future greatness 1 Who could have persuaded him- 

 self, that within fifty years, the descendants of that 

 little band of patriots, would have multiplied to 

 thirteen millions, that eleven new states would 

 have been added to the union, and that the popula- 

 tion of the valley of the Mississippi, then an unex- 

 plored wilderness should exceed, in number, the 

 asserters of our independence ? Incredible as the 

 prediction might have appeared, it is more than 

 verified by facts. The noble Mississippi rolls her 

 fertilizing waters near two thousand miles through 

 a country, thickly studded with settlements, which 

 was then the undisputed possession of savages. 

 Their council fires have become extinct, and the 

 city, or town, or hamlet now marks the site of the 

 chieftain's lodge. 



The confederacy of the states having been super- 

 seded by our present well balanced constitution, 

 and the government successfully organized accord- 

 ing to its provisions, the characteristic enterprise of 

 our citizens began to exhibit itself. T^he western 

 forests fell beneath the axe of the adventurous emi- 

 grant from the Atlantic states. The fertility of the 

 soil, and the salubrity of the climate, invited rapid 

 settlement. Towns and villages were soon thickly 

 planted along our western border, and plenty and 

 comfort blessed their inhabitants. The rude hut of 

 the Indian gave place to the comfortable dwelling, 

 and the rustling forest to the highly cultivated field, 

 waving with its yellow harvests. The tide of emi- 

 gration still rolled onward, and these frontier towns 

 and villages soon became radient points, sending 

 their inhabitants to the " far off West." The canal 



