University of Virginia Library

3. LETTER III.
MOSES TO SESOSTRIS.

With what emotions of joy and gratitude I embraced
your princely son, Remeses, I can feebly express!
I give God thanks for this happiness, vouchsafed to me
in my eighty-first year, of hearing from you again, and
by the mouth of your son. I rejoice to hear of your welfare,
and prosperous reign. The sight of the young Remeses
revives all the past, and in his face I see, with delight,
your features and smile. I also perceive that he possesses
all your virtues, and, above all, that you have
taught him the knowledge of the true God. His presence
here, and his readiness to come across the desert to
see me, gratifies me. It assures me that I am loved
by you both! Although, my friend, I have not written
to you—for, since my flight from Egypt, my life has
been wholly without events—yet, from time to time, by
foreign merchants who have been in Tyre, I have had
news of you, and of your prosperity. Until I beheld
your son, I believed that I was quite forgotten!

I shall keep Remeses with me as long as he will remain.
My way of life, however, is humble. We are a

pastoral people, and my occupation is that of a shepherd;
for, though I am chief shepherd of the land, yet
do I not disdain to lead my own flocks to feed upon the
mountains,—where, as they browse, I meditate in solitude
upon God, and also think upon the sad condition
of my brethren in bondage in Egypt. Four kings have
reigned and perished, and yet the sons of Jacob toil on,
exchanging only one oppressor for another, each more
cruel than the last! But the day draws near for their
deliverance, O Sesostris, my friend and brother! The
four hundred years of prophecy are drawing to a close!
On the arrival of every caravan from Egypt I look for
intelligence, that a deliverer has arisen, who, lifting the
standard of the God of Abraham, shall call on Israel to
rally around it, exchange their spades for spears, assert
their freedom, and defy Pharaoh and his power! Who
will be this hero of God? Who the favored man, to
whom shall be committed the happiness and glory of
leading the mighty Hebrew nation out of Egypt? Will
they hear his voice? Will they acknowledge his authority?
Will they have the courage to follow him? or
has the yoke of Egypt, so long bound their necks down,
that they have no hope nor desire to be free? Thus I
meditate upon their fate, and meanwhile pray earnestly
to my God to send the deliverer of my people; for the
time is come when He will remember His promise to
Abraham, and to our fathers!

From the painful accounts that your son Remeses
gives me, the cup of their bondage is full to overflowing!—also
the cup of Egypt!—for the same prophecy
which foretells their deliverance after four hundred
years, adds, “and the nation which they serve will I

judge.” Thus, O king, do I look forward to the over
throw of the power of Egypt, when God shall send His
angel to deliver Israel from beneath Pharaoh's hand of
iron.

What courage, wisdom, patience, meekness, faith,
dignity of person, and ardent piety, must the servant of
God have, who will lead Israel out of bondage! What
man on earth is sufficient for this high office? What
man in all Egypt, among the Hebrews, has God raised
up and endowed with these attributes? Alas, I know
none! They are all oppressed and broken in heart, and
the spirit of manhood has died out within them! But
He who wills can do! and He can arm with power the
weakest instrument of His will! Let us trust in Him!
for by His arm, whoever be the agent, they will be
delivered.

During my exile I have re-written the book of the
life of the Prince of Uz, with great care, and a larger
share of the wisdom of God. At the same time I have
instructed many, in Midian, in the truths of God. It
has also seemed good to me, under the inspiration of the
Almighty, to write, from our divine traditions, a narrative
of the first acts of creation, from the beginning,
when God created the heavens and the earth, down to
the death of Prince Joseph. Of this book, a copy has
been made by my wife Zipporah, which I will send
to you by Prince Remeses for your acceptance.

With greetings of true and holy friendship, I am, O
King Sesostris, thy servant and friend,