JOSEPH. THE true nobility of generous minds, Good steward, unguilty captive, honour'd sage The idea of types being once given to the student of Scripture, examples of this kind of acted prophecy will rise to his mind in rich abundance. It requires very little either of imaginative power, or ingenious learning, to perceive at once the ultimate intentions of Joseph's chequered history; every fact in his life, as in that of many other patriarchs of old time, being obviously typical of some circumstance in the life of our Saviour. The subject is an extremely full one, and better fitted for a religious treatise than a few discursive remarks: it has moreover been so frequently and so well explained by divines, that further notice here might be deemed supererogatory. The memory of Joseph, as a great public benefactor, is cherished in Egypt to this day, and his personal beauty, alluded to in Genesis, xxxix. 6, has ever been proverbial in the East. According to the learned Sir John Marsham, Joseph was the chief officer, or grand vizier of no less than four of the Pharaohs; unfamiliar names, which it would serve no purpose to transcribe. It has more of interest to perceive that the consequences of Joseph's dealing in the famine exist in Egypt to this very day; for (Genesis, xlvii. 20) "Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them; so the land became Pharaoh's,”remaining so to this hour: the fellahs, or native inhabitants, being merely occupiers of the soil, the property of which is nominally in the Sultan, but actually vested in the present Pacha. Compare also Herodotus, Euterpe, 109, where the soil is all said to belong to the king of Egypt. Some of the hieroglyphical histories still extant on the walls of tombs in Thebes and Beni Hassan, possess a remarkable interest from their apparent reference to the sojourn of the Jews: in particular, there is figured in Wilkinson's Egypt, (2. 296.) a fresco picture, which has been supposed to represent the arrival of Jacob and his family on the invitation of Joseph. MOSES. How should I greet thee, God's ambassador, Alas, thy faithless tribes, for judgment ripe, Whereat high noon was blind,-nor bless the grace, That shall that stain from crime's dark record wipe, And love once more the long-rejected race? It A theme like the present should not be approached without a deep sense of veneration: Moses is eminently a sacred character, and the inspired writers ought perhaps, in one view of the case, to stand quite aloof from the mere human herd, among whom they are here chronologically mingled. would give the writer much pain to be accused of instituting any improper comparisons between idolatrous heathens, and the noted servants of the Most High; such is far from his intention on principle however, he would not exclude holy men of God from a brief catalogue of worthies; and he did not wish to exclude all others: it is hoped that no very objectionable names will be found among the writer's favourites; but it should always be remembered that we are to judge of men with reference to the circumstances round them; and as men, with regard to their influence on their fellows, whether beneficial or otherwise. In this light, many names, seemingly incongruous, will be found admissible; and perhaps the writer ought to state, in apology for the somewhat miscellaneous list of contents, that he generally professes to touch upon his favourite authors, studies, |