good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The seven thin and ill-favoured kine are also seven years, and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. By this that I have spoken unto Pharaoh hath God shewn what He is about to do. Behold there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt; and after them shall arise seven years of famine, in which all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine shall consume the land; and the plenty shall not be remembered by reason of the grievous famine. Forasmuch as the dream was doubled, it is because God hath established his purpose, and will shortly bring it to pass. Let Pharaoh, therefore, look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, to appoint officers over the land, and to take up the fifth part of the land during the seven plenteous years, so that all the food of those good years shall be gathered and laid up in the cities for store against the seven years of famine, that the land perish not."

The interpretation and counsel were acceptable to Pharaoh and his servants; and the king said "Can we find such an one as this a man in whom is the Spirit of God?" Then addressing himself to Joseph, he added, " Forasmuch as God hath shewn thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house, and according to

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thy word shall all my people be ruled. In the throne only will I be greater than thou."

Joseph was accordingly set over all the land of Egypt; and Pharaoh took his ring from his own hand, and put it upon the hand of Joseph, and commanded that he should be arrayed in vestures of fine linen, and that a gold chain, as the symbol of his authority, should be put about his neck. A chariot also-second only to that in which Pharaoh himself rodewas given to Joseph, and he had servants and houses appropriated to his use, and when he went abroad heralds went before him crying, "Bow the knee." Thus Joseph, being then thirty years old, was made ruler over all the land of Egypt; and Pharaoh called him Zaphnath-paaneah, which signifies a saviour or expounder of secrets, and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah, priest of On, one of the princes or great officers of the Egyptian realm.

The seven plenteous years soon commenced, and the earth brought forth in such abundance as had never before been known; till at last it was deemed by those who thought only of the passing moment, that the reign of plenty would endure for ever, and that there was little need to prepare for the coming time. Riot and luxurious living spread through the country, and corn and wine became things of little worth in estimating the riches that from all parts of the east flowed

into Egypt, where nature's stores seemed boundless and inexhaustible. Had it not been for the prudent precautions of Joseph, the waste throughout the land would have been equal to the wealth; but he, knowing the ordinance of the Lord, gathered all the surplus food of the seven years— collecting it even as the sand of the sea, till its quantity and worth became countless, and the officers appointed to garner the stores left numbering. Storehouses were erected in every part; the great pyramids which remain to this day, the marvel of travellers and objects of superstitious reverence to the natives of Egypt, and of the neighbouring countries, are supposed to have been then raised as granaries; and when buildings new and old failed to afford room, caverns and wells were sunk deep in the earth to contain the produce of those seven miraculous harvests. It was in these years, that Joseph was blessed with two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

And the seven years of plenty were ended. Then the seven years of dearth began. Drought, parching winds, blight, the wasting of the Nile, which no longer overflowed its banks as formerly to fertilize the earth-for the abundance of Egypt depends not as in most other countries upon rain, but upon the periodical overflow of the river-destroyed the seed in the earth, and the fields were barren, and the country being stripped of verdure resembled the sandy desert which

forms the boundary of the realm. The green grass, the fresh and fragrant herbs, the flowers, the shrubs, the trees, the climbing plants with their graceful tendrils, and delicious fruit, perished. Egypt became a vast wilderness; and famine usurped the place of plenty. So extensive and so sad was the dearth, that it was felt over the face of the whole earth.

It was then that the wisdom of Joseph was manifested. Of all known regions of the world, Egypt alone contained bread for its people; and they, reckless as they felt they had been, were famishing ere they could venture to appeal to Pharaoh to save them from the effects of their folly and extravagance. At length, however, a general cry arose for bread, and the king said to the Egyptians, "Go unto Joseph; what he saith unto you, do." So Joseph opened the storehouses and sold food to the starving multitudes-displaying therein such stores that rumours went forth through every land of the abundance of Egypt, insomuch that merchants came from far countries to purchase corn of Joseph.

The famine had extended to the land of Canaan, where the father and brethren of Joseph dwelt; and the old man was sorely distressed, and his sons were also sad, and looked with gloomy and foreboding eyes upon each other, as they saw day by day their stock of provisions decrease, and thought

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how soon their household would be destitute. silence and solitude among them; and while they gazed at each other, and into their father's face, they sought to read the feelings that were passing in other bosoms than their

own.

In this state of horrible anxiety and suspense, it was told Jacob that there was corn in Egypt. He instantly urged his sons to hasten thither, in order to procure sufficient food to keep the family alive. So the ten sons of Jacob-Benjamin the youngest, for fear some mischief should befall him, being left behind with his father-made ready and went with their servants and their beasts of burden into Egypt, where Joseph their brother, under his acquired name of Zaphnath-paaneah, ruled the whole country, and sold to all comers the corn which they sought.

The children of Israel being come to their brother, after the eastern custom, bowed before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw and knew his brethren, but he made himself strange to them, and spake harshly to them in the Egyptian tongue, saying, "Whence come ye?"

The sons of Jacob, who knew not to whom they spoke, answered, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."

Then Joseph, seeing them prostrate before him, remembered the dreams of his boyhood; but still he dissimulated, and said,