“Sir, As I am a friend to truth, even in trifles, I cannot consent to shelter myself under the classical mangle which Mr Lionel Berguer and some unknown friend have chosen to extend, in their charity, over my faults in prosody. The two lines were written in mere whim, and without the least intention of their being made public. In the first line, the word jaces is a mistake of the transcriber (whoever took that trouble); the phrase is dormis, which I believe is good prosody. The error in the second line, ad januam, certainly exists, and I bow to the castigation. I must plead the same apology which was used by the great Dr Johnson, when he misinterpreted a veterinary phrase of ordinary occurrence—“ignorance—pure ignorance” was the cause of my blunder. Forty years ago, longs and shorts were little attended to in Scottish education; and I have, it appears, forgot the little I may then have learned. I have only to add, that I am far from undervaluing any branch of scholarship, because I have not the good fortune to possess it, and heartily wish that those who succeed us may have the benefit of a more accurate classical education than was common in my earlier days.
“The inscription cannot now be altered; but if it
remains a memorial of my want of learning, it shall not, in addition, convey
any imputation on my candour. I should have been ashamed, at a more stirring
time, to ask admission for this plea of guilty; but at present you
| 370 | LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. |
