{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74275/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74275","id":"gutenberg_74275","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74275","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Westminster Assembly (1643-1652). Shorter catechism"],"text":"Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.\n\n\n\n                          _GOD AND MANKIND._\n\n                               VOLUME I.\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE FAMILY CATECHISING.]\n\n\n\n                         THEOLOGY IN ROMANCE:\n\n                                  OR,\n\n                 The Catechism and the Dermott family.\n\n\n                                  BY\n\n                       MRS. MADELINE LESLIE\n\n     AUTHOR OF \"HOME LIFE\" AND OF \"MRS. LESLIE'S JUVENILE SERIES\"\n\n\n                                 AND\n\n\n                          REV. A. R. BAKER\n\n         AUTHOR OF \"THE CATECHISM TESTED BY THE BIBLE,\" ETC.\n\n\n\n                               \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\n                                BOSTON:\n                      JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY.\n                   CLEVELAND, OHIO: H. P. B. JEWETT.\n                 PHILADELPHIA: WM. S. & ALFRED MARTIEN.\n\n                                 1859.\n\n\n\n       Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by\n                      JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY,\n     In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of\n                            Massachusetts.\n\n\n\n                         ELECTROTYPED AT THE\n                      BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.\n\n\n\n                             DEDICATION.\n\n                           [Illustration]\n\n                     THE VOLUMES OF THIS WORK\n\n         ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHORS\n\n                               TO THE\n\n                     Y O U N G  C O N V E R T S\n\n                               IN THE\n\n               G R E A T  R E V I V A L  O F  1 8 5 8,\n\n           IN THE HUMBLE HOPE OF AIDING THEIR PROGRESS IN\n\n                   CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE AND GRACE.\n\n\n\n                           INTRODUCTION.\n\n                          [Illustration]\n\nTEN years have completed their course since one of the associate\nauthors of these volumes published his first edition of \"THE CATECHISM\nTESTED BY THE BIBLE.\" It was sold in a few weeks. That work, in two\n18mo. volumes, was revised and stereotyped the same year; and two\ncorresponding volumes, with the same title, but more simple and\nexplanatory, and therefore better adapted to young children, were\nprepared and published with them.\n\nOf these four books, recently revised, put into two, one for children,\nthe other for adults, and issued in a new stereotype edition, more than\ntwo hundred thousand impressions have been printed. They have been\ntranslated into several foreign languages; as into the Arabic by Rev.\nH. M. Calhoun in Syria, where, by the blessing of God, they contribute\nto the fulfilment of prophecy, and are helping to \"turn Lebanon into\na fruitful field.\" In the Sandwich Islands, we are informed, they are\nused by government authority as national text books, assisting to\nconfirm those who were so lately idolaters in \"the faith which was\nonce delivered to the saints.\" They are \"helps\" at various missionary\nstations, and have been widely circulated in the United States, the\nBritish Provinces, and several transatlantic countries.\n\nFrom highly respectable sources, the author of that work has received\napplications for other volumes, in illustration of the doctrines\nand duties of Christianity, as set forth in the admirable compend\nthereof, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, and entitled \"The\nShorter Catechism.\" The first suggestion of this kind was received\nyears ago in an interview with Rev. T. H. Gallaudet, of Hartford,\nConn., whose numerous and popular works for the young demanded for his\njudgment grave consideration. It was then that his rare gifts as a\nwriter awakened the hope of his future aid in the preparation of these\nvolumes\u2014a hope the realization of which his death has precluded.\n\nBut Providence has kindly enabled the author of the former treatise\non the Catechism to avail himself of the efficient aid of his wife,\nwhose \"Home Life,\" consisting at present of \"Cora and the Doctor,\"\n\"The Courtesies of Wedded Life,\" and \"The Household Angel,\" and whose\n\"Juvenile Series,\" of which four volumes, \"The Motherless Children,\"\n\"Play and Study,\" \"Howard and his Teacher,\" and \"Trying to be Useful,\"\nhave been very favorably noticed by the press and received by the\npublic. Two other volumes of the same series, \"Striving and Thriving,\"\nand \"I'll Try,\" are in press, and will shortly be issued.\n\nThe explanations and illustrations contained in the present volumes\nexhibit the method, and in part the results, of her weekly catechising\nof her own children, and of her instruction in Sabbath schools, also of\nher husband's catechetical exercises with the children and youth of his\npastoral charge, for a long course of years.\n\nThey comprise the sum of their united experience, reading, and\nobservation, together with such anecdotes and fables as they have found\ninteresting and useful in this department of Christian nurture.\n\nEach catechetical answer has been analyzed, and the subjects it\ncontains carefully studied by us individually. Then we have unitedly\nagreed upon the method of explaining, illustrating, and enforcing its\ntruths. For the theology and ethics of these little volumes the author\nis mainly responsible; but the background, drapery, and shading of the\npicture, on which much of the interest and utility of the work depends,\nis to be ascribed mainly to the authoress, whose nom de plume is\nassociated with his name upon the title page.\n\nAfter a careful revision and preparation for the press, the work is\ngiven to the public in the hope that it may aid parents, Sabbath school\nteachers, and pastors in the religious education of the dear children\ncommitted to their care, and may enable the rising generation better to\nunderstand these subjects of divine knowledge, and more tenaciously to\n\"hold fast the form of sound words.\"\n\n\n\n                        CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.\n\n                             \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n CHAPTER I. MAN'S CHIEF END; OR, LITTLE LOTTY\n\n CHAPTER II. THE BIBLE; OR, THE SAILOR BOY\n\n CHAPTER III. THE DIVINE RULE; OR, AOLA\n\n CHAPTER IV. THE CHARACTER OF GOD; OR, PRAYER IN THE ASSEMBLY\n\n CHAPTER V. THE UNITY OF GOD; OR, THE MISSION HOUSE\n\n CHAPTER VI. THE GODHEAD; OR, THE SILENCED INFIDEL\n\n CHAPTER VII. THE PURPOSE OF GOD; OR, THE NEW HOUSE\n\n CHAPTER VIII. EXECUTION OF GOD'S PURPOSE; OR, THE POOR MINISTER\n\n CHAPTER IX. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD; OR, THE PATENT OFFICE\n\n CHAPTER X. THE CREATION OF MAN; OR, THE WAX DOLL\n\n CHAPTER XI. PROVIDENCE; OR, THE ILL-FATED BOAT\n\n CHAPTER XII. THE COVENANT OF WORKS; OR, THE FIRST WEDDING\n\n CHAPTER XIII. THE FALL OF MAN; OR, THE MYSTERIOUS BOX\n\n CHAPTER XIV. THE NATURE OF SIN; OR, THE CONVICT\n\n CHAPTER XV. THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT; OR, THE BROKEN RULE\n\n CHAPTER XVI. THE BROKEN COVENANT; OR, THE FAMILY OF THIEVES\n\n CHAPTER XVII. MAN'S FALLEN STATE; OR, THE DEPOSED MINISTER\n\n CHAPTER XVIII. MAN'S SINFULNESS; OR, THE DISEASED FAMILY\n\n CHAPTER XIX. MAN'S MISERY; OR, THE BATTLE FIELD\n\n CHAPTER XX. ELECTION AND REDEMPTION; OR, THE NEW HOME\n\n CHAPTER XXI. CHRIST, THE REDEEMER; OR, THE PARDONED REBELS\n\n\n\n                         THEOLOGY IN ROMANCE.\n\n                           [Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nMAN'S CHIEF END; OR, LITTLE LOTTY.\n\n\nQUESTION I. _What is the chief end of man?_\n\nANSWER. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nIT was truly a pleasant scene; the cheerful fire burned brightly in\nthe grate, as the little group gathered around their mother, their\neyes sparkling with the eager anticipation of pleasure. The hour so\nmuch longed for had arrived; and Mrs. Dermott, taking in her hand a\nnicely-bound volume of the Catechism, proceeded, in fulfilment of her\npromise, to explain and illustrate it to her youthful audience.\n\nAddressing her eldest son, a bright, active boy of twelve summers, she\nasked, \"Walter, what is the chief end of man?\"\n\nIn a low but distinct voice, he replied, \"Man's chief end is to glorify\nGod and to enjoy him forever.\"\n\n\"What is the meaning of chief end?\"\n\n\"Principal object or business.\"\n\n\"Yes; Isabelle is just beginning to attend school. Can you tell me,\nHelen, what her chief end is while there?\"\n\n\"To learn to read and spell.\"\n\n\"I learn geography, too,\" lisped the little one, \"and can tell which is\nmy right hand, and which is my left hand.\"\n\nMrs. Dermott and the children smiled, while she continued: \"If Isabelle\nshould go to school some day, and spend all her time in whispering or\ndrawing pictures on her slate, what would be her chief end?\"\n\n\"To play.\"\n\n\"Yes. She would be like a great many men, women, and children, whom God\nhas sent into the world to glorify him, but who pass their whole lives\nin seeking their own pleasure. Would that be right?\"\n\n\"No, mamma. It would be very wicked.\"\n\n\"The great object, business, or end, then, for which mankind were sent\ninto the world, is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. How can\nlittle children glorify God?\"\n\n\"If they love him and keep his commands,\" replied Anna, seriously.\n\n\"How can little children show that they love God, and that their chief\nend is to glorify him?\"\n\nAnna blushed, and glanced at Walter, who replied for her. \"If they\nare serious and devout in church and Sabbath school. If they listen\nattentively to what their teachers say about God, and are not thinking\nabout their plays, toys, or fine clothes, but are trying to learn how\nto please him, I think that would be glorifying God.\"\n\n\"Yes, my dear boy,\" replied Mrs. Dermott, gazing with moistened eyes\nupon the flushed, eager countenance of her first-born. \"God would\nsee in that child's heart a desire to attain the chief aim of his\nexistence, and He would send his Holy Spirit to aid, comfort, and guide\nhim, and at last would take him to the full enjoyment of himself in\nheaven.\"\n\n\n\"Between two and three thousand years ago,\" added Mrs. Dermott, \"there\nlived in Greece a great many wise men, called philosophers. These were\ndivided into numerous sects, as Christian people now are into different\ndenominations. The search of all these was for the highest good, or\n'the chief end' of man. One sect claimed it was to be found in ease;\nanother in pleasure; and still another in fame and renown. Some claimed\nthe greatest good consisted in luxurious meats and drinks; some placed\nit in one thing, some in another. Their wisdom was but folly. None of\nthem attained the true idea which God in the Bible has revealed to\nlittle children, and which this answer of the Catechism so beautifully\nand summarily expresses. But an incident will explain my meaning.\n\n\"There once lived a sweet little girl who was noticed by her mother to\ngo to her chamber many times in a day; and, curious to know what led\nher there, the lady softly followed. As she approached the door, she\nheard the voice of her child talking, as she supposed, with some one\nwithin; but listening more attentively, she perceived that Lotty was\nasking her heavenly Father to bless her.\n\n\"With a grateful, rejoicing heart, the mother returned to the parlor,\nwhere Lotty soon followed, and, taking up her doll, resumed her play.\nShe dressed and undressed the baby, tried on a little bonnet and sack\ngiven her by her aunt, all the while closely watched by her mother, who\nsoon saw her place Dolly safely in the tiny bed, and, having tucked her\nin, retire to her chamber again. Surprised and delighted, Mrs. Kidder\nonly waited for her child to return to her play, before she questioned\nher as to the cause of her frequent absence.\n\n\"'Come here, Lotty,' she said, affectionately, as the little girl made\nher appearance.\n\n\"'May Dolly come too, mamma?'\n\n\"'Yes, dear.'\n\n\"'Why do you leave your play so often?'\n\n\"'O mamma, I love God so!' was the touching reply, as, with her sweet\nface flushed with holy joy, she turned to gaze into her mother's\ncountenance. 'Every time I go into my room, it seems just as if God was\nglad; and he makes my heart so warm. I think he loves to have me pray\nto him.'\n\n\"For two years more Lotty was spared to her father and mother, and all\nthe time the love of God was growing in her heart. It was the whole\nbusiness of her life to love, honor, and glorify him. By and by her\nheavenly Father called her to his mansion above the skies, where she\nwill enjoy his love and presence forever and ever.\n\n\"When the physician, who had been hastily summoned, told her weeping\nmother that a few hours would terminate her life, Lotty, though\nsuffering acutely, pressed her little hands together, exclaiming, 'O,\nI long to be there. I shall see my dear Saviour, and live with him\nforever. Don't cry, mamma,' she pleaded, as her mother's tears flowed\nafresh. 'Jesus has forgiven all my sins, and he will take care of me. I\nwill ask him to send for you and papa; and then we'll sing praises to\nhim forever and ever.'\"\n\nThis little girl glorified and enjoyed God.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE BIBLE; OR, THE SAILOR BOY.\n\n\nQUESTION II. _What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify\nand enjoy him?_\n\nANSWER. The word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the\nOld and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may\nglorify and enjoy him.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nANNA SHERWIN was an orphan child of Mrs. Dermott's deceased brother.\nFor a year she had been residing in the family of her aunt, who treated\nher with all the tenderness which she manifested for her own children.\nWith the buoyancy natural to youth, Anna had ceased to mourn her\nparents' loss, though she loved to call to mind their instructions, and\nto govern her conduct as she thought would please them.\n\nWith the enthusiasm of a child, she looked forward to \"the\ncatechising,\" as her cousins had styled the teaching of their mother,\nand was the first to take her seat and to be in readiness for the\nsecond question. When the others were in their places, Mrs. Dermott\nrequested Anna to repeat the answer given at the head of this chapter,\nand then asked, \"What volume contains the word of God?\"\n\n\"The Bible, or 'The Book.'\"\n\n\"How do we know it is the word of God?\"\n\n\"Because\u2014because\u2014\" The little ones looked at each other, but could not\nanswer the question.\n\n\"I will ask another question. How do we know, Walter, that the Shorter\nCatechism was written by the Westminster Assembly?\"\n\n\"Because we have always heard so,\" replied the boy. \"I suppose people\nwho lived then told their children, and they told theirs, until it has\ncome down to us.\"\n\n\"I once saw an old gentleman,\" remarked the mother, \"who told me some\ninteresting circumstances respecting that most remarkable body of men.\nHis father had told him that his great-great-grandfather was a member\nof the Assembly; that he knew and had conversed with those who wrote\nthe Catechism, and that he had related many interesting facts, which,\nwith letters and other papers, were now preserved in an antiquarian\nlibrary.\n\n\"In the same manner we know that the books of the Bible were written by\nthe men whose names they bear, and can distinctly retrace them to their\nauthors, both by history and tradition. Besides, God enabled them to\nperform many miracles, such as healing the sick, opening the eyes of\nthe blind, raising the dead to life, to prove that they had received\nauthority from him. Ha also enabled them to foretell many events\nwhich have since taken place, and thereby has set his seal to their\ncommission.\n\n\"A poor negro was once asked, 'What reasons have you for believing the\nBible to be the word of God?'\n\n\"'Me have no reasons, massa,' was the good man's artless reply. 'Me\nwant no reasons. Me read the precious book, and me feel it in here,'\nputting his hand upon his heart. 'Me know God wrote it for poor\ncreatures just like me.'\n\n\"The Bible carries its own arguments with it. Its writers often refer\nto this internal evidence of its truth. 'He that believeth shall know\nof the doctrine.' 'Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds,\nthat ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of\nGod.'\n\n\"Multitudes have in this way learned the divine truth and power of the\nHoly Scriptures.\n\n\"Many years ago I read of a pious widow who lived in the northern part\nof England. She had one son. This boy, whose name was Charles, from\nbeing her pet and darling, became her scourge and her cross. He loved\nbad company, and at length declared his intention of going to sea. His\nmother, with many tears and sad forebodings, bade him farewell; but as\nshe did so, she put into his hand a New Testament inscribed with her\nname and his own, solemnly and tenderly entreating that he would keep\nit and read it for her sake. Year after year elapsed, bearing to heaven\nthe record of her prayers and tears, and still no tidings of her boy!\n\n\"At length her maternal anxiety could brook no longer delay. She set\nout alone for London, where she went about making inquiries concerning\nthe vessel in which Charles had sailed. She one day mot a sea captain,\nwho told her the ship had been wrecked long before, adding, 'They were\na wicked crew, especially a cabin boy by the name of Charles\u2014. He was\nso depraved and profligate, that it were a good thing if he and all\nlike him were at the bottom of the sea.'\n\n\"Pierced to her inmost soul, this unhappy mother withdrew from the\nhouse, and hastened to her retired home. The language of her heart was,\n'I shall go down to the grave mourning for my son.'\n\n\"Some years elapsed, when one night, a half-naked sailor knocked at\nher door to ask relief. He had seen great perils in the deep, had been\nseveral times wrecked, but, said he, 'I have never been so dreadfully\ndestitute as I was some years back, when I and a fine young gentleman\nwere the only ones saved of a whole ship's crew. We were cast upon\na desert island, where, after seven days, I closed his eyes. Poor\nfellow! I never shall forget him;' And here the tears stole down his\nweather-beaten cheeks.\n\n\"'He read day and night,' continued the sailor, 'in a little book which\nhe said his mother gave him, and which was the only thing he saved from\nthe wreck. It was his companion every moment. He wept for his sins; he\nprayed; he kissed the volume; he talked of nothing but this book and\nhis mother; and when he died, he gave it to me, with many thanks for my\npoor services.\n\n\"'There, Jack,' said he, 'take this book, and keep it and read it, and\nmay God bless you; it's all I've got.'\n\n\"And then he clasped my hand, and died in peace.\"\n\n\"'Is this all true?' said the trembling, astonished mother, hope\nwhispering to her heart that the dying youth was her own Charles.\n\n\"'Yes, madam, every word of it.' And then, dragging from his ragged\njacket a little book, much tattered and time-worn, he held it up,\nexclaiming, 'And here's the very book too.'\n\n\"She seized it, descried her own handwriting, and beheld the name of\nher son coupled with her own upon the fly leaf. She gazed, she read,\nshe wept, she rejoiced. She seemed to hear a voice saying, 'Thy son\nliveth;' and from her heart she was ready to exclaim, 'Now, Lord,\nlettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy\nsalvation.'\n\n\"'Will you part with that book, my honest fellow?' said she, anxious to\npossess the precious relic.\n\n\"'No, madam,' was the answer, 'not for any money\u2014not for all the world.\nHe gave it to me with his dying hand. I have more than once lost my all\nsince I got it, without losing this treasure, the truths of which have,\nI hope, been blessed to my soul; and I will never part with it till I\npart with the breath out of my body.'\n\n\"The Bible,\" continued Mrs. Dermott, \"has this transforming power,\nbecause holy men wrote it as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God\nput into their hearts what they wrote, and he renders it effectual to\nour salvation. What other names do we sometimes give to the Bible?\"\n\n\"The Scriptures, or Testaments,\" replied Walter, quickly.\n\n\"A testament is a will or writing, such as persons leave to tell what\nthey wish to have done with their property after their death. How many\nTestaments are there in the Bible, Helen?\"\n\n\"Two; the Old Testament and the New Testament.\"\n\n\"Do you see why these two portions of the Bible are called Testaments?\"\n\n\"No, mamma.\"\n\n\"It is because in them God has revealed to us his will. In them he\ntells who shall be heirs to his vast possessions.\"\n\n\"I should think every body would want to read them, then,\" exclaimed\nWalter in an animated tone.\n\n\"Yes, my son. If a book were now to be published, telling how any one\nwho wished might inherit a crown, and be heir to an immense estate,\nhow eagerly would the volume be perused! And how exactly would the\ndirections be followed. But here is a book which God has given as a\nrule or guide to lead us to heaven, where a crown of glory, which\ncannot fade, is awaiting us, and where we may be co-heirs with Christ\nto an eternal and immortal inheritance. Alas, that so many should\nneglect it!\"\n\n\n\"A little boy was once sent by his mother to a small shop to buy a bar\nof soap. The shopwoman took it from the shelf, and having received the\nmoney from the child, took a thick book from the floor, and was just\nabout to tear out some of the leaves, when the boy exclaimed, 'Is not\nthat the Bible?'\n\n\"'Yes; but what of that?'\n\n\"'O, do not tear the Bible! It is so precious.'\n\n\"'Pshaw! It is only fit for wrapping paper.'\n\n\"'O, will you not give it to me?'\n\n\"'Yes, if you will give me its weight in waste paper.'\n\n\"Leaving his soap, the boy ran swiftly home, and rushing up to his\nmother, exclaimed, 'O mother, the shopwoman will give me a Bible, a\nwhole Bible, if I can get as much waste paper as it will weigh.'\n\n\"With his mother's consent, he then searched the house; but the\nquantity he obtained was far too scanty for him to procure the prize.\nDetermined, however, not to give up, he went round among the neighbors,\ntold them his story, and soon obtained a supply. He then carried it to\nthe shopwoman, and watched her with breathless interest as she placed\nthe precious Bible in one scale and the old newspapers in the other,\ngave a bound of joy as he saw the former was more than balanced by the\nlatter, and received the precious volume in his arms.\n\n\"'It is my own Bible. O, what a treasure!' he exclaimed, pressing it\nrepeatedly to his breast.\n\n\"We can easily imagine with what delight the dear boy sat down to\nperuse the sacred pages; how joyfully he adopted it as the lamp to his\nfeet and the light to his path, as his only rule of faith and practice.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE DIVINE RULE; OR, AOLA.\n\n\nQUESTION III. _What do the Scriptures principally teach?_\n\nANSWER. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe\nconcerning God, and what duty God requires of man.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nMR. DERMOTT was the wife of a merchant residing in the suburbs of a\nlarge city. Her husband was frequently called from home for several\nmonths together; and she, in accordance with his wishes, had taken\nup the doctrines and duties of Christian faith, with the endeavor to\nrender them both simple and attractive to her children. Thus far her\nefforts had been attended with unusual success, and the little ones\nlooked forward with impatience for the evening when the lessons should\nbe continued.\n\nAll being in their places, and the answer repeated with which this\nchapter commences, the lady inquired, \"Did you notice, Walter, into how\nmany parts the teachings of Scripture are divided in this answer?\"\n\nAfter a moment's hesitation, the boy replied, \"Into two parts: what we\nare to believe, and what we are to do.\"\n\n\"Very well, my dear. In the first place, the Bible teaches us to\nbelieve; or it presupposes the existence of God, the Creator of all\nthings. He made the world and all that is therein; the sun to rule the\nday, and the moon and stars to rule the night. The beasts of the field,\nthe birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, even the little insects\nwhich swarm in the air, were all fashioned by his forming hand.\n\n\"But what is of more importance to us than all else, is the fact\ncontained in Scripture, that God sent his only Son to provide a way of\nsalvation for poor, guilty sinners.\n\n\"This is what we are to believe concerning God. The duties required\nof us are comprehensively and beautifully summed up in the ten\ncommandments. These relate both to our duties toward God and our duties\ntoward our follow-creatures.\n\n\"The Bible teaches little children to whom they are indebted for life\nand all that makes life pleasant, and it also teaches them to obey\ntheir parents, and how to treat each other.\"\n\n\"The Bible says, 'Little children, love one another,'\" urged Helen,\nspeaking quickly; \"now, mother, will you tell us a story?\"\n\nMrs. Dermott smilingly assented, and commenced. \"Far, far away among\nthe Rocky Mountains, many hundred miles beyond where the foot of\nthe white man had ever trod, there once lived an Indian maiden, the\ndaughter of a sachem. She married one of the young warriors of her\ntribe, and for many years followed him from one hunting field to\nanother, her heart kept warm by her love for him and for her papooses.\nThis is the Indian name for children, of which she had four.\n\n\"At length her husband grew sick, and, according to the custom of\nthe poor, deluded tribe, Nola presented offerings to their idols in\nhis behalf. But, notwithstanding her sacrifices and her prayers, the\nwarrior grew rapidly worse, and soon died.\n\n\"Aola was now a widow, and had no one to draw the bow for her, except\nher eldest son. In a few months, he returned hurriedly from the chase\nto his mother's wigwam, and throwing himself upon his father's hunting\nrobe, said, 'I am sick.'\n\n\"'This time,' said Aola, 'I will surely appease the wrath of our gods.'\n\n\"She deprived herself of many comforts to offer more costly sacrifices;\nbut all in vain: her first-born soon breathed his last.\n\n\"Before twelve moons had waxed and waned, two more dear ones, precious\nremembrances of her past joys, had sickened, and in spite of her\nagonizing prayers to the idols, had passed forever from her sight.\n\n\"At length her sweet little Lola, who, in her repeated trials, had\nentwined herself closer and closer to her heart, grew wan and pale,\nlike the others who had preceded it to the world of spirits. Aola, in\nher anguish, beat her breast. Suddenly she grew more calm, and, taking\nLola in her arms, hastened to a huge pine tree near her wigwam. She\nseated herself on a little mound at the foot of the tree, and began to\nlook into her own heart.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I will pray to the God of my Lola.\"]\n\n\"'Aola,' she asked herself, 'where is the God who gave you your\npapoose?'\n\n\"She gazed far into the deep, dark forest, then up toward the bright\nblue sky, and a voice whispered to her soul, 'I am God, who made the\nheavens and the earth. Plead your cause with me.'\n\n\"With streaming eyes Aola replied, 'I will no longer bow down to the\ngods who would not hear my prayers. I will pray to the God of my Lola.'\n\n\"She then laid her babe upon the soft grass at her feet, and\nprostrating herself upon her knees, with her lips touching the ground,\nher cries and her supplications ascended to the Most High. He heard her\nprayer; and when Aola returned to her wigwam, it was with a smile of\nhope upon her lip.\n\n\"Fourteen years later, when Mr. Kingsbury, one of the first\nmissionaries to the Indians, reached her tribe, and began to talk about\nthe white man's God, Aola, catching her child by the hand, led her to\nthe good man, exclaiming, in her native language, 'White man's God my\nGod, Lola's God too.' And then began to tell him that for fourteen\nyears she had prayed to the good Being who had whispered to her heart,\nand who had saved the life of her child.\n\n\"A station was subsequently established at that place, and Aola was\nreceived into the Christian church. Lola was taught to read the Bible;\nand O, how eagerly did her mother drink in the precious words which\nrevealed to her so fully the greatness and goodness of that gracious\nBeing, whom, not knowing, she had loved!\n\n\"But her history is very unlike that of most of the heathen. It teaches\nus of what the power of conscience and the light of nature are capable,\nand confirms the words of the apostle:\n\n   \"'The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are\n clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his\n eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.'\n\n\"The multitude of them have 'changed the glory of the uncorruptible God\ninto an image made like to corruptible man, to birds, and four-footed\nbeasts, and creeping things.' They need the Bible to teach them what\nthey ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of\nthem.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE CHARACTER OF GOD; OR, PRAYER IN THE ASSEMBLY.\n\n\nQUESTION IV. _What is God?_\n\nANSWER. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his\nbeing, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nISABELLE DERMOTT was a lovely child. She had just attained her seventh\nyear. From her birth she had occasioned her parents groat solicitude\non account of the peculiar delicacy of her constitution. Her mind was\nprecocious; and until within a few months, she had been withheld from\nmental labor. Now, however, she had commenced attending school, and was\nadvancing rapidly in her studies.\n\nWhen the question for the day had been asked and answered, Mrs. Dermott\nbegan the lesson by the inquiry,\u2014\n\n\"Anna, what is that within you which thinks and feels?\"\n\n\"My soul.\"\n\n\"Yes, your soul, or spirit. Can we see it?\"\n\n\"No, mamma,\" replied Helen, gravely.\n\n\"Do you remember that dreadful thunder shower last summer, when\nIsabelle was so much alarmed?\"\n\n\"I do!\" \"And I!\" \"And I!\" called out one and another.\n\n\"You know, Helen, I told you to look for the next flash of lightning.\nIt came as I was speaking, and almost blinded you. The air was full of\nelectricity, which causes the lightning; but you could not see it until\nit flashed. Just so it is with God, who is a Spirit. He is everywhere,\nand makes himself known by what he does. He is in the air we breathe,\nin the sunshine and in the storm, in the merry warbling of the birds,\nin the pleasant gurgling of the brooks, in the sighing of the forest,\nand in the blooming of the tiniest flower. It is God who swells the\nbuds in the spring, clothes the trees with foliage, forms and ripens\nthe pleasant fruit, causes the sun to shine, and the rain to fall.\n\n   \"'He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the\n service of man . . . The young lions roar after their prey, and seek\n their meat from God.'\n\n\"Can you tell me, Walter, the meaning of the word infinite?\"\n\n\"Yes, mamma; father explained it to me. God is infinite because he\nextends through all space, and without limit.\"\n\nMrs. Dermott rose, and drawing up the window curtain, called her young\naudience to view the beautiful stars which spangled the sky. Fixing\ntheir attention upon one brighter than the rest, she said, \"Isabelle,\ndoes not that seem a great way off?\"\n\n\"O, yes, mamma.\"\n\n\"Well, if you could approach it, and look out just as far beyond, you\nwould only be looking upon the beginning of the infinite space filled\nby God.\n\n\"Eternal means the same with regard to time as infinite does with\nregard to space. When we have lived hundreds of thousands of years in\nthe eternal world, we shall be not one minute nearer the end of our\nexistence. God never began to live, and he never will cease to live.\n\n\"Helen, the other day you were complaining that the rules or\nregulations of your school were so often changed that you could\nnot remember them. You can never complain thus of God, for he is\nunchangeable. The apostle James says,\u2014\n\n   \"'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh\n down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither\n shadow of turning.'\n\n\"God says of himself,\u2014\n\n   \"'I am the Lord; I change not.'\n\n\"What a wonderful blessing is this attribute of God! With what\ncertainty we can rely upon his promises! We can be sure that his\ndesigns of mercy toward the children of men will never, never fail.\n\n\"We learn by this answer that God is without bounds as to space, and as\nto time, never varying in himself, nor in the counsels of his mind.\n\n\"Can you tell me, Walter, the meaning of the word wisdom?\"\n\n\"I suppose it means very skilful, and able to do a great many things.\"\n\n\"Yes, Solomon says,\u2014\n\n   \"'The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth.'\n\n\"God is infinite not only in wisdom, but also in power. He can not only\ndevise wonderful things, but he can accomplish whatever he pleases.\nLuke, in his Gospel, says of the Jews,\u2014\n\n   \"'And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.'\n\n\"They had been witnessing the miracles he had wrought, and their hearts\nwere filled with wonder and awe.\n\n\"Anna, can you think of any thing which we call holy?\"\n\nAnna hesitated a moment, and then replied, \"The Sabbath is holy,\nbecause it is God's day.\"\n\n\"God is unchangeable in holiness.\n\n   \"'Who is like thee, glorious in holiness?'\n\n\"He is also immutable in justice.\n\n   \"'Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.'\n\n\"He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, also, in goodness and truth.\n\n   \"'The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.'\n\n   \"'Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.'\"\n\n\n\"In 1643, the Westminster Assembly, of one hundred and fifty-one\nlaymen and divines, met by order of Parliament. One committee of\nthat body framed a Catechism which expresses the common faith of the\nreformed churches, and is adapted to general use. When they came to the\nquestion, 'What is God?' an awful solemnity fell upon them. Who could\nventure to express in words the momentous truth? All shrunk from the\ntoo sacred idea.\n\n\"At length it was resolved, as an expression of the committee's deep\nhumility, that the youngest member should make the first attempt. He\nconsented, but begged that the brethren would first unite with him in\nprayer for divine enlightenment. Then, in slow and solemn accents, he\nthus began his prayer:\n\n   \"'O God! Thou art a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in thy\n being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth!'\n\n\"When he ceased, the first sentence of his prayer was immediately\nwritten down and adopted, as the most perfect answer that could be\nconceived; as, indeed, in a very sacred sense, God's own answer,\ndescriptive of himself.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE UNITY OF GOD; OR, THE MISSION HOUSE.\n\n\nQUESTION V. _Are there more Gods than one?_\n\nANSWER. There is but one only, the living and true God.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nBEFORE the evening on which the next lesson of the Catechism occurred,\nMr. Dermott unexpectedly returned home. He was welcomed by the children\nwith almost boisterous affection.\n\nAnd after relating many incidents which had occurred during his\nabsence, Helen exclaimed, \"O papa, we do have such nice times at\nthe catechising! I never liked the Catechism before, because I did\nnot understand the meaning of the words. But now you may ask me any\nquestion that you like. I mean about those mother has explained to us.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" cried Mr. Dermott, with an arch smile. \"I must obtain\npermission to join this wonderful class; for I confess there is much\nthat I could learn about these sublime truths. What is the lesson for\nto-night?\"\n\n\"We don't have to look out any of the references, as we did at the\nSabbath school,\" exclaimed Walter, earnestly. \"We only commit the\nanswer to the question; and when it's Belle's turn, mother lets her\nread it from the book.\"\n\nHelen, having easily obtained permission for her father to be present,\ngayly seated him between Isabelle and herself, and clasping his hands\naffectionately, informed her mother they were ready for her to commence.\n\nAnna having repeated the answer to the question in course, Mrs. Dermott\nasked, \"What are the gods of the heathen called?\"\n\n\"O mamma!\" cried Isabelle. \"Ask father first; he is the oldest!\"\n\nThe lady smilingly nodded assent, and Mr. Dermott replied, \"I think it\nis the prophet Jeremiah who calls them idols and images.\"\n\n\"Of what, Walter, do the heathen make their idols?\"\n\n\"Of wood and stone.\"\n\n\"That great one, we saw at the Mission House was made of gold,\" cried\nHelen, \"and another was made of some old straw, stuck all over with\nelegant red feathers. Some of them were worn off, and I peeped inside.\nIt was an ugly-looking thing.\"\n\n\"Here is an idol made of brass,\" added Mrs. Dermott, rising and taking\nfrom the mantel a small calf, about an inch in length. \"Dreadful as\nit may seem, this little image has had a human sacrifice offered to\nit. This was afterward given up to the missionaries, who sent it to\nme. Probably this was made in imitation of the golden calf which the\nIsraelites worshipped; the sight of which caused Moses such wrath that\nhe threw down the tables of stone upon which the commandments were\nwritten, and broke them.\"\n\n\"Beside images of every imaginable shape and size,\" remarked the\ngentleman, \"the poor deluded heathen worship many objects in nature,\nsuch as the sun and moon, very many kinds of animals\u2014cows, dogs,\ncrocodiles, and even mice. When I was in India, I saw the Hindoos\nengaged in offering sacrifices to the sun. Early in the morning, men,\nwomen, and children gathered together in an open field, carrying\nfruits, sweetmeats, pigeons, kids, &c. These were all set in a row,\nand a small pot of water placed by each person's offering, around the\nedge of which they wove a kind of wreath in imitation of the sun. They\nalso had a small vessel of coals for incense, and a lamp, which was\nkept burning all day, by each sacrifice. At sunrise they walked four\ntimes around the whole row of offerings, with the smoking censers on\ntheir heads; after this they returned to their former station, where,\nI was informed, they stood erect all day, occasionally throwing a\nlittle incense into the fire, but without tasting food. About sunset,\nwhen I was told their ceremonies would be concluded, I returned. They\nagain took their censers, and walked three times around the field. The\npigeons were thrown into the air, and scrambled after for food, when\neach one threw his lamp away, and hastened home. This was merely a\nsenseless and foolish idolatry. The next day one of the missionaries\ninvited me to the hook swinging, in which the deluded Hindoos had iron\nhooks fastened into the flesh of their backs, and swung through the\nair, to appease the wrath of their gods. I had no heart to witness so\ncruel an exhibition. But no matter where I went, in every part of India\nthere were idols of wood, stone, and clay; some ornamented with silver\nand gold, others in forms the most hideous and repulsive.\"\n\n\"How can they be so silly as to worship idols?\" inquired the impulsive\nHelen. \"I stuck a pin through that old feather god, and it could feel\nnothing; it only kept grinning with its two rows of ugly teeth; and I\nmight have screamed in its ears all day, it could never have heard me.\"\n\nThe children smiled, but Mrs. Dermott said, gravely, \"In contrast with\nthese senseless images, which have eyes, ears, and hands, but can\nneither see, hear, nor dispense favors, how great and glorious appears\nthe one living and true God, whose throne is in the heavens, but who is\nso condescending that he stoops to listen to the earnest prayer of the\nhumblest child!\"\n\n\"Walter,\" inquired Mr. Dermott, \"is there no duty we owe these poor\nheathen?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir; we ought to send Bibles and missionaries to teach them about\nour God; and then they would throw away their idols, as the Sandwich\nIslanders did.\"\n\n\"Yes, my child; and we ought to pray for them, that their hearts may be\nenlightened to see the folly of their worship.\"\n\n\"I pray for the heathen every night,\" faltered Isabelle, with tearful\neyes, \"and I mean to save all my pennies to send them Bibles.\"\n\n\"A missionary,\" said Mr. Dermott, \"once gave an account of a poor man\nwho came into his house. 'When he had sat down, he took up a book of\nmissions which lay upon the table, in which were plates of heathen\nidols, hideous and ugly in their appearance.'\n\n\"'What game is this?' he asked my daughter.\n\n\"'They are not game,' replied the little girl; 'there are nations who\nworship those things.'\n\n\"'O,' said he, 'how you tell fibs!'\n\n\"'No, I am not telling fibs. My mamma said so, and she does not tell\nfibs.'\n\n\"'Well,' he said again, 'tell me what games they are.'\n\n\"'They are things that people worship, just as we worship Jehovah and\nJesus. If you do not believe it, go and ask papa.'\n\n\"He then came to me, and said, 'Look at that!' And repeated what Mary\nhad told him. 'Is it true?' he asked.\n\n\"'It is,' was the reply.\n\n\"Having gazed at me for a moment, in astonishment, he said, 'I know you\ndo not lie; but how can it be?'\n\n\"And laying the book down upon a piece of timber I was planing, he\nlooked at it, putting his hands to both sides of his head, and waving\nit backward and forward.\n\n\"Presently he asked, 'Have those people that make these things of wood\nand stone, heads like me?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Have they got legs?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Can they talk and think? Can they explain a difficult thing? Can they\nspeak in a public meeting, like our senators?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Then never say that our people are foolish or ignorant.'\n\n\"Taking from his neck a whistle, made of ivory, and carved with some\ndevice, perhaps a man's face, he nodded his head to it in a most solemn\nmanner, and said, 'If my people should see me worshipping my whistle,\nwhich looks much better than those monsters, they would think I was\nmad. They would throw me over a precipice, and cover me with stones.'\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE GODHEAD; OR, THE SILENCED INFIDEL.\n\n\nQUESTION VI. _How many persons are there in the Godhead?_\n\nANSWER. There are three persons in the Godhead\u2014the Father, the Son, and\nthe Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance,\nequal in power and glory.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\"I DON'T believe this lesson will be as interesting as the last,\"\nwhispered Helen to her cousin Anna, as they sat together an hour or two\nbefore the exercise commenced.\n\n\"I'm sure I can never understand about the Godhead. I hope mother will\ntell us a good, long story.\"\n\n\"O, I dare say we shall understand it,\" replied Anna, promptly. \"Aunty\nmakes it so clear and plain; and then uncle will be here too. What a\ndreadful thing it is to worship idols, as he saw the poor heathen in\nIndia!\"\n\n\"Children, are you ready for the lesson,\" called out Mr. Dermott,\ntaking a seat near the fire.\n\nThe mother smiled as she saw how eagerly her young audience arranged\nthemselves in order, and, having listened to a correct answer of the\nquestion in course, asked, \"Anna, what name do we commonly give to the\nSon of God?\"\n\n\"Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\"Can you think of no other?\"\n\n\"Yes, ma'am; Saviour and Redeemer.\"\n\n\"And what name do we generally apply to the Holy Ghost?\"\n\n\"The Spirit\u2014the Holy Spirit,\" responded Walter.\n\n\"That is right; and the Bible teaches us that God the Father, God the\nSon, and God the Holy Spirit, are three persons, not separate, but\nunited in one God, and that they are equal in substance or nature, in\npower and glory. What is the union of these three persons called?\"\n\nThe children not being able to reply, Mr. Dermott answered, \"The\nGodhead.\"\n\n\"We cannot understand how these three distinct persons can be one God,\"\ncontinued the lady; \"but neither can we understand a thousandth part\nof what we see every day, and believe to be true. For instance, we do\nnot know, when an acorn is put into the ground, how a little sapling\nsprings up, which, in due time, becomes a tall, giant oak; nor why, on\nthe same stalk, a green leaf and a red rose should grow; neither can we\nfully understand the framework of our bodies, the curious mechanism of\nthe arteries, and veins, and nerves; nor the structure of our minds;\nhow we can think, and weep, and rejoice; how we can call to mind events\nlong passed. Still less can we understand the silken cord which unites\nthe body and soul. But we do not hesitate to believe that these things\nare so.\n\n\"Now, in the word of God we are expressly taught that 'the Lord our God\nis one God;' and we are also taught that Jesus Christ is God.\n\n   \"'Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a\n sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.'\n\n\"Then, in the sad story of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter said to the\nformer,\u2014\n\n   \"'Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. Thou\n hast not lied unto men, but unto God.'\n\n\"The Bible abounds in passages teaching this doctrine, such as these:\nChrist says,\u2014\n\n   \"'I and my Father are one.'\n\n\"Paul writes to the Philippians,\u2014\n\n   \"'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being\n in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.'\n\n   \"'God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is\n above every name, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is\n Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'\"\n\n\"And it is equally explicit with reference to the Holy Ghost,\" added\nMr. Dermott. \"John says,\u2014\n\n   \"'There are three that bear record in heaven,\u2014the Father, the Word,\n and the Holy Ghost,\u2014and these three are one.'\n\n\"He is called 'the Comforter, who will teach all things,' knowing 'the\nmind of God,' preserving and governing the world.\"\n\nAfter a moment's pause, the gentleman added, \"I remember to have heard\nan account of an infidel which well illustrates the point your mother\nhas explained, that though we cannot understand, we must believe\nspiritual and experimental truths. This infidel was sitting with many\nothers in a public room belonging to a hotel. At length he began to\ntalk upon the absurdities of the Christian religion, quoting these\nexpressions\u2014,'I and my Father are one;' 'I in them and thou in me;' and\n'three persons,' 'in one God.' Finding his auditors were not disposed\nto applaud his blasphemy, he turned to one gentleman and said, with an\noath, 'Do you believe such nonsense?'\n\n\"'Tell me,' asked the gentleman, in reply, 'how that candle burns.'\n\n\"'Why,' answered he, 'the tallow, the cotton, and the atmospheric air\nproduce the light.'\n\n\"'Then they make one light, do they not?'\n\n\"'Yes.'\n\n\"'Will you tell me how they are one in the other, how the three unite\nand form but one light?'\n\n\"'No, I cannot.'\n\n\"'But you believe it?'\n\n\"He could not say he did not.\n\n\"The company all smiled at the man's inconsistency and folly; and the\nconversation was changed. So, my dear children, if you believe only\nwhat you can understand, and can explain, you may as well part with\nyour senses, as you are surrounded by the wonderful works of God, whose\nways are past finding out.\"\n\n   \"Jehovah!\u2014Father, Spirit, Son!\n    Eternal Godhead! Three in One!\n    Before Thy throne we sinners bend;\n    Grace, pardon, life, to us extend.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE PURPOSE OF GOD; OR, THE NEW HOUSE.\n\n\nQUESTION VII. _What are the decrees of God?_\n\nANSWER. The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the\ncounsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained\nwhatsoever comes to pass.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nA FEW days succeeding the last lesson, Mr. Dermott received letters\nwhich rendered it necessary for him to leave home sooner than he had\nanticipated. His wife keenly regretted this, as, aside from the great\npleasure she experienced in his society, she had been so much assisted\nby him in the catechisings. As he must leave two days before the\nevening for another lesson, it was proposed by the children that the\nexercise should be anticipated that length of time; and Mrs. Dermott\nrequested him to assume the character of teacher for the occasion. This\nshe would at all times have preferred him to do; but he thought her\ngifted with a peculiar tact at imparting instruction; and then he was\nso liable to be called away.\n\nIt was Isabelle's turn to answer the question, but she begged her\nmother, who sat by her side, to do it for her; when Mr. Dermott\ninquired, \"Wife, where is the plan of our new house?\"\n\n\"In the secretary. Walter, pass it to your father.\"\n\nThe boy opened wide his eyes with astonishment, but immediately obeyed,\nwhile little Belle whispered to her mother, \"Shan't we have any story,\nthen?\"\n\n\"I think so, my dear; but hear what papa is saying.\"\n\n\"Who drew this plan, Walter?\"\n\n\"I heard you say, sir, that Mr. Bond, the architect, did, and that you\ngave him fifty dollars for doing it.\"\n\n\"Yes, and it was cheap enough too; a very nice house it is; and how\ncomfortable we have been since we moved into it! I remember well how\npleased I was when he showed me this plan; and that after your mother\nand I had passed a whole evening in carefully examining every part, I\ndetermined, or purposed, that my house should be like it.\"\n\nThe children had gathered around their father, though wondering not a\nlittle that he had so entirely forgotten their lesson.\n\n\"See here,\" added the gentleman, turning the large sheet of stiff\npaper, at which they had been looking. \"Here is what is called a\nframing plan, so that the carpenters may know, before they buy their\nlumber, exactly how much they shall need, and of what size. And here at\nthe corner is a little sketch of the pillars to support the piazza, and\nthe form of the brackets that go around the coving.\"\n\n\"I heard the carpenters say,\" exclaimed Walter, \"that it was a great\nhelp to have such a plan, and prevented much misunderstanding and\nunkind feeling; for often the carpenter will understand the contract\none way, and his employer quite another; and he wished every man, who\nwas going to build a house, would have an exact framing plan, as well\nas a profile of the rooms.\"\n\n\"Yes, it is very important,\" replied the gentleman. \"The house we\nrented while ours was building, is an illustration of the folly of not\nhaving a plan. Mr. Longworth wished to build a house. He wanted one\nthat would look handsomely outside; but his own family was small, and\nso he concluded to make a building with two tenements. He consulted Mr.\nBond about it, and found that an exact plan of the building, and of\nframing, with specifications, would cost him sixty-five dollars. It was\nto be larger than mine. Sixty-five dollars was quite too much money, he\nthought, to pay for the plan of a house, when he could make one just as\nwell himself. I told him he would find it would be a saving of money in\nthe end. But he thought otherwise, and, having engaged the carpenters,\nset them to work.\n\n\"As I was to have the tenement when it was ready, I felt an interest\nto watch the job. The workmen knew that they were to put up a frame\nforty-four feet front and forty deep; and so far they went on tolerably\nwell, though even here there were some hard words about the size of\ntimbers, &c. But after that, every thing went 'at sixes and sevens,'\nas old Mr. Carter used to say. The men would go on from day to day,\nreceiving their directions from Mr. Longworth; but as he was a hatter,\nand not a mechanic, he did not make his plans aright, and the men used\noften to pull down one day what they had built up the preceding.\n\n\"You know the consequences, for we all suffered from living in an\nill-contrived, sham-built house; and we were glad enough to get away\nfrom it. Now, Mr. Longworth cannot rent it at all; and he told me, a\nfew days since, that if he had followed my advice, and let Mr. Bond\nmake a plan, he should have been a thousand dollars better off than he\nis at present.\n\n\"Now, children, I am going to apply this to your lesson. More than six\nthousand years ago, before God had said,\u2014\n\n   \"'Let there be light, and there was light.'\u2014\n\n\"He took counsel of himself, and determined to create a world; and,\nfirst of all, he made a plan, or, as the Catechism calls it, a decree.\nThere should be in the new world a great light for the day, called the\nsun, and a lesser light for the night, called the moon. There should be\ntrees, and fruits, and flowers, each in their season. There should be\nbeasts, and birds, and fishes, and insects. He also determined to make\na man and woman, with souls to think and feel. These would be at the\nhead of a race of beings capable of worshipping him, and enjoying him\nforever. If I lived a hundred years, and talked all the time, I could\nnot begin to tell you all the little minuti\u00e6 of God's plan, or decree,\nabout his new world.\n\n\"Now, I can only give a very imperfect outline. God decreed, or\nplanned, or determined, that when Adam was formed, he should be a\nholy being; but as he wished to try him, and see whether he would\nobey God's holy laws, he decreed that Satan should tempt him to eat\nthe forbidden fruit; and, as he knew that neither Adam nor Eve would\nresist the temptation, but would fall from holiness to sin, he formed a\nwonderful plan of redemption through his own Son, who should suffer for\nthe guilty race, that those who accepted him as their ransom, might be\nsaved, and, at length restored to holiness and happiness.\n\n\"God is a being of wondrous power, and he knew exactly who would love\nthis dear Saviour whom he had sent into the world. He knew from all\neternity that there would be this catechising this evening, and what\nwould be the thoughts of each one of our hearts. Yes, he made a plan\nof it all, though it seems as insignificant as the planning where a\nlittle screw should go in one of our door handles; and he determined,\nor ordained, beforehand,\u2014or foreordained, as the Catechism has it,\u2014that\nwhatsoever should come to pass should be for his own glory.\"\n\n\"It seems the most blessed thing for us that God did make such a plan,\"\nremarked Mrs. Dermott, as her husband ceased speaking.\n\n\"Yes, indeed, we can see the sad effects of the want of plan in Mr.\nLongworth's house; but we cannot conceive the awful results which would\nhave followed had God been changeable; one day governing the world in\none way, and the next in another way; and we must bless him to all\neternity.\"\n\n\"What does God call this plan?\" asked Mrs. Dermott. \"I think in the\nBible it is nowhere called a decree.\"\n\n\"No, that word is not used. In Proverbs it is called God's counsel.\n\n   \"'The counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.'\n\n\"In Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, he calls the plan of God his\npurpose.\n\n   \"'According to the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ\n Jesus our Lord.'\n\n\"In Romans it is called foreknowledge and predestination.\n\n   \"'For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed\n to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many\n brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and\n whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he\n also glorified.'\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nEXECUTION OF GOD'S PURPOSE; OR, THE POOR MINISTER.\n\n\nQUESTION VIII. _How doth God execute his decrees?_\n\nANSWER. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and\nprovidence.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nAFTER being absent three days, Mr. Dermott wrote his wife that he hoped\nto be with them before the close of the week, and if they chose to put\noff the catechising until Saturday night, he should be most happy to go\nthrough the exercise with them. When the lady read the letter to the\nchildren, they unanimously requested that the lesson be postponed until\ntheir father returned.\n\nMrs. Dermott was much pleased to see that the questions which had\nbeen explained were frequently talked of during the day, and the\nillustrations repeated. The account of little Lotty, and of the boy who\nprized his Bible, were commented upon again and again.\n\nSaturday evening arrived, and great was the disappointment that their\nfather had not yet returned. It was now quite dark, and as Ruth was\nbringing in the tea, their mother called them to drop the curtains, and\ntake their places at the table. They were scarcely seated, however,\nwhen they heard a firm step on the piazza, and all sprang toward the\ndoor to welcome the traveller.\n\n\"You see I have kept my word,\" he said, as an hour later they were\nseated around the cheerful fire. \"We have another lesson on the\ndecrees, or plan, of God; and I wished to study it with you. Are we\nsure that God's plan will not fail?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" cried Helen.\n\n\"Why so? I made a plan of this house, but I might have died long before\nit was finished; or I might have changed my mind, and concluded not to\nbuild at all; or I might have lost all my property, and not been able\nto finish it.\"\n\n\"But God can't die, nor lose his property,\" exclaimed Walter; \"and in\none of our lessons we learned that he is unchangeable. So we know that\nhe will act according to his plan, or will do as he planned to do.\"\n\n\"Very true, my son,\" said his father, affectionately patting his\nshoulder. \"He will certainly execute his plan or purpose. Is there any\nway in which we can learn what his plan, or any part of his plan, is?\"\n\n\"I should think not, sir,\" replied the boy.\n\n\"But does not the Bible reveal to us his plan for saving sinners?\"\n\nWalter blushed as he replied, \"Yes, sir; I didn't think of that.\"\n\n\"Yes, the Bible reveals to us the gift of a Saviour.\n\n\"To refer once more to my plan. While the building was in progress, I\nused to hear men talking with the carpenter, curious to know whether\nthe house was to have an L, or a piazza, or an observatory. He smiled\npleasantly as he told them to wait and see. We know that God made the\nworld in six days, and that he executed the work of creation according\nto his plan, previously conceived and adopted. He is still carrying on\nthis work by the creation of human beings.\n\n\"God reveals his decree, or purpose, also in his providence, in which\nthe great plan of redemption may be considered as included. The\nchoosing of the Israelites to be his peculiar people\u2014their exodus\nfrom Egypt, their rejection of and wicked crucifixion of the Saviour,\nare parts of his government, or providence, the leaves of which are\nunfolding every hour.\n\n   \"'What his soul desireth, even that he doeth.'\"\n\n\n\"Nearly a hundred years ago, there was an eminent clergyman by the name\nof Thoroughgood. He was an exceedingly pious, amiable man; but during a\npersecution, he was imprisoned and cruelly treated. After his release,\nhe suffered from poverty. One day he and his family were reduced to\ntheir last scanty mouthful of food. The children were hanging about\ntheir mother crying for bread, which she was unable to give them. With\nstreaming eyes she turned to her husband and asked, 'What shall I do\nfor my poor children?'\n\n\"The good man had been greatly moved by the scene. His chin quivered;\nbut gazing at his beloved one, he inquired, in a touching voice, 'Can\nyou not trust in God?'\n\n\"Soon after he persuaded his wife to take a walk. A robin was perched\nupon a bough singing a merry song. He stopped and gazed at it, saying,\n'Let us learn a lesson from this bird, who sings his praises to God and\ntrusts him, though he knows not where he shall get his next meal. Let\nus, my dear wife, trust to the providence of God, who counts us of more\nvalue than many sparrows.'\n\n\"As they drew near the house on their return, they heard sounds of\njoy, where so lately there had been only cries of distress; and upon\nentering, a happy sight awaited them. In the centre of the room, a\ntable was loaded with provisions sufficient to last for many days,\nwhile Martha, the faithful serving woman, tearfully pointed to the\ncorner of the room, where stood sack of corn and a bag of flour. The\nchildren could scarcely restrain their joy, as their father gratefully\nraised his hands and eyes to heaven, saying, in a trembling voice,\n'They who trust in the Lord shall not want any good thing.'\n\n\"Thus you see, dear children, it is safe to trust in the providence of\nGod.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE CREATION OF THE WORLD; OR, THE PATENT OFFICE.\n\n\nQUESTION IX. _What is the work of creation?_\n\nANSWER. The work of creation is God's making all things out of nothing,\nby the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nEARLY in the week following the return of Mr. Dermott, Mrs. Lang, a\nsister of Mrs. Dermott, arrived at their residence to make a short\nvisit. She was accompanied by her twin daughters, who were near\nWalter's age. Thursday was the evening appointed for the catechisings,\nand during Mrs. Lang's visit, she so often heard the children refer to\nthese occasions, as possessing great interest, that she was induced\nto accept her sister's urgent invitation, and remain to witness, what\nnow seemed to her so incomprehensible, how children could be made to\nunderstand the doctrines of the Catechism.\n\nHelen joyfully clapped her hands as Louise and Lucia made known their\nmother's decision, and exclaimed, \"O, I'm so glad! You'll hear such a\nnice story; and then you'll always understand the answer when you've\nheard father and mother explain it!\"\n\nThe little girls thought otherwise, but they wisely said nothing, and\nlooked forward to the evening, with feelings of curiosity, rather than\nwith anticipations of pleasure.\n\nMr. Dermott was still at home, and, at his wife's earnest request, had\nconsented to act once more in the capacity of teacher. Anna having\npassed him the Catechism, and promptly repeated the answer to the\nquestion, he asked, \"Who made the world, Isabelle?\"\n\n\"God.\"\n\n\"Yes, my dear, God made the world and all things that are therein.\"\n\nThe gentleman arose from his seat, and paced the room two or three\ntimes without speaking.\n\nAt length he stopped opposite the chair of his sister-in-law, and said,\n\"That was a delightful winter we passed in Washington together.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she replied, in a low voice, as if she were speaking in meeting.\n\n\"That was a sensible arrangement.\"\n\n\"To what do you refer?\" asked his wife.\n\n\"Why, to your plan of being married on the same evening as your\nsister, instead of a month in advance, so that we could be together at\nWashington during the honeymoon.\"\n\nThe sisters smiled; but Helen asked, rather abruptly, \"Papa, have you\nforgotten the catechising?\"\n\nMr. Dermott smiled archly, but did not reply to the child. \"I recalled\nour visit to the capital of our Union, as I have been thinking to-day\nof the Patent Office. What a remarkable institution that is!\"\n\n\"Yes, I was more interested in it than in any other place we visited.\nOne might spend weeks there with profit.\"\n\n\"Will you please, uncle, to tell us about it some time?\" timidly urged\nAnna.\n\n\"I will tell you now, my dear,\" he said, patting her head\naffectionately. \"In the first place, we went to examine the models of\nmachinery, telegraphs, lightning rods, and agricultural implements.\nThere were miniature steam engines, cotton gins, spinning gins, weaving\nlooms, and carding machines. Then there were ploughs, and harrows,\nand cultivators, and seed sowers, and hay cutters, and corn shellers,\nand churns, and household utensils, together with every conceivable\nvariety of implement in agriculture, beside a great many things which\nseemed to be of no possible use. The room was thronged with visitors,\nand there was some difficulty in getting near enough to examine the\nvarious articles. Then we went on to the patented articles for catching\nfish, of which there was a great variety; then for trapping game, and\nfrom that to the ordnance department. Here were pistols of every size\nand capacity, guns, firelocks, field pieces, and batteries; models of\nweapons offensive and defensive.\n\n\"As I stood gazing at one article after another, I thought, 'What a\nwonderful power there is in the human brain! How it has contrived and\nfashioned things, new and old, great and small, curious, ingenious, and\nuseful, for every conceivable purpose of art or industry.'\n\n\"Upon some of these inventions men have labored their whole lives, and\nhave expended vast fortunes to bring them to that state of perfection\nwhich we here witness. But, after all, what are these models of human\nskill, to the wisdom and power of God in the work of creation! These\nare made from material already existing. God created the world from\nnothing. The inventors of these articles passed, in many cases, their\nwhole lives in toiling to attain their prize. God spoke the world into\nbeing by the word of his power.\n\n   \"'He spake and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast.'\n\n\"Can you tell me, Walter, how many days God was in making the world?\"\n\n\"Six days.\"\n\n\"For whom did God create all things?\"\n\n\"I suppose he made them at first for Adam and Eve.\"\n\n\"Solomon says in the Proverbs,\u2014\n\n   \"'The Lord hath made all things for himself.'\n\n\"Can you tell me for what purpose?\"\n\nWalter shook his head, and his father, taking a small Bible from the\ntable, turned to the first verse of the nineteenth psalm, and gave it\nto him to read.\n\n   \"'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth\n his handiwork.'\"\n\n\"How important, then, that when we view the hills and vales, the moon\nand stars shining in their splendor, the trees and flowers, the birds\nand beasts, and every other work of creation, we should remember God,\nthe Maker and Giver of all these blessings, and that our hearts should\nflow out toward him in gratitude and praise!\"\n\n   \"We sing of God, the mighty source\n    Of all things, the stupendous force\n      On which all things depend;\n    From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes,\n    All period, power, and enterprise,\n      Commence, and reign, and end.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE CREATION OF MAN; OR, THE WAX DOLL.\n\n\nQUESTION X. _How did God create man?_\n\nANSWER. God created man, male and female, after his own image, in\nknowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over his\ncreatures.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nIT so happened that Helen's birthday, which was on the twelfth of\nFebruary, occurred on Thursday following her aunt's visit. When she\ncame down to breakfast in the morning, a high chair, which had in turn\nbeen used by all the children, was drawn up to the table, and in it was\nseated a beautiful wax doll. It had long, flaxen ringlets, and blue\neyes, which could be made to open and shut, beautiful red cheeks, a\nwhite neck and arms, and taper fingers. It was dressed in a sky-blue\nmerino, with a dainty silk apron, with tiny pockets, while its feet\nwere covered with pink silk stockings and gaiter boots. This was papa's\nbirthday present to his little daughter; and what a shout of joy rung\nthrough the house, as he took it from the high chair, and placed it in\nher arms! There was little breakfast eaten that morning by either of\nthe children, for Helen's excitement communicated itself to the others,\nand the time was consumed in asking and answering questions.\n\nHelen understood now why it was her mother had so often, within a few\ndays, requested her to play in another room. She was making the dresses\nfor Dolly, and wished to give her little girl a pleasant surprise.\n\n\"O, what a good time we will have!\" cried the happy miss, as they rose\nfrom the table. \"You shall play with it half the time, Anna, and I'll\ntake yours. Perhaps mamma will let us take your birthday present of\ncups and saucers, and play 'come and see.'\"\n\nHer little cousin's cheeks were as rosy, and her smile as bright, as if\nthe doll had been presented to her.\n\nAfter Helen had given her father and mother another kiss, and thanked\nthem for making her so happy, Anna followed her to their chamber,\nwhere, with the little Isabelle, they passed an hour in the happy\nsports of childhood.\n\nIn the evening, when they were drawn up in a circle around the fire,\nDolly had her seat between the cousins, Isabelle having pulled an\nottoman to her mother's side, where she could see if the beautiful\nstranger conducted herself with steadiness and decorum.\n\n\"Isabelle,\" said her father, \"what was the name of the first man?\"\n\n\"Adam.\"\n\n\"What was the name of his wife, Anna?\"\n\n\"Eve.\"\n\n\"Who was created first?\"\n\n\"Adam,\" replied Helen.\n\n\"Out of what did God create him?\"\n\n\"Out of dust,\" answered Walter.\n\n\"In whose image was Adam created, my son?\"\n\n\"God created man in his own image.\"\n\n\"Over what was he to have dominion?\"\n\n\"Over all other creatures.\"\n\n\"On what day were they created?\"\n\n\"The sixth.\"\n\n\"Can you tell me the meaning of the word Adam?\"\n\n\"No, sir.\"\n\n\"It signifies red earth. All along on the banks of the river, where the\ngarden of Eden is supposed to have been, the earth is red; and being\ncreated from that, he was called Adam, or the red man. It is said,\u2014\n\n   \"'The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.'\n\n\"I suppose it is hardly possible for us to conceive the luxuriant\nbeauty of the place.\n\n\"It was the sixth day of God's work of creation. The beasts of the\nfield, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, fresh from his\nforming hand, had appeared before their Maker, who pronounced them\n'very good.' And God said,\u2014\n\n   \"'Let us make man in our image,'\u2014\n\n\"And behold 'earth into flesh transformed, and clay to man.'\n\n   \"'Adam, arise, since I to thee impart\n     A spirit warm from my benignant breath\n     Arise, arise, first man,\n     And joyous let the world\n     Embrace its living miniature in thee!'\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *       *\n\n   \"'Man, be thou lord of all that now the sun\n     Warms, or the ocean laves; impose a name\n     On every thing that flies, or runs, or swims.'\" *\n\n   * Gio. Battista Andreini, Italian poet, from whom Milton drew for\n     his \"Paradise Lost.\"\n\n\"'God brought every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, unto\nAdam, to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every\nliving creature, that was the name thereof.' 'But for Adam, there was\nnot found a helpmeet for him.'\n\n\"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and from one\nof his ribs made fair woman's lovely form. And Adam awoke from his\nsleep, and beheld that 'marvel most sublime.' We can imagine with what\nrapture of delight he pressed this new and cherished being to his\nbreast, exclaiming,\u2014\n\n                          \"'O Eve,\n   Sole partner and sole part of all these joys,\n   Dearer thyself than all.\n   Under a tuft of shade, that on a green\n   Stood whispering soft, by a fresh fountain's side,\n   They sat them down; and to their supper fruits they fell.\n   Nectarine fruits, which the compliant boughs\n   Yielded them, sidelong as they sat recline.\n   On the soft, downy bank damasked with flowers,\n   The savory pulp they chew, and in the rind,\n   Still as they thirsted, scoop the brimming stream.'\"\n\n       *       *       *   \"'About them frisking played.\n   Sporting the lion ramped, and in his paw\n   Dandled the kid: bears, tigers, ounces, pards,\n   Gambolled before them; the unwieldy elephant,\n   To make them mirth, used all his might, and wreathed\n   His lithe proboscis.'\" *\n\n   * Milton's \"Paradise Lost.\"\n\n\"Thus, dear children, were formed the parents of our race, made in the\nimage of their Creator, and endowed with knowledge, righteousness, and\nholiness. How different would have been our condition had they never\nfallen from that high estate!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nPROVIDENCE; OR, THE ILL-FATED BOAT.\n\n\nQUESTION XI. _What are God's works of providence?_\n\nANSWER. God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful\npreserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nTHE morning of Thursday dawned clear and bright, and at the breakfast\ntable the children eagerly reminded their father of his promise to\nimprove the first fine day by teaching them to skate. At the distance\nof one quarter of a mile from their house, there was a large pond,\nwhich was now covered with firm, smooth ice. Mr. Dermott told them that\nhe would endeavor to return from the city to take an early dinner with\nthem, after which, provided their lessons had been well learned, he\nwould accompany them to the pond.\n\nEvery thing was propitious; the children studied diligently, and, of\ncourse, recited correctly. The weather continued fine, and their father\narrived in ample season for dinner. A merry party that was, consisting\nof father, mother, and four happy children; and a delightful afternoon\nthey passed, filling their lungs with the clear, bracing air, as they\nlightly skimmed over the pond, making the woods, which lined the banks,\nring with their cheerful tones and merry laughter.\n\n\"I don't believe any body in the world is as happy as I am,\" exclaimed\nthe enthusiastic Helen, as she sat by the fire after tea, waiting for\nher parents to be ready for the catechising.\n\n\"Come, my daughter, I should like to have you tell me why you are so\nhappy,\" remarked Mr. Dermott, after Walter had repeated the answer for\nthe evening.\n\n\"Is it in the lesson, papa?\" asked the child, glancing merrily into his\nface.\n\n\"Yes, if you choose to have it so.\"\n\n\"Well, it is because I have such dear, kind parents, who do every thing\nto make me happy; and such a darling brother, and cousin, and little\nsister; and O, there are ever so many reasons!\"\n\n\"Go on, my dear, let us hear them all.\" Mr. and Mrs. Dermott gazed into\nher glowing countenance, radiant with life and hope, and thought, \"We,\ntoo, are happy in having such a child.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" continued Helen, \"I have such a pleasant home, and plenty\nto eat and drink, and pretty clothes, all ready for me to wear, and\nnice playthings to amuse myself with. O, I can't help being very happy.\"\n\n\"Then you are thankful to your parents for providing for your wants?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, papa.\"\n\n\"It is right you should be so, my daughter. Children seldom realize how\nmuch their parents do for them. Your mother knows, for instance, that\nin an hour or two from this time, your eyes will begin to grow heavy\nwith sleep; and she has provided each of you with a comfortable bed.\nShe is sure that when you awake in the morning, you will be hungry; and\nshe has provided breakfast. She knows that if you are not warmly clad\non such a day as this, you can take no comfort in your walks or plays;\nand see how carefully she has arranged for you! Each little one with\na warm hood, tippet, and mittens, made by her own hands! This is only\na small part of what she does, even for your physical wants. And then\nwe endeavor to provide for your moral and intellectual improvement. We\nteach you, provide you healthful amusements, give you books to read,\nand do all in our power to fulfil aright our duty as parents.\n\n\"But what is all we do compared with the loving care of Him who giveth\nus life, and breath, and all things? This constant, tender, overruling\ncare of our heavenly Father, is called his providence, and extends\nto the very meanest of his creatures. He watches over us, guards us\nfrom dangers often unseen by us, gives us food to eat and clothes to\nwear, preserves and governs us. What does the Catechism say of God's\nprovidence?\"\n\n\"That it is holy, wise, and powerful,\" replied Walter.\n\n\"Over whom is it extended?\"\n\n\"To all his creatures and all their actions.\"\n\n\"Yes, there is not a thought in our hearts, nor a word upon our\nlips, nor all action of our lives, but he notices it. David has most\nbeautifully and comprehensively expressed his sense of the government\nand providence of God in these words:\n\n   \"'O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my\n down-sitting, and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thought afar\n off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with\n all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou\n knowest it altogether.'\n\n\"God's providence extends, also, to the angels, to the birds of the\nair, the fishes of the sea, the beasts of the field, and oven the\nlittle insects; over the clouds, winds, and storms; over the waves of\nthe sea; and over the sun, moon, and stars. To each he extends his\npowerful protection, and has only to speak to have them perform his\nholy will.\n\n\"Our dear Helen acknowledged, to-night, her indebtedness to her parents\nfor their watchful care of her. How thankful, then, ought she, and all\nof us, to be to that Merciful Being whose tender love watches us with\nmore than any earthly father's solicitude, who numbers even the hairs\nof our heads, and whose power is able to protect us from all harm!\"\n\n\n\"More than a dozen years ago, a gentleman by the name of Norcross\nwas visiting Now York city upon important business. He had nearly\ncompleted it, when he received a letter from his daughter, living near\nBoston, saying that her little sister was ill, and her mother hoped he\nwould return at once. He looked at his card stating the hour when the\nsteamboat left the wharf, and found that by using despatch, he should\nhave just time to conclude his business, and return by the first boat.\n\n\"He hurried to the store where he had made large purchases, and by\ngreat exertion, both on his own part and that of the clerks, had his\ngoods packed, marked, and delivered to the truckman, promising to meet\nhim at the wharf. He delayed only long enough to pass a check to the\nmerchant in payment for the goods, and, congratulating himself that his\nbusiness was so satisfactorily performed, hastened on foot to the boat.\n\n\"In consequence of his watch being too slow, he reached the wharf just\nfire minutes after she had started. Disappointed more than he could\nexpress, he congratulated himself that his goods were safely on board;\nwhen, hearing a sound behind him, he recognized the truckman who had\nthem in charge. With an impatient expression, he rebuked the man for\nhis delay. But it had been a necessary one. In passing through one of\nthe narrow streets, it became so crowded with trucks, that for some\nminutes he was obliged to stand entirely still.\n\n\"Now mark the overruling providence of God. He had determined that\nthis child of his should be spared to his family, and all these\ncircumstances, as the not keeping his watch up to the time, and the\ncrowd of carriages in the street, were the means by which God saved\nboth the life and property of Mr. Norcross. That boat was the ill-fated\nLexington, which was burned on her passage from New York to Providence.\nHad he arrived in season, no doubt he would have perished.\"\n\n   \"Just as a mother, with sweet, pious face,\n    Yearns toward her children from her seat,\n    Given one a kiss, another an embrace,\n    Takes this upon her knee, that on her feet;\n    And while from actions, looks, complaints, pretences,\n    She learns their feelings and their various will,\n    To this a look, to that a word dispenses,\n    And whether stern or smiling, loves them still;\u2014\n    So Providence for us, high, infinite,\n    Makes our necessities its watchful task,\n    Hearkens to all our prayers, helps all our wants;\n    And even if it denies what seems our right,\n    Either denies because 'twould have us ask,\n    Or seems but to deny, or in denying grants.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nTHE COVENANT OF WORKS; OR, THE FIRST WEDDING.\n\n\nQUESTION XII. _What special act of providence did God exercise toward\nman in the estate wherein he was created?_\n\nANSWER. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life\nwith him, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of\nthe tree of knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nWALTER DERMOTT was, as I have said, a boy of remarkable intelligence\nfor one of his years. He had naturally a quick and somewhat passionate\ntemper; but this had been so controlled by his parents, that at the\npresent time he was a conscientious, amiable youth.\n\nHe was exceedingly fond of his sisters and cousin, especially of\nIsabelle, who was, indeed, a pet of the whole family. Helen was more\nnearly like himself\u2014active, enthusiastic, and energetic. Belle was\nquiet, and though affectionate, yet not demonstrative. She rarely lost\nher temper, and gained many friends by her readiness to oblige all who\nwere in need of her services. She was very fond of hearing stories,\nespecially those contained in the Bible; and Walter could at any time\nattach her to himself by the promise of story.\n\nSince the lessons in the Catechism had commenced, he had often been\ncalled upon to repeat the stories which had illustrated them. She had\nbeen particularly interested in the narrative of the creation, and was\ndelighted to learn that there would be a continuation of this account.\n\n\"Isabelle,\" called her father, when her mother had read the answer for\nher, \"have you ever been to a wedding?\"\n\n\"No, sir.\"\n\n\"O, yes, you have!\" cried Helen. \"Only you didn't know what it was. You\nremember when cousin James stood up with Sarah Churchill?\"\n\n\"And she cried so when they were bidding her good by?\"\n\n\"Yes, that was a wedding.\"\n\n\"Once I was a boy like Walter,\" added Mr. Dermott, \"and lived at home\nwith my father and mother. Your mother was younger than you are, and\nlived nearly a mile distant. By and by, as I grew up, I wanted some\nyoung lady, who knew about housekeeping, to come and take care of me.\nThere were a great many young ladies in the town, and a great many more\nin the city where I was doing business; but somehow I liked your mother\nthe best, and thought, if she would consent to leave her parents,\nbrothers, and sisters, I would purchase a house, and we would have a\nhome of our own.\"\n\n\"And did she?\" eagerly asked the child, fixing upon her father a pair\nof bright blue eyes.\n\nMr. Dermott gave his wife a glance of affection; and Helen exclaimed,\n\"Why, yes, we know she did, or else she would not have been here now.\"\n\n\"I hope no one will ask me to go away,\" said Isabelle with a deep sigh.\n\"I should not like to go away from home.\"\n\n\"Of course they won't while you are a little girl,\" remarked Walter in\na comforting tone.\n\n\"I was very glad that she said yes,\" continued the gentleman; \"indeed,\nI don't know what would have become of me if she had refused, for I\ncould think of no one else, among all my friends, who would do as well.\"\n\nHelen caught her mother's hand, and pressed it enthusiastically to her\nlips.\n\n\"Then I went to her father's house,\" added the gentleman, \"and we\nstood up together and were married, and that was called a wedding. We\npromised to love and cherish each other as long as we lived. The Bible\nhas rules for persons who live together as we intended to, and we\npromised to try to live according to them. Now, Walter, can you tell me\nwhat relation Adam was to Eve?\"\n\n\"He was her husband.\"\n\n\"Where was their wedding?\"\n\n\"In Eden.\"\n\n\"Who married them?\n\n\"God.\"\n\n\"There was a great and glorious company present; can you tell me who\nthey were?\"\n\n\"I suppose,\" replied Mrs. Dermott, \"you refer to the angels, as the\nBible says,\u2014\n\n   \"'The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted\n for joy.'\"\n\n\"Then God entered into a covenant, here called a covenant of\nlife,\u2014perhaps you would call it an agreement,\u2014with the newly married\npair, that if they would render perfect obedience to his one command,\nand not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they might enjoy\nall the pleasures of the beautiful garden, and a whole eternity of joy\nand bliss. But if they disobeyed his command, and ate the forbidden\nfruit, they would be cast out of the garden, and becoming sinful, would\nbe made miserable forever.\"\n\n\"I think it was real mean in them to eat the forbidden fruit,\" cried\nWalter, indignantly, \"when God had done so much to make them happy.\"\n\n\"Yes, my dear, those who commit sin are always guilty of meanness. But\nis it any less mean and foolish in us to sin than it was in them?\"\n\n\"It seems to me it would have been very easy for them to obey in just\none thing,\" added the boy.\n\n\"Yes, to us it does seem so, especially as they had not the temptation\nof wicked hearts prompting them to sin. Their only temptation was from\nSatan, who, from the moment they were placed in paradise, watched for\nan opportunity to destroy their happiness. Remember, children, he is\njust as busy now as he was then. He is constantly whispering in the\near of some little boy or girl, that it would be no harm for them to\ndisobey their father or their mother\u2014no harm to break the laws of God.\n\n\"To impress this answer upon your minds, I shall illustrate it by a\nstory which is not true; but which I shall invent for this occasion. It\nis called a parable, and is like what the Saviour used, to illustrate\nand enforce the truths which he taught.\"\n\n\n\"There was once a boy by the name of Edward. He had a father, mother,\nand one sister. He had also a rich uncle, named Mr. Tudor, who had\nlived for many years in India, and brought home a great many curious\nthings. Some of these were placed for safe keeping with his sister,\nwho was the mother of Edward. The boy had amused himself for hours in\nexamining them. But there was in the attic a small, curiously-shaped\nbox, which very much excited his attention. There must be something\nvery wonderful in it. Edward longed to see it opened. When his\nuncle visited them, Mrs. Rowe told him of the boy's desire, and he\nimmediately sent for his nephew to come into the room.\n\n\"'Edward,' said he, 'your mother says you are curious to know what is\nin that foreign box up stairs.'\n\n\"The boy looked rather confused, but answered, 'Yes, sir.'\n\n\"'Well, I sent for you to tell you that on no account must you touch\nit. Remember if you are ever so curious, don't go near it, for you\nmight be seriously hurt, and perhaps killed. But I will make a\ncovenant, or agreement with you, that if you will not go near it until\nmy return, which will be in one month, I will give you all that it\ncontains, which will be a very valuable present.'\n\n\"'I will be sure to remember,' exclaimed Edward, in an animated tone.\n\n\"The next day, when his uncle left, he said, 'Remember our agreement,\nmy boy, and be sure not to go near the box.'\n\n\"This was said in an impressive voice, and deepened Edward's\ndetermination to fulfil his part of the agreement. In order to do this,\nhe promised himself that he would not go into the attic, for fear it\nwould be a temptation to open the forbidden box, as the key, he found,\nwas attached to the trunk by a string. But in two or three days he\nfound himself sitting again by its side, and wondering at its contents.\nHe began to reason, as Eve did, that his uncle really meant nothing by\nthe threat. He thought about the box, and dreamed about it, until he\nlost his appetite, and grew thin and pale.\n\n\"In Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' he says that Eve dreamed of eating the\nfruit; then she persuaded Adam that they should accomplish more in\ntending their garden, if they were separated for a season, as it took\nup too much time to talk, and bestow glances of affection. So she went\nto a distance from him, where the tempter found her; and we know too\nwell the sad consequences. We must defer the conclusion of our story\nuntil the next lesson.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE FALL OF MAN; OR, THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.\n\n\nQUESTION XIII. _Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein\nthey were created?_\n\nANSWER. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will,\nfell from the state wherein they were created, by sinning against God.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nVERY many times, during the week following the story of Edward, did the\nchildren discuss the probabilities of his obtaining the prize.\n\n\"I do wonder what was in the box,\" exclaimed Helen.\n\n\"I can't think, or even guess,\" responded Walter; \"but I could hold on\nfor one month, I know. Just think how silly 'twould be to go and look\nwhen he was certain of knowing so soon, and of having such a reward\nbesides.\"\n\n\"I hope he kept the agreement,\" said Anna, \"because his uncle said if\nhe opened the box, he would be very much hurt.\"\n\n\"Perhaps it was a spring lock,\" suggested Walter, \"that would catch his\nfingers and tear them right off.\"\n\nOn Thursday evening the little ones were punctually in their places,\nwhich, as Mrs. Dermott remarked, was a proof of Walter's great interest\nin the lesson, as it was bright moonlight night, and he had been\nenjoying a fine skate in front of the house.\n\nAnna repeated the answer in course, and then Mrs. Dermott asked, \"Who\nwere our first parents, my dear?\"\n\n\"Adam and Eve.\"\n\nMr. Dermott having taken his seat, said, \"Walter, what is it to be left\nto the freedom of one's will?\"\n\n\"I always thought,\" replied the boy, \"that it meant you might do a\nthing or not, just as you chose.\"\n\n\"A very good definition, my boy! When God had placed Adam and Eve in\ntheir beautiful home, he said,\u2014\n\n   \"'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree\n of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day\n that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.'\n\n\"Would God have told Adam not to eat of it, and threatened him with\ndeath provided he did, if he was not left free to act in any way he\nchose?\"\n\n\"No, sir. If God knew he would be obliged to eat it, I don't believe he\nwould have told him not to.\"\n\n\"Do you suppose Edward, about whom I told you, had the freedom of his\nwill?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"It would have been foolish for his uncle to tell him to be sure not\nto touch the box, and to offer him a reward for not touching it, if he\nknew that he could not act according to his own choice. Satan evidently\nthought that our first parents could eat of the forbidden fruit, or\nabstain from eating, as they chose; for he presented many arguments\nto induce them to partake of it. These would have been breath spent\nin vain, if he was sure they would eat of it. Poor Eve yielded to his\nwicked solicitations; and when\u2014\n\n   \"'She saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant\n to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the\n fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave unto her husband with her, and he\n did eat.'\n\n\"By what arguments she prevailed upon him to disobey the only command\nof their Maker, the Bible does not inform us. Having eaten the\nforbidden fruit, the covenant of life was forfeited; they fell from the\nstate of purity and holiness, wherein they were created, by sinning\nagainst God.\"\n\n\n\"We will now return to the history of Edward. One, two, three weeks of\nthe month had passed away, and Mrs. Rowe had entirely forgotten the\nconversation about the box; but she had noticed that for a day or two\nher son had not appeared well. She determined to question him upon the\nsubject.\n\n\"She was sitting after dinner with her husband, who had not yet left\nthe house, when they were startled by a loud scream of distress.\nStarting to their feet, they knew not which way to run, when there came\nanother prolonged, agonizing cry. Rushing up stairs in the direction\nin which the sound seemed to proceed, they distinctly heard dreadful\ngroans from the attic.\n\n\"There lay poor Edward upon the floor, his hands pressed convulsively\nto his side, from which the blood was oozing through the clothes. The\nfatal box was opened, and a pistol, which had been so arranged as to\nprotect the contents, had gone off when the boy lifted the lid.\"\n\n[Illustration: Edward opening the fatal box.]\n\n\"Mr. Rowe tore open his clothes and tried to stanch the blood, while\nthe almost distracted mother flew down stairs to send for a physician.\nFor weeks Edward lay in bed after the ball had been extracted,\nsuffering the most acute pain, and tortured by bitter remorse for his\nconduct. The physician at length told his mother that he feared her\npoor boy would never again be perfectly well.\n\n\"After two months, he was able to sit bolstered up in a large chair,\nwhen his uncle came to visit him. Upon talking with him for an hour,\nthe gentleman went to the attic and brought from thence the box which\nhad occasioned his young nephew so much trouble. He told him that while\nhe was in India, a young man assisted him in packing his goods for\nhis return home. He had a quantity of gold which he wished to bring,\nand this young man begged his acceptance of this box with the pistol,\nwhich he thought would betray any robbers who might approach it. He,\nthen, without loading the fire-arms, explained to the boy how it had\nbeen arranged; after which, he took out a false bottom to the box, and\ndisplayed to the gaze of the astonished youth a greater number of gold\npieces than he had ever seen together.\n\n\"'Perhaps,' added the gentleman, addressing his sister, 'it would\nhave been better for me to have told Edward what consequences would\ncertainly follow if he disobeyed my orders, and persisted in gratifying\nhis curiosity. I intended to make him a present, and thought it would\nbe a pleasant and profitable lesson to him. But I calculated too much\nupon the strength of his moral principle.'\"\n\n\"But, father,\" cried Walter eagerly, \"didn't his uncle give him any of\nthe gold?\"\n\nMr. Dermott smiled as he replied, \"You know, my boy, I told you that\nthis was not a true story, but a parable.\"\n\n\"O, I'm glad,\" said Anna, with a sigh of relief. \"I thought Edward\nwould have to be sick all his life.\"\n\n   \"'Tis fearful building upon any sin;\n    One mischief entered, brings another in;\n    The second pulls a third, the third draws more,\n    And they for all the rest set ope the door:\n    Till custom take away the judging sense,\n    That to offend we think it no offence.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nTHE NATURE OF SIN; OR, THE CONVICT.\n\n\nQUESTION XIV. _What is sin?_\n\nANSWER. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the\nlaw of God.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nTHE account of Edward made a deep impression upon the minds of the\nchildren, although well aware it was only an imaginary sketch. They\nprayed more earnestly to be assisted to do what was right, and were\nmore conscientious in the performance of their duties.\n\nMr. Dermott one day overheard Walter and Anna talking about Edward.\n\nWalter said, \"I bet I wouldn't have opened that box; and I think he was\nreal silly for doing it.\"\n\n\"Don't you ever do wrong?\" asked Anna, simply.\n\n\"Yes, of course I do,\" replied the boy, in an embarrassed tone; \"but if\nI was tried in that way, I wouldn't.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I should,\" replied Anna, humbly. \"I did want to know so\nmuch what was in the box.\"\n\n\n\"What is conformity to any thing, Helen?\" asked her father, after the\nanswer had been correctly repeated.\n\n\"I don't know, sir.\"\n\n\"Walter, do you remember, when I took you to the academy, I requested\nthe teacher to give you a list of the rules or laws of the school? And\nwhen he did so, I told him that I hoped you would always conform to\nthem. What did I mean by that?\"\n\n\"I suppose you meant that you hoped I should comply with the rules, or\ndo every thing the laws required.\"\n\n\"Just so. Well, whose laws must we conform to?\"\n\n\"The laws of God.\"\n\n\"In what book are these laws written?\"\n\n\"In the Bible,\" replied Helen.\n\n\"What is breaking God's law called?\"\n\n\"Transgression of it,\" said Walter.\n\n\"And what other word denotes nearly the same idea as transgression of\nGod's holy law?\"\n\n\"Sin.\"\n\n\"Yes, and it is equally sin if we do not conform to the law. Suppose\nGod had commanded Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of a particular\ntree, and they had not done it, would they not have sinned just as much\nas by eating the forbidden fruit?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"But for a long time after the creation of the world, God's law was\nnot written down in the Bible; your mother will tell you where it was\nwritten.\"\n\n\"Paul says it was written in the hearts of men,\u2014\n\n   \"'their conscience also bearing witness.'\"\n\n\"Before the Bible was completed, God wrote his commands upon two tables\nof stone. Do you know what became of them?\"\n\n\"Moses broke them in pieces, because he was so angry that the\nIsraelites worshipped the golden calf; but God wrote them again, and\nafterward they were put into the ark.\"\n\n\"In what part of the Bible do we find them?\"\n\n\"In the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and also in Deuteronomy.\"\n\n\"Has any one ever lived in perfect conformity to the law of God?\"\n\n\"Jesus Christ did.\"\n\n\"Now for a story, father,\" said Helen.\n\nMr. Dermott smiled, and commenced.\n\n\n\"Very late one evening, a good clergyman was called upon to go to a\nhouse in the outskirts of his parish to visit a poor woman, who, the\nmessenger said, was nigh unto death. The night was extremely cold, and\nthe minister was by no means young; but he hesitated not one minute in\nthe performance of this duty. He set out, in company with his guide,\nwho was a lad apparently just entering his teens; and, by walking at a\nrapid pace, reached the spot in about twenty minutes. The boy seemed\naverse to conversation, and only said he was the son of a neighbor of\nthe poor woman who was sick.\n\n\"The house, or rather hovel, seemed to be filled with people, as they\napproached. But the clergyman made his way inside the door, where\nhis footsteps were arrested by the most distressing sounds he had\never heard. They seemed to be the wailings of a broken heart; and so,\nindeed, they were. Lying on a cot bed, in the centre of the apartment,\nwas a poor woman, her hair pushed back from her head, and lying loosely\nupon the pillow. Her face was thin, while a paleness, like that of\ndeath, was spread over it. Her eyes were closed; but the rigid features\nand the pinched nostrils disclosed the fact that she was conscious of\nher sufferings. Close by her, and grasping her tightly by the hand, sat\na young girl, with her face buried in the pillow; but her convulsed\nform and long-drawn sighs showed that she was in the deepest affliction.\n\n\"It was a long time before the minister could ascertain the\ncircumstances connected with these poor suffering persons. The woman\nlying before him was a widow. Her only son had that day been convicted\nof forgery, and condemned to the state prison for a long course of\nyears. He had transgressed the laws of his country, and now he must pay\nthe penalty. The young woman, clinging so tightly to the pale sufferer,\nwas betrothed to the son. But now her light was turned into darkness,\nher joy into the deepest sorrow. One of the neighbors, returning from\nthe city, had brought the fatal news; and, ever since she heard it, the\npoor broken-hearted mother had seemed more dead than alive.\n\n\"'If she would only cry, now, as Malissy does,' said one of the women,\n'I should have more hopes of her; but she does nothing but moan, moan,\nas if her heart was breaking.'\n\n\"Mr. Lawson, having requested the women to retire to the farther part\nof the room, drew near the couch, and placed his hand on the cold, damp\nforehead. There was no answering sign. He then kneeled by the side of\nthe bed, and, in words the most compassionate and tender, he besought\nthe mercy of God for the poor guilty son. He was a father; and he well\nknew how a parent's heart was wounded by the ill-doing of a child.\n\n\"The moanings ceased, and presently the features relaxed. The mother\nwhispered a feeble response. The young girl raised her head to listen.\nBut her grief was net wholly unselfish. The guilty man was lost to her\nforever. The clergyman increased in fervor. He besieged the mercy-seat,\nand would not be denied a blessing. A bright, red spot, on either cheek\nof the mother, proved that hope for her son was once more springing up\nin her breast.\n\n\"'O my God, be merciful to my sinful boy!' burst from her lips, as the\nprayer ceased. 'Let me die, if, by that means, his soul may be saved.'\n\n\"'God in heaven grant him forgiveness,' said Mr. Lawson, his voice\ntrembling with emotion.\n\n\"But I must cut short my story. The good clergyman became so much\ninterested in these poor afflicted ones, that he visited the prison,\nand, through the kindness of the chaplain, was allowed free access to\nthe culprit. At first the young man was stubborn, and declined talking\nwith a stranger. But at length, moved by the account of his mother's\nheart-rending grief, his proud heart was softened, and he wept like a\ngrieved child. When Mr. Lawson gave him Malissy's last farewell, he\nsaid, 'I supposed it would come to that,' but presently added, 'Tell me\nmore about my mother.'\n\n\"From time to time, Mr. Lawson visited the youth; and at length, he\nhad the happiness to soothe the dying moments of the mother with the\ntidings that her poor, guilty boy had cast himself at the feet of the\nSaviour, with the prayer of the publican upon his lips,\u2014\n\n   \"'God be merciful to me a sinner.'\n\n\"But what a dreadful thing that for his transgression he must remain\nshut up from the light of day, or from any intercourse with his race,\nuntil his heart was chilled, and his hair white with premature old age!\n\n\"Dear children, though I hope you have never been guilty of any\noutward transgression, such as this poor youth committed, yet have\nyou not often, yea, every hour of your lives, been guilty of sins of\nomission, such as the neglect of prayer, and of choosing Christ to be\nyour Saviour; cherishing a carnal mind, which is enmity against God,\nnot subject to his law, neither indeed can be; and, also, want of\nconformity to his laws, such as a disinclination to obey him and all\nhis requirements?\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE FORBIDDEN FRUIT; OR, THE BROKEN RULE.\n\n\nQUESTION XV. _What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the\nestate wherein they were created?_\n\nANSWER. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein\nthey were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nON Thursday, the very day of the next exercise, Mr. and Mrs.\nDermott were suddenly called away to attend the funeral of an aged\nrelative. They were absent until Saturday; and much to the children's\ndisappointment, they concluded to postpone the lesson until Thursday of\nthe next week.\n\nWhen the answer had been repeated, Mr. Dermott asked his wife to give\nan account of the trees in the garden of Eden.\n\n\"We read in Genesis,\" she said, \"that God created every tree that\nis pleasant to the sight, which I suppose means beautiful plants or\nflowering shrubs, such as roses, magnolias, and jessamines; or those\nthat emit fragrance, or in any other way delight the senses. He created\nalso every tree that was good for food, whether of the pulpy fruits,\nsuch as oranges, lemons, and apples; or of the kernel and nut kind,\nsuch as dates and nuts of different sorts. I suppose these also include\nall running vines, bearing melons, &c., and all esculent vegetables.\n\n\"Walter, can you tell me the names of two trees which stood in the\nmidst of the garden?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir. The tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and\nevil.\"\n\n\"Which tree was forbidden to our first parents?\"\n\n\"The latter one.\"\n\n\"Among all the fruits which they had eaten, had they ever tasted of the\ntree of life?\"\n\n\"I don't know, sir.\"\n\n\"Probably not; for after they had eaten of the tree of knowledge, God\nsaid, 'Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil;\nand now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,\nand eat, and live forever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth from\nthe garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken,' and he\nplaced 'a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the\ntree of life.'\n\n\"Many writers consider this tree an emblem of that life which man\nshould ever live, provided he continued in obedience to his Maker. And\nprobably the use of this tree was intended as the means of preserving\nthe body of man in a state of continual vital energy, and an antidote\nagainst death.\n\n\"What other command did God give respecting the tree of knowledge,\nbeside forbidding them to eat of it?\"\n\n\"He forbade them to touch it,\" answered Helen.\n\n\"Why did God forbid them to eat of it, or even to touch it?\"\n\n\"To try them, and see whether they would obey him.\"\n\n\"Do you not think there was some other reason?\" asked Mrs. Dermott, of\nher husband. \"It would seem God thought man really had acquired undue\nknowledge.\"\n\n\"It is exceedingly difficult to understand exactly how much is here\nmeant. Some writers think the sight of the tree was always to remind\nman that there was a bound set to his knowledge; that there was one\nthing God had seen proper to deprive him of. Others think that the tree\npossessed a particular property of increasing knowledge, a physical\ninfluence, having a tendency to strengthen the understanding, and\ninvigorate the faculties.\n\n\"Who tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit?\"\n\n\"The serpent.\"\n\n\"By what other names is he called in the Bible?\"\n\n\"Satan.\"\n\n\"Yes, and Apollyon or Abaddon. He is also called the father of lies,\nand the roaring lion who goeth about seeking whom he may devour. By\nwhat arguments did he prevail with her to eat?\"\n\n\"In the first place,\" answered Mrs. Dermott, \"he charged God with a\nlie. She had said, 'God has given us every tree but this. If we eat of\nthis tree, he says, we shall die.' But Satan said, 'That is not true,\nand God knows it is not. He wishes to keep you ignorant. I am sincerely\nyour friend, and I tell you that if you eat of this tree, you will\nbecome as gods, knowing good and evil.'\n\n\"O, what a wicked serpent!\" cried Walter. \"I should have thought Eve\nwould have known better than to believe him.\"\n\n\"What three reasons induced her to disobey God, and to eat of the tree?\nYou may read, Anna, from the Bible.\"\n\n   \"'And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that\n it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,\n she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her\n husband with her, and he did eat.'\"\n\n\"Alas! How many children are tempted to their ruin by the appeal\nto their senses! Some become intemperate and gluttons from their\ninordinate love of eating; others, from their overweening fondness for\ndress and display, are carried into the vanities of the world, and thus\nlose their souls.\"\n\n\n\"I once heard,\" continued the gentleman, \"of a poor peasant in England,\nwho, on one occasion, met with a company of persons that disbelieved\nthe Bible and the sacred truths it contained.\n\n\"'They argued and reasoned,' said the poor man, 'until they shook my\nbelief. But all the time I knew I was in error, only I was so ignorant\nI could not answer their objections.\n\n\"'At length one of them asked me, \"How can you be so foolish as to\nsuppose that God would destroy Adam and all his descendants just for\neating an apple?\"\n\n\"'I had often reflected upon this weak objection raised by unbelievers;\nand I instantly answered, \"It was not that our first parents ate a\nparticular kind of fruit; it was, that they had disobeyed God. It was,\nsir, that they broke the rule.\"'\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE BROKEN COVENANT; OR, THE FAMILY OF THIEVES.\n\n\nQUESTION XVI. _Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?_\n\nANSWER. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself,\nbut for his posterity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary\ngeneration, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\"I HOPE we shall have a long story this time,\" exclaimed Isabelle, as\nthey were seated around the fire, waiting for their father and mother,\nwho were engaged with company.\n\n\"That was a good story last time,\" rejoined Walter. \"Don't you remember\nfather told us about the trees in the garden, and how the serpent\ntalked with Eve? I wonder if the serpent looked like the great snakes\nwe have now.\"\n\nAt this moment Mrs. Dermott returned to the room, and, having heard her\nson's remark, took from the library a volume of Milton's Paradise Lost,\nand read,\u2014\n\n                                   \"His head\n   Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes;\n   With burnished neck of verdant gold, erect\n   Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass\n   Floated redundant; pleasing was his shape and lovely.\"\n\n\"I shouldn't want to see him,\" cried Helen, with an air of disgust; \"I\nhate snakes.\"\n\nMr. Dermott having come into the room, Helen repeated the answer, when\nhe continued, \"You will remember that God made a bargain or agreement\nwith Adam and Eve, that if they would yield obedience to his command\nabout the forbidden fruit, they should live forever. This I told you\nwas called a covenant of life, or of works. They forfeited the reward\nby their disobedience; and now they must pay the penalty. They were\ndriven out of that pleasant home, and were condemned to eternal death.\nWas this covenant, Walter, made for themselves alone?\"\n\n\"It was made for all mankind.\"\n\n\"Where do we learn this?\"\n\nMrs. Dermott turned to Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and read,\u2014\n\n   \"'For as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to\n condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift\n came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's\n disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall\n many be made righteous.'\n\n\"Is it common for God to join children with their parents in his\ncovenants?\"\n\n\"He does in the second commandment.\"\n\n\"Yes, and he did with Noah, and also with Abraham.\n\n   \"'And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your\n seed after you.'\"\n\n\"What is the meaning, father, of 'ordinary generation'?\"\n\n\"It means, Helen, that children follow their parents; then they grow\nup and have families; and thus one generation follows another. Do you\nremember that very old gentleman we saw at your grandfather's? He said\nhe had lived to see married members of four generations\u2014himself and\nwife, his son with his wife, his grandson with his wife, and now he has\na great-granddaughter, who is just married.\n\n\"Adam lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old, so that he must\nhave seen many generations of his posterity. How sad must his life have\nbeen to think that by his disobedience he had not only forfeited the\nfavor of God, the delightful pleasures of paradise, and the joys of\neternal life, but that all who would descend from him must participate\nin the consequences of his first transgression! They fell with him from\nhis high estate, just as when a man who is immensely wealthy fails. He\ndoes not suffer alone. His children and his children's children must\nbecome sharers in his poverty. Or as a man who is executed upon the\ngallows does not suffer alone; his children, to the latest generation,\nsuffer with him. They can never get rid of the disgrace.\n\n\"Or suppose a man, like our neighbor, Mr. Morse, is dreadfully deformed\nby scrofula, and has suffered from it all his life, as his father did\nbefore him. Now, look at his children. Every one of them is tainted\nwith the same disease. Lydia has it in the form of consumption, Esther\nin sore eyes, while the little boys, James and Joseph, are always\nbreaking out in great sores upon their bodies.\n\n\"So it is in the case of Adam. He sinned, and all his race are infected\nwith the plague of sin. In one it shows itself by unbounded ambition;\nin another by pride; in another by selfishness. In one little girl\nwe see vanity; in another disobedience to her parents. One boy tells\nlies; another steals; another swears. Some do all these; but every one\nof the race has inherited the fatal taint, and is neither morally nor\nphysically sound.\"\n\n\n\"In a town situated near the centre of the State of Connecticut there\nlived a man who, in early life, was often detected in stealing small\narticles from his playmates. As he grew older, he became more hardened\nin crime. He married, and had four sons and three daughters. But during\nthis time he had been sentenced twice to the state prison once to serve\nout a term of three years, the other of two.\n\n\"As soon as his sons were old enough, each one of them became addicted\nto pilfering, so that they were considered a nuisance to the whole\nneighborhood. One by one they left home to seek their fortune in a\nwider sphere; and the first news of them that came back was, that they\nhad been convicted of this crime, and were sentenced to prison for a\nlonger or shorter period.\n\n\"The daughters were all younger. One of them was taken into the service\nof a lady at the age of thirteen: In a few months her mistress detected\nher in purloining articles of clothing from her wardrobe. She was\ndismissed from service after a trial of several months, during which\nshe often repeated her offence.\n\n\"The second daughter was a very handsome girl. She went to the city\nto learn the trade of a milliner, and was soon after sent to jail for\nwhat was called shoplifting. She was shopping for her employer, saw an\nelegant lace cape which she coveted, and while the clerk was waiting\nupon another customer, endeavored to hide it beneath her shawl. The\narticle was missed, she was pursued, the cape discovered, and she was\npunished for her theft.\n\n\"The youngest daughter was taken from her mother's arms by a benevolent\nlady who believed the sad fate of the children to be the consequence\nof their early training. She began very early to teach the little one\nthe difference between mine and thine, and through all the years when\nthe young mind is so susceptible to outward influence, endeavored to\nimpress upon her, both by precept and example, that it was sin to\nappropriate to one's self the property of another; but it was in vain.\nThe seeds of sin were planted at her birth; and though she knew not\neven of the existence of her relatives, yet she followed in the same\nfootsteps, and brought sorrow and disgrace into the family of her kind\nbenefactress.\n\n\"A few years since, the father, now a white-haired old man, and his\nfour sons, were confined together in the state prison. In the father's\ncase, as in the second son's, it was an aggravated one; and they were\ncondemned to pass the rest of their lives within the prison walls. The\nothers would be released in a few years, but would probably return to\nspend their days in confinement.\"\n\n   \"O Sin, what hast thou done to this fair earth!\"\n\n   \"Sin hath broken the world's sweet peace\u2014unstrung\n    The harmonious chords to which the angels sung.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nMAN'S FALLEN STATE; OR, THE DEPOSED MINISTER.\n\n\nQUESTION XVII. _Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?_\n\nANSWER. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nIT was a rare event in the family of Mr. Dermott for the children to\ndisagree to such an extent as to use unkind words. They had early been\ntaught the beauty of yielding to each other's wishes, and thus gaining\na conquest over themselves. With Isabelle's quiet temperament, this\nwas comparatively easy; but with Walter and Helen it was far more\ndifficult, as they were naturally hasty and impulsive, often reminding\ntheir father of his own youth by their striking similarity to himself.\n\nOn the very afternoon of the catechising, however, Walter came in from\nhis play somewhat out of temper, and, taking a book from Anna's hands,\nsat down to read. The tears quickly filled the eyes of the little girl;\nbut Helen loudly remonstrated, \"How unkind you are, Walter, when Anna\nis just in the midst of a story!\"\n\n\"So am I,\" replied the boy, petulantly, \"and it's my book.\"\n\n\"I lent you my new one before I had read it myself,\" sobbed Anna.\n\n\"Here, take it, then!\" exclaimed Walter, angrily. \"Such a fuss when a\nboy sits down to read his own book!\" And he threw the volume into the\nlap of the weeping girl.\n\n\"You're an ugly boy,\" cried his sister. \"Anna and I were having a real\nnice time, when you came in\u2014and spoiled it all. Mother says she wishes\nyou would govern your temper.\"\n\nWalter got up, and was walking angrily out of the room, when he met\nhis mother. She saw at once that there had been trouble, and, taking\nhim gently by the hand, requested him to return. With a few judicious\nwords, she soon succeeded in quieting the ruffled waves, and in fifteen\nminutes the children were sitting lovingly together\u2014the boy with his\narm thrown around his cousin's neck, and reading from the same page.\n\nIn the evening, when they had seated themselves for their favorite\nexercise, Mrs. Dermott asked, \"Helen, can you tell me, my dear, where\nwas the first quarrel?\"\n\nThe little girl arched her eyebrows and shook her head.\n\n\"It was in the garden of Eden, my child, immediately after the first\npair had partaken of the forbidden fruit.\"\n\nHelen's face was crimson, and she quickly replied, \"I didn't begin the\nquarrel, mother.\"\n\n\"Well, you called me names,\" replied Walter, looking very much ashamed.\n\n\"Stop at once!\" exclaimed Mr. Dermott. \"Or we will discontinue the\nlesson.\"\n\n\"Do you understand, Anna,\" inquired Mrs. Dermott, \"what is meant by the\nfall?\"\n\n\"No, aunt, not exactly.\"\n\n\"You know Adam and Eve were created in the image of their Maker, in\nknowledge, righteousness and holiness. By their disobedience they were\ncast down from their high estate; and this is called the fall. Milton\nand Beaumont thus graphically describe it:\u2014\n\n                        \"'Her rash hand in evil hour\n   Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate;\n   Earth felt the wound, and Nature, from her seat\n   Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe\n   That all was lost.'\n\n \"'Up went her desperate hand, and reached away\n   All the world's bliss, when she the apple took;\n   When, lo, the earth did move, the heavens did stay,\n   Beasts and birds shivered, absent Adam shook.'\"\n\n\n\"I remember well,\" remarked Mr. Dermott, \"that there was a great\nexcitement about a minister who had for many years been settled in the\ntown adjoining the one where your mother and I lived. For a year he\nhad been absent from his people, soliciting funds from the churches\nfor some charitable object. At length it was ascertained that he\nhad appropriated almost all the money he had raised to his own use,\nand thus been guilty of breaking the eighth commandment. A council\nof ministers was called, who took away his license, and deposed him\nfrom the pastoral office. This was called his fall; and I remember\nafterwards hearing my father ask,\u2014\n\n\"'Where is Mr. Monson?'\n\n\"The gentleman replied, 'After his fall, he removed his family from\ntown, and for months we have heard nothing from him.'\"\n\n\"By what was the fall of Adam followed?\"\n\n\"By additional sin and misery.\"\n\n\"Do these always go together?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" replied Helen.\n\n\"How did sin and misery first exhibit themselves?\"\n\n\"I don't know, sir,\" answered Walter; \"but I should think when Cain\nkilled Abel.\"\n\n\"It was long before that. Soon after Eve had persuaded her husband to\npartake with her of the fruit of the forbidden tree, she heard God\ncalling,\u2014\n\n\"'Adam, hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou\nshouldst not eat?'\n\n\"And he said, 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of\nthe tree, end I did eat.'\n\n\"In this reply, he not only endeavored to shield himself from\nresponsibility by throwing the blame upon his wife, but he virtually\nreproached God\u2014'the woman whom thou gavest me.' 'If I had been alone, I\nnever should have done it; but she tempted me, and I could not resist.'\n\n\"And the Lord God said unto the woman, 'What is this that thou hast\ndone?'\n\n\"And the woman said, 'The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'\n\n\"Neither would she bear the blame, but cast it upon another. How much\nbetter would it have been for them to cast themselves down at the feet\nof their Maker, and confess their guilt! How unkind for Adam not to try\nto shield his wife! But such were the early fruits of sin. No doubt\nafter this, there were many unkind words and feelings between the once\nhappy pair.\n\n\"The next occasion of quarrelling which is recorded in Scripture is\nthe melancholy story of Cain and Abel. The dreadful plague of sin,\nwhich they had inherited from their parents, had sprung up in their own\nhearts, and in Cain it yielded bitter fruit, bringing misery and death\ninto their household.\"\n\n\"Who can doubt,\" remarked Mrs. Dermott, \"that the fall brought mankind\ninto a state of sin and misery when he looks around and realizes that\nbut for sin there would be no wars, no armies, no hospitals?\"\n\n\"No prisons, jails nor houses of correction,\" added her husband.\n\"There would be no physicians, because there would be no sickness nor\nsuffering; no orphan asylums nor houses for the blind; no unhappy\nmarriages; no deeds, nor bonds, nor suits at law; and no divorces, no\nmurders, thefts, nor backbitings; no quarrels between children, nor\nthrowing the blame upon each other. There would have been no need of\nthe spilling of a Saviour's blood, for man would have been at peace\nwith his Maker. No; the world would present one glorious scene of\nholiness, and happiness, a heaven upon earth, the delight of angels and\nof God himself. The joy of one would make more complete the bliss of\nall. The beasts of the field, instead of preying upon each other, would\nfind their appropriate food growing spontaneously upon the earth. The\nlion would lie down with the lamb, and a little child would lead them.\"\n\n   \"Our sins, like to our shadows\n    When our day is in its glory, scarce appear;\n    Toward our evening, how great and monstrous\n    They are!\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nMAN'S SINFULNESS; OR, THE DISEASED FAMILY.\n\n\nQUESTION XVIII. _Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate\nwhereinto man fell?_\n\nANSWER. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in\nthe guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and\nthe corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original\nsin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\n\"I WISH father wouldn't bring me into the lesson,\" cried Walter, as he\nwas sitting in a large stuffed chair before the fire, waiting for his\nparents and sisters to be through with their tea.\n\n\"I'll ask him not to,\" replied Helen, just then entering to room.\n\"Here, I've brought you a cup of milk and water, and mother says if you\nrelish it, you may eat this toasted cracker. I hope you'll like it,\"\nadded the sympathizing child, \"for I fixed it myself with nice cream\nand salt.\"\n\n\"You're a dear little girl,\" replied Walter, \"and I'll try to eat it\njust because you have taken so much pains.\"\n\nFor several days the boy had been ill in his chamber, but at his\nearnest request, his mother had allowed him to come down to the parlor,\nwhere, wrapped in a loose dressing gown, he was awaiting the exercise.\n\n\"How do you find yourself to-night, my boy?\" asked his father, placing\nhis fingers upon his son's pulse. \"Helen says you don't wish to be\nbrought into the catechising. Do you mean that you feel too ill to\nrecite with the others?\"\n\n\"O, no, sir!\" responded the boy, a slight flush overspreading his pale\ncountenance. \"I meant that I don't like to have you speak about my\ntemper and such things; I'd rather hear about that some other time.\"\n\nMr. Dermott smiled, and told Isabelle it was her turn to repeat the\nanswer, and then asked her, \"What was Adam's first sin?\"\n\n\"Eating the apple, papa.\"\n\n\"Do you remember what I told you about Edward?\"\n\n\"O, yes, papa,\" cried Helen.\n\n\"I think perhaps you will understand this question better, if I\nillustrate it by a continuation of the story of Edward. When we left\nhim, he had somewhat recovered from the occasioned by his wound, but\nwas still far from well. He gradually recovered, so as to be able to\nattend school, and then went into his father's store as clerk. But the\nwound in his side had caused a pulmonary complaint which often confined\nhim to the house for weeks together.\n\n\"At the age of twenty-four he was married, and resided with his wife in\nhis father's family. In a course of years, five children were born to\nthem, each of whom, after a few months, began to show certain signs of\nthe disease which they had inherited from their father. The symptoms of\nthese were indeed slight at first, but just sufficient to show that the\nseeds of consumption were implanted, and would at some time cause their\ndeath. They were, however, an interesting family; and Edward loved them\nwith all a father's fondness.\n\n\"On a certain occasion, he perceived in one of his boys some symptoms\nof that unbounded curiosity which had caused him the loss of health and\nof independence; and he determined to relate his own story as a warning\nto his children. With a bleeding heart and tear-dimmed eyes, he did so.\n\n\"When, with a burst of grief, his oldest daughter cried out, 'O,\nfather! How sorry I am you touched the box. If you had not, you would\nnever have been sick; and mother would not have looked so pale and\nfrightened as she does now, when you raise blood from your lungs.'\n\n\"'No, and we should have been rich too,' added the youngest boy; 'and\nnow we are so poor, I hardly ever have any new clothes, and I can't\nhave a sled, like all the other little boys.'\n\n\"Edward sighed heavily, as the children openly expressed what had for\nmany years been the burden of his thoughts by day and of his dreams by\nnight. 'Yes,' he cried bitterly, as he rushed from the room to conceal\nhis emotion; 'but for that one act of disobedience, I should now have\nbeen blessed with health and an independent fortune. O, why did I not\ndie of the dreadful wound, instead of living to convey the seeds of\ndeath to those so dear to me! This is my bitterest thought, that they\nmust suffer in consequence of my sin; and if they should live to become\nparents, they must transmit the infection to future generations.'\nOvercome by these thoughts, he wept aloud.\n\n\"And when his daughter rushed into the room, she saw that the\nhandkerchief with which her father was wiping his mouth was saturated\nwith blood.\n\n\"'O father,' exclaimed Helen, 'I don't like Edward's uncle at all. He\nmight have given him some money, when he had so much.'\n\n\"Now,\" resumed the gentleman, \"we will leave the story of Edward,\nand go back to the lesson, which says 'the sinfulness of that estate\nwhereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin,' just\nas the children of Edward, by his disobedience, forfeited the favor\nof his uncle, lost all the healthfulness and the property which they\nmight have inherited, and were visited with poverty, disease, and\nwretchedness.\n\n\"Adam, you know, was created holy, or righteous\u2014a quality here called\n'original righteousness.' When he fell, he lost all this; and all\nthose who descended from him lost it with him. Their natures, which\nwould have been holy, causing them to think holy thoughts, to speak\nholy words, and to perform holy actions, became wholly corrupt. And\nhenceforth they went 'astray from the womb speaking lies;' 'they have\nall gone out of the way;' 'they have altogether become sinful;' 'there\nis none that doeth good, no, not one.' The chief prophet of Israel\ngives this account of the human heart: 'The whole head is sick, and the\nwhole heart faint; from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there\nis no soundness in it.'\n\n\"Can you tell me, Walter, what are actual transgressions?\"\n\n\"I suppose they are such as are acted out, as when we steal, or lie, or\nswear, we commit actual transgressions.\"\n\n\"Yes, and we also commit them when we indulge wicked or unkind\nthoughts, which proceed from a corrupt heart. If we neglect the duty of\nprayer, or of keeping holy the Sabbath, all these flow from a carnal\nmind, and are actual transgressions of the law of God. David prays,\u2014\n\n   \"'Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be\n acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!'\n\n\"Last Sabbath there were three infants baptized,\" added Mrs. Dermott.\n\"Can you tell me, Walter, why water was used?\"\n\n\"No, ma'am.\"\n\n\"Water is an element used for cleansing. Parents who carry their\nchildren to this ordinance realize that they have inherited corruption,\nand are unholy and unclean; therefore they desire them to be washed,\nor purified. But I shall explain this more fully to you under another\nquestion.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nMAN'S MISERY; OR, THE BATTLE FIELD.\n\n\nQUESTION XIX. _What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?_\n\nANSWER. All mankind by the fall lost communion with God, are under his\nwrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life,\nto death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nIT was now the last week in March; and the children were looking\nforward with great delight to the making of their gardens.\n\nThe last year, Mr. Dermott selected from his grounds a pleasant, sunny\nspot, had it ploughed and enriched, and then divided it into four small\nlots for his children. They were allowed to plant just what they chose,\nand to take the entire care of their own enclosure. This plan succeeded\nso well, and afforded so much innocent and healthful amusement to the\nlittle ones, that their father was induced to repeat the experiment.\n\nThese pleasant anticipations, however, did not detract from their\ninterest in the catechisings; and on the evening of Thursday they were\nin their places, eager as ever for the exercise to begin.\n\n\"We learn,\" commenced Mr. Dermott, \"in the third chapter of Genesis,\nthat when God first created man, he allowed him to have free communion\nwith himself. Adam and Eve expressed no surprise when they heard the\nvoice of the Lord in the garden. It seems to have been an event of\nfrequent occurrence; but after they had sinned, they were afraid to\ncome into his presence, and hid themselves; just as a child who has\ndisobeyed the commands of his father is afraid to meet his eye.\n\n\"All communion between them was lost, and they fell under his wrath.\nHe told Eve that, in consequence of her disobedience, she should have\nsickness and sorrow; and that, instead of the confiding love with which\nher husband had heretofore regarded her, as she had so wickedly misused\nher influence, she should henceforth become subject to his rule. To\nAdam he said,\u2014\n\n   \"'Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it\n all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to\n thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy\n face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground.'\n\n\"Just see what misery the first married pair brought upon themselves\nby their rash defiance of God's commands. Into how many parts does the\nanswer divide this misery?\"\n\nWalter glanced at the answer in the book, and replied, \"Into six.\"\n\n\"And do all Adam's descendants come under the same?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, just as the children of Edward inherited their father's\nsickness and poverty.\"\n\n\"To the first of these we have already alluded;\u2014loss of communion with\nGod. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, says,\u2014\n\n   \"'For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? what\n communion hath light with darkness?'\n\n\"We have seen, too, how Adam and all mankind are under God's wrath\nand curse, and so are made liable to all the miseries of this life\u2014to\nprofaneness, idolatry, and other sins. Even the tilling of the ground,\nwhich before the fall was a recreation and delight, now became\nlaborious and painful.\n\n\"Mankind are liable also to death itself, and to the pains of hell\nforever. It is written,\u2014\n\n   \"'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in\n the book of the law to do them.'\n\n\"And who can lay his hand upon his heart and say that he has done this?\nNo one born of woman except the Son of God. How terrible to be under\nthe wrath and curse of the Almighty! Thanks, everlasting thanks to Him\nwho hath given up his own life to redeem us from this dreadful curse,\nand to provide a way for us to be again received into favor.\n\n\"Perhaps there is not a more impressive illustration of the miseries\nof sin than that afforded by the battle field. An inspired apostle\ninquires,\u2014\n\n   \"'Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence,\n even of your lusts, that war in your members?'\"\n\n\n\"As a specimen of those, I will relate an incident, from the pen of a\nclergyman, concerning the battle of Soldin.\n\n\"'At one o'clock the cannonading ceased. Toward evening, seven hundred\nRussian fugitives came to Soldin, a most pitiful sight! Some holding up\ntheir hands, cursing and swearing; others praying and praising the King\nof Prussia; without hats, without clothes; some on foot, others two on\na horse, with their heads and arms tied up; some dragging along by the\nstirrups, and others by the tails of the horses.\n\n\"'When the battle was decided in favor of the Prussians, I ventured to\nthe place where the cannonading had been. After walking some way, a\nCossack's horse came running at full speed toward me. I mounted him,\nand on my way, for seven miles and a half on this side the field of\nbattle, I found the dead and wounded lying on the ground sadly cut\nin pieces. The farther I advanced, the more these poor creatures lay\nheaped upon one another. That scene I shall never forget. The Cossacks,\nas soon as they saw me, cried out, \"Dear sir, water, water, WATER!\"\n\n\"'Righteous God! What a sight! Men, women, and children, Russians and\nPrussians, carriages and horses, oxen, chests, and baggage, all lying\nupon one another to the height of a man! Seven villages around me in\nflames, and the inhabitants either massacred or thrown into the fire.\n\n\"'A noble Prussian officer, who had lost both his legs, cried out\nto me, \"Sir, you are a priest, and preach mercy: pray show me some\ncompassion, and despatch me at once.\"'\"\n\n\"In the next lesson I shall give you an account of a new covenant of\ngrace.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nELECTION AND REDEMPTION; OR, THE NEW HOME.\n\n\nQUESTION XX. _Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin\nand misery?_\n\nANSWER. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity,\nelected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace,\nto deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them\ninto a state of salvation by a Redeemer.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nTHIS year the old adage was verified. March had come in like a lion,\nand it went out like a lamb. The air was warm and soft, and the\nchildren could hardly believe that there would still be cold weather,\nwhich would injure their seeds if they put them into the earth.\n\nIn the middle of the day, the ground for their little gardens was so\nsoft that Walter, who went out to make a survey, as he called it, was\nglad to hobble into the house, leaving one shoe sticking fast in the\nmud. This satisfied him that he had better follow his father's advice,\nand wait until the frost was out of the ground, and the water had had\ntime to drain off or dry up. He changed his stockings, therefore, and\nbegan to think what he should do until tea time, when, seeing the\nCatechism lying upon the table, he looked at the answer, and committed\nit to memory for the evening.\n\n\"You all seem to like to hear about Edward,\" remarked Mr. Dermott, when\nthey were ready for the lesson; \"and perhaps it would be well for me to\nillustrate the meaning of this answer by a continuation of my parable.\"\n\nHelen clapped her hands, while the countenances of the others expressed\ntheir pleasure.\n\n\"We will suppose, then,\" added the gentleman, \"that Edward's rich\nuncle returned to India soon after his nephew's accident, and that\nhe had only occasionally heard rumors of the sad consequences of his\ndisobedience.\n\n\"There he married, and had one son, Joshua, to whom he often related\nthe sad story of Edward, and whose love, sympathy, and pity were\ngreatly moved toward his relative. When he attained his majority, his\nfather settled upon him a large portion of his vast estate. About\nthis time, however, both father and son returned to the land of their\nancestors, and, bringing with them their vast treasures, they built a\nsplendid palace,\u2014which they adorned with all that art or money could\nobtain,\u2014and then, when Edward was reduced to the last extremity of\npoverty and wretchedness, his cousin went to visit him.\n\n\"'My dear friend,' he said, gazing with tender compassion upon the\nsunken eyes and hollow cheeks of the once bright and rosy youth, 'my\nheart aches to find you reduced to such a state of misery. For a long\ntime I have had a purpose of mercy toward you; indeed, I have satisfied\nfor your offence, propitiated my father's favor, prepared a home where\nevery comfort and happiness shall be yours. Leave this wretched abode;\ncome and share with me; I will provide for you forever.'\"\n\nThe tender-hearted Anna wiped the tears from her eyes as she exclaimed,\n\"O, I am so glad he was provided for at last!\"\n\n\"And could all his family go with him?\" inquired Walter.\n\n\"All who pleased could go; the invitation was made freely to all of\nthem.\"\n\n\"Of course they did, then,\" cried Helen. \"I wouldn't have staid a\nminute in that old ugly place, when I could live in a palace, and have\nsuch nice things.\"\n\n\"When Edward heard this noble, generous offer,\" resumed Mr. Dermott,\n\"he could hardly believe it. With a choking voice, he replied, 'Dear\ncousin, your kindness overcomes me; but I am not ungrateful, and\nwhatever conditions or agreement you may see fit to make, I will do my\npart toward their fulfilment.'\n\n\"'No, my poor Edward,' responded the gentleman; 'formerly my father, as\nyou well remember, made an agreement with you, whereby you could secure\nyour own happiness. That was forfeited; now I make another covenant\nwith you, whereby I promise all the blessings which, by means of my\nimmense estates, I have it in my power to grant. You have nothing to do\nbut to accept of them as freely as they are offered.'\"\n\n\"O, what a kind man!\" exclaimed Helen. \"I was afraid he was going to\ntry them with another box.\"\n\n\"If he had,\" cried Walter, \"they wouldn't have been such fools as to\ntouch it, after all they had suffered. If I had been there, 'I should\nhave said, I thank you exceedingly, sir, for your kind offer, but I\nhad rather earn the privilege of living in such a fine mansion. Won't\nyou please to try me in some way, and see if I don't exactly obey your\norders.' Then he'd have seen one boy that could walk right up to the\nmark.\" Walter drew up his form, and stood resolute and determined.\n\nHis father gazed at him with a sad smile; and Anna wondered to see her\naunt wipe a tear from her eye.\n\n\"What did Edward say?\" asked Helen.\n\n\"He said nothing. He had no voice in which to utter his thanks; the\nproposition was beyond what he could realize, from his utter, forlorn,\nand hopeless wretchedness, to free, full, and entire bliss. Indeed he\nwas lost in wonder, love, and praise. He lifted his eyes, streaming\nwith tears, to his cousin's face, and, catching him by the hand,\nwhispered, 'I accept your offer, and henceforth shall delight to know\nthat all my dependence is upon one I so much esteem and love.'\"\n\n\"And what did his wife and children say?\" urged Walter, more moved than\nhe cared to have seen.\n\n\"His wife acknowledged that she was very grateful; but she thought it\nwould be too great an obligation. She told her husband, when their\nbenefactor had gone to make arrangements for the sick man's removal,\nthat she should feel awkward, living in so splendid a place, dependent\nupon a man with whom she was so little acquainted. And when, with\nkindling eye, he urged her to give a full and hearty acceptance of so\ngenerous an offer, saying that, since he had done so, he already began\nto feel the comfort and blessedness of his new home, she replied that\nshe would think of it. On the whole she thought she would do so, but\nnot quite yet. When she had decided, she could easily follow him.\n\n\"Mary and Lucy, the two daughters of Edward, had sat, through the whole\ninterview with their relative, tightly clasping each other's hands.\nWhen the glorious offer of a happy home was extended to them, they\nrose at once, and going to him, said, 'We gladly, joyfully accept the\ninvitation. We are both of us sadly weary of this wretched life, and\nare ready to leave it immediately.'\n\n\"The oldest boy expressed himself very much as Walter did just now.\nNotwithstanding the wretchedness of the life he now lived, he had a\nproud, independent spirit, and he said that if the gentleman would make\nsome kind of a bargain with him, he would gladly exchange his poor\nhovel for a palace, and all the luxuries it contained; but he wanted\nto earn it. He would do any thing that was required, however painful;\nbut something he must do, or he could not go. His brother, next in age,\nsaid that those were exactly his feelings. He should not wish to live\nin so elegant a home until he had done something to earn the privilege.\n\n\"The gentleman sadly shook his head, and told them the offer was\ngratuitous, and must be accepted as such, adding, 'If you were to work\nfor me a hundred years, you could never earn such blessings as I am\nwilling freely to bestow.'\n\n\"And so, with pride and rebellion in their young hearts, they turned\naway from him, and determined to live on in their old place.\n\n\"Little Freddy, the youngest child, sat by the couch of his father, his\nlittle hand striving to wipe the moisture which constantly gathered\non the brow of the poor sufferer. As one and another made known their\ndecision, his wan cheek flushed, and a calm resolve passed through his\nmind. When his brothers turned their backs upon their kind benefactor,\nhe went toward him, and, throwing himself into his embrace, exclaimed,\n'O, take me! I love you more than all the world beside. I will go and\nlive with you forever.'\"\n\n\nMr. Dermott arose, and walked back and forth through the apartment,\nwhile the children sat silent and thoughtful.\n\nAt length he resumed his seat, and, addressing Anna, asked, \"Can you\ntell me who has prepared for us a glorious home above the skies?\"\n\n\"Christ,\" the child seriously answered; \"Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\"Yes, he has ransomed us and become the way whereby we may return\nto our heavenly Father, whom we have offended. There can be no real\ncomparison between the case I have given you and the abounding love and\ngoodness of our Saviour, because, in the first case, I only referred to\nthe well-being of Edward and his family, and the benefits to them in\nthis world, while the blessings we may receive through the redemption\nof Christ, which will be hereafter explained, will last through all\neternity.\n\n\"But I hope by this illustration you may be led to view the wonderful\nlove of our heavenly Father toward our guilty race. Paul, in his\nEpistle to the Ephesians, says he did this 'according to the good\npleasure of his will.'\n\n\"In some lessons which we have gone over, we have explained to you\nthat when God created the world, he made his whole plan or decree\nconcerning it; and, of course, the system of redemption, as a whole and\nin its minute details and application, was a part of it. Those savingly\ninterested in this plan he calls elect. Edward's uncle could not know,\nbeforehand, whether any of his relatives would accept his kind offer.\nBut if he had possessed the power of foreknowledge, they would have\nbeen equally free to accept his offer.\n\n\"But, Walter, can you tell me what this new covenant is called?\"\n\n\"The covenant of grace.\"\n\n\"What was the object of it? You may use your own words.\"\n\n\"To deliver men from their wretched condition, just as Edward's uncle\nintended to deliver him and his family from their poverty and distress.\"\n\n\"Yes, and more than this; God offered to raise them to a seat at his\nright hand, and to the glorious privileges of the sons of God. How can\nhe do this, Helen?\"\n\n\"Through Christ, who died for us.\"\n\n\"Yes, through the sacrifice of his dear Son, who offered to be our\nRedeemer.\"\n\n\"Do all gladly accept this salvation?\"\n\nWalter held down his head as he softly answered, \"No, sir.\"\n\n\"No, many poor guilty sinners would do so if they could earn the right\nto this happy home. Some do, indeed, think they earn it by outwardly\nconforming to his requirements, while their hearts are alienated from\nhim; others by loudly professing to be his friends, and to be very\nzealous in his cause; while still others are so deluded that they lie\nupon beds of thorns, or scourge themselves with small cords, or go on\npainful pilgrimages, wearing small stones in their shoes. But all these\nmethods cannot avail them; the salvation is free, without money and\nwithout price.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nCHRIST THE REDEEMER; OR, THE PARDONED REBELS.\n\n\nQUESTION XXI. _Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?_\n\nANSWER. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who,\nbeing the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to\nbe, God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.\n\n                              \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n\nTHE explanations connected with the last lesson made a deep impression\nupon the mind of Walter. During the week following, he was unusually\nserious and thoughtful, and at length sought his mother's chamber, when\nhe knew her to be alone, and, with tearful eyes, asked, \"How can I be\nsure that God has elected me to be one of his children?\"\n\nMrs. Dermott, with deep emotion, replied, \"If you are willing to give\nyour heart to him, and accept Christ as your Saviour, you may be sure\nof it, my child.\"\n\nIt was, therefore, with prayerful interest that Mr. and Mrs. Dermott\nmet their dear children on the evening appointed for the exercise.\n\nHaving heard the answer repeated, the father asked, \"Helen, who is the\nLord Jesus Christ?\"\n\n\"He is the Redeemer, the eternal Son of God.\"\n\n\"Do you understand the meaning of that answer?\"\n\nHelen shook her head.\n\n\"I will answer for you,\" said her mother. \"It means that from all\neternity he sustained the relation of Son to the everlasting Father\u2014\n\n   \"'Thou art the Son of the living God.'\n\n\"Twelve years ago, Walter began to sustain the relation of son to your\nfather; and so existence commenced with every son of the human race;\nthe angels also began to be. There was a time when all these did not\nexist, and another time when they began to be God's children. Jesus\nChrist, as the son of man, began to exist almost two thousand years\nago. But Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, never began to exist. Unto\nhis Son God said,\u2014\n\n   \"'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A sceptre of righteousness\n is the sceptre of thy kingdom.'\n\n   \"'And let all the angels of God worship him.'\n\n\"These two natures, that of the Son of God, and that of the son of\nman,\" added Mr. Dermott, \"he unites in the office of the only Redeemer\nof God's elect. These will continue forever.\"\n\n\n\"I will illustrate some of these sentiments by another parable. We will\nsuppose, then, that upon a sea-girt isle, there once reigned a great\nand good king, who had one only and dearly beloved son, the heir to his\nkingdom and great revenues. The son was associated with his father in\nevery act for the good of the empire, and the most tender, confiding\naffection existed between them.\n\n\"On one occasion, a large number of men associated together to rebel\nagainst the government. The knowledge of this coming to the throne, the\nrebels were tried, found guilty, and expelled from the island.\n\n\"Not many months elapsed before a rumor reached the king that these\nmen were engaged in privateering around the island, plundering and\nthen setting fire to vessels either approaching or receding from\nthe shore. This unlawful and wicked course was continued for years,\nnotwithstanding the utmost vigilance of the officers appointed to\napprehend them.\n\n\"At length there arose a great storm, which lasted for several days.\nMultitudes of small vessels were driven upon the reefs surrounding the\nshore, and were rescued by the kindness of the islanders. Toward the\nclose of the third day of the terrible tempest, a large vessel was seen\ndriving furiously toward the rocks. The king, from his palace, gazed\nupon the scene with feelings of the tenderest compassion. The surf,\nlashing itself into foam, was dashing furiously toward the shore; and\nthere, at the distance of a mile, lay a noble brig dismasted and in\ndistress.\n\n\"Summoning the prince, the king ascended to the tower of his palace,\nwhere a powerful glass enabled him to view the awful scene with more\ndistinctness. The distressed mariners were running to and fro on board\nthe vessel, some lashing themselves to spars or pieces of broken masts;\nothers were wringing their hands, or raising their arms imploringly to\nheaven; while still other's had cast themselves down upon the deck in\nan attitude of despair.\n\n\"With a pallid cheek and a trembling voice, the king announced to his\nson, who stood at his side, that this vessel contained the company\nof rebels who had conspired against the throne, and who, for a long\nperiod, had been guilty of plundering the sea.\n\n\"'Yes, sire,' answered the prince, after having looked through the\nglass. 'It is indeed so. I can distinctly recognize the ringleaders in\nthe midst of the crew.'\n\n\"The king again approached the glass, and gazed in silence upon the\nwreck. Then hastening to the shore, accompanied by his son, he offered\nlarge rewards to those who would go to the rescue of the wrecked and\ndrowning mariners. But no one could be found ready to take his life in\nhis hand, and venture upon the boiling surf, even to obtain the prize.\n\n\"At length the prince came forward among the crowd, and, approaching\nhis father, said, 'Here am I, sire; send me.'\n\n\"The compassionate heart of the sovereign yearned after his guilty\nsubjects. He longed to rescue them, and restore them to favor.\nWithdrawing with the prince from the crowd, he cried, 'Go, my son, and\nmy love and blessing shall follow you. Go and tell the poor guilty\ncreatures, I offer them free pardon if they will return to their\nallegiance, and become dutiful subjects.'\n\n\"From his previous knowledge of their character, and of the agencies to\nbe exerted on them, he then told his son who would accept this pardon\nand be induced to return with him, and, having embraced and blessed\nhim, followed him to the life-boat.\n\n\"He then hastened back to the tower, where his eagle eye watched the\nbark as it floated over the seething, crested waves. Suddenly he cried\nout in the anguish of his soul. A great wave had struck the frail boat,\nand it was ingulfed in the angry waters.\n\n\"But no; there presently appeared a little speck in the distance. With\nwhat intense, breathless anxiety he watched the scene!\n\n\"Wiping his dim eyes, he at length perceived that his son had buffeted\nthe waves, and was clinging to the bottom of the boat. But he had\nhardly begun to breathe more freely, before the same thing occurred\nagain and again. So that when the prince reached the wrecked vessel, he\nwas scarcely able to mount the deck, to which the boat was made fast by\nmeans of a long rope.\n\n\"The prince made his way along the deck, which was covered with broken\npieces of timber, and made known his errand. With the earnest love\nwhich had led him to encounter so much danger for their sakes, he now\nbesought them to leave their wrecked and ruined brig, and accept his\nfather's offers of mercy. Those whom the king had mentioned to his\nson, threw themselves, without reserve, into his arms, surrendering\nthemselves, and all they had, to his will. But the others refused to\ncomply, even preferring to remain on board their craft, which was\nfast going to pieces. Every tender persuasion was of no avail; and at\nlength, with the chosen few, the prince sadly entered the life-boat to\nreturn to the shore.\n\n\"But before cutting the line which would destroy the last hope of the\npoor outlaws, he stretched out his arms toward them, beseeching them,\nas they valued their own lives, and the sacrifice he had made for them,\nto lay down their arms in token of their submission to his authority,\nthat he might have the unspeakable pleasure of presenting them all to\nhis father as the fruits of his suffering.\n\n\"But all these tender entreaties only made the wrath of the guilty\npirates more terrible. With loud cries they bade him begone, hurling\ntheir weapons in defiance at the boat, and refusing longer even to\nlisten to his words of love.\n\n\"Those who were accompanying the prince, being made willing to accept\nhis mediation with the king, bowed their heads in shame at the insolent\nconduct of their late companions; scalding tears of anguish and remorse\nran down their cheeks as they remembered how recently they had joined\nin this wicked rebellion. The language of their hearts was, 'O, with\nwhat a wonderful love hath he drawn our guilty hearts to himself! What\nboundless goodness that we are not only saved alive, but pardoned and\nrestored to all the privileges of the kingdom!'\n\n\"As they drew near the shore, their emotions increased, and they cried\naloud, 'How can we appear in the presence of our justly offended\nsovereign? Our iniquity seems too great for him to forgive. O, why\ndid we never, till now, view ourselves as vile and guilty before him!\nSurely our sins have rendered us blind to our own unworthiness, as well\nas wanting in obedience toward him.'\n\n\"'Comfort yourselves, my dear friends,' exclaimed the prince; 'my\nfather has accepted my sufferings and labors as a sacrifice for your\nguilt, and your pardon is free and entire. Forget, then, the things\nthat are past, and endeavor, by your zeal in his service, to show your\ngratitude for the favors you have received.'\n\n\"When the life-boat, with its precious freight of souls, drew\ntoward the land, many stood back with fear, as they recognized the\noutlaws; but this emotion was instantly changed to joy, as the prince\naccompanied them to his father, and presented them as the reward of\nhis toil. 'Here am I, sire, and the people who have been redeemed\nfrom death by my agonizing exertions. In your name I have promised\nthat the sentence pronounced against them should be reversed, and\nthat, accepting me as their ransom, they should be admitted to all the\nprivileges of children of a merciful sovereign.'\n\n\"Here the pardoned rebels cast themselves down at the feet of the king,\nconfessing their hatred of themselves and the life they had pursued\nsince they departed from his requirements, resolutely declaring their\ndetermination henceforth to live lives of obedience and integrity,\nthat they might in some humble degree express their gratitude and love\ntoward him who had been willing to give his life a ransom for theirs.\n\n\"When the multitude, who had been crowding near, heard these words,\nthere arose one long-continued shout of rejoicing, in which might be\nheard these words: 'Our glorious Prince! May he reign over us forever\nand ever! For his sake we joyfully, exultingly, welcome home those whom\nhe has so loved, and who will help to swell the song of praise to his\nname forever and ever.'\"\n\nWhile Mr. Dermott had been speaking, Walter's tears silently trickled\ndown his cheeks. He evidently was applying the parable to his own case.\n\nAfter a moment's pause, the gentleman continued: \"We are the rebels\nagainst God, the king. Jesus Christ is our prince, who has offered his\nlife a sacrifice for our sins, that we may obtain pardon and peace.\nThose of us who receive him as our Saviour are his elect, whom he\ncarries in the life-boat of salvation to the kingdom of his Father in\nheaven.\"\n\nDear children, who have all of you violated God's holy law, and are\nliving afar off, having incurred his displeasure, will you not confess\nand forsake your sins, joyfully embracing his Son as your Prince, your\nSaviour, and Redeemer?","title":"Theology in romance : $b or, the catechism and the Dermott family","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":27228}