The steward said that he would take them at their word; (though he was not so severe as they were willing he should be;) "he with whom it is found," said he, "shall be my servant, and ye shall be blameless."

They then took down their sacks to the ground and opened them, that a search might be made. The steward began at the eldest, and when he came at last to Benjamin's sack, there to be sure the cup was found.

On this discovery being made, their consternation and grief were so great that they could scarcely contain themselves; and they rent their clothes, as you have already seen it was customary to do at that time, under such circumstances of affliction.

After putting back their sacks of grain on the asses, they returned again with the steward to the city.

On entering the house of the governor, and coming into his presence, they all fell prostrate before him on the ground.

He inquired of them as they arose, why they had carried away his cup, and asked them if they did not suppose that such a man as he was had every means in his power to make diligent search after it, and to divine (or think with certainty) who had taken it.

To this Judah, in behalf of his brethren, replied; What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God

hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also with whom the cup is found."

It would seem that Judah had scarcely any hope of being able to prove that they were innocent. He might have thought it barely possible that Benjamin had stolen the cup. But, as something of the same kind had happened to them before, it is more probable that he supposed it was all a plan of the governor, or of some other person, to bring them into trouble, and to expose them to a severe punishment.

In a sort of despair, therefore, he confessed that they were all guilty. He hoped, probably, in this way, to save the life of Benjamin, for whom he was particularly accountable to his father. And he thought also, that by throwing themselves entirely upon the mercy of the governor, and humbly confessing their crime, he might be induced to treat them with less severity; and instead of putting them to death immediately, keep them in bondage. By this means they might have time, and find out some way of proving their innocence.

CHAPTER XXII..

Joseph still keeps his brethren in suspense.-Remarks on his conduct.-His reply to Judah.--Judah's expostulation.

HERE was another occasion on which Joseph had his brethren in his power. He might have acquitted them of the particular crime of stealing his cup; but he could have reproached them with the deeper guilt of stealing their own brother, and selling him as a slave. Had they denied this, and asserted, as they had done to their father, that Joseph was dead, one word of his could have convicted them of falsehood on the spot, and thrown them into the greatest confusion and dismay.

How he could have overwhelmed them with the most severe and just rebuke! How he could have taken vengeance on them, and satisfied his revenge to the full, had such a disposition existed in his breast!

to

But he felt very differently toward them; and if he still concluded to keep them in suspense, it was for their deeper repentance; it prepare the way was to let them see more clearly how forgiving and generous his own character was; it was to lead them to acknowledge and admire the providence of

God in the fulfillment of those dreams that had been so offensive to them, which had, already, been attended with so much good to themselves, to their venerable father, and to all their families.

It is difficult for us to judge of all that Joseph did in his intercourse with his brethren. We do not know all the circumstances of the case. Very many of these circumstances are not stated in the Bible. That Joseph thought that he had good reasons for what he did, and that he really wished to do his brethren and his father all the good in his power, we must conclude, without any hesitation, from what we shall see, as we still farther attend to his history.

If there was any thing which he said or did, accompanied with such kind of deception as to make it a falsehood; (or if it amounted to saying that something was, which was not—or was not, which was;) then, in this respect he did wrong, and is not to be justified. Let us judge him, however, with great candor; remembering what wicked and perverse men he had to deal with, and how fearful he was lest their finding out too soon who he was, might defeat all his plans for the welfare of his aged father, of his beloved Benjamin, and, indeed, of themselves, and of the whole family of his kindred, at Hebron.

We will now see what Joseph's reply was to Judah.

Judah, you recollect, had told Joseph that they were all his servants; or that he could keep them all in a state of bondage, as a punishment for their guilt.

"God forbid," said Joseph, "that I should do so? but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father."

This was truly a severe trial for Judah, who had given such strong assurances to his father that no harm should happen to Benjamin, and that he should be brought back to Hebron in safety.

What shall he say or do? To assert the innocence of his brother was now too late. He had confessed their mutual guilt; as well of Benjamin, as of himself, and of the rest. They were all strangers in Egypt; in the entire power of one who was second in authority only to the king himself; with no advocate or friend; and guilty, by their own confession, of an aggravated offence. If this offence should rest, as it was likely to do, on Benjamin alone, it would make him a slave, never more to return to Hebron, and thus bring down the gray hairs of Jacob with sorrow to the grave.

In the midst of such mingled and desponding feel