And he coolly stepped overboard to recover them, without once dreaming
that it was not _terra-firma_, and was _fished_ out with great
difficulty. He frequently wrote a letter to one person, forgot to
subscribe his name to it, and directed it to another. On one occasion
he provided himself with three sermons, having been appointed to
preach before the Archdeacon and Clergy of the district. Some wags got
them, and having intermixed the leaves, stitched them together in that
state, and put them into his sermon-case. He mounted the pulpit at the
usual time, took his text, but soon surprised his reverend audience by
taking leave of the thread of his discourse. He was, however, so
insensible to the dilemma in which he was placed, that he went
preaching on. At last the congregation became impatient, both from the
length and the nature of his sermon. First the archdeacon slipped out,
then the clergy, one by one, followed by the rest of the congregation;
but he never flagged, and would have finished