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 Hi 2, 
 
 A CRISIS IN EGYPT? 
 
 OR, 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DAY OF THE EXODUS. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS HUNTER BOYD, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN 
 THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY ; 
 
 THE EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND ; 
 THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND, &C. 
 
 ENTERED AT S7ATIONERS HALL. 
 
 HMiblfsbeD bg 
 
 EASON & SON, LIMITED, 
 80, MIDDLE ABBEY ST., DUBLIN; AND 17, DONEGALL ST., BELFAST. 
 
 PRICE SIXPENCE NETT. 
 
 A
 
 PRINTED AT THE "BELFAST NEWS-LETTER" OFFICE, 
 DONEGAL!, STREET.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The right of translation is reserved. 
 All Communications should be addressed to the Author, 
 care of THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE, 8, Adelphi Terrace, 
 Strand, London, W.C. 
 
 March 13lh, 1893.
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 IGHT still comes to us from the Monuments of Egypt. 
 The land of the Khedive is familiar to all at the 
 present day, and this intimacy is increasing year by 
 year. The proceedings in Cairo are flashed across 
 the globe, and the appointment of a Premier becomes 
 a matter of interest in the poorest home in the cities 
 and towns of Europe and America. The eyes of 
 scholars everywhere are turned towards the banks of 
 the Nile, because of the startling discoveries which 
 been made there during the past few years. First, men 
 unearthed the Tell-el-Amarna tablets, giving us the official 
 correspondence of the Court of Egypt in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury before Christ. Then we were charmed with specimens 
 of art belonging to the artists of a naturalistic school, in the 
 employ of the great disc worshipper Khuenaten, the earliest 
 religious heretic. Then came news of the discovery of a 
 very ancient version of portions of the Old Testament, and 
 more recently from the same country, the so-called Gospel of Peter. 
 
 The facilities for reaching the sunny land have been so greatly im- 
 proved that thousands of persons now make an annual visit, in order to 
 escape the rigour of Northern climes, and artists, authors, and play- 
 wrights vie with each other in presenting to us the scenes which they 
 have witnessed, or the mental pictures which they have conjured up 
 whilst floating in the dahabeahs. 
 
 The work of the Egypt Exploration Fund, and the founding of a 
 chair of Egyptology in the University of London will doubtless lead to 
 renewed interest being taken in the parts of the Old Testament which 
 refer to Egypt. It is believed that the result of this research will 
 strengthen the conviction that the writers of the first five or six books 
 in the Bible were well acquainted with that country and the customs of 
 its people, especially at the time with which the Book of Exodus pro- 
 fesses to deal. This increase of knowledge will, doubtless, have an 
 
 * Or Tel-beni-Amran, on the E. bank of the Nile, half-way between Thebes 
 
 and Memphis. 
 
 
 I 
 
 2092486
 
 appreciable effect upon books and pictures illustrative of Bible incidents 
 which occurred in the land of the Pharaohs, and the artists' skill will be 
 most potent in disseminating these ideas, because the painter uses a 
 universal language. Then, too, his cultivated imagination, the long period 
 devoted solely to one topic, and the careful elaboration of the subject, 
 all tend to produce a result which is well nigh impossible to the preacher, 
 teacher, or lecturer. When, therefore, we find that an artist of the first 
 rank (Professor Edmund Berninger, of Munich) has spent many years 
 on the banks of the Nile, and has had the privilege of being directed 
 in his choice of material by a savant who is also a poet and a scientist 
 (Dr. George Ebers), we may reasonably expect that his picture, entitled 
 "Ancient Egypt," will repay the most careful consideration. It is 
 painted with such marvellous skill, that one can scarcely believe that 
 many portions of the landscape and architecture are not real. He pro- 
 fesses to show on one continuous circular canvas all that might have 
 been seen from one standpoint within the famous city of Memphis, 
 on the morning when the exodus of the Israelites occurred. Memphis 
 was one of the largest and most important of the cities of Ancient Egypt. 
 We are able to judge of its extent, not only from the historical 
 accounts, but also from the vast area of the cemetery which has remained. 
 The city has long since disappeared, and in this case it is an ancient 
 city, not so much buried as carried away, for we have reason to believe 
 that the larger buildings were destroyed, and the stone conveyed across 
 the Nile to build the Mosques of Cairo, so that the most ancient portion 
 of Cairo represents the city of Memphis, even though it be on the 
 opposite bank of the river, and at a distance of some ten or twelve 
 miles from the site of the ancient Egyptian Capital. 
 
 We shall consider the import and significance of the varied scenes in 
 five sections : 
 
 i. An Egyptian Villa, and the death of one of the firstborn. 
 
 2. The Palace, and the last meeting of the Pharaoh and Moses. 
 
 3. The Temple of Ptah and the religion of Egypt. 
 
 4. The departure of the Memphite contingent. 
 
 5. The Pyramids and the great Sphinx.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AN EGYPTIAN VILLA, AND THE DEATH OF ONE OF THE 
 
 FIRSTBORN. 
 
 EMPHIS was probablya long narrowcity, bounded on the Eastern 
 side by the Nile sufficiently elevated to be safe in the time of in- 
 undation on the Western by the Desert, extending from a group of 
 Pyramids on the South known as the Sakkarah, to those on the North, the 
 Gizeh, and we are supposed to be in the portion of Memphis, lying be- 
 tween the Gizeh Pyramids and the river. It should be borne in mind that 
 an ancient Egyptian city would occupy about ten times the area of a 
 modern European one, with the same number of inhabitants, because the 
 appendices of the temples, the sacred lakes, parks, fields, &c. were all 
 enclosed withi n the town. Then, too, the houses were not many storied as 
 we frequently find them to-day, and all those oi the higher classes stood 
 within beautiful gardens. 
 
 No trace of these Ancient Egyptian villas has remained, but there 
 are well preserved pictures of them on the inner walls of the tombs, 
 and by their aid it is possible for an artist to give a faithful idea of 
 their original appearance. Berninger has given two illustrations of 
 ancient Egyptian houses on a large scale. A villa consisted of a stoutly 
 built ground floor surmounted by an open terrace, or verandah, behind 
 which there would be two or three rooms. The under part was used as 
 a store and sleeping-place for the slaves, and the ascent was made by an 
 outside stair. The windows were small and few in number, as this was a 
 land of light ; and the roof flat as rain rarely fell. Looking more 
 closely upon the scene on the terrace, we are reminded of the event of 
 the preceeding evening a number of mourners are bewailing the loss of 
 one of the first-born, the incense burning on both sides of the body. In 
 striking contrast to this scene, is another at the base of a large sphinx, 
 where several poor persons are standing or kneeling beside the form 
 of an ill-clad boy who has also been stricken by the plague ; in the one 
 case the child is laid on the carefully arranged bier in a villa ; in the 
 other, on a bare slab in the open air ; in the former instance the body 
 will be speedily removed to the embalmers, and, after a long period of 
 preparation, will be taken with great pomp to a splendid tomb, whilst the 
 latter will be hastily carried to the desert and deposited in a pillaged 
 sepulchre, or simply covered over by the sand. In another direction we
 
 see that a funeral procession has reached the entrance to a rock-cut tomb, 
 the foremost persons bearing lighted torches. (It must be said, however, 
 that we cannot be sure about the method employed for the illumination 
 of these subterranean caverns. Some are disposed to think that torches 
 were not used to illuminate the tombs, as the pictures on the walls show 
 no evidence of the presence of smoke or soot.) Thousands of scenes 
 such as these were witnessed on this eventful morning, but the artist has 
 presented us with these three only, as typical of the remainder, being 
 desirous to show as far as possible the normal condition of an Egyptian 
 city. His purpose is to supply a background .or the Biblical narrative, 
 and he is suggestive rather than exhaustive. The sacred writer concen- 
 trates our attention upon the doings of the Israelites, and the Egyptians 
 are considered relatively to them ; but we must not imagine that the 
 great machine of complex Egyptian life stood still because a few thou- 
 sand Semites were on the march. The natives were accustomed to see 
 droves of slaves brought into their cities, and shifted from one centre to 
 another, and althongh it be true that these movements had not formerly 
 been preceded or accompanied by such startling events as the plagues, 
 still we believe that in the house, the palace, and temple, the duties 
 would be pursued very much as usual. The artist is doubtless justified 
 in representing a large number of persons as turning from their stalls in 
 the market place to witness the departure, and children are seen leaning 
 over the parapet of the house for the same reason ; and he shows us that 
 varied feelings obtained ; some are glad at the out-going, as there will 
 probably be an end of the plagues ; whilst others are cursing the Israel- 
 ites on account of these visitations, but, the Egyptian house-servant must 
 go through the appointed task regardless and unconscious of the great 
 purpose of Israel's God. That is one lesson which the artist teaches us. 
 We see slaves on the steps of the house, carrying water-pots, others 
 baskets of clothes, others bearing burdens of various kinds, and in the 
 courtyard are women grinding corn. With them the day would 
 close as it began, they would still be bond servants ; but for the Israel- 
 ites a new era had dawned the day of their redemption. It is in this 
 contrast, which is placed before us by the artist that we discern the great 
 purpose which undeilies the sacred narrative. We are led to ask how and 
 why were these people chosen for deliverance and others left to toil, 
 and groan, and die ? These non-Israelitish slaves, or their parents had 
 been led in the triumphant march of Seti or Rameses, from the north or 
 the south, and driven to hard tasks in Egyptian quarries and factories. 
 But, for them no plague had been wrought, no Moses sent, no Passover 
 prescribed. Perhaps we have not previously thought of these poor 
 creatures, but God saw them and heard them, though their names are
 
 not known to us, and by leading out His chosen He was preparing to 
 fulfil the promise made to Abram and his seed, which promise contained 
 a blessing also for them. Now we look again at the Egyptian villa, and 
 we observe that whilst grief and sorrow for the first-born reign within, 
 and slavery and oppression is manifest on the one hand, there are signs of 
 pleasure and gladness on the other. In the well-tended garden maybe seen 
 Egyptian lovers, apparently unconcious of all that is going on around 
 them. If we had thought of these young people at all, we should have 
 been inclined to make them break their appointment on that morning, 
 or postpone their meeting. Not so, says the artist. It is true that the 
 well organized plans of Moses were being carried out, and not without ob- 
 servation on the part of members of "Egyptian Society," but most of them 
 would remain unaffected by the departure of these workers, and the world 
 wasnotmoved to its centre, because the purposeof its Makerwas advanced 
 a stage. ''The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation." Could 
 we peer back through the centuries we should find that the dwellers on 
 the Southern banks of the Nile, and the myriads living in that great 
 continent were engaging in their hunting, fishing, and tribal wars, 
 all unconcious of what was happening in the North- East corner ; that 
 the Canaanites were building the cities and planting the vineyards which 
 others were presently to occupy ; and what shall be said of the teeming 
 millions of China and India with their wonderful civilizations, and what 
 of the Western hemisphere and the Islands of the Sea ? It is as though 
 a giant search light were turned upon the seething mass on the World's 
 stage, and made to follow the movements of a tiny group, slowly moving 
 between living walls in an out-of-the-way corner. A few rays fall upon 
 the crowds on either side of the beam, and the stream continues to ad- 
 vance, and their shadowy forms are discerned and noted, but imagin- 
 ation cannot grasp the number who are in the darkness beyond. 
 Thus was it ever. Activity was everywhere present, but not everywhere 
 manifest. God chose His special recorder and said : It is along this 
 line, in this direction that my purpose shall be accomplished, keep thine 
 eye on this people, on this tribe, on this man, and what thou see'st write. 
 The revelation is in the writing i.e. (the Bible) because it was in the 
 doing, i.e. (The Exodus), and because the light was given to the seer to 
 discern the working of God that he might afterwards make a record of 
 those acts. Such, then, are the thoughts which arise on contemplating 
 this scene in the Egyptian capital of three thousand years ago. We see 
 mourners within the death chamber ; and the glad young hearts in the 
 midst of spring verdure, and feel that both are possible ; and we behold 
 the house-slave resuming the weary round, whilst the sons of Jacob march 
 forth from the midst of a people of strange tongue to the country of 
 which God hath said that He will give it them.
 
 IO 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PALACE, AND THE LAST MEETING OF THE PHARAOH 
 AND MOSES. 
 
 [N the early part of the present century it was customary for travel- 
 lers to describe all the imposing buildings on the banks of the 
 Nile as Royal Palaces, but more careful observation has proved that 
 this view was not correct. Those wonderful structures are temples, and 
 there is no evidence to show that the kings inhabited the sacred shrines, 
 so that the form of the buildings in which the Pharaohs lived cannot be 
 accurately determined, as hardly any trace of a Palace can be found. 
 The reason probably is, that the kings were more concerned with the 
 preparation of their tombs than with the durable construction of their 
 earthly abodes. But there is one building at Medinet Habou which by 
 many is believed to have been used as a Palace, and is known as the 
 Royal Pavilion ; and the artist has embodied its main features in the 
 building which we shall now consider. This is one of the many proofs 
 of his careful choice of material. In all cases he has selected that which 
 has the largest measure of probability, when it is impossible to be 
 absolutely certain. 
 
 We have a representation worthy of the great capital, and of its 
 occupants. It is true that Memphis was less important than Thebes at 
 the time of the Exodus, but it had even then a venerable past ; indeed, 
 to write the history of Memphis would be to write the history of Egypt. 
 The Palace of the Pharaohs may not have been at all times on the same 
 site, but it was probably near the chief Temple, and also near the river, 
 and we may be certain that the platform on which it stood was suffic- 
 iently elevated to place it out of danger at the season of high Nile. 
 Hence the long flight of steps which the artist has shown. Then, too, 
 it must be guarded, and we have a very correct representation of an 
 Egyptian fort on the river side, and the soldiers are seen on sentry near 
 the battlemented wall. The architect has provided against one contin- 
 gency, the garrison against another ; and, now we observe that provision 
 has been made for security against spiritual foes by the establishment of 
 a special royal sanctuary which adjoins the Palace. There is a measure 
 of fitness in introducing the building commonly known as Pharaoh's 
 bed (from the island of Philse), which may atone for the slight anachron- 
 ism in point of time. It is such a unique piece of masonry, and well- 
 known to all who have examined illustrated works on Egypt ; and, as it 
 is about twenty-three hundred years old, may fairly be allowed a place 
 in a picture of "Ancient Egypt." The drawing is perfect, the blending
 
 II 
 
 of colour harmonious, and the illusion so great that most persons think 
 it is built up, and not the creation of the artist's brush. It, too, has a 
 lesson in its architecture, for the screens between the beautiful columns 
 point to a desire on the part of the priesthood to conceal the worship 
 from popular gaze, and thus to augment their own power and influence 
 by increasing the mystery. The pylons or towers on each side of the 
 gateway, and the terraces form a fa9ade which we are to regard as one 
 end of an extensive quadrangle, the centre of which would be occupied 
 with gardens, artificial lakes, summer-houses, large stores, and apart- 
 ments for the courtiers and servants. The pylons are decorated with 
 scenes from the life of Seti I., the son of the founder of the XIX. 
 Dynasty, but no trace of his father, Rameses I., can be found in the 
 whole picture, and we know little about him. Seti's son, Rameses II., 
 is depicted on the pylons on the extreme right and left, and is also re- 
 presented in colossal granite statues ; and his grandson was the occupant 
 of the building on the day of the Exodus. We refer to Meneptah L, or, 
 to give him his full title, Ba-Ra-meri-en-Amen (Son of the Sun), Ptah- 
 meri-en-hetep-her-mat. The first name, i.e., the prenomen, and the last, 
 i.e.) the nomen, were enclosed in ovals called cartouches. We frequently 
 find before the prenomen signs pronounced suteti net, " King of the 
 North and South," i.e., " King of the universe," and in addition to all 
 these a number of high-sounding titles. The name by which the 
 monarch is known to us is probably derived from the class of buildings 
 which we are just now considering, for Pharaoh comes from per-aa, or 
 " Great House," the palace in which the king lived being used to denote 
 the king himself, just as the " porte " or gate of the palace is synonymous 
 with the Turkish Sultan ; only as the Egyptian palace was really formed 
 of two palaces joined together, it will be correct to say that the people 
 described their monarch as " the Double Great House."* A very slight 
 acquaintance with the names and titles of the king will suffice to show 
 how he was regarded by his subjects. We have observed that he was 
 called " Son of the Sun," and indeed he claimed to be the descendant, 
 and visible representative of the solar orb on earth, and as whatever the 
 sun passed over or through was divided into two, and grammatically 
 took the dual form, so when the king wore his two crowns it signified 
 that he was " King of the North and South ;" and his dwelling, we 
 repeat, was called "the Double Great House." We are standingbefore the 
 palace, and we notice that a large crowd of Memphites have assembled 
 
 * Here we find two signs, which signify House, over them another 
 r\ O I C\ meaning Great, then follow the determinative of the idea of 
 
 o=> Ti " A 1 1 a sacred person, and the three last signs mean Life, Safety, 
 
 Xlj | jjJ health ; thus all the signs taken together signify Pharaoh 
 
 God bless him !
 
 near it, and we have time to study the appearance of the sight-seers. 
 Every grade is represented in the throng. We notice the wealthy 
 Egyptian gentleman, borne on the shoulders of slaves, in a costly 
 purple- coloured palanquin ; close by there is a poor beggar woman with 
 a child on her lap, who is receiving a metal ring (money) from a man 
 ascending the steps leading from the Nile ; close by, a little group of 
 musicians are chatting together, one of them has a kind of mandolin 
 (called a Nefer), and another the sistrum ; then we notice several men 
 and women with palm branches; next a woman with a basket of cakes; 
 several are seen with waterpots on their heads, or in their hands ; and 
 all are made to keep at a proper distance from the approaching proces- 
 sion by the policemen who have long sticks in their hands Near the 
 private chapel we see the various orders of Egyptian soldiery, some with 
 bows and arrows, others with spears, and axes, others with standards 
 representing some of the nomes into which the country was divided in 
 early times, but none of these is so full of interest as the charioteers, 
 with the splendid vehicles and fine horses with rich trappings, who are 
 awaiting the approach of His Majesty. No wonder that the Egyptian 
 boys are most numerous in this portion of the crowd, and that they are 
 represented as seeking the best positions by climbing on each others' 
 shoulders to the top of a wall, just as boys do now. How long these 
 people have waited we cannot tell. It is very early in the morning, but 
 not too early for the ardour of these sight-seers, nor too early 
 for the King. During his stay in the city he has many functions to 
 perform, for he is the chief judge in the country, and the head of the 
 army, and the great high priest, and this morning, he who is " The 
 Friend of Ptah " purposes to attend at the shrine of his patron divinity. 
 The grand procession, which was formed in the interior of the palace, 
 has advanced down the long flight of steps and halted for a brief period. 
 Foremost we see an officer with a small body guard, then two musicians, 
 one with a drum, the other with a trumpet, called by the Hebrews 
 Chazozrah (Num. c. x., v. 2.), then comes a noble tame lion, led by his 
 Nubian keeper, possibly the lion (Tearer-in-pieces), so often referred to 
 in the battles of the king's father, which was trained to make an attack 
 when the engagements commenced ; hence it would be led in triumph in 
 times of peace. Behind the lion are two more musicians with harps on 
 their shoulders, and they immediately precede the Pharaoh who is carried 
 by eight Egyptians. The King is followed by his Queen, borne under a 
 splendid canopy carried by eight N ubians, and each of them is surrounded 
 by courtiers bearing fans and palm branches, and followed by a company 
 of priests with various articles to be used presently in the service of the 
 temple. Long rows of harpists are seen within the avenue of carved
 
 13 
 
 lions and sphinxes, and a great many of the spectators are stretching 
 out their hands in adoration to their Monarch. 
 
 In a short time one begins to realize that something has 
 happened, or we may say, is happening, for the bearers of the palan- 
 quin in which the Pharaoh is seated are standing still, and the sove- 
 reign has turned himself in his gilded chair, and is looking intently upon 
 a little group of men standing at the base of the steps. These men are 
 unlike the Egyptians in appearance ; they have loose flowing robes, and 
 long hair, and beards, and they carry staves. We are sure that they must 
 be important personages or they would not be allowed to approach the 
 King, nor would he pause and listen so attentively to the foremost man, 
 who is evidently addressing him with great earnestness. The speaker is 
 Moses, and his brother Aaron is seen in the centre of the little group, 
 the attitude of which is one of marked contrast with that of the crowds 
 of Egyptians round about ; they stand erect and dignified, whilst the 
 Memphites, who are near enough to see and be seen are stretching out 
 their hands and inclining their bodies in an adoring manner. This, 
 then, is the centre of interest in Berninger's great work the last 
 meeting of Moses and Pharaoh. We note, first, that it takes place in 
 Memphis. As to the authority for this, we think it sufficient to say that, 
 as the Bible is silent on the point, there is as great probability in favour 
 of this town as for Tanis or Bubastis, and that the artist has embodied 
 the view of very early Jewish and Christian commentators, and also of 
 not a few writers of Biblical romance. Next, we observe that the 
 meeting is outside the palace, and takes place early on the morning of 
 the Exodus, and not during the night of the last plague. The alter- 
 native would have given us Egypt by moonlight, and the interior of 
 the " Double Great House " by lamplight, an abnormal state of things 
 indeed, which would have left us literally in the dark as to the ordinary 
 appearance of a city of the Pharaohs. 
 
 Berninger has, however, placed us under obligation by enabling us 
 to realize to the fullest degree possible the chief characteristics of the 
 landscape, the charming atmospheric effects, the imposing architecture, 
 and courtly pomp amidst which Moses was brought up, and to which 
 he returned when eighty years old to deliver his message, and perform 
 his wonderful works. It is indeed only as we are confronted with these 
 evidences of the high state of civilization (note, e.g. the presence of 
 the women in the processions, and in the crowds, and observe they are 
 not veiled), which obtained in the time of the Pharaohs of the Oppression, 
 and bear in mind also the accumulated influence of the past, which 
 reached back to the period when Meiies founded " the fair abode" ; it 
 is only thus that we can estimate the value of the sacrifice attending his
 
 14 
 
 choice in refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But for 
 that refusal he might have held a social position inferior only to that of 
 the monarch whom he is now addressing ; and we venture to believe 
 that morally and intellectually he was vastly superior to the man whose 
 heart was hardened, and in order to show that, we will glance for a 
 moment or two at the previous relations of these two representatives and 
 leaders, who now meet for the last time. 
 
 When Moses received his commission he protested that he was not 
 " a man of words," and Aaron was commanded to act as his spokes- 
 man, and in the narrative we usually find their names occurring toge- 
 ther, but in course of time we read, " Moreover, the man Moses was 
 very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and 
 in the sight of the people." He appears to have advanced in faith in 
 God as one plague followed another, and to have acquired boldness in 
 dealing with the King of Egypt. This will be apparent to all who read 
 the book of Exodus (chapters 4-11). 
 
 The conferences appear to have been held for the most part early 
 in the day, for we read (c. 5. v. 6.) that after seeing the King for the 
 first time, Pharaoh commanded the same day, that the taskmasters should 
 stop the supply of straw. Soon after we read that there was an audience 
 given to the officers of the Israelite brickmakers, and as the deputation 
 were leaving they met Moses and Aaron, who were approaching the 
 palace, and upbraided them for bringing about an increase in the hard- 
 ship of their lot. Now we turn to chap. 7, v. 15, and find that Moses 
 was told to meet Pharaoh early in the morning, and on the bank of 
 the Nile, and it is evident that he did so, for we read in v. 23 that 
 " Pharaoh turned and went into his house." Again in Exodus c. 8, v. 20, 
 we find a similar command, " Rise up early in the morning, and stand 
 before Pharaoh ; lo, he cometh forth to the water," and it is repeated in 
 chap. 9, v. 13, thus giving ample ground for the artist's idea of the 
 meeting occurring in the morning, and in the open air. It is interesting 
 to observe that Moses went not only out of the palace, but outside the 
 city before spreading abroad his hands unto the Lord ; he left behind 
 the temples and their priests, and the myriad forms of idolatry, that he 
 might be alone with his God. Soon, however, the divine message came 
 again, and he and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and after another 
 warning he turned and went out from the King, but Pharaoh's serrants 
 said to their monarch, " How long shall this man be a snare unto us ? 
 let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God : knowest thou 
 not yet that Egypt is destroyed." They appear to have prevailed upon 
 Pharaoh to alter his mind, and Moses and Aaron were sent for, and 
 introduced again, but were speedily driven out of the palace. Then 
 followed the locust plague, and Pharaoh was glad to send for Moses in
 
 15 
 
 haste. Then followed the darkness, and once more Pharaoh called for 
 Moses, and told him on this occasion to take heed to himself. But 
 Moses is no longer slow of speech, and fearful of consequences, for we 
 observe that on announcing the last plague he says to the King of Egypt, 
 " And all these, thy servants, shall come down unto me, saying, Get 
 thee out, and all the people that follow thee : and after that I will go 
 out." Then we read that Moses left the palace in hot anger. After 
 this he appears to have devoted himself to organizing the 600,000 on 
 foot that were men, and his plans must have been perfectly carried out 
 in order to secure absolute uniformity, and universality in the obser- 
 vance of the Passover, which shows that he must have gained also the 
 confidence of the Israelites, or they would never have prepared for their 
 departure. Then came the night during which the firstborn were 
 smitten, and the great cry heard in Egypt, and there appears to have 
 been a settled conviction in the minds of Pharaoh and of his people that 
 Moses and his God had caused the calamity, and once more the King 
 sent for the Israelite prince. But why send for Moses, does he wish the 
 dead to be restored, does he fear another onslaught, or is it that he may 
 curse him, and, if possible, punish, or even kill him ? Nay ; his atti- 
 tude is that of the supplicant, he has become the pleader, and Moses is 
 the greatest man in the kingdom. The deliverance, so long promised, 
 has come, he witnesses the hurried movements of his people, partly in 
 response to his own orders, partly on account of the urgency of their 
 Egyptian neighbours who are all awake, and in a state of great excite- 
 ment and then, at daybreak, together with Aaron and one or two com- 
 panions, he makes a final journey to the Double Great House, and pass- 
 ing down the cleared roadway, he meets the King at the base of the steps. 
 The procession halts, and the Pharaoh turns upon his portable throne 
 10 listen to the words of a subject whom he fears, and whom he desires 
 to be gone. We are struck with the appearance of the shepherd who 
 has secured entire control of his kinsmen, of the proud monarch, and 
 of himself, and we note the import of the fixed gaze, and the right hand 
 uplifted, whilst with the left he grasps his staff, ready to depart, and 
 overtake the contingents which are now on the march under the direction 
 of their respective elders. Such, then, are the means adopted by Bern- 
 inger, to convey the idea that Israel's God has triumphed over Egypt's 
 idols, that Moses and Pharaoh have changed places, that the de- 
 cline of one nation has commenced, and that another is born. It is a 
 grand spectacle ; a restoration worthy of Egypt, and of the artist, but 
 the final impression on the mind of the thoughtful observer will probably 
 be the moral worth of the two chief actors, concerning whose end there 
 is one feature common to both, namely, that no man knoweth the place 
 of their burial unto this day.
 
 i6 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE TEMPLE OF PTAH AND THE RELIGION OF EGYPT. 
 
 S we pass from the palace we get a glimpse of the river Nile, with 
 palm covered islets here and there, and on the further side the lime- 
 stone hills now known as Mokattam and Toura. Even at the time of 
 the Exodus these heights had been quarried for more than two thousand 
 years, and it is impossible to tell how many millions of tons of stone had 
 been carried across to the western plateau for the erection of the 
 pyramids, and the important buildings of Memphis, foremost amongst 
 them being the original shrine of the primeval god Ptah. The artist has 
 set before us the supposed condition of this Temple at the time of 
 Meri-en-Ptah, "the Beloved, or Friend of Ptah." We shall notice first its 
 surroundings. It is in the fashionable quarter of the city, or it may be 
 more correct to say that the upper classes have congregated about it. 
 On the left we see the houses of the priests, and in the foreground a 
 substantial villa in the midst of a beautiful garden, and this house we 
 may perhaps regard as the residence of an official scribe. On the right 
 of the sacred enclosure, that is on the bank of the river, are the military 
 quarters, and we have already noticed some of the Egyptian guards 
 pacing near the approach to the Nile. The priests, and scribes, and 
 soldiers constituted the upper class of the Egyptians, though not exactly 
 a caste, but the priesthood was the most influential of the three sections 
 of the community, and the high priest of Ptah held the most important 
 sacred office in the country. 
 
 The temple would doubtless at first consist of a single cell or holy 
 place to which additions were made by various kings, who supposed that 
 their victories in warfare were due to the interposition of this particular 
 god. Amongst the more recent will be noticed the work of Rameses 
 II., the supposed Pharaoh of the Oppression, and we may add that he is 
 generally believed to be the great Sesostris of the Greeks. Battle scenes 
 in the life of this great warrior and builder, are depicted on the pylons or 
 towers on each side of the gateway. It is said that when fighting 
 against the Kheta possibly the Biblical Hittites he was cut off from 
 the main body of his army and found himself between the first and 
 second lines of the enemy, and that he was deserted by his charioteer, 
 but proved himself equal to the occasion by fastening the reins round 
 his body, and so by swaying himself, controlled the horses, and not only 
 successfully defended himself, but struck terror to the hearts of the 
 enemy, inspired his own troops, and won a great victory. A very minute 
 account of the battle was written at the time by the Poet Laureate named
 
 17 
 
 Pen-ta-our, and his poem, which is one of the oldest in the world, is 
 sometimes called the Iliad of Egypt. Some of the principal incidents 
 were depicted by the artists on the walls of the temples, and the repre- 
 sentation which we are considering was fresh from their hands on the 
 day of the Exodus. On the upper part of the left hand pylon we see 
 the King in his war-chariot, alone; on the right, he is returning in 
 triumph ; and the whole of the lower portion, gives the battle in greater 
 detail. This part of Berninger's work is very valuable because it enables 
 us to understand what a temple was like in the time of Moses, far better 
 than any number of photographs of ruins can do ; we get the ancient Egyptian 
 scheme of colours, and the scale employed for the human form, and the 
 peculiar methods adopted to compensate for the absence of perspective 
 We note how the Egyptain painter flattered his King by making him 
 appear colossal as compared with his enemies, and also by making it 
 appear that he is despatching a host of Kheta single-handed. It is 
 significant that the scene chosen is not a domestic one, such as we find 
 elsewhere, e.g. t ploughing, or fishing or boat building, &c. ; it serves to 
 remind us that Moses was brought up in stirring times, and further, that 
 although from the standpoint of the Bible student of to-day, Rameses II. 
 appears a terrible oppressor ; yet he was a vigorous man, and attached 
 to the religion of the country, although he praised himself as well as his 
 gods. Pentaour puts the following into his mouth : 
 
 " Tall gateways, flag-decked masks, I raised to thee, 
 And obelisks from Abu I have brought, 
 And built thee temples of eternal stone." 
 
 One other quotation from this poem will serve to show the same truth : 
 " Great am I mighty are Egyptian Kings 
 But in the sight of thy commanding might, 
 Small as the chieftain of a wandering tribe. 
 Immortal Lord, crush Thou this unclean people : 
 Break Thou their necks, annihilate the heathen."* 
 
 It is only when we realize that the Pharaoh claimed to be the visible 
 representative of the Sun, that he received divine honours, that he was 
 the only person who had a right to enter the inmost shrine of the temple, 
 and that all other piiests performed their duties as deputies for him; it 
 is only when looked at from this standpoint that we can fully understand 
 the hesitancy of Moses, when told to ask Rameses to let the people go to 
 serve their own God in the wilderness. He knew that the King would 
 not only be loth to part with such a host of workers, but would resent 
 the proposal to recognise any other Divinity ; indeed we read that Pharaoh 
 
 * From the third Sallier papyrus, translated by Professor Lushington, vol. ii. of 
 "Records of the Past," p. 65, and by Rev. H. D. Rawnsley, M.A., "Notes for the 
 Nile," p. 270. is
 
 i8 
 
 said " Who is the Lord that I should hearken unto His voice to let 
 Israel go ? " One other point must be noted in connection with this 
 ancient Egyptian picture, because it has some bearing upon the Exodus. 
 We have observed that Rameses was victorious, if he had not been, no 
 picture would have been painted, for the Egyptains did not record their 
 failures ; indeed so far as we can tell there is but one instance in which 
 a state of disorder and chaos is noted, and according to some scholars, 
 the incident mentioned in what is known as ''The great Harris Papyrus," 
 is not only analagous, but also co-incident with the Exodus of the 
 Israelities. At any rate there would not be the least room for surprise, if 
 silence were maintained by the Egyptain scribes concerning the Hebrew 
 migration, as such a course was the one usually followed. 
 
 Having considered the decoration of the temple, we now turn to 
 its service, and we at once find something wholly different from what 
 we are accustomed to in this country. These sanctuaries were not in- 
 tended for the ordinary folk ; they would see and hear very little, except 
 on the great festivals when there were imposing processions. We are 
 able to form some idea of the ceremony, as a procession is at this 
 moment passing through the gateway of the temple of Ptah, and pro- 
 ceeding down an avenue of sphinxes. We notice soldiers, and dancing 
 priestesses and musicians, and then comes the god, secured on a pedestal 
 and borne by priests, who are clean-shaven and attired in white gar- 
 ments, and the image is surrounded with other priests carrying fans and 
 burning incense. We can imagine that, as the Israelites passed along 
 the streets at this early hour, they would hear the music and chanting, 
 and it would be the last that would fall upon their ears until a new song, 
 set to new music, was chanted by Miriam and the women with their 
 timbrels on the farther side of the Red Sea. Some will ask again, Is it 
 likely that all this occurred on the morning of the Exodus ? and we 
 have only to reflect for a moment to see that it is highly probable. 
 Amongst the Egyptian gods there was a never-ceasing conflict ; for, as 
 the sun sank in the West each eve, he was supposed to be overcome by 
 Set the evil principle, and just as surely was Set slain each morning by 
 the valiant young Horus that is to say, by the rising sun. All disaster 
 was associated with darkness or, rather, darkness was a form of evil 
 and we can well imagine that, as there had recently been one period of 
 intense and prolonged darkness, the Egyptians may have feared during 
 the night of the last plague that the death of the first-born was but the 
 first step in a new series of evils, but when the sun shone out once more 
 they would rejoice because Horus was again triumphant. Hence the 
 priests are praising the sun who is now sailing through the heavens in 
 his golden barque, and the Memphites are adoring the visible represen-
 
 19 
 
 tation of the solar deity in the person of Meneptah, but in a few days 
 there will be a loud chorus in the desert: 
 
 " Who is like Thee, O Lord, among the gods ? Who is like Thee, 
 glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" 
 
 " Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast 
 redeemed ; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy 
 habitation." Exodus, c. 15, verses n and 13.
 
 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE DEPARTURE OF THE MEMPHITE CONTINGENT. 
 
 ]E have now a very fair idea of the chief features of the great city 
 of Noph, or Memphis, and it is time to turn our attention to 
 the very long and deeply interesting processions which are issuing from the 
 gateways, and causing great clouds of dust to rise so that in some places 
 the people cannot be distinctly discerned. It is a procession totally 
 unlike those royal and religious ones we have previously considered. It 
 is not so orderly, and the people are differently attired, and different 
 modes of travelling are adopted. Some are seated on camels, others on 
 asses, whilst others are driving clumsy-looking four-wheeled ox-waggons. 
 Many are carrying burdens, and others are driving, or, perhaps, leading 
 flocks or herds, and a few are assisting other persons who are older and 
 somewhat infirm. Then we are amused at little mishaps that have 
 occurred, for in one place we see that an ass has thrown off a lad, and 
 he is stretched on the sand, whilst another beast is very stubborn and 
 refuses to depart in haste from Egypt. The drawing of animals of vari- 
 ous kinds is very lifelike, and we are glad that the artist has introduced 
 these incidents, because it helps us to withdraw the Biblical narratives 
 from the misty regions to which they have been relegated, and to realize 
 that the'departure of these Israelites was as actual as the outgoing of a 
 caravan from an Eastern city at the present time We believe that many 
 of the Egyptians were glad at the departure of the Israelites, and would 
 be jubilant, but many more were equally angry, because they regarded 
 them as the prime cause of the loss of their children, and these angry 
 people have congregated by the roadside, and especially in the market 
 place on the left of the city gate, and are holding out their hands in a 
 threatening attitude. But these freed slaves will never more feel the 
 lash of the taskmaster, and soon they will pass from the reach of the 
 curses of the idolaters. We are inclined to believe that on the whole 
 the contingent with which we have to do were formerly employed in 
 various mechanical arts. Ii is certain that a considerable number of the 
 Israelites were not engaged either in pastoral work or in brick -making, 
 for those clever men and women who prepared the tabernacle in the 
 Wilderness must have learnt their trades whilst in bondage their occu- 
 pations were doubtless very different, although the conditions of labour 
 were the same. We may suppose that Bezaleel and his company had 
 been brought up in Memphis, for this city was chiefly devoted to the 
 arts, just as On was celebrated for its learning. They had been accus- 
 tomed to labour in the forge and carpenter's shop, and stonemason's
 
 21 
 
 yard, and the foundry for gold and precious metals, and the high skill 
 which they had achieved is presently to be turned to account in the 
 service of the sanctuary in which their God is to meet with His people. 
 The same thoughts apply to the stuff which is being carried in the 
 waggons and on the backs of the muscular young men. The gold and 
 silver and precious things which were made in these heathen workshops, 
 and worn by their Egyptian neighbours until a few hours since, are 
 soon to be dedicated to a higher use, and many of the flocks and 
 herds that are bleating and lowing will in a few days be offered up for 
 sacrifice to the God who is delivering their owners from the oppressors' 
 yoke, and the tents which were hastily struck and folded, and secured 
 on the backs of the camels, will soon be arranged in proper order in the 
 great encampment. But there is one treasure in this procession which 
 is of greater importance than any we have yet noticed. It is the bones 
 of a former prime minister. It is the case containing Joseph's mummy. 
 This coffin has been kept in security during a long period, and now, 
 fastened to a bier, and borne on the shoulders of eight men, and attended 
 by others, who are armed, is on its way to a resting place in the Pro- 
 mised Land. The promise made by the brothers of Joseph is being 
 kept, because the Divine promise given to Abraham, to Isaac, and to 
 Jacob is being fulfilled. (Gen., c. 46, v. 1-4.) 
 
 It seems strange that Jacob the father of the great ruler, Joseph, 
 should be honoured with a royal funeral, and that similar respect, so far 
 as interment in the Patriarchal tomb was concerned, was not rendered 
 to the latter, but the retention of the coffin in Egypt was a constant 
 reminder of the firm trust which Joseph had in the purpose of God, to 
 lead up his descendants to a country which they might call their own. 
 A short distance before the canopy under which we see Joseph's coffin, 
 there is a similar covering secured to the back of a camel on which is 
 seated Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. These persons appear 
 to have occupied an important position in their tribe, apart from the 
 fact that one of them had been trained in the Egyptian court. This 
 woman, Miriam, is generally believed to have instructed the mothers 
 and daughters of Israel, just as Moses did the men, in al. matters 
 peculiar to themselves. She is attended by a number of young women, 
 clad in white garments, and playing various kinds of musical instruments, 
 and they in turn are preceded by armed men, and other Israelites. We are 
 to think of them as advancing during the course of the day, a little 
 farther towards the North, and then they would reach a point on the 
 bank of the Nile, opposite the city of On or Heliopolis, which was 
 situate upon the Eastern side of the river. It is certain that there would 
 be a good deal of traffic between Memphis and On, as they were both
 
 22 
 
 very important places the former being the chief port and manufactur- 
 ing centre of Egypt, the latter the seat of learning and it would be a very 
 busy day for the ferrymen who had to convey the Memphite contingent 
 across the mysterious river. We remember that the water of the Nile would 
 be at a low level at that season, as it was in the spring, hence it would 
 be comparatively narrow, and the boats and rafts would be propelled to 
 and fro in a brief space of time. The idea of some Israelites having to 
 cross the Nile as well as the Red Sea is a new one to most Bible readers, 
 as there is no record of it in the narrative, and some are ready to ask 
 " was another miracle worked "? Indeed that question has been fre- 
 quently asked by persons who have gazed at Berninger's work, whilst 
 others have enquired whether there was a bridge over the Nile at that 
 time, just as there is now from Cairo to the West bank. We think not. 
 On consulting any good book upon Egypt containing illustrations we 
 are tolerably sure to come across copies of ancient pictures of boats and 
 ships of various kinds. Some we see like gondolas, with embroidered 
 silk sails and by the way we note that the shape of the ancient sail 
 was totally unlike that of the modern dahabeah, it was oblong in form,* 
 andserved as the determinative of the idea of air, wind, to. sigh or blow 
 others were arranged for the conveyance of cattle, and in one instance 
 we see horses and chariots on board. Indeed, when we remember that 
 the Egyptians were accustomed to convey blocks of stone weighing 700 
 or 800 tons, the difficulty of transferring a company of Israelites with 
 their goods and chattels entirely disappears. There was no need to 
 make a special point of this in the Divine record, as it merely meant a 
 few hours extra work for the Nile boatmen. But this incident 
 serves to remind us of the highly condensed character of the 
 narrative in Exodus, and we are surprised to learn how much 
 has been compressed into a few verses. And if we find ourselves 
 wondering whether the people were conveyed willingly by the ferrymen 
 at a low rate, or grudgingly at exhorbitant fares, a useful purpose will 
 have been served, as in too many instances these Israelites and their 
 Egyptian neighbours have but a shadowy existence even in the minds of 
 Bible readers, and it will be found that the effort which is made to 
 understand their changed relations on the day of the Exodus will serve 
 to resuscitate both parties ; and if some readers conclude that there were 
 no Israelites living on the west of the Nile, and hence none to cross it, 
 or if they conclude that the boatmen were only too glad to ferry them 
 gratis, to get rid of the people whose God had recently turned their river 
 into blood, the result will be equally beneficial, for we who read the 
 
 * In the inscription of Aahmes, the son of Abra, a ship is referred 
 to, called the " Crown of Memphis."
 
 23 
 
 narratives of the Old Testament are in danger of losing our sensitiveness 
 through long familiarity. The account in the book of Exodus is a mar- 
 vellous piece of condensation, and we need the highly-cultivated imagi- 
 nation of the artist, be he poet or painter, to fill in the gaps, nay, to 
 make us realise that there are outlines in the Bible, drawn by a Master 
 Hand, which require careful filling in. If we had lived between three 
 and four thousand years ago, and had witnessed the departure for our- 
 selves, we should have regarded it as a great migration and nothing 
 more ; we should not have been conscious of its significance owing to 
 the dullness of our comprehension ; and it is just because the writer 
 of the Pentateuch was lifted on to a higher platform, and received a 
 clearer vision, and beheld a wider horizon it is because he received 
 this gift, and so became aware that these events stood in a peculiar 
 relation to what had happened before, and to what should follow, that 
 he recorded them. He did not make the history, it was happening 
 before his eyes. God was in that history, revealing Himself, revealing 
 His purpose, and this man beheld it, because he was furnished with the 
 faculty, because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, he had 
 to be convinced in a most definite manner that the God who was re- 
 vealing Himself in these events was identical with the God of his father, 
 and the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and by various signs 
 he was thus assured. He had also to convince the elders of Israel that 
 the God of their fathers had appeared to him, and that he was consti- 
 tuted His prophet. But all this was easy compared with his mission to 
 " the Double Great House." No wonder that Moses desired to screen 
 himself behind a spokesman. Pharaoh behaved just as the prophet had 
 anticipated. "The Lord," said he, "I don't know Him." "Never 
 heard of Him." ' I am God in these parts." " Get to your work !" 
 " Ye taskmasters, see to it that ye increase the burdens of these fanatical 
 slaves." The Israelites had no temples, no priests, no Sabbaths, no form 
 of worship whatever, and by their rulers were, doubtless, thought to be 
 incapable of a religious idea. " In a whole city full nay, in a whole 
 country full Church they had none." It is almost too much to 
 say that they had a God. Some of them must have thought that 
 He was dead, or asleep, or on a journey, fo r He had not appeared 
 to anyone, so far as we can tell, since He met Jacob on his 
 way down to Egypt. But as the weeks passed by it became evident 
 not only to the Israelites but to all, that He was visiting them once 
 more; and after the plague of lice the magicians in the Palace said 
 to Pharaoh, " This is the finger of God," and after the plague of locusts 
 Pharaoh said, " I have sinned against the Lord your God ;" and finally, 
 when the chariot wheels were driving heavily the Egyptians said, " Let
 
 24 
 
 us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the 
 Egyptians." And the effect was similar upon the minds and hearts of 
 the Israelites when they saw this great work, the people " feared the 
 Lord, and they believed in the Lord, and in his servant Moses." 
 
 We see now that the object of the writer of those early pages of 
 sacred history was to connect the God who appeared to Abram with the 
 God who had created the world ; that the God who made the promise 
 to the Patriarch confirmed it to Isaac, and was also the God of Jacob, 
 and was likewise the God who met Moses on his return to Egypt, and 
 told him to say unto Pharaoh, " Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, 
 my first-born : and I have said unto thee, let my son go, that he may 
 serve me ; and thou hast refused to let him go : behold, I will slay thy 
 son, thy first-born " (Exodus, c. 4, v. 22-23). The God who had spoken 
 a world into being, who had spoken in Providence, in History, was 
 presently to speak in thunder the words of the Law, and thus we see 
 that the revelation was progressive, and accordingly the record shows 
 signs of that process of development, it reveals more and more clearly 
 the Divine purpose, which was, to care for a religion which contained 
 elements destined to transform the whole world. Centuries before the 
 Exodus the only visible sign of the existence of this true religion, was 
 to be found in the migration of a sheikh and his company from Ur of 
 the Chaldees, the bare matter-of-fact, common-place event of a man on 
 a journey, but it was like the movement of a flake of magnetic ore, which, 
 when freely suspended by a hair, or balanced by a pivot, reveals the possess- 
 ion of properties which cause the mass to vibrate, and finally to come to 
 rest in obedience to the laws of a powerful terrestrial magnet. Thus the 
 conduct of Abram was a sign of his faith, the reward revealed the 
 presence of his God, and afterwards, when we witness similar faith and 
 similar conduct in Isaac, and in Israel's case, when he came to Beersheba, 
 on his way down to Egypt, we see that the same laws are at work, and 
 that a uniformity of action is the result. And God was not unmindful 
 of His people during the centuries that elapsed from Joseph to Moses ; 
 the man Israel had become a nation, and the movement of a mass was 
 sluggish compared with the action of an individual, but during the last 
 eighty years of the Oppression, He was preparing a highly sensitive 
 needle, the like of which had not been seen before, the polarity of which 
 should be unmistakable, the height of whose pivot should reveal its 
 presence to all, and the constant tremor of which should reveal also the 
 nearness and power of the Operating Agent. And all this was made 
 evident by character, by conduct, by a man nurtured in the Double-Great 
 House refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, by a man who 
 was a highly educated prince refusing to become a priest, by a man re-
 
 25 
 
 fusing to adapt himself to his environment, or rather, by setting himself 
 to adapt the environment to his own ideas ; at every step it was a choice 
 of conduct, and it led him into the wilderness, and " a member of the 
 University of On" became a lodger in a Sheik's tent. Once more 
 there is a violent movement and the equilibrium is not restored till the man 
 sets out on a journey and a mission, the issue of which, was a transform- 
 ation of himself, and the transportation of his people ; and when we stand 
 on the landing stage at On, and witness these busy scenes, as the men, 
 women, and children spring from the boats, and the cattle and stuff is 
 unloaded, and we see them hasten through the streets, joined by others 
 who had been in bondage in the city of the Sun-god- Ra ; and when these 
 combined companies are joined by a third from Bubastis, and a fourth 
 from Zoan, and they march from Rameses to Succoth, we cannot help 
 saying, "the axis of 'the World's Magnet' lies this way," and these 
 people are obeying its laws. Now we have found an answer to the great 
 question : Why is a deliverance being wrought for these slaves, whilst 
 others are left to grind the corn, and carry water, and drag stones, and 
 build temples for the Pharaoh and his nobles ? It is because in the 
 latter case there would have been the transference of so many human 
 beings from one point of the globe to another, and nothing more, whereas, 
 in the former instance, we have a company of men and women who are not 
 only descendants from a common ancestor, and bound together by a 
 common hardship ; but a company inheriting the same traditions, believ- 
 ing in one and the same great promise, possessed of the same religious 
 ideas, trusting in a message purporting to come from a God who had 
 appeared to their fathers, Israel, and Isaac, and Abraham, yea, a God 
 who claimed to be their Father, a God who was about to make a solemn 
 covenant with them. 
 
 It is impossible for us to determine how far the conduct of the 
 Israelites had been affected by their latent religious possibilities, during 
 the period when they had no sacrifices, no priests, no sanctuary, no 
 Sabbath, no written law ; but there was an element in their constitution 
 which responded to the action of God, something which made a further 
 revelation of Himself possible to them, and through them to others, some- 
 thing which made them capable of being the best possible means for 
 revealing His nature and will to the peoples round about, and was destined 
 to provide a channel for conferring a blessing on all mankind. The 
 Egyptians knew a great deal about false gods, and were degraded by the 
 worship of some of them, e.g., the bull Apis, but the little which the 
 Israelites knew about the true God elevated them not only above the 
 Egyptians with their highly organized religious system but above all the 
 peoples on earth, and it was this feeble counterpart of Himself for which
 
 26 
 
 God worked the wonders, and y every act of obedience to the Almighty 
 but Invisible God, these people not only displayed their own character, 
 but presented a partial view of the nature of the true God, first to their 
 neighbours, and now, as in an elementary reading book to ourselves. 
 Although Moses begged of Pharaoh that the people might go out of Egypt 
 to sacrifice, he does not appear to have shown any anxiety for them to 
 commence, his greatest concern was to get a perfect idea of God's Nature 
 as expressed in His will, in order that he might lay it before the people, 
 and so found a spiritual Kingdom. But the revealed Law only served 
 to show the feebleness of the human heart, and the necessity for the 
 Holy One to communicate His own Nature to perform His own Will, 
 and centuries had to elapse before another son, God's only and beloved 
 Son, was called out of Egypt. The will which operated in Him was not 
 only in conformity, but identical with that of His Father, and to study 
 the one was to study the other, h. perfect medium was produced at last 
 a being capable of receiving a full revelation of God, and as a record 
 of His life has been left, we have a more perfect revelation of God.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE PYRAMIDS AND THE GREAT SPHINX. 
 
 [T is not at all probable that the Israelites were conscious that so 
 much was involved in their departure from Egypt. Neither can we 
 be sure that Moses was fully aware of the importance of his mission, 
 in relation to the great redemptive purpose, which was destined 
 to embrace the whole world. But some features were clear to the mind 
 of the Prophet. He was convinced that his God was faithful to His 
 promises, that He was merciful towards those who kept His command- 
 ments, that He hated idolatry, and required that man should walk up- 
 rightly. Then, too, Moses had a great regard for the honour of the 
 Lord, he pleaded for his people, lest the Egyptians should triumph, and 
 say " Jehovah is not equal to the task of conducting the Israelites to 
 Canaan." And there is good reason for the belief that the story of the 
 wonders wrought in Egypt had spread far and wide, because we learn 
 that when Joshua entered Canaan, a certain tribe came three days' jour- 
 ney to meet him, that they might form a league, and when the imposition 
 which they had perpetrated was discovered, they pleaded that fear had 
 driven them to act thus, for said they, " Because it was certainly told thy 
 servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded His servant, Moses, 
 to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land 
 from before you." Joshua 9, v. 24. The deliverance from Egypt was 
 wrought not because of the righteousness of the Israelites, but because 
 of God's promise to Abraham, because the people cried for release from 
 their grievous burdens, because a fully equipped leader was now avail- 
 able ; and we may be quite sure that it was accomplished at a time best 
 calculated to produce a good effect both upon themselves and their 
 neighbours, and the nations round about. 
 
 But the people did not march forth like a conquering host, zealous 
 for their God, and supiemely desirous to see His Kingdom established, 
 they had been too long crushed in spirit, their faith was not established, 
 and their aims were not exalted. They may have refrained from idol- 
 atry, when surrounded by it, but after three months in the wilderness, 
 with nothing in particular to engage their attention, the subjective 
 worship of an Invisible God was found to be impracticable for them at 
 that stage of their religious education, and they clamoured for the excite- 
 ment of an idolatrous festival. If they had brought idols with them there 
 would have been no need for the appeal to Aaron to fashion one,* and 
 
 *Yet see Joshua, c. xxiv., v. 14 ; Nehemiah, c. ix., v. 18 and 30.
 
 Aaron seems to have become tired with waiting for some function to 
 perform. Moses must have credited them with more rectitude than 
 they were capable of, or he would not have been so surprised and angry 
 on discovering the cause of the revelry when he descended from the 
 mount, and he soon found that it was necessary to reduce worship to 
 rules, and religion to a system ; in fact the people were children, and 
 needed to be taught how to live, and to live in a manner well pleasing 
 to God. 
 
 Their Egyptian masters inherited a highly complicated religious 
 system, and had a multitude of priests to act on their behalf, or rather 
 they acted in the stead of the Pharaoh, for he alone was thought fit to 
 approach the gods, and as we have seen, himself received divine honours. 
 But the attention of the Egyptians was devoted to the consideration of 
 the future life, rather than to pleasing the gods in this life, and they trusted 
 largely to the merit of incantations which would presently be uttered 
 over their mummies for a safe entrance to Amenti (the Egyptian Elysium). 
 It was a religion of mystery, because understood by the initiated only, 
 a religion of gloom, darkness, and the underworld. Indeed, the poorer 
 folk, if they attended a religious service at all, were in the habit of going 
 for that purpose, to the chamber adjoining the family tombs in their 
 cemeteries. The only rites which they were free to take part in were 
 funerary. 
 
 The refrain which came so frequently from the dissatisfied Israel- 
 ites when they reached the wilderness, would almost lead one to 
 suppose that they believed there was some advantage to be had by 
 dying in Egypt rather than in the wilderness. At any rate, we 
 can estimate the force of their enquiry, which was substantially, 
 "Were there no graves in Egypt, that thou has brought us into this 
 place to die?" The Memphite section would have a very clear 
 recollection of the importance which was attached to the vast Royal 
 cemetery behind the city in which they had laboured. Even, at the 
 present day, it is the largest and most wonderful, not only in Egypt, but 
 on the face of the whole globe. What must it have been at the time of 
 the Exodus, when Memphis was a thriving centre with its shipping and 
 manufactures ? At that time there were thousands of persons engaged in 
 keeping the necropolis in order, and it was a city of the dead in the strictest 
 sense. There were miles of tombs arranged in streets, and pyramids rose 
 here and there like gigantic cathedrals. Each day would bring armies of 
 workmen who were engaged in sinking shafts and boring subterranean 
 passages, or erecting little houses like truncated pyramids, and now 
 called by the Arabs mastabas (on account of resemblance to benches), 
 whilst others were engaged in carving magical texts on the inner walls,
 
 29 
 
 or painting scenes from the lives of the owners. Then, too, there 
 would be numerous funeral processions, some with great pomp, others 
 of a simple character ; and beside all these there would be a constant 
 stream of visitors, not only from Memphis, but from numerous cities on 
 the Eastern bank of the Nile, for the memorial services of the dead were 
 attended to with devout punctuality by the relatives of the deceased- 
 In addition to this we must remember that the pyramids themselves 
 were all inviolate at that period, and the services of the pyramid temples 
 were sustained by an hereditary priesthood. The city of the dead was 
 equal in extent, and comparable in importance with the city of the 
 living, and its foundation contemporary with the birth of the nation. 
 The kings of the first twelve dynasties lived and ruled in " the fair 
 abode," and were buried on the western outckirt of the capital, and 
 scores of the Royal resting places can be seen at the present day, but in 
 a more or less mutilated condition. They occur in groups the most 
 northern being Abu Roash, next the Gizeh, farther south the Zawyet 
 el Aryan, farther still the Abousir, and then comes the celebrated 
 Sakkarah group, and lastly the Dashour. They extend in a long 
 row, on the edge of the rocky plateau that skirts the Lybian desert' 
 and the breadth of the necropolis which surrounds them, and of 
 which they form a part is in some places very great. A well-known 
 traveller has said, "' As the mountains are round about- Jerusalem ' so 
 were the pyramids round about Memphis." We are not concerned just 
 now with their dimensions, nor their comparative ages, nor with their 
 present mutilated condition. We wish to know their meaning to the 
 people who lived during the reign of Meneptah. Of course they were 
 impressive en account of their great size, and the variations in size and 
 form may also have conveyed some teaching as to the relative power 
 and duration of sovereignty of their respective owners. But there was 
 one fundamental idea which led to the erection of them all the belief 
 in the immortality of the soul. The necessity for resisting the process 
 of decay of the body is the explanation of embalming ; and that costly 
 method would be of little service if the embalmed body was not 
 placed in some safe receptacle. No more suitable form of building can 
 be co ceived than the pyramids, as each succeeding layer of stones 
 served to make the position of the Royal mummy-chamber the more 
 secure, and when the pyramidion was put on and the angles of each layer 
 filled in, the sides would present a smooth surface, and, as the Arab 
 proverb declares, "only the eagle and the snail could reach the top." 
 The prospect of security was also greatly enhanced by constructing 
 false passages, so as to mislead a thief in case the pyramid was broken 
 into, and also by the clever mode in which the entrance to the real
 
 30 
 
 passages were sealed up. Where the architectural idea came from is 
 not certain ; it may be that it was imported from Babylonia, and that 
 the earliest pyramids resembled the seven-stepped temples,* each plat- 
 form having its sides painted with a different colour, to symbolise the 
 sun and moon and five planets. This opinion is supported by the 
 famous Assyriologist, Dr. Fritz Hommel, and, by the way, he tells us that 
 there was a city in the East, with a name corresponding to the one 
 founded by Menes. Berninger has coloured the First or great pyramid, 
 and also the Second, in such manner as to suggest the seven bands. 
 The original colours of the outer casing have not been recorded, but 
 Herodotus and others tell us that the smooth coating was of variegated 
 stone, and we can readily believe the statement, as we are familiar with 
 the Egyptian love for many colours. This fondness arose from a desire 
 to overcome the monotony of nature, for the dweller on the Nile lived 
 under a cloudless sky, and had no green valleys or woody hill sides, and 
 his famous river received no tributaries. But in no feature was this 
 sameness so apparent as in the vista of sand. Immediately behind the 
 great northern metropolis was the desert, and no traveller had ever 
 been far enough towards the West to find the end of it. It was to the 
 Egyptians a great unknown. Then, too, it was the abode of the de- 
 parted Sun, the great God was supposed to lead the way to the under- 
 world, and to rule its inhabitants, and the desire of every Egyptian was 
 to be with Osiris in Amenti, that is, the West. 
 
 The sinking of the sun in that quarter, together with the boundless 
 expanse of the desert, may have had much to do with the fixing of the 
 location of the Elysium. From whatever cause, the west certainly con- 
 tinued to be the favourite side of the Nile for burying the dead, hence 
 we frequently find that, whilst the city proper was on the eastern bank, 
 the necropolis was on the opposite side, and hence arose the necessity 
 for a journey across the Nile in the funeral boat, so frequently depicted 
 in Egyptian art, and which affected not only the poetry of Egypt but 
 possibly that of Greece also. Some writers are of opinion that between 
 the western boundary of Memphis and the plateau on which the 
 pyramids were built there was a sacred lake or a canal ; but, be that as 
 it may, most mummies had to be taken by water as well as land before 
 reaching the tomb. However, it is certain that in the case of Memphis 
 or Mennefer, the necropolis, which embraced the pyramids, was on the 
 west of that city as well as of the Nile, and we are able to form some 
 idea of the extent of Memphis from the immensity of its burying-ground, 
 which is even now the most wonderful in the world. A great number 
 of the pyramids have been opened and plundered by the Persians, Arabs, 
 and Romans ; and Egyptologists are now engaged in unravelling the 
 
 *See 'The Expository Times," Jan., 1893, p. 151.
 
 mysterious texts inscribed on the inner passages and chambers. We call 
 them mysterious not because they are written in characters which are no 
 longer in use, for the hieroglyphs can be deciphered, but mysterious 
 because the sense of the translated words is difficult to determine. They 
 contain detailed accounts of the topography of the other world, and 
 directions for the traveller who is to thread the maze ; and in future years 
 scholars may be able to determine with more certainty what the Ancient 
 Egyptians thought of the soul's condition after death. But the broad, 
 clear fact remains that they did believe that the soul continued to exist 
 after death, and the antiquity of embalming and also of the pyramids 
 testify to the greater antiquity of the belief of which these were the out- 
 ward and visible sign ; and, for this is the point just now, the Israelites 
 were brought up in these surroundings. Thousands of them had gazed 
 upon those mountains of stone and marvelled at them, and pondered 
 over their meaning. They spoke of the antiquity of the dwellers on the 
 Nile, of the absolute power of the early kings, of the skill of the builders, 
 of the greatness of the conception of the architects who designed them, 
 and of the intensity of the belief which was embodied in them, and the 
 children of Israel must have been greatly impressed when they first 
 beheld them, and the mental picture would be ineradicable. Many of 
 the slaves were born within a mile of them, and had seen them every 
 day as their smooth sides glistened in the sun, and they had watched 
 them by moonlight, and they could not help knowing how they were 
 regarded by the idolatrous folk amongst whom they lived and toiled. 
 We wonder what opinions they formed of the Egyptian doctrine of the 
 Future. We wonder if they were able to resist the influence of the belief 
 held by this highly-intellectual nation during their sojourn in the land 
 of the pyramids. 
 
 There are many Biblical critics who have expressed surprise as to 
 the silence of Moses concerning the doctrine of a Future Life that is, 
 as to the condition of the soul after death. But we venture to suggest 
 that sufficient importance has not been attached to the expressions used 
 in the Pentateuch concerning the death and burial of the Patriarchs. 
 Abraham bought a piece of ground in Canaan to bury Sarah out of his 
 sight, and he was afterwards placed in the same tomb ; and yet it is 
 stated in Gen. xxv., v. 8, that "he was gathered to hts people" More- 
 over, God had promised Abraham, " Thou shalt go to thy fathers 
 in peace," Gen. xv., v. 15, but his people were buried in Ur of the 
 Chaldees. Then we read that Ishmael gave up the ghost and died, 
 and was gathered unto his people. The same language is used 
 concerning Isaac, and in course of time, when Jacob knew that he 
 was about to die, he expressed the desire to be taken back to his
 
 32 
 
 own country, and to be buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah. 
 We read in Gen. c. 49, v. 33, "And when Jacob made an end of 
 charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up 
 the ghost, and was gathered unto his people." Thus we see that in these 
 instances the writer makes a distinction between dying, and " gathered 
 to their people," and this last expression is employed before the burial 
 took place. The case of Jacob is particularly interesting in this respect. 
 For the first time in the history of Egypt there was a grand funeral pro- 
 cession from the land that was filled with costly tombs, a procession that 
 astonished the tribes of the countries through which the imposing 
 cortege passed, and which caused the Canaanites to say, " This is a 
 grievous mourning to the Egyptians." But the writer of the Book of 
 Genesis tells us that Jacob was gathered unto his people, not only before 
 the burial was accomplished, but also before the process of embalming 
 was commenced. Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob all lived and died in 
 faith, and the steadfastness of their belief in God's promise must have been 
 evident to the sons who surrounded their couches and witnessed their last 
 moments, and the memory of their last messages would be precious to 
 the Children of Israel. They did not betray any fear that the intercourse 
 which they had enjoyed with their God is now to cease for ever ; and 
 Jacob did not crave for any interposition on the part of the Egyptian 
 priesthood, although he must have been acquainted with the claims 
 which they put forth as to their control of the destinies of the dead. 
 Then, in due time, whilst the Israelites were living in peace and plenty 
 in the land of Goshen, their illustrious relative, the deliverer of famine- 
 stricken Egypt, the famous Prime Minister, Joseph, called his brethren, 
 and said, "I die : but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of 
 this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to 
 Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, " God 
 will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So 
 Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed 
 him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."* 
 
 We wonder at the integrity of Joseph, and also that he contrived to 
 maintain his hold upon the truths which he had learned in the shepherd 
 home in Canaan. One would not have been surprised if the conduct of 
 his brothers had made him bitter in heart towards them and their 
 religion. Then, too, he was so thoroughly Egyptian in appearance and 
 bearing that they failed to recognize him when they came to buy corn, 
 he bore an Egyptian name, had an Egyptian wife, and as Governor 
 came in contact with the best minds in the country. Why did he desire 
 
 * Gen. c. 1., v. 24 ; also c. xxxiii., vv. 18, 19 ; c. xlviii., v. 22, and Josh. c. xxiv. v. 32.
 
 33 
 
 to be buried outside of the land which had conferred such honours upon 
 him ? Why did he not exact from his brethren a promise that the most 
 scrupulous care should be observed in the process of embalming his 
 body, and that priestly intercession on his behalf should be made in 
 perpetuity ? And why did he direct his brethren to bury him in 
 Canaan ? Is it not highly probable that his monarch and a grateful na- 
 tion would have been only too glad to have prepared a costly tomb, and 
 to have arranged for funeral rites which would have vied with those pro- 
 vided for the Pharaohs ? But Joseph was an Egyptian in appearance 
 only. It is evident that he maintained the belief inherited from his 
 ancestors, in spite of the influence of his surroundings. Having already 
 enjoyed the presence of his God in this life, he displayed no fear that 
 such intercourse was about to cease, neither did he believe that the aid 
 of Egyptian ritual was essential for the continuance of the fellowship The 
 Egyptians looked forward to the privilege of being with their gods in 
 Amend ; but Joseph said that his God would in course of time visit the 
 Israelites in this life. He and his brethren may have had but little light 
 upon the nature of the after existence of the soul, but they believed that 
 in some real sense those who had departed this life were with God, and 
 alive to Him, though dead to themselves. Their God was the God of 
 the living, and when he called Himself the God of Abraham, and Isaac ; 
 and Jacob, the Israelites believed that in some sense these men still 
 lived. Having such a belief we can understand the calmness with 
 which, some years after the Exodus, Miriam, and Aaron, and Moses went 
 forth from the camp to be joined to their fathers and their father's God. 
 Even if there be no dogmatic teaching in the first books of the Old 
 Testament concerning Immortality and future blessedness, we must not 
 lose sight of the influence which such behaviour would have on the 
 minds of the people. Moses did more by his example when he walked up 
 the bare mountain side in the presence of the whole congregation, than 
 if he had remained amongst them for another forty years to preach against 
 the worthlessness of the doctrines of Egypt, and the superiority of his 
 own belief. Moses went up the mountain of Abarim, when the com- 
 mand was given, because he trusted that he should be gathered to his 
 people, even as Aaron died in Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his 
 people, and because he did not fear to obey the summons of such a 
 God. Forty years before he had been impressed with the claims of this 
 God, not only a claim of Holiness, and Oneness, and Almightiness, but 
 also of relationship with Abram and Isaac and Jacob. Moses had al- 
 ready been permitted to hold intercourse with Him, and he must have 
 believed that he was to be gathered not only to his people, but to his 
 people's God, even as " Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for 
 God took him." c
 
 34 
 
 Let us now return to the narrative of the Exodus. We are accus- 
 tomed to regard the last plague as the chief cause of the release 
 of the Israelites, because, immediately after the death of the first-born, 
 both Pharaoh and his people were extremely anxious for Moses and his 
 company to depart, but perhaps we have never tried to estimate the 
 effect of this sudden and most extraordinary increase in the death-rate, 
 upon the religious beliefs of the two classes. The Israelites must have 
 believed not only that the hour of their deliverance was near, when they 
 prepared the passover meal, but, also, that their God was able to deliver 
 them from the power of death, or they would not have sprinkled the 
 blood as Moses had directed. 
 
 As they passed from town to town on the way out of Egypt, travel- 
 ling eastward, they would pass crowds of mourners journeying to the 
 west to bury the victims of the last plague, and we may be sure that a 
 very considerable number would be taken to the Memphite necropolis. 
 As we stand before the northern part of this famous cemetery, we 
 observe that the Gizeh group of Pyramids are all oriented, and that the 
 Temples attached to them face towards the East. Then, too, the doors 
 of the Mastaba tombs are open towards the sun rise. We can under- 
 stand this when we call to mind the Egyptian belief as to the soul. Just 
 as the sun sank or died in the West, and rose or was born anew each 
 morning in the East, so they expected that the soul would return from 
 time to time and re-animate the body which had been carefully em- 
 balmed, and safely deposited. Hence the worship of the morning sun 
 the youthful Horus who daily slew the enemy of his father, Osiris was a 
 most important feature in the religious system of Egypt. The symbol 
 of " Horus on the horizon " or " Hor-em-khut " (gr-Harmachis), was the 
 composite figure which the Greeks called a Sphinx. 
 
 Some years ago, it was customary to explain numerous ancient 
 symbols by the aid of the signs of the Zodiac, and as the name by which 
 the Greeks described this composite form, is a word in the feminine 
 gender, it was supposed that the Sphinx was a combination of Leo and 
 Vir%o. But it was utterly wrong to attach a Greek meaning to this most 
 venerable and colossal Egyptian god. It was carved out of the solid 
 rock, that is to say., out of the limestone of the district, and by many 
 scholars it is believed that the sculpture was executed by the earliest 
 dwellers on the Nile, viz. : " The followers of Horus." At any rate, 
 it is a representation of the god Horus on the horizon, the god of the 
 morning sun, and possibly the facial expression originally bore some re- 
 semblance to the monarch who caused the work to be done. It is cer- 
 tainly a man's head, or rather the head of a king, on the body of a lion, 
 and at the time of the Exodus was probably kept in good condition.
 
 35 
 
 The face was painted red, the colour usually employed for males, and 
 it had a beard, and also the urceus snake on the Royal forehead. From 
 the pedestal to the crown of the head, or the top of the Klaft (head- 
 dress) it measures 70 feet, and the body is 100 feet long, whilst the 
 paws project another 50 feet, and between them was formerly a small 
 temple and an altar. Fifty yards south of this monster was a temple, 
 built of granite and alabaster, one of the oldest sanctuaries in Egypt 
 partly temple and partly tomb, and as the roof of this simple solid 
 structure was many feet lower than the base of the Sphinx, it is certain 
 that there must have been a flight of steps leading from the ground level of 
 three hundred years ago, up to the shrine situated between the paws. 
 On either side of the steps before the Sphinx in Berninger's Picture, 
 there are statues of Seti II. the son of Meneptah, and resting in the shadow 
 of the mighty rock a number of Shasu, the Bedouin of those days. We 
 not only see the gigantic god "J7u" as he appeared to the ancient 
 Egyptians, but we see also a number of the inhabitants of Memphis 
 crowding upon the steps before the oldest piece of sculpture in the 
 world. 
 
 It is impossible to determine for how many centuries he had 
 watched for the rising of the sun, before the day dawned on which the 
 Israelites departed from a land of bondage to the better country ; but 
 we know that the tiny grains of sand from the vast desert have since 
 then covered the mummies of his worshippers and well nigh engulphed 
 himself, but his massive though mutilated head, facing towards the East, 
 alone remains to fix the ancient boundary line between the city of the 
 living and the dead. The glory of Mennefer has departed ;* Noph has 
 buried her people, but the descendants of those redeemed slaves who 
 marched past the mighty sentinel on their way to Canaan, are with us to- 
 day; they shall still celebrate the anniversary of the Passover, and remind 
 us that the promise made to their fathers is not yet exhausted. But the 
 time is fast approaching when the knowledge of the true God shall ex- 
 tend over the whole universe, and another day will yet dawn when 
 the spirits of all men shall return not only from the East, but also from 
 the West, and from the North and the South, and from the uttermost 
 part of the earth. 
 
 Thus the two chief classes of buildings which we have considered 
 viz. the Temples and the Pyramids speak to us concerning the 
 Egyptian belief in a god or gods, on the one hand, and of the immor- 
 tality of the soul on the other. They remind us that the people who 
 built them expected to enter upon the enjoyment of a state of blessed- 
 
 * The same as Memphis or Noph. See Isa. c. 19, v. 13 ; Jer. c. 2, v. 16 ; c. 44, 
 v. I ; c. 46, v. 14 ; c. 46, v. 19 ; Eze. c. 30, v. 13 ; c. 30, v. 16.
 
 36 
 
 ness in the presence of those deities, provided that due care was 
 exercised for the preservation of their mummies. In contrast to the 
 stately buildings and grand processions of the Egyptians, we have looked 
 upon a company of travelling Semites, who believed in One Invisible 
 God Who even now, Himself cared for their bodies Whose presence 
 could be enjoyed in common life by the whole of their tribes, and they, 
 trusting His power to lead them to a better country, are a pattern 
 to us, that vft may exercise similar faith both for the Present and 
 the Future. 
 
 The God that rules on high, 
 
 That all the earth surveys, 
 That rides upon the stormy sky, 
 
 And calms the roaring seas. 
 This awful God is ours, 
 
 Our Father and our love ; 
 He will send down His heavenly powers, 
 
 To carry us above.
 
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