moignent journellement tant de vaniteuses et ridicules usurpations. La Noblesse, comme tout ce qui a une force quelconque, a donc encore une fonction à remplir; mais, pour la remplir dignement, elle doit d'abord se faire absoudre de son passé, en renonçant sincèrement et par conviction à son vice capital : le mépris d'autrui. Pour cela, elle n'aurait qu'à se rappeler qu'avant d'être égaux devant la loi, les hommes l'étaient tous devant l'Evangile. Le mépris est un sentiment impie. La fraternité chrétienne ne connaît pas de blason et de roture. Tous les enfants d'Adam ont le même Dieu au ciel, le même ancêtre sur la terre; le même sang coule dans leurs veines, et le même sang aussi les a rachetés sur le Calvaire. Si l'égalité sociale imposée par la Révolution coûte à l'orgueil de la noblesse, qu'elle l'accepte au nom de la religion; et ai-je besoin d'ajouter à une considération si haute celle de ses intérêts manifestes? Sa devise doit être plus que jamais Noblesse oblige. Le dédain, la frivolité, l'oisiveté, consommeraient son désastre; le travail et le mérite personnel la relèvent dans l'estime publique, lui conservent un lustre propre que contesterait vainement l'envie, et lui assurent encore dans notre société démocratique une part notable d'honneur et d'influence. Telle est la puissance de tout ce qui est antique et traditionnel.

Alfred DE Courcy.

(La suite à un prochain numéro.)

rich, fertile country of prairies and oak openings, watered by numerous rivers, the largest of which are the Grand, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, and Saginaw.

The adaptability of the soil and climate of Michigan to agricultural pursuits is complete, the former being rich and inexhaustible, the latter much milder than the country occupying the same latitude on the Atlantic coast, no doubt owing to the proximity of such vast bodies of fresh water. Visitors or emigrants coming from the severe climate of New England, or from the enervating latitudes of the extreme south, find themselves suddenly in possession of fresh muscular forces, and welcome the invigorating atmosphere.

The population of the State in 1851 numbered 397,654; in 1860, 751,110; in 1864, 803,745; and at this time will reach nearly 1,200,000, an increase of 60 per cent. in ten years.

The agricultural and other material prosperity of Michigan has kept pace with the rapid increase of population, and the advances made in the way of popular education are truly wonderful.

The common schools are fostered by the State, and the system is on the most progressive plan, having won the encomiums of those best acquainted with the different systems, not only in this country but in Europe; while the seminaries and colleges rival those of the older States where such institutions have long been established. During 1868, the number of children attending the public schools amounted to 249,920; the number of teachers, 9,608; while the sum expended in the advancement of educational interests was $2,449,356 77.

Among the schools of a higher class may be mentioned the Univer sity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, having twenty-eight professors and more than 1,000 students; the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, and the State Agricultural College at Lansing, all holding high rank among the institutions of learning.

In the list of agricultural productions which Michigan possesses, none are omitted which can be raised in the Middle or Eastern States, while the grape and peach on the lake shores arrive at a great degree of perfection.

While we have not at hand accurate estimates of the quantities of different crops raised, value of live stock, and dairy and orchard products during the past year, it is not to be doubted that the results of the next census, when compared with that of 1860, will show an unprecedented increase in these respects.

The State has made gigantic strides in the progress of railway construction, the number of miles in operation in 1851 being only 357, and on the 1st of January, 1870, 1,325. The demands for these requisites of modern travel and transportation are increasing, the process of extending this network of intercommunication being at present more vig orous and active than ever. The next decade will unquestionably witness an extension of these lines of travel far surpassing anything heretofore existing.

The mineral deposits are on an immense scale, especially those of copper and iron, the former being found in the upper peninsula in several varieties, mostly in the primitive formations. These copper deposits are undoubtedly the richest in the world, occupying a belt one hundred and twenty miles long and from two to six miles wide. The quantities produced annually since 1865 range from 8,500 to 15,000 tons, and during the twenty years prior to 1865 aggregated 76,107 tons. The development of the copper mines has been rapidly accelerated since the

mande pas mieux; mais encore faut-il que vous nous disiez ce que vous entendez par ce mot de philosophie, quand vous parlez de l'indépendance de la chose qu'il exprime. Entendez-vous que cette indépendance soit tellement absolue qu'elle n'ait aucunes limites, qu'elle ne soit assujettie à aucunes règles, et que jamais la philosophie n'ait à compter avec qui que ce soit? Cette compétence que vous réclamez en sa faveur, en matière de vérités morales et religieuses, consiste-t-elle seulement dans la puissance qu'elle aurait de les reconnaître et de les démontrer, ou va-t-elle jusqu'à pouvoir tenir lieu de la religion dans ceux qui sont, qui se disent ou qui se croient philosophes?

Je suis honteux, monsieur, de vous demander la définition de ce mot philosophie, et même de ce mot raison, que nous prononçons continuellement, que nous accolons constamment. l'un à l'autre comme s'ils ne disaient qu'une seule même chose. Cela sent un peu l'écolier; mais qu'y faire? Pascal veut que nous définissions; ne poussons pas l'indépendance jusqu'à nous affranchir de cette loi sans l'observation de laquelle il n'y a plus de raisonnement.

Que faut-il donc entendre par le mot de philosophie? Deux idées principales y répondent. Il veut dire souvent la faculté de raisonner, ou, si vous le voulez, de connaître la vérité par voie de raisonnement. En ce sens, il est synonyme du mot raison, qui, lui-même, a plusieurs autres significations différentes de celle-là. Il veut dire encore la science et les connaissances acquises par la raison et le raisonnement, soit que ces connaissances ne constituent jusqu'ici qu'une méthode, comme le croyait Jouffroy et comme le croit encore M. Ch. de Rémusat, si je ne me trompe, soit qu'elles renferment déjà un certain nombre de vérités métaphysiques, morales et religieuses démontrées à l'aide d'une méthode quelconque.

Le mot de raison est lui-même susceptible de plusieurs significations diverses. Quand il est pris dans le sens le plus abstrait et le plus absolu, il se confond avec celui de vérité : c'est ainsi qu'on dit de quelqu'un qu'il a raison, quand ce qu'il

few exceptions, being a vast plain, varied occasionally by low ranges of bluffs, ridges, and cliffs, bordering the rivers and lakes.

The State, however, has a southern inclination, the waters finding their way to the Mississippi River. Yet, in the northwestern part, in an extent of country 50 by 80 miles, the land inclines to Lake Superior and the rivers of that region flow north, giving their waters to that lake. The only elevations in the State assuming the proportions of mountains are in this region, and obtain a height of from 1,800 to 2,000 feet, of which the most important is the Iron Range, in Ashland County.

On the peninsula jutting out between Green Bay and Lake Michigan is a range of calcareous cliffs, forming, in many places, bold escarpments, some of the higher points of the range being 1,400 feet above the sea.

South of the forty-fifth degree of north latitude the lands are well adapted to a great variety of crops, notwithstanding occasional backwardness of the spring, as vegetation generally comes forward on the approach of summer with great rapidity, causing the crops to ripen in due season. The soil is very fertile, gradually changing, however, from the vegetable mould of the prairie in the southern and southeastern portions to a sandy loam north of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and Green Bay, where the timber begins to increase.

In the settled portions of the State agriculture is the chief source of wealth, and must continue to be the principal object of industry with the people, who, being, in part, immigrants from foreign countries, especially from the great Germanic confederation and the Scandinavian Peninsula, have been educated in the tillage of the soil. The extent of this industry is shown by the fact that four millions of acres of land are now under cultivation, this vast area having been thus redeemed, in comparatively a brief period, from its wild condition.

The principal crops are wheat, oats, Indian corn, potatoes, rye, barley, buckwheat, tobacco, hay, and hops. The fruits are raised in as great variety as in the East, while its reputation as a great grain-growing State is well established. The total value of all the crops for the past year amounted to $73,200,000, while the number of live stock is computed at 2,550,000, representing an aggregate value of $31,092,000. Personal property is valued at $83,000,000, and the real estate at $254,870,000, making a grand total of $442,172,000.

Wisconsin has a very genial climate, and though its summers are of short duration, the dryness of the atmosphere during winter renders it one of the most healthy portions of the United States. The winter temperature is 20°, spring and autumn, 47°, summer, 72°; the mean annual temperature of the southern part being 46°. The isothermal line of 50° runs near the southern extreme of Lake Michigan, while that of 40° is near the north shore of Lake Superior, thus bringing the whole State within the intermediate ten degrees. The waters of Lake Michigan moderate the excessive heat and cold of the eastern shore of Wisconsin by absorbing the heat of summer and exhaling the same during winter.

In consequence of the snow always falling in the northern part of the State before the ground is frozen, roots and plants are comparatively sheltered from the severe frosts of winter and their growth hastened in the spring. In the southern part some winters pass almost entirely without snow, though generally it lies on the ground to the depth of from twelve to eighteen inches during the greater portion of winter. The country is plentifully supplied with rain, the average fall being 30 inches, though northward, on the shore of Lake Michigan and on the

banks of the Mississippi, the quantity of rain is much less than in the central portion.

A great source of wealth for the future of Wisconsin is its timber, for while the southern part of the State is an extensive prairie, without native tree or shrub, except on the banks of the streams, yet in the northern and western the forests are of immense dimensions. Over sixty kinds of native trees have been found, the more common of which are the basswood, maple, wild cherry, elm, ash, hickory, black walnut, butternut, oak, birch, poplar, hemlock, cedar, and pine.

The most extensive and valuable of this timber is the pine, which has become an immense source of wealth, and must continue so to be for a century to come.

The multitude of streams draining these extensive forests affords excellent facilities for ready flow of rafts on the opening of spring navigation, and carry the timber, at little cost of transportation, to the many hundred mills scattered along their banks.

Thousands of men and teams are already employed in the lumber business, and hundreds of millions of feet of timber are annually carried to a market; yet so rapidly is this industry increasing that the demand for labor is far in excess of the supply.

The principal outlets from these extensive pineries are the Chippewa, Wisconsin, and St. Croix Rivers, and their tributaries, to the south, and the Bois, Brulle, Bad, and Montreal Rivers to the north. The former carry their freight to the Mississippi, while the latter open the way to Lake Superior.

The water privileges are extensive; almost the whole surface is traversed by numerous rivers and streams. The principal rivers have a drainage surface of 51,815 square miles, permeating the most fertile por tions of the State, affording extensive facilities for navigation and manufacturing purposes, the rapids with which many of the streams abound giving ample opportunity for water-power.

The Fox River, in its descent from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay, a distance of 38 miles, has a fall of 170 feet, forming one of the most valuable water-powers in the West, which is already greatly improved at Menasha, Appleton, and De Pere. This river, 225 miles in length, navigable almost to its source, has been improved by the construction of locks and dams between Lake Winnebago and Green Bay, and is likewise connected by a canal and lock with the Wisconsin at Portage City, thus effecting an uninterrupted water communication from Lake Michigan and Green Bay through to the Mississippi, and from thence to the Atlantic.

The largest river is the Wisconsin, which, taking its waters from Vieux Desert Lake on the northern boundary, traverses the State in a southern direction, dividing it into two parts, mingling its waters with the Mississippi at Prairie Du Chien, after a course of 370 miles, with a descent of two-thirds of a foot per mile. Eleven thousand square miles of country are drained by this river, it passing through some of the richest pine lands of the State. Next in importance to the Fox and Wisconsin are the St. Croix and Chippewa, the former taking its source within 25 miles of Lake Superior, forming a part of the western boundary of the State, and also furnishing an outlet to the Mississippi for the lumber of the region in which it heads.

The Chippewa, with its six branches all heading in the midst of timber, drains the country midway between the Wisconsin and St. Croix Rivers, giving its waters to the Mississippi. Thus the utilization of this immense wood region is made comparatively easy, for all these waters