ciple, either to infringe the just prerogatives of the crown, or to trespass upon the native rights of the people. That Joseph did neither, is abundantly evident from the respect in which he was held, alike by Pharaoh himself and the inhabitants of the land.

We have already seen how severely, on more occasions than one, he was persecuted for righteousness' sake. And now we can conceive him (having his own wrongs upon his memory) holding the reins of government with an impartial hand. He had himself known what it was to be unjustly censured he would be slow, therefore, to receive the tale of slander. He had known what it was to be unrighteously condemned-every cause, therefore, which came before him would be searched by him to the uttermost. Taught by his own experience that the sighing of the needy was often disregarded by men in power, he would ponder, with due attention, every application for redress, and inquire after the obscure sufferers whose voices were not heard in the streets. Sensible that the highest merit is often left to languish in affliction, he would set himself to find it out, and bring it into notice. Aware, too, that those who are most ambitious of preferment are frequently the least worthy of it, he would scan with care the most arrogant pretensions, and choose, for the subordinate departments of trust, the persons who had made good their title to them rather by actions than by words. The various offices in the kingdom he would commit to the wise and faithful of the land-the patronage of government he would confer on those who had the worth to deserve and the modesty not to ask it.

We can easily conceive him, who had so intimately

known adversity, making the cause of the afflicted peculiarly his own-vindicating the cause of the oppressed, helping the man who had no earthly helper, not deeming it beneath him to visit the cottages of poverty, or even to explore the wretchedness of dungeons such as that in which he had been himself immured; taking by the hand the injured victims of power, and bestowing his gracious countenance and encouragement on the labours of honest industry. Whatever he discovered to be wrong, either in the law itself or the administration of it, he would set himself to remedy; yet would all the improvements which he introduced be gradual and temperate, rather than immediate and violent. To piety he would join discretion; to zeal, prudence. He would study the genius of the people, respect even their more innocent prejudices, and consult time as well as judgment.

The consequence of all this was, an increase of the national prosperity; for happy indeed is the people over whom a wise and righteous governor is set. "By a man of understanding and knowledge the state of a land is prolonged; and when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice." True, indeed, even in Egypt, under the government of Joseph, misery and destitution would exist. There would still be those who committed iniquity in secret, and plotted mischief upon their beds-evil doers who eluded the vigilance of the law, and spendthrifts, too, who reduced themselves to a morsel of bread by their own reckless improvidence; but through the great body of the people happiness would be diffused, the rights of industry would be secured, and its rewards made certain. As far as human legislation could go, the general good

would be provided for ; as far as human wisdom could extend, every individual in the realm would have what he was rightfully entitled to.

Would to God, that in every country under heaven such governors existed. Then, indeed, might a better state of things than ever was dreamed of by the poets of antiquity be expected to ensue. Then would the age of iron be made to give place to one of gold. But, unhappily, the selfish passions, which reign more or less in every bosom, have often unduly characterised the men whose offices and stations required that they should least of all be tainted by them. National interests have been postponed to those of faction, and the welfare of millions has been made to bend before the triumphs of political partisanship. Yet certain it is, that what has been before may be again. The political virtue of Joseph is not surely unapproachable even in what have, perhaps too truly, been characterised as degenerate times. Let but those who are called to the helm of public affairs trust, as he did, in the Lord more than in their own understandings— let them be men fearing God and hating covetousness -men who can look beyond the petty interests of partisanship, that have too long engrossed attentionmen, in one word, whose hearts are solemnly impressed with a sense of moral obligation, and He, we doubt not, who is the Governor of nations will put good thoughts within them, and aid their efforts to promote a nation's welfare. Not, indeed, by dream or open vision will he now instruct them; but in the ordinary course of his providence, and in conformity with the established laws that regulate the moral world, will he open their minds to discipline, and

manifest his own approval of the Righteousness which alone can either exalt a nation or establish a throne.

In our own land, favoured as it has long been of heaven, how many sore and crying evils might thus be remedied! how many violent heartburnings allayed! how many sources of discontent exhausted! No man who chooses to open his eyes to the state of society around him will venture to affirm that talent and virtue always meet with their due rewards from those whose office it is to dispense such honours. He must be bold indeed who will deny that not a few of the highest offices, both in the Church and in the State, are held by those who could have nothing to recommend them but the arguments of birth, high connexion, or political friendship; while others, whom it were insulting to compare with them, are, by the unfavourable circumstances of their lot, condemned to obscurity and indigence. Is it not notorious, too, that the basest means are often employed to restrain the free exercise of mind, and that the little tyrant of a few fields has it in his power to vex, annoy, or ruin the man of more comprehensive intellect than himself, who presumes to think differently on any topic of the day? Is it not undeniable that the burden of taxation presses very unequally on the subjects of this realm, and that those often have most exacted of them who

can least afford or spare it? Is it not certain that the administration of justice is clogged with a multitude of useless forms, and that lawsuits, which might easily enough have been terminated in the course of a few months, are prolonged through a series of years, to the discomfort and anxiety, if not even to the absolute ruin, of parties involved in them? These

things assuredly ought not so to be. We pause not to inquire by what or whose mismanagement they have been occasioned; nor do we care by whom the remedy of them shall be effected. We simply assert that the evils do beyond all controversy exist. And who, then, can doubt that the statesman, let his political designation be what it may, who shall set himself to the work of rectifying them, will wipe away a reproach from his country, earn for himself an honourable fame, and do more for the permanent welfare of a great people, than if he commanded night after night. the applause of thousands by declaiming against imaginary evils, or propounding ingenious but utterly impracticable theories.

But if it be (as who can question ?) the sacred duty of men in power to employ their talents to the uttermost in behalf of the people over whom they preside, it cannot surely be less the duty of the governed to yield them encouragement and support. To faction too much has already been given both by rulers and people. The watchwords of party have too long been used, and it is now much more than time to discard them. The Church and the State alike suffer from this baneful influence. The great and sacred obligations of truth are forgotten or lost sight of in the childish war of names. 'Tis curious that, after all the warnings men have had from the history of the past, they will still look more at the little points on which they differ than the great ones on which they agree. What matters it by whom the reins of Government are held in the State, if real grievances are but redressed and practical errors corrected? What avails it whether Churchmen or Dissenters be more