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56 EARLY TIMES. 
EARLY TIMES. 
It was the morning of the Sabbath : there was 
a holy calm resting upon the earth, and the air 
seemed hushed in solemn silence. 
Two beings, members of the first family of 
earth, were sitting beneath a tree whose pensive 
branches shut out the rays of the sun, while they in¬ 
vited the morning breezes that came over meadow 
and upland, bearing the fragrance of every lovely 
flower, and imparting health and delight. 
The morning hymn died away, though gentle 
sounds, as if echoes were multiplied in the air, 
seemed to repeat and protract the notes. There 
were auditors, not visible, and worshippers, un¬ 
seen, whose office was to bear upward the prayer 
and praise of contrite, grateful hearts to the visible 
presence of Him who was invisibly present every 
where, or seen only in and by his works, and heard 
by his providences. When the aerial sounds had 
ceased, the pair rose from their knees ; and as the 
youngest and most delicate assumed an upright 
position, her long hair fell gracefully backward, 
and displayed a face of exquisite loveliness, on 
which rested a smile of humble devotion, mingled 
with a consciousness of accepted sacrifice. . . . 
“ I would gather a bunch of flowers for dear 
Cain,” said the female, “ but that I have marked 
that he never exhibits a love for flowers, though his 
