This is the capital of Illinois, and the state-house here, too, is
finished, and is a fine building. The governor has a state residence,
which is really a large and handsome building, but is altogether
surpassed by the private residence of an ex-governor, who lives in a
sumptuous house, to judge from its external accompaniments of
conservatory, &c.; it is nearly opposite our Scotch friend's abode, but
the ex-governor dealt in "lumber" instead of iron, and from being a
chopper of wood, has raised himself to his present position.
_Chicago, Nov. 10th._--We did not reach Chicago last night till 12
o'clock, our train, for the first time since we have been in America,
having failed to reach its destination at the proper time; but the delay
of two hours on this occasion was fairly accounted for by the bad state
of the rails, owing to the late rains. Before it became dark we saw one
or two wonderful specimens of towns growing up in this wilderness of
prairie. The houses, always of wood and painted white, are neat, clean,
and well-built. There is, generally, a good-looking hotel, and
invariably a church, and often several of these, for although one would
probably contain all the inhabitants, yet they are usually of many
denominations, and then each one has its own church. About twenty or
thirty miles from Chicago, we saw a very extensive tract of prairie on
fire, which quite illuminated the sky, and, as the night was very dark,
showed distinctly the distant trees and houses, clearly defining their
outline against the horizon.
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