Minnesängers

or Minnesingers, (min-nasăng'gūrz.) [Ger., singers of love.] (Lit.) A name given to the German lyric poets of the Middle Ages, on account of love being the principal theme of their lays, the anc. German word minne being used to denote a pure and faithful love. After the manner of the Provençal troubadours, the M. engaged in poetical contests for the delectation of the princes, knights, and ladies of the court. Some among them earned their living by acting as wandering minstrels; but most of them sung merely for pleasure, and at a time when peace enabled them to sheathe their swords. Minnesota,(min-ne-so'tah.)(Ind.," sky-colored water:" in allusion to the river which gives its name to the State, a N. State of the Amer. Union, b. N.by the Canadian prov. of Manitoba, N.E.by Lake Superior, E. and S.E. by Wisconsin (from which it is separated by the waters of the Upper Mi i ippi), S. by Iowa, and W. by Dakota Ter.; bet. N. Lat. 43° 30′-49°, and W. Lon. 89° 29′-97° 12'. Its length. N. to S., embraces an extent of 380 m.; its breadth, one of 350 m. at a maximum. Area, 83,531 sq. m, or 54,760,000 acres. The surface of M., generally speaking, consists of a succe ion of gently undulating plains and prairies, drained by an admirable water-system, and with here and there heavily-timbered bottoms and belts of virgin forest. The soil, corresponding with such a superficies, is exceptionally rich, consisting for the most part of ad ark, calcareous sandy drift intermixed with loam. A distinguishing physical feature of this State is its riverine ramifications, expanding in nearly every part of it into almost innumerable lakes-the whole presenting an aggregate of water-power having hardly a rival in the Union. Besides the Mi i ippi, which here has its rise, and drains a basin of 800 m. of country,-the principal streams are the Minnesota (334 m. long), the Red River of the North, the St. Croix, St. Louis, and many others of le er importance; the chief lakes are those called Red, Ca ,Leech, Mille Lacs, Vermilion, and Winibigosh. Quite a concatenation of sheets of water fringe the frontier line where M. joins British America, culminating in the Lake of the Woods. It has been estimated, that of an area of 1,200,000 acres of surface bet, the St. Croix and Mi i ippi rivers, not le than 73,000 acres are of lacustrine formation. In point of minerals, the resources of M. have as yet been very imperfectly developed; iron, copper, coal, lead all these are known to exist inconsiderable deposits; together with salt, limestone, and potter's clay. The agricultural outlook of the State is in a high degree| satisfactory: wheat constitutes the leading cereal in cultivation, with Indian corn and oats in next order. Fruits and vegetables are grown in great plenty and of excellent quality. The lumber resources of M. are important; the pine forests in the N. region alone occupying an area of some 21,000 sq. m., which in 1870 produced a return of scaled logs amounting to 313,116,416ft. The natural industrial advantages po e ed by M. are largely improved upon by a railroad system aggregating 1,096 m. in working order, 329 m. of which were finished in the year 1870. The political divisions of this State number 78 cos.; of which the chief cities and towns are: St. Paul (the cap.), Still water, Red Wing, St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Mankato. M. has already a umed an attitude of high importance as a manufacturing State; this is mainly due to the wonderful command of water-power she po e es, as before spoken of. Besides her timber trade, the milling of flour, the distillation of whisky, and the tanning of leather, are prominent interests, which in 1869 gave returns to the amount of $14,831,043. The govt. of M. consists of-like her sister States-a governor elected biennially, a senate of 23 members elected for two years, and a house of 47 representatives returned annually. Education is notably provided for on a broad and catholic scale, the entire amount expended scholastically during the year 1870 being $857, 816; while on Nov. 30 of the preceding year the permanent school fund stood at $2,476,222. Besides a University and Agricultural Coll., Normal and Reform schools flourish, and with these may be mentioned such various philanthropic and religious institutions as befit the needs of an intelligent and prosperous community. The finances of the State for the fiscal year terminating Dec. 1, 1870, exhibited a balance on the right side to the amount of $136,164, being a gain of $ 44,000 over the previous year's figures. The earliest exploration of M. by the whites was made in 1680 by a French Francis can, Father Hennepin, who gave the name of St. Anthony to the Great Falls on the Upper Mi i ippi. In 1763, the treaty of Versailles ceded this region to England. Twenty years later, M. formed part of the N.W. Territory transferred to the U. States, and became herself territorialized independently in 1849. Indian ce ions in 1851 enlarged her boundaries, and, May 11, 1857, M. became a unit of the great American federation of States. Pop. 439,706. [s. 604]