XIII.

SERMON It shows us human manners in their primitive simplicity, before the arts of refinement had polished the behaviour, or disguised the characters of men; when they gave vent to their passions without dissimulation, and spoke their sentiments without reserve. Few great societies were, as yet, formed on the earth. Men lived in scattered tribes. The transactions of families made the chief materials of history; and they are related in this book, with that beautiful simplicity, which, in the highest degree, both delights the imagination, and affects the heart.

Of all the patriarchal histories, that of Joseph and his brethren is the most remarkable, for the characters of the actors, the instructive nature of the events, and the surprising revolutions of worldly fortune. As far as relates to the Text, and is necessary for explaining it, the story is to the following purpose: Joseph, the youngest, except one, of the sons of Jacob, was distinguished by his father with such marks of peculiar affection, as excited the envy of his brethren. Having related to them, in the openness of his

heart,

XIII.

heart, certain dreams which portended SERMON his future advancement above them, their jealousy rose to such a height, that they unnaturally conspired his destruction. Seizing the opportunity of his being at a distance from home, they first threw him into a pit, and afterwards sold him for a slave; imposing on their father by a false relation of his death. When they had thus gratified their resentment, they lost all remembrance of their crime. The family of Jacob was rich and powerful; and several years passed away, during which they lived in prosperity; without being touched, as far as appears, with the least remorse for the cruel deed which they had committed.

Meanwhile, Joseph was safely conducted, by the hand the hand of Providence, through a variety of dangers, until, from the lowest condition, he rose at last to be chief favourite of the King of Egypt, the most powerful monarch at that time in the world. While he possessed this high dignity, a general famine distressed all the neighbouring countries. In Egypt alone, by means of his fore

SERMON sight and prudent administration, plenty
XIII. still reigned. Compelled to have recourse

to that kingdom for supply of food, the
brethren of Joseph, upon this occasion,
appeared in his presence, and made their
humble application to him, for liberty to
purchase corn; little suspecting the Go-
vernour of the land, before whom they
bowed down their faces to the earth, to
be him, whom along ago they had sold as
a slave to the Ishmaelites. But Joseph no
sooner saw, than he knew his brethren;
and, at this
this unexpected meeting, his
heart melted within him. Fraternal ten-
derness arose in all its warmth, and
totally effaced from his generous breast
the impression of their ancient cruelty,
Though, from that moment, he began to
prepare for them a surprize of joy; yet
he so far constrained himself as to assume
an appearance of great severity. By this
he intended, both to oblige them to bring
into Egypt his youngest and most beloved
brother, whose presence he instantly re-
quired; and also, to awaken within them
a due sense of the crime which they had
formerly perpetrated. Accordingly, his be-

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haviour

XIII.

haviour produced the designed effect. For SERMON while they were in this situation, strangers in a foreign land, where they had fallen, as they conceived, into extreme distress; where they were thrown into prison by the Governour, and treated with rigour, for which they could assign no cause; the reflection mentioned in the Text arose in their minds. Conscience brought to remembrance their former sins. It recalled, in particular, their long-forgotten cruelty to Joseph; and, without hesitation, they interpreted their present distress to be a judgment, for this crime, inflicted by Heaven. They said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us; and we would not hear: Therefore is this distress come upon us.Behold also his blood is required.

From this instructive passage of history, the following observations naturally arise. I. That a sense of right and wrong in conduct, or of moral good and evil, belongs to human nature. II. That it produces an apprehension of merited punishment, when we have committed evil. III. That although this inward sentiment be stifled

SERMON during the season of prosperity, yet in XIII. adversity it will revive. And, IV. That,

when it revives, it determines us to consider every distress which we suffer, from what cause soever it has arisen, as an actual infliction of punishment by Heaven. The consideration of these particulars will lead us to a very serious view of the nature of man, and of the government of God.

I. THERE belongs to human nature a sense of moral good and evil, or a faculty which distinguishes right from wrong, in action and conduct. They said one to another, We are verily guilty.In an age,

when the law was not yet given, when no external revelation of the Divine will subsisted, except what had been handed down among the patriarchs, from one generation to another; the brethren of Joseph reasoned concerning their conduct, upon the same moral principles, and were affected by the same feelings, of which we are conscious at this day. Such sentiments are coëval with human nature; for they are the remains of a law which was originally written in our heart. In the darkest regions of the earth,

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