CHAPTER X. THE apparition with which I had been blessed in that Valley of Visions-for so the place where I had witnessed these wonders was called-brought back to my heart all the hopes and fancies in which, during my descent from earth, I had indulged. I had now seen once more that matchless creature, who had been my guiding star into this mysterious realm; and that she was destined to be, in some way, connected with the further revelations that awaited me, I saw no reason to doubt. There was a sublimity, too, in the doctrines of my reverend teacher, and even a hope in the promises of immortality held out by him, which, in spite of reason, won insensibly both upon my fancy and my pride. The Future, however, was now but of secondary consideration;-the Present, and that deity of the Present, woman, were the objects that engrossed my whole soul. It was, indeed, for the sake of such beings alone that I considered immortality desirable, nor without them, would eternal life have appeared to me worth a single prayer. To every further trial of my patience and faith, I now made up my mind to submit without a murmur. Some kind chance, I foudly persuaded myself, might yet bring me nearer to the object of my adoration, and enable me to address, as mortal woman, one who had hitherto been to me but as a vision, a shade. The period of my probation, however, was nearly at an end Both frame and spirit had now stood the trial; and as the crowning test of the purification of the latter was that power of seeing into the world of spirits, with which I had proved myself, in the Valley of Visions, to be endowed, there now remained, to complete my Initiation, but this one night more, when, in the Temple of Isis, and in the presence of her unveiled image, the last grand revelation of the Secret of Secrets was to be laid open to me. I passed the morning of this day in company with the same venerable personage who had, from the first, presided over the ceremonies of my instruction; and who, to inspire me with due reverence for the power and magnificence of his religion, now conducted me through the long range of illuminated galleries and shrines, that extend under the site 1" Bernard, Comte de la Marche-Trevisane, instruit par la lecture des livres anciens, dit, que Hermes trouva sept tables dans la vallée d'Hebron, sur lesquelles étoient gravés Les principes des arts libéraux." Fables Egyptiennes. See Jablonski de stelis Herm. 2 For an account of the anima. worship of the Egyptians, see De l'auw, tom ii. upon which Memphis and the Pyramids stand, and form a counterpart under ground to that mighty city of temples upon earth. He then descended with me, still lower, into those winding crypts, where lay the Seven Tables of stone,' found by Hermes in the valley of Hebron. "On these tables," said he, "is written all the knowledge of the antediluvian race-the decrees of the stars from the beginning of time, the annals of a still earlier world, and all the marvellous secrets, both of heaven and earth, which would have been, 'but for this key. Lost in the Universal Sea.'" Returning to se region from which we had descended, we next visited, in succession, a series of small shrines representing the various objects af adoration throughout Egypt, and thus furnishing to the Priest an occasion of explaining the mysterious nature of animal worship, and the refined doctrines of theology that lay veiled under its forms. Every shrine was consecrated to a particular faith, and contained a living image of the deity which it adored. Beside the goat of Mendes, with his refulgent star upon his breast, I saw the crocodile, as presented to the eyes of its idolater at Arsinoë, with costly gems in its loathsome ears, and rich bracelets of gold encircling its feet. Here, floating through a tank in the centre of a temple, the sacred carp of Lepidotum showed its silvery scales; while, there, the Isiac serpents trailed languidly over the altar, with that sort of movement which is thought most favorable to the aspirations of their votaries. In one of the small chapels we found a beautiful child, employed in feeding and watching over those golden beetles, which are adored for their brightness, as emblems of the sun; while, in another, stood a sacred ibis upon its pedestal, so like, in plumage and attitude, to the bird of the young Priestess, that most gladly would I have knelt down and worshipped it for her sake. After visiting all these various shrines, and hearing the reflections which they suggested, I was next led by my guide to the Great Hall of the Zodiac, on whose ceiling was delineated, in bright and undying colors, the map of the firmament, as it appeared at the first dawn of time. Here, in pointing out the track of the sun among the spheres, he spoke of the analogy that exists between moral and phy 3 Herodotus (Euterp.) tells us that the people about Thebes and Lake Mæris kept a number of tame crocodiles, which they worshipped, and dressed them out with gems and golden ornaments in their ears. 4 "On auguroit bien de serpens isiaques, lorsqu'ils goûtoient l'offrande et se trainoient lentement autour de l'autel." De Pauw. me. sical darkness of the sympathy with which all stir a limb from the position in which he had left spiritual creatures regard the sun, so as to sadden and decline when he sinks into his wintry hemisphere, and to rejoice when he resumes his own empire of light. Hence, the festivals and hymns, with which most of the nations of the earth are wont to welcome the resurrection of his orb in spring, as an emblem and pledge of the reascent of the soul to heaven. Hence, the songs of sorrow, the mournful ceremonies'-like those Mysteries of the Night, upon the Lake of Sals-in which they brood over its autumnal descent into the shades, as a type of the Spirit's fall into this world of death. The prospect of the long watch I had now to look forward to was dreadful. Even danger itself. if in an active form, would have been far preferable to this sort of safe, but dull, probation, by which pa tience was the only virtue put to the proof. Having ascertained how far the space around me was free from obstacles, I endeavored to beguile the time by pacing up and down within those limits, till I became tired of the monotonous echoes of my own tread Finding my way, then, to what I felt to be a mas sive pillar, and leaning wearily against it, I surrea dered myself to a train of thoughts and feelings, f different from those with which the good Hierophant had hoped to inspire me. "If these priests," thought I, "possess really the secret of life, why are they themselves the vic tims of death? why sink into the grave with the In discourses such as these the hours passed away; and though there was nothing in the light of this sunless region to mark to the eye the decline of day, my own feelings told me that the night drew near ;-nor, in spite of my incredulity, could I refrain from a slight flutter of hope, as that prom-cup of immortality in their hands? But no, safe ised moment of revelation drew nigh, when the Mystery of Mysteries was to be made all my own. This consummation, however, was less near than I expected. My patience had still further trials to encounter. It was necessary, I now found, that, during the greater part of the night, I should keep watch in the Sanctuary of the Temple, alone and in utter darkness-thus preparing myself, by meditation, for the awful moment, when the irradiation from behind the sacred Veils was to burst upon me. boasters, the eternity they so lavishly promise is r served for another, a future world-that ready resource of all priestly promises-that depository of the airy pledges of all creeds. Another world!-alas! where doth it lie? or, what spirit hath ever come to say that Life is there ?" The conclusion at which, half sadly, half pas sionately, I arrived, was that, life being but a dream of the moment never to come again, every bliss so vaguely promised for hereafter ought to be secured by the wise man here. And, as no heaven I had At the appointed hour, we left the Hall of the ever heard of from these visionary priests opened hal Zodiac, and proceeded through a long line of marble such certainty of happiness as that smile which I galleries, where the lamps were more thinly scat- beheld last night—“Let me,” I exclaimed, impatered as we advanced, till, at length, we found our-tiently, striking the massy pillar till it rung, "let me selves in total darkness. Here the Priest, taking but make that beautiful Priestess my own, and I me by the hand, and leading me down a flight of here willingly exchange for her every chance of im steps, into a place where the same deep gloom pre-mortality, that the combined wisdom of Egypt's vailed, said, with a voice trembling, as if from excess Twelve Temples can offer me!" of awe,-"Thou art now within the Sanctuary of our goddess, Isis, and the veils, that conceal her sacred image, are before thee!" No sooner had I uttered these words, than a tremendous peal, like that of thunder, rolled over the Sanctuary, and seemed to shake its very walls. On every side, too, a succession of blue, vivid flashes pierced, like lances of light, through the gloom, revealing to me, at intervals, the mighty dome is which I stood its ceiling of azure, studded with After exhorting me earnestly to that train of thought which best accorded with the spirit of the place where I stood, and, above all, to that full and unhesitating faith, with which alone, he said, the manifestation of such mysteries should be approach-stars-its colossal columns, towering aloft,-and ed, the holy man took leave of me, and reascended the steps;-while, so spell-bound did I feel by that deep darkness, that the last sound of his footsteps died upon my ear, before I ventured to those dark, awful veils, whose massy drapery hung from the roof to the floor, covering the rich glories of the Shrine beneath their folds. So weary had I grown of my tedious watch, that 1 For an account of the various festivals at the different periods of the sun's progress, in the spring, and in the autumn, see Dupuis and Prichard. * Vide Athenag. Leg. pro Christ., p. 138. 3 See, for some curious remarks on the mode of imitating! thunder and lightning in the ancient mysteries, De Par tom. i. p. 323. The machine with which these effects were produced on the stage was called a Ceraunoscope. this stormy and fitful illumination, during which the Sanctuary seemed to rock to its base, was by no means an unwelcome interruption of the monotonous trial my patience had to suffer. After a short interval, however, the flashes ceased;-the sounds died away, like exhausted thunder, through the abyss, and darkness and silence, like that of the grave, succeeded. Resting my back once more against the pillar, and fixing my eyes upon that side of the Sanctuary from which the promised irradiation was to burst, I now resolved to await the awful moment in patience. Resigned, and almost immoveable, I had remained thus for nearly another hour, when suddenly along the edges of the nighty Veils, I perceived a thin rim of light, as if from some brilliant object under them; -resembling that border which encircles a cloud at sunset, when the rich radiance from behind is escaping at its edges. This indication of concealed glories grew every instant more strong; till, at last, vividly marked as it was upon the darkness, the narrow fringe of lustre almost pained the eye-giving promise of a fulness of splendor too bright to be endured. My expectations were now wound to the highest pitch, and all the skepticism, into which I had been cooling down my mind, was forgotten. The wonders that had been presented to me since my descent from earththat glimpse into Elysium on the first night of my coming-those visitants from the land of Spirits in the mysterious valley-all led me to expect, in this last and brightest revelation, such visions of glory and knowledge as might transcend even fancy itself, nor leave a doubt that they belonged less to earth than heaven. While, with an imagination thus excited, I stood waiting the result, an increased gush of light still more awakened my attention; and I saw with an intenseness of interest, which made my heart beat aloud, one of the corners of the mighty Veil raised slowly from the floor. I now felt that the Great Secret, whatever it might be, was at hand. A vague hope even crossed my mind-so wholly had imagination now resumed her empire-that the splendid promise of my dream was on the very point of being realized! With surprise, however, and, for the moment, with some disappointment, I perceived, that the massy corner of the Veil was but lifted sufficiently from the ground to allow a female figure to emerge from under it--and then fell over its mystic splendors as utterly dark as before. By the strong light, too, that issued when the drapery was raised, and illuminated the profile of the emerging figure, I either saw, or fancied that I saw, the same bright features that had already so often mocked me with their mo mentary charm, and seemed destined, indeed, to haunt my fancy as unavailingly as even the fond, vain dream of Immortality itself. Dazzled as I had been by that short gush of splendor, and distrusting even my senses, when under the influence of so much excitement, I had but just begun to question myself as to the reality of my impression, when I heard the sounds of light footsteps approaching me through the gloom. In a second or two more, the figure stopped before me, and, placing the end of a riband gently in my hand, said, in a tremulous whisper, "Follow, and be silent." So sudden and strange was the adventure, that, for a moment, I hesitated-fearing that my eyes might possibly have been deceived as to the object they had seen. Casting a look towards the Veil, which seemed bursting with its luminous secret, I was almost doubting to which of the two chances I should commit myself, when I felt the riband in my hand pulled softly at the other extremity. This movement, like a touch of magic, at once decided me. Without any further deliberation, I yielded to the silent summons, and following my guide, who was already at some distance before me, found myself led up the same flight of marble steps, by which the Priest had conducted me into the Sanctuary. Arrived at their summit, I felt the pace of my conductress quicken, and giving one more look to the Veiled Shrine, whose glories we left burning uselessly behind us, hastened onward into the gloom, full of confidence in the belief, that she, who now held the other end of that clue, was one whom I was ready to follow devotedly through the world. CHAPTER XI. WITH such rapidity was I hurried along by my unseen guide, full of wonder at the speed with which she ventured through these labyrinths, that I had but little time left for reflection upon the strangeness of the adventure to which I had committed myself. My knowledge of the character of the Memphian priests, as well as some fearful rumors that had reached me, concerning the fate that often attended unbelievers in their hands, awakened a momentary suspicion of treachery in my mind. But, when I recalled the face of my guide, as I had seen it in the small chapel, with that divine look, the very memory of which brought purity into the heart, I found my suspicions all vanishı, |