midian, in the truths of God.
It has also seemed good to me, under the inspiration of the Almighty,
to write, from our divine traditions, a narrative of the first acts of
creation, from the beginning, when God created the heavens and the
earth, down to the death of Prince Joseph. Of this book, a copy has
been made by my wife Zipporah, which I will send to you by Prince
Remeses for your acceptance.
With greetings of true and holy friendship, I am, O King Sesostris,
thy servant and friend,
MOSES THE HEBREW.
LETTER IV.
REMESES OF DAMASCUS TO THE KING HIS FATHER.
CAVE IN HOREB, WILDERNESS OF MIDIAN.
MY DEAR AND ROYAL FATHER:
I have been two weeks a guest of your venerable friend, the Hebrew,
Moses. My journey across the desert was agreeable from its novelty,
and my sensations upon the boundless waste, were combined emotions of
solitude and sublimity, similar to those I experienced on the great
sea. Our route, after leaving the land of Egypt, continued eastward
for five days--most of the time in the Arabian desert, with the
mountains of Etham on our right, far to the south. Having on the sixth
day passed round the western horn of the Sea of Arabia, we turned
southwardly into the desert of Shur, which terminated at the base of a
low range of hills, of mingled cliff and pasture-land. A valley opened
between, and after three days' journeying, amid vales filled with
herds and Arabian villages, we entered a mountainous region, the sea
being on our right. Every hour the scenery became more grand and
rugged, until the ridges, constantly rising in altitude, stretched far
southwardly, and terminated in a majestic twin-peaked mountain, midway
between the two arms or horns of the sea.
"That is Horeb," said the chief of the caravan. "It is in the land of
Midian, though remote from the town of the king. In that mountain the
royal flocks are pastured, and there you will find your father's
friend Moses the Hebrew, either with his shepherds and flocks or in
the retirement of his cave."
The same evening we entered the valley of Mount Horeb, which rose in
sublime majesty, with its double crown, far into the skies above us.
We had turned an angle of the mountain, which rose as abruptly as a
pyramid from the plain, and were entering a gorge through which a road
lay to the city of the king--a day's journey distant--when I beheld,
from my camel, a shepherd standing upon a rock and leaning upon his
staff--his sheep reclining about him. He was a tall, venerable man,
with dark locks mingled with white, and a beard, like snow for
whiteness, that descended over his breast. There was a majesty, and
yet simplicity, in his aspect and costume, which impressed me, as he
stood--the evening sun lighting up his kingly visage--upon a rock,
like the statue of the god of the mountain-pass.
My heart instinctively said, "This is Moses!"
"Lo! there stands the son-in-law of Jethro!" said the merchant.
I immediately caused my camel to kneel, and descended to the ground
with haste and joy. The next moment I was bending before thy friend,
my dear father, crying, with reverent feelings of emotion--
"I am Remeses, son of Sesostris, thy friend! Venerable father, give me
thy blessing, for I bear thy name!"
He regarded me for an instant with surprise, and then raising me,
embraced me and said, a holy radiance of love and joy illumining his
face--
"I see thy father, and hear his voice, in thee! Welcome, my son! How
fares the good king? Hast thou ventured across the desert to see the
exiled Hebrew?" he asked, with a smile of benignity and pleasure, as
he gazed upon me. "The sight of thee brings up all the past!"
His voice was disturbed with emotion; though I perceived it had also a
slight natural embarrassment of speech. I related why I had come, and
gave him your messages of love. He took me to his cave, or grotto,
which is like those of the sacred priests in Lebanon. The caravan
encamped, near by, that night, and I remained in the company of the
wise and virtuous sage. We conversed, for many hours, of you, of Tyre,
of my grandmother, of Queen Amense, of the Hebrews in bondage, and his
certain hope of their speedy deliverance.
How happy the princely old man was to hear from you, my dear father!
What a venerable and holy friendship exists between you!--fresh and
green at fourscore, as in the fire and impulse of youth!
The next day, I accompanied him to the chief city of Midian. There I
beheld his matronly wife, Zipporah--and his two sons, beautiful and
ingenuous youth of sixteen and eighteen. I was also presented to the
venerable Ru-el Jethro, or the King Jethro, now one hundred and one
years old, but retaining the full vigor of manhood. He described to me
pleasantly, under what circumstances he first met Moses, forty years
ago.
"My seven daughters," said the patriarchal Prince of Midian, "were
with my shepherds at the well, near the city, drawing water for the
flocks; for the prince of the mountain having no water, had thrice
sent his shepherds to draw it from this well, when we had but little
for our own herds. I sent my daughters, thinking that they would
reverence their presence; but the mountain shepherds would have driven
them away, when a stranger, who was seated by the well, rose up, and
with great courage chastised the assailants. Though many in number,
they fled from him in great fear, when he turned and bade my daughters
remain and heed them not; and he helped them water the flocks.
"When they returned to me earlier than I looked for them, I inquired
the cause, and they replied--
"'An Egyptian, a mighty man of valor, delivered us out of the hand of
the shepherds, and aided us also in drawing water for our flocks.'
'Where is he?' I asked. 'Why is it that ye have left this brave
stranger at the well?' They answered: 'He is an Egyptian;' for such
from his dress, and speech, and looks, they believed him to be. I then
sent my daughter Zipporah after him, to invite him to come and eat
bread with me. From that day we became friends, and when I learned his
story, that he was a Hebrew, and like myself, a descendant of Abram, I
gave him Zipporah to wife, and he was content to remain in the land,
and is now the greatest and wisest man in it, for God is with him."
I was much interested in this brief account, my dear father, and
believe that you will be, as it is a connecting link in the life of
Moses, that has been hitherto wanting.
The following week, I retired with Moses to the mountains, and here I
pass my days, listening to his sublime teachings. Not all the wisdom
and learning of Egypt can compare with his sublime knowledge. The
secrets of nature, the mysteries of creation, seem unveiled to his
intellectual vision. It is his habit to pass an hour or two every
night in prayer, upon the mountain, beneath the silent stars,
communing alone with his God, as if he were the high-priest of the
earth, Horeb his altar, the universe his temple, and his theme the
Hebrew nation in Egypt. Ah! my dear father, if God is to deliver them
from Egypt by the hand of man, my heart tells me that Moses will be
appointed their deliverer; for who on earth has so at heart their
misery, or supplicates Heaven so earnestly for aid in their behalf? It
is true he is an old man, seven years your senior, but his step is as
firm as mine, his eye clear and brave, his natural force not abated,
and his looks those of a man in his prime--so healthful is this
mountain life, and the simple routine of his days.
He has written to you. I shall be the bearer of his letter, as well as
of this, which I write in the door of his grotto, facing the valley,
with the sea beyond. There go the ships of Ezion-geber, and the
galleys of Ind. Far to the west is the blue line of the shores of
Arabian Egypt, and to the east the rocky land of Arabia, and Eastern
Midian. The prospect is sublime, and, at this hour of sunset, while
purple mists are upon the hills, and a golden light upon the sea, it
is beautiful and serene.
I had almost neglected to inform you, that your learned and eloquent
friend Aaron, the brother of Moses, was lately in Midian, and was, for
a time, an assistant priest of the sacrifices in the city; but has now
returned to Goshen, where he married many years ago. His sister Miriam
is here with Moses, and is one of the most majestic women I ever
beheld. She is in her ninety-fourth year, but is as erect and buoyant
in her step as a young and resolute woman. With her snow-white hair,
piercing black eyes, and queenly mien, she looks like the venerable
priestess of the sun at Baal-Phegor. The mother of Moses also dwells
at Midian; but I think their father died in Arabia Deserta; for
thither they fled from Egypt, before coming finally into Midian. Aaron
is spoken of here as a noble-looking and stately priest, when, in his
flowing robes, he used to offer sacrifices according to the simple
rites of the Midianites, in the plain temple hewn from the rock, in
which they worship God.
Farewell, my dear father. I am not surprised that you love Moses. He
has won _my_ heart.
Your affectionate son,
REMESES OF DAMASCUS.
LETTER V.
REMESES OF DAMASCUS TO SESOSTRIS.
TREASURE-CITY OF RAAMSES, EGYPT.
MY HONORED AND BELOVED FATHER:
You will see by the date that I am once more in Egypt; and I am here
under circumstances the most wonderful and amazing. Remeses--that is,
Moses, the servant of the Most High God--is here also. My trembling
fingers can scarce form the letters legibly, so great is the emotion
under which I now write to you! But I will not delay to give you a
history of the events.
I wrote to you last, from the grotto of the shepherd-sage of Horeb.
The following day he led a portion of his own flock, from a distant
plain, to the secluded valley on the rear of the mountain of Horeb,
away from the sea. Expecting his return, I had gone forth to meet him,
and was descending a steep path, when I beheld him advancing before
his shepherds, and leading his flock up the valley. He preceded them
some distance, and was quite alone, when I perceived a bright flame
arise by the side of his path. It rose above the bushes, which it
seemed to consume without smoke. At the same moment I observed that
Moses turned aside and approached the dazzling fire. In an instant he
was lost to my gaze, and enveloped in its flame. I hastened down the
mountain-path, surprised and alarmed at what I had seen; and, as the
way was winding, it was some minutes before I came to the valley,
where I expected to find the venerable sage consumed by the flames,
that appeared to have surrounded him.
Upon reaching the valley, lo! I beheld the shepherds fallen upon their
faces, the man of God standing before the burning bush, his
countenance like the sun, and his raiment shining with supernatural
light! My soul was seized with an indescribable awe at the sight! His
sandals were removed from his feet, and he seemed as if he were
standing in the presence of his God, so awful was the majesty of his
countenance. He appeared to be holding discourse with one in the
flames. I was transfixed to the spot, and fell upon my face at the
sight of this stupendous vision, feeling the presence of the Almighty
there. Then I heard a voice utter these words from the midst of the
fire, in which I had seen appear the form of a man, radiant with glory
above the brightness of the sun:
"I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob."
While the calm, divine voice spake in still, soft tones, the earth
seemed to tremble, as if its Creator stood upon it. I looked up with
fear and trembling, and, lo! Moses was standing with his face covered
by his shepherd's mantle, for he was afraid to look upon God; while my
heart sunk within me, and I became as a dead man.
When I returned to consciousness, I heard, without raising my face
again, Moses talking with the mighty Angel in the flame, which I
perceived rested upon the thorn-bush like dazzling sunbeams
concentrated thereon, but without consuming or changing a leaf. It was
the radiance alone, of this celestial Person's glorious presence, that
constituted the wonderful flame of fire.
"I have surely seen," said the Voice from the flaming glory, "the
affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry
by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows, and I am
come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to
bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large, unto a
land flowing with milk and honey,--the land of the Canaanites and the
Amorites.
"Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come up
before me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians
oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh,
that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of
Egypt."
Here the holy and divine Voice ceased. How did its words thrill my
heart! Had the mighty God of the Hebrews come down from heaven at last
to deliver His people, fulfil His promise to Abram, and also make
Moses the servant of His power? My soul was overpowered with the
thought.
Then Moses spake, in accents of the profoundest humility and fear, and
said--
"Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
And the Voice replied--
"Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee,
that I have sent thee,--lo! when thou hast brought forth the people
out of Egypt, ye and they shall serve God upon this mountain."
Then Moses answered the Angel of the flame, with that meekness and
humbleness of heart which characterizes him--
"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, 'The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you;' and they shall
say unto me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say unto them?"
The inquiry was made by him with the profoundest homage in the tones
of his reverent voice, not as if he doubted God, but his brethren.
Moreover, he now beheld, as it were face to face, the Lord God of
heaven and earth, whom he had so long worshipped, and whose name to
men, neither he nor any man knew. And I heard the Voice answer--with
majesty inconceivable, so that my spirit failed before it--and say
unto Moses--
"I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I
AM hath sent me unto you!'"
Then after a brief silence, during which Moses fell upon his face and
worshipped, the Voice from the midst of the fire said:
"Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'The Lord God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, hath sent me unto you. THIS is my NAME _forever_; and this is
my memorial unto all generations!' Go, and gather the elders of Israel
together and say unto them, 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying--
"'I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in
Egypt; and I have said, I will bring you out of the affliction of
Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanites, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey!' And the children of Israel shall hearken to thy voice; and
thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of
Egypt, and ye shall say unto him--
"'The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we
beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may
sacrifice to the Lord our God.' And I am sure that the king of Egypt
will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand; and I will stretch out
My hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the
midst thereof; and after that he will let you go: and when ye go, ye
shall not go empty, but ye shall spoil the Egyptians."
When the Voice had ceased, I heard Moses answer, and say with modest
diffidence:
"But, behold, the elders and people of my brethren, the Hebrews, will
not believe me nor hearken to my voice; for they will say, 'The Lord
hath not appeared unto thee.'"
How extraordinary, O my father, this humility of the wisest of men!
How impiously vain some sages and seers would have been, at such an
infinite honor as the appearance of God to them, to talk with them,
face to face, as He did now to Moses,--veiling the ineffable splendor
of His glory under the form of an angel enveloped in a mantle of
dazzling sunbeams,--His presence a flame of fire! But see this great
and holy man modestly declining the service, considering himself mean
and powerless when compared with the mighty Pharaoh, and utterly
unable to do any thing for the Hebrew nation. Forty years ago, he had,
indeed, felt a divine motion in himself to deliver them, which he then
believed was an indication that God would use him as an instrument for
that purpose: but forty years an exile, forgotten by the children of
Israel, and being only a ruler of shepherds, and guardian of the
flocks of a small province, he felt the humility and insignificance of
his position, as well as his total want of means and power to do what
God now commanded him to do. But, lo! God condescends to inspire him
with the confidence and resolution, the magnanimity and fortitude,
that his sublime errand demanded.
The voice of the Lord spake and said:
"What is that in thine hand?"
He answered, "A rod."
This was the staff with which he climbed the sides of Horeb, and
guided his flock, and upon which he often leaned his head when he
stood and worshipped.
And the Voice said, with authority:
"Cast it on the ground."
As Moses obeyed, I heard first the rod strike the ground, then a sharp
hissing, as of a serpent, and lastly, a cry of surprise from Moses;
when, raising my face from the earth, upon which I had remained
prostrate, fearing to look upon the glory before me, I perceived, with
horror, a serpent rearing its head angrily into the air, and Moses
flying from before it. Then the Voice from the ineffable light said to
him, "Put forth thy hand and take it by the tail." Moses, with
hesitating obedience, obeyed, put forth his hand and caught it, when,
lo! it became a rod again in his hand.
"This shall be a sign to them, that they may believe that the Lord God
of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, hath appeared unto thee," was again spoken.