I will append to this chapter a description of some events of Moses's
career from Tacitus, Chapter III: "Many authors agree, that when once
an infectious distemper was arisen in Egypt and made men's bodies
impure, Bocchorius, their king, went to the oracle of (Jupiter)
Hammon and begged he would grant him some relief against this evil,
and he was enjoined to purge his nation of them, and to banish this
kind of men into other countries, as hateful to the gods. That
when he had sought for, and gotten them all together, they were
left in a vast desert; that hereupon the rest devoted themselves
to weeping and inactivity; but one of those exiles, Moses by name,
advised them to look for no assistance from any of the gods or from
any of mankind, since they had been abandoned by both, but bade them
believe in him, as in a celestial leader, by whose help they had
already gotten clear of their present miseries. They agreed to it;
and though they were unacquainted with every thing, they began their
journey at random: but nothing tried them so much as want of water;
and now they laid themselves down on the ground to a great extent,
as just ready to perish, when a herd of wild asses came from feeding,
and went to a rock overshadowed by a grove of trees. Moses followed
them, as conjecturing that there was (thereabouts) some grassy soil,
and so opened large sources of water for them."
Chapter IV: "As for Moses, in order to secure the nation firmly to
himself, he ordained new rites, and such as were contrary to other
men. All things are with them profane which with us are sacred; and
again, those practices are allowed among them which are by us esteemed
most abominable. They sacrifice rams by way of reproach to (Jupiter)
Hammon. An ox is also sacrificed, which the Egyptians worship under
the name of Apis," etc.
CHAPTER XI.
SAMUEL THE KINGMAKER--THE WARWICK OF ANTIQUITY.
Our forefathers of antiquity, no matter to what nation they belonged,
dressed every important event with a halo of mystery--fable, myth,
and miracle. They knew no better.
The mind, the brain, the senses, had reached a stage of development
that might well be called childish, with sensuality and selfishness
predominating. Fighting, cruelty, and lust were the leading actions
prompted. And as in the case of children, ghosts and hobgoblins
scared them, shadows and darkness frightened them, unusual sights and
noises surprised and alarmed them. And in their calmer moments they
wondered. And any natural phenomenon was interpreted as miraculous
if it aided any undertaking, and resulted favorably to them.
Wealth and women were considered the capital prizes in those
days. (That was three thousand years ago; how is it with us?) They
were men in physique, but children in the development of their mental
faculties.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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