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able to Jacob as the former had been, though from an opposite cause.

Mother. His feeble spirits fainted under the excess of surprise and joy, and only the evidence of the carriages provided by Joseph and the munificent monarch whom he served, to transport him with all that he had, could convince him that such great and unexpected blessings were his. "It is enough, (said he); Joseph my son is yet alive -I will go and see him before I die."

Fanny. I suppose Israel intended to return to the land of promise, and die there.

Yet

Mother. He might reasonably have cherished such a hope, because he had not yet attained, as he afterwards told Pharaoh, to the years of the life of his fathers: but he certainly knew that his posterity should return. knowing also that they should be afflicted "in a land wherein they were strangers," this sudden removal of his whole family to a foreign country, was calculated to fill his mind with anxious reflections on the probable consequences of an event so remarkable.

Arriving at Beer-sheba, on his journey into Egypt, Israel was forcibly impressed with the kindness of Providence to his family. Here was "the Well of the Oath," the memorable spot where Abraham and Isaac had re. ceived the homage of the king of Gerar. Here, then, he stopped to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him who had so marvellously restored his lamented son! After this act of duty, he was encouraged in a vision to prosecute his journey without fear; for in Egypt His presence would be with him, and, there, he should become " a great nation."

Catherine. Was this then the beginning of that bondage so famous in the history of the children of Israel?

Mother. Chronologists date the affliction of Abraham's posterity "in a land wherein they were strangers," from his leaving Chaldea, his native country-but the "bondage" in Egypt, so familiar to every reader of the Bible, began at this time; 66 yet their residence in that country commenced (B. C. 1706,*) under the most flattering auspices.

* See Note, p. 25.

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They were met on the way by Joseph in his chariot, and in the arms of his long-lost son, the full soul of the happy father received the fruition of earthly bliss! "Let me now die," said he, " since I have seen thy face." When tears and embraces had relieved the unutterable feelings of both, Israel and five of his sons were conducted to the king. The venerable patriarch was seated in the royal presence, and questioned of his age and occupation; and when he answered "thy servants are shepherds," the land of Goshen, a section rich in pasturage, was assigned to them, and the flocks of Pharaoh were committed to their

care.

Two years of the famine were spent, when Israel came with his family into Egypt. During five more, it continued with such distressing severity, that all the riches of the inhabitants came into the royal treasury to procure the means of subsistence. When their money was exhausted, they brought in their cattle, of every description, and exchanged them with Joseph for bread. Still the earth withheld her fruits, and the starving people crowded around him: "Shall we die before thine eyes?-take us and our land. we will be servants to Pharaoh, only give us bread."

But this upright minister would not aggrandize even the prince who had elevated him to the second place in the kingdom, to the prejudice of his fellow subjects; but employed the plenitude of his power for the advantage of both. He improved the condition of some by removing them to more convenient habitations, and generously restored four-fifths of the lands of all; retaining but one for the king and this regulation continued afterwards for ages. One-fifth of all the territories of Egypt belonged to the king, excepting the lands of the priests, who were wholly exempted from tribute.

Catherine. How old was Jacob when he entered Egypt? Mother. A hundred and thirty years-and he lived afterwards seventeen in Goshen; respected by the Egyptians, and happy in a flourishing family. His long and checkered life was now drawing to a close. Sickness and exhausted nature had confined him to his bed, when Joseph, whose attendance at the court of Pharaoh kept him neces

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sarily at some distance from Goshen, and who added to his other excellencies that of duteous attention to his father, having heard of his declining state, came immediately to see him. Revived by the sight of his beloved son, and animated by the desire to communicate some things of moment, the venerable patriarch raised himself up in his bed, and collected all his remaining strength for an interesting conversation.

With pious recognition of the extraordinary Providence which had directed his way, and supported him in distress, he was recounting to Joseph some of the most affecting incidents of his life, when indistinctly perceiving the youths, Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Joseph had brought with him to visit their grandsire, he inquired who they were. They are my sons (returned Joseph,) whom God hath given to me in this place.". "I had not thought to see thy face," exclaimed Israel, recollecting the mournful years when he thought his darling was lost to him forever,—“ I had not thought to see thy face, and lo! God hath shown me also thy children!"

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Then blessing Joseph in the name of "the God who had fed him all his life long," he embraced the children, and laying his right hand on the head of Ephraim, preferring him before Manasseh, who was the elder, he added these remarkable words, "The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads-and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

Fanny. What do you understand from the words which you call remarkable in the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh?

Mother. They are worthy of remark because they show the faith of Jacob in the better part of the blessing bestowed on his posterity; for exemption from all temporal evil, was no more the lot of Jacob than of any other human being. "Few and evil (said he to the Egyptian king) have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage." The most exquisite sufferings to which the life of man is subjected, had proved the faith of Jacob. Exiled in his youth from his country, and the caresses of his fond mother;

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flying from the vengeful hand of an only brother whom he knew he had injured; disappointed in a love which he had confidently cherished, and defrauded of the reward of his servitude; his inmost soul afflicted by the loss of his favourite child, though mercifully kept in ignorance of the unnatural hand which inflicted the blow, grieved on another occasion by the perfidious cruelty of Simeon and Levi; and deprived at length by death of his long-loved Rachel !—these were the sorrows of that pilgrimage which was now coming to a peaceful end. One duty yet remain. ed to be performed-one more important scene to fill the variegated drama.

Abraham, you may remember, was first selected to be the depository of the special Blessing: Isaac after him, was preferred to Ishmael, the elder of his two sons; and Jacob rather than Esau, of the sons of Isaac, to transmit it to their posterity. Jacob is now, in like manner, to hand it down to the chosen individual amongst his numerous children

On his death-bed, therefore, he called them together, and whilst he blessed them severally, expatiating on the various fortunes that should in future days befall them, he distinguished Judah as "He whom his brethren should praise, to whom his father's children should bow down."

"He with whom the Sceptre of Israel should remain till Shiloh should come, and to whom the gathering of the people should be."

Fanny. Do the subsequent scriptures show the accomplishment of these prophecies?

Mother. Beyond all question, as several learned commentators have demonstrated. You will read some of their works, I hope, with great satisfaction. They are highly worthy of your attention, because they evince the truth of sacred writ, by showing how exactly the fortunes of Jacob's children corresponded with his predictions. This is the only view in which they are interesting to us, that pronounced on Judah alone excepted. That being the grand link in the chain of our story, demands a brief explanation.

The Hebrew word which is rendered sceptre in our text, has several other senses in that language. In the same

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chapter it is translated tribe, which interpretation would more exactly apply to the prophecy of Jacob. The sceptre of royalty did indeed proceed from Judah, and it remained with him through a long period of the Israelitish history. The regal dignity, in its fullest sense, was taken from them when Judea was subjected to the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and afterwards to the Romans. But the tribeship of Judah did actually remain till Shiloh came, although the other tribes of Israel had been broken and scattered, long before that event.

The word Shiloh is likewise variously interpreted, but however understood, it is agreed by almost all commentators, both ancient and modern, to mean the sent―or the Messiah "whom the Father hath sent"-to whom the nations were gathered, and in whom all the spiritual promises to Israel will be accomplished.

From this formal division by Israel, the political government of tribes took its rise; Ephraim and Manasseh, constituting two, in the place of their father Joseph, according to the will of the patriarch. The dying exile also took an oath of his sons, especially of Joseph, as possessing chiefly the power to execute his will, to carry him into Canaan, and bury him with his fathers, in the sepulchre which had been purchased by his ancestor when he was a stranger in that land, for the burial-place of Sarah; where Abraham and Isaac, and Rebekah and Leah, had also been laid. Accordingly his remains were carried with great pomp into Canaan, (B. C. 1689,) attended by all the males of his family, and a great retinue of noble Egyptians, and laid in the cave of Macpelah.

Fanny. Deprived now of their natural protector, and wholly in the power of Joseph, his brothers would begin to fear that they might be sacrificed to his just resentment, no longer restrained by reverence for their common parent,

Mother. There you misapprehend his character. This illustrious man was always superior to circumstances. The fear of God was the governing principle of all his actions. His amiable nature was melted to tears when they sent messengers to deprecate his anger, and afterwards came, and prostrating themselves, presented his departed father's request, that he would forgive them! "Am I,"