University of Virginia Library

5. LETTER V.
REMESES TO HIS MOTHER.

In a letter written a few days ago, and which
went by a vessel that was to touch at Pelusium on its
way to Carthage, I alluded to a feeling (which has been
increasing in strength for many months) that prompted
me to visit my brethren in bonds in Egypt. It is true,
I have no power. I am but one, and Mœris would,
no doubt, gladly seize upon me if he knew I was in
his kingdom. I have, however, determined to yield to
the desire; and next month shall sail in a galley that
goes to Egypt for ebony and ivory. Not long, therefore,
after you receive this letter, which the scholarly
Aaron will read to you, will you embrace your younger
and long-absent son. It is expedient that I go unknown.
I wish to observe the Hebrew people, without awakening
suspicion, as to who I am. Should Mœris hear of
me, he would quickly suspect me of planning evil
against him. If I can do no more, I can carry to the
elders the certainty of the truth, as they received it, by
tradition, of One God, Lord of heaven and earth, Infinite
in holiness, and Almighty in power. From the

holy Prince of Uz, I not only received this, but many
other things of wonderful interest—which he seemed to
know by the voice of God—concerning the creation of
the world in six days, and the formation of man and
woman, whom he placed in a garden of beauty, with
dominion over all things. But I will not go further
into these divine and wonderful things, at this time,
O my mother, as I shall hereafter read to you, from
the sacred leaves, the narrative of the acts of creation,
as they were written by the Prince and Prophet
of Uz: to whom, before all men, has been revealed
the truth of the Most High, and the mysteries which
have been secret from eternity. Lo! the pages of
the book of his patience under God's trial show, that
no man on earth ever before had such illumination of
divine light! Such language as that of his which I
have written in the book, when he speaks of God,
could only have been suggested by the inspiration of
the Almighty. He talks of God as if he had sat at
His feet, and daily beheld His glorious majesty, or
heard His voice shake the heavens. Of him have I
learned the wisdom of the past; and there whispers in
my heart, O mother, a solemn voice, which bids me
hope that if I fear God, and walk uprightly, and seek
His face, and trust in Him, He will also draw nigh to
me, unveil His glory, and speak face to face with me,
as He hath done to His holy servant, the Prince of Uz!
It shall be the aspiration of my heart, to be received into
the divine favor as He has been, and made the recipient
of His will, and of His laws for men! Censure me not,
—charge me not with pride, O my mother! In the
spirit of meekness and lowliness do I cherish this hope.
The path to the ear of God, and to His favor, the Prince
of Uz hath taught me, is prayer. On bended knees,
therefore, seven times a day, do I bow in supplication
before the Holy One Almighty, the Lord God of Hosts;
and more and more do I feel my spirit go forth to
Him; and daily, the infinite distance between earth and
His throne seems to lessen! Nor will I cease to pray
to Him, O mother, until I hear His voice in my soul,
and feel the intimate presence of His Being in union
with my own! Then will I reach the height of humanity,
which is the reunion of the creature with the Creator,
the restoration in his soul of the divine image, and the
reception into his own of a divine and immortal life!

My friend, King Sesostris, reluctantly consents to my
departure. He has never ceased his affectionate regard
for me, and he has called his beautiful son, now four years
old, Remeses—after me. This child, I love as if he were
mine own. He is intelligent and full of affection, and
already understands that I am about to go away, and
sweetly urges me not to leave him. The Queen Thamonda
has prepared many gifts for you and my sister,
whom she loves, though not having seen. Here, dear
mother, the bondage and degradation of the Hebrew is
not comprehended. We are not, in their eyes, crown-serfs.
We are but a Syrian nation held in captivity;
and other nations regard us with sympathy, and have
no share in the contempt and scorn with which we are
regarded by our Egyptian taskmasters.

Israelisis the Hebrew, whom Sesostris brought with
him five years ago to Tyre, is now a fine young man,
and assistant secretary to his royal scribe. All that our
people want, my mother, is to be placed in positions

favorable to the development of their intellect, and
they will rise, side by side, with any other people on
earth. If we were a nation, with a country of our own,
we would give laws to the world.

Farewell, my dear mother. In a few days you will
embrace me.