pieces, and I saw him not since: and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.' "Now, therefore, if we go back to our father without our brother, he will surely die, and we shall be the cause. "Thy servant was surety that no harm should come to the lad; now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide in the place of the lad as a bondman, and let him go with his brethren; for how shall I be able to meet my father, if the lad be not with me,-lest harm come to my father?" Joseph could not refrain himself any longer, after Judah's heart-rending address; but caused all around to leave him, except his brothers: and then made himself known unto them. He was much affected and wept aloud; Joseph again asked "Doth my father yet live?" his brethren were much troubled at his presence, and could not answer him. Joseph affectionately told them to come nearer, saying, "I am Joseph, whom ye sold into Egypt," but, be not grieved, or angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you, to preserve life. For two years hath the famine been in the land, and it is to continue for five years more: God sent me before you, to preserve your posterity, and save your lives by a great deliverance. So it was not you that sent me hither, but God. He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and all his house; and ruler throughout all Egypt. "Go immediately to my father, and tell him so. and also tell him to come down unto me: tarry not, for thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, thou and thy children: and thy children's children, and thy flocks and herds, and all that thou hast, and be near unto me; and then I will nourish thee during the coming five years of famine, lest thou and thy household come to poverty." Then he fell on Benjamin's neck and wept again, and afterwards introduced all his brethren. It soon got to Pharaoh's ears that Joseph's brethren had come; and he commanded that they should be well treated; and told them to bring their father and the children down to Egypt, where they should be well used. And Joseph gave them provisions for the way home,-to all he gave changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of clothing. To his father he sent ten asses laden with all the good things of Egypt; ten she-asses laden with corn, and bread, and meat, for his father by the way. * * * * * So his brethren departed; and when they arrived at Canaan, they told unto Jacob all that had happened, and he fainted away he did not believe them; but when he saw the waggons, and all that Joseph had sent, his spirits revived; and he said, "It is enough, Joseph is alive. I will go and see him before I die." Jacob, accompanied by all his family, started on their journey to Egypt, and took their cattle, and their goods from Canaan with them. He sent Judah to go before, to direct him to Goshen, where he was to meet Joseph. Great was the joy of the meeting," they fell on each other's neck and wept," Jacob saying, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face again." Joseph presented his father to Pharaoh, and by his direction placed his father and brethren in the land of Goshen, whence their return to Canaan might be easy when the famine was over. The famine in Egypt kept increasing, so that Joseph, by the sale of corn, drew all the money of Egypt into the king's exchequer, or treasury; when money failed, he gave the Egyptians corn for their flocks and herds: these being exhausted, he sold them corn for their lands and persons. Thus all the Egyptians became, to a certain extent, the property of the king; and they paid him, yearly, a fifth part of all their crops, as the proprietor of their lands. Jacob dwelt in Goshen seventeen years, and died at a great age. Joseph caused his physicians to embalm him, according to the manner of the time among the Egyptians. As my young readers may see for themselves in the Egyptian Gallery of the British Museum, where there are bodies that have been kept, by the process of embalming, for upwards of 2,000 years. After Joseph's return from the funeral, his brethren, as in their father's name, by messengers, begged that he would forgive them the injury they would have done him, in resolving to murder him, and afterwards in selling him for a slave. But Joseph soon comforted them, and said he would keep them and their little ones as long as he lived. Joseph lived a prosperous and happy life, and died at a very advanced age, A. M., or the year of the world, 2369. Having gone through the principal parts of Joseph's eventful career, there is one lesson we should like to impress on our young friends, to be drawn from this little history, which is here illustrated more strongly than, perhaps, any of the Scripture Narratives, and that is "The forgiveness of injuries." It will be seen that all the while he appeared to be sorely trying the patience of his brothers, he was suffering very much himself, but it enabled him also to note how much they repented of their cruel conduct to him. It also shows that in all the relations of after life a good child is sure to be rewarded, Che Snowfall of the Alps. "EVERY DARK CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING." * AR, far, away, you must follow me, out of Old Of all the fair villages in all the mountain valleys, Berghèmoletto was once the fairest, and the most visited by travellers. It stood nearly at the summit of one of the highest Alpine points, and above it, the eternal snows that know no melting, and the blue heaven that towereth above all things, were alone. At its foot rolled a mighty sea of clouds that intercepted the sight of the earth, and amidst which rose, like rocks and islands, the tops of many of the lesser mountains. But when those clouds opened, or passed away, and gave a glimpse of the world below, then, what a burst of loveliness it was! The broad vineyards, and the * "Silver Blossoms to produce Golden Fruit;" by the Author of "Spring Flowers." London: Dean and Son. |