ductions of the fine arts, for which the Egyptians at that time were so eminently celebrated; exhibiting that magnificence and grandeur, for which the whole edifice was designed. The principal characters which formed this active scene, were PHARAOH, THE KING, JOSEPH THE VICEROY, and JACOB the venerable PATRIARCH. The king, in his brilliant robes of state, and the crown encircling his brow, added dignity to his person, while the golden sceptre, grasped in his hand, proclaimed his authority and vast dominion. On either side stand his counsellors of state, his priests, magicians, and astrologers, while the surrounding guards, with glittering spears, give an air of splendid dignity to the whole. The next is Joseph, who, in the land of Canaan, when only a youth of seventeen years of age, was torn from his father's arms, separated from his brethren, by them sold as a slave for twenty pieces of silver, and carried into Egypt. In this foreign land he was immured in prison for the space of nine years, when, by a remarkable incidence of Providence, through a dream of Pharoah, he was delivered from prison, and raised to the second dignity in the kingdom of Egypt. How great the change! Now no longer clothed in prison garments, but covered with a brilliant robe of state; and instead of rude fetters galling his trembling limbs, a chain of richest gold hangs suspended around his neck. The third is the patriarch Jacob, the endeared father of Joseph, who, having passed the scenes of his day in bitterness and sorrow, is rescued from the famine in

Canaan, and with his family placed in the land of Goshen. Joseph having already introduced his brethren to the king, and received his approbation for their dwelling in the land, now enjoys the peculiar pleasure of presenting his father to the royal presence, a scene this which we cannot but contemplate with delightful feeling.

The moment for introduction arrives. The massy doors of the chamber unfold. Joseph enters in his robes of state, grasping the hand of his aged father, clad only in his plain patriarchal garments, girt around with his girdle, while his venerable beard, silvered with age, flowed upon his breast. Slow and solemn are his steps; supported on the one hand by the very son whom he once believed was devoured by wild beasts, and numbered with the dead, while with his right hand he leans upon that long favoured staff, with which he had twice passed over Jordan. Every eye is full fixed upon this extraordinary stranger, and all is hushed into silence. What gives a charming zest to the whole is, there is the father of the very Joseph who saved the country from the horrors of famine! If grandeur and simplieity form a contrast with each other, it is here exhibited in strongest colours. Advancing to the foot of the august throne, Joseph seats his father before the presence of the king. Now every ear in the assembly is open, watching the accents of him who shall first open his lips on the occasion. Jacob, with solemn grace and dignity, rises from his seat and blesses Pharaoh-" May it be the

"pleasure of God, that the waters of the Nile may "be filled, and that the famine may remove from "the world in thy days."* One would naturally suppose that the king would have acknowledged the fervency of this pious benediction, or he would have made inquiries concerning the famishing inhabitants of Canaan, the health of Jacob after so long a journey, or if Jacob were satisfied and happy to reside in the land of Goshen. Instead of any such questions, Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? Possibly, as the Egyptians were not so long lived as the Hebrews, the king had never before seen a man so aged and venerable in his countenance and appearance. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. With this answer Pharaoh appeared satisfied; and as the ceremonial of introduction to a sovereign is usually short, Jacob again arose, blessed Pharaoh, and retired from his presence.

You will perceive that the direct answer which the patriarch gave to the inquiry of the king concerning his age, was that he was one hundred and thirty years old. The account which he combined with the answer, is to be read as a striking comment upon his own age, or as a miniature picture

*The Targum of Jonathan.

of the history of his life. We will therefore examine the interesting parts which it contains, with the intention of deriving a few lessons of instruction for our personal improvement.

I. He acknowledges his life to have been a pilgrimage; that is, one not having any fixed place of residence for a length of time; frequently removing from one city or country to another. This indeed, was the case with Jacob, more than any other of the patriarchs. He first dwelt in Canaan, from thence he removed to Padan-aram, and then returned to Canaan again. For sometime he dwelt at Succoth, and then at Shechem, and afterwards at Hebron, and now he was come down to Egypt. Connect the pious character of Jacob with Paul's description of a believing pilgrim, in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews, and you will perceive that the journey of life is connected with a desire for a better country, that is, an heavenly; and then, we must admit, that Jacob considered himself as a stranger upon earth, looking forward to a future state of endless felicity; and in this hope he closed his eyes in peace. Happy is the man who, in all the arduous journeys of life, serves his God in faithand sincerity, and pursues the same charming object of eternal bliss and glory!

H. Jacob, to his days and years, gives the qualities of few and evil. Few indeed, for in the review they appeared but as yesterday, quickly gone as a watch in the night, or as an arrow that cutteth the

air. Few in comparison with many other aged men of former years, and fewer still, when viewed in the glass of that vast and endless eternity which awaits the final destiny of all mankind. Few as were the days of the years of Jacob, they were strongly incorporated with evil. Very many indeed were the afflictions of this man of God. He was compelled to leave the habitation of his father Isaac, and fly from the face of his brother Esau. Fourteen years he endured severe hardships in the house of Laban. In Shechem he suffered extreme affliction on account of his daughter. At Ephrath he lost his beloved Rachel by death; and at Hebron he was taught to believe, that not only his beloved Joseph was torn to pieces, but that his Benjamin also, by going down to Egypt, should return no more, and thus bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. How many are the afflictions of the righteous! Yet all these, as in the case of Jacob, work together for good to them that love God; and eventually the richest fruit shall be produced. Let the aged reader review the scenes of his own life, and probably he will be compelled to confess with Jacob, that "few and evil have the "days of the years of my life been."

III. To Pharaoh the patriarch gave a sort of genealogical account of his years, by comparing them with those of his forefathers. Though arrived at 130 years of age, he informed the king that he had not attained unto the days of the years of the life of his fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.