of those
god-given bulwarks, our cataracts, our sea and our deserts, the finest
army that ever bore arms? Thirty thousand Hellenes beside our entire
Egyptian military caste? such is the present condition of Egypt! Rameses
purchased the bright tinsel of empty fame with the blood and tears of his
people. To me they are indebted for the pure gold of a peaceful welfare
as citizens--to me and to my predecessors, the Saitic kings!"

[The science of fortification was very fairly understood by the
ancient Egyptians. Walled and battlemented forts are to be seen
depicted on their monuments. We have already endeavored to show
(see our work on Egypt. I. 78 and following) that, on the northeast,
Egypt defended from Asiatic invasion by a line of forts extending
from Pelusium to the Red Sea.]

"And yet I tell thee," cried the prince, "that a worm is gnawing at the
root of Egypt's greatness and her life. This struggle for riches and
splendor corrupts the hearts of the people, foreign luxury has given a
deadly blow to the simple manners of our citizens, and many an Egyptian
has been taught by the Greeks to scoff at the gods of his fathers. Every
day brings news of bloody strife between the Greek mercenaries and our
native soldiery, between our own people and the strangers. The shepherd
and his flock are at variance; the wheels of the state machinery are
grinding one another and thus the state itself, into total ruin. This
once, father, though never again, I must speak out clearly what is
weighing on my heart. While engaged in contending with the priests, thou
hast seen with calmness the young might of Persia roll on from the East,
consuming the nations on its way, and, like a devouring monster, growing
more and more formidable from every fresh prey. Thine aid was not, as
thou hadst intended, given to the Lydians and Babylonians against the
enemy, but to the Greeks in the building of temples to their false gods.
At last resistance seemed hopeless; a whole hemisphere with its rulers
lay in submission at the feet of Persia; but even then the gods willed
Egypt a chance of deliverance. Cambyses desired thy daughter in marriage.
Thou, however, too weak to sacrifice thine own flesh and blood for the
good of all, hast substituted another maiden, not thine own child, as an
offering to the mighty monarch; and at the same time, in thy
soft-heartedness, wilt spare the life of a stranger in whose hand he the
fortunes of this realm