Page:The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (emended first edition), Volume 2.djvu/23

Rh himself, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.'"

"Oh, Helen! where did you learn all this?"

"In the bible, aunt. I have searched it through, and found nearly thirty passages, all tending to support the same theory."

"And is that the use you make of your bible? And did you find no passages tending to prove the danger and the falsity of such a belief?"

"No: I found, indeed some passages that taken by themselves, might seem to contradict that opinion; but they will all bear a different construction to that which is commonly given, and in most the only difficulty is in the word which we translate 'everlasting' or 'eternal:' I don't know the greek, but I believe it strictly means for ages, and might signify either endless or long-enduring. And as for the danger of the belief, I would not publish it abroad, if I thought any poor wretch would be likely to presume upon it to his own destruction, but it is a glorious thought to cherish in one's own heart, and I