CHAPTER XVIII.

MAN'S SINFULNESS; OR, THE DISEASED FAMILY.

QUESTION XVIII. _Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?_

ANSWER. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

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"I WISH father wouldn't bring me into the lesson," cried Walter, as he was sitting in a large stuffed chair before the fire, waiting for his parents and sisters to be through with their tea.

"I'll ask him not to," replied Helen, just then entering to room. "Here, I've brought you a cup of milk and water, and mother says if you relish it, you may eat this toasted cracker. I hope you'll like it," added the sympathizing child, "for I fixed it myself with nice cream and salt."

"You're a dear little girl," replied Walter, "and I'll try to eat it just because you have taken so much pains."

For several days the boy had been ill in his chamber, but at his earnest request, his mother had allowed him to come down to the parlor, where, wrapped in a loose dressing gown, he was awaiting the exercise.

"How do you find yourself to-night, my boy?" asked his father, placing his fingers upon his son's pulse. "Helen says you don't wish to be brought into the catechising. Do you mean that you feel too ill to recite with the others?"

"O, no, sir!" responded the boy, a slight flush overspreading his pale countenance. "I meant that I don't like to have you speak about my temper and such things; I'd rather hear about that some other time."

Mr. Dermott smiled, and told Isabelle it was her turn to repeat the answer, and then asked her, "What was Adam's first sin?"

"Eating the apple, papa."

"Do you remember what I told you about Edward?"

"O, yes, papa," cried Helen.

"I think perhaps you will understand this question better, if I illustrate it by a continuation of the story of Edward. When we left him, he had somewhat recovered from the occasioned by his wound, but was still far from well. He gradually recovered, so as to be able to attend school, and then went into his father's store as clerk. But the wound in his side had caused a pulmonary complaint which often confined him to the house for weeks together.

"At the age of twenty-four he was married, and resided with his wife in his father's family. In a course of years, five children were born to them, each of whom, after a few months, began to show certain signs of the disease which they had inherited from their father. The symptoms of these were indeed slight at first, but just sufficient to show that the seeds of consumption were implanted, and would at some time cause their death. They were, however, an interesting family; and Edward loved them with all a father's fondness.

"On a certain occasion, he perceived in one of his boys some symptoms of that unbounded curiosity which had caused him the loss of health and of independence; and he determined to relate his own story as a warning to his children. With a bleeding heart and tear-dimmed eyes, he did so.

"When, with a burst of grief, his oldest daughter cried out, 'O, father! How sorry I am you touched the box. If you had not, you would never have been sick; and mother would not have looked so pale and frightened as she does now, when you raise blood from your lungs.'

"'No, and we should have been rich too,' added the youngest boy; 'and now we are so poor, I hardly ever have any new clothes, and I can't have a sled, like all the other little boys.'

"Edward sighed heavily, as the children openly expressed what had for many years been the burden of his thoughts by day and of his dreams by night. 'Yes,' he cried bitterly, as he rushed from the room to conceal his emotion; 'but for that one act of disobedience, I should now have been blessed with health and an independent fortune. O, why did I not die of the dreadful wound, instead of living to convey the seeds of death to those so dear to me! This is my bitterest thought, that they must suffer in consequence of my sin; and if they should live to become parents, they must transmit the infection to future generations.' Overcome by these thoughts, he wept aloud.

"And when his daughter rushed into the room, she saw that the handkerchief with which her father was wiping his mouth was saturated with blood.

"'O father,' exclaimed Helen, 'I don't like Edward's uncle at all. He might have given him some money, when he had so much.'

"Now," resumed the gentleman, "we will leave the story of Edward, and go back to the lesson, which says 'the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin,' just as the children of Edward, by his disobedience, forfeited the favor of his uncle, lost all the healthfulness and the property which they might have inherited, and were visited with poverty, disease, and wretchedness.

"Adam, you know, was created holy, or righteous—a quality here called 'original righteousness.' When he fell, he lost all this; and all those who descended from him lost it with him. Their natures, which would have been holy, causing them to think holy thoughts, to speak holy words, and to perform holy actions, became wholly corrupt. And henceforth they went 'astray from the womb speaking lies;' 'they have all gone out of the way;' 'they have altogether become sinful;' 'there is none that doeth good, no, not one.' The chief prophet of Israel gives this account of the human heart: 'The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint; from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it.'

"Can you tell me, Walter, what are actual transgressions?"

"I suppose they are such as are acted out, as when we steal, or lie, or swear, we commit actual transgressions."

"Yes, and we also commit them when we indulge wicked or unkind thoughts, which proceed from a corrupt heart. If we neglect the duty of prayer, or of keeping holy the Sabbath, all these flow from a carnal mind, and are actual transgressions of the law of God. David prays,—

"'Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!'

"Last Sabbath there were three infants baptized," added Mrs. Dermott. "Can you tell me, Walter, why water was used?"

"No, ma'am."

"Water is an element used for cleansing. Parents who carry their children to this ordinance realize that they have inherited corruption, and are unholy and unclean; therefore they desire them to be washed, or purified. But I shall explain this more fully to you under another question."