same time, with a look that would have taught Stoics them selves tenderness. I lost not a moment in obeying the welcome command. With a thousand wild hopes naturally crowding upon my fancy, at the thoughts of a voyage, under such auspices, I descended rapidly to the shore, and hailing one of those boats that ply upon the Lake for hire, arranged speedily for a passage down the canal to the Nile. Having learned, too, from the boatman, a more easy path up the rock, I hastened back to the Temple for my fair charge; and, without a word or look, that could alarm, even by its kindness, or disturb the innocent confidence which she now evidently reposed in me, led her down by the winding path to the boat. Every thing around looked sunny and smiling as we em barked. The morning was in its first freshness, and the pr h of the breeze might clearly be traced over the Lake, as it went wakening up the waters from their sleep of the night. The gay, golden-winged birds that haunt these shores, were, in every direction, skimming along the Lake; while, with a graver consciousness of beauty, the swan and the pelican were seen dressing their white plumage in the mirror of its wave. To add to the liveliness of the scene, there came, at intervals, on the breeze, a sweet tinkling of musical instruments from boats at a distance, employed thus early in pursuing the fish of these waters, that allow themselves to be decoyed into the Rets by music. The vessel I had selected for our voyage was one of those mall pleasure-boats or yachts-so much in use among the luxurous navigators of the Nile-in the centre of which rises a pavilion of cedar or cypress wood, adorned richly on the outside, with religious emblems, and gaily fitted up, within, for feasting and repose. To the door of this pavilion I now led my companion, and, after a few words of kindness-tempered cautiously with as much reserve as the deep tenderness of my feeling towards her would admit-left her to court that restoring rest, which the agitation of her spirits so much required. For myself, though repose was hardly less necessary to me, the state of ferment in which I had been so long kept, appeared to render it hopeless. Having thrown myself on the deck of the vessel, under an awning which the sailors had raised for me, I continued, for some hours, in a sort of vague day-dream-sometimes passing in review the scenes of that subterranean drama, and sometimes, with my eyes fixed in drowsy vacancy, receiving passively the impressions of the bright scenery through which we passed. The banks of the canal were then luxuriantly wooded. Under the tufts of the light and towering palm were seen the orange and the citron, interlacing their boughs; while, here and there, huge tamarisks thickened the shade, and, at the very edge of the bank, the willow of Babylon stood bending its graceful branches into the water. Occasionally, out of the depth of these groves, there shone a small temple or pleasure-house; while, now and then, an opening in their line of foliage allowed the eye to wander over extensive fields, all covered with beds of those pale, sweet roses, for which this district of Egypt is so celebrated. The activity of the morning hour was visible in every direction. Flights of doves and lapwings were fluttering among the leaves; and the white heron, which had been roosting all night in some date-tree, now stood sunning its wings upon the green bank, or floated, like living silver, over the flood. The flowers, too,oth of land and water, looked all just freshly awakened;—and, most of all, the superb lotus, which, having risen along with the sun from the wave, was now holding|| up her chalice for a full draught of his light. Such were the scenes that now successively presented themselves, and mingled with the vague reveries that oated through my mind, as our boat, with its high, capacious sail, swept along the flood. Though the occurrences of the last few days could not but appear to me one continued series of wonders, yet by far the greatest marvel of ail was, that she, whose first look had sent wild-fire into my heart-whom I had thought of 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 Nilegoose, 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 nim bly, as the light fell on their gold and azure hues. Over come 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. It was by the canal through which we now sailed, that, ta the more prosperous days of Memphis, the commerce of Up per Egypt and Nubia was transported to her magnificent Lake, and from thence, having paid tribute to the queen of cities, was poured forth again, through the Nile, into the ocean. The course of this canal to the river was not direct, but ascending in a south-easterly direction towards the Said; 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 si lence 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 waking, was that fair young Priestess-seated with in a porch which shaded the door of the pavilion, and bend ing 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 we with in the chapel, return. There was even a purer and holier charm around her countenance, thus seen 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 ap proached the pavilion. But the mere movement had startled her from her devotion, and, blushing and confused, she cover ed 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 gal lantry 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 may be the operations of making love and feeling it. In the few words of greeting now exchanged between us, it was evident that the gay, the enterprising Epicurean was little less embarrassed than the secluded Priestess;—and, after one or two ineffectual efforts to converse, the eyes of both turned bashfully away, and we relapsed into silence. 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 between 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 r、 'al daughters of the Ptolemies, when far away, on foreign thrones, have been known to sigh in the midst of their splendour. As our boat, with slackened sail, was gliding into the current, an inqury from the boat men, whether they should anchor for the night in the Nile, first reminded me of the ignorance in which I still remained, with respect to the motive or destination of our voyage. Embarrassed by their question, I directed my eyes towards the Priestess, whom I saw waiting for my answer with a look of anxiety, which this silent reference to her wishes at once dispelled. Unfolding eagerly the volume with which I had seen her so much occupied, she took from between its folds a small leaf of papyrus, on which there appeared to be some faint lines of drawing, and after looking upon it thoughtfully for a few moments, placed it, with an agitated hand, in mine. In the mean time, the boatmen had taken in their sail, and the yacht drove slowly down the river with the current; while, by a light which had been kindled at sunset on the deck, I stood examining the leaf that the Priestess had giɣen meber dark eyes fixed anxiously on my countenance all the while. The lines traced upon the papyrus were so faint as to be most invisible, and I was for some time wholly unable to form a conjecture as to their import. At length, however, I succeeded in meking out that they were a sort of map, or Jutlines traced slightly and unsteadily with a Memphian reed—of a part of that mountainous ridge by which Upper Fgypt is bounded to the east, together with the names, or rather emblems, of the chief towns in its immediate neighbourhood. It was thither, I now saw clearly, that the young Priestess wished to pursue her course. Without further delay, therefore, I ordered the boatmen to set our yacht before the wind, and ascend the current. My command was promptly obeyed: the white sail again rose into the region of the breeze, and the satisfaction that beamed in every feature of the fair Egyptian showed that the quickness with which I had attended to Ser wishes was not unfelt by her. The moon had now risen; and though the current was against us, the Etesian wind of the season blew strongly up the river, and we were soon floating before it, through the rich plains and groves of the Said. The love with which this simple girl had inspired me, was partly, perhaps, from the mystic scenes and situations in which I had seen her, not unmingled with a tinge of superstitious awe, under the influence of which I felt the natural buoyancy of my spirit repressed. The few words that had passed between us on the subject of our route had somewhat loosened this spell; and what I wanted of vivacity and confi dence was more than compensated by the tone of deep sensibility which love had awakened in their place. We had not proceeded far, before the glittering of lights at a distance, and the shooting up of fire-works, at intervals, into the air, apprized us that we were then approaching one of those night-fairs, or marts, which it is the custom, at this season, to hold upon the Nile. To me the scene was familiar, but to my young companion it was evidently a new world; and the mixture of alarm and delight with which she gazed, from under her veil, upon the busy scene into which we now sailed, gave an air of innocence to her beauty, which still more heightened its every charm. It was one of the widest parts of the river; and the whole surface, from one bank to the other, was covered with boats. Along the banks of a green island, in the middle of the stream, lay anchored the galleys of the principal traders-large floating bazaars, bearing each the name of its owner, emblazoned in letters of flame, upon the stern. Over their decks were spread out, in gay confusion, the products of the loom and needle of Egypt-rich carpets of Memphis, and likewise those variegated veils, for which the female embroiderers of the Nile are so celebrated, and to which the name of Cleopatra lends traditional charm. In each of the other galleys was exhibitext some branch of Egyptian workmanship-vases of the fragrant porcelain of On-cups of that frail crystal, whose hues change like those of the pigeon's plumage-enamelled amulets graven with the head of Anubis, and necklaces and bracelets of the black beans of Abyssinia. While Commerce was thus displaying her various luxuries in one quarter, in every other, the spirit of Pleasure, in all its cuntless shapes, swarmed over the waters. Nor was the festivity confined to the river alone; as along the banks of the island and on the shores, illuminated mansions were seen glittering through the trees, from whence sounds of music and merriment came. In some of the boats were bands of minstrels, who, from time to time, answered each other, like echoes, across the wave; and the notes of the lyre, the flageolet, and the sweet lotus-wood flute, were heard, in the pauses of revelry, dying along the waters. Meanwhile, from other boats stationed in the least lighted places, the workers of fire sent forth their wonders into the air. Bursting out suddenly from time to time, as if in the very exuberance of joy, these sallies of flame appeared to reach the sky, and there, breaking into a shower of sparkles, shed such || splendour around, as brightened even the white Arabian hills -making them shine as doth the brow of Mount Atlas at night, en the fire from his own bosom is playing around its snows. he opportunity this mart afforded us, of providing ourselves with some less remarkable habiliments than those in which we had escaped from that nether world, was too seasonable not to be gladly taken advantage of by both. For myself, the strange mystic garb which I wore was sufficiently concealed by my Grecian mantle, which I had fortunately thrown round me on the night of my watch. But the thin veil of my companion was a far less efficient disguise. She had, indeed, flung away the golden beetles from her hair; but the sacred robe of her order was still too visible, and the stars of the bandelet shone brightly through her veil. Most gladly, therefore, did she avail herself of this oppor tunity of a change; and, as she took from out a casketwhich, with the volume I had seen her reading, appeared to be her only treasure-a small jewel, to give in exchange for the simple garments she had chosen, there fell out at the same time, the very cross of silver which I had seen her kiss, as may be remembered, in the monumental chapel, and which was afterwards pressed to my own lips. This link between us, (for such it now appeared to my imagination) called up again in my heart all the burning feelings of that moment ;and, had I not abruptly turned away, my agitation would but too plainly have betrayed itself. The object, for which we had delayed in this gay scene, having been accomplished, the sail was again spread, and we proceeded on our course up the river. The sounds and the lights we had left behind died gradually away, and wo now floated along in moonlight and silence once more. Sweet dews, worthy of being called "the tears of Isis," fell refreshingly through the air, and every plant and flower sent its fragrance to meet them. The wind, just strong enough to bear us smoothly against the current, scarce stirred the shadow of the tamarisks on the water. As the inhabitants from all quarters were collected at the night-fair, the Nile was more than usually still and solitary. Such a silence, indeed, prevailed, that, as we glided near the shore, we could hear the rustling of the acacias, as the chameleons ran up their stems. It was, altogether, such a night as only the climate of Egypt can boast, when the whole scene around lies lulled in that sort of bright tranquillity, which may be imagined to light the slumbers of those happy spirits, who are said to rest in the Valley of the Moon, on their way to heaven. By such a light, and at such an hour, seated, side by side, on the deck of that bark, did we pursue our course up the lonely Nile each a mystery to the other-our thoughts, our objects, our very names, a secret;-separated, too, till now, by destinies so different; the one, a gay voluptuary of the Garden of Athens; the other, a secluded Priestess of the Tem ples of Memphis;-and the only relation yet established between us being that dangerous one of love, passionate love, on one side, and the most feminine and confiding dependence on the other. The passing adventure of the night-fair had not only dis pelled a little our mutual reserve, but had luckily furnished us with a subject on which we could converse without embar rassment. From this topic I took care to lead her, without any interruption, to others-being fearful lest our former silence should return, and the music of her voice again be lost It was only, indeed, by thus indirectly unburdening my heart that I was enabled to avoid the disclosure of all I thought and felt; and the restless rapidity with which I flew from subject to subject was but an effort to escape from the only one in which my heart was really interested. to me. "How bright and happy," said I-pointing up to Sothis, the fair Star of the Waters, which was just then shining brilliantly over our heads-"How bright and happy this world ought to be, if, as your Egyptian sages assert, yon pure and beautiful luminary was its birth-star!" Then, still leaning back, and letting my eyes wander over the firmament, as if seeking to disengage them from the fascination which they dreaded-" To the study," I exclaimed, "for ages, of skies like this, may the pensive and mystic character of your nation be traced. That mixture of pride and melancholy which naturally arises at the sight of those eternal lights shining out of darkness;—that sublime, but saddened, anticipation of a Future, which steals sometimes over the soul in the silence of such an hour, when, though Death appears to reign in the deep stillness of earth, there are yet those beacons of Immor tality burning in the sky." Pausing, as I uttered the word "immortality," with a sigh to think how little my heart echoed to my lips, I looked in the face of my companion, and saw that it had lighted up, as I spoke, into a glow of holy animation, such as Faith alone gives; such as Hope herself wears, when she is dreaming of heaven. Touched by the contrast, and gazing upon her with inournful tenderness, I found my arms half opened, to clasp her to my heart, while the words died away inaudibly on my lips,-"Thou, too, beautiful maiden! must thou, too, die for ever?" My self-command, I felt, had nearly deserted me. Rising ruptly from my seat, I walked to the middle of the deck, and stood, for some moments, unconsciously gazing upon one of those fires, which-according to the custom of all who travel by night on the Nile-our boatmen had kindled, to care away the crocodiles from the vessel. But it was in vain that I endeavoured to compose my spirit. Every effort I made but more deeply convinced me, that, till the mystery which hung round that maiden should be solved--till the seeret, with which my own bosom laboured, should be disclosed -it was fruitless to attempt even a semblance of tranquillity. My resolution was therefore taken;-to lay open, at once, the feelings of my own heart, as far as such revealment might be hazarded, without startling the timid innocence of my companion. Thus resolved, I resumed my seat, with more composure, by her side; and taking from my bosom the small mirror which she had dropped in the Temple, and which I had ever since worn suspended round my neck, presented it with a trembling hand to her view. The boatmen had just kindled one of their night-fires near us, and its light, as she aned forward to look at the mirror, fell upon her face. The quick blush of surprise with which she recognised it to be hers, and her look of bashful yet eager inquiry, in raising her eyes to mine, were appeals to which I was not, of course, tardy in answering. Beginning with the first moment when I saw her in the Temple, and passing hastily, but with words that burned as they went, over the impression which she had then left upon my heart and fancy, I proceeded to describe the particulars of my descent into the pyramid -my surprise and adoration at the door of the chapel-my encounter with the Trials of Initiation, so mysteriously prepared for me, and all the various visionary wonders I had witnessed in that region, till the moment when I had scen ner stealing from under the Veils to approach me. Though, in detailing these events, I had said but little of the feelings they had awakened in me-though my lips had sent back many a sentence, unuttered, there was still enough that could neither be subdued nor disguised, and which, like that light from under the veils of her own Isis, glowed through every word that I spoke. When I told of the scene in the chapel of the silent interview which I had witnessed between the dead and the living-the maiden leaned down her head and wept, as from a heart full of tears. It seemed a pleasure to her, however, to listen; and, when she looked at me again, there was an earnest and affectionate cordiality in her eyes, as if the knowledge of my having been present at that mournful scene had opened a new source of sympathy and intelligence between us. So neighbouring are the fountains of Love and of Sorrow, and so imperceptibly do they often mingle their streams. Little, indeed, as I was guided by art or design, in my manner and conduct towards this innocent girl, not all the most experienced gallantry of the Garden could have dictated a policy half so seductive as that which my new master, Love, now taught me. The same ardour which, if shown at once, and without reserve, might probably have startled a heart so little prepared for it, being now checked and softened by the timidity of real love, won its way without alarm, and, when most diffident of success, was then most surely on its way to triumph. Like one whose slumbers are gradually broken by sweet music, the maiden's heart was awakened without being disturbed. She followed the course of the charm, unconscious whither it led, nor was even aware of the flame she. had lighted in another's bosom, till startled by the reflection of its glimmering in her own. CHAPTER XIII. It was so near the dawn of day when we parted that wa found the sun sinking westward when we rejoined each other. The smile, so frankly cordial, with which she met me, might have been taken for the greeting of a long-mellowea imend ship, did not the blush and the cast-down eyelid that followed betray symptoms of a feeling newer and less calm. For myself, lightened as I was, in some degree, by the avowal which I had made, I was yet too conscious of the new aspect thus given to our intercourse, not to feel some little alarm at the prospect of returning to the theme. We were both, there fore, alike willing to allow our attention to be diverted, by the variety of strange objects that presented themselves or the way, fron. a subject that evidently both were alike un willing to approach. Impatient as I was to appeal to her generosity and symrathy, for a similar proof of confidence to that which I had just given, the night was now too far advanced for me to impose upon her such a task. After exchanging a few words, in which, though little met the ear, there was, on both sides, || a tone and manner that spoke far more than language, we took a lingering leave of each other for the night, with every prospect, I fondly hoped, of being still together in our dreams, The river was now all stirring with commerce and life Every instant we met with boats descending the current, so wholly independent of aid from sail or oar, that the mariners sat idly on the deck as they shot along, either singing or playing upon their double-reeded pipes. The greater number of these boats came laden with those large emeralds, from the mine in the desert, whose colours, it is said, are brightest at the full of the moon; while some brought cargoes of frankin cense from the acacia groves near the Red Sea. On the decks of others, that had been, as we learned, to the Golden Mountains beyond Syene, were heaped blocks and fragments of that sweet-smelling wood, which is yearly washed down, by the Green Nile of Nubia, at the season of the floods. Our companions up the stream were far less numerous. Occasionally a boat, returning lightened from the fair of last night, shot rapidly past us, with those high sails that catch every breeze from over the hills;-while, now and then, we overtook one of those barges full of bees, that are sent at this season to colonise the gardens of the south, and take advan tage of the first flowers after the inundation has passed away. For a short time, this constant variety of objects enabled us to divert so far our conversation as to keep it from light ing upon the one, sole subject, round which it constantly hover ed. But the effort, as might be expected, was not long suc cessful. As evening advanced, the whole scene became more solitary. We less frequently ventured to look upon each other, and our intervals of silence grew more long. It was near sunset, when, in passing a small temple on the shore, whose porticoes were now full of the evening light, wo saw issuing from a thicket of acanthus near it, a train of young maidens gracefully linked together in the dance by stems of the lotus held at arms' length between them. Their tresses were also wreathed with this gay emblem of the sea son, and in such profusion were its white flowers twisted around their waists and arms, that they might have been taken, as they lightly bounded along the bank, for Nymphs of the Nile, then freshly risen from their bright gardens under the wave. After looking for a few minutes at this sacred dance, the maiden turned away her eyes, with a look of pain, as if the remembrances it recalled were of no welcome nature. This momentary retrospect, this glimpse into the past, appeared to offer a sort of clue to the secret for which I panted;-and accordingly I proceeded, as gradually and delicately as my impatience would allow, to avail myself of the opening Her own frankness, however, relieved me from the embarrassment of much questioning. She appeared even to feel that the confidence I sought was due to me; and beyond the natural hesitation of maidenly modesty, not a shade of reserve or evasion appeared. To attempt to repeat, in her own touching words, the simple story which she now related to me, would be like endeavouring to note down some unpremeditated strain of music. with all those fugitive graces, those felicities of the moment. which no art can restore, as they first met the ear. From a feeling, too, of humility, she had omitted in her short narra tive several particulars relating to herself, which I afterwards learned ;-while others, not less important, she but slightly passed over, from a fear of offending the prejudices of her heathen hearer. I shall, therefore, give her story, not as she, herself, sketch ed it, but as it was afterwards filled up by a pious and vene rable hand-far, far more worthy than mine of being associa ted with the memory of such purity. STORY OF ALETHE. tion of the wealth and power of Egypt is absorbed. In mos of these institutions there exists an order of Priestesses, which, though not hereditary, like that of the Priests, is provided for by ample endowments, and confers that dignity and station, with which, in a government so theocratic, Religion is sure to invest even her humblest handmaids. From the general po licy of the Sacred College of Memphis, we may take for granted, that an accomplished female, like Theora, found but little difficulty in being elected one of the Priestesses of Isis; and it was in the service of the subterranean shrines that her ministry chiefly lay. 46 THE mother of this maiden was the beautiful Theora of Alexandria, who, though a native of at city, was descended from Grecian parents. When very young, Theora was one of de seven maidens selected to note down the discourses of the eloquent Origen, who, at that period, presided over the School of Alexandria, and was in all the fulness of his fame, both mong Pagans and Christians. Endowed richly with the learning of both creeds, he brought the natural light of philosophy to illustrate the mysteries of faith, and was then only proud of his knowledge of the wisdom of this world, when he found it minister usefully to the triumph of divine truth. Here, a month or two after her admission, she gave birth "Although he had courted in vain the crown of martyrdom, to Alethe, who first opened her eyes among the unholy pomps it was held, through his whole life, suspended over his head; and specious miracles of this mysterious region. Though and, in more than one persecution, he had shown himself Theora, as we have seen, had been diverted by other feelings cheerfully ready to die for that holy faith which he lived but from her first enthusiasm for the Christian faith, she had never to testify and uphold. On one of these occasions, his torwholly forgot the impression then made upon her. The samentors, having habited him like an Egyptian priest, placed || cred volume, which the pious Catechumen had given her, was him upon the steps of the Temple of Serapis, and command- still treasured with care; and, though she seldom opened its ed that he should, in the manner of the Pagan ministers, pre- pages, there was always an idea of sanctity associated with sent palm-branches to the multitude who went up into the it in her memory, and often would she sit to look upon it with shrine. But the courageous Christian disappointed their views. reverential pleasure, recalling the happiness she had feit Holding forth the branches with an unshrinking hand, he cried when it was first made her own. aloud, Come hither, and take the branch,-not of an Idol Temple, but of Christ.' "So indefatigable was this learned Father in his studies, that, while composing his Commentary on the Scriptures, he was attended by seven scribes or notaries, who relieved each other in recording the dictates of his eloquent tongue; while the same number of young females, selected for the beauty of their penmanship, were employed in arranging and transcribing the precious leaves. Among the scribes so selected was the fair young Theora, whose parents, though attached to the Pagan worship, were not unwilling to profit by the accomplishments of their daughter, thus occupied in a task, which they looked on as purely mechanical. To the maid herself, however, her employment brought far other feelings and consequences. She read anxiously as she wrote, and the divine truths, so eloquently illustrated, found their way, by degrees, from the page to her heart. Deeply, too, as the written words affected her, the discourses from the lips of the great teacher himself, which she had frequent opportunities of hearing, sunk still more deeply into her mind. There was, at once, a sublimity and gentleness in his views of religion, which, to the tender hearts and lively imaginations of women, never failed to appeal with convincing power. Accordingly, the list of his female pupils was numerous; and the names of Barbara, Juliana, Herais, and others, bear honourable testimony to his influence over that sex. "To Theora the feeling with which his discourses inspired her, was like a new soul-a consciousness of spiritual existence, never before felt. By the eloquence of the comment she was awakened into admiration of the text; and when, by the kindness of a Catechumen of the school, who had been struck by her innocent zeal, she, for the first time, became possessor of a copy of the Scriptures, she could not sleep for thinking of her sacred treasure. With a mixture of pleasure and fear she hid it from all eyes, and was like one who had received a divine guest under her roof, and felt fearful of betraying its divinity to the world. "A heart so awake would have been with ease secured to the faith, had her opportunities of hearing the sacred word continued. But circumstances arose to deprive her of this advantage. The mild Origen, long harassed and thwarted in h's labours by the tyranny of Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria, was obliged to relinquish his school, and fly from Egypt. The occupation of the fair scribe, was, therefore, at an end: her intercourse with the followers of the new faith ceased; and the glowing enthusiasm of her heart gave way to more worldly impressions. "Among other earthly feelings, love conduced not a little to wean her thoughts from the true religion. While still very young, she became the wife of a Greek adventurer, who had come to Egypt as a purchaser of that rich tapestry, in which the needles of Persia are rivalled by the looms of the Nile. Having taken his young bride to Memphis, which was still the great mart of this merchandise, he there, in the midst of his speculations, died-leaving his widow on the point of becoming a mother, while, as yet, but in her nineteenth year. "For single and unprotected females it has been, at all times, a favourite resource, to seek for employment in the serrice of some of those great temples by which so large a por The leisure of her new retreat, and the lone melancholy of widowhood, led her still more frequently to indulge in such thoughts, and to recur to those consoling truths which she had heard in the school of Alexandria. She now began to peruse eagerly the sacred volume, drinking deep of the fountain of which she before but tasted, and feeling-what thousands of mourners, since her, have felt-that Christianity is the true and only religion of the sorrowful. "This study of her secret hours became still more dear to her, as well from the peril with which, at that period, it was attended, as from the necessity she felt herself under of concealing from those around her the precious light that had been thus kindled in her own heart. Too timid to encounter the fierce persecution, which awaited all who were suspected of a leaning to Christianity, she continued to officiate in the pomps and ceremonies of the Temple :-though, often, with such remorse of soul, that she would pause, in the midst of the rites, and pray inwardly to God, that he would forgive this profanation of his Spirit. "In the meantime her daughter, the young Alethe, grew up still lovelier than herself, and added, every hour, both to her happiness and her fears. When arrived at a sufficient age, she was taught, like the other children of the priestesses, t take a share in the service and ceremonies of the shrines The duty of some of these young servitors was to look afte the flowers for the altar;-of others, to take care that the sacred vases were filled every day with fresh water from the Nile. The task of some was to preserve, in perfect polish, those silver images of the Moon which the priests carried in processions; while others were, as we have seen, employed in feeding the consecrated animals, and in keeping their plumes and scales bright for the admiring eyes of their worshippers. "The office allotted to Alethe-the most honourable of these minor ministries-was to wait upon the sacred birds of the Moon, to feed them daily with those eggs from the Nile which they loved, and provide for their use that purest water, which alone these delicate birds will touch. This employ ment was the delight of her childish hours; and that ibis. which Alciphron (the Epicurean) saw her dance round in the Temple, was, of all the sacred flock, her especial favourite, and had been daily fondled and fed by her from infancy. Music, as being one of the chief spells of this enchanted region, was an accomplishment required of all its ministrants and the harp, the lyre, and the sacred flute, sounded nowhere so sweetly as through these subterranean gardens. The chief object, indeed, in the education of the youth of the Temple. was to fit them, by every grace of art and nature, to give effec to the illusion of those shows and phantasms, in which the entire charm and secret of Initiation lay. "Among the means employed to support the old system of superstition, against the infidelity and, still more, the new Faith that menaced it, was an increased display of splendour and marvels in those mysteries for which Egypt has so long been celebrated. Of these ceremonies so many imitations had, under various names, multiplied throughout Europe, that at length the parent superstition ran a risk of being eclipsed by its progeny; and, in order still to rank as the first Priest hood in the world, it became necessary for those of Egypt to remain still the best impostors "Accordingly, every contrivance that art could devise, or iabour execute every resource that the wonderful knowledge of the Priests, in pyrotechny, mechanics, and dioptrics, could command-was brought into action to heighten the effect of their Mysteries, and give an air of enchantment to every thing connected with them. "The final scene of beatification-the Elysium, into which the Initiate was received-formed, of course, the leading attraction of these ceremonies; and to render it captivating alike to the senses of the man of pleasure, and the imagination of the spiritualist, was the grent object to which the attention of the Sacred College was devoted. By the influence of the Priests of Memphis over those of the other Temples they had succeeded in extending their subterranean frontier, both to the north and south, so as to include, within their ever-lighted Paradise, some of the gardens excavated for the use of the other Twelve Shrines. before--when the acacia-bough, which she herself had plucked seemed to acquire a sudden sacredness in her eyes, as soon as the priest had breathed upon it-on all such occasions Theora, though with fear and trembling, would venture to suggest to the youthful worshipper the distinction that should be drawn between the sensible object of adoration, and that spiritual, unseen Deity, of which it was but the remem brancer or type. "With sorrow, however, she soon discovered that, in thus but partially letting in light upon a mind far too ardent to rest satisfied with such glimmerings, she but bewildered the heart which she meant to guide, and cut down the feeble hope around which its faith twined, without substituting any other support in its place. As the beauty, too, of Alethe began to attract all eyes, new fears crowded upon the mother's heart; fears, in which she was but too much justified by the char acters of some of those around her. “In this sacred abode, as may easily be conceived, morality did not always go hand in hand with religion. The nypocritical and ambitions Orcus, who was, at this period, High Priest of Memphis, was a man, in every respect, qualified to preside over a system of such splendid fraud. He had reach "The beauty of the young Alethe, the touching sweetness of her voice, and the sensibility that breathed throughout her every look and movement, rendered her a powerful auxiliary in such appeals to the imagination. She had been, accus. ingly, in her very childhood, selected from among her fair companions, as the most worthy representative of spiritualed that effective time of life, when enough of the warmth and loveliness, in those pictures of Elysium-those scenes of another world-by which not only the fancy, but the reason, of the excited Aspirants was dazzled. “To the innocent child herself these shows were pastime. But to Theora, who knew too well the imposition to which they were subservient, this profanation of all that she loved was a perpetual source of horror and remorse. Often would she-when Alethe stood smiling before her, arrayed, perhaps, as a spirit of the Elysian world-turn away, with a shudder, from the happy child, almost fancying she saw already the shadows of sin descending over that innocent brow, as she gazed upon it. "As the intellect of the young maid became more active and inquiring, the apprehensions and difficulties of the mother increased. Afraid to communicate her own previous secret, lest she should involve her child in the dangers that encompassed it, she yet felt it to be no less a cruelty than a crime to leave her wholly immersed in the darkness of Paganism. In this dilemma, the only resource that remained to her was to select, and disengage from the dross that surrounded them, || those pure particles of truth which lie at the bottom of all religions; those feelings, rather than doctrines, of which God has never left his creatures destitute, and which, in all ages, have furnished, to those who sought after it, some clue to his glory. "The unity and perfect goodness of the Creator; the fall of the human soul into corruption, its struggles with the darkness of this world, and its final redemption and re-ascent to the source of all spirit;-these natural solutions of the problem of our existence. these elementary grounds of all religion and virtue, which Theora had heard illustrated by her Christian teacher, lay also, she knew, veiled under the theology of Egypt; and to impress them, in their abstract purity, upon the mind of her susceptible pupil, was, in default of more heavenly lights, her sole ambition and care. It was generally their habit, after devoting their mornings to the service of the Temple, to pass their evenings and nights in one of those small mansions above ground, allotted, within the precincts of the Sacred College, to some of the most favoured Priestesses. Here, out of the reach of those gross superstitions, which pursued them, at every step, below, she endeavoured to inform, as far as she could venture, the mind of her beloved girl; and found it lean as naturally and instinctively to truth, as plants long shut up in darkness will, when light is let in upon them, incline themselves to its raya. Frequently, as they sat together on the terrace at night,|| admiring that glorious assembly of stars, whose beauty first misled mankind into idolatry, she would explain to the young listener by what gradations of error it was that the worship, thus transferred from the Creator to the creature, sunk still lower and lower in the scale of being, till man, at length, presumed to deify man, and by the most monstrous of inver sions, heaven was made the mere mirror of earth, reflecting back all its most earthly features. . Even in the Temple itself, the anxious mother would endeavour to interpose her purer lessons among the idolatrous ceremonies in which they were engaged. When the favourite ibia of Alethe took its station upon the shrine, and the young maiden was seen approaching, with all the gravity of wor ship, the very bird which she had played with but an hour vigour of youth remains to give animation to the counsels of age. But, in his instance, youth had left only the baser pa sions behind, while age but brought with it a more refined maturity of mischief. The advantages of a faith appealing almost wholly to the senses, were well understood by him; nor had he failed either to discover that, in order to render religion subservient to his own interests, he must shape it ad roitly to the interests and passions of others. "The state of anxiety and remorse in which the mind o the hapless Theora was kept by the scenes, however artfully veiled, which she daily witnessed around her, became at length intolerable. No perils that the cause of trath could bring with it would be half so dreadful as this endurance of sinfulness and deceit. Her child was, as yet, pure and innocent; but, without that sentinel of the soul, Religion, how long might she continue so? "This thought at once decided her all other fears vanished before it. She resolved instantly to lay open to Alether the whole secret of her soul; to make this child, who was her only hope on earth, the sharer of all her hopes in heaven, and then fly with her, as soon as possible, from this unhallowed spot, to the far desert-to the mountains-to any place, how ever desolate, where God and the consciousness of innocence might be with them. "The promptitude with which her young pupil caught from her the divine truths was even beyond what she expected. It was like the lighting of one torch at another, so prepared was Alethe's mind for the illumination. Amply, indeed, was the anxious mother now repaid for all her misery, by this perfect communion of love and faith, and by the delight with which she saw her beloved child-like the young antelope, when first led by her dam to the well-drink thirstily by her side, at the source of all life and truth. "But such happiness was not long to last. The anxieties that Theora had suffered began to prey upon her health. She felt her strength daily decline; and the thoughts of leaving. alone and unguarded in the world, that treasure which she had just devoted to Heaven, gave her a feeling of despair which but hastened the ebb of life. Had she put in practice her resolution of flying from this place, her child might have been now beyond the reach of all she dreaded, and in the soli tude of the desert would have found at least safety from wrong. But the very happiness she had felt in her new task diverted her from this project;-and it was now too late, for she was already dying. "She still continued, however, to conceal the state of her health from the tender and sanguine girl, who, though observ ing the traces of disease on her mother's cheek, little knew that they were the hastening footsteps of death, nor even thought of the possibility of ever losing what was so dear to her. Too soon, however, the moment of separation arrived; and while the anguish and dismay of Alethe were in propor tion to the security in which she had indulged, Theora, too felt, with bitter regret, that she had sacrificed to her fond con sideration much precious time, and that there now remained but a few brief and painful moments, for the communication of all those wishes and instructions on which the future destiny of the young orphan depended. "She had, indeed, time for little more than to place the |