standing in the old town a single structure of any sort, that was
there previously to the Revolution. As for the new towns,
Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, etc., they had no existence worth
alluding to anterior to the commencement of the present century.
If any dwelling is to be found within the limits of either, that
can claim a more remote origin, it is some farmhouse that has
been swallowed up by the modern improvements.

That which is true of the towns, in this respect, is equally true
of the whole country. A dwelling that has stood half a century is
regarded as a sort of specimen of antiquity, and one that has
seen twice that number of years, of which a few are to be found,
especially among the descendants of the Dutch, is looked upon
with some such reverence as is felt by the modern traveller in
gazing at the tomb of Cecilia Metella, or the amphitheatre of
Verona.

{tomb of Cecilia Metella = the most famous monument on the Appian
Way outside Rome, commemorating the wife of Crassus (d. 53 BC),
who as member of the First Triumvirate, joined with Caesar and
Pompey to end the Roman Republic; amphitheatre of Verona = built
by the Emperor Diocletian about 290 A.D. to stage gladiator
combats, it is one of the largest surviving Roman amphitheaters}

The world has had a striking example of the potency of commerce
as opposed to that of even the sword, in the abortive policy of
Napoleon to exclude England from the trade of the Continent. At
the very moment that this potentate of unequalled means and iron
rule was doing all he could to achieve his object, the goods of
Manchester found their way into half of his dependent provinces,