ndency to idealize national heroes is by no
means confined to the Hebrews. Greek, Roman and English history
abounds in illustrations. Cite some of the more striking. Why are
they often thought of as descendants of the gods? Compare the
popular conception of the first president of the United States and
his character as portrayed in Ford's "The Real George Washington."
The portraits of national heroes, even though they are idealized,
exert a powerful and wholesome influence upon the nations who honor
their memory. The noblest ideals in each succeeding generation are
often thus concretely embodied in the character of some national
hero. Compare the great heroes of Greek mythology with the early
heroes of the Old Testament. Do these differences correspond to
the distinctive characteristics of the Greeks and the Hebrews? Are
these differences due to the peculiar genius of each race or in
part to the influence exerted by the ideals thus concretely
presented upon each succeeding generation? Is it probable that in
the character of Abraham the traditional father of the Hebrew race
was idealized? Is it possible that teachers of Israel, consciously
or unconsciously, fostered this tendency that they might in this
concrete and effective way impress their great teachings upon their
race? If so, does it decrease or enhance the value and authority
of these stories?

V.

THE REASONS FOB MIGRATION.

In the early history of most countries there comes a pressure of
population upon the productive powers of the land. As numbers
increase in the hunting stage game becomes scarce and more hunting
grounds are needed. Tribes migrate from season to season, as did
the American Indians, and eventually some members of the tribe are
likely to go forth to seek new homes. Later in the pastoral stage
of society, as the wealth of flocks and herds increases, more
pasturage is needed and similar results follow. Even after
agriculture is well established and commerce is well begun, as in
Ancient Greece, colonies have a like origin. In the England of the
nineteenth century Malthus and his followers taught the tendency of
population to outgrow the means of subsistence--a tendency overcome
only by restraints on the growth of population, or by new
inventions that enable new sources of supply to be secured or that
render the old ones more efficient. Emigration and pioneering are
thus a normal outgrowth of a progressive growing people in an