The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

"Yes, and one not to be defended," answered Remeses, in a decided tone. "But Amunophis, having caught the lion by the jaws, was compelled either to destroy him, or be destroyed himself. The result of the edict was, that many perished. The Nile, it is said, was constantly bearing down upon its bosom corpses of new-born Hebrew babes."

"Dreadful!" I ejaculated.

"It became so to the king. But he felt that one or the other must perish, and that these innocent infants must die for the future safety of the kingdom. There were sad and tragic scenes! Many a Hebrew mother fought to save her infant, or perished with it clasped to her heart! Many a desperate father resisted the soldiers who sought his hut for his concealed child, and died on the threshold, in the ineffectual effort to save his son! You perceive, Sesostris, that I speak with emotion. I have heard the scenes of that era described by those who witnessed them. I was an infant at the time, and do not speak of my own knowledge; but many live who then saw tragedies of horror such as few lands have witnessed. Had I been Amunophis I think I should have devised some other way to ward off the anticipated danger from my kingdom. But this sanguinary edict was unsuccessful. The Egyptian nurses were tenderer of heart than the king, and saved many to the tears and entreaties of mothers. Thousands of mothers, stifling every cry of nature, gave birth secretly, and in silence, to their babes, and the fathers or friends stood ready to fly with it to some prepared concealment. Thousands were thus saved, as the innumerable multitudes of men you have beheld this day toiling in the fields, making brick to build up Raamses, bear witness. The edict continued in force for two years, when Amunophis died. After the seventy days of mourning were ended, his daughter Amense, who had been married to the prince of the Thebaïd, a nephew of Amunophis, but had been left a widow about the time of her father's death, came to the throne as the next in succession to the double crown. With the sceptre was bequeathed to her the iron chain that bound the Hebrews. Young, inexperienced in rule, without advisers, my mother knew not how to solve the problem these enslaved Syrians presented to her. As a woman, she felt that she could originate no new policy. But prompted by humanity, the first act of her power was to repeal the edict commanding the death of the infants. This act alone kindled in the hearts of the whole of the oppressed people a sentiment of gratitude. On the contrary, her lords, generals, chief princes of the nomes, and dukes of cities, with one voice assured her that this act of clemency would destroy her throne. But you see, my Sesostris, that it still stands. For thirty-four years she has reigned over the empire of Egypt, and it has never before reached so high a degree of prosperity, power, and strength. Her armies of the east, and of the south, and of Libya, are superior to those of all nations."

"Yet is the problem more intricate, and farther from solution than ever," I said to the prince. "The Hebrew is still in the land, still increasing in numbers, and now far more formidable than in the reign of your grandsire, Amunophis."

"This is true. My mother and I have talked for hours together upon the theme. She, with her woman's gentler nature, would not oppress them, yet has she been compelled by necessity to hold them in strict subjugation, lest they become a formidable element of insurrection in the kingdom. So far as is consistent with safety to her two crowns, she mitigates the severity of their condition; and as you have understood, has forbidden the women to be struck with blows, or put to heavy toil. Still it is not easy, among so many thousand taskmasters, and so many myriads of bondmen, to oversee all individual acts of oppression; but when brought to our notice they are severely punished. The condition of the Hebrew is an incubus upon the soul of my noble mother, and if it were in her power, with safety to her subjects, to release them to-morrow from their bondage, she would do so. But state policy demands imperatively, rigid supervision, severe discipline, and constant labor, lest being idle, and at liberty to go where they choose, they conspire against us. Several times agents from the King of Ethiopia, our natural and hereditary foe, with whom we are almost always at war, have been discovered among them; and arms have been placed in their possession by the spies of the Queen of Arabia. They have, moreover, among them men of courage and talent, who, like their ancestor, Prince Abraham, possess warlike fire, and, like the Prime Minister Joseph, have wisdom in council, to advise and rule. Such persons, among slaves, are to be feared, and there is necessary a certain severity, you would call it oppression, to keep down all such spirit."

"The burdens of these Hebrews still seem very heavy, O Remeses," I said.

"They doubtless are; but their condition is far lighter than it has been. They are allotted certain tasks, according to their strength, and if these are done early they have the rest of the day to themselves."

"And if late?"

"They must complete their tale of bricks, unless disabled by sickness. Blows are not given to men unless they are wilful and insubordinate. Once a year the queen visits all the Hebrews in the country of Avaris, of which Goshen forms but a part, and regulates abuses. The Hebrew always has the right of appealing to the governor of the province, against his taskmaster, if cruelly treated. All that the queen can do is to execute with severity the laws against oppressing them."

"This Hebrew people, O Remeses," I said, as he ceased speaking, "are the cloud which overshadows Egypt. I foresee danger to the dynasty from it."