from Joseph, who should be a sufferer. May it not be possible, that through the line of females received by marriage into the tribe of Judah, or by some other intermingling of the tribes, Messiah may have derived his descent from both these tribes?

Of Benjamin it is said, he "shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil."

After Jacob had finished blessing his sons, "he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite; in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a burying-place. (There they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife: there they buried Isaac, and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.) The purchase of the field, and of the cave that is therein, was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."

SECTION XXIX.

JACOB IS BURIED ACCORDING TO HIS REQUEST IN CANAAN-MOURNING ON ACCOUNT OF THE PATRIARCH.

WHEN Joseph perceived that his father had ceased to breathe, he "fell upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father and the physicians embalmed Israel." The art of preserving human bodies, by embalming them, was certainly better understood in Egypt, in ancient times, than it ever was in any other country, as is evident by the numerous mummies, which unto this day are found in the caves and subterraneous catacombs, and some of which are probably almost as ancient as the time of Joseph. It was customary to mourn forty days for persons embalmed; but in this case, the Egyptians, by reason of their great regard for Joseph, and their veneration for the aged and pious patriarch, extended their mourning to seventy days. And when the mourning was ended, Joseph informed Pharaoh of the oath which his father had made him swear, in regard to his burial, and Pharaoh readily granted him permission to carry the body of his father to Canaan; and all the servants of Pharaoh accompanied him, and, also, all the elders of Israel, and all the elders of the land of Egypt; and all Joseph's brethren, and all their households, except that they left their young children, and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

"And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and they made a mourning for his father seven days." When the people of the land saw this funeral procession, and observed their bitter lamentation, they said, "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians," and on this account the place received the name of Abel-mizraim; that is, the mourning of the Egyptians. And his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre. "And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father."

SECTION XXX.

JOSEPH'S BRETHREN SUSPICIOUS OF HIS FRIENDSHIP-CHARACTER OF JOSEPH-LENGTH OF HIS LIFE-HIS INJUNCTION RESPECTING HIS BONES-HIS DECEASE.

"AND when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph, peradventure, will hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent messengers unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin, for they did unto thee evil; and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him;" and said unto them, "Fear not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly to them."

The character of Joseph, as here exhibited, is exceedingly amiable. His brothers, disturbed by their own guilty fears, could not enter into his kind and benevolent feelings. They could not but think, that now their father was out of the way, and all restraint removed, he would be disposed to avenge himself upon them for their cruel treatment. After so long a manifestation of kindness and forgiveness, it cut Joseph to the heart, to find them entertaining such suspicions of his motives and designs; so that he wept, when they presented their supplication before him. From this history we learn how troublesome a thing guilt is. These men were, for a while, successful in covering their transgression from men; but after more than a score of years, their sin found them out, and they were sore afflicted by the lashes of conscience, while suffering under the severe pressure of external affliction.

Joseph lived to see Ephraim's children of the third generation; and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up on Joseph's knees. And when he perceived that his end was approaching, he said to his brethren, "I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob." And he caused the children of Israel to swear, that when they removed to that land, they would carry with them his bones. "So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."

PART II.

THE ISRAELITES.

SECTION I.

THE CONTINUANCE OF THE HEBREWS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT-THE CRUEL EDICTS OF THE EGYPTIANS AGAINST THE MALE HEBREW CHILDREN-THE BIRTH, CONCEALMENT, EXPOSURE, AND ADOPTION OF MOSES-MISERABLE BONDAGE OF THE HEBREWS-MOSES KILLS AN EGYPTIAN, AND FLIES TO ARABIA, WHERE HE ENTERS INTO THE FAMILY OF JETHRO, PRIEST OF MIDIAN, WHOSE DAughter he MARRIES.

THE period of the residence of the Israelites in Egypt, has been understood differently by learned men; for while most maintain that it did not exceed two hundred and fifteen years, some are of opinion, that it could not be less than four hundred years, in conformity with the prediction of God to Abraham, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; AND THEY SHALL AFFLICT THEM FOUR HUNDRED YEARS." This, taken strictly, decides the question at once. But it has been alleged, with much plausibility, that these four hundred years should be calculated from the time when the prediction was uttered; and includes all the time of the residence of Isaac and Jacob in Canaan, as well as the time spent in Egypt. And this interpretation is strongly supported by the Septuagint version, and the Samaritan text, which contain a clause, which expressly declares, that the four hundred years comprehended the time of their sojourning in Canaan; and even if this is a gloss which has crept into the text of these copies, yet it shows how this matter was understood in very ancient times. But some of the subsequent words of this same prediction appear to favour this interpretation not a little. God says, "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again;" for it seems altogether probable, that these generations commenced with Abraham; and the word generation here, evidently is synony

mous with a century of years. Another argument in favour of the common opinion is, that the number of successive descendants of the sons of Jacob are too few for a residence in Egypt of four hundred years. For example, when Israel went down to Egypt, Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Amram, the father of Moses, was the son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi. If we suppose that four hundred years elapsed, or more than three hundred before Moses was born, it will comport very badly with the rapid multiplication which is spoken of. It can hardly be believed, that in so long a period there would be so few births, in succession. And it is remarkable too, that Jochebed, the wife of Amram, was the daughter of Levi. This man, therefore, married his own aunt; but at this time the law regulating the degrees of kindred within which marriages were forbidden, was not given. The only cogent reason for supposing that the Israelites lived four hundred years in Egypt, is, the great multitude to which they had increased by the time of the Exodus. But where people are healthy, and enjoy the comforts of life without excessive toil, their increase will always be surprising, until an exact calculation is made; for the ratio of increase is geometrical. Let it be considered, also, that God blessed this people, according to his repeated promise, in multiplying them beyond all parallel. It is therefore, no how incredible, that this single family of seventy males should, in the space of two hundred and fifteen years, have grown to be a nation of two millions of persons. In this country, in three hundred years, a few adventurous colonists have swelled to the enormous population of more than twenty millions of souls. The increase of the Israelites was not more surprising than this. It was therefore, an unexpected thing to find the learned Rosenmüller maintaining in his Scholia, that the Israelites resided in Egypt four hundred years.

How long the descendants of Jacob enjoyed good treatment and liberty, cannot be ascertained. Joseph lived nearly a century after he came to Egypt. During his lifetime, there was no unfavourable change in the condition of his brethren. It seems probable that the king that arose, "who knew not Joseph," was not of the same family as Pharaoh, before whom Joseph stood, and whose prime minister he was; but some usurper or invader from a foreign land, who was literally ignorant how great a benefactor Joseph had been to this nation; and how much the royal family was indebted to him. This king, after he ascended the throne, observing that the Israelites were an entirely distinct people from the Egyptians, and that they increased in numbers above the Egyptians, beyond all comparison, was filled with alarm, lest they should seize upon the supreme power; and especially, "lest if war should fall out,