cultivated brought forth fruit in abundance, he formed an altar, and made thereon an offering unto the Lord.

At the same time Abel brought an offering of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fattest thereof, as a sacrifice of atonement; " and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect.'

The reason of this difference is thus accounted for by St. Paul: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." Hebrews xi. 4. He came before God with a heart filled with the love of him, and fully relying on his grace and goodness; for "he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Abel not only believed in the existence and power of God, but in his holiness, justice, and mercy. This made Abel humble in his own eyes, conscious of being, as a sinner, unworthy to approach the Divine presence. He made his offering therefore, with a penitent heart, supplicating pardon and acceptance. His motives were discerned by the searcher of hearts; and the heavenly flame descending upon the altar, consumed the offered victim, as a manifest token that the worshipper was accounted "righteous before the Lord."

The offering of Cain remained where he had placed it; because it was not accompanied by the heart of the worshipper. He came merely because it was customary to come; and he laid the fruits of the earth upon the altar, as if he was bestowing a favour rather than soliciting grace. No sense of religious duty animated his mind. He had no idea of being a sinner, nor any apprehension of the Divine justice exercising itself against disobedience. At the time when he "built an altar unto the Lord," his heart was a prey to discontent, envy, and hatred; therefore his offering, instead of obtaining divine favour, was rejected as a profanation.

Cain saw his brother's victim flaming at a distance, and the grateful cloud ascending towards heaven, while his own laboured pile, and the offerings upon it, were cast off as a proof of the Divine displeasure. This, instead of humbling his mind, and bringing it to repentance, filled it with bitterness, and excited him to rage and revenge.

Instead of justifying the righteous and holy GOD, by calling his sin to remembrance, and examining his heart and conduct, he became furious and full of anger. "His countenance fell, and he was very

wroth." Genesis iv. 5.

Wretched mortal, he had the temerity even to be angry with Heaven, and to entertain a resentful enmity against the order and goodness of Providence!

The Almighty condescended to reason thus with 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 thy door;" that is, it remaineth as thy own fault to condemn thee. A fair choice was here set before Cain, and it lay with him to follow the right or the wrong.

The Almighty has placed no man under a necessity of sinning, nor will he condemn any one for involuntary errors. But if, after a fair warning, and obtaining a knowledge of his duty, man will continue to disobey the laws of God, he has no right to com plain if he is rejected and punished by him.

The ways of the Lord are all right, and conscience never fails to give them her sanction when her voice is attended to; and attended to it must be, either now in producing genuine repentance, or hereafter to goad us with remorse and anguish.

The Almighty, to remove all excuse from Cain, and to give him every opportunity of amendment and acceptance, promised, upon his making a right choice, that he should hold the pre-eminence over his brother.

This right of primogeniture was considered as in

valuable in the early ages, and included a degree of sovereignty. What could Cain desire more? The GOD of heaven deigned to explain to him the path of duty, to reason with him upon his doubts, to make him a promise of his favour upon the fairest conditions, and to add another promise calculated to calm his passions, and disperse his fears.

How full of compassion and long-suffering is the Lord, and how fitly is he styled the "GoD of love," not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance! He casts off no sinner, till the sinner first casts off his allegiance to GoD, and hardens his heart against every admonition.

Cain, notwithstanding this solemn warning and merciful declaration, still continued to harbour the most deadly malignity in his heart. His innocent brother remained the object of his hatred; and why? because he had been more favoured by his parents than Cair., or that Abel had assumed any authority over him? No; Cain hated Abel, "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." And this hath always been the case, and ever will be so with the wicked; for darkness is not more opposite to light than evil is to goodness, and they who love the one cannot possibly endure the other.

There are some animals which, on the appearance of dawn, retire into dark coverts; where they remain till the curtain of night again envelopes the world, when they issue forth in search of prey. In them we have an emblem of the wicked, who naturally hate the light of truth, and those who walk in righteousness.

The lustre of genuine piety only serves to make vice and irreligion appear more deformed and odious. The wicked man, therefore, being conscious that his own character and principles will not stand in the comparison, has a rooted enmity against those who are called in Scripture, "the children of the light and of the day."

In Abel we behold the mild, open, and unsuspect

ing man of religion; in his brother the malicious, dark, and treacherous emissary of the wicked-one, who is described as constantly "going about, seeking whom he may devour."

"Righteous Abel," as he is styled by the blessed Redeemer, conscious of his own integrity, and entertaining no jealousy or resentment in his own mind, freely entered into conversation with Cain his brother, who, in the midst of the discourse rose up suddenly and murdered him.

This crime, which is the highest in the scale of guilt, stands aggravated in the present instance to an unparalleled degree by the circumstances attending it. An elder brother is the natural protector of the younger part of the family; but Cain breaks the tenderest of social ties and obligations without any provocation. He had been cautioned by a voice from heaven against the indulgence of that envious spirit which is the source of every evil. Notwithstanding this, he took his brother aside into a lonely place, and discoursed with him apparently in friendship, for the express purpose of assassinating him-and, for what, merely because Abel was a "righteous man," or one who made conscience his rule in all things.

Thus the first man on whom the sentence of death was fulfilled became a martyr for his religion. Cain, without remorse, and evidently from premeditated design, poured out the blood of his brother as a sacrifice to the father of evil, to whose guidance he had submitted himself.

Abel offered up his life passively as an innocent sacrifice for the truth; and his blood cried to heaven from the ground. Nor was the voice unheard. Though no human being beheld the atrocious murder, the eye of Omniscience marked every part of the bloody scene.

Cain, perhaps, took some pains, after he had effected his sanguinary purpose, to conceal the body from the searching eye of man; but could he hide his guilt from God? No; judgment soon overtook him,

and a voice from heaven thus addressed him: "Where is Abel thy brother?" The question, it might be supposed, would have pierced the inmost soul of the culprit, and excite a horrible dread of punishment at least, though not a remorse of conscience. But neither was the case. Cain's heart was as hard as adamant. He had the insolence to utter this falsehood in the face of God himself: “I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" This reply shows that his conscience was "seared as with a hot iron," and was become callous to every sense of

shame.

He had no concern for the heinous crime of which he had been guilty. He felt no compunction for having robbed his parents of their comfort. He lamented not his own ungovernable temper. He repented not his having called down the vengeance of an offended GOD upon his head. His whole behaviour exhibits a man lost to humanity and religion. After a gentle examination, which proved fruitless, the Almighty proceeded to accuse and to punish the unnatural criminal. 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 on the earth."

Nature is here represented as setting her face against one who has violated the tenderest of social ties. The earth hardens her bosom against the wretch, who could so far conquer every fraternal feeling as to shed the blood of his unoffending brother. The ground receives another curse on account of Cain's transgression; and thus moral evil continues to multiply natural evil.

The earth becomes more inflexible to the labour of man, but particularly so to the murderer. He may labour, but it shall be in vain: he may sow, but he