Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-02-26
WHOLE NUMBER 479.

ture, with unspeakable longing, wishing 10
know something abcut tlieir kinds, their
hlife, and their purpose. But the want OF
knowledge, the want Of opportunity to ac-
qnre it, has caused nature to be to me as a
sealed book, and still to this moment it Is
to me tantalising, enticing, and ever re-
treating wave, rather than q life-givinp fonu-
tain which / can enjoy, aud enjoying, thank
the Creator
is it really so 2 said Ynrre soh. thea Il
ought to be different, You are right you are
perfectly right And bad not thought cor.
rcc!y on the subject. What egotisis we men
are, after all; will you begin tomorrow little
course OF natural history / will teach you
anything that know. IL Is not much, but 10
might serve as an entrauce-card and, bv the helm
of good books, you could afterwards 20 on bv
yourself. Bhtin the beginning we can study
together
Thank you, Ypgve. yon are very kind r said
| Hertha and looked at him with glance which
shone through tears; and then she added, in an
undervoice, as if to herself whilst she glanced
over the landscape around them, which xas
clothed as bride in all the beauty OF a north
ern midsummer i shall yet become better ac-
quainted with thee Oh, life, after all, Is 50
beautiful
These words, from Hertbas lips, gave feel
ing Of heavenly joy to Yngves heart, becanse
he heard in them the fnlflment Of his beart's
wish, which was to reconcile her with life.
Aud life became more and more beautiful 10
them whilst they thus lived and learned togeth-
er, contemplating Gods work and wisdom IN
nature, in history, and above ALL in that history
which alone is able fully to explain both the orr
der and disorder of the former Because Her.
tha understood more profoundly thar Yngve
that I Ike f
-Natursis a fallen angel
But 10 The fallen angels face shine clearly
And Daphne's hesrt beneath the bark is throbbine.
They never spoke Of love, but they called it
forth, they loved it; aud its delicious fascination
cast msgcal light over their life, aud all which
surrounded them. They walked pure aud peace.
ful in each others sight, illumined by the eve Of
God, as were the first loving couple on our earth
| in the Garden OF Paradise.
THE SERPENT
Hertha said one day to Yogve
Yngve, help me to explain this old
primeyal story but first will read it aloud
to you its contradiction has long tormen,ed
me-"
Hertha read
Now the serpent was more subtitle than any
beast OF the feld which the Lvrd God had
made. And be said unto the woman, Yea, hath
God said, Yea shall not eat of every tree Of the
garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We
may eat OF the fruit of the treei Of the garden;
But Of the fruit Of the tree which is in the
midst Of the garden, God beth said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it. lest We die
! And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die:
For God doth know that 10 the day We eat
thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and We
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil h
'AHd when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant TO the
eyes, and a tree to be desired TO make one wise.
she took OF the fruit thereof and did eat and
gave also unto her husband---' eli
Here Hertha stopped looked at Yngve, and
said ,..f
She had, after all great spirit, this our frst
mother because she sought for knowledge,
sought to become as God, even at the risk Of
losing life and all its daily enjoyments Shs,
obeyed mighty inspiration
But the serpent tempted her. suggested,
Yngye.
Yes, so it is written but now listen to me,
Yngve. If knowledge-the being made wise
is means OF attaining perfection, of becom.
ing as God-aud we know Of ourselves that Il
is necessary means by which we can gain a.
knowledge of God and his truth,--when then isl
when the love Of knowledge, tue desire for
higher consciousness, was the power which drew
on Eve, wherefore is she punished and after her
all her daughers-by an exclusion from the
tree of knowledge, which taught good aud evil
and by the same rule from the tree of life which
gives her permission to live for ever How ir-
rational is that how unjust at least so il seems
to me. "a,
From the Christian point of view, certainly,
replied fngve, aud when we look at portions
of the narrative in detail and literaIly--taking
1t for granted that our translation from the
original is perfectly faithful And 10 me it has
always seemed in these parts to bear traces OF
the darkness which belongs even to the pro-
foundest views OF nations during their age of
childhood. But the basis Of its idea seems TO
me true and those detailed portions of the mar.
ratye may be explained to this point Of view :.
For in order TO become possessed of full self
consciousness and TO be free agent, the human
being must pass through a strong temptation.
That is lin consequence of the spiritual-natoral.
law) Tor the human being TO make Of his own | a
the centre, instead of the true eentre---GOd.
Sefshness (as pride and love of peasure) is the
temptation, the serpent which caused the human
being to fail in his allegiance to his rghtfal Lord
and Benefactor aud too soon for the sake OF his
own greatness to grasp after that which was
the forbidden fruit-iorbidden only during the
period Of childhood, when the human being
conld not digest it. Obedience TO, aud faith ia s
his highest beneiactor, were his lirst duties The
interdict which the Creator had imposed, He
could have removed; He could have appointed
a time when He the fountain OF all kndesledae a
and wisdom, would have taken the human child
by the hand aud led it TO the tree Of knowledpe.
and taught It what was good aud what was evil.
Knowledge as well as pleasure are forbibdden
only to the selfish principle in humauity Man
must attain TO them only through firm obediencc .
aud love to God. The fall was this---that the
selfish principle conquered; that the human be-
Ing became god to himself and sought to OBJ.
tain the highest, bat not by means Of the High-,
est The natural and inevitable consequences
Of the Gall are the loss Of Paradise, the deprada-
ton, the darkening of the whole human world.
The restoration begins with a new inspiration 10
the human consciousness
Oh, see it'll understand it now.--the pow.
erfullimPulses Of cur first mother the fall ths
long eNeommnnlcatlon, and--the restoration, By p
means Of the new birth, in tie soul Of the new !
Eve. ! see her sit at the feet Of tho Saviour.
see her iumined by his glance and guided by
his word, iu1Depd nv n nav n hivhnp tno,.frr