Judges--what might be called the "emigrant age" of Israel,--that he was
introduced on the stage of history as a thief,--that he afterwards
became in his own way a saint, and must have a priest. First, he
consecrates his own son; but his son not being a Levite, it was
difficult for so pious a man to be satisfied. Fortunately a young
Levite--a strolling mendicant probably--comes that way; and he promptly
engages the youth to remain and act the _padre_ for him, saying, "Dwell
with me, and be a _father_ unto me." Having thus got up a religion, the
thief is content, and his mental troubles are quieted. Becoming a
Romanist before Rome is founded, he says, "Now know I that the Lord
will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Religion to him
consisted in a fine silver apparatus of gods, and a priest in regular
succession. In this story of Micah it was seen that _emigration, or a
new settlement of the social state, involves a tendency to social
decline_. "Our first danger," said the preacher, "is barbarism
--Romanism next."

The tendency to barbarism was illustrated by historic references. The
emigration headed by Abraham soon developed a mass of barbarism,--Lot
giving rise to the Moabites and the Ammonites; meanwhile, Abraham
throwing off upon the world in his son Ishmael another stock of
barbarians--the Arabs,--a name which according to some signifies
_Westerners_. One generation later, and another ferocious race springs
from the family of Isaac--the descendants of Esau, or the Edomites.
Then coming down to the time of the Judges we find that violence
prevailed, that the roads were destroyed, and that the arts had
perished: there was not even a smith left in the land; and they were
obliged to go down to the Philistines to get an axe or a mattock
sharpened. Then the preacher came to the great American question
itself. It was often supposed that in New England there had always been