MR. AND MRS. CAIN AND FAMILY.

Gisborne Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 9670, 17 April 1923, Page 4

MR. AND MRS. CAIN AND FAMILY.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —The address given to-night by Dr, Oliver on: “Where Did Cain get his Wifef” was, to put matters plainly, very amusing. Cain certainly is notentitled to sympathy: he was a murderer. Still there may have been extenuating circumstances. At all events, the Creator did not, in retaliation, slay him for his impetuous wickedness in killing his only brother,- Abel. One may, indeed, be permitted to believe that Cain was not really all bad. Naturally Dr. Oliver could not answer the question he set himself, tor neither he nor anyone else knows who became Mrs. Cain. What did surprise me, however, was that the visiting evangelist should have gone out of his way to speak disparagingly of Cain’s spouse. Which leads me to wonder whether Dr. Oliver has a deep and thorough acquaintance with the Good Book. The Biblical narrative, let me remind him, shows that Mr. and Mrs. Cain reared a family of which any set of parents might justly feel proud. Their eldest son was Enoch who, it is told in Genesis Chap. 5 verse 21-24 ‘walked with God . . .. and he was not. for God took him.” The glorious late which fell to Enoch’s lot is made plain in Hebrews XI., 5: “By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death: and was not found, because God had translated liim, for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” What right, therefore, had Dr. Oliver to suggest that Mrs. Cain would be an object of derision' amongst her neighbors? Nor did Cain himself turn out a waster, for Scripture shows that he, was a very industrious man: “he budded a city and called the name of the city after the name, of liis sou, Enoch.” It might reasonably be supposed, therefore, that Airs Cain, instead of becoming an outcast, as suggested by Dr. Oliver, attained to the highest possible social scale in her day. Both Mr and Airs Cain would, doubtless, be very proud of their grandson, Alethusaleth, who must have been a fine typo of. vigor, for did he not ultimately gain the world’s record for longevity, living till he was 969 years old. Their great, great , grand son was no other than the Noah who budded the ark. Dr. Oliver is still young enough to get a much greater grip of the Good Book which he rightly avers is the foundation of all truth.--* 1 am, Yours etc., ‘ ‘ ‘PRESBYTERIAN. ’ ’ Gisborne, April 16. 1923.