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cern: Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again."

Joseph with cheerful willingness obeyed his father's commands, and set out for Sechem; but not finding his brethren there, he went to Dothan, to which place he was informed they had removed with their flocks.

The shepherds, when they saw Joseph "afar off," immediately conspired his ruin. Their first thought was murder; which sufficiently proves that the idea was not new, and that his destruction had often been a matter of consultation among them. "And they said one to another, Behold this dreamer cometh ; let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

Here we see the source of their sanguinary purposes. The dreams of Joseph rankled in their gloomy minds; and rather than such humiliation should ever befall them as those prognostics indicated, they determined to crush the sovereign in the bud.

They had no solicitous desires to know how it fared with their families at home; or to learn whether good or evil-tidings had brought Joseph thus far to see them. Envy, malice, and revenge took possession of their souls, and obliterated at once every sentiment of filial and paternal affection.

But how powerful is the Divine influence in its secret workings upon the human heart! (Reuben, the elder son of Jacob, felt an impulsive motion to save the life of his brother. He artfully persuaded the rest not to imbrue their hands in the blood of so near a relation, and represented to them that their purpose might be answered equally well by casting him into a pit, and leaving him there to perish. The proposal of Reuben was the result of a good-natured design to deliver Joseph from the malice of his brothers; but their consent to it only evinced a

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more savage spirit of cruelty, for a death of this kind was worse than immediate slaughter.

Joseph, on descrying his brethren, felt a lively joy and satisfaction. Doubtless he was much fatigued by his long journey, and by the disappointment of not finding them in Sechem; but now he felt delighted at descrying the objects of his search, and he hastened forwards with alacrity. How different were his sensations from those of his unnatural brethren! He was ready to salute and embrace them, and they like wolves to seize upon him as their prey.

Instead of meeting with friends, he is fallen amongst the worst of enemies. His mission is not neard, his tale is stopped; his coat, that envied Dadge of a father's fondness, is stripped off; in vain he lifts his streaming eyes to heaven, in vain his uplifted hands supplicate for mercy, in vain he calls upon each of his brothers, in vain he tries to touch their obdurate hearts, by urging the name of their venerable father-deaf to all intreaties, and insen sible to every feeling of humanity, they "stripped 'oseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours, that was on him; and they took him and cast him into a pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it."

When these unnatural beings had consigned Joseph to a death the most dreadful of all others, that of perishing for want, they contentedly sat themselves down to eat bread.

Unmindful of the wretched condition of their brother, the wretches calmly indulged in a repast, and exulted at the cowardly revenge they had taken of a hapless youth, whose only fault was the enjoying a father's fondness, and the manifest favour of Providence. The Divine Being, however, who marked every circumstance of this nefarious transaction, caused a company of Ishmaelite merchants to pass near the spot where these brothers were feasting: and it instantly occurred to Judah, that a fair op

portunity was presented to get effectually rid of Joseph, without having his murder to answer for, by selling him as a slave to these travellers. The proposition was readily acceded to; for hereby, they had not only the pleasure of removing him out of the way, but of doing it upon terms of advantage to themselves. A sordid love of gain mixed itself with their other bad qualities, and the mercenary wretches sold a branch of their own family to strangers, with as little compunction as if he had been a lamb or a young bullock. Inhuman traffick! how soon did it get into use among men, and even in ages of simplicity, wherein we see so many beautiful touches of genuine affection and sensibility.

But Joseph is in better hands, though among those "who traded in the persons of men," than among unfeeling, envious, and vengeful brethren. Mysterious Providence! How should we admire the wisdom of thy ways, and, from this instance, learn submission to all the dark and perplexing events of human life!

If Joseph had not missed his brethren in Sechem, or if he had arrived sooner or later at Dothan, these merchants would have passed by without effecting his deliverance; but every circumstance has its necessary connexion with the chain of events, and the slightest incidents are of moment in the general plan. The avarice of Joseph's brethren shall be presented with an opportunity of gratification, that their pri soner may, through slavery and banishment, attain to glory and honour.

Reuben was not present when this bargain was made; and it is not improbable but that he had taken circuitous course, for the very purpose of rescuing Joseph from his confinement, and assisting him in his escape. On coming to the pit, and not finding Joseph there, he was seized with agony, and rent his clothes; the usual manner of expressing uncommon concern and grief in those days. He hastened to nis brethren; and his language shows that he had

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