51.] Todd at once made the court proceed to business.

On its recommendation he granted licenses to trade to men of assured loyalty.

He also issued a proclamation in reference to new settlers taking up lands.

Being a shrewd man, he clearly foresaw the ruin that was sure to arise from the new Virginia land laws as applied to Kentucky, and he feared the inrush of a horde of speculators, who would buy land with no immediate intention of settling thereon.

Besides, the land was so fertile in the river bottoms, that he deemed the amount Virginia allotted to each person excessive.