218 



M1NI>TER 



MINNESINGER 



other ba*>r metal, then tin- crown ho* only the right 

 to take tin- ore at a price fixed by statute. In 

 land gold-mine* lielong ti tin- crown \vitlnnit 

 limitation, and silver mines when thrce-half|>cnce 

 <>i -ilver ran be extracts! from tin- |>ound of load. 

 An a general rulo, in tin- I'nitcd State- ax well tut 

 in Britain, whoever i- tin- owner of freehold land 

 ha* a right to all the mine* underneath the sur- 

 face, for his alwolutc ownership extend* to the 

 rentre of the earth ; tint under sj>ecial grants and 

 contracts it is not nnroniinon for one IKTSOII to ! 

 owner of tin- surface of the land and another to 

 !> owner of the mini's lienivith ; or several IHTSOIIS 

 may lie owners of diirerent kinds of mines lying 

 one' aliove the other in the different strata. On the 

 putilic lands of the t'nited States, a title r license 

 may I* obtained by any riti/cn from the general 

 land office at Washington, at the rate of $."> tier 

 acre of surface pre-empted ; no royalty is paid, out 

 the claim must IMS worked in accordance both with 

 local regulations and with the general mining laws, 

 which prescribe ax one condilinn the perfomUUMM 

 of a certain amount of work annually. If this con- 

 dition is not fulfilled, the mine may Ix; ' denounced,' 

 and any other |terson secure the chritu. 



Kini.io iitAniT. Tlie literature of mining i very 

 extensive. Inn the following may be cited as useful works 

 of r-fcri-ni-.-: ('ilicinV I.'fiiir't mi Minim, translated liy 

 Dr ('. I* \.-v>! Kostrr and W. Galloway: Sir Warin:;- 

 ton Smyth, I'o il-miniivi (7th ed. t/tod IS'.NI); J. J. 

 Atkinson. / I'rralue on tlir flatet mil with in 



Coal-min't( land. 1879); R. Hunt,#r//A Mini,,,, ( 1SS4 ) ; 

 II M. Chance, Rtpnrt on Conl-minitui (Philadelphia, 

 II. Hrough, Minr Hurttyiaii (I'd eiL Loud. 

 ; Aniixlol Rogers .Minim! ]MK> ( Loml. 1>" 

 Kf]X>rt of Itir AcfidrnU in Afinei Commiui'in (18HO). 

 The principal sources of information on mining matters 

 are the Transaction* of tin; .Mining In^titut-s. the tech- 

 nical journals, and the annual reports of II. M. Inspector! 

 of Mines, hee also article* COAL, C'OPPER, GOLD, Iiiox, 

 Lr.vn, DIAMOND. &c. 



Minister, a public functionary who has the 

 chief dun-lion of any department in a state, the 

 ministry being the Uxly of ministers to whom the 

 sou-reign or chief magi-Hate commits the execu- 

 tive giiveiiiiuent (see CAIIISKT, PABUAHXXT, 

 V ). Minister is also a term for a delegate 

 or representative of a sovereign at a foreign eourt 

 (eo AMIUSS UMIR). Christian preacheis and priests 

 are ministers of the word of Cod or of Jesus Christ 

 in Catholic lisa*;** : minister, a name, was adopted 

 by French S|M> iking I'lotr-ianl- for their clergy, 

 and was formerly so used liy Anx'icans, as it MtilT is 

 liy I'li^hyteiiaiiN and many Nonconformists. 



Minium, or KI.I> Li. u>. See LEAD, Vol. VI. 

 p. .M:;. 

 Miniver. See I-Yiw. 



Mink ( /'titnn'Ht\ t a name applied to aeveral 

 carni%-on~< in the same jjrnux as weasel, jMilerat, 

 ferret, and ermine, and with essentially similar 

 characteristics. The Unly measures from 12 to 18 

 inches in length, not inclinliiij; the htishy tail. The 

 colour of the valualile fur is clie-iiuil hrown. The 

 Silurian Vison i /'. uln-im* *. the Kuro|><>an Visoii 

 ( /'. liilrrii.'ii i. ami the American Mink pro|H-r ( /'. 

 viton) an- M-IV n.-ulv n l.itnl, if indeed they are 

 not Mintily >ari<'ti'-s of one circuin|Hilar |Mfics. 

 They all live hy rivers and lak<-s, in which they 

 wim and dive, font in;: ehielly on |iln>. frogx, 

 HiiiHiM'lN, nnd tin- like; though not refusing any 

 mall main mals which come in their way. They 

 arc keen centei|. | M ild nnd p"i-i-lent, hut are 

 readily tamed when caught youn^'. See l-'rus. 



Millll|-a|Hlis. the lai^e-i city of Mill- 

 iljoin- the capital. St I'.iul. ami in situated on 

 hoth idi-s of the Missiipm. which i-- here i i 

 liy twrl\e 1irid^en. The halls of St Anthony, with 

 1 pcr|M>ndii ular descent of 10 feet, afford a water- 



power which has been a chief >urce of thrciu's 

 prosperity. The streets are wide and handsome, 

 and there are licautiful public parks. Aiming the 

 most notable baildingl are the masonic hall, the 



}Hist-ollice, the Kxposition Kuildiii";, and the 

 Jnarantee Ltmn e<litice. This In-t i- twelve stories 

 liif.'h, built of granite and sand-time: it contains 

 4(Hi otlii-es, and on the roof is a pinlen where 

 concert* are given. The churches number over 

 l.vi. and the public schools had in 1807 more than 

 750 teachers and :u. 4iiJ pupils ; while the state 

 university here has lire departments and alxnit 

 2500 students, of lx>th sexes. There is a public 

 library of over 40,OOO volumes. The lumber and 

 Hour mills of Minneapolis are union*: the largest in 

 the country. In the latter, stones have been dis- 



carded, and the Hungarian or 'roller' pr M 



MlLI.) is employed. The total daily capacity of 

 the mills is :C..iiiKl barrels. The railway facilities 

 of .Miuiiea|njlis are very jjreat, and (be growth of 

 the city has 1,,-en remarkably rapid. Pop. (INT") 

 13,Utk>; (1880) 4I1.SS7; i l.vm , Hi4,7:fs : ll'.MKI) 

 JO-J.71H. Five miles by rail SK. of Minnea]>o|i 

 are the Kails of Minnehalm i -I^iu^hin^ Water' 1 , 

 celebrated in Longfellow's Hinn;itl,<i. 



MilllK'sillKer. the collective name (-iven to 

 the lyric pod- of ( Jci many who floiii ishe*l dm -in<{ 

 a peiiod marked approximately by the years 1170 

 ami 12.TO. For the most part the singers were of 



knightly birth and belonged to the inferior nobility, 



though men of the very highest rank, rei^niiiL; 

 princes and even emperoi-. wrote these lyric 

 effusions, and a few were of burgher birth. They 

 pM their name from the principal theme that 

 inspired them, mimic = Move,' the love of fair 

 women. Thus they were so far akin to tho 

 tronlwdours of Provence and Fiance. The nun > 

 nient, however, though it certainly received MIJJ- 

 ^estioiis from the -injji-r-- beyond the I'hine, was 

 cfwentially of native oii<;in. The dillerence lie- 

 tw>'eii the two schools is mo-t clearly seen in the 

 spirit of their work. The Cerinan singers wrote 

 of love in a more refined and delicate spirit, and 

 with a greater reverence for woman, than the 

 troubadours. The licst of them treated of the 

 inner life of the soul, the feelings and emotions of 

 the heart, rather than of th*- jiallantrics and adven- 

 tures of a sensual love: they move in the world of 

 imagination and idealism, (banning the real world 

 anil its j_'ro-s pleasures ; the sh\ , -prechle-s, rever- 

 ent attitude of ingenuous youth that c-haracleiised 

 them wa.s closely nkiu to the leveient homage paid 

 to the purest and holiest of women, the \ ii^-iu 

 Mother of Christ. Vet they did not altogether 

 lose touch of the world. They lov"d to sin^' the 

 praises of nature, especially of spring, the perennial 

 nispirer of |MM'|S' hearts and tonkins. Often, too, 

 there is a decided strain of sad ne and melancholy, 

 always touches of true naivete, and fie<|iiently of 

 arch humour, and on occasion the sterner note of 

 moral indignation and contempt of the folli. - and 

 vices of the time. Thus, the best of the minne- 

 singer, like Walther von der Vo^clwcide, the most 

 illustrious of them all, lleinrich von (Iftenlin^cn. 

 \Volli-iiii von F.-chcnbach. Hart mann MUI Aue. < lott- 

 frie.1 von Strasbur*.', Heinrich von \"eldeke( the earli- 

 est ), and others, were distinguished on the one hand 

 fiom the poets of the monasteries, who rclcln 

 the deeds of martyr and saint, and on the other 

 hand from the wandering pleemen, whose subjects 

 were suiti^! to the ionise and ignorant pen-ant ry 

 who formed their usual nu.lieiices. lint it i" not 

 in subject only, and their spiiit of treating it, that 

 the in iiini ingerdi Her from all their contempormriei ; 

 they also paid great attention to ]H>cticnl form, 

 striving after mel<Hlioiis and sonorous language, 

 legnlarity of verse structure, nnd smoothness and 

 correctness of versification, in all which they 



