But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen ?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (Genesis iv. 1-16.)

THE condition of Adam and Eve in their early family-circumstances, is briefly, yet minutely made known to us in the Holy Scriptures. When driven out of Paradise, they literally had "the world to begin." With hands to labour, and with God to instruct them how to labour, (Isaiah xxviii. 23-29.) their business was, to cultivate the ground: neces

sity compelled them. They were clad, for decency's sake, with the skins of animals; which animals had been slain, as already mentioned, for the purpose of offering sacrifices to God. These sacrifices were a type of that Great Sacrifice, which was to be made in due season by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for the sins of the whole world. Such, in few words, was their condition, both temporally and spiritually contemplated.

After a time, a son was born to Adam and Eve; the first-born of the human race. Eve now passed through the great pain and peril of child-birth: she also experienced the joy of a mother, on seeing her beloved offspring born into the world. She seems to have been impressed with a notion that this was the Promised Seed, who should destroy the serpent: for she exclaims, "I have gotten a man-child from the Lord;" or as some consider her to have intended, "I have gotten The Man from the Lord;" and some even suppose the words to have meant, "I have gotten the man Jehovah," that is, the Godman, Christ Jesus: "Emmanuel, God with us."

Whatever may have been the exact purport of her words, it is evident that she exulted in Cain's birth. The name she gave him, signifies, "A Gain or Acquisition."

In the Holy Scriptures, however, which describe the true state of Adam's family, and of Cain's character, we behold a very different picture from what Eve's imagination contemplated. By this history, we are enabled, in the very first instance of the

birth of a child, to see what is meant by the words, "Adam begat a son in his own likeness:" (words spoken afterwards on occasion of the birth of Seth, but equally applicable to every child of man.) Little did Eve at this moment suspect, that all her descendants would answer to the description given by David, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm li. 5.)

The character of Cain shows, moreover, the awful extent of Satan's influence, now that he had usurped the dominion of this world. St. John describes Cain as being " of that wicked one :" (1 John iii. 12.) that is, he was a child of the devil. Satan, who had tempted our first parents, was now permitted to enter into the heart of Cain, and dwell there.

We will briefly notice the chief features of the character of this wretched man.

1. His first and great sin, was Presumption. He chose his own method of worshipping God. The Lord had appointed sacrifices of animals, as the way of approaching him, in acceptable worship: for we must not suppose, that it was by accident that Abel chose the right way, or that Cain was uninstructed concerning that way. No doubt Adam had taught his sons, what he, in the first instance, had been taught of God. Cain, however, being a tiller of the ground, did nothing more than bring "of the fruit of the ground as an offering unto the Lord." He neglected, and very probably despised, the institution of sacrifices.

It is no uncommon error, even now, for persons

to regard thankfulness to God for his goodness, as the sum and substance of Religion. Their system excludes evangelical humility. They admit not the necessity of repentance; and are even offended at the idea of a broken and a contrite heart. The practice of sacrificing was designed to keep up a tender remembrance of sin, and to show the need of an atonement. But these doctrines are as distasteful now-a-days to many nominal Christians, as they were thousands of years ago to Cain.

When, however, we choose our own method of approaching God, instead of coming unto him through Christ, who is "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life," we offer the greatest possible affront to our holy Lord God, and are, consequently, sure to be rejected of him.

2. But Cain offended yet further. When rebuked by his Maker, he sunk into Sullenness. His spirit was moved with secret indignation against the Most High. "His countenance fell." This is the sure mark of a sullen mind, falling under the power of slow and settled anger. Neither would Cain in any way come to terms, although God condescended to reason with him.

What a spectacle is this! A moth contending with the Almighty! A sinner, a creature of a day, standing it out against the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity!-It more than doubles our guilt, when we add obstinacy to rebellion.

3. Then followed that diabolical passion, Hatred of his brother Abel. "And wherefore hated he

him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." His hatred was a compound of envy at his brother's superiority, and malignant dislike of piety itself. Not only did he hate Abel, but he hated Abel's God.

4. From this deep enmity, which he probably vented in open reviling of his pious brother, he proceeds to the act of Murder. Thus Cain treads in the steps of Satan.-Oh, what wretchedness is now to be seen in Adam's family? Death, in its most frightful form: the domestic circle deprived of its brightest ornament, righteous Abel: while the parents are horrified by the presence of their ferocious son, a man not fit to live! And what remorse for their own guilt must now have agitated the heart of our first parents!

5. Cain, in the next place, affects a sort of Indifference, and endeavours to brave justice; no uncommon practice with hardened offenders. In what mode the Lord appeared to him, or put the awful question, "Where is Abel thy brother?" we are not informed. But what can equal the daring impiety of Cain's reply: "I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"-How vain the attempt to hide any thing from God: and what miserable folly is it, to put any kind of cheat upon our own conscience! "Murder will out”—is a common saying. And so at last will every sin! "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

6. And now sentence proceeds against the mur