Excerpt from The Story of New Amsterdam
When the mind runs back through the centuries that connect the huge metropolis of the western world with a quaint little town perched on the southern tip of Manhattan, it conjures up a vision of achievement more wondrous by far than the tales of Arabian magic. To picture remote beginnings is often an easy task, but for the beginners themselves to imagine the outcome of their handiwork requires a gift of prophecy they cannot have. The thoughts of those who are privileged to survey the result, as well as view its struggling inception, must ever be tinged with mystic regret that the founders were denied a share in the contemplation of what was to be accomplished. As we invoke the shades of the lengthening past of our great city, therefore, let us call up in memory the townsmen of the days when old New York was young New Amsterdam, and invite them to rejoice with us in spirit that they builded so wisely and so well!
No clearer proof of the marvels that have been wrought, no keener conception of what the metropolis is, and what it means to those who dwell within it, could be supplied than that offered by a study of it during most of the seventeenth century. If comparisons at times be odious they are often instructive. Any description of New York at present, while stimulating enough to our pride in size and numbers and material things, leaves our sense of appreciation vague, simply because we are in the city and of it. The population, after all, is only the individual man, woman and child multiplied in myriads, and the municipal structure itself naught but their personal possessions enlarged to a vast degree.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Story of New Amsterdam (Classic Reprint) (William R. Shepherd)