Bold as the foregoing prediction may seem, the facts of the last
half century will, we think, justify it. If the Manhattan towns,
or Manhattan, as we shall not scruple to term the several places
that compose the prosperous sisterhood at the mouth of the
Hudson--a name that is more ancient and better adapted to the
history, associations, and convenience of the place than any
other--continue to prosper as they have done, ere the close of
the present century they will take their station among the
capitals of the first rank. It may require a longer period to
collect the accessories of a first-class place, for these are the
products of time and cultivation; though the facilities of
intercourse, the spirit of the age, and the equalizing sentiment
that marks the civilization of the epoch, will greatly hasten
everything in the shape of improvement.

New York will probably never possess any churches of an
architecture to attract attention for their magnitude and
magnificence. The policy of the country, which separates religion
from the state, precludes this, by confining all the expenditures
of this nature to the several parishes, few of which are rich
enough to do more than erect edifices of moderate dimensions and
cost. The Romish Church, so much addicted to addressing the
senses, manifests some desire to construct its cathedrals, but
they are necessarily confined to the limits and ornaments suited
to the resources of a branch of the church that, in this country,
is by no means affluent. The manner in which the Americans are
subdivided into sects also conflicts with any commendable desire
that may exist to build glorious temples in honor of the Deity:
and convenience is more consulted than taste, perhaps, in all
that relates to ecclesiastical architecture. Nevertheless, a