ARGUMENT ΤΟ BOOK III. Happiness of the Pious-Exclamation of Cain-Reply of Mehala-Reflections on Life-Contest between a Lion and Tigress-Danger of Cain-His Soliloquy-Situation of Adam and Eve-Their Family-They soothe the Sorrows of Thirza-They go in quest of Cain-Birth of Seth-Increase of the Family of Cain-His Contrition. BOOK III. HAPPY are those who early seek the altar of devotion, whereby they ensure unto themselves the favour and guidance of the Most High; for unto those that are thus endowed with true wisdom, will the great and glorious works of the Omnipotent be revealed; and he shall thereby flourish in the land as a willowtree adjacent to the stream: his words shall clothe him with true regard from angels and men, and in the end of his days shall he rejoice in the arm of the Almighty, for in him is his strength and his refuge. Nor shall he be forsaken in the hour of dissolution, for his hope is on high, and lives beyond the dark mansions of the grave; and in faith of such assurance and true belief, he lays him down in peace, and smiles at the slumber of death; Cain and Mehala's Joy for he hath lived in charity, and dies in such love, so that he cannot feel the sting of death; nor is the grave a victor over him, for he soweth in corruption, with a certainty to reap incorruptible fruit in that day when the world shall be judged in righteousness. As the hart is refreshed by the cooling reservoir in the shaded banks of the slow-moving level of a deep cut rill, whose source is little more than continued drops, yet by a passage through the plain, fills the hollow up to its level; when she retires from the sun-burnt cliff to evade the darting rays of mid-day sun, or the hard breathing toil of fleeting from the relentless hunter's eager chase, when the flood alone can save her from instantaneous death, and gives the wearied animal new vigour to elude the dangers that portend; so were the joys of Cain and his spouse, when from the hand of Heaven a female was added to their family. Herein, said Cain, shall my name be perpetuated; for, until this time did I doubt the goodness of Heaven, and held suspicions that my name would be blotted out from on the Birth of a Daughter. amongst those who should replenish and multiply the sons of men. Mehala far exceeded her husband in devout praises unto the Lord, and in her enraptured ecstasy fainted away. The unexpected sight allayed the exulting joys of Cain, and instantly he sunk into extreme sadness:-"Alas!" he cried, "am I such an unfortunate wretch as to be the sport of time, and the partaker of the bitterness of many deaths!-Oh, whence had I this torment! I have been from my early days, until now, a mourner and a man of sorrows.. In vain do I seek repose, for sin and death are constantly at my door; my deserts are such, I shall not be freed from continual tribulations, for in error is my understanding bewildered, and from evil I cannot separate the imaginations of my heart. O wretched man, thy blessing seems to forerun thy curse!-Ha is she still alive -my dear Mehala !" He then embraced her in his arms, and ad |