The  mechanic  and  the  decorative  arts  were  at  the  com-
mand of  the  people  :  there  were  among  them  skilled
artificers  in  all  lines  :  they  possessed  also  a  formed  lan-
guage,— and  they  had  the  free  use  and  habit  of  a  written
language.
If,  then,  we  go  on  to  inquire  concerning  the  intellec-
tual and  moral  and  social  condition  of  the  thousands  of
the  people,  the  warrantable  method,  available  for  the  pur-
poses of  such   an  inquiry,  is  that  of  seeking  the  indica-


HEBREW    POETRY.  115

tion!=  of  this  condition,  inferentially,  in  the  remains  of
the  literature  of  the  people ; — not,  it  may  be,  in  trea-
tises on  abstruse  subjects,  composed  by  the  learned  for
the  learned :  but  in  writings  of  whatever  sort  which
were  adapted  to  popular  use,  and  in  which — for  tliis  is
their  mark^  as  so  intended — the  mass  of  the  people  is
challenged  to  listen  and  to  respond,  and  is  invited  and
provoked  to  contradict — if  in  any  instance  there  be  room
for  a  contrary  averment.  Such  was  the  Israelitish  peo-
ple at  the  moment  which  ended  their  tent-life  in  the  wil-
derness, and  which  immediately  preceded  their  entrance
upon  the  land  assigned  them,  as  that  they,  in  full  Eccle-
sia,  might  properly  be  taught,  advised,  upbraided,  pro-
mised, threatened,  in  the  manner  of  which  the  closing
book  of  the  Pentateuch  is  the  record  and  summary.
