What a series of reflections rush into our minds as we contemplate this awful fact! Perhaps death had never before entered our world; and how affecting the thought, that the first departure of a human being from our earth was occasioned by a murder, and that murder the result of eminent piety in the person of its subject! What must have been the feelings of our first parents, as they looked upon the remains of their beloved son! Well might they call him Abel, and mourn; well might they say that “ man, at his best estate, is vanity."

On the supposition that Abel was the first who entered the realms of felicity from our world, we cannot but imagine that feelings of delight would fill the breasts of each of the angels on his account; while they would, if indeed it were possible, feel a momentary horror at the means by which he was dismissed from earth. But his sufferings are now over, and he shall for ever enjoy an infinite reward for his attachment to the service of God; angels hail him as delivered from the sufferings and persecutions of a sinful world, and as being their companion for ever; and JESUS must view him with holy delight, as being the first fruits of that harvest of immortal souls given him as the reward of the sufferings he had engaged to endure.

But what are the feelings of the wicked fratricide? Who can describe the agonies of his conscience, or represent the horrors of which he is the subject? The scene is viewed with an awful interest by the Supreme Governor of the Universe; and it is not long before he calls the sinner to account for his crimes. Cain acts the hypocrite even before his MAKER, denies a knowledge of Abel, and impudently asks-"Am I my brother's keeper ?" We are shocked at such conduct on his part; but do we never exemplify his spirit? Do we never profess that before God which we never felt? Do not we willingly remain ignorant of misery which we could readily relieve? Do not we sometimes cherish the spirit of Cain toward perishing sinners, and make but little exertion for their salvation? And will not GOD surely visit us for these things?

The despair of Cain, when he was sentenced by JEHOVAH as accursed, and to be a vagabond in the earth, was indescribably awful. The Supreme Governor, by some mark, distinguished him from all other men, and threatened the most tremendous punishment to him who should take away his life. Thus did he long continue him in the world, showing men the dreadful consequences of transgression, by his suffering the vengeance of divine wrath. What distinguishing mark he bore, we cannot say; perhaps it was, as Saurin suggests, a garment different from those worn by others; possibly it was some mark on his forehead, as some have thought; or might it not have been the agony of despair depicted in his countenance? His feelings must be most acutely harassed, or he would not have exclaimed, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!"

The question has been asked, "Who could take vengeance on Cain for the death of Abel, when we read not of his having any

other relatives, his father and mother excepted?" A moment's consideration must convince the inquirer, that, though Moses has not mentioned the fact, there must have been many inhabitants on the globe beside them. A very learned writer, referred to by Saurin, supposes the melancholy event to have occurred in the year of the world 128; and shows, that by that time, there might have been descended from our first parents not less than 421,164 persons. Among such a number Cain might well imagine there were many who would be disposed to revenge the death of such a man as "righteous Abel."

We will not attempt to describe the misery which Cain felt through the remaining part of his life. He travelled from place to place; then attempted to drive the load from his mind by engaging in the building of a city, and employing himself in business: but all was in vain. He endured a life of misery, and is exhibited as an object of infamy to the end of time.

"His life is an oppressive load,

That hangs upon him like a curse;

For all the pleasure-thoughts that glowed,
And now extinguished by remorse !

And death! oh, death! 't is worse! 't is worse!
How dreadful in the grave to lie,

Yet sleep not!-evermore to nurse

The worm that will not, cannot die !"

Let it ever be the concern of each of my readers anxiously to guard against those risings of anger which are displeasing to GOD, and which lay the foundation of unhappiness to ourselves and others; let us learn the impossibility of concealing sin from the eye of Omniscience; and may the consideration that all our actions and thoughts are open to his view, preserve us from transgressing his law;-let us reflect on Abel as a type of the holy JESUS, who manifested the spirit of love and of meekness when murdered by his enemies ;-let us see that sin will be followed by the reproaches of conscience, the faithful witness for God in every human breast; and may we ever recollect that JEHOVAH will avenge himself on every transgressor. The day of punishment may be long deferred, but a period will come when we shall receive the reward of our doings before an assembled universe. The last great day will bring to light many transactions that have been hitherto concealed from human view, but which the JUDGE of all will fully disclose. "For there is nothing hid that shall not then be revealed."

ANCIENTLY it was customary to wash the feet of strangers coming off a journey, because generally they travelled barefoot, or wore sandals only, which did not secure them from dust or dirt. JESUS CHRIST washed the feet of his apostles, and thus taught them to perform the humblest service for one another.

MOUNT ARARAT.

THE name of Ararat occurs only twice in the Old Testament, Gen. viii. 4, and Jer. li. 27, and in both places denotes a country, being one of the fifteen provinces of Armenia.

The ark of Noah, when the flood subsided, is said to have rested on the mountains of Ararat," and that name has been given by the moderns to the principal mountain in the district, as being probably that on which the ark rested.

The Rev. Eli Smith gives the following lively account of this celebrated spot :—

"We passed very near the base of that noble mountain, which is called by the Armenians Masis, and by Europeans generally Ararat; and for more than twenty days had it constantly in sight, except when obscured by clouds. It consists of two peaks, one considerably higher than the other, and is connected with a chain of mountains running off to the southwest and west which, though high, are not of a sufficient elevation to detract at all from the lonely dignity of this stupendous mass. From Nackhchewan, at the distance of at least a hundred miles to the southeast it appeared like an immense isolated cone, of extreme regularity, rising out of the valley of the Araxes. Its height is said to be 16,000 feet, but I do not know by whom the measurement was taken.

"The eternal snows upon its summit occasionally form vast avalanches, which precipitate themselves down its sides, with a sound not unlike that of an earthquake. When we saw it, it was white on its very base with snow. And certainly not among the mountains of Ararat or of Armenia generally, nor those of any part of the world where I have been, have I ever seen one whose majesty could plead half so powerfully its claims to the honor of having once been the stepping-stone between the old world and the new. I gave myself up to the feeling, that on its summit were once congregated all the inhabitants of the earth; and that, while in the valley of the Araxes, I was paying a visit to the second cradle of the human race. Nor can I allow my opinion to be at all shaken by the Chaldee paraphrasts, the Syrian translators and commentators, and the traditions of the whole family of Syrian churches, which translate the passage in question-mountains of the Kurds. The Septuagint and Josephus, who support the Hebrew original, certainly speak the language of a tradition quite as ancient. Not to urge the name of places around Mount Masis in favor of its claims, as I think in the case of Nackhchewan might be done with some force, there is one passage of Scripture of some importance, which I do not recollect to have ever seen applied to, elucidate this subject. In Gen. xi. 2, where the movements of the descendants of Noah are first alluded to, it is said, that they journeyed from the east, and came into the land of Shinar. Now, had the ark rested upon the mountains of Kurdistan, they would naturally have issued at once into Mesopotamia, and have made their

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