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 Cicero would have bowed the knee before 'em— And for law eloquence, we've Doctor Graham. Compared with him, their Justins and Quintillians Had dwindled into second-rate civilians.

For purity and chastity of style, There's Pell's preface, and puffs by Horne and Waite. For penetration deep, and learned toil, And all that stamps an author truly great, Have we not Bristed's ponderous tomes? a treasure For any man of patience and of leisure.

Oxonian Bristed! many a foolscap page He, in his time, hath written, and moreover (What few will do in this degenerate age) Hath read his own works, as you may discover By counting his quotations from himself— You'll find the books on any auction shelf.

I beg Great Britain's pardon; 'tis not meant To claim this Oxford scholar as our own: That he was shipped off here to represent Her literature among us, is well known; And none could better fill the lofty station Of Learning's envoy from the British nation.