The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

I will now resume the subject which occupied the foregoing portion of my last letter, namely, the departure of the twelve armies of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt.

Scarcely had I reached the confines of Goshen, after the threatened judgment of God upon Pharaoh, when I heard, as it were in the air, a voice speaking, which I knew to be the v...

I have received from the Prince Remeses a letter informing me of the arrival of each division of his army, chariots, horse, and footmen, with the fleets under the viceroy Mœris,...

I will now describe to you my visit, with the prince, to the most remarkable shrine in Egypt. While the worship of Osiris, at On, is a series of splendid pageantries, but little...

In my last letter I narrated a conversation between Prince Remeses and myself, upon the myths of Egypt and Phœnicia, and other subjects, while being borne in his galley from the...

In my last letter I was particular in describing to you the armies of Egypt, as I have not forgotten the interest you take in the discipline of your own, nor that once you led i...

In my last letter I described to you, as well as the feebleness of language would admit, my presentation to the Queen Amense, and the splendors of her court and palace. In Syria...

The events which have transpired since I last wrote to you, mock my pen by their sublimity and infinite grandeur. Upon a rock for a tablet, the desert around me, the Sea of Edom...

I commence this letter, as I did one written and addressed to you two days ago, with the probability, that circumstances may yet render the seal of secrecy, now placed upon it,...

Your courier reached me yesterday with your important letter, advising me of the refusal of the King of Cyprus to receive your ambassador, or release your subjects; and that you...

This letter, however, I shall withhold, until I either have authority to send it to you, or circumstances render it expedient to destroy it; but in order to keep a record of the...

Your last letter, assuring me of your health, and that of the Princess Thamonda, I received by the chief pilot, Onothis, who, in his new and handsome galley, reached the head of...

I have much of interest concerning which to write to you in this letter; but will first redeem my promise to give you the traditional story narrated by the lovely Osiria, daught...

It is many weeks since my last letter was written. The interval has been occupied by me, in visiting all places of interest in Lower Egypt, previous to my voyage up the Nile, to...

In the preceding letter I have made known to you the extraordinary purpose of the queen to invest, with the dignity of royalty, her son, the Prince Remeses; the singular scenes...

It is with emotions I am unable to command, that I commence, after a silence of several weeks, another letter to you. I know not how, properly to unfold and rightly to present b...

You will read what I am about to write, with the profoundest interest. The two mighty Hebrews again sought an audience of the king, and boldly demanded the freedom of Israel.

The excitement, which the return of the triumphant army from its brilliant Ethiopian campaign created, has now subsided, and the cities of Memphis and On, and the thousand villa...

This morning, as I was about leaving the palace, in order to spend several hours in traversing the city on foot, that I might see the citizens at their pursuits, and observe the...

My last letter closed with the narration of a history of the Hebrews, from the lips of Prince Remeses, to which I listened as we walked to and fro on the terrace of the temple....

At length, my dear mother, I have reached the "Land of the Seven Rivers," and do now write to you from her gorgeous capital, ON, The City of the Sun.

It is with heartfelt pleasure I assure you of the recovery of the queen. The heart of the noble and devoted Remeses is lightened of a heavy weight of solicitude. Smiles once mor...

I have described my chariot ride through the plain of tombs, along the magnificent causeway, which extends from the Lake of the Dead to the feet of the sphinx. All that I beheld...

"I am not thy taskmaster! Dread not my presence!" The tone of my voice reassured him. He smiled gently, and an expression of gladness lighted up his eyes. A drop of blood trickl...

I am still in the City of the Sun, or RE, as I find it is often called by the Egyptians, and I write to you from the palace of Remeses, not the abode which was first allotted me...

The climate of this land of the Sun is so delightful to the senses that one feels a constant buoyancy of the heart, and experiences in the consciousness of mere existence, an un...

Think not that the splendors of the Court of "Pharaoh's Daughter," as the Egyptians still love to call their queen, will lead me to forget my own royal home and the dear scenes...

It is with gratitude to God, O Sesostris, that I inform you of my safe arrival in Egypt, after a perilous passage across the sea. Our chief pilot, finding, after we left the por...

You will see by the date that I am once more in Egypt; and I am here under circumstances the most wonderful and amazing. Remeses--that is, Moses, the servant of the Most High Go...

My preceding letters, dearest mother, have enabled you to form some idea of the Hebrew vassalage, which is one of the peculiarities of Egypt. This subject has deeply interested...

Many days have passed since I wrote to you. You will wish to hear the ultimate issue of the command of Pharaoh, to increase the burdens of the Hebrews, and its effects upon them.

I have already spoken of his courtesy in offering to accompany me to Memphis, at which city he left me, immediately after his oblation and thanksgiving, and proceeded to attend...

It is with emotions of no ordinary kind, that I find myself amid the scenes familiar to your eyes, when forty-six years ago, a young man, you visited Egypt. Every object upon wh...

I thank you for your long and very welcome letter, written from your palace, at Sidon, whither you went to celebrate the rites of Adonis. It assures me of your continued health,...

Pardon, O king, thy servant, for addressing an epistle to thee; but when thou art informed of the reason which has led me to take this liberty, thou wilt, I feel, acquit me of t...

I have been two weeks a guest of your venerable friend, the Hebrew, Moses. My journey across the desert was agreeable from its novelty, and my sensations upon the boundless wast...

Moses has met Pharaoh, face to face, and demanded of him the liberty of the Hebrew nation! The scene in the throne-room was deeply interesting and striking; and I will endeavor...

Having an opportunity, my dearest father, to send this letter the day after to-morrow, I will herewith make known to you, how I obtained the intelligence, that your ancient frie...

The secret assembly of the elders, called by Moses, met last night. It was in a solitary place, far from any of the garrisons of soldiers. In the disguise of a Hebrew, I also wa...

In a letter written a few days ago, and which went by a vessel that was to touch at Pelusium on its way to Carthage, I alluded to a feeling (which has been increasing in strengt...

I have been here now one year. The venerable prince honors me as a son, and I repay him, so far as I can, by instructing him in the history of Egypt, and other knowledge; for, s...

It is with emotions wholly new to me, awakened by those fraternal ties to which I have been hitherto entirely a stranger, that I take up my pen to address you, inscribing at the...

With what emotions of joy and gratitude I embraced your princely son, Remeses, I can feebly express! I give God thanks for this happiness, vouchsafed to me in my eighty-first ye...

I received your letter, written to me from Bubastis. I grieve to hear that King Mœris is increasing so heavily the burdens of our people, as to drive to the fields, and to the n...

A year has passed, my brother, since I last wrote to you. In the mean while I have received your very kind epistle. It reached me at Tyre, where I found it awaiting me, on my re...

The departure--Sarcophagus containing the embalmed body of Joseph--The Shekinah--Succoth--Etham--Pi-hahiroth--Migdol--Hebrews inclosed between the mountains and the sea--Calm co...

Continuation of description of the Pyramids--Colossal monolith of Horus--Perilous ascent of Cheops--Prospect from a resting-place upon the pyramid, four hundred feet in air--A p...

The beautiful Isle of Rhoda--Prince Mœris and his favorite lion--Refinement of Egyptians--Polite observances at the reception of visitors--Parting between Queen Amense and Remes...

Moses and Aaron again seek Pharaoh, and demand the freedom of Israel--He requires a miracle--Miracle of Moses' rod--Jambres and Jannes, the magicians--They convert their rods in...

Majestic temple of the sacred bull, Apis--Tyrian mariner torn to pieces by the Egyptians for ignorantly killing a sacred cat--Imposing worship of the deified bull--Description o...

Tidings from Prince Remeses and the army--Antediluvian origin of the pyramids--The barbaric King of Ethiopia, Occhoris--His body-guard of Bellardines--His sacrilege in the templ...

Moses leads his flock to a secluded valley--Wonderful appearance of the Burning Bush--Astonishment of the shepherds--The Voice in the midst of the fire--God reveals Himself to M...

Moses denounces the plague of thunder and hail against Egypt--Grand gathering of the storm of God's anger--The storm hangs over Goshen but harms it not--The purpose of God in th...

Eagles of prey--Account of the Hebrews--Imposing funeral of the Patriarch Jacob--His powerful and able government--Overthrow of the dynasty of the Shepherd-Kings--Dynasty of the...

Recovery of Queen Amense--Gropings after the True God--Pleasure-galley of the Nile--Voluptuous ease--River chant--Phœnician Mythology and Learning--Procession of the Dead--Tradi...

Remeses prepares for his coronation by an initiation into the mysteries of the temple--Power and influence of Egyptian priesthood--Daily public duties of the Queen--Her attire--...

Moses and Aaron call the elders of Israel together--The Passover Instituted--The Hebrews cease work--They all flock to Goshen--Moses deified by priests in the temples--Hopefulne...

The lovely Osiria's legend of King Saurid--Stately Hebrew woman--Tradition of the construction of the larger pyramid--Its foundations--Its gates--Its covering of silk--Its treas...

Conclusion of funeral ceremonies of the lord of the royal gardens--The Sacred Way--Processions of mourners--Avenue to the tombs--The "dead-life" of the Egyptians--Awful ceremony...

Visit from Prince Remeses (Moses)--Great gate of the city--Phalanx of dark Libyan soldiers--Varied accomplishments of Remeses--Avenue of gardens, villas, and lakes--Temples in c...

Mournful reflections--Sacred poem by Remeses, being scenes in the life of Job--Remeses discovers all--A sirocco of the soul--He narrates the mysterious scenes of his initiation-...

Interview with the venerable Ben Isaac at the Well of the Strangers--Raamses, the Treasure-city--Joseph's granary--Exquisite temple of Apis--Beautiful young Hebrew girl pursued...

Moses departs for Egypt--The Illimitable Sea--Reflections upon the infinity of God--A storm--Despair of passengers--Their gods unavailing to save--Moses invokes the true God--Th...

Ancient worship of the gods on Libanus--Natural temples--Legend of the weeping for Tammuz--Unsatisfactory nature of the worship of idols--More aspirations and gropings after the...

Reflections on the degradation of the Hebrews--Hebrew pages and maidens in the service of Egyptian nobles--Amram, the palace gardener--Contrast between the physiognomy of the Eg...

Delightful climate--Indolence and leisure by day--Spirit of life and enjoyment reigns at night--Galley of a noble designedly runs down a small baris--Handsome Hebrew--Another st...

Continuation of vision of Remeses--Himself the child of his vision--Mysterious voices in the vaulted chamber of the pyramid--Mocking eyes--He flees--Tender interview between the...

On, the City of the Sun--Grandeur of Egypt--Emotions at the sight of its wonders of art and scenes of beauty--The Queen of the ancient house of Pharaoh--Her son, Prince Remeses...

Revelations--Letter from Mœris--His haughty demand--Is Remeses the son of Pharaoh's Daughter?--Another letter and another haughty demand from Mœris--Still another--A doubt!--An...

The rod! the whip! the cry of the sufferers!--The Hebrews reproach Moses and Aaron--Moses appeals to the Lord--Seeks to comfort his brethren with the words of the Most High--Hop...

Climate of Egypt--Eternal sunshine and crystalline atmosphere--Costume of the Egyptian prince--Hieroglyphic writing--Legend of the Obelisk of Mitres--More of the personal appear...

Egyptian magnificence--Egyptian architecture--Osiride pillars--Vastness of objects--Avenue of Sphinxes--Temple of the god Horus--The emblem of Hor-hat--Court of Colonnades--Gran...

Love for native land--Avenue of temples and palaces--Sublime temple of the Sun--Emblem of Osiris--Artificial canal--Gardens and circular lake--Gathering of philosophers and scho...

Moses, in disguise, sees King Mœris amid his chief captains-- Terrible cruelties inflicted upon the Hebrews--Taskmaster pursues a Hebrew youth, to kill him--Moses slays the task...

Intelligence from Ethiopia--Remeses a conqueror--Great spoils--He enters Memphis in triumphal array--His filial piety--The captive Ethiopian king--Victorious army of one hundred...

Thirty-fifth birthday of Prince Remeses--Queen Amense proposes to abdicate in his favor--The Hebrew page, Israel--Melancholy of the Queen--Prince Mœris--Moving interview between...

The young prince visits Egypt--The acts of the Egyptian kings--The reign of Mœris--He constructs an immense lake--Inauguration of a temple--Splendid spectacle of idol-worship--P...

Palace of Remeses--Invitation to meet the Queen--Costume of a prince of Tyre--Egyptian chariots and horses--Nubian charioteer--Escort of the Queen's body-guard--Pleasure chariot...

Immense military force of Egypt--Sublime sunrise--Morning hymn--Gala of the resurrection of Osiris--Festivals to the gods--Visit to the Queen--Glimpse of dark-eyed Egyptian girl...

Midnight meeting of the elders of Israel--Jacob's well a source of superstitious dread to the Egyptians--Beautiful moonlight scene--Moses opens his errand from the Most High--Aa...

Moses to his old friend Sesostris--Account of his mode of life--His meditations upon the oppression of his nation, and upon the character of their predicted Deliverer--Is inspir...

Journey across the desert--Mount Horeb--Moses, standing upon a mountain-rock--Affecting interview--Grotto of Moses--His wife and sons--Story of his rescue of the daughters of Je...

Moses beholds the thousands of his countrymen under the lash of the taskmasters--A prophecy--Visits Tyre and is cordially received by Queen Epiphia--Tyre--Damascus--He meets the...

Moses goes before Pharaoh--Amazement of the Egyptian courtiers--Harshness of Pharaoh--Moses delivers God's message--Pharaoh defies the Living God--He is overcome by his emotion,...

Moses determines to visit Egypt--Receives from Job the history of the Creation--Job's piety and his favor with God--Prayer the path to the throne of God--King Sesostris and Quee...