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THE CHILD'S BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 BIBLE STORIES 
 
 WITH PRACTICAL 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 'AN© REMARKS. 
 
 No. 1 
 
 ON THE FALL 
 
 BY REV. T. II. GALLAUDET, 
 
 Late Principal of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 
 
 1830. 
 
 D. Fanshaw, Printer. 
 
Entered according to act of Congress, on the fifteenth, day of Go- 
 ober, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, by 
 T. H. Gallaudet, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the 
 Southern District of New-York. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Story I.— The Permission, .... 13 
 
 II.— The Prohibition, . . 21 
 
 HI.— The Penalty, 29 
 
 IV.— The Tempter, '37 
 
 V.— The Temptation, 45 
 
 VI.— The Fall, 53 
 
 VII.— The Remorse, 61 
 
 VIII.— The Excuses, 39 
 
 IX.— The Curse, 79 
 
 X.— The Sentence, 85 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/childsbooko.fbiblOOgall 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 The Child who may read this Book. 
 
 A little boy, who lived in a large city, once wandered 
 far from home and could not find his way back. He had 
 disobeyed his father in doing so, who told him not to go 
 from the door of the house. At first, he was so much 
 pleased with the new things which he saw, that he hardly 
 thought how far he was going, or what he should tell his 
 father on his return. But, by and by, he grew tired, and 
 sat down on a step of a house to rest. He looked round 
 him and saw that he was in a strange place. He had 
 never been there before. All the houses were new to him, 
 and the street looked very different from the one in which 
 he lived. It was a long street; and, as he cast his eye 
 down it, and remembered too that he had gone through 
 many other streets, and turned many corners, before he 
 got into it, he began to think that his father's house must 
 be at a great distance, and that he could never find his 
 way back to it. 
 
6 ADDRESS. 
 
 He thought, too, how wicked he was in disobeying his 
 father, and that it was this which had brought him. into 
 such trouble. This made him feel the more unhappy. 
 He would have given all the pretty playthings he owned, 
 if he could but be at home again, just as he was, a cheerful 
 and happy child on the step before his father's house. 
 
 The evening was coming on, and the poor boy, as it 
 grew dark, began to be greatly alarmed. He had been 
 trying, for some time, by looking attentively at every one 
 who passed him, to see if he could not discover an ac- 
 quaintance, or, at least, somebody whom he knew by name, 
 and to whom he might make himself known. 
 
 But none but strangers passed by, and no one took any 
 particular notice of him. Why should they? They did 
 not know that he was lost ; for he had as yet sat on the 
 step, sad and silent, without saying a word. 
 
 It grew darker, and he could scarcely see the faces of 
 those who were going by him. He thought -that he might 
 perhaps have to spend the night in the street, and the tears 
 began to roll down his cheeks. He sobbed, and at last 
 cried aloud. 
 
 Many persons passing by, must have heard him cry, 
 but they did not stop to inquire what was the matter. 
 Some were thinking so much about themselves and their 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 own business, that they had no time to stop and be kind to 
 a poor little crying boy. Others thought people should 
 take care of their own children, and if they would not do 
 it the children must suffer ; — while some supposed that he 
 belonged to the house on the step of which he was sitting, 
 or at least in the neigbourhood, and that his friends would 
 soon come and take care of him. 
 
 Poor boy ! he might have sat there crying a long time, 
 if a kind man who was passing by, and who loved little 
 children, had not stopped and inquired the cause of his 
 distress. 
 
 The boy told him all about it, and did not hide his dis- 
 obedience to his father. He really felt sorry for having 
 been guilty of this disobedience. He said that he did, and 
 the man pitied him so much, and was so much pleased to 
 see him sorry for his fault, that he told the boy, after ask- 
 ing his name and that of his father, that he would go with 
 him and lead him safely home. 
 
 What a kind friend, and how rejoiced the little wan- 
 derer was, as he . entered once more the door of his 
 father's house, to get back again to the arms of his dear 
 parents. 
 
 How would you have felt, my dear child, had you been 
 in his situation? — Would you have felt very thankful to 
 
8 ADDRESS. 
 
 'the kind person who took so much pains to lead you home ? 
 — Would you have been truly sorry for your disobedience, 
 and confessed it to your father, and asked his forgiveness, 
 and resolved never to do so again ? — Would you have 
 been very happy indeed to find yourself safe at home, once 
 more under the care of a kind father and mother ? 
 
 Have you ever thought that you have wandered a great 
 way from your father, — from your Heavenly Father, — 
 from God who made you, and who has done so much for 
 you, and who has been kinder to you than any earthly 
 parent can be? 
 
 Every time that you have done wrong, you have dis- 
 obeyed God, and have been like the lost little boy, wan- 
 dering from him. Perhaps you have never felt your dan- 
 ger in thus wandering from God. Wicked persons, in 
 wandering from God, are going farther and farther from 
 Heaven, that beautiful and happy place where those who 
 get there are happier a great deal than the happiest little 
 boys and girls are in their father's house here on earth. 
 
 Are you wandering from that delightful home, above 
 .he blue sky, where all are perfectly good and happy, and 
 where your Heavenly Father wishes you to go after you 
 die? — Are you wandering farther and farther from this 
 Heavenly Father, who is inviting you to return to him, 
 
ADDRESS. 9 
 
 and has sent his Son to show you the way back, if you 
 will but let him lead you ? 
 
 Yes, Jesus Christ is like the kind man who led the lost 
 little boy back to his home. He will take you kindly by 
 the hand, and lead you back to God. Will you feel that 
 you need such a kind friend ? Will you put yourself un- 
 der his care ? — Will you be led by him to your Heavenly 
 Father? Will you thus go to God, confessing your sins, 
 beseeching him to forgive you for Christ's sake, and pray- 
 ing for the Holy Spirit to aid you in doing all this ? 
 
 It is to show you how important it is for you to feel so, 
 and to do so, that God has given you the Bible. You like 
 to read other books, especially if they contain entertaining 
 stories. — You were interested, were you not, in the story 
 which I just told you about the little boy. Were you also 
 interested while I tried to explain the use of that story, and 
 to have it lead you to think of God, and what you must do 
 to have him for your everlasting friend? — Will you be 
 interested in this book, if all the stories which are in it are 
 taken from the Bible? And Avhile I tell you these true 
 stories from the Bible, and explain them in such a way as 
 to do you good, and lead you to love God, and trust in 
 Christ, and be prepared to go to your Heavenly Father's 
 house in Heaven, when you die,— will you listen to me?— 
 
10 ADDRESS. 
 
 I hope you will, and that God will help me so to write, 
 and you so to read, that this little book may lead you to 
 love the Bible more than you have ever done before ? 
 
 Remember, that the more you read and understand the 
 Bible, the wiser you will be, and the more you love and 
 obey it, the better and happier you will be. Pray daily to 
 God for his Holy Spirit, that you may thus read, under- 
 stand, love, and obey that best of books, which He has 
 given you to show you the way to Heaven. 
 
STOR.1T I. 
 
 THE PERMISSION. 
 
 When your father or mother tells you that you 
 may go and play, they permit you to do it. Some- 
 times you ask them if you may look at a beautiful 
 book full of pictures, and they say, " yes," and let 
 you take it. They permit you to look at it. Or, what 
 means the same thing, they give you permission to 
 look at it. If your father has a garden, and he tells 
 you that you may go into it and pick some fruit to 
 eat, he gives you permission to do so. 
 
 What other things do your parents or teachers 
 ever give you permission to do ? See if you can think 
 of some of them. 
 
 Now I am ready to tell you the story about the 
 permission which God gave Adam and Eve, to eat of 
 the fruit which grew in the beautiful garden in which 
 he placed them. 
 
14 THE PERMISSION. 
 
 Adam and Eve, you know, were the first man and 
 woman, and the beautiful garden in which they lived, 
 was called Eden. 
 
 God made that garden for them to live in. It was 
 a very delightful place. The air was pure and sweet. 
 The weather was neither too warm nor too cold. It 
 was like one of our most pleasant days in the begin- 
 ning of summer. 
 
 The garden was full of all kinds of beautiful trees, 
 many of which bore the most delicious fruit ; and a 
 clear stream ran among them to water the garden, 
 and to make the trees and plants grow. 
 
 It was there that Adam and Eve lived ; — both good 
 and happy ; loving God and each other, and taking 
 care of the garden. 
 
 God gave them permission to eat of the fruit that 
 grew on all the trees, with the exception of one that 
 stood in the middle of the garden. Of the fruit of 
 that tree he commanded them not to eat. He told 
 them that if they did eat of it, they should certainly 
 die. I will tell you something more about this tree 
 »n the next story, What I wish you to think of now 
 
THE PERMISSION. 15 
 
 is, how very kind God was, in making that beautiful 
 garden for Adam and Eve to live in, and in permit- 
 ting them to eat of so many sorts of the most deli- 
 cious fruit which grew on the trees of which the gar- 
 den was full. 
 
 If some person who owned a very large and de- 
 lightful garden, should tell you, that you might go 
 into it at any time, and pick the fruit in it just when 
 you chose, and as much as you chose, only taking 
 care not to meddle with a certain tree, which he 
 wished not to be touched, — you would think he was 
 very kind indeed in giving you this permission. 
 
 You might wonder, perhaps, why he would not let 
 you take some fruit from that tree, and he might not 
 choose to tell you the reason for his doing so. Still, 
 if he was a good man, you would know that he had 
 some sufficient reason for doing it ; and surely you 
 would have no right to complain, for the fruit all be- 
 longed to him, and it was a great kindness in him to 
 permit you to take any of it. 
 
 Suppose this person were your own father, and 
 that he should let you go into his garden and eat 01 
 
16 THE PERMISSION. 
 
 the different kinds of fruit, to show you what a kind 
 father he was, and how much you ought to love him 
 for all his kindness towards you. And suppose he 
 should forbid you to take the fruit from one tree, to 
 make you feel that he had a right to command you 
 to do as he pleased, and to see whether you would 
 feel so, and be obedient to him. 
 
 Ought you not to be very thankful to him for his 
 kindness, and to love him for it and for all his good- 
 ness to you ? Ought you not to feel that, while all 
 the trees and the fruit in the garden belonged to him 5 
 he had a right, if he thought best, to forbid you to eat 
 of the fruit of one of the trees ? 
 
 Ought not Adam and Eve to have felt so towards 
 God, their Heavenly Father, who created them, and 
 did so much to make them good and happy r 
 
 11 Yes,' 1 you say, " they certainly ought." 
 
 Well, take care then that you feel so towards your 
 parents, and towards those who have the care of you. 
 Be thankful when you are permitted to have, or to 
 do, any thing which will make you good and happy. 
 Do not complain when you are forbidden to take, or 
 
THE PERMISSION,- 17 
 
 to do, any thing. Be contented. Be submissive. Be 
 obedient. If you have not always been so, how much 
 reason there is that you should be sorry for all your 
 misconduct, and that you should pray to God to help 
 you to feel right and to do right, in future. 
 2 
 
STORY IX. 
 
 THE PROHIBITION. 
 
 u The Prohibition" you say,— " that is a word 
 which I do not understand." 
 
 But you know very well the tiling which it means. 
 Sometimes your father ma«^i^ve told you not to go 
 near his table and irre,d die with the books and pa- 
 pers upon it. He gave yo^ »|>o#mission to play in the 
 further corner of the room,, .but he prohibited you 
 from coming near the table. When he rose from the 
 table and went out of the room, he told you to re- 
 member his prohibition. 
 
 A mother told her daughter that she might go and 
 walk in the garden, and look at the pretty flowers, 
 and gather some of them from all the beds excepting 
 one, to put together into a beautiful nosegay The 
 little girl was an obedient child, and did not forget 
 the prohibition. She did not touch a single flower 
 
22 TUB PROHIBITION, 
 
 in the bed of tulips, for that was the one from which 
 her mother had forbidden her taking the flowers. 
 
 Can you think of some things that you have beeu 
 prohibited from taking or doing ? Try. 
 
 Now you will understand me when I tell you, that 
 God 'prohibited Adam and Eve from eating the fruit 
 of one tree in the middle of the garden in which 
 they lived. 
 
 It was a prohibition that they could very easily 
 understand. There s$o£d the tree in plain sight. 
 God pointed it out to them, so that they could not be 
 in any mistake with Regard to it. 
 
 It was a prohibition which they could easily re- 
 member. Every time that they passed by the tree, 
 they could not even look at it without thinking that 
 it was the only tree in the whole garden, of the fruit 
 of which they were forbidden to eat. 
 
 It was a prohibition which they knew God had a 
 perfect right to make. The garden and all that grew 
 in it was his. He made the trees and the deli- 
 cious fruit which was on them. He caused the sun 
 to shine and the gentle showers to fall upon them 
 
THE PROHIBITION. 23 
 
 aud make them grow. He could do as he chose with 
 his own. 
 
 It was a prohibition of which Adam and Eve ought 
 not in the least to complain. They had enough with- 
 out using the fruit of that one tree. God had kindly 
 given them a great abundance of the sweetest and 
 best fruit with which the other trees were loaded. 
 He had shown how much he loved them, by creating 
 them, — by giving them such curious and useful bo- 
 dies, and souls that would live for ever and increase 
 in goodness and in happiness, if they continued to 
 love and obey him. He had placed them in a most 
 delightful home, and was taking care of them like a 
 tender and kind father. 
 
 It was a prohibition for which they must have 
 known there was a good reason. God might wish in 
 this way to let them show how willing and ready 
 they were to obey his commands, — how cheerfully 
 they could keep from what he prohibited and not 
 even touch it. If he had given them no such prohi- 
 bition, how could they have so well shown their obe- 
 dience f 
 
24 THE prohibition; 
 
 Is it not one of the best ways for you ta show that 
 you love your father, to keep from doing something 
 which he has forbidden ? 
 
 God might have wished, too, to see whether they 
 were indeed his obedient children, — to try them, and 
 let the angels and other beings see what Adam and 
 Eve would do when thus tried. 
 
 That so good and kind a being as God had some 
 good reason for giving them the prohibition, they 
 could have no doubt. It was a prohibition which it 
 was not difficult for them to obey. It was not a hard 
 thing to be done. It was just something not to be done, 
 not to take the fruit from one tree. 
 
 How do you suppose you would have felt if you 
 had been in that beautiful garden, and, like Adam 
 and Eve, been forbidden to eat of the fruit of the 
 tree in the midst of the garden ? 
 
 You think, perhaps, that you would not have com- 
 plained at all of the prohibition, but have been per- 
 fectly contented, and thankful to God for all his 
 goodness. 
 
 But have you never felt uneasy and discontented 
 
THE PROHIBITION. 25 
 
 when your parents or teachers have forbidden you to 
 do, or to take something ? — Have you never thought 
 their prohibition too hard, and wished that you could 
 be free from it ? — Think a little, and you may find 
 reason to believe, that if you had been under the 
 same prohibition as Adam and Eve were, you would 
 have thought it too strict, and wished that God had 
 not made it. 
 
 We shall see, in a few stories more, how they felt 
 and acted. And let us try to see, too, whether you 
 feel and act any better than they did. 
 
STORY III 
 
 THE PENALTY. 
 
 A father who had a library in which there was a 
 large and costly book of beautiful pictures, told his 
 son that he must not take it down from its place. He 
 said that he would show it to his son whenever it 
 was best for him to see it, but that he must never 
 take it down, and that if he did, he should shut him 
 up in a room, and keep him there six hours. 
 
 The being shut up in the room six hours, was the 
 penalty which the boy would have to suffer if he dis- 
 obeyed his father. 
 
 If a man steals, the law says he must be put into 
 prison. Imprisonment is the penalty for stealing. 
 
 If a man kills another in anger, intending to do it, 
 it is murder, and the lav/ says he must be hung. To 
 be hung is the penalty for murder. 
 
 Have you ever suffered any penalty for having 
 
30 THE PENALTY. 
 
 broken the commands, or rules, of your parents or 
 teachers f 
 
 When God forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit 
 of the tree which was in the middle of the garden, 
 he told them that if they disobeyed him, they should 
 surely die. — To die was the penalty which they would 
 have to suffer, if they should eat any of the fruit of 
 that tree. 
 
 This meant a great deal more than that their 
 bodies only should die. What more did it mean ? 
 Let me see if I can explain it to you ? 
 
 When the body dies, it moves and acts no more. 
 The eye cannot see any pleasant sights, nor the ear 
 hear any pleasant sounds, nor the tongue taste any 
 pleasant food. Death puts an end to all the plea- 
 sures of the body. It destroys them entirely. 
 
 Now there is another kind of death spoken of in 
 the Bible, which puts an end to, and destroys all the 
 happiness of the soul. 
 
 When God told Adam and Eve that, if they dis- 
 obeyed him, they should surely die, he meant that 
 they should not only suffer the death of the body, but 
 
THE PENALTY. 31 
 
 also the loss of his friendship and love, and of the 
 happiness which they were enjoying in Eden. He 
 meant that they should meet with a great deal of 
 suffering in this world on account of their sin, and be 
 exposed to endless suffering in the world to come, af- 
 ter their bodies should die. 
 
 This would be death indeed, — the death, or de- 
 struction of all their pure and holy pleasures, which 
 made them so happy while they continued to love and 
 obey God ; the bringing upon them trouble and sor- 
 row ; the pains, sickness, and death of the body ; and 
 what was worse than all, the misery of being sent 
 away from God and all good beings, to dwell for ever 
 in a horrible place of punishment, with other sinful 
 and unhappy beings like themselves. 
 
 Thus you see how the soul may be said to die as 
 well as the body, by having all its happiness de- 
 stroyed, and by dying and dying, as it were, for ever, 
 in the endless sufferings that sin will bring upon it. 
 
 We should think that the penalty must have alarm- 
 ed Adam and Eve very much, even if they did not 
 fully understand the whole of it. They knew enough 
 
32 THE PENALTY. 
 
 to make them fear greatly to disobey God. They 
 knew that if they disobeyed him they would lose all 
 the happiness which they were enjoying. They 
 would no longer have God as their friend. He 
 would both in this and the future world punish them 
 severely. And they could see no way of escaping 
 from this punishment. We should think that all 
 this would have made them very careful, indeed, not 
 to touch the forbidden tree, and not even to wish to 
 touch it. 
 
 Do you not think it would have made you very 
 much afraid to do so, if you had been in Eden, and 
 if God had given you the same command which he 
 gave Adam and Eve ? 
 
 Why then are you not afraid now to sin against 
 God ? Do you know the awful penalty which he has 
 threatened against sinners who do not feel truly 
 sorry for their sins, and trust in Jesus Christ, and 
 look to God for his Holy Spirit to help them to love 
 and obey him? It is to be a miserable sinner for 
 ever ; to have the soul be dying for ever; no life in it ; 
 no right and good feelings, but all wicked and hate- 
 
THE PENALTY. 33 
 
 ful ones ; no kindness to others ; no peace, no com- 
 fort, no happiness. It is to have the soul dying for 
 ever in that miserable place where the wicked angels 
 are, and where wicked men and women, and boys and 
 girls, will go who do not repent of their sins and 
 trust in the Savior. It is to have the soul dying for 
 ever, having lost the friendship and favor of God, and 
 cast out from heaven, with no ho^je of ever being 
 permitted to go there. 
 
 My dear child, will you not fear this awful penal- 
 ty ? — Will you not go to God, and tell him how sorry 
 you are that you have sinned against him ? Will 
 you not pray to him to give you his Holy Spirit to 
 help you truly to repent of all your sins, to trust in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, to love and obey God, and to 
 do all the good you can to others. — Go, go in this 
 way, to your kind heavenly Father, and to the com 
 passionate Savior, who are waiting to receive you, 
 and, though your body must die, your soul shall 
 never die. 
 

 ' 
 
S3?®nir sir. 
 
 THE TEMPTER. 
 
 William one day was standing at his father's door, 
 who told him not to go away, as he wished him soon 
 to go on an errand. A boy who used sometimes to 
 play with William, was passing by with a kite in his 
 hand. "Come, William," said he, "come go with 
 me, and help me fly my kite. There is a fine wind 
 this morning, and I have got twine enough to let her 
 go almost out of sight." 
 
 "I can't go," said William; "my father told me 
 to stay here tiii he came back, when I am going on 
 an errand for him." 
 
 " How soon will he be here ?" said the boy. 
 
 "I don't know," said William, "he may be gone 
 half an hour. 
 
 "O! we shall have time enough then to go and 
 tly the kite, and come back again." 
 
38 THE TEMPTER. 
 
 " But I must not disobey my father ; the Bible 
 tells me that I should obey my parents in all things." 
 
 " If your father were here, I am sure he would let 
 you go. Besides, you will be back before he comes, 
 and he will not know any thing about it." 
 
 " But God will know all about it," said William ; 
 " he sees us at all times ; he sees us now, and I dare 
 not displease him by disobeying my father. I shall 
 not go with you." 
 
 William did right. How much happier all little 
 boys and girls would be, if they would do so too, 
 whenever any one tempts them to do wrong, as the 
 boy who had the kite tempted William to disobey his 
 father. 
 
 When any one tries to lead you to do wrong, by 
 telling you how happy you will be in doing it, or that 
 you will get some good by doing it, that person who 
 thus tempts you is called a tempter* I dare say you 
 have been tempted in this way. Think if you have 
 not, and whether you have done as William did, or 
 not. He was a good boy, and would not yield to the 
 tempter who tried to lead him to do wrong. 
 
THE TEMPTER. 
 
 There was a very wicked being who tempted Eve 
 to do wrong in Eden. It was Satan, or the devil. 
 He had once been a good angel, happy in Heaven 
 in loving and serving God. But he began to have 
 wicked thoughts and feelings about God. He loved 
 God no longer. He would not submit to God's go- 
 vernment. There were other angels who felt and 
 did as Satan did. 
 
 God could not let them remain in Heaven. Hea- 
 ven, you know, is a holy and happy place. It would 
 destroy the happiness of all the good beings who are 
 there to have wicked ones among them. Besides, 
 God means to have all the beings whom he has made, 
 know that he has a right to govern them, — that it is 
 best that he should govern them ; — and that he will 
 govern them. If they will not yield to his govern- 
 ment, he must punish them for their disobedience. 
 
 How unhappy two or three disobedient and wicked 
 children in a family, or even one such child, will make 
 the whole family. The parents must govern and be 
 obeyed, or all will be confusion and wretchedness. 
 
 God cast Satan and the wicked angels out of Hea- 
 
40 THE TEMPTER. 
 
 ven. He cast them down into hell, and there the 
 Bible tells us they are kept " in everlasting chains, 
 under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 
 
 Satan found his way to Eden out of his dark and 
 horrible prison. How he got out, or how he went to 
 Eden, we do not know. We cannot even think how 
 he did it. But we are sure of one thing, that God 
 permitted him to do it, or else he never could have 
 escaped from his prison. We are sure, too, that God 
 had wise and good reasons for permitting Satan to 
 do so ; for God never does any thing without a rea- 
 son, and all that he does is, like himself, holy, just 
 and good. 
 
 Satan arrived in Eden. He had come to see if he 
 could not tempt Adam and Eve to be wicked like 
 himself, and disobey God. How much he must have 
 hated God to wish to do this ! How full of envy and 
 of every bad feeling his heart must have been to wish 
 to make Adam and Eve sinful and wretched like 
 himself, — to have them cast out from the beautiful 
 and pleasant garden in which they lived, and to lose 
 the friendship of God f 
 
THE TEMPTER. 41 
 
 Satan was a tempter. He was the first tempter of 
 whom we have any account. What do you think of 
 him ? Do you wish to be like him ? — " No, no," you 
 say, " I hope I shall never be such a wicked and 
 hateful being as he is." 
 
 Take care, then, lest you follow his example. Do 
 you never have any wrong thoughts or feelings to- 
 wards your parents or teachers ? Do you never feel 
 unwilling to submit to their government ? If you 
 think and feel so, you are disobeying God ; for he 
 commands you to obey your parents and teachers. 
 You are fighting against his government as Satan did. 
 
 Do you never tempt any body to do wrong, — to 
 do what you know, at the time, they ought not to 
 do ? — Think a little before you answer the question. 
 
 If you do, then you are a tempter, such as Satan 
 was. Fear, fear, lest you may become more like him. 
 Pray to God earnestly that he would keep you from 
 following so dreadful an example. 
 
■■> 
 
STOE¥ V- 
 
 THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 Satan did not think it best to appear to Adam and 
 Eve as he realiy was, a wicked and horrible being, — 
 an angel of darkness just come from his dreadful 
 prison-house. He became like a serpent, such as 
 Adam and Eve had often seen, and of which they 
 had no fear. 
 
 He found Eve alone, and near the forbidden tree. 
 Adam was at a distance in some other part of the 
 garden, taking care, perhaps, of the trees and plants, 
 or gathering some fruit for food. 
 
 The serpent, or rather Satan in the form of the 
 serpent, spoke to Eve. He asked her, if God had in- 
 deed said that they should not eat of every tree of 
 the garden. 
 
 Oh ! yes, said she, " we may eat of the fruit of the 
 trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree 
 which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 
 
46 THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest 
 ye die." 
 
 Eve remembered very well what God had told 
 her ; and she ought immediately to have fled, as fast 
 as she could, from one who she must have seen was 
 trying to lead her to think that God's command was 
 too strict. The very way in which Satan spoke 
 to her, shows that this was what he wished to do. 
 
 And this is the way, my dear child, in which you 
 may be tempted to do evil. Either your own wicked 
 heart, or some wicked person, will lead you to think, 
 at first, that the command of your parent, or teacher, 
 or of God himself, is too strict. When you find your- 
 self beginning to think so, — stop. Stop at once. Look 
 up to God. Pray to him in your mind, to help you to 
 get rid of such thoughts, and to flee away from such 
 a wicked person. 
 
 That is the only way in which you can be safe, 
 and escape from the temptation. If Eve had done 
 so, she would have been safe. But she stood there, 
 to listen to what the tempter might still have to say 
 to her. 
 
THE TEMPTATION. 47 
 
 What do you think he did next ? Just what a 
 wicked person is always ready to do when he is tempt- 
 ing another to sin. He told a downright lie. He dared 
 to contradict what God had said, and to charge God 
 himself with having uttered a falsehood. 
 
 " Ye shall not surely die," said Satan, " For God 
 doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your 
 eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, know- 
 ing good and evil." He wished to make Eve believe 
 that there was not the least danger in eating the for- 
 bidden fruit, and that besides this, both she and 
 Adam would gain a great good by eating it. In some 
 way or other, it would enable them to know many 
 new and curious things, just as a person who has 
 been blind and has his sight restored, will open his 
 eyes, and soon be able to see ten thousand beautiful 
 and wonderful objects. He told her that they would 
 know so much about both good and evil things, that 
 they would be like God himself in knowledge. 
 
 In this way Satan tried to make Eve feel that 
 God was too strict in his command, and that he 
 ought to have permitted Adam and her to eat of all 
 
48 THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 the fruit in the garden, without any exception. He 
 tried to make her feel uneasy and discontented, and 
 to think that by eating the forbidden fruit she would 
 be a great deal more happy and wise than she then 
 was. 
 
 This is just the way with all temptations to sin. 
 How have you thought and felt, when you have been 
 tempted ? You have not been contented with what 
 you had. It has seemed to you, either from what 
 you have thought yourself, or from what some wicked 
 person has told you, that there was something which 
 if you could get, or do, you would be a great deal 
 happier. But then your parent, or teacher, or God 
 himself in the Bible, has forbidden you to get, or to 
 do, that very thing. You begin to feel uneasy at this 
 prohibition. You think it is too strict. You doubt 
 whether it is exactly right. You think of the punish- 
 ment which is threatened against you, if you diso- 
 bey. You hope that in some way or other you will 
 escape this punishment, or that there is some mis- 
 take about it, and that you are in no danger of suf 
 fering it at all. Your own wicked heart, or some 
 
THE TEMPTATION. 49 
 
 wicked companion, tells you so, and the temptation 
 begins to lead you to disobedience. 
 
 Now when you think and feel so again, remember 
 Eve. Remember how Satan tempted her ; how he 
 lied and tried to deceive her. And will you let a lie 
 deceive you, and lead you to disobey God, and have 
 him displeased with you ? 
 
 Every temptation to sin, whether it comes from 
 your own wicked heart, or from a wicked companion, 
 is a lie. It is just such a lie as Satan told Eve. If 
 you believe it ; if you yield to it ; if you do the wicked 
 thing ; it is like saying, as Satan did, that God is a 
 liar. It is saying that you do not believe that what 
 God says is true. He says that he will certainly pu- 
 nish sinners with a most awful punishment. When 
 you yield to temptation and sin against him, do you 
 not say, by your conduct, that you do not think that 
 you shall really suffer such a punishment. 
 
 Dare you thus, as Satan did, charge the great 
 God with falsehood ? Dare you say or think that you 
 can sin against him, and escape from the punishment 
 which he has threatened against the wicked ? — What. 
 
50 THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 he threatens he will do. " It is a fearful thing to fall 
 into the hands of the living God." " Fear him who 
 after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell : 
 yea, I say unto you, fear him." 
 
 Fear to sin against him. Fear the beginning of 
 wicked thoughts and feelings. Pray earnestly to God 
 for his Holy Spirit that you may be immediately de- 
 livered from them. 
 
STOXL1T VI. 
 
 THE FALL. 
 
 Once when Jesus Christ was teaching the people, 
 he wished to make them think how foolish it would 
 be for a person to listen to the good things which he 
 was teaching, and then go away and act directly 
 contrary to them. He said it would be as foolish as 
 for a man to build his house upon the sand, without 
 putting any stones under it for a foundation for it 
 to stand upon. In a great storm of wind and rain, 
 and with the waters of a raging stream dashing 
 against the house, it would fall, and the fall of it 
 would be great. 
 
 So we say, if a boy or girl, a man or woman, has 
 for some time conducted well, and all at once yields 
 to temptation, and commits a great sin, that he or 
 she has fallen. And in this story, I shall tell you of 
 the fall of Adam and Eve. Eve, however, fell first, 
 as we shall see. 
 
54 THE FALL, 
 
 After hearing what Satan had to say, Eve did not 
 reprove him for saying it, which shows that she was 
 doing wrong in thus listening to so wicked a tempter. 
 She began soon to look more attentively at the for 
 bidden fruit. Its appearance led her to suppose that, 
 like the other fruit in the garden, it would be " good 
 for food." Then it looked fair and ripe, and with 
 its beautiful color was " pleasant to the eyes." She 
 thought, too, of what Satan had just told her, and 
 felt that the fruit was "to be desired to make one 
 wise." 
 
 Poor, foolish, sinful Eve ! How could she thus 
 dare to believe what Satan told her, and doubt the 
 truth of God's threatening ! 
 
 She drew near the tree, and stretched out her 
 hand, and took of the fruit and ate it. And having 
 sinned herself, just as all other wicked persons do, 
 she soon tempted Adam to sin likewise. 
 
 It was not long before he came that way and saw 
 what Eve had done. The Bible does not tell us how 
 he felt or what he said ; neither does it tell us what 
 Eve said to him. 
 
THE FALL. 55 
 
 As Satan, however, tempted her, so she tempted 
 Adam. She gave him some of the fruit, and he also 
 ate of it. 
 
 They fell. They fell from the state in which they 
 had been, — from being good and happy, — from be- 
 ing obedient to God and enjoying his friendship and 
 love, — into sin ; — into disobedience to God and the 
 beginning to suffer that punishment which he had 
 threatened, if they should break his command. 
 , This was the fall, and it brought, sickness, and 
 pain, and sorrow, and death into the world. It 
 brought sin, too, the worst of all evils. Adam and 
 Eve's children were sinners. And their children 
 were sinners, — -and so on down till this time. All, 
 all have sinned, — you and I, and every body. We 
 have sinned as Adam and Eve did. For do you not 
 remember, my dear child, how often you have had 
 thoughts and feelings, and said and done things, 
 which you knew, at the time, to be wicked, — just as 
 Eve knew it was wicked for her to wish to eat the 
 forbidden fruit, and to take some from the tree and 
 eat it. 
 
56 THE FALL. 
 
 You wonder, perhaps, when you read the story 
 about them, that they could not be contented with all 
 that delicious fruit with which the trees were loaded, 
 but must listen to what a wicked and deceitful tempter 
 said, and for the sake of eating of the fruit of one 
 raore tree, expose themselves to the terrible displea- 
 sure of God. 
 
 You wonder that, while God had done so much to 
 make them good and happy, they could forget it all, 
 and disbelieve what he said, and disobey one who 
 had been so full of kindness to them. 
 
 Ah ! my child, all sin is just the same kind of folly, 
 and unbelief, and unthankfulness. 
 
 Has not God been very kind to you 1 ? — Has he not 
 done a great deal to make you good and happy ? 
 Has he not given you all that you need, and all that 
 is best for you ? If you love and obey him, and those 
 whom he has placed over you to take care of you, 
 will you not have the highest kind of happiness which 
 you can have in this world ? 
 
 Why do you so often wish to reach after and get 
 some forbidden fruit ; something which you know 
 
THE FALL. 57 
 
 your parents or teachers have prohibited, or which 
 God himself has prohibited you from having or 
 doing ? 
 
 Ah ! while you wonder at poor, sinful Adam and 
 Eve, wonder at your own folly and wickedness ! See, 
 how exactly you are like them. Feel sorry for hav- 
 ing committed the same kind of sin which they did. 
 Do not feel proud and boastful, and say that if you 
 had been in Eden, and been tempted by Satan as 
 they were, you would not have acted as they did. 
 
 You have acted as they did. You are guilty as they 
 were. You are exposed to that awful punishment 
 with which God threatened them, if they should dis- 
 obey him. You are exposed to it, and must endure 
 it all, both in this and the future world, unless you 
 go to God, — sorry, humble, broken-hearted on ac- 
 count of your sins, — beseeching him, because Christ 
 died for sinners, to forgive you, — trusting in this Sa- 
 vior, — and praying that God would lead you, by his 
 Holy Spirit, to be like Christ. 
 
 You have been like Adam ; will you not wish, and 
 strive, and pray to be like Christ ? 
 
THE REMORSE. 
 
 Suppose a boy were alone in a room in the house 
 in which he lived, and knew that in a trunk near the 
 window there was some money belonging to his fa- 
 ther. The wicked thought comes into his mind, that 
 a key which he has in his pocket will unlock the 
 trunk, and that he can take a dollar from it, without 
 any one's knowing it. He thinks of all the pretty 
 things that he can buy for a dollar, and how happy 
 they will make him. He yields to the temptation. 
 He takes the, dollar, locks up the trunk, and goes 
 down stairs and tries to look as if nothing had hap- 
 pened. / 
 
 He is kept at home all the day and cannot spend 
 the dollar. When evening comes he goes to bed, as 
 usual, in good season, and lest some one should find 
 the dollar in his pocket, he hides it in a closet, where 
 he thinks it will be safe till the morning. 
 
62 THE REMORSE. 
 
 Do you think he would pray to God that evening", 
 before lying down to sleep ? — No, he would not pray, 
 so long as he meant to keep the dollar. But he 
 would feel unhappy, and very unhappy indeed if it 
 was the first time that he had stolen any thing. 
 
 There would be several things to make him feel 
 unhappy. He would feel ashamed of himself ) to think 
 that he could be a thief, and steal money too from 
 his own father, who had been so kind to him. 
 
 He would have pretty strong fears lest he should 
 be found out, and have to suffer disgrace and punish- 
 ment. 
 
 He would feel too that what he had done was 
 ivrong — that he had been guilty of great wicked- 
 ness, — that God knew it, and that he could not es- 
 cape the displeasure of God. He would feel that he 
 deserved this displeasure, and that sooner or later it 
 might reach him. 
 
 These thoughts and feelings, as he lay his head 
 down on his pillow, would trouble him so as to keep 
 him awake, and make him very wretched indeed. 
 
 Such thoughts and feelings, after a person has 
 
THE REMORSE. 63 
 
 done some wicked thing, and is thinking about it, — 
 is called remorse. — I dare say you know what it is. 
 For although you may never have stolen any thing, 
 yet you have done things which at the time you knew 
 to be wrong, and have been very unhappy afterwards 
 while thinking about your conduct. 
 
 Sometimes this remorse has been so great in per- 
 sons who have stolen, or even in those who have 
 murdered some one, that they have confessed their 
 guilt, when nobody suspected them, and have given 
 themselves up to punishment. 
 
 Nothing can cause as great suffering in this world 
 as remorse ; and it will be one of the principal causes 
 of the sufferings of the wicked in the future world. 
 
 Adam and Eve felt this remorse most deeply after 
 they had eaten the forbidden fruit. They felt their 
 shame and guilt. They felt how ungrateful and dis- 
 obedient they had been to their kind, Heavenly Fa- 
 ther. They felt afraid to meet him. They dreaded 
 his displeasure. They trembled at the thought of 
 the punishment which he had threatened, and which 
 they knew they deserved. — They lamented their fol- 
 
64 THE REMORSE. 
 
 ly in believing what Satan had told them. They 
 found that they did indeed know both good and evil, 
 but in a way far different from that which he had 
 promised, and which they had expected. 
 
 Wretched in looking back upon what they had 
 done, and in looking forward to what they must suf- 
 fer, — they had nothing to make them happy ; nothing 
 in themselves ; in the delightful garden that was 
 around them ; or in God, should he again come to 
 meet them as he had done before. 
 
 He did come to meet them. It was in the cool of 
 the day, and they heard his voice in the garden. 
 
 How glad they would have been to hear that voice 
 if they had not sinned,— if the fruit on the forbidden 
 tree had remained untouched. But they were alarm- 
 ed by the voice. They dreaded to meet the great 
 and glorious being from whom it came. Trembling 
 and fleeing from it " they hid themselves from the 
 presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the 
 garden." 
 
 Have you not felt just so when you have done 
 wrong, and were afraid of being found out. Some- 
 
THE REMORSE. 
 
 65 
 
 times you may have run away and hid yourself as 
 Adam and Eve did ; and at other times, you have 
 wished to avoid the eye of some one, — of your pa- 
 rent or teaeher, and would have hid yourself from 
 their look if you could have done it. 
 
 How unpleasant such feelings are ! But how hap- 
 py a person feels when he can look every body full 
 in the face, — fearing no eye that shall examine him, 
 and no tongue that shall ask him a question. 
 
 How happy you have felt when you could run and 
 meet your father, or mother, or teacher, and hear 
 their voice, and catch their kind look, and let them 
 see that you look as an obedient and happy child al- 
 ways does. 
 
 Be obedient to them. Be obedient to God, if you 
 wish to enjoy this happiness. Remember how Adam 
 and Eve hid themselves in the garden, and pray to 
 God that he would keep you from sinning, that so 
 you may be kept from shame and fear. 
 
STORY" VIII 
 
 THE EXCUSES. 
 
 How very hard it is when a person has clone 
 wrong, to feel sorry for it, and to confess it, and ask 
 to be forgiven. 
 
 How often when you have done wrong, have you 
 tried, on being told of it, to make some excuse for it. 
 You forgot, you said, all about what your parent or 
 teacher had commanded. You did not suppose that 
 they meant exactly so. You did not intend to do just 
 as you did. It was much worse than you thought it 
 would be. You were mistaken about it. A compa- 
 nion told you there could be no harm in doing it. 
 He led you on to do it. He did it more than half 
 himself. You never would have thought of doing it, 
 if he had not tempted you. 
 
 Just so Adam and Eve began to make excuses, 
 when God called them out from their hiding place 
 and they came and stood trembling before him. 
 
70 THE EXCUSES. 
 
 " Hast thou eaten," said he to Adam, ' of the 
 tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest 
 not eat ?" 
 
 " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, 
 she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." — This was 
 Adam's reply. How unwilling he was, frankly and 
 humbly to confess his guilt. How ready he was, if 
 possible, to make some excuse for it. How he tried 
 to throw the blame on Eve, as if he could not avoid 
 doing as she urged him to do, and could not refuse 
 to accept the forbidden fruit from her hand. 
 
 God then inquired of Eve ; " what is this that thou 
 has done?" — She too was ready with an excuse. 
 Her reply was ; " the serpent beguiled me," or told 
 me pleasant and deceitful things about the fruit, 
 which led me without hardly thinking of what I did 
 to pluck it, — " and I did eat." 
 
 Oh ! how much better it would have been for both 
 Adam and Eve to have cast themselves at the feet of 
 their Heavenly Father, and with a heart-felt sor- 
 row for their sin to have confessed it, and besought 
 him to forgive them ! 
 
THE EXCUSES. 7] 
 
 Do you not think, also, that it would always have 
 been better for you to have done the same, when you 
 have done wrong ? Think of this. Look back and 
 see how you felt when you tried to make excuses for 
 what ys'a Knew to be wicked, and deserving of blame, 
 or of punishment. And then think how you felt when, 
 at any time, you confessed your guilt, and was sorry 
 for it, and asked forgiveness. 
 
 Which way of acting do you now think was the 
 best ? 
 
 When you made excuses, your guilt seemed to be 
 increasing ; or at any rate your wrong and disobe- 
 dient feelings grew worse. You felt, all the while, 
 a still stronger unwillingness than ever, to yield to 
 the authority of your parent or teacher. Your ex- 
 cuses, too, were so much like telling a falsehood, that 
 you felt a good deal of the shame and self-reproach 
 that a liar does. You usually have found that your 
 excuses were not taken, and that it turned out worse 
 for you in the end than if you had told the exact 
 truth and confessed your guilt. You have found, 
 too, that after making such excuses, you were the 
 
72 THE EXCUSES. 
 
 more likely to do similar things again, and thus get 
 into new troubles. 
 
 On the other hand, when you have honestly con- 
 fessed your fault, and felt sorry, and asked forgive- 
 ness, — how relieved and happy you have been if this 
 forgiveness was granted. And even if you have had 
 to suffer punishment, how much lighter it has seemed, 
 and how differently your parent or teacher has re- 
 garded you, while you have been suffering it. And 
 when it has all been over, and you have seen that 
 your word could be believed, and that your parent 
 or teacher loved you again, and wished to encourage 
 and help you to conduct well, how delightful this was 
 to you, and how you hoped that in future you would 
 be enabled to avoid the fault that you had committed. 
 
 Remember, too, that all this is equally true with 
 regard to God. 
 
 If you try, as Adam and Eve did, to find out ex- 
 cuses for the sins which you have committed against 
 God, your heart will grow harder in sin. You will 
 begin to think less of the evil of sin. You will think 
 less and less of the danger and guilt of sinning against 
 
THE EXCUSES. 73 
 
 God. You will keep on sinning, — wandering farther 
 and farther from God, — and making the punishment 
 for your sins greater and greater. 
 
 But if you confess your sins to God, and feel truly 
 sorry for them, and trust in Jesus Christ, God has 
 promised to forgive your sins. He has told us so in 
 the Bible in these words which he directed the apos- 
 tle John to write ; " If we confess our sins, he is 
 faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to 
 cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We also read 
 in Proverbs ; " He that covereth his sins shall not 
 prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them 
 shall have mercy." 
 
 Think what a blessing it is to have all your sins 
 forgiven, and to be led by the Holy Spirit to avoid 
 sinning in future, — to have God for your friend, and 
 to become prepared when you die, to go and be with 
 him and with Jesus Christ for ever. 
 
STORY IX. 
 
 THE CURSE. 
 
 Sometimes wicked men are angry at others, and 
 say that they wish that God would send them to hell. 
 This is called cursing. I have heard boys curse and 
 swear. It is sad to hear them, and to think what 
 wicked hearts they must have, thus to take the name 
 of God in vain, and break one of his commands, 
 and be exposed to his dreadful displeasure. Can it 
 be that the little boy or girl who is reading this book, 
 ever uses bad words, or takes the name of God in 
 vain ? I hope not. If you ever have done so, think, 
 think what a wicked thing it is. 
 
 But there is another kind of cursing. It is when 
 God says that some great evil must come upon some 
 person, or place, or thing. Then it surely will come , 
 for God is almighty, and can do whatever he pleases. 
 What he says, is true, and will always come to pass.— 
 
78 THE CURSE. 
 
 Such a curse is dreadful indeed. You remember that 
 Jesus Christ said, that when he comes to judge all 
 mankind, he will say unto the wicked, on his left 
 hand; "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
 
 The first curse which we read of in the Bible is 
 that which God uttered against the serpent, or Satan, 
 who tempted Eve. You can read it in the third 
 chapter of Genesis. 
 
 There is one part of this curse to which T wish 
 you particularly to attend, — for it is accompanied 
 with a great blessing to you and to me, and to all 
 mankind. 
 
 God said that the seed of the woman should bruise 
 the head of the serpent. 
 
 By the seed of the woman is meant some one of the 
 descendants of Eve. She was to have children, and 
 these again would have children, and these again 
 would have children, and so on. All these would be 
 the descendants of Eve, or her seed. Now God de- 
 clared that one of these descen lants should bruise 
 the head of the serpent. 
 
THE CURSE. 79 
 
 Poisonous snakes you know, are sometimes found 
 in the fields and roads, and the men or Jboys who see 
 them, often take a large stick or stone and beat them 
 on the head till they are killed. 
 
 Now as Satan had taken the form of a serpent 
 when he tempted Eve, — to bruise the head of that 
 serpent would mean, to bruise the head of Satan, that 
 is, to weaken and destroy him, so that he could do no 
 more harm. For you know Satan has done, and is 
 still doing, a great deal of evil in the world. In some 
 way which we cannot understand God has permitted 
 him to tempt many persons to sin, as he did Eve. 
 You must remember, however, that this is no more 
 an excuse for their sinning than it was for hers, God 
 will give all who look to him for it in sincere prayer, 
 and trusting in Christ, — strength to resist Satan and 
 to overcome all his temptations. 
 
 From among the descendants of Eve a person 
 would arise who should weaken, and finally destroy, the 
 power of Satan, 
 
 And that person has come. It is the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Son of God, As a man, he is one of the 
 
80 THE CURSE. 
 
 descendants of Eve. Mary, you know, was his mo- 
 ther. And if you go back to her father and mother, 
 and to their father and mother, and so on, you will 
 at last get back to Eve, — the mother, as she is called, 
 of them all and of all mankind. 
 
 It was four thousand years before Christ was born 
 when God pronounced the curse upon Satan in Eden, 
 and declared that the seed of the woman should 
 bruise his head. You see how wonderfully this has 
 come to pass. 
 
 Satan has been trying, ever since he tempted Eve, 
 to lead men to become the enemies of God ; and 
 those who listen to his temptations, and are wicked, 
 like him, the Bible calls his children. 
 
 Jesus Christ came into the world to lead men to 
 love God, and to become his friends and the friends 
 of each other. Satan, therefore, hates and opposes 
 Christ. But Christ" is almighty. He has already 
 bruised the serpent's head. 
 
 While on earth, you remember how he overcame 
 the temptations of Satan, and how he cast out de- 
 vils, and gave his disciples power to cast them out. 
 
THE CURSE. 81 
 
 He once said that he saw " Satan as lightning 
 fall from heaven ;" probably meaning by this that 
 the time had come for the great downfall of Satan's 
 power to do evil. 
 
 The Bible tells us that it was thus to destroy the 
 power of Satan that Christ came into the world ; 
 "For this purpose the Son of God was manifest- 
 ed, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 
 And when he died on the cross, then it was that 
 Satan and all the wicked angels felt that they were 
 indeed overcome. Then Christ was a complete con- 
 queror over them. He may permit them, for wise 
 reasons, to do some more evil in the world. But 
 they can do nothing without his permission, and at 
 last they will be shut up forever in their dismal prison- 
 house, never again to leave it, or disturb the peace 
 of God's government over his obedient creatures. 
 
 I have said thus much about Satan, my dear child, 
 because he may tempt you. He may lead you to 
 have wicked thoughts and desires ; and I wish you to 
 know where you must look for strength to overcome 
 them. Look to Jesus Christ, the seed of the ivoman, 
 
 6 
 
32 THE CURSE. 
 
 who was to bruise the serpent's head. If you look to 
 hirn for this strength, and trust in him, — he will give 
 it to you, and " the God of peace shall bruise Satan 
 under your feet." Remember that Christ has com- 
 pletely conquered this great enemy of all good, and 
 that he can enable you to conquer him also. In the 
 strength of Jesus Christ, " Resist the devil, and he 
 will flee frqm you." 
 

SEORY X, 
 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 If a school-master should find out that one of the 
 boys had been very angry with another, and struck 
 him so hard as to hurt his eye badly, he would do 
 right to call the two boys before him, in the presence 
 of the whole school, and inquire into the matter. 
 
 After inquiring, he feels that it is his duty to pun- 
 ish the boy who struck the other. He makes him 
 stand on a stool so that all the scholars can see him. 
 He says to him; " for your very bad conduct in get- 
 ting angry and striking your school-fellow, you must 
 bring your dinner to school for three days, and stay 
 here locked up from twelve to two o'clock, and your 
 dinner must be nothing but bread and water." 
 
 This telling the boy what his punishment would 
 be, was the sentence which the master passed upon 
 him 
 
 A judge sentences a man who is found guilty of 
 
86 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 stealing, to imprisonment ; and a man who is found 
 guilty of murder, to death. 
 
 There was a sentence which God passed upon Adam 
 and Eve, after he had pronounced the curse upon 
 Satan. How sad and guilty they must have felt 
 while receiying it I 
 
 He told Eve that she should have much pain and 
 sorrow, and Adam that he should suffer greatly also. 
 On account of his sin, the whole earth would be 
 cursed. It would begin to bring forth thorns and 
 thistles. A great change would take place. Things 
 would look very different from what they had done 
 in Eden. Adam and Eve would no longer eat the 
 delicious fruit with which that garden abounded. 
 They were soon to leave it, never to return. Adam 
 must labor and toil hard to raise his food from the 
 ground by digging and cultivating it. And, at last, 
 they must both die, and their bodies be mingled with 
 the dust. 
 
 Sin was the cause of these evils to Adam and Eve ; 
 and look round, and see how much pain, and sorrow* 
 and trouble sin still causes. 
 
THE SENTENCE. 87 
 
 The sentence of death has passed upon all men, 
 for that all have sinned. You suffer because you are 
 a sinner. If you live, you will have, like Adam and 
 Eve, to meet with pain, and sorrow and trouble. 
 And, at last, you will die. God says to you, as he 
 did to Adam ; " dust thou art, and unto dust shalt 
 thou return." 
 
 Think of the evil of sin. It is a great evil because 
 it is committed against God. Whenever you have 
 sinned, you have made this evil greater. Ought you 
 not to repent, — will you not repent of all your sins, 
 and go to Christ, and love him, and obey his com- 
 mands ? 
 
 We are told that, after passing sentence upon 
 Adam and Eve, God drove them out of Eden. This 
 was a part of their punishment, and they must have 
 felt it very severely. They knew that they never 
 would be permitted to return, and enjoy again its 
 pleasant walks and shades, and breathe its pure and 
 fragrant air, and eat its delicious fruits. Here they 
 had felt safe under the protection of their Almighty 
 friend. He had visited them and conversed with 
 
88 
 
 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 them ; (at least, we have reason to think so.) They 
 had been happy in loving and obeying him, and in 
 loving and doing good to each other. All their wants 
 had been satisfied, and if they had only been con- 
 tented and obedient, this delightful garden, with all 
 its pure and holy pleasures, would still have been 
 their home. What a painful thought to think that 
 they were now to lose this home, and to go forth to 
 endure pain, and toil, and sorrow, and death, in a 
 world cursed and changed on account of their sin! 
 
 Unhappy Adam and Eve ! Think how they must 
 have felt as they took their last look of Eden ! 
 
 But there is a brighter and more beautiful, a 
 happier and lovelier place than Eden was. It is 
 Heaven, the Paradise of God. There is no sin there, 
 and no temptation to sin ; — no pain, or sickness ; — 
 no trouble or sorrow. All is holiness and peace. All 
 is perfect happiness. There is no fear of a change. 
 The joys of Heaven will be eternal. 
 
 Its inhabitants will be improving constantly in 
 knowledge, in goodness, and in happiness. Their 
 delight will consist in learning more of God and of 
 
THE SENTENCE. 
 
 89 
 
 Jesus Christ ; in loving and serving them ; and in 
 rejoicing to do good to all around them. 
 
 What were the delicious fruits, the fragrant air, 
 and all the pleasures of the garden in which Adam 
 and Eve lived, to the joys of the Heavenly Paradise ! 
 
 How wretched were Adam and Eve in being cast 
 out from Eden ! How will you feel, my dear child, 
 should you be so unhappy as to be shut out forever 
 from the Eden above ! 
 
 You need not be. There is a sure ivay, in which 
 you can gain admittance there, never to be cast out. 
 Jesus Christ is that way. He died on the cross that 
 the way to Heaven might be opened for you. He is 
 ready and waiting to take you by the hand, and lead 
 you into this way. Will you go to him ? You know, 
 while on earth, he said, " Suffer little children to 
 come unto me, and forbid them not." 
 
 Will you go to this kind and compassionate Sa- 
 viour f He loved you so much, — yes, you who are 
 reading this book, that he came down from Heaven 
 and died on the cross, on purpose to save you ? Will 
 you any longer delay to go to him ? 
 
90 
 
 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 Go to Christ as a poor, sick, and almost dying 
 man looks to the physician who comes to see him, 
 and feels that his only hope of life is in what this 
 kind and skillful physician will do for him. 
 
 Go to Christ, feeling as Peter did when he was 
 sinking in the waters, and was near drowning, and 
 felt that he had no strength in himself, and cried 
 out "Lord save me, or I perish." 
 
 Go to Christ, feeling as the repenting publican did 
 when he " smote upon his breast, saying, God be 
 merciful to me a sinner." 
 
 Go to Christ, feeling that you are indeed a sinner, 
 and that the law of God justly sentences you to 
 punishment, as it did Adam and Eve. 
 
 Go to Christ, feeling that lost in yourself, without 
 any goodness and without any strength of your own, 
 you come to be saved by him, and to receive this 
 salvation as a free gift which you do not at all de- 
 serve. 
 
 Will you do this ? Will vou now go alone and try 
 to do it ? Will you pray to God for his Holy Spirit 
 to aid you in doing it. He has said, " Ask, and ye 
 
THE SENTENCE. 91 
 
 shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock and it 
 shall be opened unto you." — " Him that cometh to 
 me I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 THE END. 
 
A 
 
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