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the unfortunate . la Egypt he would bave been an Egyptian , a hierophant , a general ; in Arabia , he becomes a Hebrew . Vast and glorious , presents itself to hi 9 spirit the idea , " I will deliver this people . "
But what possibility of accomplishing this resolve ? Not to be overlooked are the hindrances which press around him s and those with which he must contend amongst his own people , are , of all , by far the most alarming . There is neither union nor confidence ,
neither self-estimation nor courage , neither public spirit , nor the stirring animation by which noble deeds are inspired , on which to calculate ; a long slavery , a 400 years' misery has
stifled all these feelings . The people at whose head he is to step are equally unfit for , and unworthy of , the bold venture . From them nothing can be expected , without them nothing achieved . What then remains to him ?
Before he undertakes their deliverance , lie must begin by rendering them worthy of the benefit . He must reinstate them in the rig-lit of humanit y * beyond which they have been outlawed . He must restore the qualities smothered by long degradation to a savage state—that is , must enkindle newhope , confidence , heroism and
enthu-. But these emotions can only be supported by a real or factitious consciousness of power ; and whence shall the slaves of Egypt derive this feeling ? Granted that he succeed in carrying
them away by his persuasive eloquence for a moment , will not this flash of inspiration desert them at the first appearance of danger ? Will they not , more pusillanimous than ever , relapse into their slavery ?
Here comes the Egyptian priest and politician to the aid of the Hebrew . From his mysteries , from his priestly school at Heliopolis , he calls to mind the powerful instrument by which an insignificant order bent to its will millions of rude men . This
instrument is no other than confidence in celestial protection , and belief in supernatural powers . Discerning nothing in the visible world , in the natural course of events , that can inspire
courage in his oppressed nation , nothing terrestrial on which they may link th £ ir t * ttst , he binds it to heaven . Giving up tine hope of iiftlSIIiiig- into
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them the feeling of their own strength , he has nothing to do but to conduct them to a God who possesses this strength . Can he but succeed in infusing trust in this Deity , he makes them strong and bold , and confidence in a higher arm is the flame at which
he must kindle virtue and power . Can he but accredit himself with his brethren as the organ and ambassador of this God , they become as a ball in his hands ; he can lead them as he will . But now occurs the question * What God shall he proclaim to them , and how shall he inspire them with faith ?
Shall he announce to them the real God , the Demiurgos , the Jao , in whom he himself believes , whom he has learned to recognize in the mysteries I How to an ignorant , slavish
population , such as his nation , could he even distinctly intimate that truth which is the inheritance of a few Egyptian sages , and offered to the intellectual grasp of only an elevated rank of Jllununati ? How could he flatter
himself with the hope that the refuse of Egypt could understand aught of that which was barely comprehended by the best of the land } But granted that he could succeed in inspiring the Hebrews with a knowledge of the true God , they could never avail themselves of it in their
situation , and the knowledge would rather undermine than forward his undertaking . The true God troubled himself no more about the Hebrews
than about any other people . The true God could not contend for them , nor for their pleasure disturb the laws of nature . He would let them fight out their quarrel with the Egyptians and mingle by no miracle in the combat . What then could he avail ?
Shall he proclaim to them a false and fabling deity against whom his reason revolts , and whom the mysteries have rendered odious to him ? For this is his understanding too
enlightened , his heart too upright and noble . On a lie he will not ground his beneficent undertaking * The inspiration which now animates him will not suffer him to borrow its
benevoleilt fire from deceit , and for such a disgraceful part , contradicted by his internal conviction , he would be deficient in zeal , in alacrity , and ia perseverance . The good he purposes to achieve for his people shall be com-
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The Mamie Mission . 201
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vol . xx . 2 b
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 201, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/9/
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