Had formed him for an alderman at least—
Perhaps, a member of the Legislature;
And that he had the talents, ten times over,
Of Henry Meigs, or Peter H. Wendover.
lxxxvii.
Or he had never dared, in such a tone,
To speak of two great persons, whom the city
With pride and pleasure points to as her own—
Men wise in council, brilliant in debate,
"The expectancy and rose of the fair state."
lxxxviii.
Is—Mr. Sachem Mooney far before;
The other, in his speech about the banner,
Spell-bound his audience until they swore
That such a speech was never heard till then,
And never would be—till he spoke again.
lxxxix.
To think of rivalling these, I must allow
That still the man had talents; and the powers
Of his capacious intellect were now
Improved by foreign travel, and by reading,
And at the Hall he'd learned, of course, good breeding.
