Yet such were the boons granted to Abraham, as the reward of faith and
obedience to the One true God,--the vital principle without which
religion dies into superstition, with which his descendants were
inspired not only to nationality and civil coherence, but to the highest
and noblest teachings the world has received from any people, and by
which his name is forever linked with the spiritual progress and
happiness of mankind.




JOSEPH.


ISRAEL IN EGYPT.


No one in his senses would dream of adding anything to the story of
Joseph, as narrated in Genesis, whether it came from the pen of Moses or
from some subsequent writer. It is a masterpiece of historical
composition, unequalled in any literature sacred or profane, in ancient
or modern times, for its simplicity, its pathos, its dramatic power, and
its sustained interest. Nor shall I attempt to paraphrase or re-tell it,
save by way of annotation and illustration of subjects connected with
it, having reference to the subsequent development of the Jewish nation
and character.

Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, was born at Haran in Mesopotamia,
probably during the XVIII. Century B.C., when his father Jacob was in