Joseph. It has been thought that, but for a suspicion of his innocence, Potiphar would, long before this, have put Joseph to death; and that it was only out of regard to his own and his wife's character that he detained him in the "king's ward." But this critical occasion was too urgent for the operation of minor considerations. The royal command was hastily brought to the prison; and Joseph was hurried from a dungeon to a court. After suitable preparation, he was introduced to Pharaoh; and questioned by him, whether he were not skilled in the interpretation of dreams. "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace"was his modest and pious reply. Pleased with his answer, the king informed him that he dreamed he was walking on the banks of the Nile; and saw seven fat kine ascend out of the river, and feed in a meadow; that, immediately after them, there came up seven others, but as lean and as sickly as the others had been fat and well-favoured; that his imagination pictured the latter devouring the former, without any increase to their bulk, or any improvement in their appearance. Again he dreamed: the scene was changed; and he saw seven good ears of corn on one stalk; and then แ seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them, and devoured them.” A ray of heavenly light instantly darted into the mind of Joseph; and discovered the interpretation of the two dreams, which he immediately communicated to the king. "What God is about to do," said he, "he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; for it

shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God; and God will shortly bring it to pass." He went on to recommend it to Pharaoh as an expedient plan, that overseers should be appointed to treasure up, in storehouses, the fifth part of every abundant year's produce, which might furnish a stock for the anticipated famine.

The mind derives a peculiar delight from the sudden apprehension of a truth of which it had, previously, only a vague and cloudy conception. It exults in the possession of a treasure whose parts and properties it can now define. The feeling of that moment is just as pleasing as that of the one preceding it was disagreeable. Such was Pharaoh's present situation. Egypt is not watered by rain, but by the periodical overflowing of its great river, the Nile. This overflow is supposed to be occasioned by the tropical rains, descending from the Abyssinian mountains, near the source of the Nile. The increased, and increasing body of water, when it enters Egypt, is no longer confined within its banks; and, the ground being previously prepared, and the seed sown, the rich, slimy wave rolls over the wide plains, which remain inundated for some months every year. When it retires, the warmth of the sun rapidly matures the harvest, which, in most cases, is very abundant. The inhabitants, having retired to the high grounds at the approach of the Nile, return to the plains soon after its recession. The river is their pride and their glory, all their abundance depending upon it; since if, in any year, the overflow should not occur, famine and desolation would On hearing Joseph's interpretation, the mind of Pharaoh would instantly recognise the connection

ensue.

between abundance and the overflowing of the Nile, and the sad reverse. Perceiving also the propriety of Joseph's advice, he immediately called a council of state, to the members of which he proposed, after giving the requisite information, that Joseph should be made a public officer, for the purpose of providing against the coming famine. Joseph was, forthwith, installed into his office. As his worth became more and more apparent, Pharaoh's fondness increased; and he raised him to the first dignity to which a subject could be admitted. Joseph was made prime minister and viceroy. He had all the outward insignia of rank: he was invested with a robe; and adorned with a chain of gold; and was honoured with Pharaoh's own ring. He received a new name, probably to designate his new office; was married to a daughter of one of the Egyptian princes; and was placed by Pharaoh over all the land of Egypt.

It may here be remarked, that there was a peculiar providence in the whole of this affair; and in nothing was it more remarkable than in the selection of the time when Pharaoh was told of Joseph. Had the butler reported the case of Joseph as soon as he himself was restored, the probability is, that he might have been released from prison, but still retained as a slave; and have passed into other hands. Instead of this, he was allowed, by the wise providence of God, to remain in prison till the very time when a path should be opened up to him from a dungeon to a palace. What a shortsighted creature is man! Joseph, doubtless, thought himself forgotten of God and man at the very time that all things were working together for his good. Does not this teach us a lesson which we are bound to improve?

But how did Joseph bear his new dignity? Even in the bosom of a court, in the midst of unwonted adulation, and exposed to a thousand temptations, of which a proud confidence in his talents was not the least; he was enabled to retain his integrity, his humility, and his piety. A court was, probably, then, what it has been ever since, the grave of virtue. Its pestilential vapour enervates and destroys the moral constitution. We have heard of men who resided in places where the plague slew its thousands daily, and where death was glutted with its prey, who yet escaped unhurt. And such a one was Joseph-upright, conscientious, godlike, even in a court! His rigid and impartial his torian, Moses, mentions not one circumstance to his discredit. His situation was a very difficult one. The eyes of the whole nation were upon him. tion to which he was so suddenly raised, the rapid accumulation of his honours, the circumstance of his having been a Hebrew and a shepherd, and, above all, the prophecy which he had delivered, and on the fulfilment of which his safety depended, were all calculated to awaken jealousy and suspicion; and seven years had to elapse before the predicted period of famine would arrive. Not one in a thousand could have survived the snares of such a situation. But Joseph stood

"Firm as an iron pillar strong,

And steadfast as a wall of brass."

The eleva

During the seven years of plenty, numbers, seeing the uncommon abundance year after year, and conceiving the recurrence of the Nile's overflow to be as certain as the rising of the sun, would laugh at Pharaoh's precautions. But, at length, to the astonishment of all, in

the eighth year of Joseph's vice-royalty, the Nile did not overflow and there was a famine, not only in Egypt, but, it is said, in all the earth, probably in all the land of Egypt and its neighbourhood. Joseph now opened his storehouses, and began to sell the corn he had treasured up; for the people cried unto Pharaoh, and Pharaoh directed them to Joseph.

The famine extended to Canaan; and Jacob's family began to be in want. A report having reached them that there was corn in Egypt, the sons of Jacob set out to purchase bread for their father, themselves, and their little ones. During this long interval we hear nothing of the venerable patriarch. Undoubtedly the multitude of his sorrows, and the recollection of his loss, though the impression had been weakened by the obliterating hand of time, still pressed heavily upon him. The anguish of his soul, when first he beheld "the coat of many colours," stained with blood, could never be wholly forgotten. And now famine was superadded. His ten sons, by his direction, went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph, whom, on account of the alteration effected by the lapse of several years, the change in his dress, &c., they knew not; but who, in an instant, recognised them. The first of his dreams was now fulfilled-they bowed before him. Resolving to supply their need in the end, but wishing first to gratify his filial curiosity respecting his father, and to remind them of their cruelty, he did not make himself known to them; but questioned them with an appearance of rudeness, as though they were spies, confined them for three days, and then dismissed them with abundance of corn, secretly returning their money in their sacks. But first, he bound Simeon before their eyes, and retained him as a hostage, till they should verify their