I wrote to "my lords and gentlemen," saying that my knowledge of German was not such as to enable me to find fault with other people's.
The governors answered that it did not matter, and I was directed to proceed to the Examination.
I got over the difficulty by sharing the work and the fees with an able German, who prepared the questions and corrected the copies.
[ [8] ] Dear boy! he probably was a weekly boarder, and the Sunday fare at home had left sweet recollections in his mind. This beats Swift's etymology of "cucumber," which he once gave at a dinner of the Philological Society: "King Jeremiah, Jeremiah King, Jerkin, Gherkin, Cucumber."
[ [9] ] "'Cheval' comes from 'equus' no doubt; but it must be confessed that, to come to us in that state, it has sadly altered on the way."
VIII.