He was a magnificent paymaster to his sneaks; and bound them to him with the strongest of all ties--his purse-strings.
Mr.Moncton, allowed this lad a handsome sum monthly for his own private expenses; and fond as he was of money, he never inquired of the haughty arrogant boy, the manner in which he disposed of his pocket-money.

He might save or spend it as inclination prompted--he considered it a necessary outlay to give his son weight and influence with others; and never troubled himself about it again.
Theophilus soon won over Mr.Jones to his interest, by a few judicious presents; while he fostered his dislike to me, by informing him of circumstances regarding my birth and family, with which I never became acquainted until some years afterwards.

At this distance of time, I can almost forgive Mr.Jones, for the indifference and contempt he felt for his junior pupil.
Influenced by these feelings, he taught me as little as he could; but I had a thirst for knowledge, and he could not hinder me from listening and profiting by his instructions to my cousin.

Fortunately for me, Theophilus did not possess either a brilliant or inquiring mind.
Learning was very distasteful to him; and Mr.Jones had to repeat his instructions so often, that it enabled me to learn them by heart.

Mr.
Jones flattered and coaxed his indolent pupil; but could not induce him to take any interest in his studies, so that I soon shot far ahead of him, greatly to the annoyance of both master and pupil; the former doing his best to throw every impediment in my way.
I resented the injustice of this conduct with much warmth, and told him, "that I would learn in spite of him; I had mastered the first rudiments of Latin and Mathematics, and I could now teach myself all I wanted to know." This boast was rather premature.