death, I shall take up no time to refute the nonsense and absurdities of the schools. They have harped much on the marginal reading, dying thou shalt die, literally, moth tamuth, a death thou shalt die, and have strained every nerve to make out eternal death by it; but all to no purpose. Dr. Clarke paraphrases the words thus: "thou shalt continue in a dying state till thou die." "This," says he, "we find literally accomplished: every moment of his life, man may be considered as dying, till soul and body are separated." (i. e. till death.) Other meanings," continues he, have been given this passage, but they are in general either fanciful or incorrect."

But Adam transgressed the law which had been given him, notwithstanding the penalty or consequence annexed. And now comes his trial. God calls to him, in the cool of the day, hears the confession of his guilt, and his excuse for it. He examines the woman in like manner; and thereby traces the sin to its original source; which having done, pronounces a curse on the deceiver. Now hear the sentence pronounced upon the guilty pair. That of the woman I shall pass over, as no one will undertake to say there is any thing in it which has the appearance of a punishment in another state of existence. We come to the man: what does God say to him? how does he point out to him the consequence of his transgression? As much will depend on this sentence of the Almighty, I shall give it in full." And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it;" (here the law and the transgression are both explicitly stated. Now hear the sentence;)"cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it (how long?) all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, (how long?) till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for (to sum up the whole in one word) dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen. iii. 17, 18, 19.)

:

Now, kind reader, be candid. In all this sentence, does God give the least hint of any punishment after death? No! he does not! Neither is it possible to suppose that Adam, or any one else, should ever leave obtained this idea, either from the words of the law which had been given, or from the sentence here very explicitly stated, consequent upon transgression. Well, here is all the account we have of this transaction; which contains the law, the transgression, the trial, the confession of guilt, and the sentence pronounced, agreeably to law, by the author of the law HIMSELF, and upon those persons who first received it, and by whom it was first transgressed; and, of course, there could have been no mistake; but every thing must have been judicial and correct. If this sentence, therefore, do not contain a just and full explanation of the law which had been given, I ask, what does it contain? If God ever meant to inflict a punishment, of which this does not bear even a shadow of a shade in comparison, how can we account for his not giving the least intimation, no, not even the most distant hint, respecting it, to Adam?

Leaving this matter for the wiseacres (who are foolish enough to contend for such things) to settle among themselves, I pass to consider the next capital sin which stands on record.

Adam, being permitted to continue in life to propagate his species, (notwithstanding the tree of life is immediately withheld from him, for the want of which he must eventually die,) in process of time had two sons; each of whom brought an offering to the Lord. The offering of Abel was accepted, while that of Cain was rejected; in consequence of which, he was angry, and his countenance fell. Instead, however, of looking into his own heart, to find the cause of the nonacceptance of his offering, jealousy arose in his breast, and he looked with an envious eye on his brother: and it came to pass, that, while they were together in the field, "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." (Gen. iv. 8.) Here is a murder, and that of the most atrocious kind

a fratricide!-the murder of a brother!-and, as it were, in cool blood!-growing out of jealousy, as it seems, on account of religion! He had received no injury whatever from this brother, neither does it appear that his brother had despised him on account of the nonacceptance of his offering. What then was the matter? Answer: "The Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect." This dispute, therefore, seems to be a kind of religious dispute; and perhaps there was about as much religion in it, on the part of Cain, as there has been in all, or any, of the religious disputes since that period; i. e. where envy has been shown on the part of the disputants.

We will now attend to the trial and conviction of this murderer! "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?" Cain, like most criminals, denies the charge implied in these words, and said, "I know not:" and then asks this insidious question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" And the Lord said, "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." Cain now perceives his guilt detected. He stood before that tribunal where no witnesses were necessary; for God, who was his judge, needeth not that any should testify of man, for he knows what is in him. Here was a murder, the murderer, the law, the court, the trial, the conviction, and God himself the Judge! And if there ever were a case, which could demand the full and complete execution of the law, it seems, this is one. Now hear the sentence from the Judge of all the earth, who doeth right. "And now thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand." Here is the first curse ever pronounced on man! and what follows shows in what this curse consisted. "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." Now, my dear brethren, endeavour to be serious once more. Is there the least intimation

this, that a still more awful punishment awaited

Cain in another world? No, I am happy in being able to say, there is not!

Cain, however, thought this punishment was greater than he could bear; and he immediately feared for his life. Dr. Clarke, however, observes, that, "The original words, Gadal avoni mineso (here rendered, My punishment is greater than I can bear) may be translated,

my crime too great to be forgiven? Words (says he) which we may presume he uttered on the verge of black despair." (See his note on the place.) Cain apprehended that he should lose the protection of his Maker; "and from thy face shall I be hid-and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me." But the Lord, notwithstanding the sentence which he had pronounced upon him, gave him a token of his favour; and said, "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."

"Dr. Shuckford" (as quoted by Dr. Clarke) "observes that the Hebrew word oth, which we translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus, Gen. ix. 13. The bow was to be leoth, for a sign or token that the world should not be destroyed: therefore the words, And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, should be translated, And the Lord appointed to Cain a token or sign to convince him that no person should be permitted to slay him."

Does this look as though God was an enemy to Cain? and that he had yet in reserve, in his secret counsel, an awful punishment which awaited him, of which he had given him no intimation? If it does, I cannot see it. And yet, to suppose that this was the fact, and that, at the same time, Cain should have had no intimation of it, is to me unaccountable. But yet it is contended that God will finally punish all, except a few, unmercifully. O where is that adamantine heart, which can avoid bleeding with grief, when it looks into the doctrine of the schools of modern divinity? What a character is there given our heavenly Father! who is acknowledged by all,

(when creeds are out of the question,) to be the first, the greatest, and infinitely the best of all Beings! Should any one be disposed to speak thus evil of the man, who has been only an instrument in giving me an earthly existence, I would vindicate his character as long as blood should be permitted to flow in my veins: God forbid, then, that I should be silent, when the character of our Father who art in heaven is thus (that I need not say traduced, I will only say) misrepresented! I would not be understood, however, that I mean to use any weapons which are carnal: but those which are more mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strong holds. But, to proceed;

From this period, the world seems to have passed on upwards of two thousand years without affording any very memorable events, either for the philosopher or the historian, excepting, during this long period of prosperity, the world had become very wicked. " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. vi. 5.) This passage has often been brought to prove the total depravity of man; and that he is now, by nature, a fallen creature. But, admitting this to be a true representation of that particular race, or generation, (though of this there may be some doubts, as this passage was only designed to give their general character, which will always admit of some laudable exceptions,) yet this is no evidence that the generations which had existed before them were of this character, or that this has ever been the character of the world, even generally speaking, since. But that this was the character of that wicked race, we admit. "And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth!" But does he speak of any further punishment which they should endure, or be liable to endure, after they were thus destroyed from the face of the earth? No-not a syllable of all this! Why then is it supposed that God meant any such thing? I have noticed every passage as I have proceeded which indicates in the least degree the judgment, wrath, or ven