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The horsemen therefore took Benjamin and brought him to Joseph, his
brethren also following him; who, when he saw him in custody, and them
in the habit of mourners, said,
"How came you, vile
wretches as you are, to have such a strange notion of my kindness to you,
and of God's providence, as impudently to do thus to your benefactor, who
in such an hospitable manner had entertained you ?" Whereupon they
gave up themselves to be punished, in order to save Benjamin; and called
to mind what a wicked enterprise they had been guilty of against Joseph.
They also pronounced him more happy than themselves, if he were dead, in
being freed from the miseries of this life; and if he were alive, that
he enjoyed the pleasure of seeing God's vengeance upon them. They said
further; that they were the plague of their father, since they should now
add to his former affliction for Joseph, this other affliction for Benjamin.
Reubel also was large in cutting them upon this occasion. But Joseph dismissed
them; for he said they had been guilty of no offense, and that he would
content himself with the lad's punishment; for he said it was not a fit
thing to let him go free, for the sake of those who had not offended; nor
was it a fit thing to punish them together with him who had been guilty
of stealing. And when he promised to give them leave to go away in safety,
the rest of them were under great consternation, and were able to say nothing
on this sad occasion. But Judas, who had persuaded their father to send
the lad from him, being otherwise also a very bold and active man, determined
to hazard himself for the preservation of his brother. "It is true,"
1 said
he, "O governor, that we have been very wicked with regard to thee,
and on that account deserved punishment; even all of us may justly be punished,
although the theft were not committed by all, but only by one of us, and
he the youngest also; but yet there remains some hope for us, who otherwise
must be under despair on his account, and this from thy goodness, which
promises us a deliverance out of our present danger. And now I beg thou
wilt not look at us, or at that great crime we have been guilty of, but
at thy own excellent nature, and take advice of thine own virtue, instead
of that wrath thou hast against us; which passion those that otherwise
are of lower character indulge, as they do their strength, and that not
only on great, but also on very trifling occasions. Overcome, sir, that
passion, and be not subdued by it, nor suffer it to slay those that do
not otherwise presume upon their own safety, but are desirous to accept
of it from thee; for this is not the first time that thou wilt bestow it
on us, but before, when we came to buy corn, thou affordedst us great plenty
of food, and gavest us leave to carry so much home to our family as has
preserved them from perishing by famine. Nor is there any difference between
not overlooking men that were perishing for want of necessaries, and not
punishing those that seem to be offenders, and have been so unfortunate
as to lose the advantage of that glorious benefaction which they received
from thee. This will be an instance of equal favor, though bestowed after
a different manner; for thou wilt save those this way whom thou didst feed
the other; and thou wilt hereby preserve alive, by thy own bounty, those
souls which thou didst not suffer to be distressed by famine, it being
indeed at once a wonderful and a great thing to sustain our lives by corn,
and to bestow on us that pardon, whereby, now we are distressed, we may
continue those lives. And I am ready to suppose that God is willing to
afford thee this opportunity of showing thy virtuous disposition, by bringing
us into this calamity, that it may appear thou canst forgive the injuries
that are done to thyself, and mayst be esteemed kind to others, besides
those who, on other accounts, stand in need of thy assistance; since it
is indeed a right thing to do well to those who are in distress for want
of food, but still a more glorious thing to save those who deserve to be
punished, when it is on account of heinous offenses against thyself; for
if it be a thing deserving commendation to forgive such as have been guilty
of small offenses, that tend to a person's loss, and this be praiseworthy
in him that overlooks such offenses, to restrain a man's passion as to
crimes which are capital to the guilty, is to be like the most excellent
nature of God himself. And truly, as for myself, had it not been that we
had a father, who had discovered, on occasion of the death of Joseph, how
miserably he is always afflicted at the loss of his sons, I had not made
any words on account of the saving of our own lives; I mean, any further
than as that would be an excellent character for thyself, to preserve even
those that would have nobody to lament them when they were dead, but we
would have yielded ourselves up to suffer whatsoever thou pleasedst; but
now (for we do not plead for mercy to ourselves, though indeed, if we die,
it will be while we are young, and before we have had the enjoyment of
life) have regard to our father, and take pity of his old age, on whose
account it is that we make these supplications to thee. We beg thou wilt
give us those lives which this wickedness of ours has rendered obnoxious
to thy punishment; and this for his sake who is not himself wicked, nor
does his being our father make us wicked. He is a good man, and not worthy
to have such trials of his patience; and now, we are absent, he is afflicted
with care for us. But if he hear of our deaths, and what was the cause
of it, he will on that account die an immature death; and the reproachful
manner of our ruin will hasten his end, and will directly kill him; nay,
will bring him to a miserable death, while he will make haste to rid himself
out of the world, and bring himself to a state of insensibility, before
the sad story of our end come abroad into the rest of the world. Consider
these things in this manner, although our wickedness does now provoke thee
with a just desire of punishing that wickedness, and forgive it for our
father's sake; and let thy commiseration of him weigh more with thee than
our wickedness. Have regard to the old age of our father, who, if we perish,
will be very lonely while he lives, and will soon die himself also. Grant
this boon to the name of fathers, for thereby thou wilt honor him that
begat thee, and will grant it to thyself also, who enjoyest already that
denomination; thou wilt then, by that denomination, be preserved of God,
the Father of all, - by showing a pious regard to which, in the case of
our father, thou wilt appear to honor him who is styled by the same name;
I mean, if thou wilt have this pity on our father, upon this consideration,
how miserable he will be if he be deprived of his sons! It is thy part
therefore to bestow on us what God has given us, when it is in thy power
to take it away, and so to resemble him entirely in charity; for it is
good to use that power, which can either give or take away, on the merciful
side; and when it is in thy power to destroy, to forget that thou ever
hadst that power, and to look on thyself as only allowed power for preservation;
and that the more any one extends this power, the greater reputation does
he gain to himself. Now, by forgiving our brother what he has unhappily
committed, thou wilt preserve us all; for we cannot think of living if
he be put to death, since we dare not show ourselves alive to our father
without our brother, but here must we partake of one and the same catastrophe
of his life. And so far we beg of thee, O governor, that if thou condemnest
our brother to die, thou wilt punish us together with him, as partners
of his crime, - for we shall not think it reasonable to be reserved to
kill ourselves for grief of our brother's death, but so to die rather as
equally guilty with him of this crime. I will only leave with thee this
one consideration, and then will say no more, viz. that our brother committed
this fault when he was young, and not yet of confirmed wisdom in his conduct;
and that men naturally forgive such young persons. I end here, without
adding what more I have to say, that in case thou condemnest us, that omission
may be supposed to have hurt us, and permitted thee to take the severer
side. But in case thou settest us free, that this may be ascribed to thy
own goodness, of which thou art inwardly conscious, that thou freest us
from condemnation; and that not by barely preserving us, but by granting
us such a favor as will make us appear more righteous than we really are,
and by representing to thyself more motives for our deliverance than we
are able to produce ourselves. If, therefore, thou resolvest to slay him,
I desire thou wilt slay me in his stead, and send him back to his father;
or if thou pleasest to retain him with thee as a slave, I am fitter to
labor for thy advantage in that capacity, and, as thou seest, am better
prepared for either of those sufferings."
2
So Judas, being very willing to undergo any thing whatever for the deliverance
of his brother, cast himself down at Joseph's feet, and earnestly labored
to assuage and pacify his anger. All his brethren also fell down before
him, weeping and delivering themselves up to destruction for the preservation
of the life of Benjamin.