instructions would naturally be very vague, and the construction liberal. Accordingly, but twenty thousand warrants, each for one quarter section, or one hundred and sixty acres, were located, embracing only three millions two hundred thousand acres. The territory of Illinois was but little known at that time, and the discharged soldiers were, for the most part, improvident men, who preferred a sum in cash, however small, to any prospective advantage which might accrue to them from holding their lands. The bounty lands, therefore, soon fell into the hands of other persons, mostly residents of the eastern commercial cities. When Illinois became a state, and these lands were subjected to taxation, the owners, whether the original patentees, or purchasers under them, were careless about paying taxes on property which had cost little, and the ultimate value of which was considered extremely problematical. A vast portion of them, therefore, were annually sold for taxes; but this process, also, eventuated in throwing these lands into the hands of non-resident capitalists. Supposing the whole to be thus held, the annual revenue to the state, at one cent and a half an acre, would be forty-eight thousand dollars; about four thousand dollars of this sum may be deducted for the taxes of the inhabitants of the tract, leaving the sum of forty-four thousand dollars as the revenue of the state from military lands, owned by non-residents; to which may be added, a small sum, say five or six thousand dollars, receivable from non-resident owners of lands situated in other parts of the state; making the whole revenue about fifty thousand dollars. The

ordinary annual expenditures of the state government, are about thirty thousand dollars, leaving a surplus of twenty thousand dollars, at the disposal of the legislature. There being, therefore, no immediate necessity for raising money by taxation, from the inhabitants, and the constitution requiring that the taxes upon non-residents and residents should be the same, the legislature thought proper, instead of reducing the taxes, to give the portion paid by resident land owners, to the counties respectively.

No systematic plan of internal improvement has yet been adopted. Appropriations have been made at every session of the legislature, for building bridges, opening roads, and other public improvements. But the money thus distributed, has been divided into small sums, scattered over a wide surface, and expended upon temporary objects. The only work of magnitude which has been attempted, is the proposed canal to unite the Illinois river with lake Michigan, which, from recent indications, it would appear, is about to be abandoned, for the purpose of adopting the plan of a rail-road, or of changing the direction.

In relation to the sale of public land, by the United States, it is natural that the legislatures of the new states, in which those lands are situated, should interfere, and that there should be many opinions. Private holders of property differ widely in their estimation of its value. The seller and the buyer often adopt different standards of valuation; and it would be strange indeed, if there should not be various theories in relation to the public domain. We are,

moreover, a very wise nation, and not at all disposed to concede, that all the good sense and ingenuity of the Union, is concentrated in the little collection of great men who assemble on the floor of congress; and we indulge a benevolent propensity, which is not peculiar to the west, but pervades the nation, of contributing a portion annually, of our own knowledge to the public stock, in the shape of resolutions, memorials, and instructions. The greatest objection to these popular instructions is, that they are not always consistent with each other; and that even the same set of men, at the same session of a legislature, sometimes recommend conflicting measures. The legislature of Illinois, as well as those of the other new states, have sanctioned, by their resolutions, almost all the propositions which have been made in congress, for important changes in the system of land sales; and the subject is one, the discussion of which, occupies more or less time at every session.

CHAPTER XXII.

CONCLUSION.

We have been obliged to pass over an interesting portion of the history of this region, which would have occupied a larger space than we could afford to devote to it, and at which we shall now only glance, in such a manner, as to invite attention to it, and enable those who may be disposed to pursue the subject, to take up the thread of the narrative.

As the settlements continued to extend towards the west, and new states to be founded beyond Kentucky and Ohio, the same difficulties and dangers which we have described-a little varied in character, but equally formidable-assailed the footsteps of the pioneers, who still bravely pressed forward, followed by the helpless but undaunted companions of all their vicissitudes, their wives and children. Year after year rolled on, producing little change in the aspect of the frontier, except that the scene of toil and conflict was rapidly moving farther and farther to the west, carrying with it war, and leaving behind it security. As the wave swept on, the calm succeeded, the traces of the tempest were obliterated, civil institutions sprung up, and grew with the amazing celerity and vigor, which marks the bursting forth of vegetation, when the genial warmth of spring succeeds the stormy blasts of winter.

Two events remain to be noticed, which are important to the history of this region, and have

totally changed its condition-the purchase of Louisiana, in 1803, and the late war with Great Britain. The first of these measures gave rise to much discussion, and was fiercely denounced by the opponents of the administration by which it was effected; but experience has proved its wisdom, and it may now be justly regarded, as second only, in its happy consequences, to the revolution which gave freedom to our country. It opened a market for the produce of the west, gave us free access to the ocean, and allayed those discontents, which had so long threatened the peace, perhaps the existence, of the Union. It left us without a boundary or a civilized neighbor, on the west, and deprived foreign nations of all excuse for tampering with the Indians who inhabit those wide regions. It presented a new, a wide, a boundless field, to the enterprising pioneer, and the industrious emigrant.

The war with Great Britain, which broke out in 1812, fell heavily upon the western settlements, but resulted in permanent advantages to this region. During the angry discussions with the British cabinet, which preceded that event, that government, anticipating a rupture, renewed, with more industry than ever, her intrigues with the Indian tribes residing on the borders of Ohio and Indiana. Among other instruments, she found in the daring Tecumseh, one who was admirably fitted by nature to second her designs. He was a man of splendid talents and great energy of character. He conceived the bold design of preventing the future extension of the American settlements, and perhaps of recovering the country