"In the next lesson I shall give you an account of a new covenant of grace."
[CHAPTER XX.]
ELECTION AND REDEMPTION; OR, THE NEW HOME.
QUESTION XX. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
ANSWER. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into a state of salvation by a Redeemer.
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THIS year the old adage was verified. March had come in like a lion, and it went out like a lamb. The air was warm and soft, and the children could hardly believe that there would still be cold weather, which would injure their seeds if they put them into the earth.
In the middle of the day, the ground for their little gardens was so soft that Walter, who went out to make a survey, as he called it, was glad to hobble into the house, leaving one shoe sticking fast in the mud. This satisfied him that he had better follow his father's advice, and wait until the frost was out of the ground, and the water had had time to drain off or dry up. He changed his stockings, therefore, and began to think what he should do until tea time, when, seeing the Catechism lying upon the table, he looked at the answer, and committed it to memory for the evening.
"You all seem to like to hear about Edward," remarked Mr. Dermott, when they were ready for the lesson; "and perhaps it would be well for me to illustrate the meaning of this answer by a continuation of my parable."
Helen clapped her hands, while the countenances of the others expressed their pleasure.
"We will suppose, then," added the gentleman, "that Edward's rich uncle returned to India soon after his nephew's accident, and that he had only occasionally heard rumors of the sad consequences of his disobedience.