A friend tells me that the allusion to the Acanthus on the first page of
this book is obscurely expressed, that it was not the _root_ but the
_leaves_ of the plant that suggested the idea of the Corinthian capital.
The root of the Acanthus produced the leaves which overhanging the sides
of the basket struck the fancy of the Architect. This was, indeed, what
I _meant_ to say, and though I have not very lucidly expressed myself, I
still think that some readers might have understood me rightly even
without the aid of this explanation, which, however, it is as well for
me to give, as I wish to be intelligible to _all_. A writer should
endeavor to make it impossible for any one to misapprehend his meaning,
though there are some writers of high name both in England and America
who seem to delight in puzzling their readers.
At the bottom of page 200, allusion is made to the dotted lines at some
of the open turns in the engraved labyrinth. By some accident or mistake
the dots have been omitted, but any one can understand where the stop
hedges which the dotted lines indicated might be placed so as to give
the wanderer in the maze, additional trouble to find his way out of it.
[Illustration of a garden.]