things we most dread, into our chief blessings. We need again and again to be reminded, that he who hath freely given us his own Son to be a sacrifice for us all, will certainly with him also give us all things. He who hath given us salvation, he who hath prepared for us mansions during the countless ages of eternity, will not refuse his care for the few short moments of time. No, all things shall work together for good to them that love him.

This would indeed be Jacob's testimony could we hear it now, however he might once mourn, refusing to be comforted. And let the portion of his history which we have just been considering, deeply impress on all our hearts this blessed and most important truth. In all our troubles, brethren, let us seek comfort from God; who can bind up the broken-hearted, and bring us out of the greatest tribulation, into the fulness of joy.

SERMON II.

GENESIS XXxix. 1.

"And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither."

THE wise man says in the book of Proverbs, “Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Little did Joseph expect that he, the beloved son of a worthy father, who dwelt in the midst of abundance, and was the master of many servants, should himself be in a situation as low as the very lowest of them,-should be reduced to be a slave. None, however, are secure from the many changes and chances of human

In your plea

life. In our prosperity, we are apt to say, like the Psalmist, "Thou hast made my mountain so fast, that I shall never be moved." Young persons, more especially, having as yet neither experienced nor witnessed much of the vicissitudes of the world, are disposed to think such things impossible, at least impossible in their own case. You are dwelling under the roof of kind and affectionate parents, who delight in seeing you happy, and in endeavouring to render you so. sure, they are pleased; in trouble, they are afflicted. them all you desire for the by their kind solicitude, still brighter prospects seem to be opening for the future. Yet it may be that before many years have passed over you, all this will change. Adversity may reach your parents, or death may snatch them away, or sorrow may come upon you, when you are beyond their aid. You are within reach of affliction. It may spring up in some quarter

your lightest

You find in present, and,

you could least expect, and in a moment blight the very hopes on which you most confidently rely. Joseph as little expected to be a slave as you do. Bear, then, ever in your mind, the uncertainty of all earthly things, and prepare wisely to meet whatever evils may befal you. Do you ask how you may thus prepare? I would answer you in the words of one who knew well the vanity of the world, " Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not." Remember that we are but strangers and pilgrims here below; that we are not to look for happiness, either complete, or uninterrupted, and that our only true confidence must be in Him, in whose hands is the disposal of all events. He it is that gives you whatever joy, or whatever sorrow may be your portion; receive it as coming from him, and then you will acknowledge that it is merciful and right. Keep your eye fixed on that bright world, whither you trust you are hastening, and whither,

through prosperity or adversity, your footsteps will be directed aright.

Joseph was now a slave in Egypt. His condition seemed to be, in every respect, forlorn and comfortless. He was a stranger in a strange land, and he was a slave. He had no friend or even acquaintance: and, more than this, those among whom he now dwelt, were aliens, not from his country only, but from his God. In a heart pious as Joseph's, here must indeed have been an exceeding aggravation to his calamity. The tie of a common religion is strong, even where that religion is scarce more than a name; but where religion is real and deep, the tie is, beyond comparison, sweeter and stronger than any human bond; and to be deprived of it, is, and ought to be, among the heaviest of all afflictions. But though unable to unite with any one in worshipping his God, and removed far from all outward means of grace, Joseph nevertheless enjoyed, in a peculiar manner, the divine presence and protection. It is