modern writers o.<lmit the great antiquity of man, most of them maintnin the very recent development of his intellect, and will hardly contemplate the pos,ibilit,y of men equal in mento.1 capacity to ourselves having existed in prehistoric (?) times'' (Wo.llace, Brit, Assoc. Address, 1876). For prehistoric write antediluvian, nnd the sentiment is exactly true, The circumstance that we have no remains of antediluvian civilisation is no sufficient evidence that such did not exist. Speaking of certain earthworks of g_reat antiquity that have been discovered in the Mississippi valley,- cnmps, or works of defence, sacred enclosures, with their connected groups of circle~, octagons, squares, ellipses, polished and ornamented pottery, &c.,-the same distin- guished writer says," The important thing for us is, that when North America was first settled by Europeans, the Indian tribes.inhabiting it had no kno·.vledge or tradition of ai:iy races preceding themselves of higher civilisation. Yet we fmd that such races existed ; that they must have been populous, and have lived under some established government; while there are signs that they practised agriculture greatly, as indeed they must have done to have supported a population capable of executing euch gigantic works in such ,ast profusion." The exhumation by Dr. Schliemann on the plains of Troy of three successive civilisations, of which two were not known to have previously existed, and the third (the Ilium of Homer) had been almost regarded by archreologists as fabulous, is conclusive demonstration that the absence of all traces of primeval civilisation is no more a proof that such civilisation did not exist., than is the absence of all traces of the third day's vegetation a proof that it did not exist. The passage under c.onsideration unmistakably reveals that the human intellect in those early times was not asleep. Within the compass of ten verses we read of the building of cities, of the laying out of farms und the acquisition of property, of the beginning of the mechanical arts and the manu- facture of metallic weapons, of the rise of music and the cultivation of poetry. It may strike one as peculiar that this great intellectual development is represenlc,l as taking place exclusively in the line of Cain. From this some have inferred that the Bible means to throw disparagement upon human industry, commercial Rnd agricultural enterprise, and all kinds of mechanical and inventive genius, and even sanctions the idea that religion is incompatible with business talent, poetical genius, and intellectual greatness. There is, however, no reason to suppose that this advancement in intelligence was confined to the Cainitic branch of the Adamic race. The prophecy of Enoch (vide Expos.) and the incidental allusion to metallic weapons in the name of Methuselah (man of the dart) suggest that the Sethitic line kept pace with their ungodly contemporaries in the onward march of civilisation, though that was not their chief distinction. Let us leam-1. That there is no essential antagonism between intelligence and piety. 2. That in God's estimation righteousness is of much higher value than material prosperity. 3. That where, as in the Cainitic line, there is no true godliness there is apt to be too intense devotion to culture or business. III. ITS DECLENSION IN WICKEDNESS. 1. ,ve can trace it in their names. Enoch, lrad, :Mehujael, Lamech being suggestive of qualities, principles, characteristics euch ns are approved by the spirit of worldliness ; and Adah and Zill ah ( uide Expos.) being indicative of sensual attractions. 2. Their works proclaim it. It would be wrong to say that cities are necessarily evil things. On the contrary, they are magnificent monuments of man's constructive genius, and immensely productive of man's comfort, A city too is a type of heaven's gathering of redeemed hum::rnity. Still it cannot be doubted that the need for cities was a proof of sin, as the building of the first city was an act of sin. The acquisition of property, and the uprise of such ideas as the rights of property, are likewise indications of a state of life that is not purely innocent (cf. Acts iv. 32). A.nd though certainly it cannot be sinful either to mnke or to handle a. harp, or to cultivate poetry, yet when we put all these things together-beautiful wi,es, iron weapons, musical instmments, and warlike ballads, if not bncchanalian songs-it is not difficult to perceive a deepening of that devotion to the things of this life which invariably proclaims 11 departuro from the life of God. 3. Their immoral lives attest it. A growing disregard for the marriage lnw is evinced by the polygamy of Lamech ; in the manufacture and use of offensive weapons we see the rising of n turbulent nnd lawless spirit; and these THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [ctt. IV. 17-26,
two thing~, licentiousness and lawlessness, ahvays mark tho uownward progress of ab age or reople. IV. TS PROGRESS IN RE!:IGION; at least in a section of its population, the godly line of Seth, in whom the piety of Abel was revived. Yet the narrative would seem to ind_icate that even ~hey were I!ot entirely free from the prevailing wickedness of the times. In the third generation the pressure of the worldly spirit upon the com- pany of the faithful was so great that they felt obliged, as it were, in self-defence, to buttress their piety by a double wall of protection ; viz., separcuwn from tliei,• ungodly associates in tlu! world by the formation of a distinct religious community, and by tM institutwn ofst,atedsoci,al worship (eh. iv. 26). And without these declen- 1,ion in trne religion is as certain as with them advancement is secure. They are the New Testament rules for the cultivation of piety (2 Cor. vi. 14-18; Ephes. iv. 11-13; Heh. x. 25). Lessons :-I. The downward progress of sin. 2. The danger of intellect and <'i,·i!isation when divorced from piety. 3. The only right use of earth and earthly 1 li i:igs is to make all subservient to the life of grace. 4. The danger of conformity to the world. 5. The only safety for the people of God, and especially in these times of great intellectual activity and mechanical and scientific skill, is to make deep and wide the line of distinction between them and the world, and steadfastly to maintain the public as well as private ordins.nces of religion.