“But does not the law itself declare,” said the elder, “Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land?[6] Did not the patriarchs of our nation always repair to Egypt in their distress, and did not the land of Ham almost always show a brotherly compassion for the children of Shem? Why did our forefathers always resort to this land of wonders, rather than to Syria or Mesopotamia? Does it not appear as if some secret guiding of Providence had always impelled Israel to unite himself with his brethren of Misraim? Was not our father Abraham himself in Egypt?” “And well did Pharaoh reward him by his treatment of Sarah,” interrupted Elisama. “Jehovah himself forbad Isaac to go down to Egypt.”[7] Footnote 6: Deut. xxiii. 7. Footnote 7: Gen. xxvi. 2. “Yet,” replied the elder, “Jacob came hither with seventy souls; Joseph was proclaimed the father of the land, and Pharaoh said to him, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in the land of Egypt.[8] Moses was born here and brought up at court, and Jeremiah also was here.[9] When Alexander founded this city, he brought a multitude of our nation hither; the first Ptolemy settled a hundred thousand of them in different parts of the land, and because the kings thought us to be the brethren of the Egyptians, we have obtained the privileges of the highest rank of citizens, and are called, like the conquerors themselves, Macedonians. The Lord has moved the heart of the king and queen, and Onias, the son of Onias, has built us a temple in Leontopolis, which is an exact copy of that on mount Moriah. Soon shall we be still more highly exalted. You know that let the schemes of Ptolemy Lathyrus be what they may, his mother Cleopatra, who is joint regent with him, has the administration in her hands, and by her means (a thing unheard of in any other country) two of our nation, Hilkias and Ananias, the sons of Onias, are at the head of the army.” Footnote 8: Gen. xli. 44. Footnote 9: Jer. xlii. “The God of Israel bless Cleopatra our queen! May he increase her a thousandfold, and cause her seed to possess the gate of their enemies,” exclaimed the elders. “What thou hast said of our fathers, and of their journies into Egypt is true; but acknowledge also,” said Elisama, “that they never failed to return to the Holy Land, when they had an opportunity; and we will do the same.” “No,” said the elder, “we have our own temple in Egypt, our Oneion.”