Fanny

XLVI.

We owe the ancients something. You have read
Their works, no doubt--at least in a translation;
Yet there was argument in what he said,
I scorn equivocation or evasion,
And own it must, in candour, be confess'd,
They were an ignorant set of men at best.

XLVII.

'Twas their misfortune to be born too soon
By centuries, and in the wrong place too;
They never saw a steamboat, or balloon,
Velocipede, or Quarterly Review;
Or wore a pair of Baehr's black satin breeches,
Or read an Almanac, or Clinton's Speeches.

XLVIII.

In short, in every thing we far outshine them,--
Art, science, taste, and talent; and a stroll
Through this enlighten'd city would refine them
More than ten years hard study of the whole
Their genius has produced of rich and rare--
God bless the Corporation a