take what we are told we may not have. Our parents and friends know what is best for us, and it is very wrong to complain because they deny us any thing, or to take it without their leave. If we do this, we shall certainly suffer for it, as Adam and Eve did.

CAIN AND ABEL.

(Gen. iv. 1-16.)

ADAM and Eve had two sons, called Cain and Abel. Cain was a tiller of the ground, and Abel was a keeper of sheep.

These two young men brought, each of them, an offering to God; Cain brought some of the fruits of the earth, and Abel brought the first-born of his flock. And God was pleased with the offering of Abel, because he was a good man, and offered it with a proper spirit; but he

was not pleased with the offering of Cain, because he was not a good man.

This made Cain very angry; and one day, when he was in the fields with his brother Abel, he rose up against him and slew him. And God said to Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?" And he said, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" And God said, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground." God also told him, that for this great sin which he had committed, the ground should not yield him its full increase, and that he should be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. So Cain went away, and dwelt in the land of Nod.

It is very wrong that brothers should be angry with one another. We ought to be kind and gentle to all about us, and especially to our brothers and sisters. We should to do what we can to serve them, and be glad when they are good

and happy. But if we are unkind to them, and do them harm, God will be displeased with us, and cause evil to come upon us, as he did upon the wicked Cain, who slew his brother.

This story also shews us how one fault leads to another. When Cain had killed his brother, he told a lie to hide it. He pretended that he did not know where Abel was. But God knew it, for he had seen all that this wicked man did. In like manner God sees us. If, therefore, we have at any time been tempted to do wrong, let us not make the case worse by denying it; and let us not commit even one sin, lest we should be led on to commit more.

NOAH AND THE FLOOD.

(Gen. vi. vii. viii. ix.)

When there began to be a great number of men in the world, they were so

exceedingly wicked, that God determined to destroy them. But there was one man, of the name of Noah, who was just and upright; and he found favour in the sight of his Creator. In order that he and his family might be saved, and that there might be people to live in the world again, God commanded him to build an ark, or great ship, and to go into it himself, and to take with him his wife, and his three sons, and their wives, and some of every kind of land animals, both birds, and beasts, and creeping things.

So Noah did as God had commanded him; he built an ark, and went into it himself, and took with him his family, and some of every kind of land animals. And when they were all shut up in this ark, God brought a great flood upon the earth, and it rained for forty days and forty nights without ceasing, so that all the wicked people who remained on the earth were destroyed, and all the birds, and beasts, and creeping things.

But Noah and the creatures which were with him in the ark were saved, for the ark sailed on the top of the water. And when the rain had ceased, and the waters were dried up off the earth, they all came out of the ark; and Noah thanked God because he had saved him, and God promised that he would never destroy mankind by a flood again.

We learn from this story, how dreadful a thing it is to sin against God. The people of the earth were destroyed because they were very wicked; and we may be sure that, if we are wicked, we shall be brought to misery, either in this world or in the next. But, if we are just and good, like Noah, our Heavenly Father will love us, and make us happy, and will save us from many troubles which befal the wicked. Let us try, then, to please God, and to do all that he has commanded us to do.