sternly, Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee thou shouldst not eat?' to which man answered with a cowardly trembling, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.' The woman, in her turn, timidly threw the guilt upon the serpent who had beguiled her. Severe retribution attended this first sin of disobedience. God caused the serpent to be the most despised among all the animals of creation, to crawl upon its belly, and to eat dust for ever, while it should live in deadly hatred with mankind. 'I will put enmity,' said God, between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' Then God proclaimed the punishment of man and woman. They were expelled from the garden of Eden, which could be the abode of the innocent alone; they were thenceforth to eat their bread in the sweat of their brow; for the earth would be cursed on account of their sin, and would bring forth thorns and thistles, and scanty harvests; so they would have to toil and to struggle till death released them; for they were taken from dust, and to dust must they return. Thus man forfeited for ever eternal life and ease on earth, or as it is symbolically expressed in the Bible-narrative, God placed before the garden of Eden Cherubim, with the flame of the revolving sword, to keep the way of the tree of life.'

3. THE GENERATIONS BETWEEN ADAM AND

NOAH.

[GENES. IV. V.]

Adam and Eve, expelled from their happy abode, were sent abroad to recommence a new and sterner life. But an existence of honest labour, ennobled by the guiding

light of reason, could not be without dignity and happiness. They saw the reluctant earth yield up its hidden treasures; and before their eyes, barren tracts were changed into fields of waving corn. But an additional blessing was granted to them; they became the parents of two sons, Cain and Abel. Pride was mingled with their delight when they looked upon their children, who were destined to grow into reasonable beings, endowed like themselves with a knowledge of good and evil. Under their care and fondness, the childhood of Cain and Abel passed away. In course of time, Cain became a husbandman and Abel a shepherd. The brothers, unlike in their occupations, were no less unlike in their dispositions. Cain had to carry on a perpetual struggle with a stubborn and ungrateful soil; it was he who especially felt the curse pronounced against his parents, for he had to work in the sweat of his brow; while Abel had the gentler and easier task of leading his sheep into pleasant green meadows, of watering them at fresh springs, and of reclining near them in the shade of spreading trees. Both brothers, however, saw their work succeed, and gratitude impelled them to bring an offering to God. Cain naturally presented the firstfruits of the field, and Abel the firstlings of the flock. They could hardly express more appropriately their humble conviction that all they possessed belonged to their Creator, as they owed it to His mercy. But though Cain was filled with a proper sense of dependence on the will of God, he could not master his evil passions, when he compared his own hard life with the easy existence of his younger brother. Envy rankled and took root in his breast. An offering presented with such feelings could not be acceptable to God, who looks upon the piety of the worshipper rather than upon the value of the gift. While, therefore, his oblation was rejected, Abel's sacrifice was graced with Divine

favour. Now the spark of jealousy in Cain's heart was rapidly fanned: his countenance fell.' But God, the all-seeing, the all-merciful, desiring to draw him from the brink of a fearful precipice of sin, reproved him gently. He asked him why he was angry, and why his countenance was fallen? If his offering was not accepted, ought he not to take it as a sure sign that he had not done well? He should search his heart, and he would find that it was tainted by a grievous vice. He ought to take heed, or else repentance would come too late. For a time Cain's envious rancour was silenced; he spoke to Abel with brotherly feeling. But when the daily toil recommenced, and the difference of occupations became again painfully striking, the old animosity was revived, and in a moment of ungovernable rage Cain slew Abel.

6

The first murder was perpetrated: the earth was stained with human blood. That blood cried aloud to the Creator, who said to the murderer, Where is Abel, thy brother?' Like Eve, his mother, Cain tried to evade the enquiries of God. 'I know not,' said he; am I my brother's keeper?' But the Lord replied in just anger, 'What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood cries to Me from the ground. Thou art cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth.' Thus Cain, like Adam and Eve, was to wander from his first abode, from his paradise, where his parents dwelt, and where he had passed his childhood. But Cain clung to his miserable existence. Guilty as he was, he wished to live. His prayer was granted; but fearing the wrath of some human avenger, he entreated God for protection of his life. This was also conceded to him. He was branded, however, with the mark of the outlaw, that he might be known and shunned. Thus he

wandered about without rest and without peace, and at last settled in the district of Nod, which signifies flight, and which probably represents one of the eastern countries of Asia, far from the early centres of civilisation, and separated from all friendly communion with the rest of the human families. But gradually even Cain, in some degree purified by hard and persevering labour, found relief and consolation. His wife bore him a son, whom he called Enoch, which name, meaning instruction, perhaps implied the earnest intention on the part of the sinful father to train his child in the path of virtue, and thus to guard him against those snares of sin that had blighted his own life and in order to keep that intention more vividly in remembrance, Cain, when he proceeded to build a city in the land of Nod, called it also Enoch after his son. This city was soon peopled by his descendants; and there the energies and talents of mankind were gradually awakened and exercised. The four next generations mentioned in the Bible are represented by the names of Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, and Lamech. Here the narrative pauses to introduce a social progress of peculiar importance.

Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah, of whom the former bore two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Jabal was the first herdsman among the descendants of Cain; he was permitted to follow the easy and peaceful occupation of the pious but short-lived Abel; his ancestor's bloody crime was atoned for, and the curse-laden race was free to commence a new and happier career. A decisive beginning was made in that very generation. For Jabal's younger brother, Jubal, is mentioned to have been the father of all those that use the lyre and the flute': he was the inventor of musical instruments; the toil of the daily labour was lightened and beautified by art. Zillah was the mother of Tubalcain, who was the first to manu

facture sharp instruments of brass and iron: thus man was better able to force from the earth the grains that support his life, and the flowers that delight his eye; he in some measure acquired the power of creating by his own exertions a second paradise. But beyond this the descendants of Cain were not permitted to pass; the next and higher steps were reserved to other and purer branches of the human family.

Adam and Eve, bereft of both their children, the younger one slain, the elder an outcast, were alone in their misery. Their punishment seemed indeed hard to bear. But when they were blessed with a third son, they called him Seth, meaning 'compensation,' and accepted him in the place of the good and innocent Abel. And when Seth grew up, he had a son, whom in humbleness he called Enos, the frail' or 'mortal.' But it was in the lifetime of this frail Enos, that one of the most important advances was made in the education of mankind. For then began men to invoke the name of the Lord.' Their spiritual life commenced. They became aware of their insignificance before the Almighty; and they expressed this feeling in prayer.

The Bible passes rapidly over the next generations, those of Cainan, Mahalaleel, and Jared; for a vast field was opened to human energy, and the progress in the inner life is naturally slow and struggling. But the great age which men attained in those periods, materially aided their endeavours. Man had been originally intended for immortal life; Adam and Eve forfeited this privilege; they became mortal, and with them their descendants. But the diminution of their lives was ordained to be gradual; thus Methuselah attained the remarkable age of 969 years, and Noah of 950 years; but Abraham died at 175, Jacob at 147, Moses at 120, and Joshua at 110 years; while the Psalmist exclaims: The days of our