The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-06-18
WOMAN'S FIRST SIN.
EYES FATAL STEP IN THE GARDEN
OF EDEN.

Rev. DIR. Talmage on the DaL .er of q
Poorly Regulated Inquisitiveness-A Pic
turesque Sermon on the Ruin of the HUI.
"a man Race.
NEW YORK, June ia new inter
probation 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
III UWOsJ anu III GII6 WdIul I6uO-
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 I speak-Eve, the first, the
fairest and the best.
In Eden.
l make me garden. Inlay the paths
with mountain moss, and border them
with pearls from Ceylon and diamonds
from Golconda. 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 orange groves from the
tropics and tamarinds from Goyaz.
There are woodbine and honeysuckle
climbing over the wall and starred
spaniels sprawling themselves on the
grass. | invite amid these trees the
larks, and the 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 Havilah, the
Gihon and the Hiddekel, even the peb-
bles 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 consumed Bright colors 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 the 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
the tree and sees the beautiful fruit
and wonders if it is sweet and wonders
If it is sour, and standing there says:
81 think will just put my hand upon
the fruit. 1t will do no damage to the
tree. | will not take the fruit to eat,
but l will just take it 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 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,
1.-THE world is lostr'
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
1huppSus ~ pun DllShtSSG hOLuO ODlS
world ever saw our first parents turned
their back and led forth OH a path of
sorrow the broken hearted myriads of
ruined race.
Danger of Curiosity.
Do you not see, in the first place, the !
danger of a poorly regulated inquisi- I
tiveness? She wanted to know how the
fruit tasted. She found out, but 5000 1
years have deplored that unhealthful {
Healthful curiosity has done {
a great deal for letters, for art, for
science and for religion. 1t has gone !
Town into the depths of the earth with i
he geologist and seen the first chapter {
IF Genesis written in the book of ma s
ure illustrated with engraving on rock, {
md it stood with the antiquarian while {
le blew the trumpet of resurrection {
)ver buried Herculaneum and Pompeii,
Until from their sepulcher there came {
up shaft and terrace and amphitheater. +
Healthful curiosity has enlarged the
vision of the astronomer, until i
worlds hidden in the distant heavens f
nave trooped forth and have Joined the t