It was productive of a great social revolution. It brought, by
degrees, all the land of Egypt into the power of the crown,
so that a kind of feudal system was established, every man
holding in direct tenancy from the crown. Hence the
nation became compacted into a new unity, and power was
concentrated in the hands of government, partly by the
pecuniary revenue thus added, and partly by the lustre of
goodness which Joseph had thrown round the royal acts.
For acts like these are the real bulwarks of a throne. One
such man as Joseph does more to strengthen the crown than
all the speculations, solemn or trifling, which were ever
written on the " Divine right of kings." There is a.
right divine which requires no elaborate theory to make it
felt.
II. The death of Joseph was in accordance with his life.
