Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/157

 serfs, he gave the land to all. Each tribe was marched to its new possession, every family entered on its humble estate, and Israel began its national existence. This determined the occupations of the people. By planting every father of a family upon a plot of ground which he was to cultivate, Moses formed a nation of farmers — the best citizens for a free Commonwealth. The miracle was as great as if immense hordes of wandering Bedaween were instantly transformed into quiet husbandmen.

In modern political economy it is considered necessary to the prosperity of a nation that it should have a varied industry, employing a part of its people in manufactures and in commerce. But Moses founded a state almost wholly upon agriculture. Manufactures he did not encourage. Doubtless the Israelites, while in Egypt, had acquired skill in mechanic arts, as they showed in working gold and tapestry for the Tabernacle. But the Hebrew Lawgiver took no pains to cherish this branch of industry, and it is probable that the arts afterwards sunk into the hands of slaves.

Nor did he introduce commerce. There was an inland trade which sufficed for the simple wants of the people. Their festivals, besides their religious design, probably served as annual fairs. The caravans, which passed from Asia to Africa, carried down their products to Egypt. But of navigation they knew nothing. Though Palestine lay at the head of the Mediterranean, in the best maritime position in the world, scarcely a bark ventured from the coast before the time of Solomon. Zebulon and Naphtali dwelt by the sea; yet nothing is said of the excellence of their ports and harbors. The attraction of Palestine was its fitness for agriculture: "The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;