Page:Historic towns of the middle states (IA historictownsofm02powe).pdf/77

 broader spirit and more robust movement of the new life; a place that perpetuates its traditions of social elegance and hospitality; a place, too, that has been the cradle and home of men of commanding force, who have contributed to the highest life of the nation and have left their names on enduring structures of thought and art and economic organization.

The city lies at the intersection of the great thoroughfares of traffic and travel in the richest and most densely populated portion of the republic. Its facilities for production and distribution may give it in the future an enormous industrial development. This fortune is not unlikely, but, to those who estimate in large ways the values of life, it cannot heighten the beauty or deepen the charm of the Albany of to-day.