tranquillity and satisfaction are vainly expected by the exercise of upbraiding and insolence-for, as our blessed Redeemer saith, it is out of the abundance of the heart, that the mouth speaketh.

I would to God that this hateful vice were confined to the brethren of Joseph, but it hath found its way to the brethren of the present generation, and I greatly fear, that for one who possesses it not, there are still ten who nourish it and cherish it in their bosoms. But it is not the less hateful in the sight of God, nor is it less offensive to virtue, nor less hostile to religion; sin is still sin, whatever shape it may take, whatever patronage it may obtain; and envy is a sin, the first fruits of all sin, for it was through envy that Cain slew his brother, and through envy of the devil, death entered into the world. Let us then be the more careful to guard against it, lest it prove to us, as to the brethren of

Joseph, an incentive to other crimes, and involve us also in similar misery and distress.

Now, although nothing may palliate envy among brethren, and especially among brethren of the same household, I cannot but think that some degree of blame attaches to the conduct of Jacob towards his favorite son, not so much in the superior love he bore towards him, as in the manner by which he distinguished him from his brethren; and the evil that ensued, in consequence, is a sufficient warning for parents, to beware of showing partiality in their families, lest, by so doing, they unlink the chain of brotherly affection, and stir up the spirit that lusteth to envy; for it was not until the brethren saw that Joseph was most beloved that they hated him. The youth himself was without guile and without offence, and, notwithstanding their rude speaking and unmeek aspect, he neither suspected

their love, nor withheld his confidence; and this, with generous men is enough to disarm resentment, but envy dispels generosity, and hardens the heart. It is the peculiar character of innocence, that it is never suspicious-like Christian charity, of which it is an emblem, it thinketh no evil: but innocence is the support of envy, and simplicity is its nourishment, as the sequel of the story proves. For it happened at this time, that it pleased the Almighty to foreshow the future destinies of Joseph, in two remarkable dreams, which, in the most artless manner, he reveals to his family: -and he said unto them, hear this dream, that I have dreamed. For behold we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

Now envy is a watchful felon, and like the thief at his midnight wrong, takes alarm at every sound. To spirits

so impatient already, a less plain prediction of their brother's exaltation, and their submission, had been sufficient. Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou have dominion over us? were the taunting interrogations, which, in the bitterness of their hearts, they vented upon their unsuspicious and astonished brother; but he was too much used to their unkind and unpeaceable language, to be more than ordinarily affected by it; for God having again been pleased to visit him, with a second dream, more palpable than the first, we find him, without the least hesitation, making them acquainted with it. Behold, said he, I dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. This was too much for the malignity of envy to endure, and this his father must have immediately perceived, for it is written, that he rebuked him and said unto him, what is the dream that thou hast dreamed?

Shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren, indeed, come and bow down ourselves to thee? Now I apprehend that this rebuke of Jacob's was not the language of disapprobation as to the dream itself, but as the relation of it might give offence to the rest of his children (marks of which, it is more than probable, he had then discovered); and this appears to me, more clearly, from the singular conjunction of effects produced by the relation, and which immediately follows his brethren envied him; BUT HIS FATHER OBSERVED THE SAYING. He observed it, as the prophet Eli observed the vision of the youthful Samuel, and knew it was the Lord, and that it was prophetical of the future fortunes of his dearly beloved son; but no kindness, no modification of the good old man, could restrain the passion which rankled in the bosoms of his children-they envied and they hated him the more.

Envy, if it be confined to the bosom

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