294 



FLORIDA. 



Britain. In 1852 he became President of Ober- 

 lin College, and held that position until 1866. 

 More than once during his pastorate at Ober- 

 lin he entered the field again as evangelist. 

 In 1857 he preached a series of sermons in 

 Rochester, and a revival followed. A later 

 visit to New York City, however, was fol- 

 lowed by no very marked results. But his 

 labors in the Park Street Church, Boston, led 

 to many conversions. He had great faith in 

 doctrinal preaching, and aimed to keep down 

 animal excitement. His preaching was plain, 

 logical, unimpassioned, and direct. Mr. Fin- 

 ney was apt to hold advanced opinions, having 

 been an abolitionist, an anti-mason, and an 

 advocate of teetotalism. Among his writings 

 are " Lectures on Revivals," " Lectures to Pro- 

 fessing Christians," "Sermons on Important 

 Subjects," and "Lectures on Systematic The- 

 ology." They have all passed through numer- 

 ous editions, both in this country and in Eng- 

 land. 



FLORIDA. The eighth regular session of 

 the Florida Legislature, under the constitution 

 of 1868, began at Tallahassee on the 4th of 

 January, and continued until the 26th of Febru- 

 ary. The greater part of several days was 

 occupied in electing a United States Senator, 

 to succeed Abijah Gilbert, Republican. The 

 prominent candidates were Horatio Bisbee, Jr., 

 Republican, and Charles W. Jones, Democrat. 

 At length, on the twenty- third ballot in joint 

 convention of the two Houses, Mr. Jones was 

 elected, receiving 41 votes out of a total of 77. 

 He is a native of Ireland, born in 1834, and 

 coming to this country when ten years of age. 

 He spent some years in Alabama, Louisiana, 

 and Mississippi, and in 1854 settled down at 

 Pensacola, Fla. He acquired a fair education 

 by his own exertions, was admitted to the bar 

 in 1857, and rose to the first rank among the 

 lawyers of the State. In 1872 he was a mem- 

 ber of the National Democratic Convention, 

 held at Baltimore, and the same year was the 

 Democratic and Liberal candidate for Con- 

 gressman from the State at large, and was de- 

 feated by W. J. Purman, who had a majority 

 of 1,726 votes in a total of 33,348. He was 

 elected to the State Assembly from* Escambia 

 County in 1874, and was a member of that 

 body when chosen to the United States Senate. 

 He is a liberal Democrat of first-class abilities 

 and unquestioned integrity. 



Charges of bribery having been circulated 

 against ^members of the Legislature in connec- 

 tion with the senatorial election, a special 

 committee was appointed in each branch to 

 investigate them. The Senate committee re- 

 ported, as the result of a careful examination, 

 that " not even a whisper of suspicion has been 

 shown to exist as to any member of the Senate." 

 Six out of seven members of the House commit- 

 tee reported that after the most searching ex- 

 amination they had "failed to obtain legal evi- 

 dence sufficient to sustain any of said charges." 

 The other member submitted a minority report, 



in which he said that " the evidence produced 

 before the committee to investigate certain 

 charges relative to corrupt influences having 

 been used to move members of this body in 

 voting for United States Senator, has been of 

 such character as to induce the belief that such 

 influences have been used, but direct evidence 

 has not been produced to convict any particu- 

 lar person or persons." 



The seat occupied in the Senate by E. T. 

 Sturtevant was contested by Israel M. Stewart, 

 and, after due examination and report by the 

 Committee on Privileges and Elections, was 

 awarded to the contestant. According to the 

 committee's report, Mr. Sturtevant had been 

 one of the inspectors of election in the only 

 precinct in Dade County, and as such had cer- 

 tified, with two others, that of the 30 votes 

 cast for Senator Stewart had received 16, and 

 afterward as one of two county commission- 

 ers set aside the return which he himself had 

 signed, on the ground that three persons voting 

 for Stewart had no right to vote ; then, as 

 judge of the county court and one of the board 

 of canvassers, sat in judgment on his own case, 

 rejected the three votes, and declared himself 

 to have received a majority. In the two coun- 

 ties forming the twenty-first senatorial district, 

 the committee concluded that 52 votes were 

 cast for Stewart and 44 for three other candi- 

 dates, Sturtevant receiving only 14, though he 

 had obtained the seat and held it through one 

 session and part of another. 



The following joint resolution was adopted 

 regarding the independence of Cuba : 



The people of the State of Florida, represented in 

 Senate ana Assembly, do resolve as follows : That the 

 citizens of Cuba, in their struggle to free themselves 

 from tyrannic, foreign, despotic rule, and establish 

 a republican government based upon the principle 

 that the people are sovereign, and in them, and them 

 alone, reside the inherent powers of governing them- 

 selves, are illustrating the ideas, opinions, and prin- 

 ciples enunciated and proclaimed by the people of 

 these United States when they achieved independence 

 and established their own government. 



That their fortitude and perseverance, manliness 

 and magnanimity, but above all their strict and per- 

 sistent adherence to the rules of warfare recognized 

 and established among and by all Christian and civ- 

 ilized nations and peoples, have won our approval and 

 challenged our admiration. 



That their adherence to the cause of human free- 

 dom for six years^ baffling for that period and hold- 

 ing at bay the entire force brought by despotism to 

 crush out and overpower them, evidences not only a 

 fixed purpose to continue the contest and make it a 

 success, but the ability likewise to accomplish that 

 success. 



That it is the deliberate opinion of the people of 

 the State of Florida that the Government of the ' 

 United States should acknowledge the republic of 

 Cuba as a free and independent government, and 

 one of the family of nations. 



That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and 

 our Eepresentatives therein requested, to lay these 

 resolutions before their respective bodies and urge 

 the adoption of the principles thereof by Congress. 



That his Excellency the Governor forward a copy 

 of the same to the President of the United States, 

 and to each of our said Senators and Eepresentatives. 



Memorials to Congress were adopted, asking 



