of the transaction. Excellent man! How does every new situation exalt him in our esteem!

Having made this discovery of himself unto them, he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. "Moreover, he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them.

This inimitable picture is touched with exquisite skill in all its parts; and here we cannot but feel the tenderest sympathy with all the actors in this interesting scene. Joseph first embraces Benjamin, because he is the son of his mother Rachel; but he does not confine this action of fraternal love to him, he embraces all his brethren, and weeps for joy while he salutes the whole circle. When this was over, the brethren of Joseph acquired confidence, and they entered into a free conversation with him, in which the condition of their father, and of their families in Canaan, formed a principal part. It was the first care of Joseph to provide for the welfare of his relations in this time of want, and to make them partakers of his prosperity. He therefore charged his brethren to hasten homewards, and to bring down as soon as possible Jacob, and all that they had left in Canaan. And ye shall tell my father," says he, " of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen." What, was Joseph elated with his high advancement; was he proud of being lord of all Egypt, and vainly desirous that "all his glory" should be represented to his father?

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No: it was not ostentation, but dutiful concern and prudence, that made him give this charge to his brethren. Jacob might be slow to believe the marvellous tidings, and old age is reluctant to change its long accustomed situation to visit a land of strangers. Jacob had much to fear from the Egyptians, who held the Canaanites in abhorrence; and it was, therefore, not likely that he would readily be induced to undertake so hazardous and long a journey. Joseph, weighing these circumstances, directed his brethren to relate all that they had seen in Egypt, and to represent his glory to Jacob, that the venerable old man might be assured that his son possessed power sufficient to provide for and protect his family.

When Pharaoh was informed that Joseph's brethren were arrived, the generous monarch commanded him to send wagons to bring his father and all his family down to Egypt, saying, at the same time, "Regard not your stuff, for the good of the land is yours."

We cannot but admire the gratitude and condescension of this amiable king, who was superior to the narrow and superstitious prejudices of his time, and felt no uneasiness at having for a prime minister the son of a shepherd. The character of the sovereign and his servant tallied well with each other; for if the king was pleased in manifesting his regard to Joseph, by taking care of his family, Joseph was also eager to secure the favor of his master on their behalf. Some men, when they get up in the world, are apt to forget, or, at least, to shun their indigent relations. The haughty upstart, who, by some dirty means, or by a fortunate circumstance, gets into authority, and to a rank which his humble origin could hardly have augured, will lift his head high above his native dunghill, and shrink from the recollection of the persons who gave him birth.

But Joseph was too wise and too good a man to be guilty of such a criminal neglect. He was not ashamed to own his alliance to shepherds, though he knew that the occupation which they followed was held in the greatest contempt among the Egyptians.

Joseph eagerly accepted the kind commission of his sovereign, and sent a considerable train with his brethren, to whom he also gave a liberal present; but still showing a particular regard for Benjamin, by bestowing upon him a larger portion of raiment and money than upon any of the others. "And to his father he sent ten asses, laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses, laden with corn, and bread, and meat, for his father by the way.'

So provident was Joseph, and attentive to the little conveniences of his father in this journey. His prudence was manifested also in the advice which he gave to his brethren when he took his leave of them: "See that ye fall not out by the way." Gen. xlv. 24. He was apprehensive that a remembrance of their past behavior might produce mutual accusations and reproaches, and he knew that the tempers of some of them were very violent, so that a serious misunderstanding might be the result.

Joseph's caution indicates an affectionate concern for the peace of his family; and a more important, impressive piece of advice could not have been given. It would be

well if, in the journey of life, mankind would take the same lesson as the rule of their conduct, especially in those social relations which are essential to human happiness, but which, from the want of attending to this rule, are often imbittered with envy, hatred, and malice.

When Jacob came to the province of Goshen, the most fertile part of Egypt, Joseph hastened thither in his chariot, and a most affecting interview took place between the venerable patriarch and his dutiful, his long lost child. The exalted Hebrew next presented his brethren and his father to Pharaoh, and so far from being ashamed of them or their employment, he directed them to acknowledge their calling, that they might obtain a free grant of Goshen for their residence, in order that they might be separated from the Egyptians.

We are now to consider Joseph as a vigilant and provident statesman, in a season of peculiar distress and difficulty. The famine having continued two years, all the private stock of the Egyptians was exhausted, and, of course, they were compelled to purchase corn from the public granaries, which greatly enriched the royal treasury. As long as there was money left they bought corn of Joseph with specie, but, in the sixth year of the famine, they were obliged to sell their cattle, and, in the last year, everything being gone, they were under the necessity of selling themselves and their lands.

Joseph has been unjustly accused of promoting tyranny and slavery by this conduct; but let us look a little closely into the history and the character of these people, before we rashly encourage this charge.

Some serious rebellions had happened in Egypt before the administration of Joseph, and from a regard for Pharaoh, no less than for the people themselves, he takes this opportunity of binding them to allegiance. He wisely also adopts a method whereby the evil of famine shall be prevented in future, by taking the lands which were suffered to lie failow, and by compelling the people who held them as vassals of the crown to turn the same into tillage. We behold here, then, a sagacious and truly benevolent line of conduct, instead of a cruel and unjust one, on the part of Joseph. By his superior wisdom the seven years of famine were provided against; and by laying the Egyptians under the necessity of selling their lands, he obtained that power which enabled him to render the country more fruitful than it ever had

been, or indeed would be, if the inhabitants were not in a manner forced to an agricultural life. But Joseph made no undue advantage of the people's necessities, for though they exchanged all their possessions, and even their liberty for corn, he reserved only a fifth part of the land for Pharaoh, who was before the owner of a tenth of the whole, except the portion which belonged to the priests.

Again we turn to view Joseph in his private character, and still find reason to admire him as a dutiful son and a kind and forgiving brother. Seventeen years did he enjoy the pious conversation of Jacob; and when he heard that his father was sick, he hastened to visit him, taking with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

The dying beds of the righteous are awfully instructive, and are well calculated to make serious impressions on the minds of youth. Wisely, therefore, did Joseph bring his children with him, that from the lips of their venerable ancestor they might learn the true value of religion. Jacob, full of the divine Spirit, pronounced a solemn blessing upon Joseph and upon his two sons, adding, however, that the younger should have the pre-eminence over the elder; and though he was dim with age, yet, by a divine instinct, he guided his hands in such a manner as to place his right hand upon Ephraim's head, and his left upon that of Manasseh. Joseph, seeing this, was vexed, and endeavored to correct what he imagined was a mistake, but the dying prophet persisted in the action he was led to adopt.

After this he said unto Joseph, " Behold I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."

This, according to the best commentators, expresses that portion of land which Jacob bought of Hamor in Shechem, and which he afterwards retook from the Amorites, who had seized upon it in his absence.

The last scene of Jacob we have already contemplated; but here we must observe, that though the good man addressed all his sons by name in the spirit of prophecy, and delivered a striking prediction of the MESSIAH, as the Shiloh which should descend from Judah, yet it was upon, Joseph that his heart rested itself with most affection. He dwelt with much delight upon the character and circumstances of his favorite son; and the language in which his blessing is expressed is highly metaphorical, elegant, and appropriate. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty Gop of Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel: even by the GoD of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the ALMIGHTY, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb: the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." Gen. xlix. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26.

The afflictions and the deliverances of Joseph are beautifully described under the figure of a hunted hart pursued by envy and malice! And the promise of high favor and extensive possessions to his posterity, is expressed in a rich variety of terms, to give it more weight and dignity.

When the strength of Jacob was exhausted, the lingering pulse ceased to beat, and the last breathing sigh departed, Joseph's heart was full of grief: "he fell upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed him."

But the sorrow of Joseph, though tender, was not immoderate. He attended to the solemn charge he had received from his father, and, after the days of embalming were ended, he solicited the king's leave of absence, and went up with the dear remains to the family sepulchre in Canaan.

On his return from this pious office he had another occasion to show the generous quality of his mind. His brethren were apprehensive that the death of their common parent would bring forth the latent spirit of revenge, and that they should now experience all the vengeance of Joseph for their evil treatment of him. Their guilty consciences made them afraid, and they judged, as wicked men always do, that the mind of Joseph was like their own, prone to "recompense evil for evil." The life of their fa her was, according to their gloomy judgment, the only security they had against the resentment of their brother; but now that impediment is removed, they have no