SENATUS CONSULT SENECA. 



193 



senatus-consulte, of August 15, 1801, declared the 

 dignity of consul to be for life, and rendered the 

 senate dependent on the first consul, by giving him 

 the power of choosing or nominating the greater 

 part of them, and appointing them ministers, &c. 

 The first consul was bound to give the senate in- 

 formation of all treaties, before making them public. 

 Bonaparte, as president of the senate, now caused 

 the senators to take the oath of allegiance to him. 

 By the senatus-consulte of Jan. 4, 1803, a senatorerie 

 was created in each district of the courts of appeal, 

 endowed with a palace and a yearly income of from 

 20,000 to 25,000 francs, from the national domains: 

 these (thirty-two in number) the first consul con- 

 ferred on the members of the senate for life. 

 At a later period, the senate was composed of the 

 imperial princes, the dignitaries of the empire, and 

 136 members. Two committees were appointed, 

 one for personal liberty and the other for the free- 

 dom of the press, which, however, made no opposi- 

 tion to the wishes of the emperor. It is well 

 known that a senatus-consulte of the same body 

 which had declared Napoleon emperor (May 18, 

 1804), declared the throne vacant (April 3, 1814). 

 (See Bonaparte.} The new constitution granted 

 by Louis XVIII. (see Charts') substituted a here- 

 ditary chamber of peers for the imperial senate. In 

 1831, the peerage was limited to the life of the in- 

 cumbent. (See Peer.) 



The Russian senate is a supreme council of state, 

 constituted by Alexander I. in 1810, and consist- 

 ing of thirty-two members, and four presidents, all 

 named by the emperor. It has no power over the 

 will of the emperor, but is merely a medium for 

 transacting all affairs of the empire, except foreign 

 affairs. It is divided into four departments; of 

 legislation, justice, war, and finance. 



The senate of the United States is composed of 

 two senators for each member of the confederacy, 

 chosen by the states for a term of six years. (See 

 Congress of the United States.) The vice-president 

 of the United States is the presiding officer. Be- 

 sides its legislative capacity, it has, in some mea- 

 sure, the character of an executive council, its con- 

 sent being necessary for the ratification of treaties, 

 and for the appointment of ambassadors, other pub- 

 lic ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme 

 court of the United States, heads of departments, 

 and some other officers. (See President.) The 

 senate is also a high court of impeachment. In 

 most of the states, the legislatures are divided into 

 two houses, one of which is called the senate (in 

 New Jersey, the legislative council; in Vermont, 

 there is but one house), and is, in most instances, 

 chosen for a longer term of service, and sometimes 

 for larger districts than the more popular branch 

 (the assembly, house of representatives, house of 

 commons.) In some states, it performs the functions 

 of an executive council, and generally forms the 

 high court of impeachment for the state. See Con- 

 stitutions. 



SENATUS CONSULT. See Senate, and Civil 

 Law. 



SENECA, MARCUS ANN^EUS, a rhetorician, na- 

 tive of Corduba, in Spain, went to Rome during 

 the reign of Augustus, and there taught rhetoric 

 with great success for several years. He Was the 

 author of some rhetorical works, the remaining 

 fragments of which are often contained in editions 

 of the works of Seneca the Philosopher, and have 

 been published separately. Lucius Annteus, his son, 

 accompanied his father to Rome at an early age. 



VI. 



He was born in the first year of the Christian era, 

 and received from his father a careful education. 

 Gifted by nature with excellent talents, and being 

 fond of study, the young Seneca made rapid ad- 

 vances in knowledge. The Stoic philosophy had 

 peculiar charms for his grave character, and he cul- 

 tivated it with ardour. His reputation soon ex- 

 tended to the imperial court, and his various learn- 

 ing and practical wisdom caused him to be appointed 

 tutor to the young Nero, and procured him several 

 important places. His life, however, was by no 

 means without reproach. He is accused of an ex- 

 cessive love of money, and of obsequiousness to- 

 wards his unworthy pupil. Although he at first 

 exerted a beneficial influence upon the government, 

 he did not long retain it, and suffered himself to be 

 prevailed upon by the prince to attempt a public 

 apology for his murder of his mother. Calumni- 

 ated by envious enemies, suspected by the jealous 

 prince, whose rapacity was probably also tempted 

 by the wealth of the philosopher, he was accused 

 of being an accomplice in the conspiracy of Piso, 

 and condemned to death. The only favour which 

 the tyrant was willing to grant him, was the choice 

 of the manner of his death. Seneca caused his 

 veins to be opened ; but, impatient at the slowness 

 of this mode of death, he took poison, and was 

 finally drowned in a warm bath. He died with 

 the calmness of a Stoic philosopher, A. D. 66. We 

 have several works under his name, partly prose and 

 partly poetical. The former consist of letters and 

 treatises on different subjects of philosophy; the 

 latter of tragedies. The former are replete with 

 just, profound and excellent remarks, conveyed in 

 a form not entirely unworthy of them ; yet they 

 bear marks of the influence of the spirit of the age, 

 the inclination to the Stoic philosophy, and the 

 style is too often artificial, antithetical, and swol- 

 len. His tragedies are much inferior to his letters 

 and some of his philosophical works. It is by no 

 means settled that the tragedies are actually by him; 

 and the Octavia must necessarily be rejected as 

 spurious, since the death of the heroine, which 

 forms the subject of the piece, took place subse- 

 quently to his own. Some of them have been at- 

 tributed to his father. They are formed on the 

 Greek plan, but are far behind their models in every 

 respect. They have so little of a dramatic charac- 

 ter that they seem to have been composed merely 

 to be read or declaimed. Although it is not to be 

 denied that in these solitary remains of the tragic 

 poetry of the Romans, there are some pleasing pas- 

 sages and powerful scenes, it must be allowed that 

 they are wanting in unity of plan, truth, elevation 

 of sentiment, dignity and strength of thought, and 

 elegance and vigour of expression. The best edi- 

 tions of Seneca's philosophical works are the 

 Elzevir (Amsterdam, 1672), Ruhkopfs (Leipsic, 

 1797 1811,5 vols.), and Lemaire's, with the notes 

 of Bouillet (Paris, 182728, 3 vols.) We have 

 translations of his works by Lodge and L'Estrange, 

 and of his Epistles by Morell. Of the ten tragedies 

 which go under his name, the best editions are, the 

 Gronovian (Amsterdam, 1682), that of Schroder 

 (Delft, 1728), the Bipontine, and, more recently, 

 that of Baden and Bothe. 



SENECA; a beautiful lake of New York, about 

 thirty-five miles long, and two and a half wide. It 

 lies north and south, parallel to Cayuga lake, from 

 which it is distant from six to fifteen miles. It 

 discharges Seneca river from its north end, which 

 runs east to the north end of Cayuga lake. 



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