clapped up in prison, and happens to be with the king's cupbearer and butler. Both these state prisoners had a dream the same night, which Joseph explained to them: he foretold, that within three days the cup-bearer should be restored to favour, and the butler hanged; which fell out accordingly.

Two years after, the king of Egypt had a very perplexing dream, on which his cup-bearer acquaints him, that there is in prison a Jewish young man, who had not his equal for explaining dreams. He is sent for, and predicts the seven years of plenty, and the seven barren years.

Here we must make a small interruption in the thread of the story, to observe the prodigious antiquity of the interpretation of dreams. Jacob had seen in a dream the mysterious ladder, at the top of which was God himself. In a dream, he learned the method of multiplying his flocks, a method which has never succeeded but with him. Joseph himself had been informed by a dream, that he should one day be superior to his brothers. Abimelech, long before, had notice given him in a dream that Sarah was Abraham's wife. [See the article, DREAM.] We shall now return to Joseph.

On his having explained Pharaoh's dream, he was immediately created prime minister. It is a question whether, now a-days, any Ling, even in Asia, would bestow a post of that importance for having explained a dream. Pharaoh made up a match between Joseph and a daughter of Potiphar's. This Potiphar is said to have been high-priest of Heliopolis, so that it could not be the eunuch, his first master; or if it was, he must certainly have had another title than that of high-priest; and his wife had been a mother more than once.

In the mean time the famine came on, according to Joseph's prediction; and his minister, to rivet himself into the royal favour, so managed matters, that all the people were under a necessity of selling their lands to Pharaoh'; and the whole nation to procure corn became slaves to the crown. may probably be the origin of despotism. It must be owned that never king made a better bargain; but, on the other hand, the people owed little gratitude and applause to the prime

minister.

This

At length Joseph's father and brothers likewise came to want corn, for the famine was sore in all the land. As for Joseph's reception of his brethren, his forgiving them, and loading them with kindness, we shall take the liberty to omit those particulars, observing only, that this history has every interesting part of an epic poem; the sublime, the marvellous, the exposition, connexion, discovery, and reverse of

fortune. I know nothing more strongly marked with oriental genius.

The answer of good Jacob, Joseph's hoary father, to Pharaoh, ought deeply to impress every one who can read. "What "A hundred and may your age be?" said the king to him. thirty years," answered the old man; "and in this short pilgrimage, I have not seen one happy day."

LAWS.

IN the time of Vespasian and Titus, when the Romans used to rip up and draw the Jews, a very wealthy Israelite, to avoid that disagreeable treatment, moved off with all the fruits of his usury, carrying with him to Eziongaber all his family, which consisted of his aged wife, a son, and a daughter; for retinue he had two eunuchs, one a cook, the other a kind of gardener and vine-dresser: an honest Essene, who knew the Pentateuch by heart, officiated as his chaplain. All these going aboard a vessel at Eziongaber, crossed the Red Sea, as it is called, though it has nothing of that colour, and entered the gulf of Persia, in quest of the country of Ophir, without knowing where it lay. A dreadful storm drove this Hebrew family towards India, where the vol was stranded on one of the Maldivia islando, tren desert, but now called Padrabranca.

The old hunk and his joan were drowned: but the son and daughter, with the two eunuchs and chaplain, got safe to land. They made shift to save some of the provisions; and having built huts in the island, began to be something reconciled to their disaster. The island of Padrabranca, you know, is five degrees from the line, and produces the largest cocoa-nuts and the best pine-apples in the whole world. It was not uncomfortable living there, at a time when every where else the favoured people were slaughtered as fast as they could be found: but the good Essene frequently wept at thinking that they might be the only Jews on earth, and that the seed of Abraham might be drawing to an end.

"but it is

"What signify your tears?" said the young Jew; "it is in your power to prevent its ending: marry my 99 sister.' " I would very willingly," answered the chaplain; against the law. I am an Essene, and have made a vow against marriage; and by the laws, vows are to be observed. Come of the Jewish race what will, never will I marry your sister, though she were ten times handsomer than she is."

"My two eunuchs," answered the Jew, "cannot raise seed from her; so with your leave, I will do the business, and you shall marry us."-"Let me be ripped up and drawn over and over," said the chaplain, " rather than have any hand in making you commit incest; were she your sister only by the father's side, I would not hesitate so much about it, as not being directly against law; but she is your sister by the mother's side, so that would be quite abominable."—"I am very well aware that it would be a crime at Jerusalem, where I might have other young women; but on the island of Padrabranca, where I see only cocoa-nuts, ananas, and oysters, I hold it very allowable."

Thus the Jew married his sister, and, notwithstanding all the Essene's protestations, had by her a daughter, who was the sole fruit of a marriage by one held legal, and by the other abominable.

Fourteen years after, the mother departed this life: "Well," said the father to the chaplain, "have you got over your former prejudices? will you marry my daughter ?"—" God forbid!" said the Essene. 6. If you will not, I will," said the father; "the seed of Abraham shall not come to an end, if I can help it." The Essene, quite frightened at such horrible words, would not live any longer with one who made so light of the law, and fled. The bridegroom called after him, "Stop, honest Ananeel; I observe the law of nature: I am preserving the chosen race: do not leave your friends;" but the Essene, full of the Mosaic law, without so much as looking back, swam over to the nearest island.

This was Attola, a large island, both populous and thoroughly civilized. On his landing, he was made a slave. When he had got a little of the Attola tongue, he complained very bitterly of his being used so inhospitably; but he was given to understand that such was their law; and that, since the island had narrowly escaped being surprized by the inhabitants of Shot Ada, it had been wisely provided, that all strangers coming to Attola should be made slaves. "A law it cannot be," said the Essene; "for no such thing is in the Pentateuch." To which he had for answer, that it was in the country code; and a slave he remained, but with the good fortune of having an excellent master, who was very rich, and ruled him in a manner which much endeared him to the Essene.

Some ruffians came one day to rob and kill the master. They asked the slaves whether he was at home, and had a great deal of money by him. By all the gods," said the slaves, "he has little or no money at all; neither is he at

home." But the Essene said, "The law does not allow of lying; and I swear to you that he is at home and has a great deal of money." So the master was robbed and murdered. On this the slaves had the Essene before the judges, for betraying his master. The Essene owned his words, saying, that he would not tell a lie on any account; and he was hanged.

if,

This story, and many such, were told me in my last journey from the Indies to France. On my arrival, some business calling me to Versailles, I saw a very fine woman, followed by several other fine women. "Who is that young woman?" said I to my lawyer, who was come with me; for, having a process in the parliament of Paris, on account of clothes made for me in the Indies, I had my counsellor always with me. "It is the king's daughter," said he; "and, besides her beauty, she is of a most excellent temper: it is a pity that she can never be queen of France."-" How!" said I; which God forbid! all her royal relations and the princes of the blood were to die, could not she inherit her father's kingdom?”—“ No," said the counsellor; "the Salic law is expressly against it."-" And who made that Salic law?" said I. "That I know nothing of," answered he; "but the tradition is, that an ancient people, called the Salians, who could neither read nor write, had a law by which, in the Salic country, no female was to inherit an hereditary fief; and this law has been admitted in a country which is not Salic."-" Has it so," said I; "then I annul it. You assure me that, besides this princess's beauty, she is of an excellent temper; she has, therefore, an indisputable right to the crown, if unfortunately she should survive all the rest of the royal family. My mother was heiress to her father, and this princess shall be heiress to her's."

The next day my cause came on in one of the courts of parliament, and they all gave it against me. My counsellor told me that in another court I should have gained it unanimously. "Very odd, indeed," said I: "then so many courts, so many laws."'—“Yes,” said he, "there are not less than twenty-five commentaries on the common law at Paris; that is, the Paris common law has been twenty-five times proved to be ambiguous; and were there twenty-five courts, there would be as many different bodies of laws. We have," continued he, "a province called Normandy, about fifteen leagues from Paris; and there your cause would have been decided quite otherwise than it is here." This made me desirous of seeing Normandy, and I went thither with one of

my brothers. At the first inn we came to was a young man, storming most furiously. I asked him, what was the matter? "Matter enough," answered he; "I have an elder brother."

"Where is the mighty misfortune of having a brother?" said I to him: "my brother is my elder, and yet we live very easily together." But here, Sir," said he, "the damned. law gives every thing to the elder, and the younger may shift for himself.""If that be the case," said I, "well may you be angry with us things are equally divided, yet sometimes brothers do not love one another the better for it."

These little adventures led me to some very profound reflections on the laws, and I found them to be like our garments: at Constantinople it is proper to wear a doliman, and at Paris a coat. If all human laws are by compact, the only point is to make good bargains. The citizens of Delhi and Agra say that they made a very bad agreement with Tamerlane: the citizens of London, again, value themselves for the good bargain they made with William III. One of that opulent body was saying to me, It is necessity which makes laws, and force causes them to be observed. I asked him whether force did not likewise make laws; and whether William the Conqueror had not prescribed to England laws, without any previous convention? "Yes," said he; 66 we were then oxen, and William put a yoke upon us, and goaded us along. Since those times we are become men, but with our horns still remaining; we are sure to gore any one that will make us plough for him and not for ourselves."

Full of these reflections, I was pleased to find, that there is a natural law independent of all human conventions; that the fruit of my labour should be my property; that it is my duty to honour my parents; that I have no right to my neighbour's life, nor my neighbour to mine, &c. but when it came into my mind that, from Cordolaomer down to Mentzel, colonel of hussars, it has been customary to show one's loyalty, by effusion of human blood, and to pillage one's neighbour by patent, I was touched to the heart.

I am told that robbers have their laws, and that war has also its laws. On my asking, what are those laws of war, I am answered, It is to hang up a brave officer for maintaining against a royal army a bad post, without cannon: it is to hang up a prisoner if one of your men has been hanged; it is to burn and destroy those villages which have not brought in their whole subsistence, at the day appointed by the gracious sovereign of the neighbourhood.-So this, says I, is the spirit of laws!