all the prisoners that were in the prison ever they did there, he was the doer o keeper of the prison looked not to any thir under his hand; because the Lord was wit that which he did, the Lord made it to pro

And God thus manifests his favor to J cause he recognizes and honors God. He i prayerful, God-fearing, God-honoring ma the presence of these coarse associates that 1 been, and plucks the ripened fruit of the "Him that honoreth me, I will honor."

And when the Lord, true ever to his pu dertakes to honor and to help the faithful at no loss for opportunities and resources. not whether such a one is in a prison or a a cobbler's bench or on a throne: God can from the one to the other as easily as he mantle of darkness from the earth and wraps white robe of light. Ah, if men but knew, men could but see, how readily God can bri deliverance, blessing, honor-all they need and of good-they would honor and trust him

honors of a kingdom to be cast at his feet! "G raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the need out of the dung-hill; that he may set him wi princes." Among his fellow-prisoners are two of t king's servants. Each of them has a dream, a Joseph interprets their dreams. Mark you, it through the wisdom which God gives that he has t power of interpretation, and he does not fail to a knowledge this fact. The interpretation proves co rect-the one is liberated, the other slain. The stored butler forgets, in his base ingratitude, the frier of his prison-life, and for two more long years Jose] waits and works, prays and hopes, shut in from t light of day.

But God is not in haste as men are. He knows th glorious issue of his plans, and calmly waits the consummation. If we knew him better and truste him more we should become partakers of that su lime patience which knows no weariness. There no more essential lesson for a young man to mast than this "Learn to labor and to wait." Be not i haste to grasp the glittering prize for which you toi It will be worth the more, you will be the mo

the young Hebrew prisoner, can surely needed deliverance to every imprisoned earth, no matter how secure his dungeon strongly forged his claims. Pharaoh,

dreams, and the ungrateful butler now rem the long-forgotten Hebrew slave, one who to Pharaoh the meaning of his night-vision is summoned, and is soon standing before th Pharaoh, listening to the rehearsal of his m dream. Behold him unabashed in the pr royalty, and hear his modest acknowledgme God, and his dependence upon him for the which he possesses.

"It is not in me," says Joseph, in repl monarch's flattering allusion to his prophetic "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace

He who was not ashamed to confess his Go

his fellow-prisoners blushes not to acknowled before a heathen king. The dream, as interpr Joseph, presaged seven years of bountiful E followed by seven years of gaunt famine. Th pretation given, this youthful prophet vent

Therefore, after consultation, Joseph the strangerfresh from his prison-cell-is appointed by Pharao to be the prime minister of his kingdom. Thu speaks Pharaoh to the humble released prisoner "Forasmuch as God has showed thee all this, ther is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Tho shalt be over my house, and according unto thy wor shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne wi I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Jo seph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egyp And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, an put it upon Joseph's hand"-a badge of highes honor-“and arrayed him in vestures of fine liner and put a gold chain about his neck; and he mad him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee."

Did ever the tide of fortune turn so quickly and flow in so suddenly to the very flood-height of worldly prosperity? "Behold, one hour hath changed his fetters into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, hi stocks into a chariot, his jail into a palace; Potiphar' captive to his master's lord, the noise of his chains into" the acclaim of the prostrate multitude!

after years, to seek wisdom. Here, a tho later and more, Solon, Plato, and Herodot Egyptian lore. Only a single obelisk of to-day marks the spot of all this departed But in Joseph's time the proud city was in of its splendor. In the midst of this magni learning, and these spectacular rites of heathe he moved, most illustrious of all, crowned w honors; under the shadow of this same mor stands to-day in its silent, solemn grandeur, his costly chariot, and Egypt's wisest and mo sons bowed in humble obeisance before him

Will his character stand this test-sever be than any heretofore applied-of sudden to prosperity and power, honor and wealth a man is there, who, in his lowly home of knelt upon his uncarpeted floor, morning a ing, and sent up his grateful offering of p prayer to heaven, but who, when that humb is exchanged for the costly mansion, with its appointments, bows not the knee in prayer u carpet of richest texture, and offers no swee