Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/23

 The reign of Horus was welcomed with rapture and with song. 'He receives the title of his father and rules the world; he governs both the men of Egypt and the northern barbarians. Every one glorifies his goodness; mild is his love towards us; his tenderness embraceth every heart; great is his love in all our bosoms. His foe falls under his fury; the end of the evil-doer is at hand. The son of Isis, the avenger of his father, appears. The worlds are at rest; evil flies, and earth brings forth abundantly, and is at peace beneath her lord.'

But Osiris was not dead. In the unseen world he lived anew, and there he ruled in righteousness, as Horus ruled on earth. Osiris, the divine being who had died, was judge of the dead. Before him each departed spirit must appear in the judgment hall of Truth. There the heart is weighed and the life is judged unerringly. He who passes that ordeal becomes himself Osiris, and is henceforth called by his name. The new Osiris lives again, and passes victoriously through every peril, until he is at length admitted amongst the bright and blessed