To the increase by servants we may add a further increase by proselytes. It would seem that every facility was offered to those who wished to become incorporated with the Hebrew people. Even in the celebration of the Passover, all were freely to be admitted if they would submit to the rite of circumcision. “And if a stranger sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let every male of his be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land” (_Ex._, xii. 48). It is manifest that Moses thought it likely, even after a century of bondage and persecution, that many would still be found to join the fortunes of this oppressed people. Is it unreasonable, then, to suppose that such converts were more numerous in the days of their prosperity? V. The average number of children in each family, according to the calculation of Dr. Colenso, was 4½, or, at the outside, 6――3 sons and 3 daughters. The manner in which he arrives at this conclusion is singularly characteristic. He prepares the way by assuring us that “we have no reason whatever, from the data furnished by the sacred books themselves, to assume that they had families materially larger than those of the present day” (p. 102). If, however, we turn from the pages of Dr. Colenso to the pages of the sacred books themselves, we are told a very different story. “And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night,… and he said: I am God, the God of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will make of thee a great nation” (_Gen._, xlvii. 2, 3). Such was the promise of God; here is the fulfilment: “And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they held possession of it, and they _grew_ and _multiplied exceedingly_” (_Gen._, xlvii. 27). “And the children of Israel _were fruitful_, and _increased abundantly_, and _multiplied_, and _waxed exceeding mighty_; and _the land was filled_ _with them_…. The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew” (_Ex._, i. 7-12). These words clearly imply that the people of Israel increased _beyond the usual rate at that time_ and _in that country_. We are told, however, by several ancient writers that the people of Egypt were wont to increase with extraordinary rapidity.[4] And yet, in the face of all this, Dr. Colenso asserts that “we have _no reason whatever_, from the data furnished by the Sacred Books themselves, to assume that they had families materially larger than those of the present day”.