Stulte nudabit animi conscientiam.[804]
[809]Si quis est qui dictum in se inclementius
Existimavit esse, sic existimet.
No, I recant, I will not, I care, I fear, I confess my fault, acknowledge a great offence,
———motos praestat componere fluctus.
———let's first assuage the troubled waves
If through weakness, folly, passion, [811]discontent, ignorance, I have said amiss, let it be forgotten and forgiven. I acknowledge that of [812] Tacitus to be true, Asperae facetiae, ubi nimis ex vero traxere, acrem sui memoriam relinquunt, a bitter jest leaves a sting behind it: and as an honourable man observes, [813]“They fear a satirist's wit, he their memories.” I may justly suspect the worst; and though I hope I have wronged no man, yet in Medea's words I will crave pardon,
———Illud jam voce extrema peto,
Ne si qua noster dubius effudit dolor,
Maneant in animo verba, sed melior tibi