ILLINOIS DURING THE REVOLUTION.

While the revolting colonies were sending "committees of gentlemen" to "assist in adjusting, and framing certain articles of confederation," that portion of the North American continent now bordered by Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, Indiana. the Ohio river, Missouri and Iowa (then part of the Northwestern Territory; now the State of Illinois), was for the most made up of stretches of prarie land broken here and there with forests, and touched by a great inland sea.

The inhabitants were aborigines and a few French and English settlers; the latter-the French and the English-had in several localities formed villages, and established trading posts. The flag of Great Britain flaunted its colors over block house anti stockade; and the Governor was a French-English gentleman, Chevalier de Rocheblaue by name; and he held office for 'the English crown in the Illinois and elsewhere from 1775 to 1781, when upon his retirement he received from His Gracious Majesty, King George, twelve hundred pounds sterling for his services.

During his services in the Northwestern Territory, Chevalier Rocheblaue occupied, with his wife and children, a large log house within the stockade at Kaskaskia.

Kaskaskia was founded in 1682 as a mission station. In 1721 the Jesuits established a college and monastery there, and, by reason of liberal grants from France to the religious establishment mentioned, Kaskaskia soon became the trade center of the central Mississippi valley.

In the year 1778-the year that brought our Illinois into the colonies, or states, of North America-Kaskaskia had two hundred and fifty dwellings and a Roman Catholic church. The college was even at that time becoming a memory-a memorial to those pious ones who, in Christ's name, and for His dear sake, had come to the now world wilderness to seek and to save souls.

We all realize how much of purpose lives on when individual effort has ceased to be; we all know that "all houses wherein men have lived and died are haunted houses;" that "owners and occupants of earlier date from graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, and hold in mortmain still their old estates." 'Tis thus our little lives are kept in equipoise, by opposite attractions, from and through the influence of unseen stars, that form for us a bridge of light on which wander our thoughts.

Marquette had tarried long in these solitudes teaching the only lesson Heaven has ever asked earth to learn, the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of man. Paul Alloues had left preferment and many honors in sunny France that he might lift from a dying saint's shoulder the mantle of self-denial, and take from the bared head Me crown of self-sacrifice. May not these consecrations have yielded untold, uncalculated spiritual harvests?

However that may be, the spirit of Kaskaskia was kindly enlightened and generous. The children attended a school, and any Indian thirsting for knowledge was cordially welcomed by the master-the priest of the settlement, and was faithfully instructed. The Kaskaskians were not content to take as the limit of their life the happenings within the stockade about their town; they were eager for news from beyond, and enjoyed discussing all that came to their knowledge of distant transpiring events with interest and intelligence.

This attitude finally succeeded in alarming Monsieur the Governor, and he made it his duty mirthful, scornfully mirthful, when reverting to the so-called Federal uprising to the eastward. This in the beginning had some effect; for the Northwestern Territory was so remote from the revolting colonies that for a year or more after the actual beginning of the American Revolution, the people of Kaskaskia were content to accept Chevalier Roclieblaue's statements, such as that the Virginians were cannibals, and worthy the title of "Long Knives," and that the rest of the rebel crew were but a scattered company of ragged curs speedily to be whipped, by the English, into cringing subjection.

With a certain amount of belief, but by degrees the truth began to dawn upon their minds. through narrations brought to them by new settlers, hunters, traders and trappers, they came to know that there were grievous causes, in many given directions, calling upon the colonists for vengeance, and then it came to pass that the younger men of the settlement were missing.

At this juncture it seemed best to Chevalier Rocheblaue to call the white men and the Indian chiefs together for a conference. When all were assembled they were bidden to renew their individual oath of allegiance to King George._ This done, the white men were allowed to depart; the braves were detailed until the Governor should offer them gold for successful depratory incursions upon any border settlement known to be friendly to the American cause. The Governor also offered a separate and much larger allowance, or reward, for all the scalps of men, women and children secured during these slaughtering. pillaging and burning excursions.

It is written that the Indians listened in silence to the Governor until his conclusion; that then the chief sachem arose and made this reply: "My English brother with a French name and title who calls himself in the French tongue, an Englishman, has made his offer to us too late; for the American colonists will give us a much larger reward for live, unscalped English prisoners."

The year 1778 was a memorable one, as our American histories show; let us most briefly recall the incidents. In February of 1778, the English parliament passed two bills virtually conceding to the colonies all that had before been refused them; and commissioners were appointed to be sent across the Atlantic to make many concessions, and, if possible to adjust the existing differences. It was in February of 1778, that France acknowledged the independence of America, and concluded the treaty of commerce and alliance with the revolted colonies. It was in June of that year, that the British army evacuated Philadelphia and retreated to New York. followed cautiously by Washington with the main body of his army. In the same month the commissioners arranged for in February, in London, met with such a cool reception in the new world.

On the 21st of June the battle of Monmouth was fought, and disastrous as was our failure at the outset. the British finally met with signal defeat. and with great loss retreated to Sandy Hook; and it was in and through that victory the tattered army of the Coutinentals took heart of grace and stirred up reserves of courage with which to meet the bitter losses of Wyoming and Savannah that were to knell out the year. But there is still another incident of 1778 to recall. On the 4th day of July of that year our Illinois was born. Her birth cry was the shout the American soldiers gave when the English flag was lowered, and Colonel George Rogers Clark assumed command of the town of Kaskaskia.

In order to understand the detail of Clark's campaign, we must go back to the beginning of 1777, When it chanced that Virginia's attention was drawn to the fact that through some forgotten charter, now unearthed, she was entitled to claim, as part of her territory, all that is now the State of Illinois -and much more beside.

Following the example of Israel's great law-giver, Patrick Henry, governor of the province of Virginia, said: "We will send men before us, and they shall search out the land and bring us word again which way we shall go up, and possess this new Hebron." And the men went up and searched, and brought word again, saying: "It is a goodly land of forests and prairies. Rivers like silver ribbons thread the earth, and within its borders there is a great inland ocean. The prairie-, are treeless, save where one here and there comes upon a grove like an island in an emerald sea. The air is redolent with the fragrance of violets; then as summer comes follows a train of brilliant blossoms; and when the flower queen abdicates her throne, and autumn stoops to secure the crown from nature's hands, the tall prairie grasses-often growing to the height of nine feet-turn to a dull yellow, and then, as far as the eye can reach, one looks upon an endless field of undulating gold. Birds sing, bees hum, and through the glade wild things, both men and beasts, wander at will."

This was in substance the report that the trappers brought back to Virginia., and in consequence thereof, on the 10th day of December, 1777, Governor Patrick Henry held grave converse with George Wythe, George Mason and Thomas Jefferson; the subject in question being, shall we, or shall, we not, as the State of Virginia, and at our individual and personal expense, as a state, send out a regiment into the Northwestern Territory to capture, and then to hold, the town of Kaskaskia, and such other small settlements as shall be named; and proving successful in this encounter, shall we not then proclaim Virginia the rightful owner of the entire territory?

The decision was unanimously affirmative; and it was then resolved to make their intentions publicly known and to report it in such plain and simple wording that all would understand that the regiment to be raised was for the specified purpose thereof. It was not to be listed into the already too heavily burdened Continental army; and its officers and men were to be impressed with the fact that no pension could ever come to them, or to their legal survivors, for military services, from the United States government. Governor Henry and his associates were pleased to consider that "the prospects attending upon the adventure were encouraging because of the fact of Burgoyne's failure," and it seemed to them "that the proposed regiment might, with comparative safety. carry war into the enemy's country at a point so remote and so feebly guarded."

The man selected as leader of this expedition, as we have said, was George Rogers Clark. Like Washington, Clark had been in his younger manhood a surveyor; then, with Boone and Crawford, he had seen active service during the western border warfare of 1775, 176 and '77, and perhaps more than any other Indian fighter, he realized what success in conquest would come in time to mean to the United States of America. In an old manuscript we find these words: "George Rogers Clark may compare with any general of our Revolution, except the 'Matchless One,' for he has decision, intrepidity, energy, forethought and good sense; he is the best soldier that ever led troops against the Indians, and he knows better than any other man living how to control these uncontrollable beings." And never before in all border warfare, bad the Indians been so hard to manage. You see, for a century and a half they had been fighting the power of Great Britain; Dow the red coats Were with them, offering the tribes protection, lands and gold in exchange for the scalp of every white brother who wore the buff and blue.

In their bewilderment the Indians often mistrusted the Redcoats-as they called the British-and inclined to the "Bostonians," as they called the Americans. Thus they wavered, now towards the one, then towards the other. The cause of this was the loss of integrity of the tribes.. Pontiac was dead. Tecumseh was a little child, and Brand lacked something in training, inheritance and tone to constitute him an efficient leader. It was this lack of guidance that Clark recognized and took advantage of. Colonel Clark was ordered to recruit seven companies, of fifty men each; and was to be allowed provisions for three months' service, and to be furnished with six hundred dollars in money. He was only able to obtain four companies. (You can easily understand why, when you recall how many Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution claim Virginia as their mother State.) The captains of these four companies were Joseph Brown, John Montgomery, William Harrod and Leonard Helm. On the 24th of June, 1778, With 180 private soldiers, this unlisted regiment set out from Louisville and ascended the falls of the Ohio. This was done in keel boats with double manned oars, and by having relays of rowers; and so, Dot stopping night or day, they reached, on the 28th of June, an island at the mouth of the Tennessee, upon which Clark landed his men.

On that island they found a party of American hunters under the leadership of a man named John Duff. These men had only left Kaskaskia three days previous to this meeting with Clarke's regiment, and much valuable information in many directions was elicited from them; and Col. Clark was glad. to accept the offer of one of the hunters, John Saunders, to guide them to the town. So, on this same night Clark ran all his boats into a small creek, about a mile from the then Fort Massac, and after a few hours rest, without horses, baggage, wagons, or artillery, he began the march across the country to Kaskaskia, 120 miles distant.

The way lay through swamps and wilderness, but "wandering on by fragrant tangle and drift-choked streams," came the pioneer guard, scorching the trees as they marched for the old bazed road, that settlers might follow, and following, so come with their wives and their worldly gear to live, to labor, to plant and to rear a solid base for our future state-small worth in the "gear," but hope made it great. They frightened the deer from his noonday lair; they seared the fox to his gloomy den; they ruffled the temper of the wolf and bear, and echoed the catamount's scream again; but midway on the journey Saunders lost the trail! Col. Clark's men, and most of his officers, believed Saunders to be a British spy, and declared that he was decoying them into a trap; but Clark, a student of human nature, laughed at these theories and would not listen to a majority suggestion of hanging Saunders on the first convenient limb. Happily for all concerned, Saunders proved not unworthy of Col. Clark's confidence, for, after much marching and counter-marching, the guide recognized a familiar object in the landscape and rediscovered the trail.

So it came to pass, that after a six days' tramp, with only four days provisions to subsist upon, the command arrived within three miles of Kaskaskia on the late afternoon of July 4. 1778. Little did Chevalier Rochablaue dream that his power would so soon be a thing of the past as he sat beside his table, ink horn, drying sand, quill and paper before him, pouring out his woes to the Governor General at Quebec. His letter held such bits as these: "I am, monsieur, discouraged. No words in English can fittingly express my dispair. These settlers-Mon Dieu! what settlers they are! There is not one among them loyal to our great and good Majesty, King George; and they are bold; they converse much concerning the Colonial troubles-ma fois, it is a bad trouble; but for all that, our young men are running away to join Mr. Washington's army, helped thither by the Indians and traders.  Why! this very day, Governor, I heard with my own ears my daughter singing a rebel song as she sat at her wheel. And when I questioned her as to where she got the ballad she made answer that it had been writ by the priest and then by him set to a melody. Now if the shepard is so minded, what will the sheep do? Viola! The sheep they follow, and that my Governor may behold the spirit of Kaskaskia I copy the, song.

SONG.

'Twas a day in May. the sky was fair.
A wealth of fragrance filled the air.
From wildwood blossoms on bush and tree
All the birds were singing; the drowsy bee
Was abroad and taking his hoard
From the deep-throated flowers of
Kaskaskia.

In a trapper's hut in a forest glade
Beside her wheel sat a little maid;
She was singing a ballad quaint and sweet,
And these are the words she did repeat.
That morning in Kaskaskia.
Dear heart. sweetheart, where ever thou be
'Tis dreaming ever I am of thee,
Praying that love. like a guiding star
May bear you this message where e'er you are
'Tis this, sweetheart, I loved you here
Here, in the woods of Kaskaskia.

''Dear heart. sweetheart, where e'er thou be.
'Tis dreaming ever I am of thee.
Praying that love like a guiding star
Will bear you this message wherever you are:
'Tis this, sweetheart, I love you dear.
Love you there as I loved you here,
Here in the woods of Kaskaskia."

"Oh, Monsieur, there is, I fear me, more than billet d'amour in this singing. It comes to me that when sweethearts march to meet a foe to such love-ladened encouragement that God alone can save those they go to do battle with. I must have more troops here to save my people; for, hark you, it is said the Spanish threaten Kaskaskia, and that Chevalier Willing, of Philadelphia, is somewhere on the Mississippi shouting for Liberty; and his followers are constantly increasing."

As Rocheblaue thus wrote the twilight fell, and then deepened, and ere long faded into a night amid whose protecting shadows Colonel Clark and hi little band came to the river bank where stood the ferry house with its empty anchored boats-the ferry house just one mile above Kaskaskia. The ferry man and his family were taken prisoners, and in two hours from that time the Colonel and his four companies had crossed the river and gained possession of the town. Let us hear Colonel Clark's own description of the encounter: "Upon landing I divided my regiment into two divisions, ordering half to surround the town; with the rest I broke into the Fort and secured the Governor. In less than fifteen minutes after our arrival the place was ours. My men went from house to house securing all firearms, and forbidding people, on penalty of instaut death, to come to either doors or windows. Before daylight we had possession of every implement of warfare that the town possessed. Early in the morning I commanded all persons not bed-ridden to assemble in the college, and then I told them the story of the American Revolution, and in conclusion said: 'Virginia is giving her bravest and best to the cause; the Virginia to whom from this hour you owe allegiance Through me she bids you welcome; not as captives, but as brethren; through me she holds out the hand of fellowship to the Northwestern Territory.' Then the Kaskaskians flocked about me striving with one another who should be first to take the oath of allegiance to  Virginia.Thuswe Americans have gained a bloodless victory. I next sent a note to his Honor, the Governor, asking him to dine with me; but he was so deficient and wanting in courtesy that it seemed best in the interests of good government that the gentlemen in question be sent at once from Kaskaskia to Williamsburg as a hostage of war"

George Rogers Clark, the maker of Illinois, had no honor shown him on his victorious return to Virginia. This leader; this master spirit; this man of generous energy and enterprise; this man who first saw the great benefit it would be to the cause to meet the British beyond the mountains instead of suffering them to unite and concentrate the whole power of the Indians north and south upon the scattered positions along the mountain range, and by so doing create a powerful diversion for the English troops who were then hunting the bleeding Continentals from Long Island to Germantown. This man was set aside to give temporary place to many little lights long since blown out and individually forgotten.

It had been authoritavely stated that his lack of public appreciation was a bitter sorrow to Clark. Late in his life when the shadows of age were falling thick and fast; when he stood upon the sands of time that border the eternal ocean, when his life tide was going out, Virginia awoke to a realizing sense of what this soldier had done for her, and, through her, for the United States of America. The legislature of Virginia voted him a splendid gold-hilted sword in recognition of his services, which he declined. To the messenger who bore it to him, and found him in squalid poverty, the old hero said: "Tell Virginia that when she needed a sword I furnished it. Now, I want no sword, I want bread."

George Rogers Clark did not live to know that his regiment was listed into the Continental army; that his officers and men were enrolled upon the pension lists. He could not dream that after many years there would be words of praise, and statues to his memory. The recalling of heroic men; of heroic times; heroic deeds, can only be useful when considered from Emerson's standpoint. "The past," he says, "is for us. but the sole terms on which it can become ours is through its application to our present needs."