FOSTER, LAFAYETTE S. 



FRANCE. 



277 



Mr. Gladstone, was born at Brad pole, Dorset- 

 shire, July 11, 1818. His father, William Fors- 

 ter, was a minister of the Society of Friends, 

 who made extensive travels in the cause of re- 

 ligion and philanthropy all over Europe and 

 the United States ; his mother, Anna Buxton, 

 was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Fowell 

 Buxton. He was brought up to business, and 

 was a worsted-manufacturer at Bradford, in 

 Yorkshire, some years before the death of his 

 father, who resided latterly at Norwich, and 

 died during an antislavery mission to Tennes- 

 see, in 1853. In December, 1846, during the 

 Irish famine, he accompanied his father to that 

 country, to administer relief from a fund raised 

 by their religious society. In 1850, having 

 quitted the formal connection witli the Society 

 of Friends, he married Jane Martha, eldest 

 daughter of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby. In 1859 

 he was a candidate, but without success, for 

 the representation of Leeds in the House of 

 Commons. In February, 1861, he was elected 

 for Bradford, which constituency he still rep- 

 resents. His first speech was a very short one 

 upon the American civil war, but that subject 

 frequently drew from him questions and sug- 

 gestions addressed to the English Government 

 in favor of a just neutrality, and especially of 

 prohibiting the equipment of privateers for the 

 Southern Confederacy in British ports. In 

 1862 he came forward as the Parliamentary 

 champion of a thoroughly efficient and widely 

 extended system of national education. From 

 November, 1865, to July, 1866, he was Under- 

 secretary of State for the Colonies in Lord 

 Russell's Administration. On the accession of 

 Mr. Gladstone to power, in 1868, he received 

 the appointment of Vice-President of the Com- 

 mittee of Council on Education, in which 

 position he rendered his party signal service 

 by conducting the Elementary Education Act 

 through the House of Commons. In 1871 he 

 introduced the bill to establish vote by ballot 

 at Parliamentary elections. The bill was thrown 

 out by the Lords, but in the session of 1872 it 

 became law. He was also made Fourth Char- 

 ity Commissioner. When Mr. Gladstone re- 

 signed the Liberal leadership, Mr. Forster was 

 named by a section of the party as his suc- 

 cessor, but declined to attempt the task, on the 

 ground that he did not expect to obtain that 

 general support without which the arduous 

 duties of the position ought not to be under- 

 taken. 



FOSTER, LAFAYETTE SABINE, LL. D., ex- 

 Senator, was born at Franklin, Connecticut, 

 November 22d, 1806. His father was Captain 

 Daniel Foster, who fought bravely at Saratoga 

 in 1777. His grandmother was Hannah Stand- 

 ish, a descendant of the Puritan soldier Miles 

 Standish. Mr. Foster graduated with the high- 

 est honor at Brown University in 1830, and 

 embraced the profession of the law, studying 

 under Calvin Goddard. For a year he taught 

 school at Centreville, Maryland. In 1833 he 

 settled at Hampton, Connecticut. In 1835 he 



removed to Norwich. In 1839 he was elected 

 to the State Legislature, and was reflected in 

 1845, '48, and '54. During the last three years 

 he was Speaker of the Assembly. He was 

 Mayor of Norwich during 1851 and 1852. He 

 was defeated for the gubernatorial office in 

 two elections. In 1854 he was elected to the 

 United States Senate by the Whigs. In 1856 

 he joined the newly-formed Republican party. 

 In 1860 he was again sent to the Senate. He 

 was on various important committees, on the 

 Public Domains, the Finances, etc. In 1865 he 

 was chosen President of the Senate, pro tern- 

 pore. After the assassination of Lincoln and 

 the elevation of Andrew Johnson to the Pres- 

 idency, April 14, 1867, Mr. Foster became, 

 according to the Constitution, acting Vice- 

 President of the United States. His sena- 

 torial term of office expired March, 1867, and, 

 not having been reflected, he was replaced by 

 Mr. Wade in the second office of the Govern- 

 ment. In 1869 he was chosen Professor of 

 Law at Yale College. Defeated in 1874 as 

 candidate for Congress, he resumed his prac- 

 tice. He died in Norwich, Connecticut, Sep- 

 tember 19th, in the seventy-fourth year of his 

 age. 



FRANCE, a republic in Europe. President, 

 Francois Paul Jules Grevy, elected January 

 30, 1879. The French Cabinet was at the close 

 of 1880 composed as follows: M. Jules Ferry, 

 President of the Council and Minister of Pub- 

 lic Instruction and Fine Arts ; M. Barthelemy 

 St.-Hilaire, Minister of Foreign Affairs; M. 

 Constans, Minister of the Interior and of 

 Worship ; M. Cazot, Minister of Justice ; M. 

 Magnin, Minister of Finance; General Farre, 

 Minister of War; Vice- Admiral Clou6, Minis- 

 ter of Marine ; M. Sadi Carnot, Minister of 

 Public Works; M. Tirard, Minister of Com- 

 merce ; M. Cochery, Minister of Posts and Tele- 

 graphs. 



The President of the Republic is elected by 

 the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, united 

 in National Assembly. The term of his office 

 is seven years, and he is eligible for reelection. 

 The Senate is composed of 300 members, of 

 whom 75 hold their seats for life, the vacancies 

 being filled by the votes of the Senators. The 

 remaining 225 seats are divided by lot into 

 three classes of 75 each, one class going out 

 at successive periods of three years. 



The Chamber of Deputies is elected by uni- 

 versal suffrage under the scrutin d'arrondisse- 

 ment adopted by the National Assembly, No- 

 vember 11, 1875. The law orders every ar- 

 rondissement to elect one deputy, and, if its 

 population is in excess of 100,000, an addi- 

 tional deputy for each 100,000, or portion 

 thereof. 



The area of France, according to the latest 

 official calculations, is 204,092 square miles, or 

 528,572 square kilometres. The population, 

 according to the census of 1876, was 36,905,- 

 788. The movement of population from 1869 

 to 1878 was as follows: 



