like that sword of which Ezechiel[1] speaks with alarm, foretelling the ruin it will cause. This first sin drew the sword of justice from its scabbard, and terrible was the destruction it wrought. Contemplate its effects; raise your eyes and behold one of the most brilliant beings of God's house, a resplendent image of the divine beauty, flung with lightning-like rapidity[2] from a glorious throne in Heaven to the uttermost depths of hell, for one thought of pride. The prince of heavenly spirits becomes the chief of devils. His beauty and glory are changed into deformity and ignominy. God's favorite subject is changed into His bitterest enemy, and will continue such for all eternity. With what awe this must have filled the Angels, who knew the greatness of his fall! With what astonishment they repeat the words of Isaias: "How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning!"[3]
Consider also the fall of man, which would have been no less terrible than that of the Angels, if it had not been repaired. Behold in it the cause of all the miseries we suffer on earth original and actual sin, suffering of body and mind, death, and the ruin of numberless souls who have been lost for ever. Terrible are the calamities it brought upon us; and even greater would be our misfortunes had not Christ, by His death, bound the power of sin and redeemed us from its slavery. How rigorous, therefore, was the justice of God in thus punishing man's rebellion; but how great
