ment in her hand, with which she had striven to detain him. Thus disappointed in her purpose, and her heart filled with bitter vindictiveness against him, whom she had been unable to tempt to shame, she conceived and executed a base design of accusing him falsely to Potiphar, as having sought to do the injury which she had in vain solicited him to commit; and, in testimony of the fact, she produced the mantle which she had taken from Joseph.

When Potiphar heard this, his wrath was naturally kindled against the man who seemed, by betraying his confidence, to have returned him infamy for good; so, exercising the power which he possessed (and even this was lenient in comparison with what, under the arbitrary laws of Egypt, he might have done), he threw the innocent slave into prison, where the king's prisoners were confined: thus Joseph's merits, for wise purposes, led to his temporary punishment. The Lord, however, did not desert his servant, but caused him to find favour in the eyes of the keeper of the prison, who placed him in power over the other prisoners, and committed to his charge all that was done in the place: whatsoever was done there, Joseph was the doer of it, the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand.

It happened, shortly after the incarceration of Joseph, that

the chief butler and the chief baker of the King of Egypt, having offended their sovereign, were cast into prison, and placed in the charge of the young Hebrew. And each of them dreamed a dream in the same night; and on the morrow they were sad and discomforted, from the impression which their dreams had left on their minds. Joseph, observing their melancholy, inquired it cause; for he was kind, and having known much of sorrow, was enabled to feel for the griefs of others. Then the chief butler told his dream.

Behold," he said,

a vine was before me, which had three branches; and it was as though it budded, and shot forth blossoms, the clusters of which brought forth ripe grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: I took the grapes, therefore, and pressed them into the cup, and gave the cup into the king's hand."

When he had ended, Joseph thus interpreted the dream; being inspired with knowledge to do so from the God of Israel: "The three branches are three days. Yet three days and Pharaoh shall lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place; and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, as thou didst before when thou wast butler. Think on me when it shall be well with thee, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, in order to bring me out of this house; for

I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and have done nothing for which I ought to have been put into this dungeon."

The chief baker then related his dream; saying, "I had

three white baskets on my head, in the uppermost of which there were all manner of bake-meats for Pharaoh; but the birds did eat them from out the basket."

"This," said Joseph," is the interpretation of thy vision. The three baskets are three days. In three days shall Pharaoh lift thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall come and eat the flesh from thy bones."

As Joseph predicted, so it befel. The third day was Pharaoh's birth-day, when he made a feast to all his servants, and brought forth from prison the chief baker and the chief butler; the latter of whom he restored to his office, and the former he caused to be hanged. But the chief butler did not remember Joseph according to his promise.

Two full years after this, it came to pass that Pharaoh dreamed. He stood by the river-the great Nile-and there issued from its waters seven well-favoured, fatted kine, which went to feed in a meadow. Then came up after them seven other kine, ill-favoured and lean, which stood by the first seven on the brink of the river; and presently the lean and ill-favoured kine fell upon and devoured their fat and well

favoured neighbours: upon seeing which the king awoke. He slept again, however, and again he dreamed; and now seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, strong and good; then presently three other ears, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up; and anon the seven thin ears devoured the full and ripe ears. These visions troubled Pharaoh. He sent, therefore, for the wise men and the magicians of Egypt; for in those days, divination was practised as an art by men trained from youth in secret learning, and who, by permission of the Almighty, were sometimes enabled to perform miracles: but no man was found who could interpret the king's dream.

The chief butler then for the first time remembered Joseph, and spake of him to Pharaoh, informing him of the interpretation of the dreams of the grapes and bake-meats. So the king sent for Joseph from the prison where he was bound; and when he was shaven and had changed his raiment, the youthful Hebrew seer stood in the court of the palace before the king. Pharaoh related his vision, adding, “I have told this unto the magicians, but there was none that could declare it to me. I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it."

Joseph answered, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. The dream of Pharaoh is one. God hath shewed the king what he is about to do. The seven