Assyrians were hunters, and the Greeks had no historical existence. Only
the discipline of forty years in the wilderness, under Moses, was
necessary to make them a nation of conquerors, for they had already
learned the arts of agriculture, and knew how to protect themselves in
walled cities. A nomadic people were they no longer, as in the time of
Jacob, but small farmers, who had learned to irrigate their barren hills
and till their fertile valleys; and they became a powerful though
peaceful nation, unconquered by invaders for a thousand years, and
unconquerable for all time in their traditions, habits, and mental
characteristics. From one man--the patriarch Jacob--did this great
nation rise, and did not lose its national unity and independence until
from the tribe of Judah a deliverer arose who redeemed the human race.
Surely, how favored was Joseph, in being the instrument under Providence
of preserving this nation in its infancy, and placing its people in a
rich and fertile country where they could grow and multiply, and learn
principles of civilization which would make them a permanent power in
the progress of humanity!




MOSES.


1571-1451 B.C. [USHER].

HEBREW JURISPRUDENCE.


Among the great actors in the world's history must surely be presented