Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/354

 340 FLO 11 I A Mobile railroad extends west from Jacksonville to Chatta- hootchee, and is the longest in the State. Lateral lines connect this line with the Georgia system by a branch from Live Oak due north to Dupont, and with St Mark s on the Gulf by a branch south from Tallahassee. The Atlantic, Gulf, and West India Transit Company s line extends from Fernaudiua on the Atlantic to Cedar Keys on the Gulf, distance 155 miles. The Pensacola and Louisville road extends from Pensacola north to a junction with the Mobile and Montgomery (Alabama) railroad, 45 miles. The St John s River line crosses from St Augustine to Tocoi on the St John s, 14 miles. Administration. The government of Florida is similar to that of the other States of the American Union. The executive power is vested in a governor elected by the people every four years. The legislative power is repre sented by a senate elected for four years, and a house of representatives or assembly chosen for two years, both by popular vote. The judiciary consists of a supreme court, having one chief and two associate judges, who hold three annual sessions in Tallahassee ; there are also seven circuit besides other inferior courts. Florida has two members in the national house of representatives, and has therefore (with the two senators to which each State is entitled) only four votes in the electoral college. The State is divided into 39 counties, viz., Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Orange, Polk, Putnam, St John s, Santa Rosa, Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, Washington. Education. Florida has neither college nor university, although an agricultural college has been incorporated ; the financial condition of the State and people after the close of the great civil war has greatly retarded educa tional development. There is no public library of 10,000 volumes in the State. In 1876, out of a school population numbering 74,828 persons, the number actually attending public schools was only 26,052. The total expenditure for educational purposes was $2,126,541. The slow de velopment of education in the State may also be attributed to the numerous coloured population (91,384 in 1870) formerly held in slavery, which is wholly engaged in tilling the soil and kindred pursuits. Since the war Florida has received large accessions to its population from other States, and is undergoing changes which will, it is believed, ultimately lead to its taking a higher rank in the Union. In 1870 there were in the State 23 news papers and periodicals, with a total circulation of 10,545. The total number of religious organizations was 41)0, having 390 places of worship, and property valued at $426,520. History. The history of Florida is interesting. The various attempts at colonization by Europeans of which we have authentic accounts go farther back than in any other part of the North American continent, preceding the efforts of the French in Canada, the English in Virginia, and even of the Spaniards themselves in Mexico. St Augustine is the oldest settlement founded by Europeans, not only of the United States, but of North America, and still shows traces of Spanish occupation two centuries ago. Remains of fortifications, roads, etc., are found between the Suwanee and Chattahootchee. In 1512, seven years before the invasion of Mexico by Cortes, Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the mainland of Florida on Easter Sunday, PascJia Floridum, the supposed derivation of the name. The discoverer landed at a place called the Bay of the Cross, took formal possession, and planted a stone cross in sign of the jurisdiction of Spain. He continued his ex plorations in the interior and along the coast for some months before sailing to Spain. The following year ho was named governor of and received permission from Ferdinand to colonize the &quot; Island of Florida.&quot; His efforts, however, proved unsuccessful. The place of his original landing is supposed to be a few miles north of Saint Augustine. The next effort at colonization was the disastrous one of Pamphilo de Narvaez in 1528. He sailed from Cuba with 400 men, landed in the bay of Pensacola, and remained in the country nearly six months, when he re- embarked and perished in a tempest near the mouth of the Mississippi. Four survivors of this expedition succeeded, after incredible hardships, in reaching Mexico. Hernando de Soto landed on May 30, 1539, at what is now Tampa Bay, called by the Spaniards &quot; Spiritu Santo.&quot; De Soto believed Florida a new El Dorado. He had the title of Addantado, or president, from the emperor, and undertook the conquest at his own expense. He passed the first winter in the country of the Appalachians, east of Flint river. After a sanguinary conflict with the natives, who opposed his advance into the interior, and the loss of many men by disease, De Soto reached the Mississippi, where he died from fever while endeavouring to descend its banks to the mouth. R6n6 Goulaine de Laudonniere, who had accompanied Jean Ribault in his expedition to Port Royal (1562), landed first at what is now St Augustine, subsequently in the river St John, called by him the &quot; River of May,&quot; and built Fort Caroline in 1564. The colonists, who were Huguenots, were on the point of abandoning the settlement when re-enforced by Ribault ; but he had scarcely anchored when a Spanish fleet under Menendez appeared. Ribault made his escape for the moment. Soon after Menendez surprised and massacred the garrison of Fort Caroline, carrying out to the letter his barbarous order to &quot; gibbet and behead all Protestants in those regions.&quot; In endea vouring to return to Fort Caroline, Ribault and his party also fell into the hands of Menendez, and shared the fate of their companions. The French were all hanged with the inscription affixed to them &quot; Not as Frenchmen, but as heretics.&quot; Aviles de Menendez, referred to as exterminating the French settlement on the St John, landed September 1565, and laid the foundation of the town, named by him St Augustine. Two years later a French expedition com manded by Dominique de Gourgues, seized two forts near the mouth of the St John, and the important one of San Mateo, and in retaliation for the cruelty of Menendez hanged all his prisoners, &quot; not as Spaniards, but as assassins.&quot; De Gourgues s head was demanded by the Spanish king, and he was for a time compelled to live in concealment. Menendez afterwards rebuilt San Mateo. On the 28th of May 1586 Sir Francis Drake, then returning from his memorable expedition to the West Indies, discovered a scaffold raised upon four high masts, evidently a look-out station, upon the Florida coast. No one in the fleet had any knowledge that the Spaniards possessed a place there. Drake therefore ordered the pinnaces to make a reconnaissance. Having entered an inlet they came to the fort St Juan de Pinos, from which the garrison fled to St Augustine ; and on the approach of the English they also abandoned this place, which had the appearance of a prosperous settlement, with its council- house, church, and handsome gardens. The invaders destroyed the town and meditated an attack on St Helena, twelve leagues further up the coast, but were deterred from want of a pilot to conduct them safely through the intricate and dangerous shoals. Drake pursued his voyage to