_The experiments in Cotton culture are of very great promise. Commencing in latitude 39 deg. 30 min. (see Mattoon on the Branch, and Assumption on the Main Line), the Company owns thousands of acres well adapted to the perfection of this fibre. A settler having a family of young children, can turn their youthful labor to a most profitable account in the growth and perfection of this plant._ THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. Traverses the whole length of the State, from the banks of the Mississippi and Lake Michigan to the Ohio. As its name imports, the Railroad runs through the centre of the State, and on either side of the road along its whole length lie the lands offered for sale. CITIES, TOWNS, MARKETS, DEPOTS. There are Ninety-eight Depots on the Company's Railway, giving about one every seven miles. Cities, Towns and Villages are situated at convenient distances throughout the whole route, where every desirable commodity may be found as readily as in the oldest cities of the Union, and where buyers are to be met for all kinds of farm produce. EDUCATION. Mechanics and working-men will find the free school system encouraged by the State, and endowed with a large revenue for the support of the schools. Children can live in sight of the school, the college, the church, and grow up with the prosperity of the leading State in the Great Western Empire. PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT--ON LONG CREDIT. 80 acres at $10 per acre. with interest at 5 per ct. annually on the following terms: Cash Payment $48 00 Payment in one year 48 00 " in two years 48 00 " in three years 48 00 " in four years 236 00 " in five years 224 00 " in six years 212 00 " in seven years 200 00 40 acres at $10 00 per acre; Cash payment $24 00 Payment in one year 24 00 " in two years 24 00 " in three years 24 00 " in four years 118 00 " in five years 112 00 " in six years 106 00 " in seven years 100 00 * * * * * Number 24. 25 Cents. THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY. DEVOTED TO Literature and National Policy. DECEMBER, 1863. NEW YORK: JOHN F. TROW 50 GREENE STREET (FOR THE PROPRIETORS). HENRY DEXTER AND SINCLAIR-TOUSEY. WASHINGTON, D.C.: FRANCK TAYLOR. CONTENTS.--No. XXIV. The Nation. By Hugh Miller Thompson, 601 Buckle, Draper, and a Science of History. By E. B. Freeland, 610 Diary of Frances Krasinska, 624 The Sleeping Soldier. By Edward N. Pomeroy, 632