which to this day marks the traditions of nomadic tribes. That sympathy for his people was kept wide awake within him, is manifest by the fact that at forty years old he slew an Egyptian because he saw him beating a Hebrew. But while the posterity of his ancestors were in the condition of ignorant slaves, he himself received the best instruction the world then afforded. Writers of his own nation thought they awarded him the highest intellectual praise when they declared "he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." From all sources there is concurrent testimony that Egypt was universally considered the fountain-head of wisdom and science. Knowledge was shut up from the common people, and monopolized by the priesthood, which included the royal family within itself. Moses, as the adopted son of the king, who was always inducted into the sacerdotal ranks before his inauguration, must necessarily have been educated by priests, and of course familiar with the secret doctrines taught at the solemnization of their Great Mysteries. From fitful gleams of light, which history throws on the subject, there is reason to suppose these Mysteries inculcated a belief in One Invisible God, whose attributes were merely symbolized by the numerous popular deities. Similar ideas would be instilled by his mother and Hebrew relatives, when they repeated Abraham's abhorrence of images, and traditionary prophecies that his descendants were destined to become a mighty nation under the especial guidance of the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Thus trained in sympathy with his people, and educated far above their level, he was peculiarly prepared to be their leader; an office which he is supposed to have undertaken when he was about eighty years of age.

The only light we have concerning the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, is imparted by Hebrew Sacred Books and fragments of Manetho, an ancient historian of Egypt, as quoted by Josephus. The book of Exodus informs us that Pharaoh became jealous of their increasing numbers, lest in case of war they should join with his

enemies. This was a very natural fear, considering how much Egypt had suffered from the irruption of a Shepherd race from the East, and their consequent dread of wandering and predatory tribes; but it produced a policy so oppressive toward the Hebrews, that God commanded Moses to bring them out thence, and take possession of the promised land of Canaan; and when they went out, "a mixed multitude went with them."

Manetho, as quoted by Josephus, states that the provinces of Egypt rose against the Shepherd race, who had subjugated them. A long war ensued, which ended in the expulsion of the Shepherds. They were permitted "to depart from Egypt with all their families and effects, in number not less than two hundred and forty thousand, and bent their way through the desert toward Syria. But as they stood in fear of the Assyrians, who then had dominion over Asia, they built a city in that country which is now called Judea, of sufficient size to contain this multitude of men, and named it Jerusalem." Some suppose the name of Palestine to be derived from Pali-stan, the Land of the Pali, which means of Shepherds. Manetho goes on to say: "The king Amenophis was desirous of beholding the gods, as Orus, one of his predecessors in the kingdom, had seen them; and he communicated his desire to a priest, who seemed to partake of the divine nature, both in his wisdom and knowledge of futurity. He told the king that it was in his power to behold the gods, if he would cleanse the whole country of lepers, and other unclean persons that abounded in it. Well pleased with this information, the king gathered together out of Egypt all that laboured under any defect in body, to the amount of eighty thousand, and sent them to the quarries, which are situated on the east side of the Nile, that they might work in them, and be separated from the rest of the Egyptians. Among them were some learned priests, who were affected with leprosy. The prophet, fearing the vengeance of the gods would fall both on himself and the king, if it should appear that violence had been offered to these priests,

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added, also in a prophetic spirit, that certain people would come to the assistance of these unclean persons, and would subdue Egypt, and hold it in possession thirteen years. He dared not communicate these tidings to the king, but left in writing what would come to pass, and then destroyed himself, at which the king was fearfully distressed. When those sent to work in the quarries had continued some time in that miserable state, the king was petitioned to set apart for their habitation and protection the city of Avaris, which had been left vacant by the Shepherds; and he granted their desire. But when they had taken possession of the city, and found it well adapted for a revolt, they appointed for themselves a ruler from among the priests of Heliopolis, one whose name was Osarsiph, and they bound themselves by oath that they would be obedient to him. Osarsiph, in the first place, enacted a law that they should neither worship the gods, nor abstain from those sacred animals which Egyptians held in veneration, but sacrifice and slay any of them; and that they should connect themselves with none but such as were of their own confederacy. When he had made such laws as these, and many others of a tendency directly in opposition to the customs of the Egyptians, he gave orders that they should employ the multitude of hands in rebuilding the walls about the city, and hold themselves in readiness for war with Amenophis the king. He then took into his counsels some others of the priests and unclean persons, and sent ambassadors to Jerusalem, to those Shepherds who had been expelled by king Tethmosis. He informed them of the position of affairs, and requested them to come up unanimously to his assistance in this war with Egypt. He promised to provide a plentiful maintenance for their host, and reinstate them in their ancient city Avaris, assuring them that he could easily reduce the country and bring it under their dominion. The Shepherds received this message with great joy, and quickly mustered to the number of two hundred thousand men, and came up to Avaris." The king of Egypt retreated

into Ethiopia, fearing the vengeance of the gods if he attacked the lepers, on account of the sacredness of the priests, who were among them. "When these people from Jerusalem had come down, with the unclean of the Egyptians, they treated the inhabitants with such barbarity, that those who witnessed their impieties believed their joint sway was more execrable than that which the Shepherds had formerly exercised alone. For they not only set fire to the cities and villages, but committed every kind of sacrilege, destroyed the images of the gods, and roasted and fed upon those sacred animals that were worshipped; and having compelled the priests and prophets to kill and sacrifice them, they cast them naked out of the country. It is said that the priest who ordained their polity and laws was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name Osarsiph, from Osiris, the god of Heliopolis; but when he went over to these people his name was changed, and he was called Moses. After this, Amenophis and Rampses his son came with a great force, and encountering the Shepherds and the unclean people, they defeated them, and slew multitudes, and pursued them to the bounds of Syria." Such is the Egyptian version of the story, and Josephus quotes it to prove that his ancestors were descended from the Shepherd kings.

Whether Moses ever was an Egyptian priest, it is now impossible to ascertain. But it seems likely that the Israelites departed from Egypt about thirty years after Cecrops left the same country, to found the city of Athens. A man called Moses bound them together by laws, which gave a new impress to their character, and strongly influenced the whole of their future destiny. These laws are in many respects obvious copies of what he had learned in Egypt; but he infused some elevated ideas, greatly in advance of his time; ideas which dawned upon his soul by the same divine influence which in all ages and all nations has guided every human being who has been enabled to help the world forward even one single step in its slow progress. All surrounding nations had adopted some of

the subordinate Spirits for their especial guardians, while priests, or philosophers, taught among themselves the secret doctrine of One Invisible God. Moses declared to the Hebrews that the One Supreme God was their tutelary deity; their peculiar guardian and friend, and the sworn enemy of all their enemies. He was wiser and stronger than any of the gods who protected other nations; however powerful those deities might be, he ruled over them all; and therefore the people whom he had chosen for his own would rule over other nations, if they obeyed him. He himself chose their ancestor Abraham to be the founder of a great nation. He himself had spoken to the Patriarchs with his own voice, and guided them in every step of their wanderings; he had appeared to them visibly, and in dreams, and had pledged his word that their posterity should possess the land of Canaan. Again and again Moses repeated: "Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." In the name of the Lord he prophesied : "Thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." Such were the doctrines and promises which fired the zeal and concentrated the energies of the Hebrews, and at the same time produced an exaggerated estimate of their own importance.

But though one undivided object of worship was presented, instead of a multitude of deities, the ritual prescribed by Moses bore very strong resemblance to the Egyptian models, with which his mind had been long familiar. When the people inquired the name of the great God who had chosen them, he told them it was Jehovah; a word which contains the present, past, and future tenses of the Hebrew verb to be; and therefore signifies I am, was, and will be. On a very ancient temple in Egypt has been found the inscription, "I am whatever is, was, and will be." Hebrews had such reverence for the name of Jehovah, that it was never uttered except by the High