were by heresy, from the throne. I must
confess, however unwillingly, that some priests of the true faith--among
them your grandfather, and mine--supported the daring usurper who clung
faithfully to the old traditions. Not less than a hundred generations
of my ancestors, and of yours, and of many other priestly families, have
lived and died here by the banks of the Nile--of Rameses race we have
seen ten, and only know of them that they descend from strangers, from
the caste of Amu! He is like all the Semitic race; they love to
wander, they call us ploughmen,--[The word Fellah (pl. Fellahin) means
ploughman]--and laugh to scorn the sober regularity with which we,
tilling the dark soil, live through our lives to a tardy death, in
honest labor both of mind and body. They sweep round on foraying
excursions, ride the salt waves in ships, and know no loved and fixed
home; they settle down wherever they are tempted by rapine, and when
there is nothing more to be got they build a house in another spot. Such
was Seti, such is Rameses! For a year he will stop in Thebes, then he
must set out for wars in strange lands. He does not know how to yield
piously, or to take advice of wise counsellors, and he will not learn.
And such as the father is, so are the children! Think of the criminal
behavior of Bent-Anat!"

"I said the kings liked foreigners. Have you duly considered the
importance of that to us? We strive for high and noble aims, and have
wrenched off the shackles of the flesh in order to guard our souls. The
poorest man lives secure under the shelter of the law, and through us
participates in the gifts of the spirit; to the rich are offered the
priceless treasures of art and learning. Now look abroad: east and west
wandering tribes roam over the desert with wretched tents; in the south
a debased populace prays to feathers, and to abject idols, who are
beaten if the worshipper is not satisfied. In the north certainly there
are well regulated states, but the best part of the arts and sciences
which they possess they owe to us, and their altars still reek with the
loathsome sacrifice of human blood. Only backsliding from the right is
possible under the stranger, and therefore it is prudent to withdraw
from him; therefore he is hateful to our Gods. And Rameses, the king,
is a stranger, by blood and by nature, in his affections, and in his
appearance; his thoughts are always abroad--this country is too small
for him--and he will n