and from his father's presence for twenty-three years apprehends no approaching ill. And although his enemies are cruel as death, there is ONE above, who shall deliver him from all their malice.

Wandering from place to place, his weary feet draw nigh to Dothan; and lo, those whom he seeks are there, watching his approach. Did not his heart leap for joy, when he saw, once more, faces which he knew, and brethren whom he loved? With sentiments far different do they gaze upon the lively hope of their father's old age! "And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him." Ungrateful, and unnatural, that they were! They could see a parent's failings—but could not recognize his kindness! In the person of that beautiful youth, they only saw the favorite of their father: envy had so blinded their eyes, that they did not discover in him, a brother "bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh."

How does one vice lead the way to another! The man who cherishes one evil passion cannot say where it will end! He, who begins a course of iniquity, cannot draw the line, and say, "Thus far will I go, but no further!" The brethren of Joseph first admitted envy into their bosoms. After lying long, and being cherished there, it generated the thought of bloodshed; and the minds that entertained without pity the idea of murder, easily contrived a lie to impose upon their abused father. "And they said one to another, Be. hold this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and 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!"

Remorseless, and abandoned, as were this band of ruffians (for who can pollute the sacred name of brethren by applying it to murderers?) it appears that amongst them there was one, in whom the flame of duty, and affection, was not wholly extinguished. Reuben retained in his bosom a small portion of respect for his venerable and tried parent, of love to his innocent brother, of the common feelings of humanity; and he counselled them not to kill him, but to deposit him in some pit; secretly intending to deliver him from their hands, and to restore him to his father.

There is one thing worthy your attention, and which renders their conduct the more cruel and unjust, that, whatever might be the partiality of Jacob, Joseph does not appear to have assumed any thing in consequence of it, nor to have carried himself towards his brethren with insolence. For aught that appears on the sacred page, he seems ever to have treated them with the utmost affection, and to have borne his exaltation, in his father's family, with meekness.

They stripped him of his coat, and having cast him into a pit, "sat down to eat bread!" At this moment, a company of Ishmaelites passed by. And Judah said, "What profit is it if we slay our brother? come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites!" Who does not blush to be a partaker of human nature?-of that nature, which could coldly join the purpose of murder with satisfying the common cravings of hunger-and not only unite the sacred name of brother with the design of reducing that brother to the condition of a slave— but, to make the frightful picture complete, added to all the rest the insatiable claims of avarice, and consulted which method of disposing of their own "flesh” would bring them the most "profit!"—Surely in these

bosoms nothing human was left undestroyed!-To this vile proposal the brethren consented (one only being absent;) and they sold their brother to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The absent brother returned in an agony from the pit whence the child was taken, and lamented his loss, with feelings worthy of him, and with a sincerity that will one day shield him from the pangs of conscience, which those unrelenting bosoms shall feel.

It now remained, that they should complete their purpose, and finish their unnatural plan, by deceiving their too confiding father, and by persuading him, that his beloved child was devoured by some wild beast. This was accordingly done. A kid was killed, and the fatal pledge of parental affection dyed in blood.

I see the venerable old man waiting at the door of his tent for the return of his beloved boy! He says to himself Several hours have elapsed since he departed! he might have returned long ere now! The shadows of the evening are falling fast! He will be bewildered in his path! Why is he so long in coming? Surely he is safe!'-Now he walks a little way from the door of his tent to meet him; and his eyes, far more active than his feet, cast many a wishful, anxious look, towards Shechem. At length, a company is seen at a distance-his eager gaze impatiently examines them. "Yes'-he exclaims with exultation-'they As they are my sons' and his heart leaps for joy! approach, all his fears, and anxietjes, return with tenfold weight upon him. In vain he runs over the whole company with his eye, in search of the object of his affection-Joseph is not with them-and they draw near to confirm, too sadly confirm, his worst apprehensions! The bloodstained robe met the distracted

sight of the wretched parent. Most probably, hypoerisy shrouded the countenance of these unnatural sons, with the borrowed mantle of seeming sorrow. Their tale of falsehood is told: the witness of their story appears in their hand; and the silence of grief, at length, gives way to the phrensy of despair. "It is my son's coat"-he exclaims an evil beast hath devoured him! Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And he refused to be comforted, and said, I will go down into the grave to my son mourning!"

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Hebrew captive, and blesSo conspicuously was the house, and in all the con

In the mean time "Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites." Here the God of his father interfered, and was with the little sed his master for his sake. hand of Heaven seen in his cerns which he committed to his servant that this man, although a stranger to God, noticed it, and had gratitude enough to reward it; "and he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat."

The hour of temptation is at hand. Prosperity is generally suceeded by trial. When thy day, my young friend, is unusually serene, expect a tempest to follow. I shall draw a veil over the scene of trial to which his purity was exposed: for it would ill become us to enforce even Joseph's piety, at the expense of a blush from the cheek of modesty. All circumstances considered, the temptation was violent; and such as none but those, who, like Joseph, have the fear of God before their eyes, could have withstood. But his arguments were strong, and unanswerable: "How can I do this

great wickedness, and sin against

God?" This noble

principle shall not go unrewarded. The righteous demands of religion may for a season seem to expose us to danger: but the eye of God beholds integrity in the heart that cleaves to him, and the hand of God will recompense it.

By the tongue of falsehood, his master was prevailed upon to cast this injured and virtuous youth into prison. We pause one moment to mark here the overruling hand of Heaven. DEATH was the punishment inflicted upon those who are guilty of the crime of which he was accused; and here is the first interposition of God in reward of his innocence. Yet his lot was bitter; for he was immured in the king's prison, and "the iron entered into his soul."

To

Behold him reduced to the lowest ebb of fortune"a stranger in a strange land"-shut out from liberty -denied to breathe the pure air of heaven-lying under the imputation of a detestable crime and stripped of every thing, except that which the world's wealth cannot purchase, the testimony of a good conscience, and the presence and Spirit of God. Yet the hand of Deity is secretly working for him, both within, and without, the place of his confinement. lighten his bondage, he now finds that favor in the eyes of the keeper of the prison, which he formerly found with Potiphar; and by the wise decisions of Providence, two of the principal servants of Pharaoh are sent to the same house of bondage." Long had they not been under the same roof with Joseph, before the visions of the Almighty visited them; and two dreams predicted the restoration of the one to favor, and the termination of the hopes and fears of the other in death. With affectionate sympathy, Joseph inquired why the cloud of grief sat heavy on their coun