which are ascribed to him, but we cannot resist the conviction that the recognized Egyptian code of morality was a very noble and refined one. "None of the Christian virtues," M. Chabas says, "is forgotten in it; piety, charity, gentleness, self-command in word and action, chastity, the protection of the weak, benevolence towards the humble, deference to superiors, respect for property in its minutest details, … all is expressed there, and in extremely good language." In confirmation of this, I will add that the translators of the Bible and of the early Christian literature, who were so often compelled to retain Greek words for which they could discover no Egyptian equivalent, found the native vocabulary amply sufficient for the expression of the most delicate notions of Christian ethics.
The following are specimens of the praises which are put into the mouth of departed worthies:
"Not a little child did I injure. Not a widow did I oppress. Not a herdsman did I ill-treat. There was no beggar in my days; no one starved in my time. And when the years of famine came, I ploughed all the lands of the province to its northern and southern boundaries, feeding its inhabitants and providing their food. There was no starving person in it, and I made the widow to be as though she possessed a husband."[1]
- ↑ Inscriptions of Ameni, Denkm. ii. pl. 121.
