rather than to the really nec~6sitous. ( 4) By affixing to it a price the people were en?ouraged as lor.ig as poss1_ble to _practise frugality and preserve independence. Wise governors will ?e slow m makmg· paupers of their subjects. This is one of the dangers conn_ect~~ with the Po_or Law Administration in our own land. (5) It enabled Joseph by a 1ud1c1ous husbandmg of resources to extend the circle of relief to the starving populations of other countries who came to him to purchase corn. Leam-1. The sin of national wastefulness. 2. The value of a wise statesman. 3. The compatibility of piety with both personal greatness and political activity. 4. 'fhe propriety of setting mercies over against misfortunes. 5. The proper end of all government and legislation-the happiness nnd safety of the people. 6. The true dut:y: ?f a monarc~-to sympathis_e with and d_irect his subjects. 7. The legitimate amb1t1on for a nation-to be an obJect of attraction for good to surrounding countries.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 54.-IJestitutwn and abundance. ".And the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread." The time of harvest is, of all periods of the year, the most important. It is the point to which all previous operations of the cul- tivator have tended. He knows how much depends on the weather and God's mercy. Having done all be can, he has to wait, and the harvest-time determines results. Those who are not engaged in agriculture are concerned in a harvest. Suppose there were none ; non-producers must starve. Dwelling in great towns and cities, many who are engaged in traffic or manufacture may easily overlook harvest-time, and forget their dependence on God for daily bread. They see not the sown fields, they watch not the springing blade, they seize not the sharp sickle, they join not in piling up the pointed stacks, and are therefore likely to forget dependence on God. It is well that God forgets us not. He has ever kept his promise-" So long as the earth remainetb," &c. No year has passed without harvest-time being stinted in some land. Think over the contre.st given in the text. L GENERAL DISTRESS. "The dearth was in all lands," i. e. all the lands then known to be peopled by the descendants of Noah. Their harvests had failed. Rain excessive, or drought prolonged, bad ruined their crops. For several years there seems to have been disappointment. Not only did the husbandmen suffer, but those who could not toil. Dearth engenders disease, despair, death. See 2 Kings vi. 24- 30, to what straits famine will reduce people. Even mothers consent together to eat their own offspring. In the lamentations of Jeremiah there is a description of the fearful consequences of famine, leading men to say, "Then was our skin black like an oven, because of the terrible famine." How painful must it be to have scanty plat- ters and empty barns ; for parents to have children clinging to the skirts of their garments, crying," Give, oh, give bread," and to have none wherewith to satisfy them I We see the effect of famine on one family in the East. Jacob's sons" looked on one another and were sad." Their looks were despairing. They had money, flocks, and herds but no bread. They could not eat their money, and to have lived on their sta~g flocks alone would engender disease of frightful character. Many bad not even flocks to fall back upon, and the dearth was in all lands. How men ut such a time must have looked longingly at the heavens, and prayed that God would send them bread I Sometimes such seasons of trial are sent that men may he reminded of the dependence on God. To have a moral and spiritual dearth is worse than to have outward destitution. The spiritual is more important than the physical, A more terrible death than all is that where there is a lack of a knowledge of God and his love and of hearing the word of the Lord. II. E:~cir.PTIONAL ABUNDANCE. But for this plentifulness in Egypt the whole race might have perished. There were several r_easons for t)rn abun~ance in _Egypt ... 1. God arranged it by that wondrous overflowmg of the Nile. .A difference Ill the nsmg a few feet makes all the difference as to the crops. Even at this date, so do the crops of Egypt affect the markets of the world, that the rising of the Nile is watched, and the height attained telegraplied to all parts, God, at the period referred to, had given i;even years of plenty, followed by seven years of dearth; but such had been the Oil. XU!. 1-38.] TI:iE BOOK OF GENESIS. 473