THE HOLY SONG. Let all the nature of the world entertain the hearing of this hymn. Be opened, O Earth, and let all the treasure of the rain be opened. Ye trees, tremble not, for I will sing, and praise the Lord of the creation, and the All, the One. Be opened, ye Heavens, ye winds stand still, and let the immortal circle of God receive these words. For I will sing and praise Him that created all things, that fixed the earth and hung up the heavens, and commanded the sweet water to come out of the ocean into all the world inhabited, to the use and nourishment of all things, or men. That commanded the fire to shine for every action, both to God and men. Let us together give him blessing, which rideth upon the heavens, the Creator of all Nature. O, all ye powers that are in me, praise the One, the All. Sing together with my will, all ye powers that are in me. O holy knowledge, being enlightened by thee, I magnify the Intelligible Light, and rejoice in the Joy of the Mind. This is God that is better than any name; this is he that is secret; this is he that is most manifest; this is he that is to be seen by the mind; this is he that is visible to the eye; this is he that hath no body; and this is he that hath many bodies, rather there is nothing of any body that is not of him; for he alone is all things. And for this cause he hath all names, because he is the One Father. INSCRIPTIONS ON EGYPTIAN TOMBS. He loved his father, he honored his mother, he loved his brethren, and never went from his home in a bad temper. He never preferred the great man to the low one.-Tomb in Upper Egypt. I honored my father; I esteemed my mother; I loved my brothers; I found graves for the unburied dead; I instructed little children; I took care of orphans as though they were my For great misfortunes were on Egypt and this city, in my time. Tomb of a Priest at Sais, in reign of Cambyses. own. What I have done I will say. My goodness and kindness were ample. I never oppressed the widow or the fatherless; I did not treat cruelly the fishermen, the shepherds, or the poor laborers. There was nowhere in my time hunger or want, for I cultivated all my fields, far and near, that their inhabitants might have food. I never preferred the great and powerful to the humble and poor, but did equal justice to all. -Tomb of a Nomad Prince, at Ben Hassan. I lived in truth and fed my soul with justice. What I did to men was done in peace, and how I loved God, God and my heart well know. I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and a shelter to the stranger. I honored the gods with sacrifices and the dead with offerings.-Tomb of a Pharaoh, at Thebes, I never took the child from its mother's bosom, nor the poor man from the side of his wife.-On a Tomb at Sycopolis. AMUN TO THothmes.* I am come; to thee have I given to strike down Syrian princes; Under thy feet they lie throughout the breadth of their coun try; Like the Lord of Light I made them see thy glory, Blinding their eyes with light, O earthly image of Amun! I am come; to thee have I given to strike down Asian peoples; Captive now thou hast led the proud Assyrian chieftains; In glittering arms and fighting, high in thy lofty chariot. * Inscription at Karnak, describing success of Thothmes III, B. C. about 1600, translated by De Ronge. The king's triumphs are ascribed to the god Amun. I am come; to thee have I given to strike down western nations; Cyprus and the Ases have both heard thy name with terror; Like a strong-horned bull I made them see thy glory; Strong with piercing horns, so that none can stand before him. I am come; to thee have I given to strike down Lybian archers; All the isles of the Greeks submit to the force of thy spirit; Like a regal lion, I made them see thy glory; Couched by the corpse he has made, down in the rocky valley. I am come; to thee have I given to strike down the ends of the ocean; In the grasp of the hand is the circling zone of the waters ; Like the soaring eagle, I have made them see thy glory; Whose far-seeing eye there is none can hope to escape from. AMUN. The spirit of the Supreme moving on the face of the waters. The Spirit who animates and perpetuates the world by mixing himself with all its parts. He who brings hidden things to light. CHAPTER VI. HEBREW. JUDAISM, ANCIENT AND MODERN. TRUE SERVICE AND REWARD. 1. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinances of their God: They ask of me the ordinances of justice: They take delight in approaching to God. 3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with. the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? 6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. 9. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10. If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day: 11. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. : 12. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.-Isaiah, Old Testament. PERFECTNESS OF DIVINE LAW. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy work. 2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 4. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. 5. Which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. |