Page:The Blind Bow-Boy (IA blindbowboy00vanv).pdf/239

 pretation of the phenomenon. The gods, he hinted, were concealed because they were no longer fit to look at. Rude tribes had carved them. Supplanted by more sightly idols, the only possible manner in which reverence might be preserved for them was to keep them behind screens, so that no comparisons could be made. And, as they were never shown, it was quite simple for the priests to aver that their splendour was so divine that ordinary senses would be overpowered by it.

In the temple of Isis at Sais, the inscription read: I am that which has been, which is, and which shall be, and no one has yet lifted the veil which hides me. It is highly probable, thought this same sapient commentator, that the goddess was black, and as the fairer race mingled with the darker in Egypt this primitive Nubian countenance, if exhibited, would no longer inspire reverence, and so a curtain was hung before her altar. The Ark of Moses, probably concealing objects which had lost their attraction for the eye, two scrawled stones, the bones of Joseph, a pot of manna, and the serpent-staff which is said to have blossomed, carried this veil into the wilderness. To this very day, indeed, the Ark is hidden. Twice the veil of the Temple has been rent: allegorically at the crucifixion and actually by Titus, but no Ark was discovered. The Jews, then, must have been saying their prayers before a veil which concealed nothing. In later days, as scepticism grew, there were those who had no de-