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Not without cause did gods and men select this place for establishing our City —with its healthful hills; its convenient river, by which crops may be floated down from the midland regions and foreign commodities brought up; its sea, near enough for use, yet not exposing us, by too great propinquity, to peril from foreign fleets; a situation in the heart of Italy —a spot, in short, of a nature uniquely adapted for the expansion of a city.

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