the living after the pair left paradise. Cain took after his mother; and
I hazard the opinion that Eve was in sympathy with Cain in the Abel
episode--that is, after the tragedy. Eve and Cain had the best of
everything all the way through, for they acted in harmony with their
feelings; whilst poor old feeble, vacillating Adam tried to use his
worthless old brain-box, and the natural consequence ensued. His
feelings, which constituted the strongest part of his mind, were always
in conflict with his intellect, which was just strong enough to get him
into trouble when a pure out-and-out unreasoning animal would have been
safe; and he never had enough will properly to correct an error when he
did see it."

We laughed over this conceit of Castleton's, and Bainbridge said:

"Speaking of biblical characters, I have thought that Moses would, with
even slight literary training, have far surpassed the modern writer of
adventure-fiction. His style may be open to adverse criticism, but his
originality is beyond question. If he left any material for a purely
original story, I fail to detect it. He gave to literature the
sea-story, the war-story, and the love-story--stories that hinge on all
the human passions, and stories of the supernatural in all its phases.
He first presented to a world innocent of fiction-literature the giant
and the dwarf; the brave man, the strong man, and the man of supreme
fortitude; the honest man, the truthful king, and the woman that knows
how to wait for the man she loves; voices in the air, signs in the
sky--in short, everything. Even poor old Aesop wasn't in time to grasp a
reputation for originality. The modern story-teller may combine, extend,
and elaborate; but all opportunity for a display of invention seems to
be forever barred."