Uarda: a Romance of Ancient Egypt

is still standing and known as the temple of Qurnah.]-and was one of the largest in the City of the Dead. Only that magnificent building of the time

yet greater son Seti carried on the erection, in which the service of the dead for the Manes of the members of the new royal family was conducted, and the high festivals held in honor of the Gods of the under-world. Great sums had been expended for its establishment, for the maintenance of the priesthood of its sanctuary, and the support of the

these foundations was a very

description of an Egyp

from the reign of

or, Mer

ction, but, subsequently, when they had won admission to the highest ranks of learning, and attained the dignity of "Scribes," were maintained at the cost of the king, an

the younger disciples, who had been prepared in the elementary school, which was also dependent on the House-or university-of Seti. The lower school was open to every son of a free citizen, and was often frequented

few sons of the noblest families, who were brought u

ent, had had his own sons, not exceptin

arge a part in them, that a pedagogue could record this saying: "Th

choose a master from among the learned of the higher grades, who undertook to be his philosophical guide, and to whom he remained attached a

nstruction was given to students who desired to devote themselves to architect

he House of Seti. It consisted of more than eight hundred members,

same time the superior of all the thousands of upper and under servan

to a broad fore-court, enclosed on the two sides by colonnades, and beyond which stood a second gate-way. When he had passed through this door, which stood between two towers, in shape

last was dimly lig

ad a handsome and decorative effect, as the humble material of which they were constructed was pl

he priests and philosophers. On each side of the court was a shady, covered colonnade of wood, and in the midst a tank with ornamental pl

he temple of Seti, between a well kept grove and a clear lake-the sacred tank of the temple; but they only occupied it while fulfilling thei

om the king had arrived-the princess Bent-Anat had been attacked by the Kolchytes-and a wag among the school-boys who had got out, declared that Paaker, the king's pioneer, had been brought into the temple by force to be made to learn to write better. As the subject of the joke had formerly been a pupil of the House of Seti, and many delectable stories of his errors in

outing of the boys at such an unwonted hou

iritual matters which emanated from the House of Seti-that is to say, from Ameni. He was the embodiment of the priestly idea; and if at times he made heavy-nay extraordinary-demands on individual fraternities, they were submitted to, for it was known by experience that the indirect roads which he ordered them to follow all converged on one goal, namely the exaltation of the

w form of the Egyptia

me house," or "high

nin

sake of a limited dominion over what seemed to him petty external concerns,

s mode and habits of lif

t to him, know what portion of the ten days he gave up to recreation. He required only four hours of sleep. This he usually took in a dark room which no sound could reach, and in the m

cleansing, purification, shaving, and fasting he fulfilled

metrical and of a long oval; his forehead was neither broad nor high, but his profile was unusually delicate, and his face striking; his lips were thin and dry, and his large and piercing eyes,

in song, and had likened them to a well-disciplined army which the general allows to rest b

y; it was partly intrinsic and born with him, partly the result of his own mental self-co

ment, as the disturbance in the court

was visible of the masterpieces of the artists of the establishment, for almost everywhere they were concealed by wooden closets and shelves, in which were papyrus-r

t form on which the E

s were found in the

e still us

ucers, and boxes, composed the furniture of the room, which was lighted by three lamps

e confined the drapery of his robe. Round his throat and far down on his bare breast hung a necklace more than a span deep, composed of pearls and agates, and his upper arm was covered with broad gold bracelets. He rose from the ebony seat with lion's

o the higher classes w

l are preserv

af, over his shoulders. A second servant held a metal mirror before Ame

e insignia of his dignity as a prelate, when a

had talked with the princess Bent-Ana

s blessing, and in a clear sweet voice, and rather formal and unf

this untimely hour, since you can inform me of

is hour, but that a quite unnecessary tumult has been raised by the youths; and that the princess Bent-Ana

of Pharaoh sick?"

ness of her horses-she ran over the daughter of the paraschites Pinem. Noble-

he dwelling of

hast

w asks to b

er, for the purest humanity led her to the act,

rave voice and he raised his eyes w

rk sails across the heavens, his light falls as freely and as bountifully on the hut of the despised poor as on the Palace of the Ph

I many years ago vowed to the Gods; to guard knowledge as the exclusive possession of the initiated. Like fire, it serves those who know its uses to the noblest ends, but in the hands of children-and the people, the mob, can never ripen into manhood-it is a destroying brand, raging and unextinguishable, devouring all around it, and destroying all that has been built and beautified by the past. And how can we remain the Sages and continue to develop and absorb all learning within the shelter of our temples, not only without endangering the weak,

of the speaker, and while he held the poet sp

ges these breaches; we punish even the friend who idly

ment while the blood mounted to his cheeks. The high-pri

their features was similar. Nevertheless no one would have taken them to be ev

nd to contemplate life as it painted itself in the transfiguring magic-mirror of his poet's soul. Frankness and enjoyment spoke in his sparkling eye, but the subtle smile on his lips when he wa

yet the powerful presence of the other exercised so strong an influence over his mind, long trained to submi

s not matter-so the short-sighted and heedless think; but I say to you, you have doubly transgressed, because the wrong-doer was the king's daughter, whom all look up to, great and small, and whose actions may serve as an example to the people. On whom then must a breach of the ancient institutions lie with the darkest stain if not on the highest in rank? In a few days it will be said the paraschites are men even as we are, and the old law to avoid them as unclean is folly. And will the reflections of the people, think you, end there, when it is so easy for them to say that he who errs in one point may as well fail in all? In questions of faith, my son, nothing is insignificant. If we open one tower to the enemy he is m

that One-all things else-even the misguiding voice of your heart, the treacherous voice of your judgment.-But stay! send leeches to the h

ker, the king's pioneer, behind in the temple

and said. "Paaker! to attend

h he had kept cast down. "And Pentaur," he murmured, "the gard

the daughter of the king, but with the transgressor of the sacred instit

priest muttered to himself: "He is not yet what

ck? He has the faculty of learning-of thinking-of feeling-of winning all hearts, even mine. He keeps himself undefiled and separate-" suddenly the prelate paused