tains of water, in the palm groves of the plains, and the refresh- 

 ing streams of shaded valleys, as temporary places of encampment. 



It is a singular fact, that bread is not mentioned as an article 

 of food, until it was offered by Abraham to the angels, who 

 appeared to him as " he sat in the tent door, in the heat of the 

 day ;" showing it was the most rare and precious gift which 

 could be presented. So late even as that period, the wealth of 

 individuals consisted chiefly in flocks and herds; and the most 

 affluent had no fixed or permanent residence, but were obliged 

 to roam over the country, as a large extent of territory was 

 required for the maintenance of comparatively a small popula- 

 tion, when the cultivation of the soil was so little relied upon 

 for support. Even when Abram and Lot removed to the fertile 

 borders of Palestine, it was found that " the land was not able 

 to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their subsis- 

 tence was great," as each had vast numbers of " sheep, and 

 oxen, and men servants, and maid servants, and camels ;" so 

 that these distinguished and long associated friends were obliged 

 to separate from each other, Lot choosing " all the plain of 

 Jordan, that was well watered, even as the garden of the Lord," 

 while " Abram removed his tent to the plain of Mamre." 



Thus after a lapse of more than a thousand years, the Hebrew 

 race appears to have made but little progress in the arts of civ- 

 ilization, and exhibits only the migratory herdsman, and the 

 incipient efforts of the agriculturist. So precarious, even were 

 their means of subsistence, that their most renowned chieftains 

 were compelled " to go down into Egypt and dwell there, 

 because there was a grievous famine in the land." 



Egypt ! now for the first time mentioned by the sacred his- 

 torian. What vivid reminiscences does that name call up. 

 Egypt ! the birthplace of science, the cradle of the arts, the 

 wonder of antiquity, the paragon of nations. A country and a 

 people which have been su'.j -cts of the deepest interest, 

 and the most exciting inquiry, from the time of Joseph to the 

 travels of Herodotus, and from the visit of Diodorus, to the 

 learned researches of Champollion. At the talismanic name of 

 Egypt, the ponderous gates of all past time are thrown open, 

 and how fresh, clear, and palpable does the whole history of the 

 world unfold before us. For a long succession of ages, it was 



