We are not told what became of Abel's body. Yet the first human death necessitated the discovery of some mode for the disposal of the corpse. This must have been a serious difficulty. No animals bury their dead; one species eats up the dead of another. But this mode of disposing of the dead revolts the feelings of an intelligent being. The mere idea of this must have been most shocking to the persons who stood before the first human corpse. It seems to us, that the first and most natural impulse must have been to protect the corpse from that common lot, by concealing it from the beasts of prey. Or if this did not in the first instance occur, the progress of decomposition would soon awaken the other natural desire of placing the remains of the dead out of sight. This might be done, either by depositing the body in a cavern and closing up the entrance; by heaping stones or earth over the body; or by digging a grave in which it might be laid. All these are natural suggestions, in which different forms of sepulture have originated; and it is hard to say which was most probably followed. It may further be asked, Was the body buried by the murderer or by the parents? Poets, who delight in picturing human emotion of the deepest class, adopt the notion that the body was found by the father, and laid by him in the grave. Oriental tradition takes another view. It states that Satan, having tempted Cain to slay his brother, changed himself into a raven, and having slain another raven, dug a hole in the earth with his bill, and laying the dead one into it, covered it with the earth he had dug up. Cain did the same with his brother. As for Adam, he long remained in ignorance of what had become of his beloved son; but one day his ploughshare struck against an obstruction in the field, and opening the ground, he discovered the still distinguishable remains of his lost Abel. It is beautifully added, that 'it was not until he thus fully learned what had befallen Abel, that he resigned himself to the will of God, and was comforted.' This, the current Moslem tradition, is founded on a Jewish one, which states that 'Cain was not aware of the Lord's knowledge of hidden things; he therefore buried Abel, and met the inquiry, "Where is Abel thy brother?" by

the bold question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" It certainly does seem to us, that both the inquiry and the answer become more emphatic on the supposition that Cain had actually concealed the body of his murdered brother.

There is, however, another Hebrew legend,--not without beauty, which agrees better with the poets, and in which the Moslem raven appears: The dog which had watched Abel's flocks, guarded also his corpse, protecting it against beasts and birds of prey. Adam and Eve sat beside it, and wept, not knowing what to do. But a raven, whose friend had died, said, I will go and teach Adam what he must do with his son! It dug a grave, and laid the dead raven in it. When Adam saw this, he said to Eve, Let us do the same with our child! The Lord rewarded the raven, and no one is therefore allowed to harm their young; they have food in abundance, and their cry for rain is always heard.'

Fourth Week-First Day.

THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.-GENESIS IV. 10-16.

ACCORDING to the Scripture record, Cain, judged of God for his awful crime, is banished, and wanders forth into the country eastward of the land of Eden, in which it thus appears that the primeval family had hitherto sojourned. There is something more in this than meets the ear. Was this banishment after all a heavy punishment? Cain thought so, and he could well judge. The land of Eden was not the garden of Eden, and though probably a fertile spot, there were doubtless other spots on earth as fair as that. He was banished from what had been till now his home; and we may admit, that this was a greater punishment to the first-born man, than it has been to any since. Of the world that lay beyond that central spot, he had no knowledge. There are but small portions of the earth with the condition of which we are unacquainted. The experience of innumerable travellers by land and sea is in our hands, to tell us what we may expect in any region to which we may go. But none had brought to the family in the land of Eden the good or evil report of the world beyond; and, as the unknown is generally terrible, Cain may have conceived the outer world to be little better than a desolate waste.

But there was something more than this that made Cain feel his punishment to be greater than he could bear. He knew what that was, and he himself states it: "From thy face I shall be hid.' It does not seem to us that this refers to the internal consciousness of God's favour and protection, which he now felt that he should no longer possess. Cain could not be so ignorant as not to know that this did not depend upon place, for it was within himself. He might have lacked this as

much in staying as in going; and yet he speaks of it as that of which his departure would deprive him. We can only understand that he refers to some sensible and local manifestation of God's presence, by which that spot was glorified, and from which distance would remove him. Having reached thus far, we are at no loss to find this manifestation in the sword-like flame, between the cherubim that kept the way of the tree of life. This we know was at the east end of the garden of Eden, and the garden itself was in the eastern part of the land of Eden. If, therefore, the first family remained in presence of the splendour and of the cherubim, they were on the east side of Eden, and one going directly therefrom would proceed eastward. And a corroboration of this view is afforded by the fact, that Cain is described as proceeding eastward when he ' went out from the presence of the Lord.' Genesis iv. 16.

When it is borne in mind that the Mosaic law was to a great extent a renewal of ancient patriarchal usages which had in the course of time become corrupted or obscured, we derive a strong confirmation of this view from the fact, that under that law the presence of God was manifested among his people in the supernatural radiance, or Shekinah, which rested over the ark, between the cherubim ; and as, in the land of Eden, we in like manner find the radiance and the cherubim, it is quite natural and allowable to suppose, that these objects occupied relatively the same position in the one sacred dispensation as in the other. This was, then, we may infer, the symbol of the 'presence of the Lord' from which Cain went forth; and from it probably issued the voice which then pronounced his doom, and which had before graciously reasoned with him. In this Presence worship was rendered, and sacrifices were offered; and from it the signs of the Divine complacency or displeasure were afforded. That Cain regretted the withdrawment of any spiritual privileges in being cast forth from the presence of the Lord, looking to his character, may be doubted. But having grown up before it, he had no idea of life apart from it, and he probably regarded it as essential to his safety and temporal well-being. His mind was gross; and it may

be questioned whether he could realize the idea of a spiritual presence apart from the symbol. This is indicated in his attempt to conceal his crime from God, when asked what had become of his brother; and it has more than once occurred to us, that this fact is explained and illustrated by the supposition, that the murder was perpetrated in some spot where intervening objects-rocks or trees-hid the radiance from his view; and to which, therefore, he ventured to imagine that the Divine cognizance, embodied in that radiance, could not extend.

What state of mind Cain carried with him into his banishment, is not recorded in the sacred narrative, and cannot with certainty be known. That he repented of the murder of his brother, that a horror-stricken conscience attended him all his life long,-that

'He found, where'er he roamed, uncheered, unblest,

No pause from suffering, and from toil no rest,'

is probable, and may indeed be regarded as part of the doom denounced against him. But that he truly repented,-that there was any vital change in that evil of the heart which led to his sin, and entailed this punishment, there is no evidence to show. Indeed, the evidence inclines the other way; for, if he had clearly seen, and thenceforth eschewed, the evil which had slain his peace, he could not but have brought up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But instead of that, we find his descendants busy for the present life, its schemes and interests,-strong in arts and arms,-but also 'inventors of evil things,' filling the earth with violence, and urging on that deepening stream of corruption which eventually drowned the world.

Yet let us not ascribe all the evil of the old world to the race of Cain, nor cast any needless stigma upon the great fathers of useful arts who are named as of his race. It was not until the times just before the flood that the corruption became universal; and then it was not confined to the seed of Cain, but extended to all but one small family of the race of the righteous Seth, not to speak of the descendants, probably