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96
The Inventions of the Idiot
·
John Kendrick Bangs
38
"You
flatter
me,"
said
Mr.
Pedagog.
"No,"
returned
the
Idiot.
"If
you
knew
how
little
the
ignorant
gain
from
Peterkin
you
would
not
necessarily
call
it
flattery
if
one
should
say
he
learned
more
from
your
conversation
over
a
griddle-cake."
"You
misconceive
the
whole
situation,
I
think,
nevertheless,"
said
Mr.
Whitechoker.
"As
I
understand
it,
supplementary
lectures,
and
examinations
based
on
them,
are
held
after
the
lectures,
when
the
practical
instruction
is
given
with
great
thoroughness."
"I'm
glad
you
spoke
of
that,"
said
the
Idiot.
"I
had
forgotten
that
part
of
it.
Professor
Peterkin
received
pay
for
his
lectures,
which
dealt
in
theories
only;
plain
Mr.
Barton,
who
delivered
the
supplementary
lectures,
got
nothing.
Professor
Peterkin
taught
nothing,
but
he
represented
University
Extension.
Plain
Mr.
Barton
did
the
work
and
represented
nothing.
Both
reached
society.
Neither
reached
the
masses.
In
my
native
town
plain
Mr.
Barton's
supplementary
lectures,
which
were
simply
an
effort
to
unravel
the
Peterkin
complications,
were
attended
by
the
same
people
in
smaller
crowds--people
of
social
standing
who
were
curious
enough
to
devote
an
hour
a
week
to
an
endeavor
to
find
out
the
meaning
of
what
Professor
Peterkin
had
told
them
at
the
function
the
week
before.
The
students
examined
were
mostly
ladies,
and
I
happen
to
know
that
in
a
large
proportion
they
were
ladies
whose
husbands
could
have
afforded
to
pay
Professor
Peterkin
his
salary
ten
times
over
as
a
private
tutor."
"As
I
look
at
it,"
said
Mr.
Pedagog,
gravely,
"it
does
not
make
much
difference
to
whom
your
instruction
is
given,
so
long
as
it
instructs.
What
if
these
lectures
do
interest
those
who
are
comparatively
well
off?
Your
society
woman
may
be
as
much
in
need
of
an
extended
education
as
your
factory
girl.
The
University
Extension
idea
is
to
convey
knowledge
to
people
who
would
not
otherwise
get
it.
It
simply
sets
out
to
improve
minds.
If
the
social
mind
needs
improvement,
why
not
improve
it?
Why
condemn
a
system
because
it
does
not
discriminate
in
the
minds
selected
for
improvement?"
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