all his children, had, by the blessing of Heaven, taken root in the mind of Joseph, and blossomed from his tenderest years. Hence, instead of having "his good manners corrupted by the evil communications" of his elder brothers, he was grieved at their misconduct, and employed what appeared to him the best means for reclaiming them. Add to this that he had for "the guide of his youth" one who had seen affliction, and who knew what it was to incur the envy of a brother, and to suffer from the selfishness of relations, and consequently could impart to him in the most impressive manner the salutary instructions and cautions which he had learned in the hard school of adversity.

But neither his high aspirations, nor his benevolent dispositions, nor his early piety, nor the education which he had received under the eye of a parent trained in the school of adversity, could suffice to form the character of Joseph. To qualify him as "a polished shaft" in the hand of Providence, it behoved him to suffer sharper and more varied trials than any of his progenitors. Hated of his brethren, sold for a slave, falsely accused, thrown into prison, bound with irons, friendless and forgotten, "the affliction of Joseph" passed into a proverb. Before he had spent the period of youth, and while all the sensibilities of his nature were still tender, he had encountered all the storms of calamity to which the unfortunate are exposed during the course of a long life. How affecting his address to his fellow-prisoner whose restoration to liberty and honours he had predicted! "Think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon." And it behoved his soul, already sick with hope deferred, to be pierced with the keenest dart in adversity's quiver-base ingratitude. Yet of all the hardships which he underwent none was unnecessary or supererogatory. Every pang which he suffered, and every moment of his tedious imprisonment, contributed its share to the formation of that character, which, when developed, proclaimed

him to be "the minister of God for good" to the church and mankind.

Before proceeding farther, let me simply mention two things to prevent mistakes. In the first place, I mean not to speak of the world's worthies, some of whom have learned in adversity the hardy virtues of patience, temperance, and fortitude, and by their wisdom and patriotism have earned "a mortal immortality," but I confine myself to those men of God whose virtues are grafted on genuine piety. In the second place, in speaking of the advantages of affliction, I suppose it to be accompanied with the sanctifying blessing of him who sent it, and thus yielding "the peaceable fruits of righteousness in those who are exercised thereby." Without this it would depress instead of invigorating the mind, irritate the passions instead of subduing them, and harden instead of improving the heart. Without this even the good would be tempted to murmur against Providence, "put forth their hand to iniquity," and have recourse to dishonest and dishonourable expedients to extricate themselves from calamities and straits by which they were "pressed above measure." I now go on to speak of the advantages to be derived from adversity.

I. It is a school for acquiring practical wisdom. When we are in eager pursuit of this world's enjoyments we have no leisure for serious reflection-when we have obtained these our minds are unfitted for it, and, though the price is in our hands, we have no heart to buy wisdom. Adversity has a tendency to sober the mind, disperses the illusions which prosperity had created, and induces thoughtfulness and meditation. He who bears the yoke in his youth sitteth alone and is silent, searches and tries his ways, and applies his heart to wisdom.

Practical wisdom comprehends two things-the knowledge of ourselves and of others, and both of these are most advantageously acquired in adversity.

How ignorant are even good men of themselves before they are put to the trial! How ready to mistake their character, to be deceived as to the motives by which they are actuated, and to overrate their talents and the strength of

their principles! How apt to think they are something when they are nothing, and to expose themselves rashly to temptation! Happy was it for Peter that his grand trial was over, and that the secrets of his heart were revealed to him before he was called to take a leading part in the propagation of the gospel, and to appear before kings and rulers for the name of Christ! It is true we would not be such strangers to ourselves if we listened to faithful counsel, and subjected our hearts to the test of an impartial and rigid self-examination. But still there is no knowledge like to that which is gained by experience, and no experience like that which is the result of tribulation. By encountering hardships we discover where our weakness lies, and in what quarter we are most vulnerable by the shafts of temptation-whether we are in greater danger of failing, in the hour of trial, from love to the world, timidity, a sense of shame, impatience, anger, unbelief, pride, or vainglory. The person who has been involved in "a sea of troubles," where "deep calleth unto deep," and one billow succeeds to another, is made to feel his weakness, and to exclaim-Ah!

"This is no flattery; these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am."

Next to self-knowledge, an intimate and accurate acquaintance with the characters of other men is of the greatest utility to those who are called to be "workers together with God." The knowledge of our own hearts offers us important aid in the study of human nature; but a person of conscious integrity and generous dispositions will meet with cruel disappointments in the estimates which he has formed on this standard. How much levity, inconstancy, and falsehood— how much hypocrisy, ingratitude, and treachery—are laid open by a change to the worse in our external circumstances ! "A friend," says the old proverb, "is not known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity." Nor is insincerity the only shelf which we need to avoid.

Moses, when he first felt the fire of sacred patriotism stirring his breast, was inclined to undertake the vindication of

his countrymen's liberties forthwith, without waiting for an express commission, and began with avenging the wrong which he saw done by an Egyptian to a Hebrew, fondly supposing that his brethren would have understood, from the boldness of the action, that God, by his hand, would deliver them. But the incident which happened next day convinced him that he who would undertake the task must lay his account with as great obstacles from the folly of the oppressed, as from the fury of the oppressor. This was a lesson he had not learnt in the schools of Egypt; he had leisure to reflect on it during his subsequent exile; and was thus prepared for encountering the ignorance, the incredulity, the selfishness, the stubbornness, displayed by Israel in the wilderness.

The same benefit did Joseph reap from his adversities. In the short account given of his early years, we see great goodness of heart, combined with an unsuspecting openness, which, if not corrected by experience, would have made him through life the prey of the malicious, or the dupe of the designing. After he had reached his seventeenth year, we find him, with a child-like, and almost infantile, simplicity, relating to his brethren those dreams, which, as plainly pointing to his future exaltation over them, tended to inflame that hatred which the partiality of his father, and his own virtues, had already excited in their breast. Though made aware of their envy, still he could never have supposed that such cruelty dwelt in their hearts, as he found in the day of "the anguish of his soul, when he entreated them, and they would not hear him." This discovery, together with those made by his treatment in the house of Potiphar, and in prison, were blessed for curing him of his early infirmity, and for "giving subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion;" so that when he was released, Pharaoh found him qualified to administer the affairs of his kingdom, and to "teach his senators wisdom." Without having recourse to supernatural communications, it is surprising what knowledge of human character a mind disciplined, but not broken, by adversity, will acquire in circumstances not the most propitious; although indeed Joseph had the advantage of contemplating human

nature in various aspects, and conversed with all classes, from the first military officer to a common turnkey, from those who had been in king's courts, to the most degraded inmate of a jail. And, though the comparison may not be deemed flattering, what is the administration of a kingdom but the economy of a family, combined with the discipline of a prison, on a larger scale?

While intercourse with the world soon corrects that credulous simplicity to which the young and inexperienced are incident, this advantage is usually gained at the expense of better principles. But the piety and benevolence of Joseph prevented the knowledge which he acquired from swelling into misanthropic pride, or degenerating into worldly policy and cunning. In his character, as unfolded in his mature age, and after it had gone through the severe process of refinement, we behold a rare example of the union of genuine goodness with consummate prudence the wisdom of the serpent matched with the harmlessness of the dove. We are accustomed to speak of his policy to stay his brethren; and on the occasion referred to, he certainly did display an address and fineness of management, which, in other hands, would have been perverted to effectuate the worst of purposes, "like a sharp razor working deceitfully." But the policy of Joseph was dictated by the purest motives, and directed to the best of ends. The difficulty which we feel in reconciling some of his expressions to the strict laws of truth, is, perhaps, not greater than that which we find, at first sight, in reconciling some parts of his conduct to the principles of filial affection, which yet we know he felt very strongly. An enlightened sense of duty, and a conscientious regard to the high obligations imposed on him as the confidential servant of Pharaoh, and minister of Providence, restrained him from taking earlier measures to acquaint his father with the honours to which he had been raised. The substantial acts of kindness which he did to his brethren, and his turning from them, once and again, to give vent to the tide of affection which rushed to his eyes, showed the violence which he did to his feelings, while he constrained himself to wear the mask of severity, with the view of correcting the