LETTER II.
REMESES TO HIS BROTHER.
Phœnicia.
A year has passed, my brother, since I last wrote to you. In the mean while I have received your very kind epistle. It reached me at Tyre, where I found it awaiting me, on my return from the expedition against Cyprus. You have probably learned the result of the war, and that Prince Sesostris landed his army, defeated the King of Cyprus in a pitched battle, taking his battalion of chariots, which were armed with scythes, and destroying his cavalry. The king implored peace, and surrendered his capital. Sesostris, after levying a tribute of two thousand talents of silver upon it for ten years, and demanding a portion of the island, on the north, for a Phœnician colony, returned triumphant to his country.
I am now travelling through the whole of Syria. From this point I shall proceed to the province of Uz. I desire to know more fully this wisdom of the One God, the Almighty, as taught by the Sage of that land. When I saw him in Damascus, a year ago, I informed him that I had begun to write an account of the wonderful incidents of his life; but when I read to him what I had commenced, and afterwards heard his conversation upon the God he worshipped, I perceived that I was a child in ignorance, and had entered upon a task impossible for me to perform, by reason of my religious education as an Egyptian.
"My son," he said, "thou art not far from the knowledge of the Almighty, and thy soul aspires after the true God. Come with me to my own land, for thou sayest thou art a wanderer, and I will teach thee the knowledge of the Holy One. Then thou mayest write the acts of the Invisible to man, and justify Him in His ways to me, His servant. The gods of Egypt darken knowledge, and veil the understanding of those who trust in them, and say to an idol of gold, 'Thou art my god.'"
I am now journeying, O my brother, to sit at the feet of this man of God, whose simple wisdom has enlightened my soul more than all the learning of Egypt; nay, I would gladly forget all the knowledge I obtained in Egypt, to know, and fear, and love the "Holy One"—the Almighty God—of the Prince of Uz. What is particularly worthy of note is, that his views of the Invisible are the same as those which you taught me were held by the elders among our people; and of the truth of which you so eloquently and feelingly endeavored to convince me, on the evening before my departure from Egypt, as we sat by the door of our mother's home, under the two palms. Dissatisfied with the gods of Egypt, and the emptiness and vanity of its worship, as not meeting the wants of man, I turn to any source which will pour the light of truth into my soul. We both, brother, are feeling after God, if haply we may find Him; for I perceive that your own soul is darkened and clouded as well as mine, by the dark myths of Egypt, in which we have been educated. But let us both take courage, my noble elder brother. There is light, there is truth, there is knowledge somewhere on earth! and I go to the aged Prince of Uz to learn of him. Sitting at his feet, I will empty myself of all the false and unsatisfying wisdom of Egypt, and meekly say, "I am ignorant—enlighten me! Teach me concerning thy God, for I know that He is the God my soul longs for, whom the nations know not!"
Your letter spoke of Pharaoh, and his cruelty and power. I am prepared to hear that he takes new measures to heap burdens upon our people. The Lake Amense, which you say he is enlarging to an inland sea, will destroy thousands of the Hebrews whom you tell me he is putting to the work; for, unaccustomed to labor in the water, they must perish miserably. I trust he will suffer you and my father's family to dwell unmolested. Be prepared at any moment to escape, should he seek to destroy the prosperity in which the beloved queen left you, and those dear to me by the sacred and affectionate ties of nature.
Farewell.
Your brother,
Moses.