The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-06-17
DR. 1lLMlGrS SUNDAY SERMON.
A GOSPEL MESSAGE.

He Declares woman's First Sin Wa
Curiosity-Eve's Fatal Inquisitiyeness
in the Garden Of Eden and Its Awfu,
Results to Succeeding Generations.
TEXT: "And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and that IL was
Pheasant to the eyes, and tree to be de-
sired to make one wise, she took OF the
fruit thereof. and did eat. and gave also
unto her husband with her, and he did eat y
Genesis ILL.,, 6.
1t is the first Saturday afternoon In the
worlds existence. Ever since sunrise Adam
has been watching the brilliant pageantry
OF wings and scales and clouds. and In his
frst lessons In zoology and ornithology
and ichthyology he has noticed that the
robins fly the air In twos and thatthe Ash
swim the waters In twos, and that the lions
walk the fields In twos, and in the warm
redolence OF that Saturday afternoon he
rails OF into slumber, and, as II by allegory
70 teach all ages that the greatest Of earth
~ blessings Is sound sleep. this paradisai-
cal somnolence ends with the discovery ON
the part OF Adam OF q corresponding in
telliSence just landed on new planet. or
the mother OF all the living speak-Eye.
the first, the fairest and the best.
make me a garden. l inlay the paths
with mountain moss, and l border them
with pearls from Ceylon and diamonds from
Golconda. Here and there are fountains
tossing In the sunlight that ripple under
the padding OF the swans. gather me
lilies from the Amazon, and orange groves
from the tropics and tamar!nds from Cioyaz.
There are woodbine and honeysuckle climb
ing over the wall and starred spaniels
sprawling themselves on the grass. in
vite amid these trees the larks, and the
Drown thrushes, and the robins, and all the
brightest birds OF heaven. and they stir the
air with infinite chirp and carol And We,
the place Is desert filed with darkness
and death as compared with the residence
OF the woman OF the text, the subject Of nv
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 rs adorned the Pison. the
Havilah, the Gihon and the Hiddekel, even
the pebbles being bdellium and ONYX stone.
what fruits, with no curculio to sting the
rind! What flowers, with no slug to gnaw
the root! What atmosphere, with no frost
to chill and with no heat to consume,
Brlght colors tangled in the grass Per
fume 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 pronounced the cere-
mony when he said, Bone OF my bone md
flesh OF my flesh" forbidden tree stood
IN the midst OF that exquisite park. Eve,
sauntering out one day alone, looks up at
tho tree and sees the beautiful fruit and
wonders II 1t Is sweet and wonders II It Is
sour, and standing there says: 81 think
VIII Just put my hand upon the fruit. II
will do no harm to the tree. Twill not
take the fruit to eat, but l will Just take II
down to examine It," She examined the
fruit. She said II do not think there can
be any harm In my just breaking the rind
OF it," She put the fruit to her teeth, she
tasted, she allowed Adam also to taste the
iruit, the door Of the world opened, and
tho monster sin entered. Let the heavens
gather blackness, and the winds sigh ON
the bosom OF the hills, and cavern, and
desert' ana earth, and sky join in one long,
deep, hell-rending howl, "The world is
lost"
Beasts that before were harmless and full
OF play put forth claw and sting and tooth
and tusk. Birds whet their beak for prev.
Clouds troop in the sky. Sharp thorns
shoot up through the soft grass. Hastings
on the leaves. All the chords OF that great
harmony ara snapped. Upon the brightest
nome this world ever saw our first parents
turned their back and led forth on u path
OF sorrow the broken hearted myriads of n
ruined race.
Do you not see, In the first place. the dan
ger OF poorly regulated inquisitiveness?
She wanted to know how the fruit tasted.
She found out, but G000 years have deplored
that unhealthful curiosity Heathful curl |
osity has done great deal for letters. for
art, for science and for religion. II has |
gone down into the depths OF the earth |
with the geologist and seen the first chap |
ter OF Genesis written In the book OF nature |
Illustrated with engraving on rock, and it |
stood with the antiquarian while he blew |
the trumpet OF resurrection over buried |
Herculaneum and Pompeii, until from their
sepulcher there came up shaft and terrace
and amphitheater. Healthful curiosity has
enlarged the telescope vision OF tho as
tronomer, until worlds hidden in the dis
tant heavens have trooped forth and have
Joined the choir prnising the Lord; planet
weighed against planet and widest comet
lassooed with Respondent law. Healthful
curiosity has gono down and found the
tracks OF the eternal God in the polypi
and the starllsh under the sea and the
majesty OF the great Jehovah encarnped
under the gorgeous curtains OF the dahlia.
II mas studied the spots on the sun. and
the larva In beech leaf, and the livht un.
der a freny's wing, and tho terrible eve
glance OF condor pitching from Chin
borazo. 1t has studied the myriads Of ami.
haicuiie that make up the phosphorescence
In ships wake, and the mighty maze OF
suns and spheres and consultations and
galaxies that blaze on in the march OF God.
Healthful curiosity has stood by the inven-
tor. until forces that were hidden for ages
come to wheels and levers and shafts and
that fly the air or swim
the sea or cleave the mountain until the
earth jars and roars and rings and ckles
and booms with strange mechanism. and
ships with nostrils OF hot steam and yokes
OF fire draw the continents together.
l say nothing against healthful Curl
osity. May II have other Leyden lars. and
other electric batteries. and other yoltaic
piles. ana other magnifying glasses, with
which to storm the barred castles Of the
natural world until II shall surrender It's
last secret. We thank God for the geological
curiosity OF Professor Hitchcock. and the
mechanical curiosity Of Liebig, and the
geological curiosity Of Cuvier, and the in
ventive curiosity OF Edison, but we must
admit that unhealthful and irregular In.
quisitlveness has rushed thousands and
tens OF thousands into ruin.
Eve just tasted the fruit, She was
curious to find out how II tasted, and tina,
blasted her and blasted ali
nations. So there are clergymen in this
day. inspired bp unhealthfuI inquisitive-
ness, who have tried to look through the
kevh0le OF Gods mysterie m yateriea TINT