_Moses_.—In fear that thou wilt promise as before, And as before deceive us—yet in hope That thou mayst profit by the part I speak. The God we serve hath chosen Israel's children Forth of this land to spread his name and worship {674} Throughout the earth—and by my voice he bids thee Release our tribes from bondage, and permit Their peaceable departure to the desert. _Pharaoh_.—And who is Israel's God, that I should serve him? Or who the God of Abram, that my kingdom Should lose a million vassals at his word? _Moses_.—Thou askest who is God? and how shall I, A worm but crawling on his footstool, tell thee? Or how wilt thou, so blinded by a worship Degrading beyond utterance, understand? Were every thought a ray direct from heaven, And every word an angel's, I might hope— But, Prince,—the Deity I serve is God And Lord of Hosts; his name the Great Jehovah, Supreme, Omniscient, present every where— Strong to destroy, omnipotent to save. By his command—the breathing of his will— Beam'd in existence yonder brilliant orb— The infinite host of heaven—the fruitful earth Thou walk'st on and enjoyest, knowing little Of regions close around thee, and but nothing Of realms unmatch'd in beauty, which thy sons, In the hundredth generation, will not see— Nor dream of their existence. He alone Can truly claim our gratitude for blessings Shower'd without stint or measure on our heads, Love, worship, loyalty, and true obedience, But mix'd with wholesome fear. Not for thy throne, With power a hundred fold of that thou hast— Not for the sway of hosts innumerable As sands in yonder desert—or the wealth That earth contains and may produce through ages— For giant strength, or patriarch's length of days— Knowing Jehovah, would I tempt his wrath, Or brave the stroke of his destroying arm. _Pharaoh_.—Hast thou e'er seen the God of whom thou speakest? _Moses_.—In his essential spiritual being? never! Nor ever shall, until this mortal frame Dissolve into the dust from whence it came, And my emancipated spirit fly: I trust and hope to dwell with him forever. But in the unconsum'd, tho' burning bush, Of which I spake when first I came to thee, I have beheld the outward manifestation Of his great presence, and have heard him speak His holy purpose, and expound to me What I should say—how plead with thee for freedom. _Pharaoh_.—Apis and Isis are the Gods of Egypt— And many more my ancestors have worshipped; I too will serve them, nor embrace a faith Preach'd by a leader of insurgent slaves, Or such as would be so. But did Jehovah, The God thou vauntest, prompt thee with a fraud? Hast thou not striven t' amuse me with the thought That sacrifice alone required your journey Into the wilderness? and when deception Might not avail, hast thou not own'd thy purpose, And claim'd a right to quit the land forever?