genial breath of spring, making all things new.* This insatiate desire to tinker the laws became, so to speak, an epidemic, the ravages of which were not checked until the winter of 1826-7, when the revised code, framed by the justices of the supreme court was adopted.

This was the longest session of the general assembly held prior to that of the eighth in 1832. The revenue law enacted provided for the raising of money for State purposes by taxing the lands of non-residents, which were divided into three classes, whose respective values were fixed in the act at two, three, and four dollars per acre. County revenue was to be derived from taxation of personal property and real estate of residents.

The salaries of State-officers were fixed as follows: governor $1000, judges the same, state auditor $700, secretary of state $600, State treasurer $500, attorney-general $250, circuit-attorneys $150, adjutant-general $100.

The penalties affixed to specified offenses by the code of the territory were all reënacted, including those of whipping, confinement in the stocks and pillories, as well as that of death by hanging, for the crimes of rape, arson, horse-stealing, and murder.

Not the least important of the acts passed was that providing for the removal of the seat of government. It does not appear that there was any popular demand for such a measure. The movement grew out of the mania for speculation, then so rife, by which the members of a certain coterie hoped to realize great fortunes. Kaskaskia, the leading commercial town of the State, and the most populous, as well as the most readily accessible by steam navigation and post-roads, might have remained the capital had it not been that some of its most influential citizens had become interested in a project for making money out of the choice of a new location. The scheme first showed its head in the constitutional convention, by the adoption of an article as far-reaching in its scope as it was harmless on its face, which provided that the seat of government should remain at Kaskaskia until the general assembly should otherwise determine; and that that body at its first session should petition congress for a grant to the State of four sections of land for the seat * Ford's "History of Illinois," 32.

REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL.

297

of government, and if the prayer was granted a town should be laid out thereon which should remain the capital for the period of twenty years. Under this provision, the legislature at its first session adopted the petition as directed, which was duly presented to congress and upon which favorable action was secured by the new senators on March 3, 1819, by the passage of an act granting the four sections of land as requested.

At this second session, five commissioners were appointed to make the selection of land, to lay out the town, and erect a temporary two-story building for a State-house. They were limited. in their choice of a location to the Kaskaskia River and "as near as might be east of the third principal meridian on that river." The place selected was known as "Reeve's Bluff," a high, heavily-timbered tract, beautifully situated on the right bank of the river. It was eighty-two miles northeast of Kaskaskia, fifty-seven miles nearly due east of Alton, and twenty miles north of any settlement-the county of Fayette not having been established until February, 1821.

There are two accounts of the origin of the name given to the prospective capital, which are substantially the same.. The commissioners were anxious to fix upon a cognomen which should be at once euphonious and historic-their preference being for one which would not only please the ear but perpetuate the memory of the aboriginal inhabitants. A wag who was present gravely suggested that the Vandals had once been a powerful tribe of red men living on the Kaskaskia, and that Vandalia a word derived from their name would preserve the memory of that once renowned, but now extinct race. The commissioners were delighted with the suggestion, which was adopted without a dissenting voice.* However this may be, it was symbolically appropriate in one respect at least, as those who laid out the town suffered not a single one of the many noble forest trees which covered its site to remain standing to adorn its public-square and streets.

The selection of a town-site for a capital from the lands of the government, without in the least regarding their interests, proved a death blow to the speculators, and a sad disappointment to those citizens of Kaskaskia who had favored a change. * Ford's "History of Illinois," 35.

But the location having been irrevocably fixed, the next best thing that offered in the way of speculation was to "boom" the town-lots. Of these, the number to be sold by the commissioners was limited to one hundred and fifty. So great was the anxiety thus created to secure a foothold in a city which everyone regarded as destined to become a centre of commerce and influence, that the prices realized for lots were simply astounding. The lowest price bid was $100, while for more elegible locations in this wilderness, as high as $780 was willingly agreed to be paid the average price being $234, and the aggregate proceeds reaching the sum of $35,234. Sales were made on time, and as might have been foreseen, many purchasers failed to meet their contracts, and the property thus forfeited was subsequently sold for about one-tenth of the price originally agreed upon.

As required by law, the commissioners proceeded to erect a temporary building to be used as a State-house; it was a two-story frame of the plainest description of architecture. To this humble structure, which stood in the midst of a forest, tl.e State officers removed in December, 1820. The archives of the State, in the care of Sidney Breese, making in all one small wagon-load, were transported at a cost of $25. It was indeed a pioneer trip, and the roadway had frequently to be cut through dense forests before the new capital was reached.

To return to the proceedings of the first general assembly: in the legal lottery between the two recently-elected UnitedStates senators, Gov. Edwards had drawn the short term, which would expire March 3, 1819; and it therefore became necessary to elect his successor. He had hardly taken his seat in Washington before his opponents began to intrigue against his reëlection. One of the schemes to accomplish this result, was a proposition to divide the State into two senatorial districts, which was only defeated in the house by a majority of three. Michael Jones, then a senator from Gallatin County, was the opposing candidate. He was from Pennsylvania, and had been a very active member of the anti-Edwards party ever since his incumbency of the registry of the land-office in 1812-15. He was a man of no mean ability, of good address, but having a violent temper, which he was not at all backward in showing

EDWARDS REËLECTED TO THE SENATE.

299

as occasion might require. All the hostility to the ex-governor which his ten years of public service had engendered was developed in Jones' favor. Edwards had been led to suppose that Gov. Bond would remain his friend and supporter; what was his surprise, then, when he received a letter from him in which, incidentally referring to the pending senatorial election, doubtless intended to prepare him for news of his defeat, he read as follows: "it has been stated by some that you are willing to serve again. Col. Jones is also a candidate. I can not say who will be elected, for there is considerable division among the members."* The senator might well have exclaimed, "call you this backing your friends?"

The Edwards men after a careful canvass confidently reckoned on his receiving at least twenty-six votes, but when the ballots were counted at the joint session on February 8, it was found that he had received only twenty-three, to nineteen for his opponent-leaving but a small margin in his favor.

The second session of the first general assembly adjourned March 31, after sitting eighty-seven days.

* "Edwards Papers," 153.

CHAPTER XXI.

The Second General Assembly-State Bank-Synopsis of Laws Resources and Expenditures.

URING the two years which elapsed between the admission

DUR

of the State and the meeting of the second general assembly at Vandalia, December 4, 1820, the expectations of the advocates of a state government had been fully realized. The population had increased from the more than doubtful 40,000 reported by the census-takers to the unquestionable number of 55,120. Four new counties had been organized, namely: Alexander, Clark, Jefferson, and Wayne. New towns had been laid out, and settlements commenced as far north as Greene County, and were rapidly extending.

With the exception of the hold-over senators, the second general assembly was composed almost entirely of new material, only three members of the last house being reelected, namely, Samuel McClintock, Risdon Moore, and Alex. Phillips, besides Conrad Will, of the last senate. John McLean from Gallatin, was elected speaker, and Thomas Reynolds, clerk. James Turner was chosen secretary of the senate.

The message of the governor was as unpretentious and brief as had been his inaugural address. He recommended the adoption of a liberal policy in regard to the improvement of the capital, and the erection of suitable public buildings, among which he included a "seminary of learning." This institution he naively argued ought to be at the scat of government, "because by an occasional visit at the houses of the general assembly, and the courts of justice, the student will find the best specimens of oratory the State can produce; imbibe the principles of legal science, and political knowledge, and by an intercourse with good society his habits of life would be chastened, and his manners improved." He referred to the fact of the extinguishment of the debt of the territorial government, and called attention to the scarcely less gratifying circumstance that the State treasury was in a healthy condition. He recom