is charged with public duties which in their performance may be made of the highest utility, and while he performs them faithfully, he knows he stands not merely at the post of duty but at the post of honor. The trappings of office are mere tinsel, but commanding worth, as Emerson has so justly said, "Must sit crowned in all companies." Thus in brief space have we attempted to summarize the leading events in state history. As thus presented, the history seems tame and commonplace as compared with what during the same period has been taking place in other countries. No battle has been fought on our soil, no violent revolution has occurred in government, the steady pulse of industry has not been disturbed by the near approach of any alarming danger. There have been local calamities and disorders, but not once in all the period of state existence has anything occurred so strange and remarkable as to rivet to it the anxious eyes of the world. But yet But yet -and largely because of this very fact -how mighty have been the changes! The state which, fifty years ago, was knocking at the door of the Union for the favor of admission, now numbers a population equal to that of all the American colonies at the time they first set British power at defiance in refusing to yield obedience to the Stamp Act. In fifty years the state has added to its population as much as the continent did in the first 150 years of its colonization, and its growth in material wealth has been still more wonderful. This single fact is far more striking and significant, and far more worthy the atten tion of statesmen and historians than could possibly be the greatest of battles and the most brilliant of victories upon which nothing was depending, but the gratification of individual or national ambition. Nor will the character of the population acquired suffer in comparison with that of any other country on the globe. The population is mixed as to nationality, with the Puritan blood predominating, but it is sufficiently homogeneous for all important purposes of the social state and of government. British America is largely and usefully represented; the Germans are planted on all sides, making intelligence and industry productive; all parts of the British islands have furnished contingents, as has Holland also, and other European countries; but disturbing elements are few, and order, industry, and thrift are everywhere. The educational system which the state so early established and so wisely nourished receives cordial support from adopted citizens, and it grows and prospers steadily and strongly, having, like the gentle showers of heaven, blessings for all. Rarely in either public or social concerns does nationality of birth determine the action of the individual. To the sober, industrious citizen of foreign birth, whether born in British islands or in Scandinavia, or beyond the Rhine, or in that small country of great renown, "where the broad ocean leans against the land," the home of nativity may always remain the home of sentiment, but the country of adoption will not, for that reason, be the less cherished; and common interest, common pursuits, common enjoyments and common aims and purposes, must rapidly obliterate distinctions, leaving all proud that of right they are entitled in this beautiful and thrifty state to share the priceless benefits of its institutions. And its people may well take pride in the state whether they contemplate it simply in its grand results, or examine it in comparison with other states. In the main its record is a clean one, bearing upon it few marks that one should care to erase. After passing over the brief spendthrift days of its youth, we have only the unexciting story of how energy, enterprise, prudence, and thrift may quietly and without the notice of the world build up a mighty state, with all the elements of strength and every promise of enduring prosperity. And were we to go back of the record to show who those were who were most active, efficient, and able in state building, it would appear that for the most part they were men who began empty-handed but strong-hearted, and by mental and physical energy, and force of character made for themselves a name while helping the state to greatness. Michigan was the twenty-sixth state to take its place in the American Union, but it has been advancing steadily and with strong and even pace to the front, and to-day only eight are leading it in wealth and population. And while Michigan has been overtaking and passing so many of the older states, not one, new or old has ever taken, and securely held a position in advance of Michigan. Of the original thirteen only New York, Penn sylvania, and Massachusetts have now more people, and in a little time the proud old Bay state must content herself with a lower place. What more can be said in praise of the state than that it has more than kept pace with the astonishing growth of the country, and mor than kept good the wonderful promise of its earliest years. Justly and with the emphasis of proud satisfaction may its citizens exclaim as they welcome the stranger to their borders: Si æquris amænam peninulam circumspiceIts beauties, its riches, its attractions are everywhere! But not in its growth, in its beauty, in its wealth in its numbers does the state chiefly pride itself, as its religous and charitable institutions and its complete system of public education, and what the people have done and are doing through these and by these must sufficiently attest. First and foremost the aim of the state has always been to prepare its youth to act well their part in the great drama of life, and in the incidental trials and rivalries. If that aim is accomplished the state may well be content, for material success will abundantly follow. However rich and diversified are the bounties of nature, "Man is the nobler growth our realms supply, and the strength of the state must always be in the manhood of its people, who, if worthily trained, will make their own success in their chosen walks of life the glory of the commonwealth. T. M. COOLEY. MARTIN S. SMITH. MARTIN S. SMITH was born in Lima, Livingston county, New York, on the twelfth day of November, 1834. His parents, Ira D. and Sarah Snyder Smith, were natives of Columbia county, New York, and removed to the beautiful valley of the Genesee, remaining at Lima only a short time after the birth of the subject of this sketch, when they again removed, establishing themselves at Geneseo, Livingston county, New York. In 1844, when Martin S. Smith was ten years of age, he accompanied his parents to Michigan, where they took up their residence near Pontiac. Four years later he entered the service of a clothing dealer at Pontiac, and from that day has been constantly engrossed in the serious work of life. His systematic education was only such as could be obtained in the common schools, and ended at his fourteenth year. Unlike some more pretentious institutions, however, these very common schools are noted for thoroughness of training, and Mr Smith left them with a firm grounding in the rudiments of knowledge, such as has served in many cases as a basis for liberal self-culture. He remained with his first employer but a short time, leaving him to take a place in the office of the Pontiac Gazette, owned and managed by William M. Thompson. After two years, he gave up this place for a more profitable engagement, and after one or two minor changes in Pontiac, took an employment in Detroit, which he exchanged a year later for a place in a prominent jewelry firm. This was his first connection with the business of which he became, in later years, a principal representative, and in the prosecution of which he has accumulated a large fortune. Mr. Smith was employed in this jewelry house until 1859, when the firm failed and its stock and business were offered for sale. More than ten years of hard work and rigid economy had enabled him to save the sum of one thousand dollars; and with this trifling capital, supplemented by the credit which his industry and straightforwardness had won him, he deemed himself warranted in buying the business of the insolvent firm. The experiment then seemed a hazardous one, but the event proved that he had reckoned wisely, for, from that day to this, his success has been uninterrupted and his prosperity a matter of continual growth. This has come only by the most diligent and thoughtful devotion to business, and in those early days of small things, there must have been much wearing anxiety to provide for daily demands with so small a cash capital; but, at whatever cost, the demands were always met and the credit |