These calamities have occurred hitherto, and so long as the world exists they will occur again. It therefore behoves all monarchs and governors to adopt measures similar to those employed by Joseph, the first Viceroy of Egypt; that, wherever and whenever the enemy may appear, every nation may be found so well provided against it as to escape its dire consequences. CHAPTER XII. APOTHEOSIS OF MOSES. During the period when the Shepherd Kings ruled the land of Egypt famine was not allowed to depopulate the world. After these Kings came their descendant Moses, the mortal to whom the Almighty spoke from the top of Mount Sinai, in the presence of a multitude of witnesses, and gave laws by which man must defend himself from an enemy more cruel than famine; for those who die from famine may still rise to enjoy life eternal, whereas death brought into the world by sin, through the instigation of Satan, is death eternal, from which there is no resurrection. This inspired Moses taught the Israelites how to serve God, the only way by which they can secure themselves from eternal death. And when he considered them capable of continuing in the way he set them, he went to other nations, and everywhere instructed the people, that they might live for ever. One of the moral precepts he taught in the Far East, in Hindustan, is still revered by the Hindoos to this day. In that country he assumed the name of Manu, so that the children of Israel who were in Palestine might not recognise him and claim him as their sovereign. The precept is this:— Daily[87] perform thine own appointed work Unweariedly; and to obtain a friend— A sure companion to the future world— Collect a store of virtue like the ants Who garner up their treasures into heaps; For neither father, mother, wife, nor son, Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then, When thou art passing to that other home— Thy virtue will thy only comrade be. Single is every living creature born, Single he passes to another world, Single he eats the fruits of evil deeds, Single, the fruit of good; and when he leaves His body like a log or heap of clay Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away; Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb, And bears him through dreary trackless gloom. Depend not on another, rather lean Upon thyself; trust to thine own exertions. Subjection to another’s will gives pain; True happiness consists in self-reliance. Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced; Wearied, renew thy efforts once again; Again fatigued, once more the work begin; So shalt thou earn success and fortune win.