arrangement was made about selling him to the Ishmaelites; so when he went privately to the pit, with the intention of taking up his younger brother and restoring him to his father, you can scarcely imagine the anguish of his heart on finding that the dear boy was gone!

He wildly rent his clothes, and, in a terrible state of mind, returned to his brothers, crying out, "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?"

I suppose the guilty brothers told him what they

had done.

It was necessary to account for Joseph's absence to the old father, so they killed a goat, and dipping the poor boy's many-coloured coat into its blood, they took it, all stained and gory, to their father, exclaiming, "This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.' The deceit answered; the old man was completely taken in. It is my son's coat," he replied; "an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces."

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Very great was the sorrow of that bereaved father; very heavy the grief which fell darkly on his old age.

According to the customs of those times, instead of putting on mourning, as we do, Jacob girt his loins. with sackcloth, and sat on the ground to weep.

P

I do not believe that in his woe he murmured against the Almighty. I have no doubt that, amidst sighs and tears, he could say, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good;" for the trial was so crushing, I am persuaded it would have completely overpowered him, if he had not caught some glimpses, through the terrible gloom, of the truth, and love, and righteousness of his God; if he had not heard through the stormy night of weeping the distant tones of love, which said, "It is I; be not afraid!"

XIX.

Poor young Joseph! He did not remain long with the Midianitish merchants, for they sold him to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officers, and captain of the guard. He was master of the king's body guard, and magistrate of the lictors, who were executioners of the royal will in Egypt. These men always took care of the state prisoners, and they had to superintend the execution of malefactors.

It is very beautiful to mark Joseph's life at this time, for we begin very clearly to see the prints of the Divine footsteps on his path; we mark how, in every circumstance, the Lord was with him. As we read we learn the lesson, that the service of God is a noble

service, converting even disaster, difficulty, and disappointment into blessings of exceeding worth.

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'And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man.”

This was the secret of his success: "the Lord was with him;" and I wish to impress on your minds, my dear children, that it is only according as the blessing of the Lord rests on our efforts that we succeed in anything. The things unseen were very near and substantial to Joseph; he held daily and holy intercourse with his heavenly Father; he sought His guidance in every action of his life, His strength for weakness, His help for need, His blessing for his daily life, and, therefore, he prospered.

Oh, children, it is in proportion as you seek God, as you live near to Him, trustingly and lovingly, that you will prosper and be happy. I do not hesitate to say this, though some will, I know, in hasty reply to my assertion, exclaim, How many true Christians are there who are not prosperous men!" And in the common sense in which the word prosperity is taken, this is certainly true; but, oh, may not that man be called prosperous who, when the waves of sorrow roll over his little bark, knows that he is safely anchored on the Rock of Ages? Great peace have they who love God. They can rise up with renewed strength out of

the midst of mortal weakness. When care and disappointment have withered their cheeks, and relentlessly ploughed deep furrows on their brow; when the eye has forgotten its sparkle, and the smile its brilliancy; still, in childlike trust, such mourners can stay themselves on the Invisible; and I ask you, children, if this is not prosperity-the high and holy prosperity of the soul?

But, apart from this, I tell you, that earthly prosperity is very closely connected with a simple trust, a daily, close communion with God.

I am surprised at the way in which many good people overlook this.

"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," they say— chasteneth for their profit-and assuredly so it is; but is not the want of success, which we naturally look on as a heavy trial, sent to us very often expressly to remind us of our faithlessness in this matter? Are we not taught by failure, by difficulties of every kind, that our earthly schemes, our earthly business, must be prayerfully, and with unbounded confidence, left in our Master's hands, who has far more to do with the secular affairs of our daily common life than we are apt to imagine?

We have confused and incoherent ideas on this matter. We talk in a vague and general way of the

providence of God, but we do not go to Him for help and blessing in earthly matters as we ought to do. When we pray for temporal good, it is too often with a dreamy sort of feeling—a kind of half persuasion, that in a far-off region dwells the Ruler of our destinies, and that He has the power to send us, if He will, what we call good fortune.

But, children, if you would win earthly prosperity, this is not the way in which you should approach your God. You must go to Him, pleading the name of Jesus; you must spread all your hopes and fears and thoughts and wishes before Him, and in proportion as is your trust, so, I believe, will be your prosperity.

But, to return to Joseph, who had been so cruelly torn from his old father. Side by side with the great Invisible that young lad walked; though far removed from all home influences, though in the midst of an idolatrous people, his love to God, his simple dependence on Him, did not grow faint, and his master soon discovered, by his general conduct, by his faithfulness, his fervour of spirit, his patience in difficulty, and his loving, gentle manner, whose he was and whom he served.

He saw that he was strengthened for every emergency of duty, and marvelled as he observed that high-mindedness which raised him above the common,