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78 wearies sometimes of having one's mind always strung up to the concert pitch of the abstractly sublime and beautiful. However, it was sheer heresy to utter a word against the infinite superiority of the musical oratory of the Colymbians over all the melody-music of past times. So, to avoid incurring the contempt of my new friends, I pretended to acquiesce in the assertion of the utterly despicable character of any music with a tune in it.

It is a rule I have made to myself, never to differ from an enthusiast unless I wish to make him angry and quarrel with him; and as I had no desire to do so in the present instance, I kept my opinions to myself, and listened to the musical fanatic with the utmost deference.