Lord was with him;" and he therefore enjoyed felicity; for this presence, protection, and love of God can give joy to the heart, in the most unprosperous circumstances. The blessing of God was so evidently upon his labours, that his master raised him from the rank of slave to that of steward of all his household, and committed every thing to his disposal. Servants, Joseph presents you with an example of industry, of contentment, and fidelity. Like him, be ever attentive to the interests of your masters; and you, like him, shall be regarded and esteemed by them. Like him, live in holiness and the fear of God; and you shall, like him, be raised at last to the highest dignities, and in the kingdom of God enjoy honours infinitely greater than mortals could bestow.

At this period, Joseph was exposed to a new trial, in which the integrity of his soul and the firmness of his religious principles were displayed. His conduct may be ridiculed by the licentious, and derided by fools, who "make a mock at sin;" but the scorn and laughter of the profane cannot alter the immutable nature of virtue and vice-cannot hinder this conduct from being an object of admiration to all whose approbation is worth desiring—and especially cannot influence the decisions that will hereafter be pronounced at the tribunal of the God of purity. The wife of Potiphar is held up to perpetual infamy, for forgetting her sex, her modesty, her duty, and cherishing the most irregular desires. Joseph was assailed by her beauty-by her solicitations-by the prospect of gain from her favour, and the probability of injury from her resentment-by the frequency and violence of her temptations. But he nobly rose superior to all her seductions, and was upheld by honour, by gratitude, by religion. The kindness

and confidence of his master, and a sense of the presence of God, were an impenetrable shield against all the assaults of vicious pleasure. "He said unto her, Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath into my hand. There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how, then, can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" When her importunities were day by day renewed, Joseph, with holy prudence, avoided her society; and at last chose to sacrifice reputation, liberty, life, rather than wound his conscience and offend the Lord. "He left his garment in her hand, and fled from her."

Let the votaries of licentious pleasure deride this conduct their derision excites only our pity and compassion; for the time is coming when they will remember, with bitter agony, their scoffs at the restraints of religion, and will execrate those pretended friends, who have seduced them into those courses, "the steps of which take hold on hell." In this life, they may be added to the countless thousands, who, by an indulgence in sinful pleasures, have withered the fair promises of their youth, and blasted the fond expectations of their parents and friends-have sacrificed the dignity of men, and, becoming the slaves of appetite, have rendered themselves incapable of sublime pursuits, and of noble aims-have become contemptible even to themselves, and have justly incurred the scorn of the wise and good. On the bed of death, what horrors shall besiege their departing spirits; and how awful shall be the voice of conscience, which, now stupified, shall then awake from its lethargy, and retrace to them, in accents dread

fully impressive, all the enormities of the past, all the agonies of the future. And throughout eternity they shall find that sinners cannot, with impunity, treat with contempt the threatenings and commands of the living God. In imagination place yourself for a moment, O voluptuary, on the brink of the fathomless abyss. Through the flames seek those persons of whose crimes you have been the witness, the accomplice, perhaps the author. Behold the pleasures of a moment succeeded by an eternity of sufferings; the unhallowed fire which consumed them on earth, succeeded by that avenging fire, which tortures without being able to consume; that gayety and laughter in which they indulged, succeeded by blackness of darkness, by groaning and gnashing of teeth; view this awful spectacle, and in time pause in that career, the end of which must be destruction.

Let the young, especially, learn wisdom from the youthful Joseph. Your age is frequently made an excuse for improper indulgences. It is an excuse unauthorized by the word and the law of God. If your early years were not given you by God, they might be spent in the service of his enemies; but since all parts of your life are the gift of his goodness, they ought all to be consecrated to his service. Seek from him that grace which you need, in order to resist temptation; and "if sinners entice you, consent ye not."

What bounds can be set to the wickedness of a female who forgets the modesty of her sex? Impelled by revenge, the wife of Potiphar falsely accused Joseph. Potiphar listened to her complaints, and Joseph was cast into prison. "His feet," says the Psalmist, (cv. 18.) "were hurt with fetters, and he was laid in iron." This was the severest affliction

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he had yet endured. He had before experienced many sorrows; but his good name had not been assailed by calumny and detraction. Now he is accused of a crime which he abhors, and he has no possibility of vindicating his innocence. Yet he utsoul in pa

ters no complaints, but "possesses his
tience," and calmly waits for that time when God
"shall bring forth his righteousness as the light, and
his judgment as the noon-day." (Ps. xxxvii. 6.)

Are any of you, my brethren, like him, unjustly reproached? Remember Joseph; remember the lives of almost all the pious men, whose history is recorded in the Old Testament and the New; and when you consider that you experience only the same affliction that was undergone by those "of whom the world was not worthy,"-be resigned. Remember, especially, the treatment of your Redeemer, the reproaches and calumnies which he endured; and commit yourselves to God, who, in his own good time, will "plead your cause.”

Joseph was in prison. Was he therefore unhappy? Oh no! Felicity depends not upon external situation, but upon the heart, the conscience, and the presence of God. Under outward splendour, the heart is often pained, while a foretaste of heaven can be enjoyed in the deepest penury. Belshazzar may tremble and be distressed, while surrounded by all the ensigns of royalty, and all the gratifications of sense; while Paul and Silas, beaten with many stripes, and thrust into a loathsome dungeon, can" at midnight sing praises unto God." The sacred historian particularly informs us that at this period of his life," the Lord was with Joseph;" and blest with that presence which constitutes heaven -which has filled with rapture so many expiring

saints, so many triumphant martyrs, could he be unhappy? Were we made acquainted with all the intercourse between God and his soul during this period; with all his heavenly communion, and the manifestations of the divine love to him; we might perhaps find this to be the most useful and the most joyous part his life.

The mercy of God was shown by inclining the heart of the keeper of the prison to favour Joseph. Convinced of his innocence and integrity, the jailer no longer treated him as a common malefactor, but committed to him the care of the other prisoners. For some years, he discharged the duties of this office with that fidelity and diligence which had distinguished him in the other stations in which he had been placed; when a circumstance occurred, which gave him some expectation of being liberated from his confinement.

The chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers had offended Pharaoh. Of their crimes and of their names, we are ignorant. One of them came to an untimely end, and perhaps deserved it. The name of the other, if we knew it, could be mentioned only as an example of unkindness and ingratitude. They were committed by the captain of the guard to the care of Joseph. This captain of the guard was Potiphar, who now was probably convinced of Joseph's innocence, but, from a regard to the reputation of his wife, would not liberate him. In the same night, they both had dreams, which they were convinced were not the idle vagaries of fancy, but prophetical. Joseph, beholding their anxiety, inquires of them, “Wherefore look ye so sadly?" On hearing the cause, he directs them to the God of heaven, as the only Being who can give a knowledge of the 20

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