"Yet is the problem more intricate, and farther from solution than ever," I said to the prince. "The Hebrew is still in the land, still increasing in numbers, and now far more formidable than in the reign of your grandsire, Amunophis."
"This is true. My mother and I have talked for hours together upon the theme. She, with her woman's gentler nature, would not oppress them, yet has she been compelled by necessity to hold them in strict subjugation, lest they become a formidable element of insurrection in the kingdom. So far as is consistent with safety to her two crowns, she mitigates the severity of their condition; and as you have understood, has forbidden the women to be struck with blows, or put to heavy toil. Still it is not easy, among so many thousand taskmasters, and so many myriads of bondmen, to oversee all individual acts of oppression; but when brought to our notice they are severely punished. The condition of the Hebrew is an incubus upon the soul of my noble mother, and if it were in her power, with safety to her subjects, to release them to-morrow from their bondage, she would do so. But state policy demands imperatively, rigid supervision, severe discipline, and constant labor, lest being idle, and at liberty to go where they choose, they conspire against us. Several times agents from the King of Ethiopia, our natural and hereditary foe, with whom we are almost always at war, have been discovered among them; and arms have been placed in their possession by the spies of the Queen of Arabia. They have, moreover, among them men of courage and talent, who, like their ancestor, Prince Abraham, possess warlike fire, and, like the Prime Minister Joseph, have wisdom in council, to advise and rule. Such persons, among slaves, are to be feared, and there is necessary a certain severity, you would call it oppression, to keep down all such spirit."
"The burdens of these Hebrews still seem very heavy, O Remeses," I said.
"They doubtless are; but their condition is far lighter than it has been. They are allotted certain tasks, according to their strength, and if these are done early they have the rest of the day to themselves."
"They must complete their tale of bricks, unless disabled by sickness. Blows are not given to men unless they are wilful and insubordinate. Once a year the queen visits all the Hebrews in the country of Avaris, of which Goshen forms but a part, and regulates abuses. The Hebrew always has the right of appealing to the governor of the province, against his taskmaster, if cruelly treated. All that the queen can do is to execute with severity the laws against oppressing them."