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 famine, or  pestilence,  no  sickness,  no  death,  but  a life  of  happy  contentment  here,  and  then  in  God's good  time  a  flight,  soul  and  body,  from  the  earthly heaven to  the  heaven  of  God. Oh! who can  contemplate that  ideal  life  without  feeling  his  heart swell with  gratitude  for  God's  bounty,  and  sink  with vain regret  that  it  is  lost  to  us  forever,  and  burn  with fierce hatred  against  the  monster — mortal  sin — that has come  between  us  and  our  birthright? For, no sooner  had  man  begun  to  enjoy  it,. than once  more  the insidious serpent  crept  in  and  ruined  all. God commanded;  man  disobeyed. Why, O  man,  did  you  eat the forbidden  fruit? Because the  woman  tempted me. Why, O  woman,  did  you  disobey  your  God? Because the  demon  deceived  me. Aye, the  demon — mortal sin — is  again  the  destroyer,  and  against  it again  bursts  forth  God's  hatred. " Cursed  be  the earth,"  He  cries,  "  thorns  and  thistles  shall  it  produce. I  will  multiply  your  sorrows.  In  the  sweat  of your  brow  you  shall  earn  your  bread,  and  at  last,  as dust  you  are,  into  dust  you  shall  return." Look at our  stricken  parents  as  they  fly  from  the  face  of God's  anger  out  into  the  dreary  world,  and  let  their wailings be  your  answer  to  the  question:  What is the  malice  of  a  mortal  sin? Let the  clanging  of the  bolts  and  bars  of  heaven's  gate  as  it  closes,  not to be  reopened  for  four  thousand  years,  be  an  answer to that  question. Let the  difference  between  the harmony in  man's  soul  and  in  nature  before  sin-  and the disorder  there  after  sin  proclaim  sin's  malice* For man's  rebellion  against  God  was  immediately