"
And then I sealed the letter for mailing and retired; but not to sleep,
rather to turn restlessly for some hours in the night.
CHAPTER XXI
Fortunately for my peace of mind I had much to do and much to interest
me. The country was developing rapidly under my eyes. Thousands of farms
were coming into cultivation. The prairie grass was vanishing before the
corn. Villages were springing up everywhere. Jacksonville was growing. A
furor of land selling, the selling of lots and blocks in the newly
formed towns, swept over the state. And my own farm had increased in
value, both because of the care I had given it and because of the
growing population. For in truth, while Illinois had about 160,000
inhabitants when I came to it, now as we approached the year 1837 it was
estimated that there were nearly 400,000 souls within its borders.
Douglas had no sooner become a member of the legislature, as it seemed
to me, than he resigned to take the office of register of land in
Springfield, which was now the capital of the state. He was reported to
me to be making a great deal of money now, sometimes as much as $100 a
day. I saw him in the summer. He was a figure of dash, self-possession,
energy and clear-headedness. He confided to me that he intended to run
for Congress. He was now twenty-four, a political leader in his party,
fearless, dreaded, and resourceful.
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