He told his father that he had adopted high principles, and was determined to discountenance everything low and mean; advised him to eschew trade, and to purchase him a living.

The old man retired from business, purchased his son a living, and shortly after died, leaving him what remained of his fortune.

The first thing the Reverend Mr.Platitude did, after his father's decease, was to send his mother and sister into Wales to live upon a small annuity, assigning as a reason that he was averse to anything low, and that they talked ungrammatically.

Wishing to shine in the pulpit, he now preached high sermons, as he called them, interspersed with scraps of learning.

His sermons did not, however, procure him much popularity; on the contrary, his church soon became nearly deserted, the greater part of his flock going over to certain dissenting preachers, who had shortly before made their appearance in the neighbourhood.