MAN'S FALLEN STATE; OR, THE DEPOSED MINISTER.
QUESTION XVII. _Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?_
ANSWER. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
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IT was a rare event in the family of Mr. Dermott for the children to
disagree to such an extent as to use unkind words. They had early been
taught the beauty of yielding to each other's wishes, and thus gaining
a conquest over themselves. With Isabelle's quiet temperament, this
was comparatively easy; but with Walter and Helen it was far more
difficult, as they were naturally hasty and impulsive, often reminding
their father of his own youth by their striking similarity to himself.
On the very afternoon of the catechising, however, Walter came in from
his play somewhat out of temper, and, taking a book from Anna's hands,
sat down to read. The tears quickly filled the eyes of the little girl;
but Helen loudly remonstrated, "How unkind you are, Walter, when Anna
is just in the midst of a story!"
"So am I," replied the boy, petulantly, "and it's my book."
"I lent you my new one before I had read it myself," sobbed Anna.
"Here, take it, then!" exclaimed Walter, angrily. "Such a fuss when a
boy sits down to read his own book!" And he threw the volume into the
lap of the weeping girl.
"You're an ugly boy," cried his sister. "Anna and I were having a real
nice time, when you came in—and spoiled it all. Mother says she wishes
you would govern your temper."
Walter got up, and was walking angrily out of the room, when he met
his mother. She saw at once that there had been trouble, and, taking
him gently by the hand, requested him to return. With a few judicious
words, she soon succeeded in quieting the ruffled waves, and in fifteen
minutes the children were sitting lovingly together—the boy with his
arm thrown around his cousin's neck, and reading from the same page.
In the evening, when they had seated themselves for their favorite
exercise, Mrs. Dermott asked, "Helen, can you tell me, my dear, where
was the first quarrel?"
The little girl arched her eyebrows and shook her head.
"It was in the garden of Eden, my child, immediately after the first
pair had partaken of the forbidden fruit."
Helen's face was crimson, and she quickly replied, "I didn't begin the
quarrel, mother."
"Well, you called me names," replied Walter, looking very much ashamed.
"Stop at once!" exclaimed Mr. Dermott. "Or we will discontinue the
lesson."
"Do you understand, Anna," inquired Mrs. Dermott, "what is meant by the
fall?"
"No, aunt, not exactly."
"You know Adam and Eve were created in the image of their Maker, in
knowledge, righteousness and holiness. By their disobedience they were
cast down from their high estate; and this is called the fall. Milton
and Beaumont thus graphically describe it:—
"'Her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate;
Earth felt the wound, and Nature, from her seat
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost.'
"'Up went her desperate hand, and reached away
All the world's bliss, when she the apple took;
When, lo, the earth did move, the heavens did stay,
Beasts and birds shivered, absent Adam shook.'"
"I remember well," remarked Mr. Dermott, "that there was a great
excitement about a minister who had for many years been settled in the
town adjoining the one where your mother and I lived. For a year he
had been absent from his people, soliciting funds from the churches
for some charitable object. At length it was ascertained that he
had appropriated almost all the money he had raised to his own use,
and thus been guilty of breaking the eighth commandment. A council
of ministers was called, who took away his license, and deposed him
from the pastoral office. This was called his fall; and I remember
afterwards hearing my father ask,—
"'Where is Mr. Monson?'
"The gentleman replied, 'After his fall, he removed his family from
town, and for months we have heard nothing from him.'"
"By what was the fall of Adam followed?"
"By additional sin and misery."
"Do these always go together?"
"Yes, sir," replied Helen.
"How did sin and misery first exhibit themselves?"
"I don't know, sir," answered Walter; "but I should think when Cain
killed Abel."
"It was long before that. Soon after Eve had persuaded her husband to
partake with her of the fruit of the forbidden tree, she heard God
calling,—
"'Adam, hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldst not eat?'
"And he said, 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, end I did eat.'
"In this reply, he not only endeavored to shield himself from
responsibility by throwing the blame upon his wife, but he virtually
reproached God—'the woman whom thou gavest me.' 'If I had been alone, I
never should have done it; but she tempted me, and I could not resist.'
"And the Lord God said unto the woman, 'What is this that thou hast
done?'
"And the woman said, 'The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'
"Neither would she bear the blame, but cast it upon another. How much
better would it have been for them to cast themselves down at the feet
of their Maker, and confess their guilt! How unkind for Adam not to try
to shield his wife! But such were the early fruits of sin. No doubt
after this, there were many unkind words and feelings between the once
happy pair.
"The next occasion of quarrelling which is recorded in Scripture is
the melancholy story of Cain and Abel. The dreadful plague of sin,
which they had inherited from their parents, had sprung up in their own
hearts, and in Cain it yielded bitter fruit, bringing misery and death
into their household."
"Who can doubt," remarked Mrs. Dermott, "that the fall brought mankind
into a state of sin and misery when he looks around and realizes that
but for sin there would be no wars, no armies, no hospitals?"
"No prisons, jails nor houses of correction," added her husband.
"There would be no physicians, because there would be no sickness nor
suffering; no orphan asylums nor houses for the blind; no unhappy
marriages; no deeds, nor bonds, nor suits at law; and no divorces, no
murders, thefts, nor backbitings; no quarrels between children, nor
throwing the blame upon each other. There would have been no need of
the spilling of a Saviour's blood, for man would have been at peace
with his Maker. No; the world would present one glorious scene of
holiness, and happiness, a heaven upon earth, the delight of angels and
of God himself. The joy of one would make more complete the bliss of
all. The beasts of the field, instead of preying upon each other, would
find their appropriate food growing spontaneously upon the earth. The
lion would lie down with the lamb, and a little child would lead them."
"Our sins, like to our shadows
When our day is in its glory, scarce appear;
Toward our evening, how great and monstrous
They are!"