er. No formidable
attack had ever yet fallen upon Egypt from the west or from the south,
and so no danger could well be apprehended from those quarters. Internal
tranquillity might not be altogether assured, so long as there was
within the limits of Egypt a large subject population, suffering
oppression and bitterly discontented with its lot. But this population
was quite unwarlike, and had hitherto passively submitted itself to the
will of its rulers, without giving any indication that it might become
actively hostile. Menephthah, who was perhaps not more than five and
twenty, may have been justified in looking forward to a long, quiet, and
uneventful reign, during which he might indulge the natural apathy of
his temper, or dream away life, like his fabled neighbours, the
Lotus-Eaters.

Menephthah's features were soft and womanly. He had a full but sleepy
eye, a slightly aquiline nose an extremely short upper-lip, a broad
cheek, and a rounded chin. In character he was weak, irresolute, wanting
in physical courage, yet, as so often happens with weak characters,
harsh, oppressive, and treacherous. The monuments depict him as neither
a soldier nor an administrator, but as "one whose mind was turned almost
exclusively towards the chimeras of sorcery and magic," which he
regarded as of the utmost importance. Still, had the times been quiet,
had the prospect of tranquillity which seemed to lie before him on his
accession been realized, he might perhaps have so conducted affairs as
to bring neither discredit nor injury upon his country. But the
circumstances of the period were against him. The unclouded prospect of
his early years gave place, after a brief interval, to storm and tempest
of the most fearful kind; a terrible invasion carried fire and sword
into the heart of his dominions; and he had scarcely escaped this danger
by meeting it in a way not very honourable to himself, when internal
troubles broke out: a subject race, highly valued for services which it
was compelled to render, insisted on quitting the land; a great loss was
incurred in an attempt to compel it to remain; then open rebellion broke
out in the weakened state; and the reign, which had commenced under such
fair auspices, terminated in calamity and confusion. Menephthah was
quite incompetent to deal with the difficulties and complications
wherewith he found himself surrounded; he hesitated, temporized, made
concessions, retracted them, and finally conduc