(1.) The novelty of his situation. He was now a servant, yea, a slave, exposed to insult and oppression. He had not been accustomed to such menial service; his father was one of the richest and most influential men in the land of Canaan, and Joseph had always been his favourite child. It was a new thing for him to be a drudge in an ignorant Pagan family. His situation was one of peculiar difficulty, and required a large amount of sanctified wisdom, grace, and piety to become reconciled to it. (2.) Then, his own great personal attractions.-He was young, probably about eighteen, when introduced into the house of Potiphar. This is a very critical period of life. More young people go astray during this period than at any other time. It is the time when the character is formed. Besides, Joseph's personal attractions were most captivating. The Persian bards represent him as extraordinarily handsome, with eyes sparkling with intelligence, and a countenance open and attractive, the very index of his generous and loving heart. The Bible says that he "was a goodly person, and well-favoured." These attractions, if not accompanied with intelligence and piety, often prove very great snares to young people. They expose their youthful possessors to many powerful temptations. But the graces of Joseph's mind greatly outshone those of his person. May our young readers be always more anxious to adorn the mind than to beautify the body! Moral virtues are precious and durable, while personal attractions are as frail and transient as a fading flower. (3.) Again, the depraved habits of his associates.-The moral depravity of this rich, fashionable, heathen family must have been very great. Down from the great "officer" to the meanest slave, there was none that rendered any aid to Joseph's piety. Their language, their habits, all tended to corrupt his mind. But the conduct of his "master's wife" was the vilest of all: she aimed at destroying his innocence, peace, and happiness at once. She levelled her poisonous arrows at his very life-his best life -the life of his soul. But she fortunately failed in her object. The handsome Hebrew slave was too noble, too upright, too holy to lend a willing ear to the unlawful entreaties of an Egyptian princess. Then, the improbability of his integrity ever becoming known to the world was not favourable to his virtuous resolve. It was not the fear of man that kept Joseph from the commission of sin, and it was not the praise of man that caused him to cling to virtue. There was no one there to witness his integrity, no one to report in glowing terms his exalted virtues to the world. His piety shone with intense brilliancy in a lonesome room of Potiphar's palace. Fiery was the temptation; noble was the triumph. But ever bear in mind, dear reader, that God has his reporters in all such secret places, and that our secret virtues, as well as our secret sins, shall at a future day be all revealed. II. We will now proceed to point out JOSEPH'S EXTRAORDINARY PROSPERITY. -"And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man." The Hebrew exile was under the eye of God, supported by his blessing, and guided by his Spirit. The Lord was with him. This was better than even the presence and fellowship of an intelligent, pious father. The presence of our God is not confined to one country or to one locality, but it is with the righteous in Egypt as well as in Canaan, in the house of an Egyptian master as well as in that of a son of Abraham. The result of this Divine guidance was most cheering: "And he was a prosperous man." Under Joseph's wise management the affairs of his master greatly improved; thus showing the great value of a good, faithful, pious servant. But the sacred historian asserts that Joseph him self was 66 a prosperous man." Instead of blaming his guilty brothers, deploring his altered condition, and finding fault with the dealings of Providence, he attended to his duties, he relied on God's faithfulness, and he was blessed with great prosperity. The prosperity of young Joseph "in the house of his master the Egyptian" suggests the following thoughts: 1. That genuine religion is not dependent on external circumstances. It is true that there are some circumstances more favourable to the growth of deep, earnest religion, than others. We greatly value religious ordinances, communion of saints, and the outward means of grace, as means calculated to bless and benefit the Christian. But vital godliness may exist, yea, thrive, where these external circumstances are wanting. Israel's exiled son is a proof of this statement. Though young, far away from home, and exposed to the pollution of vile Egyptian habits, he kept his garment undefiled, and the torch of his religion continued to burn brightly amidst the deep midnight darkness which surrounded him. Some of our young friends imagine that it is impossible for them to be religious in their present peculiar positions. But true religion can exist and flourish under the most unfavourable circumstances. It is not a delicate exotic, which requires to be preserved in a glass house; it is a plant which can bear the chill frost of winter, as well as the genial rays of a summer sun. The religion of the little "Israelitish maid" grew luxuriantly in the palace of a Syrian general. 2. That true piety qualifies a person for life's duties.-Never did Potiphar meet with such a servant as Joseph. He trusted all his important affairs in his hand, and all greatly prospered. Also, Joseph's piety contributed greatly to his own worldly prosperity. When he parted from his merciless brothers he was poor, the property of a stranger, and without a coat to his back. Seldom does a young man enter the world with such dark prospects as those of Joseph. But the Lord was with him, and he soon began to prosper. It was his deep, early piety that raised him in the estimation of his father, in the house of Potiphar, in the Egyptian prison, and in the court of Pharaoh. It was this that gave him power, and riches, and honour in Egypt. Though we have no reason to expect that religion will ensure to us such extraordinary worldly honours, yet it enables to endure the ills of life without repining, it gives us occasions to sing in the night, and it prepares the mind for the discharge of all life's duties. The intelligently pious youth has nothing to fear in his struggles with the world. 3. That the most effective way to overcome any temptation is by fleeing from it.-It is said of Joseph, that, when tempted to commit a heinous crime, "he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." It is not safe to reason and argue with temptations; the safest way is to flee from them. Let a young person only stand and listen to the allurements of sin, and he is already deprived of half his resisting power, and he is in great danger of being overcome by them. The pure-minded young Hebrew lent no ear to the voice of the temptress, but at once, with a manly resolution, fled from her presence, and thus escaped uninjured. 4. That it is better to suffer for righteousness' sake than enjoy the greatest ease in the service of sin.— It is almost certain that Joseph, inferring from his extraordinary dreams, expected one day to become great and influential; and, in all probability, his prosperity "in the house of his master the Egyptian" was taken as a sign that he was on the way to reach his anticipated greatness. But, whilst gradually and successfully ascending the hill of honour, suddenly the pathway appeared to divide. Temptation, with an alluring smile, said, "This is the way;" and to an eye of flesh it appeared to be correct. But virtue, with a voice exquisitely sweet, whispered, Follow me." The young man instantly obeyed, and found himself within the gloomy walls of a prison. Now what will become of his dreams, his expectations, and his once bright prospects? All seem for ever gone; nothing but the shadow of an early death darkens his path. Poor exiled youth! how melancholy his fate! how hopeless his condition! All his bright, sanguine anticipations have been blasted for ever! No the path to power now led through a dungeon. Under the guidance of the angel whose voice he obeyed, he will be safely conducted to honour and power. And even in the gloomy cell he had a good conscience, a tranquil mind, and the exalted communion of an unoffended God. Poverty, with a clear conscience, and God's gracious presence, is preferable to the greatest affluence, with a sin-stained soul, and a frowning God. 5. That a man's only safeguard through life is the fear of God.The wholesome dread of displeasing a kind father has kept many a young person from ruin. In the hour of temptation, when far away from home, the very thought of wounding a father's heart, and of incurring a father's displeasure, fortifies the mind of the tempted youth, and enables him, without any hesitation, to say "No!" to his tempter. Dear young reader, never be afraid to say "No" when tempted to sin. In the case of Joseph', the fear of God, like an impenetrable shield, threw back the fatal darts of sin. His beautiful and touching language was, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" The young Hebrew could not treat his Divine Friend with such base ingratitude; his young heart throbbed in unison with the mind of his heavenly Father. Let our youthful readers treat their Divine Guide with the same holy reverence, and amidst all the changes of life he will be with them, and will prosper them. Horsley. The Christian Household. J. H. HUGHES. DR. HALL'S HINTS UPON HEALTH. I. MANY persons are daily ruining their eyes opening them in cold water of mornings. Cold water will harden and roughen the hands, and much more will it do so to the manifold more delicate covering of the eye; or the eye will, in selfdefence, become scaly, in the manner of a fish; that is, the coats of the eye will thicken, constituting a species of cataract, which must impair the sight. That water, cold and harsh as it is, should be applied to the eye for curative purposes, in place of that soft, warm, lubricating fluid which nature manufactures just for such purposes, indicates great thoughtlessness or great mental obliquity. Nothing stronger than lukewarm water should ever be applied to the eye, except by a special medical advice, and under special medical supervision; for we have only one pair to lose. Even warm water should be applied only by closing the eye and flapping it against the lid with the hand, pati. ently, scarcely letting the fingers touch the lid. This cools the eye more rapidly than cold water does, and without the shock, while its soothing effect is delightful, dissolving or washing out the yellow or other matter which may have accumulated over night, in half the time required by cold water. II. Men talk of hardening the constitution, and with that view expose themselves to summer's sun and winter's wind, to strains and overefforts, and many unnecessary hardships. To the same end, ill-informed mothers souse their little infants in cold water day by day; their skin, and flesh, and bodies, as steadily growing rougher, and thinner, and weaker, until slow fever, or water on the brain, or consumption of the bowels, carries them to the grave; and then they administer to themselves the semi-comfort and rather questionable consolation, of its being a mysterious dispensation of Providence, when, in fact, Providence had nothing to do with it. He works no miracles to counteract our follies. III. Dieting is not starvation; it is living on substantial, nourishing food, in amount sufficient to satisfy the wants of the system. A man is in little danger of eating too much if he will confine himself to two or three articles of diet at any one meal; this is a secret which every man and woman ought to know. Living exclusively on cold food will soon engender disease, especially in cold weather. And as certainly will a scant diet do the same if persevered in. Dieting consists in adapting the food, in quantity as well as quality, to the wants of the system. IV. A bad cold, like measles, or mumps, or other similar ailments, will run its course of about ten days in spite of what may be done for it, unless remedial means are employed within forty-eight hours of its inception. Many a useful life may be spared to be increasingly useful, by cutting a short cold off in the following safe and simple manner : - On the first day of taking a cold there is a very unpleasant sensation of chilliness. The moment you observe this go to your room and stay there; keep it at such a temperature as will entirely prevent this chilly feeling, even if it requires a hundred degrees of Fahrenheit. In addition, put your feet in water, half-leg deep, as hot as you can bear it, adding hotter water from time to time for a quarter of an hour; so that the water shall be hotter when you take your feet out than when you put them in it; then dry them thoroughly, and put on warm, thick, woollen stockings, even if it be summer, for summer colds are the most dangerous; and for twenty-four hours eat not an atom of food; but drink as largely as you desire of any kind of warm teas; and at the end of that time, if not sooner, the cold will be effectually broken, without any medicine what ever. A WORD ABOUT BED COVERING. THREE-FOURTHS of the bed covering of our people consist of what are miscalled "comfortables," viz.: -Two calico cloths, with glazed cotton wadding laid between and quilted in. The perfection of dress for day or night, where warmth is the purpose, is that which confines around the body sufficient of its own warmth, while it allows escape to the rest. Where the body is allowed to bathe protractedly in its own vapour, we must expect an unhealthy action upon the skin. Where there is too little ventilating escape, what is called insensible perspiration is checked, and something analogous to fever supervenes. Foul tongue, bad taste, and lack of morning appetite betrays the error. In all cases the temper suffers, and "My dear, this is execrable coffee," probably is the morning salutation. How much is the rosy health of poor children due to the air-leaking bed-rooms of their parents, and what a generator of pale faces is a close chamber! To be healthy and happy, provide your bed with the lightest and most porous blanket. The finer the better. The cheapest in price, the dearest in health. "Comfortables" are uncomfortable and unhealthy. Cotton, if it could be made equally porous, and kept so, we prefer to wool. The same for daily under |