But this great gift was not given yet to Adam. The blessing that every little Christian child now has and learns about as soon as it can speak, was not given to our Father Adam. He had to wait and bear the punishment of his sin. As the Bible tells us, he and those who followed" inquired and searched diligently after this salvation ;" and for a long while they waited, and "died in faith," believing that though not yet awhile, the promises of GoD would be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Adam and Eve had fallen; and for them the garden of Eden was henceforth shut up for ever.

ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL.

How terrible the change to Adam and Eve after that one little act, (as they thought it) of eating the forbidden fruit! We can imagine how Adam's heart must have been well-nigh broken when he thought on what he had lost, and how he had displeased that good Loving GOD Who had treated him as His own son, and given him every possible happiness and enjoyment. Adam had loved GOD very deeply,

and had known how well GOD loved him, and now the thought of his own ingratitude and sin must have pierced through his heart.

GOD drove him out of the beautiful garden of Eden, and how sorrowfully must he have gone forth,-not daring to complain, for he had brought it upon himself-not daring to hope for any more love and mercy after such disobedience, not knowing where to turn for any rest or comfort or peace again for ever! If he had ever dared to hope that he might enter Eden again, that hope must have left him for ever when he saw Cherubims, angels placed to keep the entrance of the holy garden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, guarding it. Yet GOD was so full of love and pity even then to His sinful children, that perhaps the promise that some should be "saved so as by fire," might have been permitted to soothe Adam's trouble; and every time he looked upon the flames and upon the severe holy angels who kept the way of the tree of life, he must surely have wondered and praised God's mercy that he had not been consumed wholly by that fire, but rather left to repentance and obedience.

Surely Adam's love for God must now have

been even greater than it had been before his fall; since "to whom much is forgiven, he loveth much." He thought in the garden of Eden that he knew God; but how much more did he now know of God's greatness, His awfulness, His severity; and yet with all that, of His intense love and mercy, His boundless forgiveness, His tender compassion? Surely GOD's new creation of Adam's repentance, and His own consequent mercy was not less great and wonderful than the first creation.

It was no short repentance. Nine hundred and thirty years Adam lived a penitent on that earth which GOD had cursed for his sake and given him to toil in. There was no rest, no self-indulgence. GOD clothed Adam and Eve with skins of beasts, for now they were liable to feel all the discomforts of cold and heat; and He gave His Blessing on the ground they worked in, that it might bear something better than thorns and thistles; but they had to labour daily in toil and weariness, not daring to ask God to lighten their load, because they knew they deserved even more.

CAIN AND ABEL.

PERHAPS the first real comfort that came to Eve in her changed state, was the birth of her eldest child,-whom she called Cain, which means something acquired or gained. Soon after she and Adam had another son, Abel,and these two children they brought up, to labour as they did on the earth. Cain worked at cultivating the land, and Abel was a shepherd and kept the sheep.

Not men only, but all living animals had shared in the consequences of Adam's sin which brought death into the world; they now were killed for different uses, among others to be offered as a sacrifice to GOD. This killing and offering up of animals in sacrifice was a type, (that is, showing forth,) of the Great Sacrifice that was to be made one day, of CHRIST Himself. Meanwhile men were to offer to GOD of whatever they had, and so Cain brought an offering of the fruits he had cultivated, and Abel also brought some of the best of his flock.

Now with these offerings, like everything else we do for GOD, the intention of a man's

heart was the chief thing. If we say our prayers, or read the Bible, or go to Church, or give alms to the poor, or do any other good works without having God's Glory as the one object for them all, or without seeking to do His Will wholly, they are worth nothing. Two people may go to Church, and sit side by side, and join in the same prayers; and yet if one is conscious of God's Presence, and striving to speak to Him, and seek His Blessing; while the other is not trying really to pray, and thinking about all manner of worldly things; they will surely be very different in the Sight of God. He will be pleased with the one, and not with the other, so it was with Adam's two sons. We are not told what was the great fault of Cain's character, but probably it was the mortal sin of anger and envy. He seems to have been an irritable, hot tempered, jealous person; and perhaps when he brought this offering to God, instead of thinking of serving Him, Cain's heart was full of a wish to be before his brother Abel, of jealousy and envy. So GOD was not pleased with Cain's offering, while He graciously accepted Abel's. If Cain had not allowed his evil temper to get the better of him, he would have set himself to

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