Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1863-05-06
A FEW WORDS FOR PHARAOH.

|
church, we have heard old King Pharaoh spc
Ken of In terms of disrespect. Preachers a
seem to have 'spick at him. more especia
iy at his heart which, ifyou would believe ther
was as hard as granite They always tell on
SIDE OF the story; let US give the other.
Pharaoh was king of Egypt, in Africa,
country once celebrated for its science, /,
corn crops, and Its masons. When this Pha
raoh, about whose heart We hear so much, wa
on the throne, the Egyptians owned about tw
millions of slavcs-descedants of a certai,
white man named Abraham. These slave
were multiplying very rapidly; were, in tn,
main contented and were ssbetter OFF, b,
Tar, than the most of us. Pharaoh and tb,
Egyptians were much s@attached to them ,
provided for them,'' made all their laws, and
they had nothing in the world to do but work
eat and be jolly. Their masters had all the
trouble
But they were multiplying too fast, $50 vel
on were they,) and Pharaoh was induced to or
DER, that, after certain day, all the male slave
children born should be drowned or strangled
like kittens. This looks bad, and the preach.
ers have made the most of it but, let us con-
slider his motive. 1t was to make a slave insur.
rection impracticable. Now We all know
what horrible thing slave insurrection is.
Stump orators sometimes tell US of St. Do
mingo. Pharaoh thought his slaves might be
inclted by some miserable fanatic like John
Brown TO rise, and then what would they do
but cut throats, burn houses, ravish their dusk
y mistresses, and run pitchforks through the
curly headed children of their eood masters ?
Who will say that in view of all these possi-
BILE horrors, it was not best just to send the
little Hebrew slave boys of one or two gener-
ations to heaven, where they would be better
off.
1t Is true, too, that whipping and beating,
even to death, were rather common, and that
women, even, were not spared, but, to offset
this, they had plenty of leeks, onions, and
other sayory things to eat, and all they could
do. They had no concern of mind no schools
to attend, no laws to make. no cares to furrow
their faces, nothing to do but work, eat and
be jolly. We are certain that if a correspon
dent of the London Times had taken a boat
ride on the lie in those days, he would have
failed for language to describe the happy con-
dition of the chivalrous Egyptian masters and
their contented slaves.
Bnt, alas they were walked from this bliss
ful dream of happiness by a pertinent agitator
named Moses, we'll educated man, but like
too many now, he made bugbear of himself
Zee" interloper. When he an Egyptian
beating brother man cruelty, instead of
helping to subdue the wretch, as he should
have done, he smote the oppressor SO violent
ly that he died from the blow. For this cause
Moses was obliged to run away. But he could
not stay away. He heard something out of
burning bush one day, which infamed mis-
abolition notions, fanatics are always hav-
ng VisIons,) SO he went back to Egypt.
W hen he got hack, everything was going wen.
The country was fourishing, the people were
united, taxes were low, and trade prosperous.
II Pharaoh had hung him at once, a great
zeal of trouble would have been avoided. But
Noses insisted on the emancipation of all the |
Hebrews. Think of that Slavery was an old
Institution, the slaves were happy, and worth |
!bout 5000, 100000! How could Moses ask |
uch sacrifice of property He claimed that |
rod had sent him-that the Isrealites were
oppressed and all that; but Moses was a min
ster: what right had he to meddle with sla-,
cry in Egypt, a purely 'spoliticai question ?''
he other preachers in Egypt were faithful to
Ammon, and let Slavery alone. How much
etier it would have been if Moses had done
5 our American Tract Society, and as sever
of our popular churches have done-preach-
the Bible and kept out the dirty water of
olitics But nothing would satisfy him but
Of course the pride Of the Egyptians was
'uched. They were q chivalrous race, with
OF southern blood. They knew their rights
o show their contempt for Moses, they in
reased the tasks of their slaves, and whipped i
lem harder. The Hebrews them selves en- {
Gated him to go away and let them alone
ut he went on, and kept up the excitement
ltil the whole land was convulsed. Millions
dollars worth of grain and stock were sac
feed, and there WIS mourning for the ssirst I
'rn'' in every house.
At length Pharaoh was over persuaded, is .
led anledict of emancipation, and away the I
aves went, en- masse. But after they were a
'ne, his reason returned. There was ssre- a
tion" in the public mind. The people fail .
to endorse the proclamation. Pharaoh's
art yearned for his poor slaves, who had no
perience and could not take care of them
Ives; and so he started after them with
eat army and had it not been for sudden
Ssh of water, he would in all probability ,
We accomplished his humane designs. But
8 water in tha Red Sea got too dean Re- q