360 PASSAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, kc. . 
Children of Israel among them, were only temporary ; but there is 
good reason to suppose that the benefits were permanent. By the 
policy of Joseph, the whole of the land of Egypt became the pro- 
perty of the sovereign, and the people and their children his slaves ; 
an event which, however unpropitious it might be in any other 
country, was necessary there, where every harvest depended on the 
Nile, and where the equal distribution of its waters could alone 
produce a general cultivation. When the lands of Egypt were pri- 
vate property, would it be possible to induce individuals to sacri- 
fice their possessions, that they might be turned into canals for the 
public benefit? or, when the canals were constructed, would it be 
possible to prevent the inhabitants of the upper provinces from 
drawing off more water than was requisite for their own use, and 
thereby injuring the cultivators lower down? But when the whole 
belonged to one mauj the necessary canals would be constructed, the 
distribution of water would be guided by prudence, each district 
would receive its necessary proportion, and the collateral branches 
would then, as they are now, only be opened when the height of 
the river justified such a measure for the public benefit. It is evi- 
dent that no canals were constructed before the time of Joseph, for 
Herodotus even attributes these mighty works to Sesostris, who did 
not reign till three hundred and ninety years afterwards. 
