the son of the prince having defiled Dinah their sister, Simeon and Levi avenged the injury by putting the men to death. The Lord then directed Jacob to arise and go up to Bethel, and he restrained the people of the land that they did not pursue after him. Arrived at Bethel, God said unto him, I am God Almighty be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

on.

Jacob set up a pillar at Bethel, and journeyed

When on the way, his beloved Rachel died in giving birth to a son, whom she called Ben-oni, or, the son of my sorrow; but Jacob called him Benjamin, or, the son of my right hand. His mother was buried at Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and here, too, Jacob set up a pillar.

And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

When Jacob fled from Padan-aram Joseph was but a child. Whilst he sojourned at Shechem he was a growing boy, and but young when his father left that place for Bethel, and settled at length in Mamre. Of these days of his boyhood nothing is said in the sacred records. On the death of his much-loved mother, his father appears to have centered all the love he bore to her on her two sons-Joseph and the infant Benjamin, but especially on Joseph.

The first words of Joseph's history begin when he was seventeen years of age-a lad he is then called—and we find him employed in

feeding the flock with his brethren. 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 colours. This fondness of the aged parent excited the jealousy and hatred of his brethren, which was increased by his having brought to his father an evil report of the sons of Bilhah, and confirmed when, with innocent simplicity, he told them of two dreams which he had dreamed, when he saw the sheaves of his brethren bow down to his sheaf, which stood upright-and that again he saw the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars bow down to him. This was enough. His brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Sitting at his tent door at calm eventide, beneath the shade of the tree under which the three heavenly visitors rested, let us imagine we see the venerable patriarch as if in deep meditation: at length his thoughts flow out in slow soliloquy.

JACOB.

Yes, dreams are oft from God. The boy is right. Never can I forget that awful dream

I had at Bethel. Was not that from God?
And did he not fulfil his promis'd word?
Again, I dreamed, when in Laban's house,
I heard the angel's voice which bade me fly,
And promis'd me the land in which I dwell.
And was not Laban in a dream forbade
To speak to me in words from good to bad?
I do remember, too, my father told me
That my forefather Abraham oft was visited
In visions of the night, and guided thus
As to his future course. What God intends
By these mysterious dreams to Joseph given,
I cannot tell. But one thing grieves my heart,
And I must now give caution to the lad.

Joseph, my son !

JOSEPH.

My father, here am I. JACOB.

Joseph, my child, take care and guard thy words. The telling of those dreams of thine, my boy, Has moved the indignation of thy brethren. Be careful, then, to treat them with respectThey are thy elders, and thou know'st the rule In all our house-that to the elder always

The younger shall submit.

The God of thy forefathers.

And he will be thy Guardian.

Fear God, my son;
Trust in him,

JOSEPH.

Beloved Father,

Thy son will do as thou hast bidden him.

JACOB.

I hope thou wilt, for thou hast always done so.
But we must strive to pacify thy brethren.
To-morrow I will send thee out to Shechem
To enquire as to their welfare. Be thou sure
To greet them with respect and kind affection;
So shalt thou cool the burning of their anger,
And turn their hate to love. Farewell, my child,
My hopes rest on thee! Surely thou shalt be
The joy and glory of my latter days!

THE BRETHREN in the field in earnest discourse.
REUBEN.

What strange imaginations fill the mind

Of that vain boy. Even his midnight slumbers Are visited by visions of ambition.

Shall he indeed stand in my place, my brethren, And claim the privilege of the first-born son?

SIMEON.

Reuben his father's fond and ill-plac'd favour Has fill'd his mind with pride and vanity.