The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood

Part 20 out of 53



EVEREST, MOUNT, the highest mountain in the world; is one of the
Himalayan peaks in Nepal, India; is 29,002 ft. above sea-level.


EVERETT, ALEXANDER HILL, an American diplomatist and author, born at
Boston; was U.S. ambassador at The Hague and Madrid, and commissioner to
China; wrote on a variety of subjects, including both politics and
belles-lettres, and a collection of critical and miscellaneous essays
(1792-1847).


EVERETT, EDWARD, American scholar, statesman, and orator, brother of
the preceding; was a Unitarian preacher of great eloquence; distinguished
as a Greek scholar and professor; for a time editor of the _North
American Review_; was a member of Congress, and unsuccessful candidate
for the Vice-Presidency of the Republic; his reputation rests on his
"orations," which are on all subjects, and show great vigour and
versatility of genius (1794-1865).


EVERLASTING NO, THE, Carlyle's name for the spirit of unbelief in
God, especially as it manifested itself in his own, or rather
Teufelsdroeckh's, warfare against it; the spirit, which, as embodied in
the MEPHISTOPHELES (q. v.) of Goethe, is for ever denying,--_der
stets verneint_--the reality of the divine in the thoughts, the
character, and the life of humanity, and has a malicious pleasure in
scoffing at everything high and noble as hollow and void. See SARTOR
RESARTUS.


EVERLASTING YEA, THE, Carlyle's name for the spirit of faith in God
in an express attitude of clear, resolute, steady, and uncompromising
antagonism to the Everlasting No, an the principle that there is no such
thing as faith in God except in such antagonism, no faith except in such
antagonism against the spirit opposed to God.


EVERSLEY, a village in Hampshire, 13 m. NE. of Basingstoke; the
burial-place of Charles Kingsley, who for 35 years was rector of the
parish.


EVERSLEY, CHARLES SHAW LEFEVRE, VISCOUNT, politician; graduated at
Cambridge; called to the bar; entered Parliament, and in 1839 became
Speaker of the House of Commons, a post he held with great acceptance for
18 years; retired, and was created a peer (1794-1888).


EVIL EYE, a superstitious belief that certain people have the power
of exercising a baneful influence on others, and even animals, by the
glance of the eyes. The superstition is of ancient date, and is met with
among almost all races, as it is among illiterate people and savages
still. It was customary to wear amulets toward the evil off.


EVOLUTION, the theory that the several species of plants and animals
on the globe were not created in their present form, but have all been
evolved by modifications of structure from cruder forms under or
coincident with change of environment, an idea which is being applied to
everything organic in the spiritual as well as the natural world. See
DARWINIAN THEORY.


EV`ORA, a city of Portugal, beautifully situated in a fertile plain
80 m. E. of Lisbon, once a strong place, and the seat of an archbishop;
it abounds in Roman antiquities.


EVREMOND, SAINT, a lively and witty Frenchman; got into trouble in
France from the unbridled indulgence of his wit, and fled to England,
where he became a great favourite at the court of Charles II., and
enjoyed himself to the top of his bent; his letters are written in a most
graceful style (1613-1703).


EVREUX (14), capital of the dep. of Eure, on the Iton, 67 m. NW. of
Paris; is an elegant town; has a fine 11th-century cathedral, an
episcopal palace with an old clock tower; interesting ruins have been
excavated in the old town; is the seat of a bishop; paper, cotton, and
linen are manufactured, and a trade is carried on in cereals, timber, and
liqueurs.


EWALD, GEORG HEINRICH AUGUST VON, a distinguished Orientalist and
biblical scholar, born at Goettingen, and professor both there and at
Tuebingen; his works were numerous, and the principal were "The Poetic
Books of the Old Testament," "The Prophets," and "The History of the
People of Israel"; he was a student and interpreter of the concrete, and
belonged to no party (1803-1875).


EWALD, JOHANNES, a Danish dramatist and lyrist, born at Copenhagen;
served as a soldier in the German and Austrian armies; studied theology
at Copenhagen; disappointed in love, he devoted himself to poetical
composition; ranks as the founder of Danish tragedy, and is the author of
some of the finest lyrics in the language (1743-1781).


EWIGE JUDE, the Everlasting Jew, the German name for the Wandering
Jew.


EXCALIBUR, the magic sword of King Arthur, which only he could
unsheathe and wield. When he was about to die he requested a knight to
throw it into a lake close by, who with some reluctance threw it, when a
hand reached out to seize it, flourished it round three times, and then
drew it under the water for good.


EXCOMMUNICATION, an ecclesiastical punishment inflicted upon
heretics and offenders against the Church laws and violators of the moral
code; was formulated in the Christian Church in the 2nd and 3rd
centuries. It varied in severity according to the degree of
transgression, but in its severest application involved exclusion from
the Eucharist, Christian burial, and the rights and privileges of the
Church; formerly it had the support of the civil authority, but is now a
purely spiritual penalty.


EXELMANS, REMY JOSEPH ISODORE, COMTE, a distinguished French
marshal, born at Bar-le-Duc; entered the army at 16; won distinction in
the Naples campaign, and for his services at Eylau in 1807 was made a
Brigadier-General; was taken prisoner in Spain while serving under Murat,
and sent to England, where he was kept prisoner three years; liberated,
took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign, for his conduct in which he was
appointed a General of Division; after Napoleon's fall lived in exile
till 1830; received honours from Louis Philippe, and was created a
Marshal of France by Louis Napoleon in 1851 (1775-1852).


EXETER (50), the capital of Devonshire, on the Exe, 75 m. SW. of
Bristol, a quaint old town; contains a celebrated cathedral founded in
1112.


EXETER HALL, a hall in the Strand, London; head-quarters of the
Y.M.C.A.; erected in 1831 for holding religious and philanthropic meetings.


EXMOOR, an elevated stretch of vale and moorland in the SW. of
Somerset, NE. of Devonshire; has an area of over 100 sq. m., 25 of which
are covered with forest.


EXMOUTH (8), a noted seaside resort on the Devonshire coast, at the
mouth of the Exe, 11 m. SE. of Exeter; has a fine beach and promenade.


EXODUS (i. e. the Going out), the book of the Old Testament which
records the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage,
and the institution of the moral and ceremonial laws for the nation;
consists partly of history and partly of legislation.


"EXODUS FROM HOUNDSDITCH," the contemplated title of a work which
Carlyle would fain have written, but found it impossible in his time.
"Out of Houndsditch indeed!" he exclaims. "Ah, were we but out, and had
our own along with us" (our inheritance from the past, he means). "But
they that have come hitherto have come in a state of brutal nakedness,
scandalous mutilation" (having cast their inheritance from the past
away), "and impartial bystanders say sorrowfully, 'Return rather; it is
better even to return!'" Houndsditch was a Jew's quarter, and old
clothesmarket in London, and was to Carlyle the symbol of the alarming
traffic at the time in spiritualities fallen extinct. Had he given a list
of these, as he has already in part done, without labelling them so, he
would only, he believed, have given offence both to the old-rag
worshippers and those that had cast the rags off, and were all,
unwittingly to themselves, going about naked; considerate he in this of
preserving what of worth was in the past.


EXOGENS, the name for the order of plants whose stem is formed by
successive accretions to the outside of the wood under the bark.


EXORCISM, conjuration by God or Christ or some holy name, of some
evil spirit to come out of a person; it was performed on a heathen as an
idolater, and eventually on a child as born in sin prior to baptism.


EXOTERIC, a term applied to teaching which the uninitiated may be
expected to comprehend, and which is openly professed, as in a public
confession of faith.


EXTERNALITY, the name for what is _ab extra_ as apart from what is
_ab intra_ in determining the substance as well as form of things, and
which in the Hegelian philosophy is regarded as working conjointly with
the latter.


EXTREME UNCTION, one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church;
an anointing of consecrated or holy oil administered by a priest in the
form of a cross to a sick person upon the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands,
and face at the point of death, which is presumed to impart grace and
strength against the last struggle.


EYCK, JAN VAN, a famous Flemish painter, born at Mass-Eyck; was
instructed by his eldest brother Hubert (1370-1426), with whom he
laboured at Bruges and Ghent; reputed to have been the first to employ
oil colours (1389-1440).


EYLAU, a small town, 23 m. S. of Koenigsberg, the scene of a great
battle between Napoleon and the Russian and Prussian allies in February
8, 1807; the fight was interrupted by darkness, under cover of which the
allies retreated, having had the worst of it.


EYRE, EDWARD JOHN, explorer and colonial governor, born in
Yorkshire; emigrated to Australia in 1832; successfully explored the
interior of SW. Australia in 1841; governor of New Zealand in 1846, of
St. Vincent in 1852, and of Jamaica in 1862; recalled in 1865, and
prosecuted for harsh treatment of the natives, but was acquitted; his
defence was championed by Carlyle, Ruskin, and Kingsley, while J. S. Mill
supported the prosecution; _b_. 1815.


EYRE, JANE, the heroine of a novel of Charlotte Bronte's so called,
a governess who, in her struggles with adverse fortune, wins the
admiration and melts the heart of a man who had lived wholly for the
world.


EZEKIEL, a Hebrew prophet, born in Jerusalem; a man of priestly
descent, who was carried captive to Babylon 599 B.C., and was banished
to Tel-abib, on the banks of the Chebar, 201 m. from the city, where,
with his family about him, he became the prophet of the captivity, and
the rallying centre of the Dispersion. Here he foretold the destruction
of Jerusalem as a judgment on the nation, and comforted them with the
promise of a new Jerusalem and a new Temple on their repentance, man by
man, and their return to the Lord. His prophecies arrange themselves in
three groups--those denouncing judgment on Jerusalem, those denouncing
judgment on the heathen, and those announcing the future glory of the
nation.


EZRA, a Jewish scribe of priestly rank, and full of zeal for the law
of the Lord and the restoration of Israel; author of a book of the Old
Testament, which records two successive returns of the people from
captivity, and embraces a period of 79 years, from 576 to 457 B.C.,
being a continuation of the book of Chronicles, its purpose being to
relate the progress of the restored theocracy in Judah and Jerusalem,
particularly as regards the restoration of the Temple and the
re-institution of the priesthood.




F


FABER, FREDERICK WILLIAM, a Catholic divine and hymn-writer, born at
Calverley, Yorkshire; at Oxford he won the Newdigate Prize in 1836; for
three years was rector of Elton, but under the influence of Newman joined
the Church of Rome (1845), and after founding a brotherhood of converts
at Birmingham in 1849, took under his charge a London branch of the
Oratory of St. Philip Neri; wrote several meritorious theological works,
but his fame chiefly rests on his fine hymns, the "Pilgrims of the Night"
one of the most famous (1814-1863).


FABER, GEORGE STANLEY, an Anglican divine, born in Holland; a
voluminous writer on theological subjects and prophecy (1773-1854).


FABIAN, ST., Pope from 236 to 251; martyred along with St. Sebastian
during the persecution of Decius.


FABIAN SOCIETY, a middle-class socialist propaganda, founded in
1883, which "aims at the reorganisation of society by the emancipation of
land and industrial capital from individual and class ownership, and
vesting of them in the community for the general benefit"; has
lectureships, and issues "Essays" and "Tracts"; it watches and seizes its
opportunities to achieve Socialist results, and hence the name. See
FABIUS QUINTUS (1).


FABII, a family of ancient Rome of 307 members, all of whom perished
in combat with the Veii, 477 B.C., all save one boy left behind in Rome,
from whom descended subsequent generations of the name.


FABIUS PICTOR, the oldest annalist of Rome; his annals of great
value; 216 B.C.


FABIUS QUINTUS, (Maximus Verrucosus), a renowned Roman general, five
times consul, twice censor and dictator in 221 B.C.; famous for his
cautious generalship against Hannibal in the Second Punic War, harassing
to the enemy, which won him the surname of "Cunctator" or delayer; _d_.
203 B.C.


FABIUS QUINTUS (Rullianus), a noted Roman general, five times consul
and twice dictator; waged successful war against the Samnites in 323 B.C.


FABIUS, THE AMERICAN, General Washington, so called from his Fabian
tactics. See FABIUS QUINTUS (1).


FABLE OF THE BEES, a work by Mandeville, a fable showing how vice
makes some people happy and virtue miserable, conceived as bees.


FABLIAUX, a species of metrical tales of a light and satirical
nature in vogue widely in France during the 12th and 13th centuries; many
of the stories were of Oriental origin, but were infused with the French
spirit of the times; La Fontaine, Boccaccio, and Chaucer drew freely on
them; they are marked by all the vivacity and perspicuity, if also
lubricity, of their modern successors in the French novel and comic
drama.


FABRE, JEAN, a French Protestant, celebrated for his filial piety;
he took the place of his father in the galleys, who had been condemned to
toil in them on account of his religious opinions (1727-1797).


FABRE D'EGLANTINE, a French dramatic poet, born at Carcassonne;
wrote comedies; was a member of the Convention and of the Committee of
Public Safety, of the extreme party of the Revolution; falling under
suspicion, was guillotined along with Danton (1752-1794).


FABRICIUS, CAIUS, a Roman of the old school, distinguished for the
simplicity of his manners and his incorruptible integrity; his name has
become the synonym for a poor man who in public life deals honourably and
does not enrich himself; was consul 282 B.C.


FABRICIUS or FABRIZIO, GIROLAMO, a famous Italian anatomist,
born at Aquapendente; became professor at Padua in 1565, where he gained
a world-wide reputation as a teacher; Harvey declares that he got his
first idea of the circulation of the blood from attending his lectures
(1537-1619).


FABRONI, ANGELO, a learned Italian, born in Tuscany; wrote the Lives
of the illustrious literati of Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, and
earned for himself the name of the "Plutarch" of his country (1732-1803).


FACCIOLATI, JACOPO, lexicographer, born at Torreglia; became a
professor of Theology and Logic at Padua; chiefly interested in classical
literature; he, in collaboration with an old pupil, Egidio Forcellini
(1688-1768), began the compilation of a new Latin dictionary, which was
completed and published two years after his death by his colleague; this
work has been the basis of all subsequent lexicons of the Latin language
(1682-1769).


FACIAL ANGLE, an angle formed by drawing two lines, one horizontally
from the nostril to the ear, and the other perpendicularly from the
advancing part of the upper jawbone to the most prominent part of the
forehead, an angle by which the degree of intelligence and sagacity in
the several members of the animal kingdom is by some measured.


FAERIE QUEENE, the name of an allegorical poem by Edmund Spenser, in
which 12 knights were, in twelve books, to represent as many virtues,
described as issuing forth from the castle of Gloriana, queen of England,
against certain impersonations of the vices and errors of the world. Such
was the plan of the poem, but only six of the books were finished, and
these contain the adventures of only six of the knights, representing
severally Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice, and
Courtesy.


FAED, JOHN, a Scottish artist, son of a millwright, born at Barley
Mill, Kirkcudbright; was elected an A.R.S.A. in 1847, and R.S.A. in
1851; his paintings are chiefly of humble Scottish life, the "Cottar's
Saturday Night" among others; _b_. 1820.


FAED, THOMAS, brother of the preceding, born at Barley Mill;
distinguished himself in his art studies at Edinburgh; went to London,
where his pictures of Scottish life won him a foremost place among those
of his contemporaries; was elected R.A. in 1864 and honorary member of
the Vienna Royal Academy; _b_. 1826.


FAENZA (14), an old Italian cathedral town, 31 m. SE. of Bologna;
noted for its manufacture of majolica ware, known from the name of the
town as "faience."


FAGEL, GASPAR, a Dutch statesman, distinguished for his integrity
and the firmness with which he repelled the attempts of Louis XIV.
against his country, and for his zeal in supporting the claims of the
Prince of Orange to the English throne (1629-1688).


FAGOT VOTE, a vote created by the partitioning of a property into as
many tenements as will entitle the holders to vote.


FAHRENHEIT, GABRIEL DANIEL, a celebrated physicist, born at Danzig;
spent much of his life in England, but finally settled in Holland;
devoted himself to physical research; is famed for his improvement of the
thermometer by substituting quicksilver for spirits of wine and inventing
a new scale, the freezing-point being 32 deg. above zero and the boiling 212 deg.
(1686-1736).


FAINEANT, LE NOIR, Richard Coeur-de-Lion in "Ivanhoe."


FAINEANTS (i. e. the Do-nothings), the name given to the kings of
France of the Merovingian line from 670 to 752, from Thierry III. to
Childeric III., who were subject to their ministers, the mayors of the
palace, who discharged all their functions.


FAIR CITY, Perth, from the beauty of its surroundings.


FAIR MAID OF KENT, the Countess of Salisbury, eventually wife of the
Black Prince, so called from her beauty.


FAIR MAID OF NORWAY, daughter of Eric II. of Norway, and
granddaughter of Alexander III. of Scotland; died on her way from Norway
to succeed her grandfather on the throne of Scotland, an event which gave
rise to the famous struggle for the crown by rival competitors.


FAIR MAID OF PERTH, a beauty of the name of Kate Glover, the heroine
of Scott's novel of the name.


FAIR ROSAMOND, the mistress of Henry II.; kept in a secret bower at
Woodstock, in the heart of a labyrinth which only he could thread.


FAIRBAIRN, ANDREW M., able and thoughtful theologian, born in
Edinburgh where he also graduated (1839); received the charge of the
Evangelical Church at Bathgate, and subsequently studied in Berlin. In
1878 became Principal of the Airedale Congregational College at Bradford;
was Muir Lecturer on Comparative Religions in Edinburgh University in
1881-83, and five years later was elected Principal of Mansfield College
at Oxford; author of "The Place of Christ in Modern Theology," and
several other scholarly works; _b_. 1838.


FAIRBAIRN, SIR WILLIAM, an eminent engineer, born at Kelso; served
an apprenticeship in N. Shields, and in 1817 started business in
Manchester, where he came to the front as a builder of iron ships;
improved upon Robert Stephenson's idea of a tubular bridge, and built
upwards of 1000 of these; introduced iron shafts into cotton mills, and
was employed by Government to test the suitability of iron for purposes
of defence; created a baronet in 1869 (1789-1874).


FAIRFAX, EDWARD, translator of Tasso, born at Denton, Yorkshire,
where he spent a quiet and studious life; his stately translation of
Tasso's "Gerusalemme Liberata" was published in 1600, and holds rank as
one of the best poetical translations in the language; he wrote also a
"Discourse" on witchcraft (about 1572-1632).


FAIRFAX, THOMAS, LORD, a distinguished Parliamentary general, nephew
of the preceding, born at Denton, Yorkshire; served in Holland, but in
1642 joined the Parliamentarians, of whose forces he became general
(1645); after distinguishing himself at Marston Moor and Naseby, was
superseded by Cromwell (1650), and retired into private life until
Cromwell's death, when he supported the restoration of Charles II. to the
English throne (1612-1671).


FAIRIES, imaginary supernatural beings conceived of as of diminutive
size but in human shape, who play a conspicuous part in the traditions of
Europe during the Middle Ages, and are animated more or less by a spirit
of mischief out of a certain loving regard for, or humorous interest in,
the affairs of mankind, whether in the way of thwarting or helping.


FAIRSERVICE, ANDREW, a shrewd gardener in "Rob Roy."


FAIRY RINGS, circles of seemingly withered grass often seen in lawns
and meadows, caused by some fungi below the surface, but popularly
ascribed in superstitious times to fairies dancing in a ring.


FAITH, in its proper spiritual sense and meaning is a deep-rooted
belief affecting the whole life, that the visible universe in every
section of it, particularly here and now, rests on and is the
manifestation of an eternal and an unchangeable Unseen Power, whose name
is Good, or God.


FAITH, ST., a virgin martyr who, in the 4th century, was tortured on
an iron bed and afterwards beheaded.


FAKIR (lit. poor), a member of an order of monkish mendicants in
India and adjoining countries who, from presumed religious motives,
practise or affect lives of severe self-mortification, but who in many
cases cultivate filthiness of person to a disgusting degree.


FALAISE (8), a French town in the dep. of Calvados, 22 m. SW. of
Caen; the birthplace of William the Conqueror.


FALCONER, HUGH, botanist and palaeontologist, born at Forres,
Elginshire; studied at Aberdeen and Edinburgh; joined the East India
Company's medical service; made large collections of fossils and plants;
became professor of Botany in Calcutta; introduced the tea-plant into
India, and discovered the asafoetida plant; died in London (1808-1865).


FALCONER, ION KEITH, missionary and Arabic scholar, the third son of
the Earl of Kintore; after passing through Harrow and Cambridge, his
ardent temperament carried him into successful evangelistic work in
London; was appointed Arabic professor at Cambridge, but his promising
career was cut short near Aden while engaged in missionary work;
translated the Fables of Bidpai; a noted athlete, and champion cyclist of
the world in 1878 (1856-1887).


FALCONER, WILLIAM, poet, born in Edinburgh; a barber's son; spent
most of his life at sea; perished in the wreck of the frigate _Aurora_,
of which he was purser; author of the well-known poem "The Shipwreck"
(1732-1769).


FALCONRY, the art and practice of employing trained hawks in the
pursuit and capture on the wing of other birds, a sport largely indulged
in by the upper classes in early times in Europe.


FALK, ADALBERT, Prussian statesman, born at Metschkau, Silesia; as
Minister of Public Worship and Education he was instrumental in passing
laws designed to diminish the influence of the clergy in State affairs;
retired in 1879; _b_. 1827.


FALKIRK (20), a town in Stirlingshire, 26 m. NW. of Edinburgh, noted
for its cattle-markets and the iron-works in its neighbourhood; Wallace
was defeated here in 1298 by Edward I.


FALKLAND (2), a royal burgh in Fifeshire, 10 m. SW. of Cupar; has
ruins of a famous palace, a royal residence of the Stuart sovereigns,
which was restored by the Marquis of Bute in 1888.


FALKLAND, LUCIUS GARY, VISCOUNT, soldier, scholar, and statesman,
son of Sir Henry Cary, Viscount Falkland; was lord-deputy of Ireland
under James I.; entered the service of the new Dutch Republic, but soon
returned to England and settled at Tew, Oxfordshire, where he indulged
his studious tastes, and entertained his scholarly friends Clarendon,
Chillingworth, and others; after joining Essex's expedition into Scotland
he sat in Parliament, and in 1642 became Secretary of State; suspicious
of Charles's weakness and duplicity, he as much distrusted the
Parliamentary movement, and fell at Newbury fighting for the king
(1610-1643).


FALKLAND ISLANDS (2), a group of islands in the S. Atlantic, 240 m.
E. of Tierra del Fuego; discovered in 1592 by Davis; purchased from the
French in 1764 by Spain, but afterwards ceded to Britain, by whom they
were occupied in 1833 and used as a convict settlement until 1852;
besides E. and W. Falkland there are upwards of 100 small islands, mostly
barren; wheat and flax are raised, but sheep-farming is the main
industry.


FALL, THE, the first transgression of divine law on the part of man,
conceived of as involving the whole human race in the guilt of it, and
represented as consisting in the wilful partaking of the fruit of the
forbidden tree of the _knowledge_ of both good and evil. The story of the
Fall in Genesis has in later times been regarded as a spiritual allegory,
and simply the Hebrew attempt, one amongst many, to explain the origin of
evil. It is worthy of note that a narrative, similar even to detail,
exists in the ancient religious writings of the Hindus and Persians.


FALLOPIUS, GABRIELLO, anatomist, born at Modena; professor of
Anatomy at Pisa and at Padua; the Fallopian tubes which connect the
ovaries with the uterus, first accurately described by him, are called
after his name, as also the duct which transmits the facial nerve after
it leaves the auditory nerve (1523-1562).


FALLOUX, FREDERIC ALFRED PIERRE, VICOMTE DE, author and statesman,
born at Angers; member of the House of Deputies; favoured the
revolutionaries of 1848, and under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon
became Minister of Public Instruction; retired in 1849, and became a
member of the French Academy (1857); author of a "History of Louis XVI."
and a "History of Pius V.," both characterised by a strong Legitimist
bias (1811-1886).


FALMOUTH (13), a seaport on the Cornish coast, on the estuary of the
Fal, 18 m. NE. of the Lizard; its harbour, one of the finest in England,
is defended E. and W. by St. Mawes Castle and Pendennis Castle; pilchard
fishing is actively engaged in, and there are exports of tin and copper.


FALSTAFF, SIR JOHN, a character in Shakespeare's "Henry IV." and the
"Merry Wives of Windsor"; a boon companion of Henry, Prince of Wales; a
cowardly braggart, of sensual habits and great corpulency. See
FASTOLF.


FAMILIAR SPIRITS, certain supernatural beings presumed, agreeably to
a very old belief (Lev. xix. 31), to attend magicians or sorcerers, and
to be at their beck and call on any emergency.


FAMILISTS, or the Brotherhood of Love, a fanatical sect which arose
in Holland in 1556, and affected to love all men as brothers.


FAMILY COMPACT, a compact concluded in 1761 between the Bourbons of
France, Spain, and Italy to resist the naval power of England.


FAN, a light hand implement used to cause a draught of cool air to
play upon the face; there are two kinds, the folding and non-folding; the
latter, sometimes large and fixed on a pole, were known to the ancients,
the former were invented by the Japanese in the 7th century, and became
popular in Italy and Spain in the 16th century; but Paris soon took a
lead in their manufacture, carrying them to their highest pitch of
artistic perfection in the reign of Louis XIV.


FANARIOTS, the descendants of the Greeks of noble birth who remained
in Constantinople after its capture by Mahomet II. in 1453, so called
from Fanar, the quarter of the city which they inhabited; they rose at
one time to great influence in Turkish affairs, though they have none
now.


FANDANGO, a popular Spanish dance, specially in favour among the
Andalusians; is in 3/4 time, and is danced to the accompaniment of guitars
and castanets.


FANS, an aboriginal tribe dwelling between the Gaboon and Ogoway
Rivers, in western equatorial Africa; are brave and intelligent, and of
good physique, but are addicted to cannibalism.


FANSHAWE, SIR RICHARD, diplomatist and poet, born at Ware Park,
Hertford; studied at the Inner Temple, and after a Continental tour
became attached to the English embassy at Madrid; sided with the
Royalists at the outbreak of the Civil War; was captured at the battle of
Worcester, but escaped and shared the exile of Charles II.; on the
Restoration negotiated Charles's marriage with Catharine, and became
ambassador at the court of Philip IV. of Spain; translated Camoens's
"Lusiad" and various classical pieces (1608-1666).


FANTINE, one of the most heart-affecting characters in "Les
Miserables" of Victor Hugo.


FANTIS, an African tribe on the Gold Coast, enemies of their
conquerors the Ashantis; fought as allies of the British in the Ashanti
War (1873-74), but, although of strong physique, proved cowardly allies.


FARAD, the unit of electrical energy, so called from Faraday.


FARADAY, MICHAEL, a highly distinguished chemist and natural
philosopher, born at Newington Butts, near London, of poor parents;
received a meagre education, and at 13 was apprenticed to a bookseller,
but devoted his evenings to chemical and electrical studies, and became a
student under Sir H. Davy, who, quick to detect his ability, installed
him as his assistant; in 1827 he succeeded Davy as lecturer at the Royal
Institution, and became professor of Chemistry in 1833; was pensioned in
1835, and in 1858 was allotted a residence in Hampton Court; in chemistry
he made many notable discoveries, e. g. the liquefaction of chlorine,
while in electricity and magnetism his achievements cover the entire
field of these sciences, and are of the first importance (1791-1867).


FARAIZI, a Mohammedan sect formed in 1827, and met with chiefly in
Eastern Bengal; they discard _tradition_, and accept the Koran as their
sole guide in religious and spiritual concerns, in this respect differing
from the Sunnites, with whom they have much else in common; although of a
purer morality than the main body of Mohammedans, they are narrow and
intolerant.


FAREL, WILLIAM, a Swiss reformer, born at Dauphine; introduced, in
1534, after two futile attempts, the reformed faith into Geneva, where he
was succeeded in the management of affairs by John Calvin; he has been
called the "pioneer of the Reformation in Switzerland and France"
(1489-1565).


FARIA Y SOUSA, MANUEL DE, a Portuguese poet and historian; entered
the diplomatic service, and was for many years secretary to the Spanish
embassy at Rome; was a voluminous writer of history and poetry, and did
much to develop the literature of his country (1590-1649).


FARINATA, a Florentine nobleman of the Ghibelline faction, whom for
his infidelity and sensuality Dante has placed till the day of judgment
in a red-hot coffin in hell.


FARINELLI, CARLO, a celebrated singer, born in Naples; his singing
created great enthusiasm in London, which he visited in 1734 (1705-1782).


FARINI, LUIGO CARLO, an Italian statesman and author, born at Russi;
practised as a doctor in his native town; in 1841 was forced, on account
of his liberal sympathies, to withdraw from the Papal States, but
returned in 1846 on the proclamation of the Papal amnesty, and afterwards
held various offices of State; was Premier for a few months in 1863;
author of "Il Stato Romano," of which there is an English translation by
Mr. Gladstone (1812-1866).


FARMER, RICHARD, an eminent scholar, born at Leicester;
distinguished himself at Cambridge, where he became classical tutor of
his college, and in the end master (1775); three years later he was
appointed chief-librarian to the university, and afterwards was
successively canon of Lichfield, Canterbury, and St. Paul's; wrote an
erudite essay on "The Learning of Shakespeare" (1735-1797).


FARMER GEORGE, George III., a name given to him from his plain,
homely, thrifty manners and tastes.


FARMERS-GENERAL, a name given in France prior to the Revolution to a
privileged syndicate which farmed certain branches of the public revenue,
that is, obtained the right of collecting certain taxes on payment of an
annual sum into the public treasury; the system gave rise to corruption
and illegal extortion, and was at best an unproductive method of raising
the national revenue; it was swept away at the Revolution.


FARNE or FERNE ISLES, THE, also called the Staples, a group of
17 isles 2 m. off the NE. coast of Northumberland, many of which are mere
rocks visible only at low-water; are marked by two lighthouses, and are
associated with a heroic rescue by GRACE DARLING (q. v.) in
1838; on House Isle are the ruins of a Benedictine priory; about 50
people have their homes upon the larger isles.


FARNESE, the surname of a noble Italian family dating its rise from
the 13th century.


FARNESE, ALESSANDRO, attained the papal chair as Paul III. in 1534;
the excommunication of Henry VIII. of England, the founding of the Order
of the Jesuits (1540), the convocation of the Council of Trent (1542),
mark his term of office (1468-1549).


FARNESE, ALESSANDRO, grandson of the following, and 3rd duke of
Parma, a famous general; distinguished himself at the battle of Lepanto;
was governor of the Spanish Netherlands, and fought successfully against
France, defeating Henry IV. before the walls of Paris, and again two
years later at Rouen, where he was mortally wounded (1546-1592).


FARNESE, PIETRO LUIGI, a natural son of Pope Paul III., who figures
in Benvenuto Cellini's Life; received in fief from the Papal See various
estates, including the dukedom of Parma; he ill requited his father's
trust and affection by a life of debauchery and finally suffered
assassination in 1549.


FAROE ISLANDS (13), a group of 22 islands of basaltic formation,
about 200 m. NW. of the Shetlands; originally Norwegian, they now belong
to Denmark; agriculture is limited, and fishing and sheep-farming chiefly
engage the natives; there is an export trade in wool, fish, and wild-fowl
leathers. The people, who still speak their old Norse dialect, although
Danish is the language of the schools and law courts, are Lutherans, and
enjoy a measure of self-government, and send representatives to the
Danish _Rigsdag_.


FARQUHAR, GEORGE, comic dramatist, born at Londonderry; early famous
for his wit, of which he has given abundant proof in his dramas, "Love
and a Bottle" being his first, and "The Beaux' Stratagem" his last,
written on his deathbed; died young; he commenced life on the stage, but
threw the profession up in consequence of having accidentally wounded a
brother actor while fencing (1678-1707).


FARR, WILLIAM, statistician, born at Kenley, Shropshire; studied
medicine, and practised in London; obtained a post in the
Registrar-General's office, and rose to be head of the statistical
department; issued various statistical compilations of great value for
purposes of insurance (1807-1883).


FARRAGUT, DAVID GLASGOW, a famous American admiral, of Spanish
extraction, born at Knoxville, Tennessee; entered the navy as a boy; rose
to be captain in 1855, and at the outbreak of the Civil War attached
himself to the Union; distinguished himself by his daring capture of New
Orleans; in 1862 was created rear-admiral, and two years later gained a
signal victory over the Confederate fleet at Mobile Bay; was raised to
the rank of admiral in 1866, being the first man to hold this position in
the American navy (1801-1870).


FARRAR, FREDERICK WILLIAM, a celebrated divine and educationalist,
born at Bombay; graduated with distinction at King's College, London, and
at Cambridge; was ordained in 1854, and became head-master of Marlborough
College; was for some years a select preacher to Cambridge University,
and held successively the offices of honorary chaplain and
chaplain-in-ordinary to the Queen; became canon of Westminster, rector of
St. Margaret's, archdeacon, chaplain to the House of Commons, and dean of
Canterbury; his many works include the widely-read school-tales, "Eric"
and "St. Winifred's," philological essays, and his vastly popular Lives
of Christ and St. Paul, besides the "Early Days of Christianity,"
"Eternal Hope," and several volumes of sermons; in recent years have
appeared "Darkness and Dawn" (1892) and "Gathering Clouds" (1895); _b_.
1831.


FASCES, a bundle of rods bound round the helve of an axe, and borne
by the lictors before the Roman magistrates in symbol of their authority
at once to scourge and decapitate.


FASCINATION, the power, originally ascribed to serpents, of
spell-binding by the eye.


FASTI, the name given to days among the Romans on which it was
lawful to transact business before the praetor; also the name of books
among the Romans containing calendars of times, seasons, and events.


FASTOLF, SIR JOHN, a distinguished soldier of Henry V.'s reign, who
with Sir John Oldcastle shares the doubtful honour of being the prototype
of Shakespeare's Falstaff, but unlike the dramatist's creation was a
courageous soldier, and won distinction at Agincourt and at the "Battle
of the Herrings"; after engaging with less success in the struggle
against Joan of Arc, he returned to England and spent his closing years
in honoured retirement at Norfolk, his birthplace; he figures in the
"Paston Letters" (1378-1459).


FATA MORGANA, a mirage occasionally observed in the Strait of
Messina, in which, from refraction in the atmosphere, images of objects,
such as men, houses, trees, etc., are seen from the coast under or over
the surface of the water.


FATALISM, the doctrine that all which takes place in life and
history is subject to fate, that is is to say, takes place by inevitable
necessity, that things being as they are, events cannot fall out
otherwise than they do.


FATES, THE, in the Greek mythology the three goddesses who presided
over the destinies of individuals--CLOTHO, LACHESIS, and
ATROPOS (Q. V.). See PARCAE.


FATHER OF COMEDY, ARISTOPHANES (q. v.).


FATHER OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, EUSEBIUS (q. v.).


FATHER OF FRENCH HISTORY, DUCHESNE (q. v.).


FATHER OF GERMAN LITERATURE, LESSING (q. v.).


FATHER OF HISTORY, HERODOTUS (q. v.).


FATHER OF TRAGEDY, ESCHYLUS (q. v.).


FATHER PAUL, PAUL SARPI (q. v.).


FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, the early teachers of Christianity and
founders of the Christian Church, consisting of live _Apostolic
Fathers_--Clement of Home, Barnabas, Hermes, Ignatius, and Polycarp, and
of nine in addition called _Primitive Fathers_--Justin, Theophilus of
Antioch, Irenaeus, Clemens of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, Origen,
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Tertullian. The
distinctive title of _Apostolic Fathers_ was bestowed upon the immediate
friends and disciples of the Apostles, while the _patristic_ period
proper may be said to commence with the 2nd century, but no definite date
can be assigned as marking its termination, some closing it with the
deaths of Gregory the Great (601) and John of Damascus (756), while
Catholic writers bring it down as far as the Council of Trent (1542);
discarded among Protestants, the Fathers are regarded by Catholics as
decisive in authority on points of faith, but only when they exhibit a
unanimity of opinion.


FATHOM, a measure of 6 ft. used in taking marine soundings,
originally an Anglo-Saxon term for the distance stretched by a man's
extended arms; is sometimes used in mining operations.


FATHOM, COUNT FERDINAND, a villain in the novel of Smollett so
named.


FATIMA, the last of Bluebeard's wives, and the only one who escaped
being murdered by him; also Mahomet's favourite daughter.


FATIMIDES, a Mohammedan dynasty which assumed the title of caliphs
and ruled N. Africa and Egypt, and later Syria and Palestine, between the
10th and 12th centuries inclusive; they derived their name from the claim
(now discredited) of their founder, Obeidallah Almahdi, to be descended
from Fatima, daughter of Mahomet and wife of Ali; they were finally
expelled by Saladin in 1169.


FAUCHER, LEON, a political economist, brought into notice by the
Revolution of 1830; edited _Le Temps_; opposed Louis Philippe's minister,
M. Guizot; held office under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon, but threw
up office on the _coup d'etat_ of 1851 (1803-1854).


FAUCHET, ABBE, a French Revolutionary, a Girondin; blessed the
National tricolor flag; "a man of _Te Deums_ and public consecrations";
was a member of the first parliament; stripped of his insignia, lamented
the death of the king, perished on the scaffold (1744-1793).


FAUCIT, HELEN, a famous English actress; made her _debut_ in London
(1836), and soon won a foremost place amongst English actresses by her
powerful and refined representations of Shakespeare's heroines under the
management of Macready; she retired from the stage in 1851 after her
marriage with THEODORE MARTIN (q. v.); in 1885 she published a
volume of studies "On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters"
(1820-1899).


FAUNS, divinities of the woods and fields among the Romans, and
guardians of flocks against the wolf.


FAUNTLEROY, HENRY, banker and forger; in his twenty-third year
became a partner in the bank of Marsh, Sibbald, & Co., London; was put on
trial for a series of elaborate forgeries, found guilty, and hanged; the
trial created a great sensation at the time, and efforts were made to
obtain a commutation of the sentence (1785-1824).


FAUNUS, a god, grandson of Saturn, who figures in the early history
of Latium, first as the god of fields and shepherds, and secondly, as an
oracular divinity and founder of the native religion, afterwards
identified with the Greek Pan.


FAURE, FRANCOIS FELIX, President of the French Republic, born in
Paris; carried on business in Touraine as a tanner, but afterwards
settled in Havre and became a wealthy shipowner; he served with
distinction as a volunteer in the Franco-German War; entered the Assembly
in 1881, where he held office as Colonial and Commercial Minister in
various Cabinets; was elected President in 1895 (1841-1899).


FAUST, JOHANNES. See FUST.


FAUST, or DOCTOR FAUSTUS, a reputed professor of the black art,
a native of Germany, who flourished in the end of the 15th century and
the beginning of the 16th century, and who is alleged to have made a
compact with the devil to give up to him body and soul in the end,
provided he endowed him for a term of years with power to miraculously
fulfil all his wishes. Under this compact the devil provided him with a
familiar spirit, called Mephistopheles, attended by whom he traversed the
world, enjoying life and working wonders, till the term of the compact
having expired, the devil appeared and carried him off amid display of
horrors to the abode of penal fire. This myth, which has been subjected
to manifold literary treatment, has received its most significant
rendering at the hands of Goethe, such as to supersede and eclipse every
other attempt to unfold its meaning. It is presented by him in the form
of a drama, in two parts of five acts each, of which the first, published
in 1790, represents "the conflicting union of the higher nature of the
soul with the lower elements of human life; of Faust, the son of Light
and Free-Will, with the influences of Doubt, Denial, and Obstruction, or
MEPHISTOPHELES (q. v.), who is the symbol and spokesman of
these; and the second, published in 1832, represents Faust as now
elevated, by the discipline he has had, above the hampered sphere of the
first, and conducted into higher regions under worthier circumstances."


FAUSTA, the wife of Constantino the Great.


FAUSTINA, ANNIA GALERI, called Faustina, Senior, wife of Antoninus
Pius, died three years after her husband became emperor (105-141).


FAUSTINA, ANNIA, JUNIOR, wife of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius,
daughter of the preceding. Both she and her mother are represented by
historians as profligate and unfaithful, and quite unworthy the affection
lavishly bestowed upon them by their husbands.


FAUSTULUS, the shepherd who, with his wife Laurentia, was the
foster-parent of Romulus and Remus, who, as infants, had been exposed on
the Palatine Hill.


FAVART, CHARLES SIMON, French dramatist, born at Paris, where he
became director of the Opera Comique; was celebrated as a vivacious
playwright and composer of operas; during a temporary absence from Paris
he established his Comedy Company in the camp of Marshal Saxe during the
Flanders campaign; his memoirs and correspondence give a bright picture
of theatrical life in Paris during the 18th century (1710-1792).


FAVONIUS, the god of the favouring west wind.


FAVRE, JULES CLAUDE GABRIEL, a French Republican statesman, born at
Lyons; called to the Paris bar in 1830; a strong Republican, he joined
the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848; held office as Minister of the Interior
in the New Republic, and disapproving of the _coup d'etat_, resumed
practice at the bar; defended the Italian conspirator ORSINI (q. v.),
and in 1870, on the dissolution of the Empire, became Minister of
Foreign Affairs; mistakes in his negotiations with Bismarck led to his
resignation and resumption of his legal practice (1809-1880).


FAWCETT, HENRY, statesman and political economist, born at
Salisbury; though blind, it was his early ambition to enter the arena of
politics, and he devoted himself to the study of political economy, of
which he became professor at Cambridge; entering Parliament, he became
Postmaster-General under Mr. Gladstone in 1880; he wrote and published
works on his favourite study (1832-1884).


FAWKES, GUY, a notorious English conspirator, born of a respected
Yorkshire family; having spent a slender patrimony, he joined the Spanish
army in Flanders; was converted to the Catholic faith; and on his return
to England allied himself with the conspirators of the GUNPOWDER
PLOT (q. v.), and was arrested in the cellars of the House of
Commons when on the point of firing the explosive; was tried and executed
(1570-1606).


FAY, ANDREAS, Hungarian dramatist and novelist, born at Kohany;
studied law, but the success of a volume of fables confirmed him in his
choice of literature in preference; wrote various novels and plays; was
instrumental in founding the Hungarian National Theatre; was a member of
the Hungarian Diet (1786-1804).


FAYAL (26), a fruit-bearing island among the AZORES (q. v.),
exports wine and fruits; Horta, with an excellent bay, is its chief town.


FAYYUM (160), a fertile province of Central Egypt, lies W. of the
Nile, 65 miles from Cairo, is in reality a southern oasis in the Libyan
desert, irrigated by means of a canal running through a narrow gorge to
the Nile valley; its area is about 840 sq. m., a portion of which is
occupied by a sheet of water, the Birket-el-Kern (35 m. long), known to
the ancients as Lake Moeris, and by the shores of which stood one of the
wonders of the world, the famous "Labyrinth."


FEASTS, JEWISH, OF DEDICATION, a feast in commemoration of the
purification of the Temple and the rebuilding of the altar by Judas
Maccabaeus in 164 B.C., after profanation of them by the Syrians: OF THE
PASSOVER, a festival in April on the anniversary of the exodus from
Egypt, and which lasted eight days, the first and the last days of solemn
religious assembly: OF PENTECOST, a feast celebrated on the fiftieth
day after the second of the Passover, in commemoration of the giving of
the law on Mount Sinai; both this feast and the Passover were celebrated
in connection with harvest, what was presented in one in the form of a
sheaf being in the other presented as a loaf of bread: OF PURIM, a
feast in commemoration of the preservation of the Jews from the wholesale
threatened massacre of the race in Persia at the instigation of Haman:
OF TABERNACLES, a festival of eight days in memory of the wandering
tentlife of the people in the wilderness, observed by the people dwelling
in bowers made of branches erected on the streets or the roofs of the
house; it was the Feast of Ingathering as well.


FEBRUARY, the second month of the year, was added along with January
by Numa to the end of the original Roman year of 10 months; derived its
name from a festival offered annually on the 15th day to Februus, an
ancient Italian god of the nether world; was assigned its present
position in the calendar by Julius Caesar, who also introduced the
intercalary day for leap-year.


FECAMP (13), a seaport in the dep. of Seine-Inferieure, 25 m. NE. of
Havre; has a fine Gothic Benedictine church, a harbour and lighthouse,
hardware and textile factories; fishing and sugar refineries also
flourish; exports the celebrated Benedictine liqueurs.


FECHNER, GUSTAV THEODOR, physicist and psychophysicist, born at
Gross-Saerchen, in Lower Lusatia; became professor of Physics in Leipzig,
but afterwards devoted himself to psychology; laid the foundations of the
science of psychophysics in his "Elements of Pyschophysics"; wrote
besides on the theory of colour and galvanism, as well as poems and
essays (1801-1887).


FECHTER, CHARLES ALBERT, a famous actor, born in London, his father
of German extraction and his mother English; made his _debut_ in Paris at
the age of 17; after a tour through the European capitals established
himself in London as the lessee of the Lyceum Theatre in 1863; became
celebrated for his original impersonations of Hamlet and Othello; removed
to America in 1870, where he died (1824-1879).


FECIALES, a college of functionaries in ancient Rome whose duty it
was to make proclamation of peace and war, and confirm treaties.


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, in modern parlance is the political system which
a number of independent and sovereign States adopt when they join
together for purposes of domestic and especially International policy;
local government is freely left with the individual States, and only in
the matter of chiefly foreign relations is the central government
paramount, but the degree of freedom which each State enjoys is a matter
of arrangement when the contract is formed, and the powers vested in the
central authority may only be permitted to work through the local
government, as in the German Confederation, or may bear directly upon the
citizens throughput the federation, as in the U.S. of America, and since
1847 in Switzerland.


FEDERALIST, a name in the United States for a supporter of the Union
and its integrity as such; a party which was formed in 1788, but
dissolved in 1820; has been since applied to a supporter of the integrity
of the Union against the South in the late Civil War.


FEDERATION, THE CHAMPS-DE-MARS, a grand fete celebrated in the
Champs-de-Mars, Paris, on July 14, 1790, the anniversary of the taking of
the Bastille, at which deputies from the newly instituted departments
assisted to the number of 80,000, as well as deputies from other nations,
"Swedes, Spaniards, Polacks, Turks, Chaldeans, Greeks, and dwellers in
Mesopotamia," representatives of the human race, "with three hundred
drummers, twelve hundred wind-musicians, and artillery planted on height
after height to boom the tidings all over France, the highest recorded
triumph of the Thespian art." Louis XVI. too assisted at the ceremony,
and took solemn oath to the constitution just established in the interest
of mankind. See Carlyle's "French Revolution."


FEHMGERICHT. See VEHMGERICHTE.


FEITH, a Dutch poet, born at Zwolle, where, after studying at
Leyden, he settled and died; his writings include didactic poems, songs,
and dramas; had a refining influence on the literary taste of his
countrymen (1753-1824).


FELICITE, ST., a Roman matron, who with her seven sons suffered
martyrdom in 164. Festival, July 10.


FELIX, the name of five popes: F. I., ST., Pope from 269 to
274, said to have been a victim of the persecution of Aurelius; F.
II., Pope from 356 to 357, the first anti-pope having been elected in
place of the deposed Liberius who had declined to join in the persecution
of ATHANASIUS (q. v.), was banished on the restoration of
Liberius; F. III., Pope from 483 to 492, during his term of office
the first schism between the Eastern and Western Churches took place; F.
IV., Pope from 526 to 530, was appointed by Theodoric in face of the
determined opposition of both people and clergy; F. V., Pope from
1439 to 1449. See AMADEUS VIII..


FELIX, CLAUDIUS, a Roman procurator of Judaea in the time of Claudius
and Nero; is referred to in Acts xxiii. and xxiv. as having examined the
Apostle Paul and listened to his doctrines; was vicious in his habits,
and formed an adulterous union with Drusilla, said by Tacitus to have
been the granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra; was recalled in A.D. 62.


FELIX HOLT, a novel of George Eliot's, written in 1866.


FELL, JOHN, a celebrated English divine; Royalist in sympathy, he
continued throughout the Puritan ascendency loyal to the English Church,
and on the Restoration became Dean of Christ Church and a royal chaplain;
was a good man and a charitable, and a patron of learning; in 1676 was
raised to the bishopric of Oxford; was the object of the well-known
epigram, "I do not like thee, Dr. Fell, The reason why I cannot tell"
(1625-1686).


FELLAH, the name applied contemptuously by the Turks to the
agricultural labourer of Egypt; the Fellahin (pl. of Fellah) comprise
about three-fourths of the population; they are of good physique, and
capable of much toil, but are, despite their intelligence and sobriety,
lazy and immoral; girls marry at the age of 12, and the children grow up
amidst the squalor of their mud-built villages; their food is of the
poorest, and scarcely ever includes meat; tobacco is their only luxury;
their condition has improved under British rule.


FELLOWS, SIR CHARLES, archaeologist, born at Nottingham; early
developed a passion for travel; explored the Xanthus Valley in Asia
Minor, and discovered the ruins of the cities Teos and Xanthus, the
ancient capital of Lycia (1838); returned to the exploration of Lycia in
1839 and again in 1841, discovering the ruins of 13 other ancient cities;
accounts of these explorations and discoveries are fully given in his
various published journals and essays; was knighted in 1845 (1799-1861).


FELLOWSHIP, a collegiate term for a status in many universities
which entitles the holder (a Fellow) to a share in their revenues, and in
some cases to certain privileges as regards apartments and meals in the
college, as also to a certain share in the government; formerly
Fellowships were usually life appointments, but are now generally for a
prescribed number of years, or are held during a term of special
research; the old restrictions of celibacy and religious conformity have
been relaxed.


FELO-DE-SE, in English law the crime which a man at the age of
discretion and of a sound mind commits when he takes away his life.


FELONY, "a crime which involves a total forfeiture of lands or goods
or both, to which capital or other punishment may be superadded,
according to the degree of guilt."


FELTON, CORNELIUS CONWAY, American scholar, born at West Newbury,
Massachusetts; graduated at Harvard in 1827, and became professor of
Greek there, rising to the Presidency of the same college in 1860; edited
Greek classics, and made translations from the German; most important
work is "Greece, Ancient and Modern," in 2 vols. (1807-1862).


FELTON, JOHN, the Irish assassin of the Duke of Buckingham in 1628.


FEMMES SAVANTES, a comedy in five acts by Moliere, and one of his
best, appeared in 1672.


FENELLA, a fairy-like attendant of the Countess of Derby, deaf and
dumb, in Scott's "Peveril of the Peak," a character suggested by Goethe's
Mignon in "Wilhelm Meister."


FENELON, FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE, a famous French prelate
and writer, born in the Chateau de Fenelon, in the prov. of Perigord; at
the age of 15 came to Paris, and, having already displayed a remarkable
gift for preaching, entered the Plessis College, and four years later
joined the Seminary of St. Sulpice, where he took holy orders in 1675;
his directorship of a seminary for female converts to Catholicism brought
him into prominence, and gave occasion to his well-known treatise "De
l'Education des Filles"; in 1685, after the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes, he conducted a mission for the conversion of the Huguenots of
Saintonge and Poitou, and four years later Louis XIV. appointed him tutor
to his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, an appointment which led to his
writing his "Fables," "Dialogues of the Dead," and "History of the
Ancient Philosophers"; in 1694 he became abbe of St. Valery, and in the
following year archbishop of Cambrai; soon after this ensued his
celebrated controversy with BOSSUET (q. v.) regarding the
doctrines of QUIETISM (q. v.), a dispute which brought him into
disfavour with the king and provoked the Pope's condemnation of his
"Explication des Maximes des Saints sur la Vie interieure"; the
surreptitious publication of his most famous work "Telemache," the MS. of
which was stolen by his servant, accentuated the king's disfavour, who
regarded it as a veiled attack on his court, and led to an order
confining the author to his own diocese; the rest of his life was spent
in the service of his people, to whom he endeared himself by his
benevolence and the sweet piety of his nature; his works are extensive,
and deal with subjects historical and literary, as well as philosophical
and theological (1651-1715).


FENIANS, an Irish political organisation having for its object the
overthrow of English rule in Ireland and the establishment of a republic
there. The movement was initiated in the United States soon after the
great famine in Ireland of 1846-47, which, together with the harsh
exactions of the landlords, compelled many Irishmen to emigrate from
their island with a deeply-rooted sense of injustice and hatred of the
English. The Fenians organised themselves so far on the model of a
republic, having a senate at the head, with a virtual president called
the "head-centre," and various "circles" established in many parts of the
U.S. They collected funds and engaged in military drill, and sent agents
to Ireland and England. An invasion of Canada in 1866 and a rising at
home in 1867 proved abortive, as also the attack on Clerkenwell Prison in
the same year. Another attempt on Canada in 1871 and the formation of the
_Skirmishing Fund_ for the use of the _Dynamitards_ and the institution
of the _Clan-na-Gael_ leading to the "Invincibles," and the Phoenix Park
murders (1882) are later manifestations of this movement. The Home Rule
and Land League movements practically superseded the Fenian. The name is
taken from an ancient military organisation called the Fionna Eirinn,
said to have been instituted in Ireland in 300 B.C.


FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC, V. of Castile, II. of Aragon and Sicily, and
III. of Naples, born at Sos, in Aragon, married Isabella of Castile in
1849, a step by which these ancient kingdoms were united under one
sovereign power; their joint reign is one of the most glorious in the
annals of Spanish history, and in their hands Spain quickly took rank
amongst the chief European powers; in 1492 Columbus discovered America,
and the same year saw the Jews expelled from Spain and the Moorish power
crushed by the fall of Granada. In 1500-1 Ferdinand joined the French in
his conquest of Naples, and three years later managed to secure the
kingdom to himself, while by the conquest of Navarre in 1512 the entire
Spanish peninsula came under his sway. He was a shrewd and adroit ruler,
whose undoubted abilities, both as administrator and general, were,
however, somewhat marred by an unscrupulous cunning, which found a
characteristic expression in the institution of the notorious
Inquisition, which in 1480 was started by him, and became a powerful
engine for political as well as religious persecution for long years
after (1452-1516).


FERDINAND I., emperor of Germany (1556-64), born at Alcala, in
Spain, son of Philip I., married Anna, a Bohemian princess, in 1521; was
elected king of the Romans (1531), added Bohemia and Hungary to his
domains (1503-1564).


FERDINAND II., emperor of Germany (1619-37), grandson of the
preceding and son of Charles, younger brother of Maximilian II., born at
Graetz; his detestation of the Protestants, early instilled into him by
his mother and the Jesuits, under whom he was educated, was the ruling
passion of his life, and involved the empire in constant warfare during
his reign; an attempt on the part of Bohemia, restless under religious
and political grievances, to break away from his rule, brought about the
Thirty Years' War; by ruthless persecutions he re-established Catholicism
in Bohemia, and reduced the country to subjection; but the war spread
into Hungary and Germany, where Ferdinand was opposed by a confederacy of
the Protestant States of Lower Saxony and Denmark, and in which the
Protestant cause was in the end successfully sustained by the Swedish
hero, GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (q. v.), who had opposed to him the imperial
generals TILLY and WALLENSTEIN (q. v.); his reign is regarded as one of
disaster, bloodshed, and desolation to his empire, and his connivance at
the assassination of Wallenstein will be forever remembered to his
discredit (1578-1637).


FERDINAND III., emperor of Germany (1637-57), son of the preceding,
born at Graetz; more tolerant in his views, would gladly have brought the
war to a close, but found himself compelled to face the Swedes reinforced
by the French; in 1648 the desolating struggle was terminated by the
Peace of Westphalia; the rest of his reign passed in tranquillity
(1608-1657).


FERDINAND I., king of the Two Sicilies, third son of Charles III. of
Spain, succeeded his father on the Neapolitan throne (1759), married
Maria Caroline, daughter of Maria-Theresa; joined the Allies in the
struggle against Napoleon, and in 1806 was driven from his throne by the
French, but was reinstated at the Congress of Vienna; in 1816 he
constituted his two States (Sicily and Naples) into the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies, and in the last four years of his reign ruled, with the aid
of Austria, as a despot, and having broken a pledge to his people, was
compelled ere his return to grant a popular constitution (1751-1825).


FERDINAND II., king of the Two Sicilies, grandson of the preceding
and son of Francis I.; after the death of his first wife, a daughter of
Victor Emmanuel I., he married the Austrian princess Maria-Theresa, and
fell under the influence of Austria during the rest of his reign; in 1848
he was compelled to grant constitutional rights to his people, but was
distrusted, and an insurrection broke out in Sicily; with merciless
severity he crushed the revolt, and by his savage bombardment of the
cities won him the epithet "Bomba"; a reign of terror ensued, and in 1851
Europe was startled by the revelations of cruel injustice contained in
Mr. Gladstone's famous Neapolitan letters (1810-1859).


FERDINAND III., Grand-duke of Tuscany and Archduke of Austria, born
at Florence; succeeded to the government of Tuscany in 1790; introduced
many wise measures of reform, which brought peace and prosperity to his
State; reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in 1793, but two
years later entered into friendly relations with France, and in 1797, in
order to save his States being merged in the Cisalpine Republic,
undertook to make payment of an annual subsidy; later he formed an
alliance with Austria, and was by Napoleon driven from his possessions,
which were, however, restored to him in 1814 by the Peace of Paris
(1769-1824).


FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN, son of Charles IV. of Spain; too weak to
steer his way through the intrigues of the court, he appealed to Napoleon
in 1807 to support the king, his father, and himself; but his letter was
discovered, and his accomplices exiled; the following year the French
entered Spain, and Charles abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand; but
soon after, under Napoleon's influence, the crown was surrendered to the
French, and Joseph Bonaparte became king; in 1813 Ferdinand was
reinstated, but found himself immediately met by a demand of his people
for a more liberal representative government; the remaining years of his
reign were spent in an internecine struggle against these claims, in
which he had French support under Louis XVIII. (1784-1833).


FERDUSI. See FIRDAUSI.


FERETRUM, the shrine containing the sacred effigies and relics of a
saint.


FERGUS, the name of three Scottish kings: F. I., _d_. 356; F.
II., king from 411 to 427; and F. III., king from 764 to 767.


FERGUSON, ADAM, a Scotch philosopher and historian, born at
Logierait, Perthshire; after passing through the universities of St.
Andrews and Edinburgh, he in 1745 was appointed Gaelic chaplain to the
Black Watch Highland Regiment, and was present at the battle of Fontenoy;
in 1757 he became keeper of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh; two
years later professor of Natural Philosophy, and subsequently of Moral
Philosophy in the university there; during his professorship he, as
secretary, was attached to the commission sent out by Lord North to bring
about a friendly settlement of the dispute pending between England and
the North American colonies; resigning his chair in 1785 he retired to
Neidpath Castle, to engage in farming at Hallyards, an estate in the same
neighbourhood; died at St. Andrews; his best-known works are "Institutes
of Moral Philosophy," "History of the Roman Republic," and "Principles
of Moral and Political Science" (1723-1816).


FERGUSON, JAMES, a popular writer on astronomy and mechanics, born
at Rothiemay, Banff, son of a labourer; his interest in astronomy was
first aroused by his observation of the stars while acting as a "herd
laddie," and much of his time among the hills was spent in the
construction of mechanical contrivances; compelled by circumstances to
betake himself to various occupations, pattern-drawing, clock-mending,
copying prints, and portrait sketching, he still in his leisure hours
pursued those early studies, and coming to London in 1743 (after a
residence of some years in Edinburgh), began lecturing on his favourite
subjects; a pension of L50 was granted him out of the privy purse, and in
1763 he was elected an F.R.S.; besides publishing lectures on mechanics,
hydrostatics, optics, &c., he wrote several works on astronomy, chiefly
popular expositions of the methods and principles of Sir Isaac Newton
(1710-1776).


FERGUSON, PATRICK, soldier and inventor of the breech-loading gun,
born at Pitfour, Aberdeenshire; served in the English army in Germany and
Tobago; brought out his new rifle in 1766, which was tried with success
in the American War of Independence; rose to be a major, and fell at the
battle of King's Mountains, in South Carolina (1744-1780).


FERGUSON, ROBERT, a notorious plotter, who took part in Monmouth's
invasion in 1685 and was prominent in the various plots against Charles
II. and James II., but after the Revolution turned Jacobite; published a
history of the Revolution in 1706; died in poverty (about 1637-1714).


FERGUSSON, JAMES, a writer on the history and art of architecture,
born at Ayr; went to India as an indigo-planter, but afterwards gave
himself up to the study of the rock-temples; published various works, and
in his later years interested himself in the fortifications of the United
Kingdom; his "History of Architecture," in 4 vols., is a standard work
(1808-1886).


FERGUSSON, ROBERT, a Scottish poet, born in Edinburgh; after a
university course at St. Andrews he obtained a post in the office of the
commissionary-clerk of Edinburgh; his first poems appeared in _Ruddiman's
Weekly Magazine_, and brought him a popularity which proved his ruin;
some years of unrestrained dissipation ended in religious melancholia,
which finally settled down into an incurable insanity; his poems,
collected in 1773, have abundant energy, wit, and fluency, but lack the
passion and tenderness of those of Burns; he was, however, held in high
honour by Burns, who regarded him as "his elder brother in the Muses."
"In his death," says Mr. Henley, "at four-and-twenty, a great loss was
inflicted to Scottish literature; he had intelligence and an eye, a right
touch of humour, the gifts of invention and observation and style,
together with a true feeling for country and city alike ... Burns, who
learned much from him, was an enthusiast in his regard for him, bared his
head and shed tears over 'the green mound and the scattered gowans,'
under which he found his exemplar lying in Canongate Churchyard, and got
leave from the managers to put up a headstone at his own cost there"
(1750-1774). See Mr. Henley's "Life of Burns" in the Centenary Burns,
published by the Messrs. T. C. and E. C. Jack.


FERGUSSON, SIR W., surgeon, born at Prestonpans; graduated at
Edinburgh; was elected to the chair of Surgery in King's College, London,
and in 1866 was made a baronet; was serjeant-surgeon to the Queen, and
president of the Royal College of Surgeons; Fergusson was a bold and
skilful surgeon; is the author, amongst other treatises, of a "System of
Practical Surgery," besides being the inventor of many surgical
instruments (1808-1877).


FERISHTAH, a Persian historian, born at Astrabad, on the Black Sea;
went at an early age, accompanied by his father, to India, where his life
was spent in the service, first of Murtaza Nizam Shah, in Ahmednagar, and
afterwards at the court of the prince of Bijapur; his famous history of
the Mohammedan power in India, finished in 1609, and the writing of which
occupied him for 20 years, is still a standard work, and has been
translated into English (about 1570-1611).


FERMANAGH (74), an Irish county in the SW. corner of Ulster, of a
hilly surface, especially in the W.; is well wooded, and produces
indifferent crops of oats, flax, and potatoes; some coal and iron, and
quantities of limestone, are found in it; the Upper and Lower Loughs Erne
form a waterway through its centre; chief town, Enniskillen.


FERMAT, PIERRE DE, a French mathematician, born near Montauban; made
important discoveries in the properties of numbers, and with his friend
Pascal invented a calculus of probabilities; was held in high esteem by
Hallam, who ranks him next to Descartes (1601-1665).


FERNANDEZ, JUAN, a Spanish navigator, discovered the island off the
coast of Chile that bears his name; _d_. in 1576.


FERNANDO PO (25), a mountainous island, with an abrupt and rocky
coast, in the Bight of Biafra, W. Africa; the volcano, Mount Clarence
(9300 ft.), rises in the N.; is covered with luxuriant vegetation, and
yields maize and yams, some coffee, and palm-oil and wine; is inhabited
by the Bubis, a Bantu tribe; is the chief of the Spanish Guinea Isles.


FEROZEPORE (50), the chief town of the district of the same name in
the Punjab, India, a few miles S. of the Sutlej; is strongly fortified,
and contains a large arsenal; the present town was laid out by Lord
Lawrence. F. DISTRICT (887), lies along the S. bank of the Sutlej;
came into the possession of the British in 1835; cereals, cotton, sugar,
and tobacco are cultivated.


FERRAR, NICHOLAS, a religious enthusiast in the reign of Charles I.;
was elected a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1610; afterwards
devoted himself to medicine and travelled on the Continent; subsequently
joined his father in business in London, and entered Parliament in 1624;
but a year later retired to the country, and at Little Gidding,
Huntingdonshire, founded, with some of his near relations, a religious
community, known as the "Arminian Nunnery," some account of which is
given in Shorthouse's "John Inglesant"; it was broken up by the Puritans
in 1647; he was the intimate friend of George Herbert; this community
consisted of some "fourscore persons, devoted to a kind of Protestant
monasticism; they followed celibacy and merely religious duties, employed
themselves in binding prayer-books, &c., in alms-giving and what
charitable work was possible to them in their desert retreat, kept up,
night and day, a continual repetition of the English liturgy, never
allowing at any hour the sacred fire to go out" (1592-1637).


FERRAR, ROBERT, an English prelate, born at Halifax, was prior of
the monastery of St. Oswald's, embraced the Reformation, and was made
Bishop of St. David's by Edward VI.; suffered martyrdom under Mary in
1555.


FERRARA, a broadsword bearing the name of Andrea Ferrara, one of an
Italian family famous in the 16th and 17th centuries for the quality of
their swords.


FERRARA (31), a fortified and walled Italian city, capital of the
province of the name, situated on a low and marshy plain between the
dividing branches of the Po, 30 m. from the Adriatic; it has many fine
ecclesiastical buildings and a university founded in 1264, with a library
of 100,000 vols., but now a mere handful of students; a fine old Gothic
castle, the residence of the Estes (q. v.), still stands; it was the
birthplace of Savonarola, and the sometime dwelling-place of Tasso and
Ariosto; once populous and prosperous, it has now fallen into decay.


FERRARI, GAUDENZIO, Italian painter and sculptor, born at Valduggia,
in Piedmont; studied at Rome under Raphael; many of his paintings and
frescoes are to be found in the Lombard galleries, and principally in
Milan; his work is characterised by bold and accurate drawing,
inventiveness, and strong colouring, but it somewhat lacks the softer
qualities of his art (1484-1550).


FERRARI, PAOLO, Italian dramatist, born at Modena; produced his
first play at the age of 25; his numerous works, chiefly comedies, and
all marked by a fresh and piquant style, are the finest product of the
modern Italian drama; in 1860 he was appointed professor of History at
Modena and afterwards at Milan; his dramatic works have been published in
14 vols. (1822-1889).


FERRIER, DAVID, a distinguished medical scientist, born at Woodside,
Aberdeen; graduated in arts there; studied at Heidelberg, and coming to
Edinburgh graduated in medicine with high distinction in 1868; in 1872
became professor of Forensic Medicine at King's College, London, and
afterwards physician to the National Hospital for the Paralysed and
Epileptic; his most notable work has been done in connection with the
brain, and his many experiments on the brains of living animals have
resulted in much valuable information, embodied in his various writings;
is editor and co-founder of the periodical _Brain_; _b_. 1843.


FERRIER, JAMES FREDERICK, a metaphysician of singular ability and
originality, born at Edinburgh; after graduating at Oxford was called to
the Scotch bar in 1832; but under the influence of Sir W. Hamilton,
metaphysics became his dominant interest, and he found an outlet for his
views in the pages of _Blackwood_ by a paper on "Consciousness," which
attracted the attention of Emerson; in 1842 was appointed professor of
History in Edinburgh University, and three years later of Moral
Philosophy in St. Andrews; published the "Institutes of Metaphysics," a
lucid exposition of the Berkleian philosophy, and "Lectures on Greek
Philosophy," and edited the works of his uncle and father-in-law,
Christopher North; "he belongs," says Dr. Stirling, "to an era of thought
that was inaugurated by Thomas Carlyle" (1808-1864).


FERRIER, SUSAN EDMONSTON, a Scottish novelist, aunt of the
preceding, born in Edinburgh, where her life was chiefly spent, her
father being Clerk in the Court of Session, and a colleague of Sir Walter
Scott; her novels, "Marriage," "The Inheritance," and "Destiny," &c., are
rich in humour and faithful in their pictures of Scottish life and
character; Scott held her in high esteem, and kept up a warm friendship
with her till his death (1782-1854).


FERROL (26), a strongly fortified seaport in Galicia, Spain, 10 m.
NE. of Coruna, on a narrow inlet of the sea which forms a splendid
harbourage, narrow at the entrance and capacious within, and defended by
two forts; it possesses one of the largest Spanish naval arsenals;
manufactures linen and cotton, and exports corn, brandy, and sardines.


FERRY, JULES FRANCOIS CAMILLE, a distinguished French statesman,
born at Saint Die, in the Vosges; called to the Paris bar in 1854, he
speedily plunged into the politics of the time, and offered
uncompromising opposition to the party of Louis Napoleon; as a member of
the _Corps Legislatif_ he opposed the war with Prussia, but as central
mayor of Paris rendered signal service during the siege by the Germans;
during his tenure of office as Minister of Public Instruction in 1879 was
instrumental in bringing about the expulsion of the Jesuits; as Prime
Minister in 1880 and again in 1883-85 he inaugurated a spirited colonial
policy, which involved France in war in Madagascar, and brought about his
own downfall (1832-1893).


FESCH, JOSEPH, an eminent French ecclesiastic, born at Ajaccio, the
half-brother of Napoleon's mother; was educated for the Church, but, on
the outbreak of the Revolution, joined the revolutionaries as a
storekeeper; co-operated with his illustrious nephew in restoring
Catholicism in France, and became in 1802 archbishop of Lyons, and a
cardinal in 1803; as ambassador at Rome in 1804 he won the Pope's favour,
and brought about a more friendly understanding between him and Napoleon;
later he lost favour with the emperor, and retired to Lyons, whence in
1814 he fled to Rome, there to end his life; was a lover of art, and left
a magnificent collection of pictures (1763-1839).


FESTUS, the name of a poem by Philip James Bailey (q. v.), first
published in 1839, but extended to three times its length since, a poem
that on its first production produced no small sensation.


FESTUS, SEXTUS POMPEIUS, a Latin grammarian of probably the 3rd
century; noted for an epitome of a great work by Verrius Flaccus on the
meaning and derivation of Latin words, which, although only a portion of
it exists, is regarded as an invaluable document, and is preserved at
Naples.


FETICHISM, the worship of a fetich, an object superstitiously
invested with divine or demonic power, and as such regarded with awe and
worshipped.


FEUDALISM, or the Feudal system, that system which prevailed in
Europe during the Middle Ages and in England from the Norman Conquest, by
which vassals held their lands from the lord-superior on condition of
military service when required, for "the extreme unction day" of which
see CARLYLE'S "FRENCH REVOLUTION," VOL. I. BK. 4.


FEUERBACH, LUDWIG ANDREAS, German philosopher, son of the
succeeding, born at Landshut; studied theology at Hiedelberg, but coming
under the influence of Hegel went to Berlin and devoted himself to
philosophy; after failing in an attempt to support himself by lecturing
in Erlangen, he was fortunate in his marriage, and upon his wife's means
lived a retired and studious life at Bruckberg; in his philosophy, which
is a degeneracy and finally total departure from Hegel, he declines to
find a higher sanction for morality than man's own conception of right
and wrong as based on a doctrine of Hedonism (q. v.); his chief work,
on the nature of Christianity, which was translated into English by
George Eliot, is extravagant in its departure from orthodox lines of
thought; his influence has been trifling outside his own country; he
began with Hegel, but "descended at last from Hegel's logical idea to
naked sense," and what guidance for life might be involved in it
(1804-1872).


FEUERBACH, PAUL JOHANN ANSELM VON, a highly distinguished criminal
jurist, born at Jena, where he studied philosophy and law; at 23 came
into prominence by a vigorous criticism of Hobbes's theory on civil
power; and soon afterwards, in lectures on criminal jurisprudence he set
forth his famous theory, that in administering justice judges should be
strictly limited in their decisions by the penal code; this new doctrine
gave rise to a party called "Rigorists," who supported his theory; he
held professorships in Jena and in Kiel, and in 1804 was appointed to an
official post in Muenich; in 1814 he became president of the Court of
Appeal at Anspach; his chief work was the framing of a penal code for
Bavaria, which became a model for several other countries (1775-1833).


FEUILLANS, a reformed brotherhood of Cistercian monks, founded in
1577 by Jean de la Barriere, abbot of the Cistercian monastery at
Feuillans, in Languedoc. The movement thus organised was a protest
against the laxity which had crept into the Church, and probably received
some stimulus from the Reformation, which was then in progress. The
Feuillans settled in a convent in the Rue St. Honore, Paris, which in
after years became the meeting-place of a revolutionary club, which took
the name of Feuillans; founded in 1790 by Lafayette, La Rochefoucauld,
&c., and which consisted of members of the respectable property classes,
whose views were more moderate than those of the Jacobins. They could not
hold out against the flood of revolutionary violence, and on March 28,
1791, a mob burst into their place of meeting and dispersed them.


FEUILLET, OCTAVE, a celebrated French novelist, born at Saint-Lo, in
La Manche; started his literary career as one of Dumas' assistants, but
made his first independent success in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ by a
series of tales, romances, &c., begun in 1848; in 1862 he was elected a
member of the Academy, and later became librarian to Louis Napoleon; his
novels, of which "Le Roman d'un Jeune Homme Pauvre" and "Sibylle" are the
most noted, are graceful in style, and reveal considerable dramatic
force, but often lapse into sentimentality, and too often treat of
indelicate subjects, although in no spirit of coarseness (1812-1890).


FEZ (150), the largest city in Morocco, of which it is the second
capital; is surrounded by walls and prettily situated in the valley of
the Sebu, a stream which flows through its centre and falls into the
Atlantic 100 m. to the E. It has been for many centuries one of the most
important of the sacred cities of the Moslem; has many fine mosques, the
Sultan's palace, and an important university; is yet a busy commercial
centre, although signs of decay appear all over the city, and carries on
an active caravan trade with Central Africa.


FEZZAN (50), a Turkish province lying to the S. of Tripoli, to which
it is politically united; in character partakes of the desert region to
which it belongs, being almost wholly composed of barren sandy plateaux,
with here and there an oasis in the low valleys, where some attempt at
cultivation is made. The people, who belong to the Berber stock, are
Mohammedans, honest, but lazy and immoral. Murzuk (6) is the chief town.


FIARS, an expression in Scotch law given to the prices of grain
which are determined, by the respective sheriffs in the various counties
assisted by juries. The Court for "striking the fiars" is held towards
the end of February in accordance with Acts of Sederunt of the Court of
Session. The prices fixed are used in the settling of contracts where no
prices have been determined upon, e. g. in fixing stipends of ministers
of the Church of Scotland, and are found useful in other ways.


FICHTE, JOHANN GOTTLIEB, a celebrated German philosopher, born in
Upper Lusatia; a man of an intensely thoughtful and noble nature; studied
theology at Jena, and afterwards philosophy; became a disciple of Kant,
and paid homage to him personally at Koenigsberg; was appointed professor
of Philosophy at Jena, where he enthusiastically taught, or rather
preached, a system which broke away from Kant, which goes under the name
of "Transcendental Idealism," and which he published in his
"Wissenschaftslehre" and his "System der Sittenlehre"; obliged to resign
his chair at Jena on a charge of atheism, he removed to Berlin, where he
rose into favour by his famous "Address to the Germans" against the
tyranny of Napoleon, and after a professorate in Erlangen he became head
of the New University, and had for colleagues such men as Wolff,
Humboldt, Scheiermacher, and Neander; he fell a victim to the War of
Independence which followed, dying of fever caught through his wife and
her nursing of patients in the hospitals, which were crowded with the
wounded; besides his more esoterico-philosophical works, he was the
author of four of a popular cast, which are worthy of all regard, on "The
Destiny of Man," "The Nature of the Scholar," "The Characteristics of the
Present Age," and "The Way to the Blessed Life"; "so robust an intellect,
a soul so calm," says Carlyle, "so lofty, massive, and immovable, has not
mingled in philosophic discussion since the time of Luther ... the cold,
colossal, adamantine spirit, standing erect and clear, like a Cato Major
among degenerate men; fit to have been the teacher of the Stoa, and to
have discoursed of Beauty and Virtue in the groves of Academe"
(1762-1814).


FICHTELGEBIRGE, a mountain chain in North-East Bavaria, so called
from its having once been covered with pines, Fichtel meaning a pine. In
its valleys rise the Elbe, Rhine, and Danube; considerable quantities of
iron, copper, and lead are found, which give rise to a smelting industry,
while mother-of-pearl is obtained from the streams. The climate is cold
and damp, but the district has of late become a favourite resort of
tourists.


FICINO, MARSILIO, an eminent Italian Platonist, born at Florence; in
1463 became president of a Platonic school, founded by Cosmo de' Medici,
where he spent many years spreading and instilling the doctrines of
Plato, and, indeed, ancient philosophy generally; entered the Church in
1473, and under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici was appointed to the
canonry of Florence Cathedral; his religious beliefs were a strange blend
of Platonism and Christianity, but were the foundation of a pure life,
while his interest in classical studies helped considerably to further
the Renaissance (1433-1499).


FICK, AUGUST, a German philologist, born at Petershagan; spent his
life chiefly at Goettingen, where he first studied philology under Benfey;
became a teacher in the Gymnasium, and eventually in 1876 professor of
Comparative Philology in the university; in 1887 accepted a professorship
in Breslau, but retired four years later; author of a variety of learned
works on philology; _b_. 1833.


FIDELIO, a celebrated opera by Beethoven, and his only one.


FI`DES, the Roman goddess of fidelity, or steadfast adherence to
promises and engagements. Numa built a shrine for her worship and
instituted a festival in her honour; in later times a temple containing a
statue of her dressed in white adjoined the temple of Jupiter, on the
Capitol at Rome.


FIELD, CYRUS WEST, brother of the following, born at Stockbridge,
Massachusetts; was first a successful paper manufacturer, but turning his
attention to submarine telegraphy was instrumental in establishing cable
communication between England and America, and founded the Atlantic
Telegraph Company in 1856; on the successful laying of the 1866 cable,
since which time communication between the Old and New Worlds has never
been interrupted, he was awarded a gold medal and the thanks of the
nation; afterwards interested himself in developing the overhead railway
in New York (1819-1892).


FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY, an eminent American Jurist, born in Haddam,
Connecticut; for 57 years a prominent member of the New York bar, during
which time he brought about judiciary reforms, and drew up, under
Government directions, political, civil, and penal codes; interested
himself in international law, and laboured to bring about an
international agreement whereby disputes might be settled by arbitration
and war done away with; was President of the London Peace Congress in
1890 (1805-1894).


FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD, a plain near Guisnes, where Henry VIII.
had an interview with Francis I.; was so called from the magnificence
displayed on the occasion on the part of both sovereigns and their
retinue.


FIELDING, COPLEY, an eminent English water-colour painter; became
secretary and treasurer and finally president of the Society of
Water-Colour Painters (1787-1855).


FIELDING, HENRY, a famous novelist, who has been styled by Scott
"the father of the English novel," born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury,
son of General Edmund Fielding and a cousin of LADY MARY WORTLEY
MONTAGU (q. v.); was educated at Eton and at Leyden, where he
graduated in 1728; led for some years a dissipated life in London, and
achieved some celebrity by the production of a series of comedies and
farces, now deservedly sunk into oblivion; in 1735 he married Miss
Charlotte Cradock, and after a brief experiment as a theatre lessee
studied law at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar; literature
was, however, his main pursuit, and in 1742 he came to the front with
"Joseph Andrews," a burlesque on Richardson's "Pamela," in which his
powers as a novelist first showed themselves; in 1743 followed three
volumes of "Miscellanies," including "Jonathan Wild"; after his wife's
death he turned again to law, but in 1745 we find him once more engaged
in literature as editor of the _True Patriot_ and afterwards of the
_Jacobite's Journal_; "Tom Jones," his masterpiece, appeared in 1749, and
three years later "Amelia"; journalism and his duties as a justice of the
peace occupied him till 1754, when ill-health forced him abroad to
Lisbon, where he died and was buried. Fielding is a master of a fluent,
virile, and attractive style; his stories move with an easy and natural
vigour, and are brimful of humour and kindly satire, while his characters
in their lifelike humanness, with all their foibles and frailties, are a
marked contrast to the buckram and conventional figures of his
contemporary Richardson; something of the laxity of his times, however,
finds its way into his pages, and renders them not always palatable
reading to present-day readers (1707-1754).


FIESCHI, COUNT, a Genoese of illustrious family who conspired
against Andrea Doria, but whose plot was frustrated on the eve of its
fulfilment by his falling into the sea and being drowned as he stept
full-armed from one of his ships into another (1523-1547).


FIESCHI, JOSEPH MARCO, a Corsican conspirator; served under Murat
and in Russia in 1812; obtained a government post in 1830, and in
consequence of his discharge from this five years later he, by means of
an infernal machine, made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Louis
Philippe, for which, along with his accomplices, he was tried and
executed (1790-1836).


FIESOLE, a small town, 3 m. from Florence, where the wealthy
Florentines have villas, and near which Fra Angelico lived as a monk.


FIFE (190), a maritime county in the E. of Scotland, which juts out
into the German Ocean and is washed by the Firths of Tay and Forth on its
N. and S. shores respectively, thus forming a small peninsula; has for
the most part a broken and hilly surface, extensively cultivated however,
while the "How of Fife," watered by the Eden, is a fertile valley, richly
wooded; and valuable coal deposits are worked in the S. and W.; its long
coast-line is studded with picturesque towns, many of them of ancient
date, a circumstance which led James VI. to describe the county as "a
beggar's mantle fringed with gold"; it is associated with much that is
memorable in Scottish history.


FIFTH-MONARCHY MEN, a set of fanatics of extreme levelling
tendencies, who, towards the close of the Protectorate, maintained that
Jesus Christ was about to reappear on the earth to establish a fifth
monarchy that would swallow up and forcibly suppress all that was left of
the four preceding--the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, and the
Roman; their standard exhibited the lion of the tribe of Judah couchant,
with the motto, "Who will rouse him up?" some of them conspired to murder
the Protector, but were detected and imprisoned till after his death.


FIGARO, a name given by the French dramatist Beaumarchais to a
cunning and intriguing barber who figures in his "Barbier de Seville" and
his "Mariage de Figaro," and who has since become the type of all such
characters. The name has been adopted by various journals in England and
in France.


FIGARO, MARIAGE DE, a play by Beaumarchais, "issued on the stage in
Paris 1784, ran its hundred nights; a lean and barren thing; succeeded,
as it flattered a pruriency of the time and spoke what all were feeling
and longing to speak."


FIGUIER, LOUIS, a popular writer on scientific subjects, born at
Montpellier, where he became professor of Pharmacy in 1846, and
subsequently in Paris; his voluminous writings have done much to
popularise science, and they comprise a volume on alchemy and one in
defence of immortality; many of these have been received with favour in
England (1819-1894).


FIJI (125), a group of islands in the S. Pacific Ocean, known also
as the Viti Islands; they lie between 15 deg.-22 deg. S. lat. and 176 deg. E.-178 deg. W.
long., and are a dependency of Britain; sighted by Tasman in 1643, though
first discovered, properly speaking, by Cook in 1773, came first into
prominence in 1858, when the sovereignty was offered to England and
declined, but in 1874 were taken over and made a crown colony; they
number over 200 islands, of which Viti Leon and Vanua Leon are by far the
largest; Suva is the capital; sugar, cotton, vanilla, tea, and coffee are
cultivated, besides fruit.


FILDES, S. LUKE, artist, born in Lancashire; made his mark first as
a designer of woodcuts; contributed to various magazines and illustrated
books, notably Dickens's "Edwin Drood"; his most noted pictures are
"Applicants for a Casual Ward," "The Widower," and "The Doctor"; he was
made an R.A. in 1887; _b_. 1844.


FILIBUSTER, a name given to buccaneers who infested the
Spanish-American coasts or those of the West Indies, but more specially
used to designate the followers of Lopez in his Cuban expedition in 1851,
and those of Walker in his Nicaraguan in 1855; a name now given to any
lawless adventurers who attempt to take forcible possession of a foreign
country.


FILIGREE, a name given to a species of goldsmith's ornamental work
fashioned out of fine metallic (usually gold or silver) wire into
lace-like patterns; the art is of ancient date, and was skilfully
practised by the Etruscans and Egyptians, as well as in Central Asia and
India.


FILIOQUE CONTROVERSY, a controversy which ended in the disruption of
the Western from the Eastern Church on the question whether the Spirit
proceeded from the Father and the Son or from the Father only, the
Western maintaining the former and the Eastern the latter.


FILLAN, ST., a name borne by two Scottish saints: (1) the son of a
Munster prince, lived in the 8th century, was first abbot of the
monastery on the Holy Loch in Argyll, and afterwards laboured at
Strathfillan, Perthshire; some of his relics are to be seen in the
Edinburgh Antiquarian Museum; (2) or Faolan, known as "the leper," had
his church at the end of Loch Earn, Perthshire; a healing well and chair


 


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