three years, and of the district for which he is elected for one year, inmediately preceding his election. The house of representatives consists of seventy-five members, elected at the same time and for the same period as the senators. Every representative must be a citizer of the United States, of the age of twenty-five years, must have been a citizen of the state for three years, and a resident in the county for which he is elected one year immediately preceding his election. All judges are elected by the joint vote of the general assembly. The judges of the supreme courts are elected for twelve years, and must have attained the age of thirty-five years. The judges of the inferior courts are elected for eight years, and must have attained the age of thirty years. The state attor neys are elected in the same manner, for the term of six years. The secretary of state is elected by the joint vote of the general assembly for four years; and the state treasurer, in like manner, for two years. Every free white male citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the county where he offers his vote for six months next preceding the day of election, enjoys the right of suffrage; and no person is disqualified from voting on account of his colour, who is, by the laws of the state, a competent witness in a court of justice against a white man. The legislature meets biennially at Nashville, on the first Monday of October

OHIO.

OHIO is the most populous, wealthy, and improved state west of the Alleghany Mountains. It contains an area of forty thousand five hundred square miles, and a population of more than one and a half millions of souls. The first white settlement was made in 1789; yet now Ohio is the third state of the Union in population, and has nearly a thousand miles of canal and railroad. The country is generally level, except in the south-east, where it is broken and hilly; it is forested, except in the centre and north-west, where are extensive prairies. In a state of nature Ohio was, with the exception of some central prairies, covered with a dense forest, to which the fertility of the soil gave a stupendous developement. The most extensive prairies are found on the head waters of the Muskingum and Sciota; also near the sources of the Miami river. The soil is very fertile, and nine-tenths of the whole is capable of profitable cultivation. Corn, wheat, and pork are the staple productions; iron, coal, and salt abound in the south-east counties. Columbus, the capital, is a flourishing place on the Sciota river and national road, near the centre of the state. Cincinnati, on the Ohio, near the south-west corner of the state, is the largest and wealthiest city in the west, and the greatest pork market in the world.

The first permanent settlement was made at Marietta, in 1788. The next was at Columbia, six miles above Cincinnati, in 1789; and the next settlement was made by the French emigrants at Gallipolis, in 1791. Cleveland was settled by New-England, in 1796, as also was other points upon Lake Erie. The first territorial legislature met at Cincinnati, in 1799, and organized the government. In 1802. Ohio formed her state constitution, and was admitted a member of the Union.

The present constitution was adopted in 1851. It provides that the right of suffrage shall be had by every white male citizen of the United States twenty-one years of age, resident in the state one year. All votes are given by ballot, and the elections are held on the second Tuesday of October, biennially.

The general assembly consists of a senate and house of representatives.

The apportionment of each is based on the results of the federal decennial census. Members must be residents of their respective districts one year next preceding their election, unless absent on the public business of the state. or the United States. In all elections by the assembly, the vote must be

viva voce.

The governor is elected biennially by a plurality of votes. The lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney-general are elected in the same way, and for the same time. The auditor is chosen for four years.

The judiciary consists of a supreme court, courts of common pleas, probate courts, &c. Judges of the supreme court are chosen by the people at large, and the other judges in districts.

INDIANA.

IN 1702, Vincennes was settled by French soldiers of Louis XIV. from Canada. Separated from the rest of the world, they became assimilated to the savages by whom they were surrounded, and with whom they intermarried. At the peace between England and France in 1763, this country came into possession of the English. In the revolutionary war the inhabitants took sides with the Americans, in consequence of which the general government ceded to them a tract of land about Vincennes. In 1787, the United States took possession of Vincennes, and erected a fort on the opposite side of the river, for a defence against the savages. The inhabitants at that period consisted of French, Canadians, and Indians. The victories and treaty of Wayne in 1795, put an end to Indian hostilities. In 1811, in consequence of depredations and murders, a military force was sent against the Indians; and the bloody battle of Tippecanoe, under General Harrison, compelled them to sue for peace. In 1816, Indiana was admitted to the Union as an independent state, having previously been under territorial government, and has since rapidly progressed in population and improvement.

There are no mountains in Indiana, but the country bordering on Ohio river is hilly and broken. A range of hills runs parallel with Öhio river, from the mouth of the Great Miami to Blue river, sometimes approaching to within a few rods of the river, and at other times receding from it to the distance of two miles. Immediately below Blue river, the hills cease, and an immense tract of level land, covered with timber, is presented to the view. Strips of bottom and prairie land, covered with a heavy growth of timber, skirt all the principal rivers, excepting the Ohio, from three to six miles in width. With some few exceptions, the greater proportion of this state may be pronounced to be one vast level. The prairies and timber land alternate, and in general these kinds of land are more happily balanced than in other parts of the western country. Many prairies are long and narrow, so that the whole can be taken up, and timber be easily accessible by all the settlers. Even in the large prairies are those beauti ful islands of timbered land, which form such a striking feature in the western prairies. The great extent of fertile land, and the happy distribution of rivers and springs, has been one cause of the very rapid increase of population in this state.

Iron and coal have been found in the state, and there are some salt springs, and Epsom salts are found in a cave near Corydon; but the mineral productions have no great interest. The climate is generally pleasant and healthy.

A governor is elected by the people for four years, and is not at once

re-eligible. At every election of governor, a lieutenant-governor is elected, who is president of the senate, and in case of the death, resignaion, or removal of the governor, discharges the duties of the office. The senators and representatives are apportioned among the counties, according to the number of male white inhabitants, over twenty-one years of age. There can be no fewer than thirty-six nor over one hundred repre sentatives. The representatives, and one third of the senators, are elected annually by the people. The legislature meets in December, annually, at Indianapolis. The judges of the supreme and circuit courts are appointed for the term of seven years. The judges of the supreme court are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate; the chief justices of the circuit courts by the legislature; and the associate judges by the people. All male white inhabitants over twenty-one years of age, who have resided in the state for one year next preceding the election, enjoy the right of suffrage.

ILLINOIS.

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Illinois was explored by the French from Canada, and some forts and trading posts were established. About 1720, several forts were built within the present limits of Illinois, of which Fort Charles was the most considerable, and a chain oʻ communication was formed from Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi river. The oldest document in the state is at Kaskaskia, which is a petition to Louis XV. for a grant of common fields, stating the great losses of the people the year before by an extraordinary flood. At the peace of 1763, this country, together with Canada, was ceded to the English. In 1765, Captain Sterling, of the Royal Highlanders, took possession of Illinois, and was followed by several other commanders. In the Revolu tionary war, the Virginia militia, under General Clarke, subjugated Fort Chartres, Kaskaskia, and conducted a successful expedition, in 1788, against Port Vincent, now Vincennes. In the same year the legislature of Virginia organized, in this remote region, the country of Illinois, which was afterward ceded to the United States. In 1800 the present territory of Illinois contained about three thousand inhabitants. In 1809 the terri torial government was formed, and the population the next year amounted to twelve thousand. In 1818 a state constitution was formed, and Illinois was received into the Union as the twenty-second state.

The general surface of the country is level, or moderately undulating the northern and southern portions are broken, and somewhat hilly, but no part of the state is traversed by ranges of hills, and there is nothing in the state which can be denominated a mountain. That portion of the state which lies south of a line from the mouth of the Wabash river to the mouth of Kaskaskia river, is generally covered with timber, but north of this the prairie country predominates. It is computed that two-thirds of the surface of the state is covered with prairies. The eye sometimes wanders over immense plains covered with grass, and, in the season of them, adorned with flowers, with no other boundary of vision but the dis tant horizon, though the view is often broken with occasional woodlands. Much of the prairie land is undulating and entirely dry. The dry prairies are generally from thirty to one hundred feet higher than the bottom land on the river, and are often very fertile. In many instances, there are copses or groves of timber, of from one hundred to two thousand acres, in the midst of prairies, like islands in the ocean. This is a common feature of the country between Sangamon river and lake Michigan in the north part of the state Illinois in general is abundantly supplied with

timber, but it is unequally distributed, and on the prairies there is often u deficiency, which might be reme lied by cultivation. The kinds of timber most abundant are oaks of various species, black and white walnut, ash of several kinds, elm, sugar-mapie, honey-locust, hackberry, linden, hickory, cotton-wood, pecuan, mulberry, buckeye, sycamore, wild-cherry, box, sassafras, and persimmon. The alluvial soil on the rivers produces cotton-wood and sycamore timber of amazing size. In some parts of the state are knobs or ridges of flint limestone, intermingled and covered with earth, elevated one or two hundred feet above the common surface. Back of the alluvions which border the streams there are bluffs, some in parallel tidges, and others of a conical form, formed of limestone rock, from fifty to one hundred feet high. The soil of the state is generally fertile.

The most important mineral production of the state is lead, found in its north-west part, and in Wisconsin, in inexhaustible quantities, of which 13,000,000 pounds have been smelted in one year. Galena is the centre of the lead trade. Salt springs are found in the east and south part, particularly near Shawneetown. The salt-works are here owned by the United States, and leased to the manufacturers. Coal abounds in the

bluffs, and iron exists in various parts of the state. Bituminous coal abounds in the ravines and bluffs. The climate is generally healthy, and the air, except in the neighbourhood of low and wet lands, is pure and

serene.

Chicago, on lake Michigan, is the principal commercial depot in the north. It has a tolerably good harbour, which has been improved by artificial works. Alton is the most commercial place on the Mississippi, two and a half miles above the mouth of the Missouri. It has a good landing place. The other principal places are Springfield, the capital, Quincy, Ga lena, Peoria, Vandalia, and Kaskaskia.

The governor is elected by the people for four years, but is eligible only four years in eight. A lieutenant-governor is elected at the same time, who is president of the senate, and, in case of the death, resignation, or absence of the governor, discharges his duties. The senators are elected for four years, and the representatives for two years. The number of senators shall never be less than one third, nor more than one half the number of representatives. The judges of the supreme court are appointed by the joint bailot of both houses of the legislature, and hold their offices during good behaviour. Every white male inhabitant over twentyone years of age, who has resided in the state for six months next prereding an election, has the right of suffrage.

LOUISIANA.

THE river Mississippi was discovered in 1663, by Marquette and Jollette, two French missionaries. In 1682 the country was explored by La Salle, and named Louisiana, in honour of Louis XIV. In 1699 a French settlement was begun at Ibberville, by M. Ibberville, who in the attempt to plant the country lost his life. His efforts were followed up by M. Crozat, a man of wealth, who held the exclusive trade of the country for a number of years. About the year 1717, he transferred his interest to a chartered company, at the head of which was the celebrated John Law whose national bank and Mississippi speculation involved the ruin of half the French nobility. In 1731 the company resigned the concern to the crown, who, in 1762, ceded the whole of Louisiana to Spain. In 1800, Spain re-conveyed the province to the French, of whom it was purchased by the United States, in 1803, for about $15,000,000. This purchase in cluded the present territories of the United States east of the Rocky mour

tains. Soon after the purchase, the present state of Louisiana was separated from the rest of the territory, under the name of the territory of Orleans. In 1812, Louisiana was admitted to the Union as a state, and the part of West Florida west of Pearl river was annexed to it. The state is divided into thirty-eight parishes, answering to counties in other states.

All the country below the La Fourche, with little exception, is overflowed. By a survey made by order of the government of the United States, in 1828, it was found that the river overflowed an extent of 5,000,000 of acres, a great portion of which is at present unfit for cultivation. A part of this is covered by a heavy growth of timber and an almost impenetrable growth of cane, and other shrubbery. This becomes dry on the retiring of the river to its natural channels, and has a soil of great fertility, and which might, by labour, be rendered fit for cultivation. More earth is deposited by the Mississippi on its immediate margin than further back; and to prevent the river from inundating the valuable tract in the rear, which could not be drained, an artificial embankment is raised called the levee. On the east side of the river, this embankment commences sixty miles above New-Orleans, and extends down the river more than one hundred and thirty miles. On the west shore it commences at Point Coupée, one hundred and seventy-two miles above New-Orleans. Along this portion of the river, its sides present many beautiful and finely cultivated plantations, and a continued succession of pleasant resi dences.

The present constitution superseded that of 1812, and was ratified by the people November 5, 1851. The right of suffrage is similar to the other states. The legislature consists of a senate and a house of representatives, which convene at the capital every two years. There are thirty-two senators, one half of whom are chosen every two years, and one hundred representatives, elected biennially. Senators must be twenty-seven years of age, citizens of the United States ten years, residents of the state four years, and of the district they represent one year.

The governor is chosen by plurality of votes, and holds his office for four years. He must be thirty-five years old, and cannot be re-elected for four years succeeding his term.

The judiciary consists of the supreme court and district courts.

The charity hospital at New Orleans is the most noted benevolent institution in the state. Thousands who have fallen sick in that malarious city have known its benefits, and many thousands more have blessed the nursing hands of its kind sisters who have relieved their distress.

MISSISSIPPI.

IN 1716, the French formed a settlement at the place where the city of Natchez now stands, and laid claim to the country as belonging to Louisiana. This colony was massacred by the Indians in 1729. In 1763, it was ceded to the British, and north of the thirty-first degree of north latitude was in the chartered limits of Georgia; south of that, it belonged to West Florida, which was ceded to the United States in 1798 by Spain. In 1800, this state, with Alabama, was constituted a territory, under the name of the Mississippi territory. In 1817, Mississippi was separated from Alabama, and was admitted to the Union as a sovereign state. The