Sentence:  I have always had a regard for dunces; — those of my own school-days were amongst the pleasantest of the fellows, and have turned out by no means the dullest in life; whereas many a youth who could turn off Latin hexameters by the yard, and construe Greek quite glibly, is no better than a feeble <WSD>prig</WSD> now, with not a pennyworth more brains than were in his head before his beard grew. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A deliberately superior person; a person who demonstrates an exaggerated conformity or propriety, especially in an irritatingly arrogant or smug manner.