ever since with a restlessness of passion, that would have dared all danger and wrong to obtain its object-she was now at this moment resting sacredly within that pavilion, while guarding her, even from myself, I lay motionless at its threshold. Meanwhile, the sun had reached his meridian height. The busy hum of the morning had died gradually away, and all around was sleeping in the hot stillness of noon. The Nile-goose, having folded up her splendid wings, was lying motionless on the shadow of the sycamores in the water. Even the nimble lizards upon the bank appeared to move less nimbly, as the light fell on their gold and azures hues. Overcome as I was with watching, and weary with thought, it was not long before I yielded to the becalming influence of the hour. Looking fixedly at the pavilion -as if once more to assure myself that I was in no dream or trance, but that the young Egyptian was really there - I felt my eyes close as I gazed, and in a few minutes sunk into a profound sleep. CHAPTER XII. ing, was that fair young Priestess-seated within a porch which shaded the door of the pavilion, and bending intently over a small volume that lay unrolled on her lap. Her face was but half-turned towards me; and as she, once or twice, raised her eyes to the warm sky, whose light fell, softened through the trellis, over her cheek, I found all those feelings of reverence, which she had inspired me with in the chapel, return. There was even a purer and holier charm around her countenance, thus se en by the natural light of day, than in those dim and unhallowed regions below. She was now looking, too, direct to the glorious sky, and her pure eyes and that heaven, so worthy of each other, met. After contemplating her for a few moments, with little less than adoration, I rose gently from my resting-place, and approached the pavilion. But the mere movement had startled her from her devotion, and, blushing and confused, she covered the volume with the folds of her robe. In the art of winning upon female confidence, I had long, of course, been schooled ; and, now that to the lessons of gallantry the inspiration of love was added, my ambition to please and to interest could hardly fail, it may be supposed, of success. I soon found, however, how much less fluent is the heart than the fancy, and how very different IT was by the canal through which we now may be the operations of making love and feeling sailed, that, in the more prosperous days of it. In the few words of greeting now exchanged Memphis, the commerce of Upper Egypt and Nu- between us, it was evident that the gay, the enterbia was transported to her magnificent Lake, and prising Epicurean was little less embarrassed than from thence, having paid tribute to the queen of the secluded Priestess ; and, after one or two incities, was poured forth again, through the Nile, effectual efforts to converse, the eyes of both turned into the ocean. The course of this canal to the bashfully away, and we relapsed into silence. river was not direct, but ascending in a southeasterly direction towards the Saïd; and in calms, or with adverse winds, the passage was tedious. But as the breeze was now blowing freshly from the north, there was every prospect of our reaching the river before nightfall. Rapidly, too, as our galley swept along the flood, its motion was so smooth as to be hardly felt; and the quiet gurgle of the waters, and the drowsy song of the boatman at the prow, were the only sounds that disturbed the deep silence which prevailed. The sun, indeed, had nearly sunk behind the Libyan hills, before the sleep, into which these sounds had contributed to lull me, was broken; and the first object on which my eyes rested, in wak 1 "L'or et l'azur brillent en bandes longitudinales sur leur corps entier, et leur queue est du plus beau bleu céleste." Sonnini. 2 "Un canal," says Maillet, "très-profond et très-large y voituroit les eaux du Nit." 3 "Anciennement on portoit les eaux du Nil jusqu'à des contrées fort éloignées, et surtout chez les princesses du sang From this situation-the result of timidity on one side, and of a feeling altogether new on the other-we were, at length, relieved, after an interval of estrangement, by the boatmen announcing that the Nile was in sight. The countenance of the young Egyptian brightened at this intelligence; and the smile with which I congratulated her upon the speed of our voyage was responded to by another from her, so full of gratitude, that already an instinctive sympathy seemed established be tween us. We were now on the point of entering that sacred river, of whose sweet waters the exile drinks in his dreams—for a draught of whose flood the royal daughters of the Ptolemies 3, when far away, des Ptolomées, mariées dans des familles étrangères."—De Pauw. The water thus conveyed to other lands was, as we may collect from Juvenal, chiefly intended for the use of the Temples of Isis, established in those countries. Si candida jusserit Io, in in descent, had now dated mu a gacy game, bar worse than darkness. The ara vyn the lake, as if about to do with the tyng light, sunk down their heads; and, as I looked a the statue, the deepening shadows gave such an expression to its mournful features as chilled my Sagyonatana, e my being youth wh repyntah, m mycuteness tod way, in work & sut mened, we wyd * 1x wine say I sat were fearann mangend vary the preach tha se riu * front, mus & the ift jong with My sak wyja frys there tha, 9% moj Mondeve boflebPA WIN WEAR, "way to the wa Do wygnment wydana, trim na wan ch geprasa in with 1 wah Uma mail, watatiri nyporea, by which the varmt vjentina & İstisun wen pihahad, that my hard to the pyramid V na hid which a garant I winachoma, vidud, nnd active ** qatilin appeal One Fabred, Congeed Memphila, very soul. 1 km 1046 Nye Armand that all my movementa, Minne my wrrival, had been watchfully tracked; and the many homes 1 had employed in wandering and wapdering around the pyramid, betrayed a enPumity and spirit of adventure which might well mugegent Guy theme wily priests the hope of inveigling Ian Epicurean into their toils. 1 was well aware of their hatred to the sect of bh I was Chiefs-that they considered the ne ne, next to the Christians, the most forChemies of their craft and power. "How », then," I exclaimed, " to have placed ceituation, where I am equally helpless od and violence, and must either pretend p of their impostures, or else submit to victim of their vengeance !" Of these bitter as they both were, the latter far the more welcome. It was with a even looked back upon the mockeries The thought of death, ever ready to present. itself to my imagination, now came, with a disheartening weight, such as I had never before felt. I almost fancied myself already in the dark vestibule of the grave-removed, for ever, from the world above, and with nothing but the blank of an eternal sleep before me. It had happened, I knew, frequently, that the visitants of this mysterious realm were, after their descent from earth, never seen or heard of;-being condemned, for some failure in their initiatory trials, to pine away their lives in those dark dungeons, with which, as well as with altars, this region abounded. Such, I shuddered to think, might probably be my own destiny; and so appalling was the thought, that even the courage by which I had been hitherto sustained died within me, and I was already giving myself up to helplessness and despair. At length, after some hours of this gloomy musing, I heard a rustling In the sacred grove behind the statue; and, soon after, the sound of the Priest's voice-more welcome than I had ever thought such voice could be—brought the assurance that I was not yet wholly abandoned. Finding his way to me through the gloom, he now led me to the same spot, on which we had parted so many hours before; and, addressing me in a voice that retained no trace of displeasure, bespoke my attention, while he should reveal to me some of those divine truths, by whose infusion, he said, into the soul of man, its purification can alone be effected. The valley had now become so dark, that we could no longer, as we sat, discern each other's faces. There was a melancholy in the voice of my instructor that well accorded with the gloom around us and, saddened and subdued, I now listened with resignation, if not with interest, to those sublime, but, alas, I thought, vain tenets, which, with all the warmth of a true believer, this Hierophant expounded to me. He spoke of the pre-existence of the soul of its abode, from all eternity, in a place of splendour and bliss, of which whatever we have most beautiful in our conceptions here is but a dim transcript, a clouded remembrance. In the blue depths of ether, he said, lay that “Country of the Soul" -its boundary alone visible in the line of milky light, which, as by a barrier of stars, separates it from the dark earth. "Oh, realm of purity! Home of the yet unfallen Spirit!-where, in the days of her first innocence, she wandered; ere yet her beauty was soiled by the touch of earth, or her resplendent wings had withered away. Methinks I see," he cried, “at this moment, those fields of radiance - I look back, through the mists of life, into that luminous world, where the souls that have never lost their high, heavenly rank, still soar, without a stain, above the shadowless stars, and there dwell together in infinite perfection and bliss!" As he spoke these words, a burst of pure, brilliant light, like a sudden opening of heaven, broke through the valley; and, as soon as my 1 For a full account of the doctrines which are here represented as having been taught to the initiated in the Egyptian mysteries, the reader may consult Dupuis, Prichard's Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology, &c. &c. "L'on découvroit l'origine de l'âme, sa chute sur la terre, à travers les sphères et les élémens, et son retour au lieu de son origine.... c'étoit ici la partie la plus métaphysique, et que ne pourroit guère entendre le commun des Initiés, mais dont on lui donnoit le spectacle par des figures et des spectres allégoriques." Dupuis. 2 See Beausobre, lib. iii. c. 4., for the "terre bienheureuse et lumineuse," which the Manicheans supposed God to inhabit. Plato, too, speaks (in Phæd.) of a pure land lying in eyes were able to endure the splendour, such a vision of glory and loveliness opened upon them, as took even my sceptical spirit by surprise, and made it yield, at once, to the potency of the spell. Suspended, as I thought, in air, and occupying the whole of the opposite region of the valley, there appeared an immense orb of light, within which, through a haze of radiance, I could see distinctly fair groups of young female spirits, who, in silent, but harmonious movement, like that of the stars, wound slowly through a variety of fanciful evolutions; seeming, as they linked and unlinked each other's arms, to form a living labyrinth of beauty and grace. Though their feet appeared to glide along a field of light, they had also wings, of the most brilliant hue, which like rainbows over waterfalls, when played with by the breeze, reflected, every moment, a new variety of glory. As I stood, gazing with wonder, the orb, with all its ethereal inmates, began gradually to recede into the dark void, lessening, as it went, and becoming more bright, as it lessened; -till, at length, distant, to all appearance, as a retiring comet, this little world of Spirits, in one small point of intense radiance, shone its last and vanished. "Go," exclaimed the rapt Priest, "ye happy souls, of whose dwelling a glimpse is thus given to our eyes,-go, wander, in your orb, through the boundless heaven, nor ever let a thought of this perishable world come to mingle its dross with your divine nature, or allure you down earthward to that mortal fall by which spirits, no less bright and admirable, have been ruined!" A pause ensued, during which, still under the influence of wonder, I sent my fancy wandering after the inhabitants of that orb—almost wishing myself credulous enough to believe in a heaven, of which creatures, so much like those I had worshipped on earth, were inmates. At length, the Priests, with a mournful sigh at the sad contrast he was about to draw between the happy spirits we had just seen and the fallen ones of earth, resumed again his melancholy History of the Soul. Tracing it gradually, from the first moment of earthward desire to its final eclipse in the pure sky (την γην καθαραν εν καθαρώ κείσθαι ουρανῳ), the abode of divinity, of innocence, and of life." 3 The power of producing a sudden and dazzling effusion of light, which was one of the arts employed by the contrivers of the ancient Mysteries, is thus described in a few words by Apuleius, who was himself admitted to witness the Isiac ceremonies at Corinth :-"Nocte mediâ vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine." In the original construction of this work, there was an episode introduced here (which I have since published in a more extended form), illustrating the doctrine of the fall of the soul by the Oriental fable of the Loves of the Angels. CHAPTER IX. I had already yielded to; and the prospect of being put through still further ceremonials, and of being tutored aud preached to by hypocrites whom mood of mind, a trial of patience, compared to which the flames and whirlwinds I had already encountered were pastime. BEING now left to my own solitary thoughts, II so much despised, appeared to me, in my present was fully at leisure to reflect, with some degree of coolness, upon the inconveniences, if not dangers, of the situation into which my love of adventure had hurried me. However prompt my imagination was always to kindle, in its own ideal sphere, I have ever found that, when brought into contact with reality, it as suddenly cooled;-like those meteors, that appear to be stars, while in the air, but the moment they touch earth, are extinguished. And such was the feeling of disenchantment that now succeeded to the wild dreams in which I had been indulging. As long as Fancy had the field of the future to herself, even immortality did not seem too distant a race for her. But when human instruments interposed, the illusion all vanished. From mortal lips the promise of immortality seemed a mockery, and even imagination had no wings that could carry beyond the grave. Nor was this disappointment the only feeling that pained and haunted me; — -the imprudence of the step, on which I had ventured, now appeared in its full extent before my eyes. I had here thrown myself into the power of the most artful priesthood in the world, without even a chance of being able to escape from their toils, or to resist any machinations with which they might beset me. It appeared evident, from the state of preparation in which I had found all that wonderful apparatus, by which the terrors and splendours of Initiation are produced, that my descent into the pyramid was not unexpected. Numerous, indeed, and active as were the spies of the Sacred College of Memphis, it could little be doubted that all my movements, since my arrival, had been watchfully tracked; and the many hours I had employed in wandering and exploring around the pyramid, betrayed a curiosity and spirit of adventure which might well suggest to these wily priests the hope of inveigling an Epicurean into their toils. I was well aware of their hatred to the sect of which I was Chief;-that they considered the Epicureans as, next to the Christians, the most formidable enemies of their craft and power. "How thoughtless, then," I exclaimed, " to have placed myself in a situation, where I am equally helpless against fraud and violence, and must either pretend to be the dupe of their impostures, or else submit to become the victim of their vengeance!" Of these alternatives, bitter as they both were, the latter appeared by far the more welcome. It was with a blush that I even looked back upon the mockeries Often and impatiently did I look up, between those rocky walls, to the bright sky that appeared to rest upon their summits, as, pacing round and round, through every part of the valley, I endeavoured to find some outlet from its gloomy precincts. But vain were all my endeavours ;that rocky barrier, which seemed to end but in heaven, interposed itself every where. Neither did the image of the young maiden, though constantly in my mind, now bring with it the least consolation or hope. Of what avail was it that she perhaps, was an inhabitant of this region, if I could neither behold her smile, nor catch the sound of her voice if, while among preaching priests I wasted away my hours, her presence was, alas, diffusing its enchantment elsewhere. At length, exhausted, I lay down by the brink of the lake, and gave myself up to all the melancholy of my fancy. The pale semblance of daylight, which had hitherto glimmered around, grew, every moment, more dim and dismal. Even the rich gleam, at the summit of the cascade, had faded; and the sunshine, like the water, exhausted in its descent, had now dwindled into a ghostly glimmer, far worse than darkness. The birds upon the lake, as if about to die with the dying light, sunk down their heads; and, as I looked to the statue, the deepening shadows gave such an expression to its mournful features as chilled my very soul. The thought of death, ever ready to present itself to my imagination, now came, with a disheartening weight, such as I had never before felt. I almost fancied myself already in the dark vestibule of the grave-removed, for ever, from the world above, and with nothing but the blank of an eternal sleep before me. It had happened, I knew, frequently, that the visitants of this mysterious realm were, after their descent from earth, never seen or heard of; - being condemned, for some failure in their initiatory trials, to pine away their lives in those dark dungeons, with which, as well as with altars, this region abounded. Such, I shuddered to think, might probably be my own destiny; and so appalling was the thought, that even the courage by which I had been hitherto sustained died within me, and I was already giving myself up to helplessness and despair. At length, after some hours of this gloomy musing, I heard a rustling In the sacred grove behind the statue; and, soon after, the sound of the Priest's voice-more welcome than I had ever thought such voice could be brought the assurance that I was not yet wholly abandoned. Finding his way to me through the gloom, he now led me to the same spot, on which we had parted so many hours before; and, addressing me in a voice that retained no trace of displeasure, bespoke my attention, while he should reveal to me some of those divine truths, by whose infusion, he said, into the soul of man, its purification can alone be effected. The valley had now become so dark, that we could no longer, as we sat, discern each other's faces. There was a melancholy in the voice of my instructor that well accorded with the gloom around us and, saddened and subdued, I now listened with resignation, if not with interest, to those sublime, but, alas, I thought, vain tenets, which, with all the warmth of a true believer, this Hierophant expounded to me. He spoke of the pre-existence of the soul of its abode, from all eternity, in a place of splendour and bliss, of which whatever we have most beautiful in our conceptions here is but a dim transcript, a clouded remembrance. In the blue depths of ether, he said, lay that "Country of the Soul" -its boundary alone visible in the line of milky light, which, as by a barrier of stars, separates it from the dark earth. "Oh, realm of purity! Home of the yet unfallen Spirit!-where, in the days of her first innocence, she wandered; ere yet her beauty was soiled by the touch of earth, or her resplendent wings had withered away. Methinks I see," he cried, "at this moment, those fields of radiance - I look back, through the mists of life, into that luminous world, where the souls that have never lost their high, heavenly rank, still soar, without a stain, above the shadowless stars, and there dwell together in infinite perfection and bliss!" As he spoke these words, a burst of pure, brilliant light, like a sudden opening of heaven, broke through the valley; and, as soon as my 1 For a full account of the doctrines which are here represented as having been taught to the initiated in the Egyptian mysteries, the reader may consult Dupuis, Prichard's Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology, &c. &c. "L'on découvroit l'origine de l'âme, sa chute sur la terre, à travers les sphères et les élémens, et son retour au lieu de son origine. c'étoit ici la partie la plus métaphysique, et que ne pourroit guère entendre le commun des Initiés, mais dont on lui donnoit le spectacle par des figures et des spectres allégoriques." Dupuis. 2 See Beausobre, lib. iii. c. 4., for the "terre bienheureuse et lumineuse," which the Manicheans supposed God to inhabit. Plato, too, speaks (in Phæd.) of a pure land lying in eyes were able to endure the splendour, such a vision of glory and loveliness opened upon them, as took even my sceptical spirit by surprise, and made it yield, at once, to the potency of the spell. Suspended, as I thought, in air, and occupying the whole of the opposite region of the valley, there appeared an immense orb of light, within which, through a haze of radiance, I could see distinctly fair groups of young female spirits, who, in silent, but harmonious movement, like that of the stars, wound slowly through a variety of fanciful evolutions; seeming, as they linked and unlinked each other's arms, to form a living labyrinth of beauty and grace. Though their feet appeared to glide along a field of light, they had also wings, of the most brilliant hue, which like rainbows over waterfalls, when played with by the breeze, reflected, every moment, a new variety of glory. As I stood, gazing with wonder, the orb, with all its ethereal inmates, began gradually to recede into the dark void, lessening, as it went, and becoming more bright, as it lessened; - till, at length, distant, to all appearance, as a retiring comet, this little world of Spirits, in one small point of intense radiance, shone its last and vanished. "Go," exclaimed the rapt Priest, "ye happy souls, of whose dwelling a glimpse is thus given to our eyes,-go, wander, in your orb, through the boundless heaven, nor ever let a thought of this perishable world come to mingle its dross with your divine nature, or allure you down earthward to that mortal fall by which spirits, no less bright and admirable, have been ruined!" A pause ensued, during which, still under the influence of wonder, I sent my fancy wandering after the inhabitants of that orb-almost wishing myself credulous enough to believe in a heaven, of which creatures, so much like those I had worshipped on earth, were inmates. At length, the Priests, with a mournful sigh at the sad contrast he was about to draw between the happy spirits we had just seen and the fallen ones of earth, resumed again his melancholy History of the Soul. Tracing it gradually, from the first moment of earthward desire to its final eclipse in the pure sky (την γην καθαραν εν καθαρώ κείσθαι ουρανω), the abode of divinity, of innocence, and of life." 3 The power of producing a sudden and dazzling effusion of light, which was one of the arts employed by the contrivers of the ancient Mysteries, is thus described in a few words by Apuleius, who was himself admitted to witness the Isiac ceremonies at Corinth :-"Nocte media vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine." 4 In the original construction of this work, there was an episode introduced here (which I have since published in a more extended form), illustrating the doctrine of the fall of the soul by the Oriental fable of the Loves of the Angels. |