stands alone, the only city in all the world that is absolutely finished
and perfect. But of a truth our public works sink into insignificance
beside those of the ancient barbarians, the great wall and canal of
China, the pyramids of Egypt, and the brilliant cities of Assyria and
Palmyra.

The cities of Australia-Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide-in common with all
those of the British colonies, are laid out along liberal lines, with
broad streets, parks, public squares, and beautiful modern buildings,
requiring little change for many years to come. The English part of
Calcutta is a city of palaces, built from the spoils of subjugation.
Yokohama was a small fishing station when Commodore Perry called there
in 1854.

In the New World as in the Old, from John Cotton to Joseph Smith,
religion with cupidity inspires. One William Blaxton in 1630 lived where
Boston now is, and invited thither Winthrop and his colonists. When
banished from Massachusetts, Roger Williams stepped ashore on the bank
of the Seekonk, on a rock where is now Providence. The French built a fort
where Marquette camped in 1673, and there is now Chicago. Buffalo was a
military post in 1812. St. Paul was an Indian trading station prior to
1838. The building of Fort Washington was followed by settlers and
Cincinnati was begun. Henry Hudson touched at Manhattan island in 1609,
and the Dutch following, New York was the result. Brigham Young,
journeying westward, came to the Great Salt Lake, where, as he told his
followers, he was instructed by divine revelation to plant the City of
the Saints. It proved more permanent than might have been expected, as
zion-cities usually are quite ephemeral affairs.

Boston, the beneficial, swept by fires, smallpox, witchcraft, quakerism,