“Besides all these, you, my little botanist, might have another endless subject for examination in our deciduous trees, on many of which you will find that, unlike those of tropical climates, the young shoots, leaves and flowers are formed in autumn, and cradled up in scaly buds, where they are secure from frost, till the following spring.
“Indeed, the comparisons you must be naturally induced to make between your two countries, might supply you with amusing and useful occupation; and the result will be, that in each you will discover how peculiarly every creature and every vegetable is adapted to the country where it has been placed.”
6th, Sunday.—I asked my uncle this morning, why Joseph said that every shepherd was an abomination to an Egyptian; and also, why Joseph expected, that when Pharaoh was informed that his father and brethren were shepherds, he would order them to dwell in the land of Goshen?
“In the first place,” said he, “it is supposed that Egypt had been invaded and subdued by a tribe of warlike shepherds from Arabia, called Cushites, or sons of Cush. They were also called the Pali, or shepherds; and their leaders called themselves the Shepherd-Kings. Six of these Shepherd-kings are said to have successively reigned in Egypt, till at length the native princes, weary of their tyranny, rebelled, and expelled them. They retired into the land of Canaan, and established themselves at Jerusalem, and in other strong situations in that country, which, from them, obtained the name of Palestine, or Palis-tan—the country of the Pali. These people afterwards became the Philistines, who were such troublesome neighbours to the Israelites.
“The memory of their tyranny was still fresh in the minds of the Egyptians, at the time that Joseph’s family removed to Egypt; and it was, therefore, natural that every shepherd should be an abomination to the Egyptians. Cush, you know, was the eldest son of Ham; the Egyptians were descended from Mizraim, the second son of Ham, and Egypt is to this day called Mizr, by the Arabs and Abyssinians.
“As to your second question,” continued my uncle, “in regard to their being ordered to dwell in the land of Goshen, it appears probable that there had been shepherds in those parts before; otherwise Joseph could scarcely have foreseen that that portion of the land would be given to his brethren. Besides which, Goshen being chiefly adapted to pasturage, which was so contrary to the taste of the Egyptians, this region most likely lay neglected. Hence we see why the Israelites found such easy access into the country, so as not only to be allowed to dwell in it, but to have the land of Goshen given them for a possession, even the best of the land of Egypt.”
“I wonder,” said Wentworth, “why the Israelites were sent by Providence into Egypt, as they were, after a time, to be placed in Canaan, the land of promise, and would, therefore, be again unsettled and obliged to remove.”
“It has been suggested,” said my uncle, “that the promise made to Abraham, to give to his posterity the land of Canaan, was not to be fulfilled, till this great family of Israel was strong enough to take that land by force from the inhabitants, and to keep possession of it. Besides, the Canaanites had not then completed the measure of their wickedness, which was to be punished by the loss of their country.
“In the meantime, though the Israelites were obliged to reside amongst idolaters, and were enjoined to preserve themselves unmixed; yet Egypt was the only place where they could for so long a time remain safe from being confounded with the natives. For the ancient Egyptians were, by numerous institutions, forbidden all fellowship with strangers; and having a particular aversion to the employment of the Israelites, they were, by that means, more completely separated. Besides, during their long residence of above 400 years in Egypt, the Israelites, who were but simple shepherds when they went there, had the advantage of acquiring a knowledge of the various arts in which the Egyptians excelled.
“The Bible here, as in many other cases, only records the facts: we cannot now penetrate, my dear boy, into the causes or motives which led to them; but we may be sure that what was dictated by Infinite Wisdom was just and proper; and in venturing to assign such reasons as we can infer from other circumstances in history, we should do so with great modesty and distrust of ourselves.”