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 SENECA 765 each state of the Union, who are elected by the legislatures of the states and hold office for six years. In addition to its legislative functions, it has the power of ratifying for- eign treaties and nominations to office made hy the president, and is the high court of impeachment for public functionaries. Each state of the Union has a legislative chamber which exercises functions of a similar nature, though differing in degree. The French senate, called the senat conservateur, came into exis- tence after the revolution of the 18th Brumaire (1799), and was originally composed of 80 members of at least 40 years of age. Its chief functions were to prevent violations of the constitution, to introduce changes into that instrument, and to elect the consuls, tribunes, and members of the legislature from lists pre- pared by the departments. It soon became a tool in the hands of the first consul, and on the establishment of the empire was reduced to the condition of a state council. It was re- placed by the chamber of peers at the restora- tion of the Bourbons, but was revived by Na- poleon III. in 1852. This senate was abolish- ed by the revolution of Sept. 4, 1870. In the present French republic, as constituted by the organic laws of Feb. 25, 1875, the senate is to consist of 300 members, 225 elected by the departments, and 75 appointed for life by the national assembly. The Hanseatic towns are governed by senates, and similar bodies, hav- ing legislative functions of various degrees of importance, are recognized by the constitu- tions of Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and some other European governments. The Russian senate is the supreme judicial tribunal of the empire, and its decrees, when not vetoed by the emperor, have the force of law. In many countries of Europe, particularly in Germany, the affairs of universities are administered by academic senates, composed of the professors, over which the government exercises a control. SENECA. I. A W. central county of New York, bounded E. by Cayuga lake and Sene- ca river and W. chiefly by Seneca lake, and drained by the Seneca and Clyde rivers; area, 330 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 27,823. The sur- face is hilly and the soil generally very fertile. The New York Central and the Geneva, Itha- ca, and Athens railroads, and the Erie and the Cayuga and Seneca canals, traverse it. The chief productions in 1870 were 542,407 bushels of wheat, 420,366 of Indian corn, 627,190 of oats, 409,340 of barley, 22,995 of buckwheat, 182,704 of potatoes, 37,048 tons of hay, 166,- 416 Ibs. of wool, 812,811 of butter, and 100,- 901 of flax. There were 8,314 horses, 7,073 milch cows, 6,422 other cattle, 28,663 sheep, and 6,997 swine; 17 manufactories of car- riages and wagons, 3 of fire engines, 7 of iron castings, 2 of machinery, 7 of malt, 12 of saddlery and harness, 2 of wooden ware^, 3 of woollen goods, 9 brick yards, 4 tanneries, 2 distilleries, 12 flour mills, and 15 saw mills. Capitals, Ovid and Waterloo. II. A N. coun- ty of Ohio, intersected by Sandnsky river and Honey and Green creeks, and traversed by several railroads ; area, 540 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 30,827. The surface is almost level, well timbered, and very fertile. The chief produc- tions in 1873 were 621,176 bushels of wheat, 900,915 of Indian corn, 336,564 of oats, 77,- 232 of potatoes, 484,844 of apples, 34,712 tons of hay, 339,966 Ibs. of wool, and 708,252 of butter. In 1874 there were 11,226 horses, 23,091 cattle, 75,914 sheep, and 28,644 swine. In 1870 there were 14 manufactories of agri- cultural implements, 4 of brick, 12 of carriages and wagons, 6 of iron castings, 1 of woollen, 8 breweries, 7 flour mills, 17 saw mills, 3 planing mills, and 7 tanneries. Capital, Tiffin. SENECA. I. Marcos Annseus, a Roman rhetori- cian, born in Corduba (Cordova), Spain, about 61 B. C., died in Italy probably about A. D. 85. He was a member of the equestrian or- der, and appears to have spent part of his early life in Rome, but afterward returned to Spain, and there married. It is said that he compiled at the request of his children the brilliant and famous sayings which he him- self had heard from the rhetoricians of his time. This work was entitled Oratorum et EJietorum Sentential, &c., and consisted of two divisions, one called Controversies, the other Suasoria, only fragments of which are ex- tant. See Koerber, Ueber den Rhetor Seneca, und die JRomische Ehetorilc seiner Zeit (Cassel, 1864). II. Lucius Anna-ns, a Roman stoic phi- losopher, son of the preceding, born in Cordu- ba a few years before the Christian era, died in Rome, A. D. 65. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Rome, travelled in Greece and Egypt, and became an advocate, and subse- quently qusestor. Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius, having accused him of adul- tery with Julia, the emperor's niece, he was banished to Corsica for eight years, during which he wrote one of his best treatises, the Consolatio ad ffelviam, addressed to his moth- er, and the Consolatio ad PolyUum, to a pow- erful freedman of Claudius. The authenticity of the latter has been doubted. In A. D. 49, through the influence of Agrippina, who after the death of Messalina had married her uncle Claudius, Seneca was recalled, and was made pr&tor. Subsequently, with Afranius Bur- rhus, he became tutor to the young Domi- tius, the future emperor Nero. After Claudius had been poisoned by his wife, Nero ascended the throne, and Burrhus and Seneca placed themselves in opposition to the pretensions of Agrippina. Not long afterward Nero put his mother to death for her opposition to Pop- pa?a, fled to Naples, and sent to the senate a letter written by Seneca, in which he charged Agrippina with a conspiracy against himself, and with having committed suicide in conse- quence of its failure. In 63 Burrhus died, and Seneca, conscious that the emperor coveted his wealth, offered to surrender his property and retire. This the emperor refused, and from