proposals of marriage to the noble-minded princess who had composed the verses which had excited in him the ardour to undertake and accomplish all that which they had suggested. Accompanied by her musician Craftine, who had become his chief favourite, he repaired to Munster, attended by a princely retinue, and was most graciously received by the king of that province, and also by his fair daughter. Soon afterwards the marriage was solemnized, and the king of Ireland was happy in sharing his crown with a princess so truly worthy of it. Another romantic legend is given of this prince, which I shall omit. It is evidently taken from ancient mythology. I AM accused of rejecting the holy doctors of the ohurch. I reject them not, but since those doctors all labour to prove what they write by the Holy Scriptures, it follows that the Scriptures must be clearer and more conclusive than their writings. Who would ever think of proving what is in itself obscure by the help of something obscurer still? Necessity therefore obliges us to have recourse to the bible, as all the doctors have done, and to test their writings by it-for the bible is our only rule and standard.— Luther. NOTES ON GENESIS. CHAPTER IV. 4. THE offering of Abel was made in faith, or with a believing view to the promise. Heb. xi. 4. How he came to choose that kind of offering which was afterwards appointed as a type of the Lamb of God, we are not informed. Perhaps it may have been through the same influence of the Spirit which directs prophecy. 6, 7. I have heard that "sin lieth at the door" would be more correctly translated by" sin-offering," &c. In the latter part of the passage, the pronoun "his" I take to refer to his brother; and the phrase "unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him,” appears, by the use made of it, ii. 16, to signify he will yield or submit to thee. The two verses taken together may, I think, be paraphrased in something of the following manner. 'Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, if thou art guided by my Spirit, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou art conscious that sin has found its way into thy bosom, is not my promised salvation from it as open to thee as to thy brother? The sin-offering lieth at thy door, is near thee, and within thy reach as well as his. If thou wilt believe my promise, and accept it, shalt thou not enjoy all the favour, the peace, the blessedness thy brother enjoys? and he will submit to thee as his elder brother, and suffer thee to rule over him and act as his superior. If not, why enviest thou thy brother for possessing that which thou despisest?' 8. Cain seems to claim the favour of God as a matter of right, and to feel himself wronged and aggrieved in not obtaining it. Abel, by faith in the promise, seeks favour only as the free gift of God, from whom alone "cometh every good and perfect gift." Had there been no promise, no revelation from God, Cain would have been just the same in all respects as he actually was; but Abel would have sunk overwhelmed under the sense of sin. Cain rested satisfied with his own righteousness, and was wroth with God for not accepting it. Abel, (through the influence of grace, free, electing grace; for all men are necessarily alike by nature in things belonging to God, being all alike broken off from God, until grafted in again at his good pleasure; which restoration of the soul to Him, Christ calls a new birth, John iii. 3-9; xv. 1-9,) Abel looked to the promise of God as his sole hope and refuge. Cain envied him the blessedness he thence derived; and at once enraged against God, and jealous of his brother for the possession of that hope which was equally his, if he had been equally willing to cling to it; his selfish, irritated passions wrought him to that excess of malignity which could only be satisfied with the blood of his brother. Dreadful, awful lesson to those who will not receive "the righteousness which is of God," but " go about to establish a righteousness of their own," a righteousness, in the very nature of things, dependant on outward, and therefore to them uncontroulable circumstances. 15. This promise and this mark we see were given in mitigation of his punishment. 23, 24. The song of Lamech I do not clearly understand. It appears that he had slain a man, and comforted himself under the sin by the indulgence shown to Cain; 15. 26. "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord,” or, as the margin gives it, "to call themselves by the name of the Lord." In either reading it signifies that those who truly worshipped God began now to distinguish themselves by some outward observances from those who did not. CHAPTER V. 3. Seth was not made, like Adam, in the image of God, but in the image of his father, of fallen sinful man. Cain and Abel were likewise made in the image of Adam; but the observation seems to be introduced in this place, prior to the list of his descendants, in order to remind us that, however eminent for godliness some of them might be, they were all alike born in sin, and owed their distinction only to the free, electing grace of God. 24. Enoch was translated to heaven without dying, as was afterwards Elijah. See Heb. xi. 5. 2 Kings ii. 1-18. Enoch prophesied of Christ. A passage of his prophecy is quoted by Jude, ver. 14, 15. 29. These names contain a prophecy of our Saviour. I give the translation as I received it many years since, from a valued and learned friend, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. Adam, man; Seth, placed; Enos, in misery; Cainan, lamentation; Mahalaleel, blessed God; Jared, shall come down ; Enoch, teaching; Methuselah, his death shall send; Lamech, to humble, smitten man; Noah, consolation.-Man placed in misery and lamentation, blessed God shall come down, teaching. His death shall send to humble, smitten man, consolation. CHAPTER VI. 2. The law of marriage requires that a man should cleave to his wife, and they two should be one flesh, iii. 24; which necessarily implies that there can be but one wife. Now, however," the sons of God," or the believing men, captivated by the beauty and allurements of "the daughters of man," or the ungodly women, broke through this restraint, and " took them wives of all whom they chose." This violation of that sacred tie, which is the origin of all the closest, dearest bonds of human life, and the best security for the order and well-being of society, produced its natural effects, competition and contest. Warriors, "mighty men," and "men of renown" spring up. Evil of some kind or other will ever attend on a breach of the commands of God, and now war, bloodshed, violence, sin in every shape overspread the earth in such a degree that it was only to be swept away by the universal deluge, which now announced. Polygamy was, however, afterwards permitted as well as divorces, and probably for the same reason-"the hardness of their hearts; (Matt. xix. 3-10.) permitted only as a relief to the suffering wives, who might be harshly treated by their husbands, when hated as obstacles was |