nt of the
multitude of foreigners in Egypt: by whom the rites of the
native religion were neglected. _The Egyptians accordingly
drove them out._ The most noble of them went under Cadmus and
Danaus to Greece, but the greater number followed _Moses_, a
wise and valiant leader, to Palestine."[52:11]

After giving the different opinions concerning the origin of the Jewish
nation, Tacitus, the Roman historian, says:

"In this clash of opinions, _one point seems to be universally
admitted_. A pestilential disease, disfiguring the race of
man, and making the body an object of loathsome deformity,
spread all over Egypt. Bocchoris, at that time the reigning
monarch, consulted the oracle of Jupiter Hammon, and received
for answer, that the kingdom must be purified, by
exterminating the infected multitude, as a race of men
detested by the gods. After diligent search, the wretched
sufferers were collected together, and in a wild and barren
desert abandoned to their misery. In that distress, while the
vulgar herd was sunk in deep despair, Moses, one of their
number, reminded them, that, by the wisdom of his councils,
they had been already rescued out of impending danger.
Deserted as they were by men and gods, he told them, that if
they did not repose their confidence in him, as their chief by
divine commission, they had no resource left. His offer was
accepted. Their march began, they knew not whither. Want of
water was their chief distress. Worn out with fatigue, they
lay stretched on the bare earth, heart broken, ready to
expire, when a troop of wild asses, returning from pasture,
went up the steep ascent of a rock covered with a grove of
trees. The verdure of the herbage round the place suggested
the idea of springs near at hand. Moses traced the steps of
the animals, and discovered a plentiful vein of water. By this
relief the fainting multitude was raised from despair. They
pursued their journey for six days without intermission. On
the seventh day they made halt, and, having expelled the
natives, took possession of the country, where they built
their city, and dedicated their temple."[53:1]

Other accounts, similar to these, might be added, among which may be
mentioned that given by Manetho, an Egyptian priest, which is referred
to by Josephus, the Jewish