Valentine's manual of old New York . nd the elevations thatvaried the topography are still there, and so are the oldroadways that connected the little settlements, and hereand there one of the old homesteads in the midst of newand marvellous surroundings, but all else has vanishedand the dear old Flatbush of our forefathers is now onlya pleasant and romantic dream of the long ago. The most permanent possessions of a country are itsroads. We still have the Appian way in Rome, WatlingStreet in England, and the famous road around the Bayof Naples over which the distressed and terror-strickeninhab
Valentine's manual of old New York . nd the elevations thatvaried the topography are still there, and so are the oldroadways that connected the little settlements, and hereand there one of the old homesteads in the midst of newand marvellous surroundings, but all else has vanishedand the dear old Flatbush of our forefathers is now onlya pleasant and romantic dream of the long ago. The most permanent possessions of a country are itsroads. We still have the Appian way in Rome, WatlingStreet in England, and the famous road around the Bayof Naples over which the distressed and terror-strickeninhabitants of Pompeii fled from the wrath of coming down to our own times there is the famousroad between Concord and Lexington and the road alongwhich Paul Revere galloped to rouse the brave soldiersof the revolution. These are all famous and permanentand national, but every country-side has its roads withtheir little bits of history and their intimate connectionwith the people as they come and go, and although they [ 174]. OF OLD NEW YORK may be only the roadways of the humble and obscure andhave no world-wide importance, they are none the lessdear and close to the life of the people who have traversedthem and who regard them with a very intimate andtender feeling. For have they not passed over theseroads in moments of anxious care or of exuberant joy, inthe stilly hours of the night and in the garish hours ofthe day, in tempest and in sunshine, in joy and sorrowboth. And have not these roads borne them in all theirways and in all their moods even as a very dear friend whochanges not. And it is the roads that put the familiar aspect on thelandscape. There may be hills and valleys, woods andrivulets, all objects of familiarity and endearment, but itis the roads leading to our dwellings and linking the littlehomesteads together that make the landscape familiarand invest it with that quality which makes us call it ourland—our home. And these old Flatbush roads are sti
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbrownhen, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1919
