shall not reap. Henceforth he shall depend for his subsistence upon what he may casually obtain. Not only so, but he becomes an outcast and a wanderer from the haunts of men.

What resting-place can he have who is exiled from GOD, and has a gnawing conscience, and a never-dying worm in his breast? Punishment will follow guilt; and though the criminal may contrive to evade the vengeance of human laws, he cannot escape from the accusing severity of his own reflections, or the terrors of his affrighted imagination. These will conjure up a thousand enemies where in reality there are none; and will present to the mind of the sinner formidable dangers in places where he has nothing to fear.

No one can adequately conceive the agony of a "wounded spirit," but the wretched being who has made Heaven his enemy. All is hell and torment, and misery in his bosom. When awake, he is afraid, and his thoughts revolve on his crime and its consequences: he wishes for the night season, that he may lie down under the covert of darkness, and enjoy in sleep some cessation from his pain. But even here his desire is mocked; for the irritated spirit cannot be lulled into quiet even when the eyes are closed, and the bodily senses are sealed up. Then in dreams the wretch reviews his guilty act, and starts at some horrible phantom, ready to take vengeance upon him for his transgression.

Such was the situation of Cain. He felt the fire of hell in his soul, and cried out, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." The fratricide could feel the lash though he was insensible to genuine repentance. He could complain of the punishment, though he had no sorrow for the sin which occasioned it.

When

This is often the case with the wicked. their iniquity is discovered, and their secret enormities are dragged to light and justice, they express a sorrow flowing not from compunction, but from the

dread of punishment. So Cain, on hearing his sentence, was afraid "that every one who met him would slay him.”

This fear was natural; for the murderer no longer belongs to society. He has cut himself off from all right to social union, to reciprocal offices of humanity, and even to life itself.

Cain was accordingly apprehensive that every one's hand would be raised against him to avenge the death of Abel. Here, however, the Almighty interposed; and expressly forbad any to punish the wretch who had fallen into his hand. It is added, that to prevent this, God set a particular mark or sign upon the fugitive, which should make him known wherever he wandered.

What this mark was is not mentioned, nor does it concern us to know it. All that is necessary for the regulation of our faith and practice, is plainly laid down in the Bible; and where no information is given, inquiry is vain, and conjecture presumptuous. Many needless observations have been made respecting the land of Nod, where it is said Cain resided after the murder of his brother. Now the Hebrew word Nod signifies vagabond; and nothing more is meant by it in the text, than that Cain went into the country eastward as a vagabond, leading a wandering life, a prey to corroding remorse and continual apprehensions.

Infidels have started an objection to the divine authority of the Mosaic history, by saying that Cain could not fear being killed in a distant country, when the world was unpeopled except by himself and his parents.

This, however, is a mere assumption, which has no foundation in reason or Scripture.

Abel, at the time of his death, was at least one hundred and twenty-five years old; it is, therefore, not probable that he should be at such an age without a large family.

The first blessing pronounced on man, that "he

should be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth," contained an injunction to that purpose, and consequently marriage became an indispensable duty in that age of the world. Now as Abel was an example of righteousness, we cannot well suppose that he neglected the primary command of the great Creator of course, in the period of a century his descendants must be numerous. Cain had, therefore, sufficient reasons to dread the vengeance of his brother's family alone; even though it should be admitted that Adam and Eve had no other sons at that time than these two.

The fugitive himself was at the head of a considerable tribe, with which after his wanderings, he settled eastward of Eden, and built a city. This precaution was probably the result of that fear with which he was continually haunted, for guilt is always allied to cowardice, and never thinks itself secure from attack. With the remaining history and fate of Cain, the Scripture has not made us acquainted; but we read that polygamy first began in his family, and that the second murder committed in the world was the act of the sixth descendant, Lamech: so fruitful is sin, and so fatal and extensive is the curse of an evil example.

Here let us stop and make a few reflections on this affecting and instructive portion of sacred history.

In Abel we behold a righteous person, one of a holy neart and an upright life, falling beneath the murderous hand of his elder brother. The ways of heaven are mysterious; and when inconsiderate man observes such scenes as this, he is apt to question the rectitude of the Divine proceedings. But the time is not yet come for us to form a judgment upon these dispensations. The Almighty cannot err, neither will he do wrong. It is, therefore, our place to submit humbly to his will, and to acquiesce in all his providential dealings, though we are ignorant of the reasons of

them.

Abel was taken from a world of corruption and

trouble to obtain a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away, happy in being the first of the human kind admitted into Paradise, though by a violent death. In him certainly we have a lively type of the blessed Redeemer. Abel was a shepherd, and Jesus Christ calls himself the "good shepherd, who giveth his life for the sheep." John x. 11. Abel presented an offering unto the Lord, of the best of his flock, as a sacrifice of atonement for his own sins: but Christ made an offering of himself, as a lamb without spot, and without blemish, for the sins of the world. The blood of Abel cried unto heaven for vengeance upon the murderer; but the blood of Christ "speaketh better things than the blood of Abel," Hebrews xii. 24, being shed to procure pardon and peace for guilty man.

Abel fell by the unnatural hands of his brother, and that for righteousness' sake. Christ was betrayed by a favoured disciple, and crucified at the instigation of his brethren the Jews, though he was declared innocent by the governor who condemned him.

Here the parallel closes. But abundant matter of instruction may be gathered from the whole narrative. In particular, it teaches us to guard against envy and discontent, jealousy and hatred; passions which destroy those cords of humanity that unite us to our fellow-creatures, and those principles of religion which elevate the heart to God.

In Abel we perceive the beauty and excellence of true piety; it has crowned him with immortality and honour in Cain we see the deformity of sin; it has covered him with shame, and transmitted him to far distant posterity as an object of universal detes

ENOCH.

Translated in the Year of the World 988, aged 365.

IN the Sacred History there are many characters of whom, though they were the excellent of the earth, few memorials are recorded. While the narratives of some are drawn out at length, and even the actions of wicked men are delineated in pious and expressive language, the names of the most pious and extraordinary persons are passed over with some striking epithet, which leaves a pleasing regret in our minds that more is not said of them. They appear for a moment to excite our admiration, and are then removed, without having fully gratified our curiosity. The busiest life is not always the best; and that which is drawn out to the longest extent, or varied with the greatest number of incidents, is not the most to be envied. He who pursues the "noiseless tenour of his way," keeping closely in the path of duty, and living in communion with his GOD, is a far higher character than the bustling and illustrious man of the world.

The account given of the patriarch Enoch is short; but the character which he bears, and the circumstances recorded of him, render his name peculiarly venerable, and present him to our notice as a person of great importance.

He was born in the year of the world 623, and being cotemporary with Adam, he had every opportunity of learning from him the story of the creation, the circumstance of the fall, the terms of the promise, and other valuable truths.

Enoch profited by his intimacy with the father of the human race, and his mind became stored with wisdom. An ancient author affirms that he was the father of astrology, or rather of astronomy; and Eu.