The voice replied, " Fear not, Jacob, for I am thy God, the God of thy fathers Abraham and Isaac. I have seen all thy solicitude for thy children's welfare, and approve thy pious regard for the promise of thy God. But know, O Jacob, that it was thy God who separated Joseph from thine embrace, to make him a nursing father to the house of Israel. I have given him glory, wealth and power, in the land of Egypt for thy sake, Jacob; that by his means, 1 may save the people of my covenant. Fear not, therefore, to carry thy seed down unto that land of plenty. Even there shalt thou meet with thy God, O Israel, for I will go down with thee, and for thy sake will visit Egypt. There will I greatly multiply thy seed, and fulfil all that I spake unto Abraham concerning them. When I have made of thee a great nation, I will bring thy seed forth with wonders and signs in the heavens above, and in the earth below: yea, with a mighty and stretched out arm will I save thy seed, Jacob. As for thee, thou shalt die in a good old age in a strange land, and thy exiled son shall bedew thy bed with tears of filial sorrow, and close thine eyes in death. Accept, therefore, of Joseph's invitation and go into Egypt, confident of the presence and protection of the God of thy fathers." Thus said, the vision departed. In the morning Jacob arose, took his sons and daughters and their little ones, their cattle and all the goods which they had procured in the land of Canaan, and journeyed towards Egypt. Greatly invigorated by the late vision, the patriarch proceeded cheerfully on his journey, till got about half way between Shechem and Memphis, when he dispatched Judah and Naphtali to court, to inform Joseph of his father's approach: and he on his part, immediately set out with a numerous train of obedient servants to meet him, and the better to expedite the journey of the Hebrew caravan. They met at the city Heropolis, where Joseph was well known and regarded as the saviour of Egypt. Both father and son had endeavoured, upon their journey, to fortify their hearts for the expected in

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terview. Yet do what they would, they could not restrain nature from breaking through all the injunctions of reason. Joseph with lowly reverence ad vanced, fell down at his father's feet, and would have asked his blessing; but as his soul had not power to give action to his lips, Jacob would have raised up his son, but being overcome with rapturous joy, he sunk down beside him with his head upon Joseph's, and thus for a season father and son both continued speechless, to the great fear and surprize of all the kindred company, lest such a tide of joy, bursting in upon their hearts, should throw the wheels of nature off from the axis, and prove fatal to their desirable lives. At length each labouring heart vented itself in a flood of tears, which the father shed upon the son and the son upon the father. When the use of speech was regained, nothing was to be heard, but my son, O was my father! my son, my father, till the tide of passion began to abate. Then both hearts were lifted up with grateful acknowledgments of the goodness of God's holy providence, that had blest them with a once unexpected interview. Loosed from his father's embrace, he flies to the arms of his brother's wives, and O what endearing caresses were there betwixt him and them! O my Joseph! my Shuah! my Joseph! my Tamar! my Joseph! my Zillah! &c. &c. was all the cry. And thus they would have gone on in exchanging endearing caresses till the sun had gone down, if Judah had not put them in the mind of the expediency of proceed-" ing on their journey.

should

It was agreed that Jacob and his company come on by easy marches, as their strength and the. nature of their charge would best admit of; and that Joseph and some of his brethren should go forward to Memphis, and inform his majesty of the patriarch's arrival. Accordingly he chose five of his brethren and departed, and as soon as arrived, he presented them to the king, who rejoiced exceedingly at their arrival. If Egypt, said he, has been such a gainer by having only one of the Hebrew lineage, what vast

advantages must accrue to the land by having all the family of Israel in its possession. "What are your several occupations, my friends?" said his majesty. Joseph replied for his brethren," May it please your majesty, my brethren are all shepherds. From their youth up, their whole business has been about cattle." Joseph chose to answer for them, partly, that by his answer he might pave a way for their dwelling in Goshen, altogether with their father, separated from the Egyptians, and partly, to prevent Pharaoh from conferring upon them honours of state, or employing them in matters of government, to the dissatisfaction of the Egyptians.

"Then Joseph," said the king," if your brethren are shepherds, I would have you fix them in a place where they are most likely to find pastures for their flocks. What think you of Goshen, Joseph ?" "Above all places, if it is your majesty's pleasure, I would chuse Goshen for their residence. 66 Very well," said the king," let them dwell in Goshen. And you shall have letters under my sign manual, as your authority for so doing."

When Jacob and his family arrived at Memphis, they were sent to Goshen, where the good old prince Potipherah waited their arrival, and had provided suitable accommodations for them in the city of Heliopolis. Jacob went into Joseph's palace and was most affectionately received by the princess Asenath, who humbly begged the patriarchal blessing on her knees. Manasseh and Ephraim likewise came and caressed their venerable grandfather, who pressed them to his glowing bosom.

Refection received after so long a journey, and balmy rest had a little reanimated his feeble frame, Joseph took his venerable father and presented him to the king, who was struck with solemn awe at the majesty of the patriarch's person. He continued speechless for a time, till Jacob himself broke silence in the following speech." "Blessed be the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that has raised up Pharaoh to be at this day a nursing father to many na

tions. And blessed be Pharaoh of the Lord my God, who has shewn regard to my banished Joseph, and unto the seed of Israel for Joseph's sake. May thy reign be long and prosperous, and heaven inspired peace be the possessor of thy royal breast. And may that God by whom thou now reignest, bestow upon thee a crown of righteousness in the eternal skies, when thou art called to leave this uncertain diadem to thy next successor. "For Joseph's sake." replied the king, "I embrace his father, and bid him welcome at the court of Memphis. But I pray thee, reverend old man, may I be so free as to ask thine age? I remember not that my eyes were ever struck with such a venerable form."

The patriarch replied, " But few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage; I am now in the hundred and thirtieth year of my age; but the many sorrows interwoven in my lot, and the cross providences under which I have grieved, have drawn old age upon me before the time." The astonished monarch replied, "What! do ye not account an hundred and thirty years an old age? We should think it a very extraordinary thing to see a person live so long in Egypt."

"O King!" answered Jacob, "to some it may appear an old age, but unto me, whose, ancestors, father and grandfather, lived beyond an hundred and seventy years, it appears otherwise. Abraham, my grandfather, lived to the age of an hundred and seventy-five; and Isaac, my own father, to an hundred and eighty-five; so that I have not attained to the lives of my fathers."

"Abraham!" said the king with some surprize, "we have a tradition concerning one Abraham, a private man, who overthrew the united strength of several kings. Are you a descendant of his? If so, I should be glad to have an account of the truth of this affair. As I have always considered it as almost past belief, I have given but little credit to it."

"It is no fiction, my lord," returned the patriarch, the case was this. In the days of Amraphel, king

of Assyria, he with other princes in alliance with him, made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and the princes in alliance with him; four kings joined their forces together and met the five kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, &c. in the vale of Siddim, where they routed the army of the Sodomites, and made such a slaughter amongst them, that they, finding themselvs unable to make head against the enemy, were obliged to sue for peace; which could not be obtained but upon condition of becoming tributary to the conquerors. This they were obliged to submit to, however reluctant. Twelve years they paid the stipulated sum, and in the thirteenth year, suppos ing themselves in a condition to resist, they refused to pay it any longer. Wherefore the consederated Assyrians came again under arms, and ravaged all the countries in friendship with Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. The Rephaims, Zuzims, Emims, Horites, Amalekites and Amorites, felt the severity of their rage. At last the kings of Sodom having levied a numerous army, went forth against them, and joined battle in the valley of Brimstone-pits. But as before, the effeminat inhabitants of Sodom, &c. could not stand before the warlike Assyrians. Many of them fell in the action, and the rest were totally routed: Sodom plundered and sacked, and Lot, Abraham's nephew, was carried away captive. As soon as my grandfather heard of his kinsman's captivity, resolved upon his redemption, he armed three hundred and eighteen valiant young men, born in his own house, and pursued them unto Dan, where he found them, in a careless and secure manner, rioting upon the spoils of their late conquest. Sable night, enveloping the land in darkness, greatly favoured his design; he divided his little army into three companies, two of which were ordered to fetch a compass round and attack the camp at different places, whilst Abraham attacked it on the side next unto him. No sooner had consternation spread itself among the Assyrians, than Lot heard and knew the voice of the Hebrews. They set all the prisoners at liberty, and