Excerpt from Illinois in 1837: A Sketch Descriptive of the Situation, Boundaries, Face of the Country, Prominent Districts, Prairies, Rivers, Minerals, Animals, Agricultural Products, Public Lands, Plans of Internal Important, Manufacture, &C, The immense resources of the Western Country, the vast increase of wealth, population, and in¿uence in the New States, have long been, but are more particularly at the present time, topics of great and increasing interest throughout the whole of our vast Republic, and are arresting the attention not only of our own citizens, but of the inhabitants of foreign countries. Such are the admirable facilities of the West for trade, such the variety and fertility of its soil, the number and excellence Of its natural products, the genial nature of its climate, and the rapidity with which its population is increasing, that it has become an object of the deepest interest to every American patriot. TO this region the speculator is attracted by the increasing value of property, the politician anticipates the time when, through the ballot-box, the West shall rule, the young and enterprising, turning from the eager competition of industry and talent in the Older states, see here a less occupied field of action, the philanthropist feels a benev'olent anxiety for the intellectual, moral, and religious condi tion of a population thus collecting and increasing, and destined to fill the measure of our national glory. The greatness and importance of this region is bursting into vision in a manner scarcely less wonderful to the present generation than was American prosperity to the slowly progressing European.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.