Scotchman.—“Why should we ‘shut the gates of mercy’ upon him when we pardon his betters for more flagrant sins? For instance, Mr. Pope, who, in his Essay on Criticism, makes a blunder, or rather uses an hyperbole, stronger than that of your poor Irish mason:—
‘When first young Maro in his noble mind
A work t’outlast immortal Rome design’d.’
And to give you a more modern case, I lately heard an English shopkeeper say to a lady in recommendation of his goods, ‘Ma’am, it will wear for ever, and make you a petticoat afterwards.’”
Irishman.—“Upon my word, I did not think you could have found a match for the mason; but what will you say to my countryman, who, on meeting an acquaintance, accosted him with this ambiguous compliment—‘When first I saw you I thought it was you, but now I see it is your brother.’”
Scotchman.—“If I were not afraid you would take me for a pedant, I should quote a sentence from Cicero that is not far behind this blunder.”
Irishman.—“I can take you for nothing but a friend: pray let us have the Latin.”
Scotchman.—“It is one of Cicero’s compliments to Caesar—‘Qui, cum ipse imperator in toto imperio populi Romani unus esset, esse me alterum passus est.‘[62] Perhaps,” continued the Scotchman, “my way of pronouncing Latin sounds strangely to you, gentlemen?”
Irishman.—“And perhaps ours would be unintelligible to Cicero himself, if he were to overhear us: I fancy we are all so far from right, that we need not dispute about degrees of wrong.”
The coach stopped at this instant, and the conversation was interrupted.