"I have heard of them, three princes of Syria, many generations past!"
"Yes, my lord of Phœnicia," said the venerable man, his eyes lighting up; "they were princes in their land! But, lo! this day behold their children in bondage! And such a servitude!" he cried, raising his withered hands heavenward. "Death, my lord, is preferable to it! How long must we groan in slavery? How long our little ones bear the yoke of Egypt?"
At this moment one of the footmen of Prince Remeses found me and said:
"My lord prince seeks for thee!"
I put money in the hands of the venerable Hebrew and his son, and left them amid their expressions of grateful surprise. When I rejoined Remeses, he was already in his chariot. Having placed myself by his side, he said that he would now drive me around the walls of the new city, and show me its general plan. He had explained all particulars with his builders, and they were to commence the erection of the palace of the governor the following week.
The wide circuit we made along the plain afforded me a commanding view of the treasure-city in its progress. The walls at one part were literally black with slaves, who like ants traversed them, carrying their burdens of bricks to those who laid the courses. A vast pile, built more for strength than beauty, attracted my notice. "That is one of the twelve great granaries of the Prince Joseph, which he built one hundred and fourscore years ago, in the twelve districts of Egypt. It is still in use as such." As we passed the gateway, I perceived that the cartouch was defaced. Remeses said that this was the act of Amunophis, when he came to the throne, whose policy was to remove not only every trace of the rule of the Palestinian kings, but all the memorials which brought their dynasty to remembrance; and these granaries of Pharaoh's prime minister, Iosepf or Joseph, were among the noblest monuments of the reign of the last of the foreign rulers, the father of the Princess Ephtha, from whom Remeses is descended, in the fourth generation only, I believe.
At length we stopped at a beautiful gate of a small temple dedicated to Apis. Every part of it was minutely and exquisitely sculptured. It contained a single shrine, within which was the effigy of the sacred bull, a cubit in length, of solid gold. Boys dressed in the finest white linen were the officiating priests. While I was admiring this miniature edifice and the richness of all its appointments, Remeses said:—
"This is an affectionate tribute of a mother's love On my twelfth birthday she had this sacred fane dedicated in honor of the event. Here she consecrated me as a boy to the youthful god Horus. I remember perfectly, the solemn impression the whole scene made upon my heart and imagination. Once a year I come hither and pass a night watching before its altar and in prayer, rather in filial acquiescence with her wishes, which to me are laws, than from reverence for the god!"
We had already alighted, and were standing on the portico of the temple, which was of crescent shape, and bordered by a row of elegantly veined alabaster columns from Alabastron, rich quarries of the Pharaohs near the Cataracts. After examining the temple, and expressing the admiration which it merited, we were going out, when I saw a young Hebrew girl flying from the pursuit of one of the taskmasters. Just as we were entering the temple, I had seen her passing with many other females, some laden with straw, others with bunches of leeks and garlic, which they were taking to the fields for the dinner of the laborers, who were not permitted to go to their huts until dark, having left them at the first blush of dawn to commence their ceaseless toils. Those women who worked not in the brick-fields were the providers of food for the rest. This young girl I had noticed was bending painfully under an intolerable load of garlic and leeks, which she bore upon her head, and yet assisting a tottering woman, who was walking by her side with an equally heavy burden of provisions, in a coarse wicker-basket. I was struck with the elegance of her figure and with the beauty of her face, as well as with her kindness to her companion, when she herself needed aid. We were leaving the temple, as I have said, when I beheld her flying. As she came near, she saw the prince, and cast herself at his feet, embracing them, and exclaiming—
"O my lord—O great and mighty god! mercy!—save me!"