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alent than formerly; but as most of the immigrants into Northern Illinois are from Western New York and New England, where this latter class of diseases prevails, the people are much less alarmed by them than they used to be by the bilious diseases, though the latter were really less dangerous. The coughs, colds, and consumptions are old acquaintances, and through familiarity have lost their terrors. The census of 1850 gives the following comparative view of the annual percentage of deaths in several States:-- Massachusetts, . . 1.95 per cent. Rhode Island, . . 1.52 " New York, . . . 1.47 " Ohio, . . . . 1.44 " Illinois, . . . . 1.36 " Missouri, . . . 1.80 " Louisiana, . . . 2.31 " Texas, . . . 1.43 " This table shows that Illinois stands in point of health among the very highest of the States. Having sketched the history and traced the material development of the Prairie State to the present time, we will close this article with a few words as to its politics and policy. As we have seen, the early settlers of Illinois were from Virginia and Kentucky, and brought with them the habits, customs, and ideas of Slaveholders; and though by the sagacity and virtue of a few leading men the institution of Slavery was kept out, yet for many years the Democratic Party, always the ally and servant of the Slave-Power, was in the ascendant. Until 1858, the Legislature and the Executive have always been Democratic, and the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, from Jackson down to Buchanan, was sure of the electoral vote of Illinois. But the growth of the northern half of the State has of late years been far outstripping that of the southern portion, and the former now has the majority. We have now a Republican Legislature and a Republican Governor, and, by the new apportionment soon to be made, the Republican Party will be much more largely in the ascendant,--so much so, indeed, that there is no probability of another Democratic Senator being chosen from Illinois in the next twenty years, Mr. Douglas will be the last of his race. The people of Northern Illinois, who are in future to direct the policy of the State, are mostly from Western New York and New England. "Coelum, non animum mutant." They bring with them their unconquered prejudices in favor of freedom; their great commercial city is as strongly anti-slavery as Worcester or Syracuse
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