eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And 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 burst of simple and Christian eloquence is overpowering even to a heart which never knew the inspiration of love, which alone descends from heaven, and dwells in the souls of the redeemed. O how must the brethren have sunk under this mercy, this indescribable goodness! Let us add, that the fame thereof was soon heard by Pharaoh, that" Joseph's brethren were come :" it pleased Pharaoh well, as also his servants. The king had an early communication with Joseph on the joyful intelligence. Pharaoh condescended thus to address the brethren, "This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get ye unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your own pro

perty; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." And the children of Israel did so. Joseph gave them waggons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and provision for the way.

He gave each

man changes of raiment: to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed. Thus they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father; and having told him that Joseph was yet alive, and governor over all the land of Egypt, Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."

It will be sufficient to add, that Jacob, and the whole of his family, went down into Egypt. And thus were the dreams of Joseph fulfilled.

And now, my child, listen further to what will be said concerning Jacob and his family, for great things have come to pass in the world by means of

them. Jacob was also named İsrael, and the nation of the Jews were called Israelites, because they de scended from him. Each of his twelve sons was the head of a tribe. As the whole nation were called Israelites, so each tribe was called after each of his sons. In process of time, the Israelites be came a very great and powerful nation; and inasmuch as it was the design of God to raise up such a nation in the world, he therefore preserved Jacob and his sons, although they committed many actions for which they deserved punishment. For we find Jacob under the influence of a sinful temper of mind, which showed itself in his not being reconciled to the will of God, when he said he would not be comforted, on account of the loss of Joseph. How unlike David, when he said, he must go to his child, as the child would not return to him; and cast off all grief, and took his harp, and sang the praises of God, when he was bereaved of a son. But Jacob did not express any resignation to the will of God, when he ought to have said, "Thy will be done." On the contrary, he gives himself up to despair, and murmurs at the will of God. Besides, he showed his partiality for some of his sons, and this excited malice and ill-will in the others. He loved Joseph more than his other sons, and made him a coat of many colours. But this child, for whom he felt so

great partiality, was taken away from him in the flower of his age. Thus, my dear child, we see that those who are called good men, as Jacob was, are sometimes guilty of doing wrong, and we are not to think that the best men are perfect. So, my child, I your affectionate and kind parent, must not love you more than your other brothers and sisters, for by so doing, I may bring trouble upon myself and you, and be the means of causing your brothers and sisters to dislike you, as the brethren of Joseph hated him when they saw their father loved him more than them. Besides, it may produce in your little heart pride and vanity, and render your conduct very displeasing to others. But this is not all. If God should see that I love and caress you with partiality, and more than I ought to do, he may takę you from me, or in some way or other you may become a great affliction to me.

In this story of Joseph and his brethren, my child, we see what trials and sorrows come upon those parents who do not bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, as well as upon those children who are perverse and obstinate, and indulge evil feelings towards their brothers or sisters. And we also see how important it is to cultivate love, and to be kind and affectionate towards one another, and not to allow re

venge and jealousy to take the place of forbearance and candour.

It was also a very abominable thing, my child, for the sons of Jacob to deceive him in the manner they did, by carrying Joseph's coat to him, torn and stained with blood, in order to make him suppose that the poor boy had been destroyed by some wild beast. Thus it often happens that men cannot stop when they have done one wicked act; for the fear of being detected leads them to commit others, or to use artifice and fraud, in order to conceal their guilt. Thus Joseph's brethren, when they had sold him as a slave, covered the crime over by lying and deception. Remember, therefore, my child, that there is great danger of committing many wicked acts, if we commit one.

But let us consider further this history of Joseph, and we shall see how by the mercy of God, good arises out of afflictions; for He governs all things, and directs all our circumstances, and being supremely wise and good, he will sometimes make the evil actions of men subservient to the accomplishment of beneficial purposes. Thus he did in the case of Joseph and his brethren. He foreknew that the famine would take place in Egypt, and in Canaan where Jacob resided. This is evident from the interpretation of Pharoah's dream by Joseph,