1045 



FLORIS. 



FOLKESTONE. 



1046 



now not only refuses to pay either debt or interest, but even to 

 admit its liability to pay either, on the ground that the debt ia not 

 recognised in the state constitution. The assessed value of all re;il 

 and personal property in the btate in 1850 was 22,784,837 dollars. 

 The state militia is composed of 12,122 men, of whom 620 are com- 

 missioned officers. 



The judiciary consists of a supreme court, presided over by a chief 

 justice and two associate justices, and of circuit-courts presided over 

 by four judges; all the justices and judges have salaries of 2000 

 dollars a year each. By a law passed in the last General Assembly, the 

 election of the justices of the supreme court and the judges of the 

 circuit-courts ia to be given to the people. 



Florida is but badly provided with schools, though the state 

 possesses ample school-funds. There is no college or professional 

 school. The total number of public schools in 1850 was 69, the 

 number of scholars 1878 : the whole number of children in 

 the state attending school in the year was 4746. Among religious 

 sects the Methodists are the most numerous, aud next to them the 

 Baptists : in 1850 the Methodists had 87 churches, affording accom- 

 modation for 20,015 persona; the Baptists 56 churches, with accom- 

 modation for 11,985 ; Presbyterians 16 churches, with accommodation 

 for 5900; Episcopalians 10 churches, with accommodation for 3810; 

 Roman Catholics 5 churches, with accommodation for 1850 ; other 

 sects 3 churches, with accommodation for 140Q persons. Ten news- 

 papers, circulating 319,800 copies annually, are published in the state. 



ffitlory. Florida was discovered by the Spaniards in 1512 ; the 

 first Spanish settlement was formed in 1564 at St. Augustine, which 

 town therefore may be considered as the oldest European settlement 

 on the North American continent, except those on the Mexican 

 isthmus. The Spaniards kept possession of Florida till 1763, when it 

 waa ceded to England. It was retaken by the Spaniards in 1781, and 

 remained in their hands at the peace of 1783. In 1819 the United 

 States entered into a negotiation with Spain for the cession of Florida, 

 and a treaty to that effect was ratified by Spain in 1821. The Spanish 

 government however was not inclined to cede the country; but the 

 feebleness to which it was then reduced rendered it incapable of any 

 resistance, and in 1821 Florida was taken possession of by General 

 Jackson, by order of the government of the United States. The 

 Spanish population nearly all left the country upon its cession. Since 

 its possesaioa by the United States the most important event in the 

 history of Florida was the war which in 1835 broke out between the 

 Seminole Indians, who occupied the central portion of the peninsula, 

 and the American settlers. This war was protracted until 1842, when 

 the Indiana were forced to succumb, and were nearly all transferred 

 beyond the Mississippi. The few Indians then permitted to remain 

 have been lately removed westward beyond the limits of the white 

 settlements. Florida was admitted into the Union as an independent 

 state in 1845. 



FLUKIS, an island in the Indian Archipelago, lying between 8 and 

 9 S. lat., 120' and 123 E. long. Its length is about 200 miles from 

 east to west, and its average breadth about 35 miles. The surface of 

 the island is hilly, particularly on the south side, where there are 

 several high volcanic mountains, from one of which there was an 

 eruption in 1810. Cotton is one of the products. Sandal-wood, 

 bees'-wax, horses, and slaves are exported to Singapore. The principal 

 port, Ende", is on the south side of the island : it has an excellent 

 harbour. Larantuka, a town on the east side, on the straits of Laran- 

 tuka, in 8 45' S. lat., 123 E. long., is in the possession of the Portu- 

 guese, who have succeeded in bringing many of the natives to the 

 profession of the Catholic faith. This is the only part of the island 

 in possession of Europeans. Elide was formerly subordinate to the 

 Dutch presidency at Coopang in the island of Timor ; but in 1812 the 

 Bugis inhabitants succeeded in expelling all Europeans. The coast is 

 mostly colonised by Bugis and Malays, but the interior is inhabited 

 by aborigines, a dark curly-headed race, who resemble the Papuas of 

 New Guinea. The island gives name to the Strait of Floris, which 

 separates it from the islands of Solor and Adenar on the east. 



FLOTTA. [ORKNEY ISLANDS.] 



FLOUR, ST. [CANTAL.] 



FLUSHING (Vliasinrjen), the birthplace of Admiral de Ruyter, 

 a fortified sea-port on the south coast of the island of Walcheren, 

 in the Dutch province of Zeeland, is situated on the north 

 shore of the lestuary of the West Schelde, the passage of which it 

 defends. The port is formed by two moles, which break the force of 

 the sea, and beyond these are two canals which enter the town, in the 

 interior of which they form two perfectly secure basins ; one of them 

 is of considerable size, and has sufficient depth of water to receive the 

 largest ships of war. The town has extensive dockyards and a hand- 

 some town-hall. Flushing came into possession of the French in 1795, 

 and was much used by them as a place of rendezvous for their fleets. 

 The batteries by which the port is defended command to a great 

 extent the south entrance to the Schelde. The town is well built, 

 and the population is about 8000. It was besieged in 1809 by the 

 English expedition under Lord Chatham, well known as the ' Wal- 

 cheren expedition,' and was taken, but evacuated very shortly after, 

 the port and town having been much damaged by the English. 

 Flushing is the seat of an admiralty board. It carries on a consider- 

 able foreign trade. 



FOCHABERS. [ELGINSHIRE.] 



FOGGIA. [CAHTANATA.] 



FOGO. [CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.] 



FOHR, a Danish island off the northern coast of the western part 

 of Schleswig, about 25 miles in area. It is divided into Osterland- 

 fo'hr, which forms part of Schleswig, and contains the port of Wyk, 

 54 43' N. lat., 8 40' E. long., 500 feet long, 112 feet broad, and 10 

 feet deep, which has a bathing establishment ; and Westerlaudfo'hr, 

 which forms part of North Jutland. The islanders are engaged in 

 navigation, fishery, and woollen-stocking manufactures. Oysters are 

 exported to Hamburg. The Schleswig part of the island has a popu- 

 lation of 2650, and the part belonging to Jutland 2100 inhabitants. 



FOIX, the name of a town and former county of France. The 

 town is noticed under ARIEGE, of which department it is the capital. 

 The county was in ancient times partly in the territory of the Volcse 

 Tectusages, and partly perhaps in the territory of the Consoranni. 

 It afterwards belonged to the counts of Carcassonne, but upon the 

 death of Roger I., count of Carcassonne, who divided his estates 

 between his family, it became, about the beginning of the llth century, 

 a separate jurisdiction, which fell to Bernard, second surviving sou of 

 Roger. The separate jurisdiction was afterwards erected into the 

 county of Foix. Gaston IV., count of Foix, came into possession (by 

 inheritance from his father-in-law) of the kingdom of Navarre ; and 

 the county of Foix, thus united to the other possessions of the house 

 of Navarre, fell to the crown of France upon the accession of Henri IV. 

 in 1582. 



The county of Foix was small : its greatest extent was from north- 

 by-east to south-by-east about 50 miles ; its greatest breadth about 

 35 miles. It was bounded E., N., and N.E. by Languedoc ; W. by 

 the district of Couserans ; and S. by the crests of the Pyrenees. The 

 territory thus described is watered by the Ariege, which runs through 

 it in the direction of its greatest length. The chief towns were Foix 

 aud Pamiers. The county is now included in the department of 

 Ariege, under which head the nature and products of the county are 

 described. [ARIEGE.] 



FOKIEN. [Cms*.] 



FOKZAN. [MOLDAVIA.] 



FdLDVAR. [HUNGARY.] 



FOLEMBRAY. [AISNE.] 



FOLESHILL, anciently termed FOLKESHUL, Warwickshire, a 

 small manufacturing town, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the 

 parish of Foleshill, is situated in 52 26' N. lat., 1 28' W. long. ; 

 distant 13 miles N.N.E. from Warwick, aud 94 miles N.W. from 

 London. The population of the parish of Foleshill in 1S51 was 7810. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Coventry and diocese 

 of Worcester. Foleshill Poor-Law Union contains 12 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 17,667 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 18,528. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in weaving ribands for 

 manufacturers in Coventry. Besides the parish church and a chapel 

 of ease, there are chapels for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and 

 other Dissenters. 



FOLKESTONE, Kent, a market-town, member of the Cinque Port 

 of Dover, bathing-place, and sea-port, in the pariah of Folkestone, 

 ia situated on the south-eaatern coast, in 51 5' N. lat., 1 11' E. long. ; 

 distant 15 miles S. by E. from Canterbury, 70 miles S.E. by E. from 

 London by road, and 83 miles by the South-Eastern railway. The 

 population of the town of Folkestone in 1851 was 6726. The town 

 is governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, one of whom is mayor. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of 

 Canterbury. 



Folkestone was at an early period a place of importance. There 

 are still some remains of entrenchments on a high hill in the neigh- 

 bourhood where the Romans had a tower. A monastery which 

 anciently stood here was destroyed by the Danes. A caatle erected 

 by the Saxon kings of Kent, and rebuilt by the Normans, has been 

 almost wholly swept away, with the cliff on which it stood, by the 

 gradual encroachment of the sea. The public buildings of Folkestone 

 include the market-house and guildhall, which were rebuilt a few 

 years since. The parish church is a cruciform structure of early 

 English date, with a tower rising from the intersection. Christ church, 

 built and endowed by the Earl of Radnor, was consecrated in 1850. 

 The Independents, Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, and Quakers have 

 places of worship. There are a Public Grammar school, British and 

 Infant schools, a dispensary, and the Harveian Literary and Scientific 

 Institution. A county court is held in the town. 



The opening of the South-Eastern railway, the establishment of the 

 steam-packet service between Folkestone and Boulogne on the French 

 coast, and the erection of Folkestone into a custom-house station, have 

 contributed to the rapid and extensive improvement of this port. In 

 custom-house receipts alone the increase has been from 40082. in the 

 year 1847 to 101,8562. in the year 1851. On 31st December 1853 there 

 were registered as belonging to the port of Folkestone, 7 vessels of 

 the aggregate burden of 137 tons, and 7 vessels of 900 tons aggregate 

 burden. During 1853 there entered the port 305 sailing vessels of 

 30,350 tons, and 431 steam-vessels of 64,781 tons aggregate burden ; 

 and there cleared 9 sailing vessels of 719 tons, and 429 steam- 

 j vessels of 64,638 tons. Folkestone Harbour has received consider- 

 able extension within the last few years, and a fine pier has been 



