"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?"