THE GREAT BRIDGE AND ITS LESSONS. 349 



suffering hero quote the words of " Hyperion " : " Oh, I have looked 

 with wonder upon those who, in sorrow and privation, and bodily dis- 

 comfort, and sickness, which is the shadow of death, have worked 

 right on to the accomplishment of their great purposes ; toiling much, 

 enduring much, fulfilling much ; and then, with shattered nerves and 

 sinews all unstrung, have laid themselves down in the grave and slept 

 the sleep of death, and the world talks of them while they sleep ! 

 And as in the sun's eclipse we can behold the great stars shining in 

 the heavens, so in this life-eclipse have these men beheld the lights of 

 the great eternity, burning solemnly and forever ! " 



And now what is to be the outcome of this great expenditure upon 

 the highway which has been constructed between the two cities, for 

 which Dr. Storrs and I have the honor to speak to-day ? That Brook- 

 lyn will gain in numbers and in wealth with accelerated speed is a 

 foregone conclusion. Whether this gain shall in any wise be at the 

 expense of New York is a matter in regard to which the great me- 

 tropolis does not concern herself. Her citizens are content with the 

 knowledge that she exists and grows with the growth of the whole 

 country, of whose progress and prosperity she is but the exponent and 

 the index. Will the bridge lead, as has been forcibly suggested, and 

 in some quarters hopefully anticipated, to the union of the two cities 

 under one name and one government? This suggestion is in part 

 sentimental and in part practical. So far as the union in name is 

 concerned, it is scarcely worth consideration, for in any comparison 

 which our national or local pride may institute between this metropolis 

 and the other great cities of the world, its environment, whether in 

 Long Island, Staten Island, or New Jersey, will always be included. 

 In considering the population of London, no one ever separates the 

 city proper from the surrounding parts. They are properly regarded 

 as one homogeneous aggregation of human beings. 



It is only when we come to consider the problem of governing great 

 masses that the serious elements of the question present themselves, 

 and must be determined before a satisfactory answer can be given. 

 The tendency of modern civilization is toward the concentration of 

 population in dense masses. This is due to the higher and more diver- 

 sified life which can be secured by association and co-operation on a 

 large scale, affording not merely greater comfort and often luxury, but 

 actually distributing the fruits of labor on a more equitable basis than 

 is possible in sparsely settled regions and among feeble communities. 

 The great improvements of our day in labor-saving machinery and 

 its application to agriculture enable the nation to be fed with a less 

 percentage of its total force thus applied, and leave a larger margin of 

 population free to engage in such other pursuits as are best carried on 

 in large cities. 



The disclosures of the last census prove the truth of this statement. 

 At the first census in 1790 the population resident in cities was 3 3 pr 



