^acinus topics 
ORIGIN AND SEALS OF THE STATES 
ANTICIPATED INSANITY. 
INDUSTRIAL! INTERESTS. 
NUMBER TEN 
At the late Anniversary exercises of the 
Chicago Theological Seminary, among the ad¬ 
dresses was one by Rev. J. B. Norton* of Janes¬ 
ville, Wis., which was listened to by a large 
audience with marked attention. His subject, 
somewhat novel for such an occasion, was “ The 
Industrial Interests of the United States,” and 
comprehended the duty of the Christian minis¬ 
ter to seek for and aid in the development of 
the material prosperity of the’country, Jas well 
as the moral and religious cultivation of the peo¬ 
ple-one being dependent to agreat’extent upon 
the other. We give some extracts : 
“ In addressing the Alumnijof this Seminary, 
I realize that I am speaking to those whojlive in 
a section of our country unsuqiassed by any 
other for natural resources of wealth, and among 
a people young, vigorous, aud enterprising, cm - 
bodying perhaps more working power than any 
equal number ou the face of the globe. And 
while I do not forget that I am speaking to min¬ 
isters of a spiritual Gospel, I remember that our 
souls dwell in bodies which have vital and,"mani¬ 
fold relations to this material world. 
TUEBOR 
SEAL OF MICHIGAN. 
The territory of Michigan at one time includ¬ 
ed Wisconsin, but there were very few* settlers 
there, and it was soon divided. Michigan was 
made a State in 1887, and has grown rapidly In 
population, counting 74b, 118 inhabitants in I860, 
mostly settled ou the southern half of the State. 
Settlers are now pushing up northward where 
there is yet room enough aud good iuod. It* 
whole area Is 38,000 square miles. Lake Miehi 
gan on the west, the Strait? of Mackinaw and 
Luke Huron on the north, and Lakes Huron, St. 
Clair and Eric on the east, make Michigan al¬ 
most au island, water being on three sides of it. 
There are a few tine prairies in the southern 
part, and many " oak openings ” in the south 
character of a patient, saying he had staved off 
insanity as long as he could. In less than au 
hour he was a raving maniac, and the extreme 
expedient of a straight jacket had to be resorted 
to, to prevent him from committing the most 
violent acts of madness." 
What taint of blood, what inherited tendency, 
or what load of business troubles brought this 
sad result we know not, but it is only a culml- 
uatiou of the tendencies of our life, uot alone 
among business men, but professional men, stu¬ 
dents, editors, farmers — everywhere iu short. 
An intense and ceaseless activity is the growing 
habit, to be arrested possibly only as its fearful 
results startle us by such lessons as this. We 
are not disposed to moralize with inane gravity 
ou the evils of wealth,—for lauds, mines, rail¬ 
roads and other solid acquisitions arc uot evil, 
but good, and their management is a part of the 
legitimate work of a man's life. So of official, or 
literary, or professional, influence and position. 
AU arc well, honorably sought, wisely used, and 
viewed as means of human growth, and enjoy¬ 
ment, and usefulness. 
But we respectfully submit to all who can 
stop to think, whether it pays a man to work 
hard, drive constantly, hardly sleep nights, and 
never stop day?, until, at fifty years old, he finds 
ho has five hundred acres of land in fine order, 
house, barns, &c., and a body brokeu down, a 
brain racked aud numb, a soul hardly developed, 
social affections dwarfed, and the power to enjoy 
his acquisitions well ulgh gone. Ts it profit, iu 
any broad sense, for merchant, or lawyer, or 
writer, to keep the brain iu coustant tension, 
until he becomes a multiplication table, or a 
machine for John Dok vt. Richard Roe to play 
on, or a bundle of facts and fancies, labeled 
nicely for Instant use? 
We once heurd a gifted woman, in uurrow cir¬ 
cumstances, say:—"My friends must come to 
me for what L am, not for what I have." It 
“ Next in importance to the subject of the 
soul's etarnal salvation, and closely allied to it, 
stands this great question of labor. How shall 
we best develop the vast latent resources of na¬ 
ture and cause them to minister the utmost to 
the material aud spiritual Lntcrcstsjof mankind? 
How shall labor—at once the most perishable 
and the most valuable of all commodities—be 
freed from those unjust restrictions which have 
wasted, defrauded, enslaved itjin every age, aud 
take the position of the highest honor and re¬ 
ward which God assigned It? 
“ The subject is one which has never received 
the attention either of ourjlegislator^or schol¬ 
ars which Its importance demands. We do not 
think enough about the laboring classes. * * 
Unfortunately for them, the great cities whence 
emanate the most inlluential of our newspapers, 
are centers of»trade and polities, rather than of 
productive Industry, and hence, in part, the un¬ 
due importance given to trade over production. 
senators’ retiring room. 
Le, sometimes are ample mirrors, and the effect of the whole' is 
the north side peculiar and beautiful. The Vice-Presidents’ 
, ou the same room, near by, is also very beautiful. 
I only the am- The painting in the Rotunda, by Powell, 
38 feet long, may be historically criticised — for when the 
gh. The flat Spaniards first saw the “ Father of Waters" 
white Italian they were weary, soiled by travel, aud only kept 
umufl, and pi- to their work by the indomitable courage of 
ir exquisitely their loader, whereas, in the picture, they arc In 
iucly polished fresh garb as for some holiday at home; but exe- 
th spaces for cution, coloring, aud landscape are excellent, 
U either end and the great picture is worth seeing. 
“ As we look at the nations of tjie earth, we 
find that they may readily be divided into tm 
classes—those who diversify pursuits, and those 
who are chlefiy occupied in the one work of till¬ 
ing the soil. As examples of the first class may 
be mentioned Eugland, France, and Germany, 
and of the latter, India, Turkey, and the South 
American States. The simple recital of their 
names reminds us that the one class stand forth 
pre-ominont for wealth, power, and Influence, 
and, though often styled manufacturing nations, 
it is in them the soil yields the richest returns 
to the husbandman, and there alone that agri¬ 
culture, the highest of all sciences, attains any 
perfection worthy of note, while the other class, 
too poor even to furnish the ships wliicli shall 
carry away their products, arc little more than 
the bond-servants of the former. They enjoy 
few'of the blessings which wealth, freedom, and 
Christianity afford, aud though styled agricultu¬ 
ral nations, they are the only ones which the 
destroying angel of Famine is wont to visit. 
Looking to our own nation we find’it suscepti¬ 
ble of like division. Northeastern States de¬ 
velop agriculture and manufactures side by side, 
and, as a natural result, control the commerce 
of the Union, while the South and West have 
thus far been chiefly engaged iu agriculture 
alone. We have compelled onr products in 
crude and bulky form to make long and expen¬ 
sive jourueye to find the manufacturers, and 
then have brought them back again, generously 
paying not only for the manufacture of the 
same, but for the double transportation. Just 
iu proportion as we release a people from this 
unnatural burden, diversify employments, and 
bring the producer aud consumer nearer to¬ 
gether, does man Increase his power over na¬ 
ture, and do the masses rise to a higher plane of 
wealth and freedom; aud so, on the contrary, in 
proportion as the men who till the soil are sepa¬ 
rated from those who work in the mine andjthe 
factory, do the traders and middle-men] gain 
iu wealth, while the masses tend towardjslavery. 
SEAL OF IOWA. 
Until 1821, the territory of Missouri covered 
what is now Iowa, then it was included, first in 
Michigan and then in Wisconsin, but Iowa was 
made a territory in 1838, and a State In 1840. Iu 
1883 ft colony settled near Burlington, and there 
were then but few people in the wild aud beau¬ 
tiful country; but in I860 the emigrants had 
settled on the rich prairies and along the edge 
of the pleasant forests so rapidly that there were 
674,048 in all, on an area of 50,914 square miles, 
which still leaves room for a million or two 
more. Its surface is undulating, with the prai¬ 
ries quite rolling, and hills and bluffs ou the 
rivers, and far up iu the north-wc&t rocky 
ledges in some of the streams over which the 
waters rush, swift and clear. Grain, and sheep, 
and cattle, arc plenty, and tluo fruits — apples, 
grapes and peaches — abound. The seal aud 
motto are easily understood. 
DISCOVERY OF TUli MISSISSIPPI BY BE SOTO 
THE VICEROY OF EGYPT 
A RUSSIAN INCIDENT 
A young Russian recently had the misfortune, 
while promenading the streets of St. Petersburg, 
to step upon a lady’s dress which was trailing 
before him upon the walk. The woman turned, 
and, iu language more striking than elegant, ap¬ 
plied the terms "clumsy,” "loutish,” to the 
youug uiau. The latter preserved ids polite¬ 
ness, and sought, as best he could, to appease 
her wrath, but la vain. The beautiful amazon 
waxed more aud more angry, and applied such 
epithets, that he felt at last obliged to reply, in 
her own language, and remarked that if animals 
persist in dragging their tails upon the ground, 
they must expect to have them trodden upon. 
This inflamed the woman to such an extent that 
she demanded the way to the justice court, aud 
compelled the unwilling criminal to accompany 
her. Once there, she demanded one hundred 
roubles for the injury done to her dress. It 
was observed, however, that fifty roubles would 
cover the origiual cost, and this amount the 
young man was sentenced Jo pay. The woman 
was walking off in. triumph, when doubtless 
a remembrance of Portia and Shy lock llittcd 
across the young man’s mind, and he said " wait 
a moment, young lady; you have my fifty rou¬ 
bles in payment for your dress, but the article 
itself you have not delivered. Will you have 
the goodness to hand over one part or the other 
of my property? ” Blushes of shame now over¬ 
spread the countenance of the female Shylock, 
aud she turned again to the justice for advice. 
There was uo help for her there; the young 
man’s claim was good, and the money or the 
dress belonged to him. With a courage worthy 
of a better cause the woman sent for a haekuey 
coach, went into an adjoiuing room, removed 
her dress and again attempted to leave, amid the 
shouts of the spectators. But her opponent w as 
remorseless. He now indicted her ou the charge 
of foul and abusive language ou the street; the 
facts were proved by witnesses, and the unhappy 
and mortified creature was sentenced to pay a 
flue of one hundred roubles. She gave back the 
fifty lately received Iu triumph, aud all the 
money and valuables which she had with her, 
withholding only enough to pay her coach-fare 
home. 
The Pall Mall Gazette says: “ On Sunday last 
Loudon society gave the Viceroy of Egypt a 
bitter taste of Its quality. Everybody knows 
that, although it is wrong for the lower classes 
of Loudon to go anywhere but to church on Sun¬ 
days, or to wish to drink anything but water, 
the upper classes of the metropolis may with 
perfect propriety amuse and refresh themselves 
innocently at. Richmond, Greenwich, Maiden¬ 
head, or In the Regent’s Park, as much as they 
please. Consequently the approaches to the 
Zoological Gardens are crowded ou Sunday af¬ 
ternoons with hundreds of private carriages, 
conveying to the gardens the wealth, beauty 
and fashion of London, fearfully and wonder¬ 
fully attired. In a rash moment the Viceroy ot 
Egypt was tempted by his cicerone to repair 
thither too; and as soon as his Highness was 
known to be iu the gardens a commotion ensued 
much such as might have been expected had the 
lions escaped from their cages or the cobra co- 
pellae got loose. The unhappy Egyptian was 
mobbed, hustled and hunted up one walk and 
down another, until with difficulty he extri¬ 
cated himself by a somewhat uudignitied flight, 
and regained his carriage scared and breathless.” 
SEAL OF WISCONSIN. 
Wisconsin has an area of 56,000 square miles, 
aud was made a State In 1848. Many settlers 
from the Eastern Status arc ’.here, and in some 
parts are large German colonies, aud also Nor¬ 
wegians. Lake Michigan spreads like an ocean 
along its eastern boundary and the great Mis¬ 
sissippi is on its western side. It has many fine 
clear streams, and beautiful little lakes, and u 
rolling surface, pleasant and with good soil. 
There are beautiful prairies iu the south and 
central parts, and rocky bluffs on some of the 
Western rivers. Wheat yields largely, com is 
also raised, and sheep and cattle abound. A 
great deal of pine lumber is cut In the forests in 
the northern part, and floated down the river in 
rafts to St. Louis and other places. The popula¬ 
tion, in I860, was 775,881. 
The seal, with the beaver, the mechanic aud 
sailor, and the motto over the shield in the 
center, and the cabin, fields and canoes on either 
side, tells of the past and present, and points 
" Forward." 
POISONS IN DAILY USE 
Pickles are often poisoned by being scalded 
iu brass or copper kettles ; it makes them look 
green, but that green renders them poisonous. 
Brass or copper vessels ought uot to be used for 
any purpose, unless they are scoured very 
bright; it is better for health to avoid their use 
for cooking purposes. Brass wash dishes ought 
never to be used; they cause sore eye3, etc. 
Water is poisoned by being conveyed In lead 
pipes, or standing in pails painted on the InBido. 
Milk is poisoned by using such pails for milking. 
Cheese is often poisoned in this way, and by us¬ 
ing iu its manufacture brass, copper, or wooden 
tubs painted inside. 
Ignorance places a deadly weapon in our arti¬ 
cles of food, but selfishness often conceals a 
greater. It manufactures poisons for others iu 
many temptingly disguised forms. Cake orna- 
meuted with colored dust, candies colored iu 
such uico styLe, toys go highly attractive to chil¬ 
dren, cause decayed teeth, canker, intestlual in¬ 
flammation, nauseating headache, colic, spasms, 
and often convulsions. Confectionery may be 
prepared without coloring materials so as to be 
wholesome. 
Wall-paper, ornamented with beautiful green, 
pretty yellow and lively red, often diffuses 
through eletpLog and sitting-rooms, au atmos¬ 
phere impregnated with poisonous vapor, that 
causes headache, nausea, dryness of the month 
aud throat, cough, depression of spirits, pros¬ 
tration of strength, nervous affections, bolls, 
watery swellings on the face, cutaneous affec¬ 
tions aud inflammation of the eyes. These oc¬ 
cur iu more serious forms iu apartments that 
are uot constantly and thoroughly ventilated.— 
Uowe Journal. 
It is plain that God never intended a whole 
nation or any large part of a nation, to confine 
themselves to a single pursuit,—for He^has en¬ 
dowed mankind with tastes and capacities 
scarcely less varied than their complexion and 
feature. * * * We see the laboring classes 
of the Northwest gathered together inxirimary 
meetings to seek relief from railway extortions. 
The farmers take little pains to secure a nearer 
market, and are thus at the mercy of a few citi¬ 
zens and corporations who control the carrying 
trade. 
Our British cousins like to flatter our vanity, 
while they find u market for their wares, by tell¬ 
ing us that the Mississippi valley is the great 
granary of the world. 
“Let us see how much of our wheat Great 
Britain proposes to take iu exchange for her 
wares. With an area less than two of our 
wheat-growing States — Iowa and Minnesota— 
and with a climate uusuited to this crop, she 
has raised the average yield to 25 and 80 bushels 
to the acre, and now produces 128,000,000 bush- 
m els a year, so that she only needs to look abroad 
9 for 50,000,000 of bushels. In I860, while she in- 
^ creased her exports to the United States, she 
5 j called on us for the insignificant amount of only 
H three per cent, of the wheat aud five per cent. 
W of flour she imported. * * * While our ex- 
Clusively agricultural policy exhausts our lands, 
Vi ai ‘6 makes onr railroads little more thau open 
V veins for earning away the life-blood of the na- 
Srj Lori, the ruanulactttres of England furnish so 
£r valuable a home market to the farmer that he 
8 $ ca, ‘. afford to ransack all Europe for bones with 
[V v’hieh to dress his fields. 
Salt Lake City is thus described by a corres¬ 
pondent :—“ This singular town covers au area of 
about nine square miles, that is, three miles each 
way. It is one of the most beautifully laid out 
cities iu the world. The streets are very wide, 
with water running through nearly every one of 
them. Every block is surrounded with beauti¬ 
ful shade trees, and almost every house has its 
neat little orchard of apple, peach, apricot and 
cherry trees. In fact, the whole nine square 
miles is almost one continuous orchard." 
EVIL COMPANY 
Tns following beautiful allegory is translated 
from the German: 
Tophronlu?, a wise teacher, would not suffer 
even his own grown-up sous and daughters to 
associate with those whose conduct was not 
pure and upright. 
" Dear father," said the gentle Eulalia to him 
one day, when he forbade her, in company with 
her brother, to visit the volatile Lucinda, “dear 
father, you must think us very childish, if you 
imagine that we should bo exposed to danger 
by it.” 
The father took In silence a, dead coal from the 
hearth, and reached it to his daughter, "It will 
uot burn yon, ray child; take it." 
Eulalia did so; and behold! her delicate white 
hand was soiled and blackened, aud as it chanced 
her white dress also." 
" Wo cannot be too careful iu handling coals," 
said Eulalia, iu vexation. 
" Yes, truly," said her father; "you see, my 
child, that coals, even If they do not burn, 
blacken. So It Is with the company of the vi¬ 
cious." 
Queer Way of Voting.— At the recent elec¬ 
tion at Prague, a speaker, in proposing the can¬ 
didate of the Bohemian Central Committee, 
concluded as follows " Now every one of you 
take a blank ballot and a shilling, Those who 
are in favor of B. will put their ballots in the 
box; those who are opposed, will put in the 
shilliug." Result—unanimous election of B. 
The Advice of a Philosopher.—I t is re¬ 
ported that the late Victor Cousin, just before 
he died, gave the following advice to the son of 
a friend, who was just entering upon life:—" Yoff 
are young and inexperienced; take my adviee— 
earn money and save it. If you do not you will 
prepare for yourself a dishonored old age, and 
when vour hair is gray and vour faculties fail, 
What shall be Done with Them?— In 
Newl'ork city they are trying to measure the 
terrible fact that there are 30,000 children of fit 
age who never are seen in any of the public 
schools,— the children of the poor, often of the 
degraded, who will grow up, if uneducated and 
uncared for, to recruit the “ dangerous classes ” 
in societv. 
m 
