The Works of Philo (complete)

And are not all the other things, relating to the body, dreams ? Is not beauty an ephemeral thing, wasting away almost before it comes to its prime ? And is not health an unsure thing by reason of the weaknesses which lie in wait to upset it ? Again, is not strength a thing easily destroyed by diseases arising from innumerable causes ? and is not the accuracy of all our outward senses easily overturned by the entrance of any vicious humour ? As to external things, who is there who is ignorant of the uncertainty of them ? In one day vast riches have often come absolutely to nothing ? Numbers of persons who'have been of the highest consideration, and who have enjoyed the highest honours that the earth affords, have come into disrepute from causes which they neglected or despised. The most mighty powers and authority of kings have been overthrown, aiid have disappeared in a very brief moment of time. There is an example to testify to the truth of my argument in Dionysius, who lived at Corinth, who had been tyrant of Sicily, and who, after he was expelled from his dominions, took refuge in Corinth ; and though he had been so mighty a sovereign, became a schoolmaster.

There is another witness to the same point in Croesus, the king of Lydia, the wealthiest of all monarchs, who, having conceived the hope of destroying the kingdom of the Persians, not only lost all his men, but was taken prisoner, and was at the point of being burnt alive. And there are witnesses of dreams not only among men, but also among cities, and nations, and countries ; Greece is such, and the region of the barbarians, and inhabitants of continents, and islanders, and Europe and Asia, and the west, and the east ; for absolutely nothing whatever has ever remained in its original condition ; but everything has in every particular been subject to change. Egypt had once the supreme authority over many nations, but now it is a slave. The Macedonians at one time were so nourishing and powerful that they had obtained the supreme dominion over the whole world ; but now they pay yearly tribute, which is levied on them by their masters, to the collectors of the revenue. Where is the house of the Ptolemies, and the glory of all the individual successors of Alexander which at one time shone over all the bounds both of earth and sea ? Where is the liberty of so many independent nations and cities ?

On the other hand, where is the slavery of those which were subject to them ? Did not the Persians at one time reiom over the Parthians ? and do not the Parthians now, through. the changes of human affairs, and through the extraordinary and total alterations which are continually taking place, rule over the Persians ? Some persons flatter themselves with ideas of long and interminable prosperity ; but they find that their good fortune is only the beginning of great calamities ; and hastening forward as if to an inheritance of good things, they find instead, terrible reverses; and on the contrary it has often happened, that when they have expected evil fortune they have met with good. Athletes, who have prided themselves on their personal good condition, and power, and vigour of body, and who have hoped to obtain an indisputable victory, have often been either refused permission to contend for the prize at all, not having been approved of, or else, after they have descended into the arena, they have been defeated ; while others who have despaired of arriving even at the second honours, have been crowned with the garland of victory, and have carried off the first prize.

Again, some persons setting sail in the summer (for that is the season for fair voyages) have been shipwrecked ; while others, who have expected to be overwhelmed by reason of being forced to put to sea, have reached their harbour uninjured, without having even incurred any danger. As some merchants hasten forward as if to confessed gain, being ignorant of the losses which are awaiting them ; while others who have anticipated losses, have in effect met with great profits — so very uncertain is fortune on either side, whether for good or evil ; and human affairs are as it were, weighed in a scale, being lightened or depressed according as the weights in each scale are unequal. And a terrible indistinctness and dense darkness is spread over human affairs. And we wander about as if in a deep sleep, without being able to arrive at anything with perfect accuracy of reasoning, or to seize hold of anything with a firm and retentive grasp ; for all things are like shadows and phantoms.

And as in processions, what comes first passes by quickly and escapes the sight ; and as in torrents, the stream which is hurried by outruns, by its swiftness and rapidity, the comprehension of man, so likewise do the affairs of life, being rapidly borne onwards, and passing by swiftly, appear indeed, to be stationary, but in fact, do not stand, still a moment, but are continually being dragged onwards. And men awake too, who, as far as the uncertain character of their comprehensions goes, are in no respect different from people asleep, deceiving themselves, think themselves competent to contemplate the nature of things with reasoning powers which cannot err ; in whose case every one of their external senses is a hindrance to knowledge, being hurried by spectacles, and by peculiarities of flavours or odours, to which they incline, and by which they are perverted, and in consequence of which they prevent any part of the soul from being in a sound state, and from advancing without stumbling as if along a level road. And humble pride, and great littleness, and all other similar states which are made up of inequality and anomaly, compel men to walk in a sort of giddiness, and create great dizziness and perplexity.

Since, then, life is full of all this irregularity, and confusion, and indistinctness, it is necessary that the statesman as well as the philosopher should approach the science of the interpretation of dreams, so as to understand the dreams and visions which appear by day to people who believe themselves to be awake, being guided by probable conjectures and rational probabilities, and in this way he must explain each separate one, and show that such and such a thing is honourable, another disgraceful, that this is good or that is bad ; that this thing is just, that thing is on the contrary unjust; and so on in the same way with respect to prudence, and courage, and piety, and holiness, and expediency, and usefulness ; and in like manner of the opposite things, with respect to what was not useful nor reasonable, what was ignoble, impious, unholy, inexpedient, pernicious, and selfish. Moreover, he warns you in this way : is this something belonging to another ? do not covet it. Is it your own ? use it as not using it. Have you great abundance ? share it with others ; for the beauty of riches is not in the purse, but in the power it gives one to succour those who are in need.

Have you but little ? do not envy those who have much ; no one will pity a poor man who is always envious. Are you in high reputation, and are you held in much honour ? be not insolent on that account. Are you lowly in your fortunes ? still let not your spirit be depressed. Does everything succeed with you according to your wish ? fear a change. Do you often stumble ? hope for good fortune hereafter ; for the changes of human affairs are apt to be in a direction opposite to the course they have formerly taken. The moon and the sun, indeed, and the whole of the heaven has clearness bright and distinct, inasmuch as all things are alike which exist permanently in the heaven ; and as they are all measured by the rules of truth itself, in harmonious order and in the most admirable agreement. But ON JOSEPH. 4«3 as for earthly things, which, are full of great disorder aud contusion, they are inharmonious and discordant, to speak with perfect correctness, so that dense darkness has overtaken some of them, while others resemble the most brilliant light, or rather they are themselves the clearest and purest ollight.

If, therefore, any one should wish to look closely into the nature of things, he will find that heaven is everlasting day, free from all participation in night or in any kind of shade, inasmuch as it is surrounded uninterruptedly by a brilliant display of inextinguishable and unadulterated light. And in the same proportion as am'ong us those who are awake are superior to those who are asleep, so also in the universal world the things of heaven are superior to the things of earth ; since the one enjoys an everlasting wakefulness which knows no sleep, on account of its energies which never stray, and never stumble, and which proceed rightly and successfully in every thing ; while the others are oppressed by sleep, and if they wake up for a short time they are again pulled down and buried in slumber ; because they are unablo to look steadfastly and correctly at any thing with their souls, but are always straying and stumbling. For they are overshadowed by false opinions, by which they are compelled to submit to dreams, and are always behind the real truth, and are unable to comprehend any thing with a firm and tenacious grasp.

Moreover, Joseph is figuratively said to have been mounted upon the second best chariot which the king had, for the following reason. The statesman stands in the second rank next to the king ; for he is not a private individual nor a king, but some one on the confines between the two. Being indeed superior to a private individual, and inferior in respect of authority to an absolute and independent king, having the people for his king, on behalf of whom he has determined to do every thing with a pure and perfectly guileless good faith ; and he is borne as it were on high in a well-built chariot, being lifted on high both by the things committed to his charge and by the people, and especially so when he, contains in his mind every thing, whether small or great, without any one ever opposing or resisting him, but all being cheerfully governed by him 4K4 PHILO JUDiEUS. under God to their own safety like sailors enjoying a fair voyage. And the ring which the king gives him is the most manifest proof of confidence which the people, his king, places in the statesman, and also of that trust with which the statesman relies on the people which is as powerful as a king.

And the golden circlet round his neck appears to indicate figuratively both high reputation and punishment at the same moment. For as long as all the affairs which concern the administration of the state proceed prosperously as far as he is concerned, he is proud, and is looked upon with veneration, and is honoured by the multitudes. But the moment that any unforeseen mishap occurs to him, not indeed intended, for such error deserves reproach, but arising from pure chance, which always deserves pardon, he is not the less dragged downwards by the ornament around his neck, and is humbled, his master all but saying to him in plain words, "J, indeed, gave you this circlet to be around thy neck, to be both an ornament while my affairs were going on well, and a halter when they were proceeding unfavourably." XX. Moreover, I have also heard people discussing this passage with great apparent accuracy in a more figurative manner and according to quite a different interpretation. And their notion of it is this. They say that the king of Egypt means our mind : the governor of the region of the body in every individual in us, and who like a king claims the supreme power.

And by him when he has become devoted to the service of the body three objects are especially laboured at as being accounted worthy of exceeding care, namely, meat, and sweetmeats, and drinkables. With reference to which fact he also employs three persons to superintend the objects aforesaid, his chief baker, and his chief butler, and his chief cook. The one of whom presides over those things which relate to eating, the second over those things which belong to drinking, and the last to those sweetenings and sauces which belong to the confections. And they are all eunuchs ; because the man who is devoted to pleasure is barren and unproductive of every thing which is most necessary, such as modesty, temperance, continence, justice, and every kind of virtue. For there is no one thing so hostile to another as pleasure is to virtue, for the sake of which most people neglect all those matters which alone it is worth while to attend to, gratifying their unrestrained appetites, and submitting to all the commands which they impose upon them.

Therefore, the chief cook is not committed to prison at all, nor does he fall into any misfortune, because his sauces and sweetenings are not among the things which are very necessary, not being pleasures but only provocations to pleasure, such as are easily extinguished. But of the two who are occupied in the employment of the miserable belly, the chief baker and the chief butler, since eating and drinking are of all the things which are useful to life those which have the greatest power to keep the being together, and those who have the management of those things, if thev bestow great care upon them, do very justly obtain praise*; while, if they neglect them, they are thought worthy of anger or punishment. But there is a difference in their punishments, because the need of the two things is different ; that of food being the most indispensable, but that of wine not being very useful ; for men can live without any wine, using only the pure drink of spring water. On which account there is a reconciliation made with, and pardon bestowed upon, the chief butler, as upon one who has erred in the least important particular.

But the offences of the chief baker admit of no reconciliation and of no forgiveness, but incur an anger which leads to death, as he has been guilty of wrong in the most necessary matters ; for want of food is followed by death. On which account he who has erred on these points very appropriately is put to death by hanging, suffering an evil similar to that which he has inflicted ; for he also has hanged, and suffocated, and stretched out the famishing man by means of hunger.

This is enough to say on this subject. Accordingly Joseph, being appointed the king's lieutenant, and having undertaken the government and superintendence of the whole of Egypt, went forth in order to become acquainted with all the natives, and investigated all the laws that were established in the different cities, and caused a great affection for himself to arise in the breasts of those who saw him, not only because of the services which he conferred upon every one of them, but also by the unspeakable and unrivalled graces of his appearance and by the courtesy with which he associated with them. But when, in accordance with the interpretation of the dreams, the first seven years of fertility arrived, he collected one-fifth of the produce every year by means of his subordinate officers and others who were employed under him in the public offices, and by this means he collected such a vast quantity of sheaves of corn as no one recollected as having ever existed at any previous time. And the most evident proof of this is that they could not possibly be counted, even although thousands and thousands of persons were occupied in the task, whose sole business it was to devote all their energies to count them.

And when these seven years had passed, during which the plain of Egypt was fertile, the famine began, which, as it proceeded and increased, was not confined to Egypt ; for as it became diffused, and from time to time extended, so as to be always comprehending fresh cities and countries in succession, it reached to the farthest borders of the land, both in the eastern and western direction, so as to reach at last over the whole world all around. Accordingly, it is said I hat no general pestilence ever extended so widely, not even that which the sons of the physicians call "the creeping pestilence ;" for that also attacks all parts at once, and proceeding onwards rapidly like fire, utterly and completely devours the whole mass of the ulcerated body. Accordingly, they selected the men of the highest reputation in every district, and sent them into Egypt to procure corn ; for already the prudence of the young man was celebrated in all quarters, who had thus provided abundant food against a time of necessity.

And he at first commanded all the treasure-houses to be opened, calculating that he should make the people more cheerful when they had beheld the store that was provided, and that in some degree he should be feeding their souls rather than their bodies on good hopes. After that, by means of those to whom the office of regulating the distribution of corn was committed, he sold it to all who wished to buy, keeping a constant eye on the future, and seeing what was impending even more clearly than the present.

And at this crisis, his father also,* since his necessary food had by this time become scarce, not being aware of the good fortune of his son, sent ten of his sons to buy food, keeping the youngest at home, who was the uterine and own brother of the king's lieutenant. And they, when they had arrived in Egypt, met their brother as if he were a stranger, and being amazed at the dignity frith which they beheld him surrounded, they addressed him with prostration according to the ancient fashion, their dreams now receiving confirmation and fulfilment. And he, when he beheld those who had sold him, immediately recognised them all, though he was not in the least recognised by any one of them himself, since God was not yet willing to reveal the truth on account of some necessary causes which at that time it was better should be buried in silence ; and therefore he eitheT altered the countenance of their brother who governed the country, so as to give him a more dignified appearance, or else he perverted the accurate judgment of the mind of those who beheld him.

But he acted not like a young man who, being the lieutenant and magistrate invested with such extensive powers, and having attained to the authority next to that of the king himself, to whom the east and west looked up, and elated with the pride of manhood and the vastness of his authority, might, now that the opportunity of revenge had presented itself, have shown his remembrance of the ill-treatment which he had received ; but he bore what happened with self-restraint, and governed his own soul, and with great prudence feigned a perfect ignorance of and strangeness to them, and both by his looks, and by his voice, and by all the rest of his behaviour he pretended to be displeased at them. He said to them, " My men, you say nothing peaceful ; but some one of the king's enemies has sent you forth as spies, and you, performing a base service for him, have expected to escape detection. But nothing that is done treacherously does escape detection, even if it be enveloped in profound darkness."

And when they endeavoured to make excuses for themselves, they argued that he was accusing them of what had never taken place, for that they had not come from a hostile people, and that they Avere not themselves imbued with any unfriendly feelings towards the people of the country, and that they could never have been induced to undertake such an office as that of spies, for that they were by nature men of peace, and that they had learnt, almost from their childhood, from a most holy, and pious, and religious father, to honour stability and tranquillity ; and that their father was a man who had had twelve sons, the youngest of whom, as he was not yet of an age to bear a long journey, was remaining at home, while we, whom you see here are ten more, and the remaining one is not.

When he heard this, and heard those who had sold him all speak of him as dead, what think you did Joseph feel in his soul ? for even if he did not utter the feelings which then encompassed him, still they unquestionably were burning within his breast, and exciting, and kindling strange emotions within him ; nevertheless, with deep wisdom and humanity does he address them, saying, " If, in good truth, you have not come hither to spy the land, then, in order to prove your good faith to me, remain here some short period, and write a letter and send for your youngest brother, and let him come to you ; or if, for your father's sake, you are anxious to depart, lest he perchance may be alarmed at your protracted absence, in that case depart all the rest of you, but let one of you remain behind as a hostage, until you return again with your youngest brother ; and if you do not obey, then the most terrible death shall be your punishment." He then threatened them in this manner, looking sternly at them, and giving every sign of violent anger, as far as appearances could go, and so he left them.

But they, being full of consciousness and depression, afflicted themselves for their former treachery towards their brother, saying, '• That wickedness which we committed is the cause of all our present evils, since justice, which takes the regulation of all human affairs, is now contriving some punishment for us ; for having been quiet for a short time it is now awakened, displaying its nature, which is at all times relentless and implacable towards those wrho are deserving of punishment and how can we deny that we are deserving of it ?

We in a merciless manner disregarded our brother when he besought us and supplicated us, though he had done no wrong, but had only, in the fulness of his natural affection, related to us, as to his nearest relations, the visions which had appeared to him in sleep ; for which cause we, the most brutal and savage of men, became enraged, and committed (for we must not now deny the truth) most impious actions ; therefore let us now expect to suffer these things ahd even worse, we who, though we are almost the only men in the whole world who are called noble by birth, by reason of the exceeding virtues of our fathers, and grandfathers, and ancestors, have nevertheless disgraced our kindred, hastening to cover ourselves with notorious infamy." But the eldest of the brethren, who also at the very beginning had opposed them when they were originally concocting their treachery, said to them, "

Repentance is useless after the thing has been done ; I exhorted you, I entreated you, pointing out to you how enormous the impiety you were meditating was, I begged you not to indulge your passion ; but though you ought to have assented to me, you yielded to your own inconsiderate folly ; therefore, we now are reaping the fruit of your self-will and impiety, and now the treachery which we exercised towards him is required at our hands ; and he who requires it is not man, but either God, or reason, or the law of God."

The brother whom they had sold heard them conversing in this manner without saying anything himself, as he had hitherto spoken to them by an interpreter. And being overcome by his feelings, he was unable to restrain his tears, and turned away that he might not be seen by them, and pouring forth hot and incessant tears, and so, having relieved himself for a short time, he wiped his eyes and returned to them, and commanded the second in age of the brothers to be bound in the sight of them all, since he, as it were, corresponded to himself, who was the youngest but one ; for in a large number the second corresponds to the last but one, as the first does to the last.

Perhaps too, he bound him because the greatest share of the guilt belonged to him, as he was almost the original author of the plot against him, and as it was he who excited the others to the enmity which they displayed against him ; for if he had arrayed himself on the side of the eldest when he gave his merciful and humane counsel, being younger than he, but older than all the rest, perhaps, and indeed most probably, the iniquity would have been checked, in consequence of those who had the highest rank and honour agreeing and co-operatiug together in the matter, which fact would have carried great weight with it ; but now, he, departing from the merciful and more excellent side of the question, went over to the unmerciful and cruel one, and putting himself forward as the leader of it, he in this way encouraged those who were inclined to join him in his audacious action, so that they unshrinkingly carried out their nefarious purpose. This is the reason why he appears to me to have been selected from the whole body for the purpose of being bound.

But the others now prepared for their return home, since the governor of the country had given charge to the officers to whom the sale of the wheat was entrusted to fill all the bags of his brothers, as though they had been strangers, and privily to replace in the mouths of their sacks the money which they had brought, without mentioning to any one that they had so restored it ; and in the third place, to give them also abundant food which might be sufficient, and more than sufficient for them, on the way, in order that the corn which they had bought might be conveyed undiminished to their father.

But while they were on their way, and expressing, as was natural, their compassion for their brother who was in prison, and being equally grieved also for their father's sake at this second calamity which he was to hear of, his flourishing family of children being thus diminished and curtailed at every journey, and saying that he would never believe that he was kept in prison, because those who had been once stricken with misfortune are always dreading a repetition of the same calamity, evening overtook them, and having relieved their beasts of their burdens, they lightened them, but received themselves heavier anxiety than ever in their minds ; for in times of rest to the body, the mind receives the impression made by unexpected events more readily, so as to be very severely weighed down and oppressed by them.

For one of them, having opened one of the sacks, saw in the mouth of it his purse full of money ; and when he had counted it, he found the whole price Avhich he had paid down for the corn restored to him ; and being amazed, he brought it to his brothers ; and they, not imagining that it was meant as a favour to them, but rather, suspecting that it was a plot against them, were in great despondency and wishing to examine all their sacks, set off again for fear of being pursued, and made all imaginable speed, almost, as one may say, running without stopping to take breath, and so they completed a journey which should have taken many days, in a short time. Then, one after another embracing their father, with copious tears, they all clung to him, and kissed him ; and while he returned their embraces, although his soul speedily began to forebode some new calamity, for while they were thus approaching and saluting him he perceived the absence of the son who was left behind, and in his own mind blamed him for his slowness in being behind the others ; for he was looking at them as they came in, being anxious to behold the number of his children complete.

But when no one from without came in besides, they, seeing that he was in a state of agitated suspense, said, " 0 my father ! doubt is worse than even the certain knowledge of unexpected calamities ; for when one is certainly apprised of such, one may discover a road to safety : but ignorance and doubt are the cause of error and perplexity ; listen then, to the sad story which we have to tell, but which still must be told. " The brother whom you sent along with us to buy corn, and who has not returned with us, is alive ; for we must release you from the more terrible apprehension that he may be dead ; but he is alive, and is remaining in Egypt with the governor of the country, who, whether it be from any false accusation which has been laid against us, or from any suspicion which he has himself conceived, charged us with being spies.

And when we said all that the time would allow us to say in our defence, and mentioned you as being our father, and the brothers who were not of our company, one of them being dead, and the other remaining with you, who we said tarried behind at home on account of his age, inasmuch as he was still a child, making known and revealing to him all the circumstances of our family by reason of our absence of all suspicion, we availed nothing ; but he said, that the only proof that could be given him of our truth and honesty would be the coming of our youngest brother to see him ; for which reason he also detained the second of us, as a pledge and surety for his coming. Therefore his command is most grievous to us. But the occasion is also more imperious than even his command, which we must necessarily submit to from our want of necessaries, since Egypt is the only country which can supply us, who are thus oppressed by famine, with necessary food."

But he, groaning most bitterly, said, " Whom shall I lament first ? the youngest but one, who was not the last, but the first to encounter the series of disasters which has befallen our family ? or the second, on whom the second evil has fallen, namely, captivity, which is only inferior in misery to death ? or the youngest, who is now to undertake that most detestable journey, since go he must, without being warned by the calamities which have befallen his brethren ? and I, torn to pieces as to all my limbs and all my parts (for children are the limbs of their parents), am in danger of becoming utterly childless who was so short a time ago accounted happy in the number and excellence of my children.' ' But the eldest replied, "

I give you my two sons as hostages, the only children that 1 have, slay them if I bring not back again to you, safe and sound, the brother whom you entrust to my hand, and who, by his visit to Egypt, will effect two things of the greatest importance for us ; first, he will give a most evident proof that we are not spies and enemies ; and, secondly, he will enable us to recover our brother, whom we have left in captivity."

But as his father was much grieved and said that he did not know what to do, because whde he had but two sons of one mother, one of them was now dead, and the other was left desolate and almost alone, so that he dreaded the journey, and though alive would die from fear before he could accomplish it, from a recollection of those fearful events which his elder brother had encountered ; while he was speaking thus, the brethren put forward as their spokesman him who was the boldest among them, and by his nature inclined to take the lead, and who was eloquent in speech, and he said what seemed good to them all ; for they agreed, as their necessary food was falling short, for the corn which they had previously bought was now exhausted, and as the famine was again pressing upon and overwhelming them, to go for more in one united body, but not to go at all if the youngest still remained behind ; because the governor of the country had forbidden them to appear before him without him.

And their father, calculating like a wise man that it was better to expose one son to the uncertain and doubtful danger of the future, tban to encounter the certain loss of so large a family, which the whole house must endure if they continued to be overwhelmed by the present scarcity, that most incurable of diseases, says to them, " But if the necessity which presses upon us is more powerful than my wishes, we must yield : for perhaps, perhaps I say, nature may be devising something better which she does not choose as yet to reveal to our minds. Depart, therefore, taking with you your youngest brother as you have determined ; but do not go in the same manner as ye went in before. For formerly you had only need of money to buy corn, since no one knew you, and since you had not at that time suffered any intolerable calamity. But now you require presents also ; for three reasons. First of all, to propitiate the governor and dispenser of corn, to whom you say that you. are known. Secondly, in order that so you may the more speedily recover him who is held in captivity, by thus paying down a large ransom for him.

And thirdly, for the sake of as far as possible removing any idea of your being spies. Therefore, taking presents of all that our land supplies, offer them to the man as a kind of first fruits, and take double money, both that which you paid before, for perhaps it was restored to you through the oversight of some one, and also another sum sufficient to buy corn ; and take with you also my prayer, which we offer to God our Saviour, that you who are strangers may go acceptably to the natives of the country, and that you may return in safety, giving back to your father those necessary pledges, his children, and bringing back the brother whom you have left in bondage, and also the youngest, as yet unacquainted with trouble, whom you are now taking with you." And so they took their departure and hastened towards Egypt.

Then a few days afterwards they arrived in Egypt, and when the governor of the country saw them he was greatly pleased, and ordered the steward of his house to prepare a sumptuous dinner, and to bring the men in that they might partake of his salt and of his table. And when they were brought in to dinner they were in a state of great suspense, as not knowiug what would be done with them, and were in confusion, suspecting that they might perhaps have a false accusation of theft brought against them on the ground of their having taken away the price of the corn that they had bought and which they had found in their sacks, as if they had done so wilfully. So then they came up to the steward of the house, and made a defence on a subject on which no one ventured to accuse them, purging their consciences, and, at the same time, displaying the money which they had brought back and offering to return it. But he cheered them with favourable and humane language, saying, " There is no one so impious as to found a false accusation on the graces of Grod, who is all-merciful.

He it is who has rained treasures into your sacks, giving you not only food but also riches out of his abundant store." So they being comforted, then arranged in order the presents which they had brought from home to display them to the governor. And when the master of the house came in they offered them to him. And when he had inquired of them how they were, and whether their father, of whom they had previously spoken, was still alive, they answered nothing concerning themselves, but concerning their father they replied that he was alive and well. And when he had prayed for him, and addressed them in the most favourable and God-fearing manner, looking upon his brother by the same mother, when he saw him he could not restrain his tears, but being now overcome by his feelings, he turned himself about before he made himself known to them, and going out on a pretext as if some urgent cause compelled him (tor it was not a favourable opportunity for him to tell them the truth), he wept in a secret chamber of his house and poured forth abundance of tears.

Then when he had washed his hands he restrained his sorrow by the power of reason, and coming back again he feasted the strangers, returning to them the brother who had come with them before, and who had been kept as a hostage for the appearance of the youngest. And with them there also feasted others of the nobles of the Egyptians. And the manner of their entertainment was to each party in accordance with their national customs, since Joseph thought it wrong to overturn ancient laws, and especially at a banquet where the pleasures should be more numerous than the annoyances. And as he commanded them all to sit down in. order according to their age, as the men had not yet learnt the fashion of lying down on occasions of banqueting, they marvelled to see whether the Egyptians would adopt the same habits as the Hebrews, having a regard to regular order, and knowing how to distinguish between the honours due to the eldest and the youngest.

Perhaps, too, they thought this man who manages all the common business of the house, because the country has hitherto been less refined in matters relating to eating, has now not only introduced regularity and good order into great matters, by which the affairs of peace and war are accustomed to be brought to a successful issue, but also into those things which are usually accounted of less importance, most of which, indeed, refer mainly to amusement. For the object of banquets is cheerfulness, and they do not at all allow the guests to be too solemn and austere-looking. While they were praising the arrangements of the feast in this quiet way, tables are brought indeed, of no great costliness or luxury, as, by reason of the famine, their host did not think it proper to revel too much amid the distresses of others ; and they, like men of sense and understanding, praised this part of his conduct also,because he had thus avoided an unseemly magnificence, which is a thing calculated to provoke envy, saying that he was maintaining the character at the same time of one who sympathised with the needy, and also of a liberal entertainer, placing himself between the two, and avoiding all cause for blaming him in either particular.

Therefore his preparations for the entertainment escaped all ill-will being suited to the time, and what was wanting was made up by continual cheerfulness, and by pledging one another in wine, and by good wishes, and by exhortations to eat what there was, which to persons of gentleman-like and accomplished minds was more pleasant than all the sumptuous dishes and liquors which men fond of eating and of epicurism provide for eating and drinking, which are in reality deserving of no serious care, but by which they do in truth display their little-mindedness with great pomp.

And on the next day he sent, the first thing in the morning, for the steward of his household, and commanded him to fill all the sacks of the men which they had brought with them with corn, and a second time to put back in the mouths of their sacks the price which they had brought with them, and to put in the sack of the youngest the most beautiful of his silver cups out of which he himself was accustomed to drink ; and he cheerfully did as he was commanded, taking care that no one was a witness of his actions. And they, not knowing any of the things which had been done thus secretly, departed, rejoicing in all the good fortune Avhich had befallen them beyond all their expectations ; for what they had expected was this, to have a false accusation laid against them, as if they had stolen the money which had been restored to them, and never to recover their brother whom they had left as a hostage, and perhaps also, besides that, to lose their youngest brother who would be seized upon by force by the man who had been so determined that he should be brought.

But what had happened to them was better than their most sanguine prayers, since, in addition to having no false accusations laid against them, they had also beezi admitted to the bread and salt of the governor, which among all men is a token of genuine friendship, and had also recovered their brother without his having received any injury, without having had recourse to the intercession and entreaty of any mediator, and were also taking back their youngest brother in safety to their father, having escaped all suspicion of being spies, and bearing with them an abundant quantity of food, and having good and well-founded hopes for the future, for they thought that even if necessary food was repeatedly to fail them, they should never again themselves be in exceeding want as before, but might return joyfully to the governor of the country as to a friend and not a stranger.

But while they were feeling disposed in this way, and revolving such thoughts in their souls, a sudden and unexpected confusion came upon them, for the steward of the household, being commanded to do so, ran after them as if to attack them, bringing with him a vast multitude of servants, waving his hands, and making signs to them to stop, and then coming up to them out of breath he said, "

You have now set the seal to all the accusations that have been brought against you ; you have returned evil for good, and turned back upon the same road of iniquity as before ; you have not only stolen and carried off the price of the corn, but you have committed even a greater offence than that, for wickedness which has obtained forgiveness gets more shameless ; you, you very grateful and very peaceful men, have stolen the most beautiful and most valuable drinking cup belonging to my master, the very cup in which he pledged you ; you who did not even know what was meant by the name of spy, and who brought back double money to restore that which you had previously paid and professed to have found in your sacks, — a trick, as it should seem, and a bait to enable you to catch and snare a more valuable prize ; but wickedness does not always prosper, but though always endeavouring to escape notice it is detected."

"Wlide he was running on in this way against them they stood motionless and speechless, those most grievous of ail evds, sorrow and fear, falling upon them thus suddenly, so that they were unable even to open their mouths, for the advent of unexpected evils makes even those who are eloquent actually speechless ; but at length they recovered themselves, and lest they should seem to be sdent, because they were self-convicted by their own consciences, they spoke and said, " How shall we reply and defend ourselves, and to whom ? for you who are our accuser are going to be our judge also ; you, who even if others had accused us ought to have been our advocate from the experience that you have already had of us. The money which on the former occasion we found replaced in our sacks, we brought back again in order to restore it, though no one had convicted us of having received it again, and do you suppose that after that we became so completely changed as to requite our entertainer with injury and theft ?

This was not so ; and never let it enter your mind that we have done any such thing ; but whichever of us brethren is found to have the cup let him die the death ; for if any such wicked deed has been done there are many reasons why we should suffer death in atonement of it; in the first place, because covetousness and a desire for the property of others is a most wicked thing ; secondly, because to attempt to injure those who have done one good is a most impious action ; thirdly, because for men who are proud of the nobility of their birth to dare to destroy the reputation of their ancestors by scandalous actions of their own is a most shameful disgrace ; and since if any one of us has stolen the cup of the governor he is liable to all these reproaches, let him die as one who has performed actions worthy of ten thousand deaths."

And while speaking thus they unloose the burdens from off their beasts and take them down, and encourage the steward with all diligence to search them, and to look for the cup, and he, not being unaware that it was lying in the sack of the youngest, inasmuch as he himself had secretly placed it there, behaved cunningly, and began with the eldest, and so went on in regular order, taking them according to their ages, and searching, while each willingly brought forward his sack and displayed its contents, till he came to the last, in whose possession the sought-for cup was found, so that they all when they saw it lifted up their voices, and lamented, and rent their clothes, groaning heavily, and shedding tears, and before his execution bewailing their brother while he was still alive, and bewailing also their father no less than him, because he had foretold the calamities which would happen to his son, on which account he was unwilling to permit their brother to travel with them when they wished him to do so. And being downcast and confused they returned back by the same road to the city, being quite overwhelmed at what had happened, and looking at what had taken place as a plot, and not suspecting their brother of covetousness.

Then when they were brought before the governor of the country they displayed their real affection and brotherly love with genuine feeling, for falling all together at his knees as if they were all liable to be punished for the theft, a wickedness too great to be mentioned, they all wept over him, and besought him, and gave themselves up to him, and offered to submit to voluntary slavery, and called him their master, speaking of themselves as foreign captives, as slaves, as bought with a price, and omitting no name whatever indicative of the most complete slavery ; but he, wishing to try them still more, addressed them in a most angry manner, and with the greatest possible severity, and said to them, "

May I never be guilty of such an action as to condemn such a number to captivity for the sin of one, for how can it be right to summon those persons to share in a punishment who have had no share in the commission of the offence ? Let him alone be punished, since he alone has committed the crime. I know therefore that by your laws you condemn the man who has been found guilty of theft to be put to death in front of the city ; but I, wishing to act in all respects in a gentle and most merciful manner, will mitigate the punishment, and adjudge him to slavery instead of to death."

And when they were grieved at his threat, and wholly overwhelmed at the false accusations brought against them, the fourth in age, and he was one of a daring character, combined with modesty, and full of true courage, inasmuch as he had studied freedom of speech without impudence, came forward and said, " I entreat you, O master ! not to give way to your passion ; nor, because you are placed in the rank next to the king, to be in a hurry to condemn us before you have heard our defence. When on our former journey hither, you inquired of us concerning our brother and our father, we answered you : Our father was an old man, aged, not more because of the power of time, than because of his uninterrupted misfortunes, by which he has been constantly exercised like a wrestler, and has passed his whole life amid labours and calamities hard to be borne. " And our brother is very young, a mere child, loved beyond all measure by his father, since he is the son of his old age, and because also he had but him and one other child by the same mother, and this one alone is left, since the elder died a violent death.

And when you commanded us to bring our brother hither, and threatened us that, if he did not come, you would not permit us to come into your sight, we departed in great depression of spirits ; and with difficulty, when we had arrived at home, did we declare the commands which we had received from you to our father. And he at first wholly refused, being greatly alarmed for the child ; but as necessary food was becoming scarce, and as not one of us dared to come hither to buy food without our youngest brother, by reason of your vehement commands ; he was at last, with difficulty, persuaded to send him with us, blaming us bitterly for having confessed that we had another brother, and pitying himself very much for being about to be separated from him ; for he is but a child and wholly ignorant of business, and not only of business in a foreign land, but even of such as is transacted in his own city. " How, then, shall we approach our father who is under the influence of such feelings ? And with what eyes shall we be able to behold him without this his youngest son ?

He will die most miserably if he only hears that his son has not returned ; and then all those who delight in hatred and in evil-speaking, and who rejoice in such misfortunes of their neighbours, will call us murderers and parricides, and the greater part of the accusation will fall upon me ; for I promised my father to give him up many things, confessing that T received my brother as a pledge, which I was to restore whenever he was re-claimed from me. And how shall I be able to restore him unless you are prevailed upon to show us mercy ? I entreat you, then, to have pity on the old man, and to give a thought to the evils by which he will be grieved, if he does not receive back again him whom he has unwisely entrusted to my hands. " Nevertheless, do you exact punishment for the injuries which you imagine to have been done to you ; and that punishment I will volunteer to submit to. Set me down as your slave from this day forth.

I will cheerfully undergo the fate of those who have been just bought, if you will only be willing to let the child go free ; and not only shall you, if you will give him his liberty, receive thanks from him and me, but also from him who is not present, but who will then be relieved from his anxiety, the father of these men here, and of all the family ; for we are all your suppliants, having fled for succour to your right hand, and may we never fail to obtain it. " Let, then, compassion for the age of the old man seize your heart, who during his whole life has constantly devoted himself to the labours of virtue. He has brought all the cities of Syria to receive him, and to submit to his authority, and to do him honour; even though he guides himself by foreign customs and laws very different from them, and although he is in all respects very unlike the natives of the land.

But the excellence of his life, and the consistency and uniformity of his actions with his words, and of his words with his actions, have prevailed, so that he has been able to win over those who, out of regard for their national customs, were not at first well-disposed towards him. You will do him such a favour that it will not be possible for him to receive a greater. For what can be a more valuable gift to give to a father, than to allow him to receive back a son of whose safety he has despaired?"

But all this conduct was but an experiment, just as the former circumstances had been too, because the governor of the country was desirous to see what kind of good-will they had towards him who was his brother by the same mother. For he had been afraid that they felt some kind of natural dislike towards him, as children of a stepmother often do to the family of a previous wife of their father, who may have been held in equal honours by him. It was with this view that he both reproached them as spies and inquired about their family, for the sake of knowing whether his brother was still alive, or whether he had been put out of the way by treachery. And he retained one while he allowed the rest to depart, after they had agreed to bring back their youngest brother with them, whom he desired to see above all things, and so to be relieved of his bitter and grievous sorrow on his account.

And when he arrived, and when he beheld his brother, he was then in a slight degree relieved from his anxiety, and he invited them to an entertainment, and while he was feasting them he regaled his own brother by the same mother with more costly viands and luxuries than the rest, looking carefully at every one ot them, and judging from their countenances whether there was any envy secretly cherished in their hearts.

And when he saw them all cheerful, and all eager, and earnest for the honour of the youngest, conjecturing now by two strong proofs that there was no hatred smouldering beneath, he devised a third mode of trial likewise, bringing a charge against their youngest brother, that he appeared to have committed a theft; for this was likely to be the clearest possible proof of the disposition of each of them and of the affection which they bore to their brother, who was thus falsely accused. ; From all which circumstances he now elearly saw that his mother's offspring was not looked upon with hostile feelings and was not plotted against, and he also received a very probable impression respecting the events which had befallen himself, and learnt to think that he had suffered what he had, not so much because of the treachery of his brethren, as through the direction of the providence of God who sees things afar off, and who beholds the future no less than the present.

After this he had recourse to a reconciliation and agreement with his brethren, being influenced by his own affectionate disposition, and from his desire to cause no shame to his brethren, and to give no cause of reproach against them because of their conduct towards him, he did not choose that any of the Egyptians should be present on the occasion of his first making himself known to them. But he ordered all the servants to leave the apartment, and suddenly pouring forth a stream of tears, and signing to them with his right hand to approach nearer to him, that no one else might be able by chance even to hear any thing that passed, he said unto them, "I, being about to reveal a matter which has long been kept in the shade, and which has appeared to be hidden by the long lapse of time, do now by myself disclose it to you by yourselves. I myself am that brother whom you sold to go into Egypt, I whom you now behold standing here." And when they were all amazed at seeing him beyond all their expectation, and were greatly agitated, and, as if under the influence of some violent attraction, cast their eyes down to the ground, and stood motionless, mute, and speechless, he said, "

Be not cast down ; I give you complete forgiveness for all the things which you have done to me. Do not think that you want any one else as a mediator. I, of my own absolute power and of my own voluntary inclination, come of my own accord to an agreement with you ; being guided by^two especial signs, first, by my piety towards my father, to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude, and also, secondly, by my] own natural humanity, which I feel towards all men, and especially towards those of my own blood. " And I think that it was not you, but God, who was the author of the events which happened to me, because he desired that I should be the servant and minister of his graces and gifts which he thought fit to bestow on the human race in the time of their greatest necessity. And in the very outset you may receive a proof of what I say in the things which you see.

I am the governor of all the land of Egypt, and the honours which I enjoy are next to those of the king himself, and the aged monarch honours me, though I am only a young man, as if I were his father ; and I am honoured and obeyed not only by the people of the country but also by numerous other natious, whether they are subject to Egypt or independent ; for they all have need of me, the governor of the land, by reason of their present scarcity. For silver and gold, and what is still more necessary than either of these 'things, namely, food, is all stored up in my treasurehouses alone, and it is I who distribute and dispense what they want for their unavoidable necessities to each individual, so that nothing is wanting either for food or for the satisfying of their natural wants. " And I have not detailed all this to you from a wish to exalt myself or to give myself airs, but that you may know that it is no one of you or any man whatsoever that has been the cause of my being first a slave and afterwards a prisoner. For on one occasion a false accusation was brought against me, and I was thrown into prison.

But he who changed that extremity of calamity and misfortune into the highest and most complete . good fortune was Grod, with whom all things are possible. " Since these then, are my opinions, do not fear any longer, but discard all your sorrow and anxiety, and change to a joyful cheerfulness ; and it will be well for you to hasten to your father, and to be the first to take him the good news of my being found, for reports are quick in penetrating everywhere."

So they one after another began to pour forth praises of him without ceasing, and panegyrized him with unmodified encomium, each relating some different circum stance to his credit, one extolling his forgiving spirit, another his affection towards his family, and another his accuteness ; and the whole company of them extolled his piety, and attributed to God the happy end to which everything had been brought, and being no longer melancholy or out of humour at the unexpected events which befell them, on their first arrival or at their original difficulties ; they also praised his excessive patience and fortitude, combined with modesty, when he, who had experienced such vicissitudes of fortune, neither when he was a.slave, allowed himself to say a single word to the injury of his brothers, as having sold him, nor, when he was led awav to Drison. did he in his despondency say a single word that he should not have said, nor, though he remained there a long time, as prisoners usually do, did he, as is so much the custom, compare his misfortunes with those of his fellow prisoners so as to reveal anything, but kept silence as if he had no knowledge of the cause of the events that had happened to him. ]Nor again, when he was interpreting the dreams either to the eunuch or to the king, which was a favourable occasion for relating his own story, did he ever say a word about his own nobility of birth, nor yet when he was appointed lieutenant of the king, and received the superintendence and government of the whole of Egypt, even with the view of not being thought an ignoble and obscure person, but one who was really descended of noble ancestors, not a slave by nature, but one who had been exposed to intolerable treachery, and calamities at the hands of persons from whom he was least entitled tv> expect it.

Moreover in addition to all this, great praise was bestowed on his affability and courtesy ; for being acquainted with the insolence and rudeness of, other governors, they marvelled at the absence of pretence and display which they saw in him, and they admired his kindness too, who, though the moment that he beheld them after their first journey he might have put them to death, or on the last occasion either, merely by refusing to supply them with food when oppressed with hunger, was not content with not punishing them, but even gave them necessary food gratuitously as though they had been persons worthy of favour, ordering the price they had paid to be restored to them : and all the circumstances of their treachery towards him, and of their selling him, were so wholly concealed from, and unknown to any one, that the magistrates of the Egyptians sympathised with him in his joy, as if this was the first occasion of the brothers of the governor having arrived ; moreover they invited them to hospitality, and made haste to relate their arrival to the king, and everything everywhere was full of joy, no less than would have been the case if the plain had suddenly become fertile, and the famine had changed into abundance.

But the king, when he heard that Joseph had a father and a numerous family, advised him to press his father to remove into Egypt with all his house, promising to give thern the most fertile district in Egypt on their arrival. Therefore Joseph gave his brothers chariots, and waggons, and a great multitude of beasts of burden, loaded with all necessary things, and a number of servants, that they might conduct his father into Egypt in safety.

But when they arrived at home, and told their father their story about their brother, which was so apparently incredible and beyond all his hopes, he did not much believe them ; for even though those who brought the account were trustworthy, still the greatness and extraordinary character of the circumstances which they reported, did not allow him to believe them easily : but when the old man saw the vast preparation, and the supplies of all necessary things, at such a time, in such abundance, corresponding to the good fortune of his son which they were reporting to him, he praised God that he had made complete that part of his house which seemed to be deficient ; but his joy immediately begat fear again in his soul, respecting his departure from his national laws and customs ; lor he knew that youth is by nature prone to fall, and that in foreign nations there is great indulgence given to error ; and especially in the country of gypt, a land in a state of utter blindness respecting the true God, in consequence of their making created and mortal things into gods.

Moreover, the addition of riches and glory is a snare to weak minds, and he also recollected that he had been left to himself, as no one had gone forth out of his father's house with him to keep him in the right way, but he had been left solitary and destitute of all good instructions, and might therefore be supposed to be ready to change and adopt their foreign customs. Therefore, when that Being who alone is able to behold the invisible soul, saw him in this frame of mind, he took pity on him and appearing unto him by night while he was lying asleep, said unto him : " Pear nothing about your departure into Egypt ; I myself will guide you on your way, and will give you a safe and pleasant journey; and I will restore to you your long lamented son, who was once many years ago believed by you to have died, but who is not only alive, but is even governor of all that mighty country."

So Jacob, being filled with good hopes, rose up in the morning with joy, and hastened on his way ; and when his son heard that he was near, for scouts and watchers who were placed along the road gave him notice of everything, he went with speed to meet his father when he was at no great distance from the borders of the land ; and they met one another near the city, which is called the city of heroes, and they fell into one another's arms placing their heads on each other's necks, and soaking their garments with tears, and satisfying themselves abundantly with long enduring embraces, and unwillingly at last loosing one another, they proceeded to the palace.

And when the king beheld them he was amazed at the dignity of Jacob's appearance, and he received and saluted him not as the father of his lieutenant but as his own, with all possible respect and honour ; and after showing him not only all the ordinary but also many extraordinary marks of respect, he gave him a most excellent district of land of the greatest fertility ; and hearing that his sons were skilful breeders of cattle, having great substance in flocks and herds, he appointed them overseers of all his own flocks and herds, and committed to their charge his goats, and his oxen, and his sheep, and all his innumerable animals of every kind.

And the young man, Joseph, displayed such excessive good faith and honesty in all his dealings, that though the time and the circumstances of the time gave him innumerable opportunities of making money, so that he might, in a short period, have become the richest man of that age or kingdom, he still so truly honoured genuine riches before illegitimate wealth, and the treasure which sees rather than that which is blind, that he stored up all the silver and gold which he collected as the price of the corn in the king's treasury, not appropriating a single drachm of it to his own use, but being satisfied with nothing beyond the gifts which the king bestowed on him voluntarily, in acknowledgment of his services.

And. in this manner he governed Egypt, and other countries also with it, and other nations, while oppressed with the famine, in a manner too admirable for any description to do it justice, distributing food to all in a proper manner, and looking, not only at the present advantage, but also at what would be of future benefit: therefore, when the seventh year of the scarcity arrived, he sent for the farmers (for there was now a prospect of fertility and abundance), and gave them barley and wheat for seed, taking care that no one should appropriate what he gave for other purposes, but should sow what he received in the fields, to which end he selected men of honesty and virtues as overseers and superintendents, who were to take care that the sowing was properly performed. And when a long time after the famine his father died, his brothers were filled with secret misgivings, and feared lest now he should remember the evil that they had done to him, and should retaliate upon them and afflict them, and so they came to him and besought him earnestly, bringing with them their wives and their children. And he wept and said, "

The occasion indeed is a natural one, to fill with secret apprehension those who have done intolerable things, and who are convicted more by their own consciences than by anything else ; for the death of our father has revived in you the ancient fear which you entertained before our re. conciliation, that I had merely bestowed pardon on you for the sake of not grieving our father ; but I do not change my disposition with the changes of time, nor, after I have agreed to a reconciliation and forgiveness, will I ever do anything inconsistent with such agreement ; for I have not been postponing revenge and watching for opportunities to wreak it, but I once for all gave you immunity from all punishment, being influenced partly by feelings of respect for my father, for I must speak the plain truth, and partly by natural necessary affection for you. " But if I did every thing that was merciful and humane for my father's sake while he was alive, I will also adhere to it now that he is dead. But in my real opinion no good man ever dies, but such will live for ever and ever, without growing old, in an immortal nature which is no longer bound up in the necessities of the body.

And why should I remember only that father who was created and born ? "We have also the uncreated, immortal, everlasting Grod for our father, who sees all things and hears all people, even when silent, and who always sees even those things which lie hidden in the recesses of the mind, and whom I look upon and invoke as a witness of my sincere reconciliation ; for ' I am (and do not you be astonished at my words), I am in the place of God,'* who has changed your evil designs Genesis 1. 19. against me 30 as to bring forth, from them an abundance of good things. Be ye therefore fearless, and know that for the future you shall enjoy still better fortune than hitherto you have while our father was still alive."

Having encouraged his brethren with these words he confirmed his promises still more by actions, leaving out nothing which could show his care for his brethren. And after the famine, when the inhabitants were now full of joy at the fertility and prosperity of the country he was honoured by all men, who thus recompensed him for the benefits which they had received from him in the season of their despair. And the report of him became noised abroad, and filled all the cities with bis glory and reputation. And he lived a hundred and ten years, and then died at a good old age, having enjoyed the greatest perfection of beauty, and wisdom, and eloquence of speech. The beauty of his person is testified to by the violent love with which he inflamed the wife of the eunuch ; his wisdom by the evenness of his conduct in the indescribable variety of circumstances that attended the whole of his life, by which he wrought regularity among things that were irregular, and harmony among things that were discordant.

His eloquence of speech is displayed in his interpretation of the dreams, in his affability in ordinary conversation, and by the persuasion which followed his words ; in consequence of which his subjects all obeyed him cheerfully and voluntarily, rather than from any compulsion. Of these hundred and ten years he spent seventeen, till the expiration of his boyhood, in his father's house ; and thirteen he passed amid unforeseen events, being plotted against, and sold, and becoming a slave, and having false accusations brought against him, and being thrown into prison ; and the remaining eighty years he spent in authority and in all manner of prosperity, being the most excellent manager and admiuistrator both of scarcity and plenty, and the most competent of all men to manage affairs under either complexion of circumstances. Longfellow's Poetical Works, complete, including The Wayside Inn. Twenty-four page Engravings, by Birket Foster and others, and a new Portrait. ; or, without the illustrations, 3s. 6d. — ; Prose "Works, complete. Sixteen page Engravings by Birket Foster and others. Loudon's (Mrs.) Entertaining Naturalist. New Edition. Revised by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S. With nearly 500 Engravings. Is. Marryat's Masterman Ready; or, The Wreck of the Pacific. 93 Engravings. • Mission ; or, Scene3 in Africa. (Written for Young People.) Illustrated by Gilbert and Dalziel.

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I HAVE conceived the idea of writing the hfe of Moses, who, according to the account of some persons, was the lawgiver of the Jews, but according to others only an interpreter of the sacred laws, the greatest and most perfect man that ever lived, having a desire to make his character fully known to those who ought not to remain in ignorance respecting him, for the glory of the laws which he left behind him has reached over the whole world, and has penetrated to the very furthest limits of the universe ; and those who do really and truly understand him are not many, perhaps partly out of envy, or else from the disposition so common to many persons of resisting the commands which are delivered by lawgivers in different states, since the historians who have flourished among the Greeks have not chosen to think him worthy of mention, the greater part of whom have both in their poems and also in their prose writings, disparaged or defaced the powers which they have received through education, composing comedies and works full of Sybaritish profligacy and licentiousness to their everlasting shame, while they ought rather to have employed their natural endowments and abilities in preserving a record of virtuous men and praiseworthy lives, so that honourable actions, whether ancient or modern, might not be buried in silence, and thus have all recollection of them lost, while they might shine gloriously if duly celebrated ; and that they might not themselves have seemed to pass by more appropriate subjects, and to prefer such as were unworthy of being mentioned at all, while they were eager to give a specious appearance to infamous actions, so as to secure notoriety for disgraceful deeds.

I ta But I disregard the envious disposition of these men, and shall proceed to narrate the events which befell him, having learnt them both from those sacred scriptures which he has left as marvellous mevnorials of his wisdom, and having also heard many things from the elders of my nation, for I have continually connected together what I have heard with what I have read, and in this way I look upon it that I am acquainted with the history of his life more accurately than other people.

And I will begin first with that with which it is necessary to begin. Moses was by birth a Hebrew, but he was born, and brought up, and educated in Egypt, his ancestors having migrated into [ f Egypt with all their families on account of the long famine which oppressed Babylon and all the adjacent countries ; for they were in search of food, and Egypt was a champaign country blessed with a rich soil, and very productive of every thing which the nature of man requires, and especially of corn and wheat, for the river of that country at the height of summer, when they say that all other rivers which are derived from winter torrents and from springs in the ground are smaller, rises and increases, and overflows so as to irrigate all the lands, and make them one vast lake. And so the land, without having any need of rain, supplies every year an unlimited abundance of every kind of good food, unless sometimes the anger of God interrupts this abundance by reason -/of the excessive impiety of the inhabitants. And his father and mother were among the most excellent persons of their time, and though they were of the same time, still they were induced to unite themselves together more | "'" from an unanimity of feeling than because they were related in blood ; and Moses is the seventh generation in succession 9 poi from the original settler in the country who was the founder | ^>s of the whole race of the Jews.

And he was thought worthy of being bred up in the royal palace, the cause of which circumstance was as follows. The king of the country, inasmuch as the nation of the Hebrews kept continually increasing in numbers, fearing lest gradually the settlers should become more numerous than the original inhabitants, and being more powerful should set upon them and subdue them by force, and make themselves their masters, conceived the idea of destroying their strength by iiilit. iitt impious devices, and ordered that of all the children that were bom the females only should be brought up (since a woman, by reason of the weakness of her nature, is disinclined to and unfitted for war), and that all the male children should be destroyed, that the population of their cities might not be increased, since a power which consists of a number of men is a fortress difficult to take and difficult to destroy.* Accordingly as the child Moses, as soon as he was bom, displayed a more beautiful and noble form than usual, his parents resolved, as far as was in their power, to disregard the proclamations of the tyrant.

Accordingly they say that for three months continuously they kept him at home, feeding him on milk, without its coming to the knowledge of the multitude ; but when, as is commonly the case in monarchies, some persons discovered what was kept secret and in darkness, of those persons who are always eager to bring any new report to the king, his parents being afraid lest while seeking to secui"e the safety of one individual, they who were many might become involved in his destruction, with many tears exposed their child on the banks of the river, and departed groaning and lamenting, pitying themselves for the necessity which had fallen upon them, and calling themselves the slayers and murderers of their child, and commiserating the infant too for his destruction, which they had hoped to avert. Then, as was natural for people involved in a miserable misfortune, they accusedthemselves as having brought a heavier affliction on themselves than they need have done. " For why," said they, " did we not expose him at the first moment of his birth '?"

For people in general do not look upon one who has not lived long enough to partake of salutary food as a human being at all. " But we, in our superliuous afi'ection, have nourished him these three entire months, causing ourselves by such conduct more abundant grief, and inflicting upon him a heavier punishment, in order that he, having at last attained to a great capacity for feeling pleasures and pains, should at last perish in the perception of the most grievous evils."

And so they departed in ignorance of the future, being wholly overwhelmed with sad misery ; but the sister of the • The similitude of this passage to Sir William Jones' Ode is very remarkable : " What constitutes a state." B ^ infant wlio was thus exposed, being still a maiden, out of the vehemence of her fraternal affection, stood II little way off watching to see what would happen, and all the events which concerned him appear to me to have taken place in accordance with the providence of God, who watched over the infant. Now the king of the country had an only daughter, whom he tenderly loved, and they say that she, although she had been married a long time, had never had any children, and therefore, as was natural, was very desirous of children, and especially of male offspring, which should succeed to the noble inheritance of her father's prosperity and imperial authority, which was otherwise in danger of being lost, since the king had no other grandsons.

And as she was always desponding and lamenting, so especially on that particular day was she overcome by the weight of her anxiety, that, though it was her ordinary custom to stay in doors and never to pass over the threshold of her house, yet now she went forth with her handmaidens down to the river, where the infant was lying. And there, as she was about to indulge in a bath and purification in the thickest part of the marsh, she beheld the child, and commanded her handmaidens to bring him to her. Then, after she had surveyed him from head to foot, and admired his elegant form and healthy vigorous appearance, and saw that he was crying, she had compassion on him, her soul being already moved within her by maternal feelings of affection as if he had been her own child.

And when she knew that the infant belonged to one of the Hebrews who was afraid because of the commandment of the king, she herself conceived the idea of rearing him up, and took counsel with herself on the subject, thinking that it was not safe to bring him at once into the palace ; and while she was still hesitating, the sister of the infant, who was still looking out, conjecturing her hesitation from what she beheld, ran up and asked her whether she would like that the child should be brought up at the bi'east by some one of the Hebrew women who had been lately delivered ; and as she said that she wished that she would do so, the maiden went and fetched hci; own mother and that of the infant, as if she had been a stranger, who with great readiness and willingness cheerfully promised to take the child and bring him up, pretending to be tempted by the reward to be paid, the providence of God thus making the original bringing up of the child to accord with the genuine course of nature. Then she gave him a name, calling him Moses with great propriety, because she had received him out of the water, for the Egyptians call water mos."

But when the child began to grow and increase, he was weaned, not in accordance with the time of his age, but earlier than usual ; and then his mother, who was also his nurse, came to bring him back to the princess who had given him to her, inasmuch as he no longer required to be fed on milk, and as he was now a fine and noble child to look upon. And when the king's daughter saw that he was more perfect than could have been expected at his age, and when from his appearance she conceived greater good will than ever towards him, she adopted him as her son, having first put in practice all sorts of contrivances to increase the apparent bulk of her belly, so that he might be looked upon as her own genuine child, and not as a supposititious one ; but God easily brings to pass whatever he is inclined to effect, however difficult it may be to bring to a successful issue.

Therefore the child being now thought worthy of a royal education and a royal attendance, was not, like a mere child, long delighted with toys and objects of laughter and amusement, even though those who had undertaken the care of him allowed him holidays and times for relaxation, and never behaved in any stern or morose way to him ; but he himself exhibited a modest and dignified deportment in all his words and gestures, attending diligently to every lesson of eveiy kind which could tend to the improvement of his mind. And immediately he had all kinds of masters, one after another, some coming of their own accord from the neighbouring countries and the different districts of Egypt, and some being even procured from Greece by tlie temptation of large presents. But in a short time he surpassed all their knowledge, anticipating all their lessons by the excellent natural endowments of his own genius ; so that everything in his case appeared to be a recollecting rather than a learning, while he himself also, ■without any teacher, comprehended by his instinctive genius many difficult subjects ; for great abiUties cut out for themselves many new roads to knowledge.

And just as vigorous and healthy bodies which are active and quick in motion in all their parts, release their trainers from much care, giving them little or no trouble and anxiety, and as trees which are of a good sort, and which have a natural good growth, give no trouble to their cultivators, but grow finely and improve of themselves, so in the same manner the well disposed soul, going forward to meet the lessons which are imparted to it, is improved in reality by itself rather than by its teachers, and taking hold of some beginning or principle of knowledge, bounds, as the proverb has it, like a horse over the plain. Accordingly he speedily learnt arithmetic, and geometry, and the whole science of rhythm and harmony and metre, and the whole of music, by means of the use of musical instruments, and by lectures on the different arts, and by explana tions of each topic ; and lessons on these subjects were given him by Egyptian philosophers, who also taught him the philosophy v/hich is contained in symbols, which they exhibit in those sacred characters or hieroglyphics, as they are called, and also that philosophy which is convei-sant about that respect which they pay to animals which they invest with the honours due to God.

And all the other branches of the encyclical education he learnt from Greeks ; and the philosophers from the adjacent countries taught him Assyrian literature and the knowledge of the heavenly bodies so much studied by the Chaldasans. And this knowledge he derived also from the Egyptians, who study mathematics above all things, and he learnt with great accuracy the state of that art among both the Chaldseans and Egyptians, making himself acquainted with the points in which they agree with and differ from each other — making himself master of all their disputes without encouraging any disputatious disposition in himself — but seeking the plain truth, since his mind was unable to admit any falsehood, as those are accustomed to do who contend violently for one particular side of a question ; and who advocate any doctrine which is set before them, whatever it may be, not inquiring whether it deserves to be supported, but acting in the same manner as those lawyers ■who defend a cause for pay, and are wholly indifferent to the justice of their cause.

And when he had passed the boundaries of the age of infancy he began to exercise his intellect ; not, as some people do, letting his youthful passions roam at large without restraint, although in him they had ten thousand incentives by reason of the abundant means for the gratification of them which royal places supply ; but he behaved with temperance and fortitude, as though he had bound them with reins, and thus he restrained their onward impetuosity by force. And he tamed, and appeased, and brought under due command every one of the other passions which are naturally and as far as they are themselves concerned frantic, and violent, and unmanageable. And if any one of them at all excited itself and endeavoured to get free from restraint he administered severe punishment to it, reproving it with severity of language ; and, in short, he repressed all the principal impulses and most violent affections of the sou , and kept guard over them as over a restive horse, fearing lest they might break all bounds and get beyond the pov/er of reason which ought to be their guide to restrain them, and so throw everything everywhere into confusion.

For these passions are the causes of all good and of all evil ; of good when they submit to the authority of dominant reason, and of evil when they break out of bounds and scorn all government and restraint. Very naturally, therefore, those who associated with him and every one who was acquainted with him marvelled at him, being astonished as at a novel spectacle, and inquiring what kind of mind it was that had its abode in his body, and that was set up in it like an image in a shrine ; whether it was a human mind or a divine intellect, or something combined of the two ; because he had nothing in him resembling the many, but had gone beyond them all and was elevated to a more sublime height. For he never provided his stomach with any luxuries beyond those necessary tributes which nature has appointed to be paid to it, and as to the pleasures of the organs below the stomach he paid no attention to them at all, except as far as the object of having legitimate children was concerned.

And being in a most eminent degree a practiser of abstinence and self-denial, and being above all men inclined to ridicule a life of effeminacy and luxury (for he desired to live for his soul alone, and not for his body), he exhibited the doctrines of philosophy in all his daily actions, saying precisely what he thought, and performing such actions only as were consistent with his words, so as to exhibit a perfect harmony between his language and his hfe, so that as his words were such also was his life, and as his life was such likewise was his language, lilse people who are playing together in tune on a musical instrument.

Therefore men in general, even if the slightest bi"eeze of prosperity does only blow their way for a moment, become puflfed up and give themselves great airs, becoming insolent to all those who are in a lower condition than themselves, and calling them dregs of the earth, and annoyances, and sources of trouble, and burdens of the earth, and all sorts of names of that kind, as if they had been thoroughly able to establish the undeviating character of their prosperity on a solid foundation, though, very likely, they will not remain in the same condition even till to-morrow , for there is nothing more inconstant than fortune, which tosses human affairs up and down like dice. Often has a single day thrown down the man who was previously placed on an eminence, and raised the lowly man on high.

And while men see these events continually taking place, and though they are well assured of the fact, still they overlook their relations and friends, and transgress the laws according to which they were born and brought up ; and they overturn their national hereditary customs to which no just blame whatever is attached, dwelling in a foreign laud, and by reason of their cordial reception of the customs among which they are living, no longer remembering a single one of their ancient usages,

But Moses, having now reached the very highest point of human good fortune, and being looked upon as the grandson of this mighty king, and being almost considered in the expectations of all men as the future inheritor of his grandfather's kingdom, and being always addressed as the young prince, still felt a desire for and admiration of the education of his kinsmen and ancestors, considering all the things which were thought good among those who had adopted him as spurious, even though they might, in consequence of the present state of affairs, have a brilliant appearance ; and those things which were thought good by his natural parents, even though they might be for a short time somewhat obscure, at all events akin to himself and genuine good things.

Accordingly, like an uncorrupt judge both of his real parents and of those who had adopted him, he cherished towards the one a good will and an ardent affection, and he displayed gratitude towards the others in requital of the kindness which he had received at their hands, and he would have displayed the same throughout his whole life if he had not beheld a great and novel iniquity wrought in the country by the king ; for, as I have said before, the Jews were strangers in Egypt, the founders of their race having migrated from Babylon and the upper satrapies in the time of the famine, by reason of their want of food, and come and settled in Egypt, and having in a manner taken refuge like suppliants in the country as in a sacred asylum, fleeing for protection to the good faith of the king and the compassion of the inhabitants ; for strangers, in my opinion, should be looked upon as refugees, and as the suppliants of those who receive them in their country ; and, besides, being suppliants, these men were likewise sojourners in the land, and friends desiring to be admitted to equal honours with the citizens, and neighbours differing but little in their character from original natives.

The men, therefore, who had left their homes and come into Egypt, as if they were to dwell in that land as in a second country in perfect security, the king of the country reduced to slavery, and, as if he had taken them prisoners by the laws of war, or had bought them from masters in whose house they had been bred, he oppressed them and treated them as slaves, though they were not only free men, but also strangers, and suppliants, and sojourners, having no respect for nor any awe of God, who presides over the rights of free men, and of strangers, and of suppliants, and of hospitality, and who beholds all such actions as his. Then he laid commands on them beyond their power to fulfil, imposing on them labour after labour ; and, when they fainted from weakness, the sword came upon them. He appointed overseers over their works, the most pitiless and inhuman of men, who pardoned and made allowance for no one, and whom they from the circumstances and from their behaviour called persecutors of work.

And they wrought with clay, some of them fashioning it into bricks, and others collecting straw from all quarters, for straw is the bond which binds bricks together ; while others, again, had the task allotted to them of building up houses, and walls, and gates, and cutting trenches, bearing wood themselves day and night without interruption, having no rest or respite, and not even being allowed time so much as to sleep, but being compelled to perform all the works not only of workmen but also of joui'ueymen, so that in a short time their bodies failed them, their souls having already fainted beneath their afflictions. And so they died, one after another, as if smitten by a pestilential destruction, and then their taskmasters threw their bodies away unburied beyond the borders of the land, not suffering their kinsmen or their friends to sprinkle even a little dust on their corpses, nor to weep over those who had thus miserably perished ; but, like impious men as they were, they threatened to extend their despotism over the passions of the soul (that cannot be enslaved, and which are nearly the only things which nature has made completely free), oppressing them with the intolerable weight of a necessity beyond their powers.

At all these events Moses was greatly grieved and indignant, not being able either to chastise the unjust oppressors of his people nor to assist those who were oppressed, but he gave them all the assistance that was in his power, by words, recommending their overseers to treat them with moderation, and to relax and abate somewhat of the oppressive nature of their commands, and exhorting the oppressed who were labouring thus to bear their present distresses with a noble spirit and to be men in their minds, and not to let their souls faint as well as their bodies, but to hope for good fortune after their present adversity ; for that all things in this world have a tendency to change to the opposite, cloudy weather to fine, violent gales to calm and absence of wind, storms and heavy billows at sea to fair weather and an unruffled surface of the water ; and much more are human aflfairs likely to change, inasmuch as they are more unstable than anything. By using these charms, as it were, like a good physician, he thought he should be able to alleviate their afflictions, although they were most grievous.