Mr. Dermott having come into the room, Helen repeated the answer, when he continued, "You will remember that God made a bargain or agreement with Adam and Eve, that if they would yield obedience to his command about the forbidden fruit, they should live forever. This I told you was called a covenant of life, or of works. They forfeited the reward by their disobedience; and now they must pay the penalty. They were driven out of that pleasant home, and were condemned to eternal death. Was this covenant, Walter, made for themselves alone?"
"It was made for all mankind."
"Where do we learn this?"
Mrs. Dermott turned to Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and read,—
"'For as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.'
"Is it common for God to join children with their parents in his covenants?"
"He does in the second commandment."
"Yes, and he did with Noah, and also with Abraham.
"'And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you.'"
"What is the meaning, father, of 'ordinary generation'?"