"It is a part of their faith, and inborn, if I may so speak. It is this hope, I think, which makes them bear up so patiently under their servitude."
"And how, noble Remeses, were they reduced to bondage in the fair land wherein they once dwelt so peacefully, under the benign sway of their mighty brother?"
"The answer to this question, my Sesostris," said the prince, "will involve a history of the overthrow of the dynasty of the Phœnician conquerors, which lasted over two hundred years, with a succession of six kings. Upon the death of the Prince Joseph in his one hundred and tenth year, Apophis the king, being also of great age, became incapable of managing his kingdom, which he had for sixty years intrusted to the hands of his Hebrew prime minister. Ignorant of the true condition of his government—known to but few of his subjects—aged and imbecile, he was incapable of holding the reins of state, left by the Hebrew in his hands. The ever-jealous and watchful king of the Thebaïd, in Upper Egypt, did not delay to take advantage of an opportunity like this to attempt the restoration, in Lower Egypt, of the ancient throne of the native Pharaohs, by the expulsion of the usurping dynasty. But, my Sesostris, you know well the subsequent history—how Pharaoh Amosis, with his Theban hosts, drove them from city to city, and finally pursued them into Arabia, whence they settled in the land of the Philistines, and, capturing Salem, made it their capital city—at least such is one of the traditions."
"They held it for a time," I answered, "but, being driven from it by the King of Elam, they subsequently fortified Askelon. They are still a powerful people, under the name of Philistines; and, what is singular, retain scarcely a custom derived from the two hundred and twenty-five years' residence and reign in Egypt."
"It is not more remarkable than the fact that their domination here made no impression upon the people of Egypt; they left no words of their own in our language, and no customs of theirs were adopted by the Egyptians They simply held military possession of the kingdom, living in fortified cities and levying tribute upon the people for their support. The few monuments they erected were defaced or overthrown by the victorious Theban king and restorer, Amosis, my great ancestor, or by his successor, Amunophis I.
"When these invaders were expelled from Lower Egypt, then the two crowns of the Thebaïd and Memphitic kingdoms became united in the person of Amunophis, the son of 'the Restorer,' and it is this Thebaïd dynasty which now holds the sceptre of the two kingdoms, and which is represented in the person of my mother, the daughter of Amunophis, who died when she was a young girl. She has ever since reigned with the title of 'the Daughter of Pharaoh,' being so called by the people when she ascended the throne of Memphis and Thebes. But my dear prince," said Remeses, with a smile, "I have been giving you the history of the dynasty of my race, rather than of the Hebrew people."
"I am not the less interested, dear Remeses," I said, "and perceive that the two histories are naturally united."
"Yes. The new king, Amosis, called 'Restorer,' upon the obelisk at Memphis which bears his name, and upon which the scenes of the expulsion of these Philistine soldier-monarchs are depicted with great spirit and fidelity—the new king, I say, upon driving out the invaders, keeping the Phœnician king's fair daughter, Ephtha, as his wife, turned his attention to the other class of strangers, who had the fairest portion of Egypt for their possession. He accordingly visited, in state, the city of Succoth, in the province of Goshen, which they had built and beautified during the seventy years they had dwelt there under Prince Joseph's mild and partial rule. It was without walls, wholly unfortified, and had not even a temple—for the Hebrews of the better class worship only with the intellect, a spiritual Deity in his unity."
"Which, if I dare speak so boldly to you, O Remeses," I said, "appears to me to be the noblest species of worship, and the purest sort of religion for an intellectual being."
"Sayest thou?" quickly demanded the prince, surveying my face with his full bright gaze. "Thou art in advance of the rest of mankind, my Sesostris! The same feeling exists in my own bosom; but I believed myself alone in experiencing it. Some day we will hold discourse together on this high mystery. There seems to come up from my childhood a voice which I can never silence, and which I hear loudest when I am most solemnly engaged in the sacred rites of the altars of our gods, saying—