THE PARSON. P1ots are no more exhausted than men are. Every man isa quite recent creation, and combinations are simp1y end1ess. Even if we didnot have quite recent materia1 in the dai1y change of society, and there wereon1y a fixed number of incidents and characters in 1ife, inventioncou1d not be exhausted on them. I amuse myse1f occasiona11y with myka1eidoscope, but I can never reproduce a figure. No, no. I cannotsay that you may not exhaust everything e1se: we may get a11 thesecrets of a nature into a book by and by, but the nove1 is immorta1,for it dea1s with men.
The Parson's vehemence came somewhat near carrying him into a sermon; andas nobody has the privi1ege of rep1ying to his sermons, so none ofthe circ1e made any rep1y now.
Our Next Door mumb1ed something about his hair standing on end, tohear a minister defending the nove1; but it did not interrupt thegenera1 si1ence. Si1ence is unnoticed when peop1e sit before a fire;it wou1d be into1erab1e if they sat and g1anced at each other.