ure was not upon University Extension, but upon Romanticism,
and it was a most able discourse," retorted Mr. Pedagog.

"Very likely," said the Idiot. "I did not hear it. I did not want to
hear it. I have my own ideas concerning Romanticism, which do not need
confirmation or correction. I have already confirmed and corrected them.
I went to see the audience and not to hear Professor Peterkin exploding
theories."

"It is a pity the chair you occupied was wasted upon you," snapped Mr.
Pedagog.

"I agree with you," said the Idiot. "I could have got a much better view
of the audience if I had been permitted to sit on the stage, but
Professor Peterkin needed all that for his gestures. However, I saw
enough from where I sat to confirm my impression that University
Extension is not so much of a public benefit as a social fad. There was
hardly a soul in the audience who could not have got all that Professor
Peterkin had to tell him out of his books; there was hardly a soul in
the audience who could not have afforded to pay one dollar at least for
the seat he occupied; there was not a soul in the audience who had paid
more than ten cents for his seat or her seat, and those for whose
benefit the lecture was presumably given, the ten-cent people, were
crowded out. The lectures themselves are not instructive--Professor
Peterkin's particularly--except in so far as it is instructive to hear
what Professor Peterkin thinks on this or that subject, and his desire
to be original forces him to cook up views which no one else ever held,
with the result that what he says is most interesting and proper to be
presented to the attention of a discriminating audience, but not proper
to be presented to an audience that is supposed to come there to receive
instruction."

"You have just said that you did not listen to the lecture. How do you
know that what you say is true?" put in the Bibliomaniac.

"I know Professor Peterkin," said the Idiot.

"Does he know you?" sneered Mr. Pedagog.

"I don't think he would remember me if you should speak my name in his
presence," observed the Idiot, calmly. "But that is easily accounted
for. The Professor never remembers anybody but himself."

"Well, I admit," said Mr. Pedagog, "that the Professor's lectures were
rather advanced for the comprehension of a person like the Idiot,
nevertheless it was an enjoyable occasion, and I doubt if the
fulminations of our friend here will avail against University
Ext