The

Whatever weight these various considerations may have had with the legislature, and we may presume they were duly considered, they passed, on the 22d of February, 1837 (selecting an auspicious birthday), "An act to establish and maintain a general system of internal improvement." most striking features of this act are, that it provides for the construction of 1342 miles of railroad; it appropriates a large sum of money ($200,000) for the use of those few counties in the State, which no stretch of ingenuity could penetrate with either railroad or canal; it requires, that the work should be commenced, simultaneously, upon all of the roads, at their intersection with navigable waters, contemplating their joint completion at the same time, so as to give no one the preference over another; and it specifies certain towns through which the proposed roads must pass.* Of these roads, one runs through the State, in its whole length, from Galena to the mouth of the Ohio, parallel to the course of the Mississippi; four cross the State from west to east, three of which diverge from Alton, and one starts from Quincy on the Mississippi; all of these (except one which runs to Shawneetown on the Ohio) strike the line of Indiana, with which State no agreement exists, as yet, to continue any of them. Besides these, several shorter roads are provided for, which are to intersect and connect the main routes, at different points, till the whole State "will be scarred and furrowed," as has been said of England, “by railways, resembling the straight, cross-barred lines, tattooed across the countenance of the New Zealander."†

Of the funds necessary to carry out this stupendous project, every dollar has to be borrowed. The State had in its possession, or under its control, no funds which could be legitimately applied to this purpose. The school and seminary fund, that part not already borrowed to defray the current expenses of the State, was first lent by the State to itself, and the fund commissioners were authorized forthwith to obtain money on the best terms practicable. But, what appears to have been thought the master-stroke of

*In many instances, the fee simple of such towns could be bought for less money, than the deviation (necessary to visit them) from the direct and economical line will cost.

London Quarterly Review, for January, 1839.

*

financiering, a State stock of about three millions was created, the proceeds of which were invested in the stock of the State bank and of the bank of Shawneetown, which institutions had their charters expanded for the reception of this influx. Of the profits from this participation in a venture, which proved so disastrous on a former occasion, the most sanguine anticipations are indulged. They have been estimated (after paying the interest on the loans which the stock cost) as high as $180,000 per annum.

The following estimate of the cost of these works, and of the resources of the State, embodies the latest authentic information that has been given to the public. They are extracted from the report of the committee on internal improvement to the House of Representatives of the State, submitted on the 16th of February, 1839. The total cost is set down at $14,000,000. The gross amount of interest, that will have accrued on the loans, which will constitute the above sum for eight years, including 1846 (when the works will have been in operation one year), is $4,327,518. The gross receipts for that period are estimated at $3,829,349, showing a deficit to be provided for of $498,169. Of the foundations upon which these estimates rest, we may judge, when we learn, that, of these receipts, $720,000 are calculated as the profits to arise to the State from its banking speculation; $236,000 are set down as the proceeds of premiums and exchanges; and, most monstrous of all, $2,385,000 are to be gathered from tolls, that is, this sum is to be the net proceeds of the tolls, after paying the cost of collection and repairs; and the works are to commence yielding a small net income on the total expenditures, even so soon as the third year from their commencement (when, from the very nature of the system, no one road is to be completed, except for a few miles at the termination of each). This income is gradually to increase, till, in the year 1846, it is to equal the amount of interest due on the whole $14,000,000 of debt, and, in connexion with the bank dividends, yield the State a clear profit of $ 90,000 for that year's operation! Now, of these three sources of revenue, the first two are

By this increase of the capital of the Shawneetown bank, the legislature undoubtedly infringed the spirit of that part of the constitution, which (excepting those already in existence, whereof this was one,) prohibits the chartering of other than the State banks,

altogether hypothetical, and depend upon contingencies over which the legislature has no control. And the third we have no hesitation in pronouncing utterly fallacious. What grounds the committee can have for calculating so large an income from these roads, even after they are all completed, we are not told. Certain it is, that the experience of railroad profits, even in wealthy and thickly-peopled parts of the country, would not justify any thing like so large a calculation; but to estimate these profits at so large a rate in a country new and thinly settled, from roads traversing districts, where, in some instances, the traveller may now ride for half a day without seeing a human habitation, and to calculate, that they will begin to yield an income before the connexion, which alone can make them serviceable, is completed, argues a sanguineness of anticipation, but seldom indulged by sober-minded men.

Nor are we apprehensive, that these remarks will be construed into a hostility to railroads, or a doubt as to the benefits they are destined, ultimately, to bestow upon the human race, and more especially upon the citizens of this republic. It is our strong conviction of their utility, which induces us to lament, that rashness or extravagance should, by grasping too eagerly at so great a good, embarrass the concerns of a young and enterprising State, and postpone, as we much fear they will, a consummation, which prudence and economy would otherwise have accomplished.

"The valley of the West," says M. De Tocqueville, "is the most magnificent dwelling ever prepared by God for man's abode." Not intending to say aught in disparagement of any of the other western States, which are advancing, pari passu, in the race to greatness, and each of which has its admirers, and has found its advocates, we may be allowed to say, that none of them better deserves to share in the above eulogium than Illinois. Possessed of a fertile soil, a fine climate, and unexampled natural facilities for navigation, and occupied by an intelligent, and, we think we may say, a well-meaning population, she may present her claims to favorable consideration as freely as any of her sisters. And emigrants, who come with sound views and industrious habits, may be as safe from disappointment here as in any part of the West.

We are well convinced, that mistaken calculations and

exaggerated hopes have taken to the West many a family, who have never ceased to mourn over what experience has taught them was a false step. People, to whom the gratification. of the artificial wants and an enjoyment of the refinements of a high state of civilization have become matters of prime necessity, have, in many instances, dreaming of the Arcadian freedom and easy abundance of the prairies, broken up their establishments and severed the bonds of early association, and have gradually and painfully awoke to the conviction (when return was impracticable), that labor, arduous, and perhaps unusual, was necessary for their support; that society, such as they had been accustomed to, was not to be found, in which to enjoy their hours of relaxation; and that sickness was to be encountered far from the friends and relatives, to whom they had formerly looked for assistance and sympathy. And it has been with no little astonishment, that, in the face of so many instances of this kind, we have seen the tide of emigration swelling and rolling on, in the vigorous and permanent stream which we still witness. Fortunately, however, for the reputation and for the prosperity of the West, the bulk of the emigrants have been of a different sort, have been made of sterner stuff. The operative farmer, who expects to till the soil with his own hands, may be assured, that the value of a year's wages will make him the owner of as much land as he can cultivate, as fertile as he can desire, which every year will be increasing in value; while he can settle his children around him, who will be here, by the way, aids to him in the acquisition of property, and not drawbacks upon his progress. The merchant, of small means and of active habits, here finds a field, where personal enterprise and industry supply the want of capital. The young professional man, without patronage, and hopeless of success in the older States, repairs eagerly to a country, where all are upon the same footing with himself, where he has to work his way up against no overshadowing reputations, and where, supposing him industrious and honest, if the country grow, he must rise with it. It is of materials such as these, that the emigration, which is now covering the prairies of Illinois, is mainly composed.

C.C. Felton,

ART. VI. Two Ways of Dying for a Husband. 1. Dying to keep him, or Tortesa the Usurer. 2. Dying to lose him, or Bianca Visconti. By N. P. WILLIS, Esq., Author of "Pencillings by the Way," "The Slingsby Papers," ""Melanie," &c. &c. London: Hugh Cunningham. 1839. 8vo. pp. 245.

THE variety and versatility of Mr. Willis's literary abilities have been strikingly displayed within the last few years. He writes a prose style, which, for splendor of diction, brilliancy and tastefulness of ornament, and musical flow, will bear a favorable comparison with that of any author in the walks of elegant literature, whether in England or in the United States. His language possesses that curious but indescribable felicity, that clearness and graphic power, and that gracefulness of racy idiomatic expression, which wind their way into every reader's mind, and enchant his senses by their manifold fascinations. His works have had an almost unprecedented circulation, in spite of certain grave faults, which drew down upon them the heavy censure of some of the British critics. But the critics are not omnipotent; and the writings of a man of genius, like Mr. Willis, however light and transient the theme, will be popular, will be read. His "Pencillings by the Way," therefore, notwithstanding their offences against the laws of society in some instances, continue to be republished, adorned by all the luxury of the British press. We understand that a new edition of his collected Poems," is about to appear in the style of Rogers's magnificent volumes.

*

But, as we have, on a former occasion, presented our view of Willis's poetry at some length, we do not intend to repeat the observations we then made; we shall simply give a brief account of the two dramatic poems, the somewhat whimsical titles of which are placed at the head of this paper. They are marked by the usual excellences of the author's style. The dialogue is spirited, rising sometimes to a high strain of poetry; the words are aptly chosen, and the lines are constructed according to the true dramatic style; that is, they are elevated beyond the language of prose, without having the stately march of the heroic measure. The

* See North American Review, Vol. XLIII. pp. 384 et seq.