which he practised upon his father. Sin necessarily brings with it its own punishment; and it made even this favored child an alien from his father's house, and worse than a servant in the family of an avaricious, unfeeling, unprincipled relation. His mother, whose partiality to him projected and executed the plan for which they both suffered so much in the event, advised him to flee into Mesopotamia, and to "tarry for a few days with his uncle Laban, till his brother's fury should turn away." Alas! more than twenty years elapsed, while he was a sojourner at Padan-aram; and when he returned to the tent of his father, the maternal anxieties and sorrows of Rebekah, were buried with her, deep and silent, in the dust of death! We must drop these instructive records, and meet Jacob restored to his father, just in time to close his eyes: and regarding him henceforward but as the father of Joseph, we must bring forwards so much of his history only, as is interwoven with the life and trials of his beloved son.

Rachel had said "Give me children, or else I die!" How little do we know when our petitions are profitable to us, and when they will prove injurious, if answered in our own way! Not through the rejection, but in the fulfilment, of her desire-Rachel dies! That pillar, which solicits, the eye of the traveller in the way to Ephrath, tells a mournful story. It says, "that the hand of affection elevated it, as a memorial of departed joys, to point out the spot where a husband lost the delight of his eyes, taken away at a stroke; that a mother was slain upon her bed by the accomplishment of her wish: that the cup of anticipated pleasure was dashed from her pale lips before she tasted its sweetness; and that the man-child, so long desired as the summit of her earthly ambition, was named, as

her soul was in departing, BENONI!" This is its sad inscription-and this is the grave of the mother of JOSEPH!

Introduced under these circumstances, how interesting he appears to every feeling mind! A child robbed of his mother, 'excites universal commisseration, and commands affection from every bosom. We look forwards with anxiety to every future period of his life; and our prayers, and our hopes, attend every step of his journey. We mingle our tears with his, on the grave of her, whose maternal heart has ceased to beat: for we feel that he is bereaved of the friend and guide of his youth! His father would, but cannot, supply her loss. In vain the whole circle of his friendships blend their efforts to alleviate his sorrows, and to fill the place occupied by departed worth: a mother must be missed every moment, by a child who has ever known, and rightly valued one, when she sleeps in the grave. No hand feels so soft as her's-no voice sounds so sweet-no smile is so pleasant! Never shall he find again, in this wide wilderness, such sympathy, such fondness, such fidelity, such tenderness, as he experienced from his mother! The whole world are moved with compassion for that motherless child: but the whole world cannot supply her place to him!-And to interest your feelings, you are first made acquainted with Joseph, at a period when he had lost the smile, and the superintendance, of his mother!

The history of his life opens upon us, also, when he was of an age to command affection, and to excite solicitude. "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren." A youth of seventeen is placed in delicate, and dangerous, circumstances:, he feels new passions and desires: he is assailed by

new scenes and temptations: he is entering the most perilous path of life, with an immature judgment, a vivid and deceptive imagination, a mind inexperienced and impressible; and his whole life will be deeply af fected by the habits which he forms, and the princi ples which he assumes, at this early period. He, who has weathered the storms, and experienced the wiles of life, feels much solicitude for the unsuspicious youth in taking this first step, which may, perhaps, for ever afterwards, decide his character. The selection of his society is an important concern: he will be moulded into their image, and will be deeply influenced by their example. Joseph associated with his brethren; and it is fit, it is desirable, that "brethren should dwell together in unity;" but experience teaches, that brethren are not always the most suitable companions for each other: too much is frequently expected on both sides, of compliance, submission, or attention, and the bonds of peace are broken asunder. Something like this, appears to have been the case in the family of Jacob: for "the lad was with the sons of Bilbah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report." In this one instance, he does not appear in the most amiable light: for, in every point of view, a talebearer is an odious, and a dangerous person.

"Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors." Here lies the secret spring of all the subsequent afflictions, both of the parent, and of the child! Could any thing excuse parental partiality, the reasons alleged would do it: but it is not to be excused; and he, who would keep his best beloved safely, must not make it known that he

is the best beloved: for it is a piece of injustice, which nature, in the bosom of a brother, will never pardon. And the fond father must publish his weakness, by bestowing a mark of superior affection upon his darling boy, which would always meet the eye of his brethren, and never could be seen without exciting the worst of passions! Ah, Jacob! what are all the sufferings of thy younger life forgotten? Did not parental partiality drive thee from the shadow of a father's tent, and the embraces of a mother's arms, to want and to servitude? Yet all the afflictions which he endured in the service of Laban, and all that he apprehended from the murderous sword of Esau: all that he feared, and all that he felt; had not guarded his heart against the very weakness which had caused all his troubles. The result was, what might have been expected-"When his brethren saw that his father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him." When a parent feels, and discovers, partiality to any one child above another, he himself is the cause of all the evil that shall arise, to wound his own peace, to render the object of his affection unamiable, to burst asunder the bonds of fraternal unity, to destroy domestic harmony, and to promote discord, strife, envy, and "every evil work."

God-"who speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not;" who, "in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed, openeth their ears, and sealeth their instruction"-foretold to Joseph, in two separate, yet similar dreams, his future greatness. Before the canon of scripture was completed, divine designs were made known in some more immediate channels; and such methods of communication, as those mentioned in this

book, were frequent, before a written revelation was given, because they were necessary.

With more of honest simplicity, and of childish exultation, than of wisdom, and of prudence, he related these dreams; and the rancor, which already corroded fraternal affection, was increased in the bosom of his envious brethren. They fed their flocks at a distance from home, and it is probable had been absent some days, when the affectionate heart of Jacob yearned to know of their welfare. He resolved to send Joseph, to bear to them a parent's inquiries, and a parent's blessing. He could not but have seen their smothered dislike to this amiable youth: he had surely heard their half-suppressed murmurings: and, no doubt, he marked them with fear and concern. It is not impossible that he reflected upon himself, for having, by his conduct, excited the ferment, which he was now anxious to allay; and, perhaps, he said in his heart-By sending my child to inquire after their welfare, and making him the servant of their convenience, I shall wipe away their evil impressions against him, and convince them of my regard for them.' Little did he know the extent of the mischief which his partiality had effected; and as little did he appear to understand that "a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city!"

Behold, this lad in whom all his father's affections centre, setting out from the vale of Hebron! Already have the trembling lips of Jacob pronounced, "God be gracious to thee, my son!"-and now his aged eyes are following him in his way to Shechem. Did no presentiment of evil shake his heart with unusual fears, when his faltering tongue, said, "farewell?" Yonder youth, lightly treading the ground, and gaily pursuing the path which led him from his father's tent for ever.