Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-06-18
WOMAN'S FIRST SIN.
sVE'S FATAL STEP IN THE GARDEN
OF EDEN.


Rev. DR.. Talmage on the Danger of a
Poorly Regulated Inquisitiveness-A Pic
turesque Sermon on the Ruin Of the Hu-
man Race.
NEW YORK, June 13.-A new inter
pretation Of the calamity in Paradise is
given by Dr.. Talmage in this sermon,
which is laden with practical lessons.
The text is Genesis iii, 6, "And 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 hus-
band with her, and he did eat
1t is the first Saturday afternoon in
the worlds existence. Ever since sun
rise Adam has been watching the bril-
liant pageantry Of wings and scales and
clouds, and in his first lessons in zoolo-
gy and ornithology and ichthyology he
has noticed that the robins fly the air
in twos, and that the fish swim the wa
ter in twos, and that the lions walk the
fields in twos, and in the warm redo
lence Of that Saturday afternoon he
falls off into slumber and, as if by al
legory to teach all ages that the great
est of earthly blessings is sound sleep,
this paradisaical somnolence ends with
the discovery On the part Of Adam Of a
corresponding intelligence just landed
on a new planet OF the mother of all
the living speak-Eye, the first, the
fairest and the best.
In Eden.
fmake me a garden. Inlay the paths
with mountain moss, and ! border them
with pearls from Ceylon and diamonds
from Golcouda. Here and there are
fountains tossing in the sunlight and
ponds that ripple under the padding OF
the swans. gather me lilies from the
! Amazon, and olailc groves from the
/ tropics and tama1iuds from Goyaz
| There are woodhine and honeysuckle
climbing over the wall and starred
spaniels sprawling themselves on the
grass. invite amid these trees the
larks, and tie brown thrushes, and the
robins, and all the brightest birds Of
heaven, and they stir the air with in
finite chirp and carol. And yet the place
| is desert filled with darkness and
death as compared with the residence
Of the woman Of the text, the subject
/ Of my story. Never since have such
skies looked down through such leaves
/ into such waters. Never has river wave
/ had such curve and sheen and bank as
adorned the PisOn, the Hayilah, the
Gihon and the Hiddokel, even the peb
bles being bdellium and onyx stone
What fruits. with 10 curculio to sting
the rind! What flowers with no slug
to gnaw the rcotl What atmosphere,
with no frost TO chill and with no heat
to consume! Bright colc,s tangled in
the grass. Perfume in the air. Music
in the sky. Great scene Of gladness and
love and JOY.
Right there under bower Of leaf
and vine and shrub occurred the first
marriage Adam took the hand Of this
immaculate daughter Of God and pro
nounced tine ceremony when he said
Bone Of my bone, and flesh Of my
/ flesh. " A forbidden tree stood IN the
midst of that exquisite park. Eve, saun-
tering out one day alone, looks up at
;he tree and sees the beautiful fruit
end wonders if it is sweet and wonders
if it is sour, and standing there says:
Il think l will just put my hand upon
the fruit. 1t will do no damage TO the
tree. | will not take the fruit TO eat,
but | will Just take it down to examine
| it," She examined the fruit She said,
~ do not think there can be any harm
in my lust breaking the rind OF 1t.
She put the fruit to her teeth, she
tasted, she allowed Adam also to taste
the fruit. the door Of the world opened,
and the monster sin entered. Let the
heavens gather blackness, and the winds
sigh on the bosom of the hills, and cav
ern. and desert and earth, and sky join
in one long, deep, hell rending howl
"The world is lostV
Beasts that before were harmless and
full of play put forth claw and sting
and tooth and tusk. Birds whet their
beak for prey. Clouds troop in the sky.
Sharp thorns shoot up through the soft
grass Blastings on the leaves. All the
chords Of that great harmony are
snapped. Upon the brightest home this
world ever saw our first parents turned
their back and led forth on a path OF
sorrow the broken hearted myriads Of a
ruined race.
Danger of Curiosity.
Do you not see, in the first place, the
danger Of poorly regulated inquisi'
tiyeness? She wanted to know how the
fruit tasted. She found out, but 6,OOC
wears have deplored that unhealthful
curiosity. Healthful curiosity has done
q great deal for letters, for art, fox
science and for religion. 1t has gone
down into the depths Of the earth with
the geoloeist and seen the first chapter
of Genesis written i'll the book OF ma
ture illustrated with engraving on rock
and it stood with the antiquarian while
ne UltM lut AlhlAHNh "a
over buried Herculaneum and Pompeii
until from their sepulcher there came
up shaft and terrace and amphitheater
Healthful curiosity has enlarged TIT
telescope vision of the astronomer, unit
: worlds hidden in the distant heavens
have trooped forth and have Joined th'
choir praising the Lord; planet weighed
against planet and widest Comet las
sooed with resplendent law Healthfu
curiosity has gone down and found th'
tracks Of the eternal God in the polyp
and the starfsh under the sea and thu
majesty of the great Jehovah encampe'
. under the gorgeous curtains of the dab
liza 1t has studied the spots on the sun
and the larva in beech leaf, and th'
2 light under firefy's wing, and tn
r terrible eye glance Of a condor pitching
from Chimborazo. 1t has studied TN
myriads Of animalcule that make al
the phosphorescence in a ships wax
/, and the mighty maze Of suns and sphere
and consultations and galaxies tina
$ blaze on in the march of God. Health
~ - NNW