The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 21 out of 53
are associated with his name.
FILLMORE, President of the United States from 1850 to 1853.
FINALITY JOHN, Lord John Russell, from his complacently pronouncing
the Reform Bill of 1832 a final measure.
FINCH, HENEAGE, first Earl of Nottingham and Lord Chancellor of
England, born in Kent, studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar in
1645; at the Restoration he was appointed Solicitor-General, and took an
active part in prosecuting the regicides; in 1670 he became
Attorney-General, and in 1675 Lord-Chancellor; he presided as Lord-High
Steward at the trial of Stafford in 1680, and pronounced judgment in a
speech of great eloquence (1621-1682).
FINDLATER, ANDREW, encyclopedist, born near Aberdour, in
Aberdeenshire, of humble parentage; graduated at Aberdeen, and became a
schoolmaster at Tillydesk, and afterwards held the post of head-master of
Gordon's Hospital in Aberdeen; in 1853 joined the staff of Messrs. W. &
R. Chambers, Edinburgh, and became eventually editor of the first edition
of their encyclopedia (1861-1868); amongst other work done for the
Messrs. Chambers were various manuals on astronomy, geography, &c.; was a
man of wide and accurate scholarship (1810-1877).
FINGAL or FIONN, the great hero of Gaelic mythology,
represented by OSSIAN (q. v.) to have ruled over the kingdom of
Morven, which may be said to have been then co-extensive with Argyllshire
and the West Highlands; in ballad literature he is represented as
belonging also to Ireland.
FINGAL'S CAVE, a remarkable cave of basaltic formation on the coast
of the ISLE OF STAFFA (q. v.); entrance to the cave is effected
in boats through a natural archway 42 ft. wide and 66 ft. high, and the
water fills the floor of this great hall to a distance of 227 ft.
FINISTERRE or FINISTERE (727), the most westerly department of
France, washed on the N. by the English Channel, and on the S. and W. by
the Atlantic; has a rugged and broken coast-line, but inland presents a
picturesque appearance with tree-clad hills and fertile valleys; the
climate is damp, and there is a good deal of marshy land; mines of
silver, lead, &c., are wrought, and quarries of marble and granite;
fishing is largely engaged in; and the manufacture of linen, canvas,
pottery, &c., are important industries, while large quantities of grain
are raised.
FINLAND (2,431), a grand-duchy forming the NW. corner of Russia; was
ceded by the Swedes in 1809, but still retains an independent
administration. The coast-line is deeply indented, and fringed with small
islands; the interior, chiefly elevated plateau, consists largely of
forest land, and is well furnished with lakes, many of which are united
by canals, one 36 m. connecting Lake Saima with the Gulf of Finland.
Various cereals (barley, oats, &c.) are grown, and there is a varied and
valuable fauna; fishing is an extensive industry, and no less than 80
kinds of fish are found in the rivers, lakes, and coast waters. The
country is divided into eight counties, and is governed by a Senate and
Diet, the reigning Russian emperor holding rank as grand-duke; education
is highly advanced; Swedish and Finnish are the two languages of the
country, Russian being practically unknown. There is an excellent Saga
literature, and the beginnings of a modern literature. The Finns came
under the dominion of the Swedes in the 12th and 13th centuries, and were
by them Christianised.
FINLAY, GEORGE, a distinguished historian, horn at Faversham, Kent,
but of Scotch parents; received a university training at Glasgow and
Goettingen, and in 1822 went to Greece, where he met Byron and fought in
the War of Independence; henceforth Greece became his home, and there,
after an unavailing effort to promote agriculture, he betook himself to a
studious life and to writing the history of his adopted country; his
valuable history, published in various parts, traces the national life of
Greece from 146 B.C. to A.D. 1864 (1799-1875).
FINMARK (29), a province of Norway, lying in the extreme N., with a
rocky and indented coast and a barren and mountainous interior; fishing
is the main industry of the inhabitants, who are chiefly Lapps.
FINNS, the native inhabitants of Finland, and originally of the
districts in Sweden and Norway as well, are of the Mongolian type, and
were settled in Europe before the arrival of the Slavic and Teutonic
races.
FIORDS, deep indentations forming inlets of the sea, especially on
the coast of Norway, overlooked by high mountains and precipitous cliffs.
FIRDAUSI or FIRDUSI, the pseudonym of Abu-'l Kasim Mansur, the
great poet of Persia, born near Tus, in Khorassan; flourished in the 10th
century B.C.; spent 30 years in writing the "Shah Nama," a national
epic, but having been cheated out of the reward promised by Sultan
Mahmud, he gave vent to bitter satire against his royal master and fled
the court; for some time he led a wandering life, till at length he
returned to his birthplace, where he died; a complete translation of his
great poem exists in French.
FIRE-WORSHIP, worship of fire, especially as embodied in the sun
viewed as the most express and emphatic exhibition of beneficent divine
power.
FIRMAMENT, a name given to the vault of the sky conceived as a solid
substance studded with stars, so applied in the Vulgate.
FIRMAN, a Persian word denoting a mandate or decree; among the Turks
the term is applied to such decrees as issue from the Ottoman Porte, and
also to passports, the right of signing which lies with the Sultan or a
Pasha; the word is also used in India to denote a permit to trade.
FIRMIN, ST., bishop of Amiens, who suffered martyrdom in 287.
Festival, Sept. 25.
FIRST GENTLEMAN OF EUROPE, George IV., from his fine style and
manners.
FISCHART, JOHANN, a German satirist; an imitator of Rabelais
(1545-1589).
FISCHER, ERNST KUNO BERTHOLD, a German historian of philosophy, born
at Sandewalde, Silesia; as a student of Erdmann at Halle he was smitten
with the love of philosophy, and gave his life to the study of it; after
graduating he went to Heidelberg and there established himself as a
private lecturer, in which capacity he was eminently successful, but in
1853 was deprived of his status by Government, probably on account of the
alleged Pantheistic trend of his teaching; in 1856, however, he was
elected to the chair of Philosophy in Jena, and 16 years later was called
back to Heidelberg as Zeller's successor; his chief work is a "History of
Modern Philosophy"; _b_. 1824.
FISHER, JOHN, bishop of Rochester, born at Beverley; was
distinguished at Cambridge, and became chaplain and confessor to the
Countess of Richmond, Henry VII.'s mother, who had him appointed
professor of Divinity at his _alma mater_; in 1504 he was elected
Chancellor of the University and made bishop of Rochester, but incurred
the royal displeasure by opposing Henry VIII.'s divorce of Catherine of
Aragon, and by upholding the Pope's supremacy; became involved in the
deceptions of Elizabeth Barton, maid of Kent, and was sent to the Tower
in 1534 for refusing to take the oath of succession; was created a
cardinal, but was beheaded by order of the king ere his hat arrived; was
beatified in 1886 (1469-1535).
FISKE, JOHN, American writer, born at Hartford, Conn., U.S.;
studied at Harvard; in 1869 lectured at his old university as a
Positivist, and was under-librarian from 1872 to 1879; he is the author
of a number of works on Darwinism, American history, philosophy, etc.;
_b_. 1842.
FITCH, JOHN, an American inventor, born in Connecticut; led a life
of adventure, at one time acting as gunsmith to the American
revolutionaries and at another falling into the hands of Indians whilst
trading in the West; in 1785 he brought out a model steamboat with side
wheels, and in 1788 and in 1790 constructed larger vessels, one of the
latter being for some time employed as a passenger boat; some of his
plans are said to have fallen into Robert Fulton's hands and given him
the idea of his steamship; disheartened by the ill-success of a trip to
France he committed suicide at Bardstown, Kentucky (1743-1798).
FITZ-BOODLE, GEORGE, Thackeray's pseudonym in _Fraser's Magazine_.
FITZGERALD, EDWARD, English scholar, born in Suffolk; at Cambridge,
where he graduated in 1830, he formed close friendships with James
Spedding and Thackeray, and afterwards was on intimate terms with Carlyle
and Tennyson; his life was quietly spent in his country residence in
Suffolk, varied by yachting expeditions and visits to London, where he
made the round of his friends; his first book, "Euphranor," a dialogue on
youth, appeared when he was 42, "Polonius" followed and some Spanish
translations, but his fame rests on his translations of Persian poetry,
and especially on his rendering of the 11th-century poet, Omar Khayyam
(1809-1883).
FITZGERALD, LADY, a daughter of Egalite and Mme. Genlis, called
Pamela; distinguished for her beauty and enthusiasm for liberty, and who
became the wife of LORD FITZGERALD, the Irish patriot (q. v.);
_d_. 1831.
FITZGERALD, LORD EDWARD, the younger son of the Duke of Leinster,
born at Carlton Castle, near Dublin; spent his early years in France;
joined the English army and served with distinction in the American War;
in 1784 he was elected to the Irish Parliament, and opposed the English
Government; was attracted to France by the Revolution, but returned to
Ireland and joined the United Irishmen in 1796, and began plotting the
rising of 1798; his scheme was betrayed, and he was arrested in Dublin
after a determined resistance, during which he received wounds of which
he died in prison (1763-1798).
FITZHERBERT, MRS., a Roman Catholic lady, maiden name Maria Anne
Smythe, with whom, after her second widowhood, George IV., while Prince
of Wales, contracted a secret marriage in 1785, which, however, under the
Royal Marriage Act, was declared invalid (1756-1837).
FITZROY, ROBERT, admiral, navigator, and meteorologist, born at
Ampton Hall, near Bury St. Edmunds; entered the navy at 14, and in
1828-1830 conducted a survey of the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del
Fuego, a work he continued while commanding the _Beagle_ (1831-1836), in
which Darwin accompanied him; in 1843-1845 was governor of New Zealand;
in his later years devoted himself to meteorology, and, on the retired
list, rose to be vice-admiral; published accounts of his voyages, etc.;
under pressure of work his mind gave way, and he committed suicide
(1805-1865).
FITZWILLIAM, WILLIAM, EARL, a politician of George the Third's time;
the excesses of the French Revolution caused him to come over from the
Whigs and support Pitt; favoured Catholic emancipation during his
Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, but was recalled; held office under
Grenville in 1806, and took some part in the Reform Bill agitation of the
day (1748-1833).
FIUME (29), a seaport of Hungary, on the Adriatic, at the rocky
entrance of the Fiumara, 40 m. SE. of Trieste; a new town of spacious and
colonnaded streets and many fine buildings, has grown up on the ground
sloping down from the old town; has an excellent harbour, and flourishing
industries in paper, torpedoes, tobacco, etc., besides being the entrepot
of an important and increasing commerce.
FLACIUS or VLACICH, MATTHIAS, surnamed Illyricus, a German
theologian, born at Albona, in Illyria; was the pupil of Luther and
Melanchthon; became professor of the Old Testament Scriptures at
Wittenberg, but four years later lost his position on account of certain
attacks he made on Melanchthon; subsequently he was elected professor at
Jena, but was again deposed for heterodox notions on original sin; died
in poverty; was author of an ecclesiastical history and other works
(1520-1575).
FLAGELLANTS, a set of medieval fanatics, who first arose in Italy in
1260, and subsequently appeared in other quarters of Europe, and who
thought by self-flagellation to atone for sin and avert divine judgment,
hoping by a limited number of stripes to compensate for a century of
scourgings; the practice arose at a time when it was reckoned that the
final judgment of the world was at hand.
FLAHAULT DE LA BILLARDERIE, AUGUSTE CHARLES JOSEPH, COMTE DE, a
French soldier and diplomatist, born at Paris; was aide-de-camp to
Napoleon, and for distinguished services in the Peninsular war and at
Leipzig was made a general and count; fought at Waterloo, and two years
later married Margaret Elphinston, who by inheritance became Baroness
Keith; he was ambassador at the Courts of Venice (1841-48) and at London
(1860) (1785-1870).
FLAMBARD, RANDOLPH, a Norman who came over with the Conqueror to
England and became chaplain to William Rufus, whom he abetted and
pandered to in his vices, in return for which, and a heavy sum he paid,
he was in 1099 made bishop of Durham.
FLAMBOYANT, the name given, from the flame-like windings of its
tracery, to a florid style of architecture in vogue in France during the
15th and 16th centuries.
FLAMENS, priests elected in Rome by the people and consecrated by
the chief pontiff to the service of a particular god, such as Jupiter,
Mars, &c.
FLAMINIUS, CAIUS, a Roman tribune and consul, who constructed the
Flaminian Way; perished at Lake Trasimene, where he was defeated by
Hannibal in the Second Punic War, 217 B.C.
FLAMINIUS, T. QUINTUS, a Roman consul, who defeated Philip of
Macedon and proclaimed the freedom of Greece, and it was his close
neighbourhood to Hannibal that induced the latter to take poison rather
than fall into his hands (230-174 B.C.).
FLAMMARION, CAMILLE, French astronomer, born at Montigny-le-Roi; he
was attached to the Paris Observatory in 1858, and by means of books and
lectures has spent a busy life in popularising his science; many of his
works have been translated into English; _b_. 1842.
FLAMSTEED, JOHN, the first astronomer-royal of England, born near
Derby; his devotion to astronomy gained him the favour of Sir Jonas
Moore, who was the means of getting him the appointment of
astronomer-royal in 1675; from the Observatory of Greenwich, specially
built for his use, he catalogued the fixed stars and supplied Newton with
useful information bearing on his lunar theory; in 1675 he took holy
orders, and was presented to the living of Burstow in Surrey, which he
held till his death (1646-1719).
FLANDERS, the land of the Flemings, borders upon the North Sea,
formerly extended from the Scheldt to the Somme, and included, besides
the present Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders, part of Zealand,
and also of Artois, in France; the ancient county dates from 862, in
which year Charles the Bold of France, as suzerain, raised it to the
status of a sovereign county, and bestowed it upon his son Baldwin I.; it
has successively belonged to Spain and Austria, and in Louis XIV.'s reign
a portion of it was ceded to France, now known as French Flanders, while
Zealand passed into the hands of the Dutch; the remainder was in 1714
made the Austrian Netherlands, and in 1831 was incorporated with the new
kingdom of BELGIUM (q. v.).
FLANDRIN, a French painter, born at Lyons; was a pupil of Ingres;
represented the religious movement in art in the 19th century
(1809-1864).
FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE, a realistic romancer, born at Rouen; author of
"Madame Bovary," a study of provincial life, which became the subject of
a prosecution, and "Salammbo," wonderful for its vigour and skill in
description; he indulged in repulsive subjects (1821-1880).
FLAVEL, JOHN, an English Nonconformist divine of spiritualising
tendencies, much read by pious people of his class; _d_. 1691.
FLAXMAN, JOHN, an eminent sculptor, born at York; was brought up in
London, where his father carried on business as a moulder of plaster
figures; his love of drawing and modelling soon marked him out as an
artist, and helped by friends he devoted himself to art; exhibited at the
age of 12, and won the silver medal of the Royal Academy at 14; for some
years he supplied the Wedgwoods with designs for their famous pottery,
and in 1787 he went to Rome, which for seven years became his home; in
1810 became professor of Sculpture to the Royal Academy; besides many
fine statues of eminent men and much exquisite work in bas-reliefs, he
executed a series of noble designs illustrating Homer, Dante, and
AEschylus; he was a Swedenborgian by religious creed (1755-1826).
FLECHIER, a famous French pulpit orator, bishop of Nimes; his
funeral orations compare with Bossuet's (1632-1710).
FLEET MARRIAGES, clandestine marriages, suppressed in 1754,
performed without license by the chaplains of Fleet Prison, London.
FLEET PRISON, a celebrated London jail in Farringdon Street; was a
debtor's prison as far back as the 12th century.
FLEETWOOD, CHARLES, a Cromwellian officer; fought as
lieutenant-general against the king at Worcester, and acted as
lord-deputy in Ireland; on the death of Cromwell advised the abdication
of Richard; _d_. 1692.
FLEGEL, African explorer, born in Wilna, of German descent; made
three journeys from Europe to explore the Niger territory, in which he
made important discoveries; was suddenly stricken down in the last
(1855-1886).
FLEISCHER, HEINRICH LEBERECHT, Orientalist, born at Schandau,
Saxony; after a university training at Leipzig he undertook a catalogue
of the Oriental MSS. in the royal library at Dresden, and in 1836 became
professor of Oriental Languages at Leipzig; did important work as a
critical editor of Oriental works and MSS. (1801-1888).
FLEMING, PAUL, a celebrated German poet, born at Hartenstein,
Vogtland; received a medical training at Leipzig, and was engaged in
embassies in Russia and Persia; settled in Hamburg in 1639, but died the
following year; as a lyrist he stood in the front rank of German poets
(1609-1640).
FLEMISH SCHOOL, a school of painting established in the 15th
century, and to which Reubens, Vandyck, and Teniers belonged.
FLESHLY SCHOOL, a name given by Robert Buchanan to a realistic
school of poets, to which Rossetti, William Morris, and Swinburne belong.
FLESSELLES, the last provost of the merchants of the Hotel de Ville,
Paris; "shot by an unknown hand at the turn of a street" after the fall
of the Bastille (1721-1789).
FLETCHER, ANDREW, of Saltoun, a Scottish patriot and politician;
after travelling on the Continent for four years he entered the Scottish
Parliament, but got into trouble through his opposition to James, Duke of
York, the Royal Commissioner in Scotland, and fled to Holland; his
estates were confiscated, and for the next seven years he was a political
refugee; he took part in the Rye House Plot and in Monmouth's invasion;
his estates were restored in 1688, and he again sat in the Scottish
Parliament; he was an active promoter of the abortive Darien Scheme, and
a strong opponent of the Union of 1707 (1653-1716).
FLETCHER, GILES, an English poet, born in London; was the
unappreciated rector of Alderton, in Suffolk, and author of a fervid and
imaginative poem, "Christ's Victory and Triumph," which won the
admiration of Milton (1588-1623).
FLETCHER, JOHN, English dramatist, the son of a bishop of London;
was left an orphan and in poverty; collaborated with BEAUMONT (q. v.)
in the production of the plays published under their joint names;
died of the plague (1570-1625).
FLETCHER, PHINEAS, poet, brother of preceding; was rector of Hilgay,
Norfolk; celebrated for his poem the "Purple Island, or the Isle of Man,"
an ingenious allegory descriptive of the human body--i. e. the Purple
Island--and its vices and virtues.
FLEURANT, MONSIEUR, a character in Moliere's "Malade Imaginaire."
FLEUR-DE-LIS (i. e. lily-flower), a badge of ultimately three
golden _fleurs-de-lis_ on a blue field, borne from the days of Clovis on
their arms by the kings of France.
FLEURY, ANDRE HERCULE DE. CARDINAL, French statesman, born at
Lodeve, in Languedoc; studied philosophy in Paris; became a doctor of the
Sorbonne and almoner to the Queen and King Louis XIV., who subsequently
made him bishop of Frejus and tutor to his son Louis; in 1726 he was
chosen Prime Minister by Louis XV., and created a cardinal; he carried
through a successful war with Germany, which resulted in the acquisition
of Lorraine by France, but although honest and cautious, he cannot be
styled a great statesman (1653-1743).
FLEURY, CLAUDE, ABBE, an ecclesiastical historian, born in Paris;
was at the outset of his career a successful advocate, but afterwards
entered the Church; as tutor he educated various princes, including an
illegitimate son of Louis XIV., who in reward appointed him to the priory
of Argenteuil; was chosen confessor to the young Louis XV., and in 1696
was elected to the Academy; his chief work is his great "Ecclesiastical
History" in 20 vols., on which he laboured for 30 years, and the
learning, ability, and impartiality of which procured for him the esteem
of all parties (1640-1723).
FLINDERS, MATTHEW, a naval officer, born in Lincolnshire; explored
the coast of Australia, experiencing not a few adventures, and adding
materially to our geographical knowledge (1760-1814).
FLINT, 1, a maritime county (77) of North Wales, between Lancashire
and Denbigh, of which a detached portion lies to the N. of Shropshire;
low stretches of sand form its foreshore, but inland it is hilly, with
here and there a picturesque and fertile valley in which dairy-farming is
extensively carried on. 2, a seaport (5), on the estuary of the Dee, 13
m. NW. of Chester; has ruins of a castle with interesting historical
associations; in the neighbourhood are copper-works and lead and coal
mines.
FLINT, ROBERT, a theologian, born in Dumfriesshire; professor of
Divinity in Edinburgh University; an eminent scholar, a vigorous thinker,
and a man of broad sympathies, who takes a deep interest in all the vital
questions of the times, and has contributed to the solution of them; has
written on Theism, the Philosophy of History, Socialism, &c.; _b_. 1838.
FLOATING ISLANDS are sometimes formed of masses of driftwood on
which debris, vegetation, &c., gradually form a soil, but are more
commonly portions of river banks detached by the force of the current
when swollen and drifted put, sometimes as much as 100 m., to sea,
carrying with them plants, reptiles, and larger animals, and thus
contributing to the distribution to distant shores of animal and
vegetable life; they are to be met with off the mouths of the larger
American, Asian, and African rivers, and sometimes in inland seas and
lakes; Derwent Lake, in England, has a notable one, which sinks, and
rises periodically; they are also made artificially in districts subject
to floods as asylums of refuge.
FLODDEN, BATTLE OF, fought on Flodden Hill, a low spur of the
Cheviots, 6 m. S. of Coldstream, between James IV. of Scotland and the
English under the Earl of Surrey on the 9th of September 1513, which
resulted in the crushing defeat of the Scots, who lost their king and the
flower of their nobility, an event celebrated in Jean Elliot's "Flowers
of the Forest"; a spirited account is given in the sixth canto of Scott's
"Marmion."
FLOOD, HENRY, an Irish Nationalist, trained at Dublin and Oxford
Universities; entering the Irish Parliament, he by his fervid oratory
soon won a place in the front rank of Irish politicians; in 1769 he was
put on trial for killing an opponent in a duel, but was acquitted; from
1775 to 1781 he was Vice-Treasurer of Ireland; to Grattan's Irish Bill of
Right he offered bitter opposition, holding it to be an altogether
inadequate measure; in 1783 he was returned to the English House of
Commons, but failed to make his mark (1732-1791).
FLORA, goddess of the blossom of flowers and the spring, an early
Roman divinity; had in the time of NUMA a flamen (q. v.) to
herself.
FLORENCE (137), a famous Italian city, situated 50 m. from the sea;
it lies in the valley of the Arno, and is built on both sides of the
river, but chiefly on the N.; the outlying suburbs are singularly
beautiful, and are surrounded by finely wooded hills, bright with gay
villas and charming gardens; the old city itself is characterised by a
sombre grandness, and is full of fine buildings of historic and artistic
interest; chief amongst these is the cathedral, or Duomo, begun in 1298,
with its grand dome and campanile (293 ft.), by Giotto. It is the city of
Dante, Petrarch, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Boccaccio,
Machiavelli, Galileo and many more of Italy's great men, and has a
history of exceptional interest; it has many fine art galleries; is an
educational centre, and carries on a trade in straw-plaiting and silk.
FLORIAN, JEAN PIERRE DE, a French novelist and writer of fables; was
the friend of Voltaire, from whom he received his first literary impulse;
was the author of several romances plays, &c., but his finest work is
found in his Fables, in which department of literature he ranks next La
Fontaine (1755-1794).
FLORIDA (391), "Land of Flowers," the most southern of the American
States, forms a bold peninsula on the E. side of the Gulf of Mexico, and
has on its eastern shore the Atlantic; has a coast-line of 1150 m.; the
chief physical feature is the amount of water surface, made up of 19
navigable rivers and lakes and ponds to the number of 1200, besides
swamps and marshes; the climate is, however, equable, and for the most
part healthy; fruit-growing is largely engaged in; the timber trade
flourishes, also the phosphate industry, and cotton and the sugar-cane
are extensively cultivated; a successful business in cigar-making has
also of recent years sprung up, and there are valuable fisheries along
the coast; Florida was admitted into the Union in 1845; the capital is
Tallahassee.
FLORIO, JOHN, the translator of Montaigne, born in London, of
Italian parents; was a tutor of foreign languages for some years at
Oxford, and in 1581 became a member of Magdalen College and teacher of
French and Italian; published two works of a miscellaneous character,
called "First Fruits" and "Second Fruits," and an English-Italian
dictionary called a "World of Words," but his fame rests on his
translation of Montaigne, which Shakespeare used so freely (1553-1625).
FLORUS, a Latin historian, contemporary of Trajan.
FLUDD, ROBERT, physician and theosophist, born at Milgate, Kent;
studied at Oxford, and travelled on the Continent, where he came under
the influence of Paracelsus's writings; settled in London as a doctor,
and published a work embodying a vague theosophy (1574-1637).
FLUSHING (13), a Dutch seaport, strongly fortified, on the island of
Walcheren, at the mouth of the western Scheldt; has an active shipping
trade, docks, arsenals, &c.
FLUXIONS, a method, invented by Sir Isaac Newton, of determining the
rate of increase or decrease of a quantity or magnitude whose value
depends on that of another which itself varies in value at a uniform and
given rate. See CALCULUS, DIFFERENTIAL, AND INTEGRAL.
FLYING DUTCHMAN, a Dutch captain, fated for his sins to scour the
sea and never reach port, who appeared from time to time to sea-captains
as on a black spectral ship, and from the very terror he inspired made
them change their course; there are many versions of this fable in the
German mythology.
FO, the name in China for Buddha.
FO-HI, or FUH-HE, the mythical founder of the Chinese dynasty,
is said to have introduced cattle-rearing, instituted marriage, and
invented letters.
FOIX, GASTON DE, illustrious French captain, nephew of Louis XII.,
was from his daring exploits called the Thunderbolt of Italy; he beat the
Swiss, routed the Papal troops, captured Brescia from the Venetians, and
gained the battle of Ravenna against the Spaniards, but was slain when
pursuing the fugitives (1489-1512).
FOIX, GASTON III. DE, French captain, surnamed Phoebus on account of
his beauty and handsome presence; distinguished in the wars against the
English and in the Jacquerie revolt, in which he rescued the dauphin at
Meaux (1331-1391).
FOLEY, JOHN HENRY, an eminent sculptor, born in Dublin; his first
success was achieved in a series of classical figures, including some
Shakespearian subjects; statues of Hampden, Burke, J. S. Mill, Goldsmith,
&c., brought him further fame, and he was commissioned by the Queen to
execute the figure of Prince Albert in the Albert Memorial; his vigour
and genius were further revealed in the noble equestrian statues of
Hardinge and Outram (1818-1874).
FOLKESTONE (24), a seaport and watering-place on the coast of Kent,
7 m. SW. of Dover; has a fine harbour and esplanade; is much engaged in
the herring and mackerel fisheries, and is steam-packet station for
Boulogne; a fine railway viaduct spans the valley in which the old town
lies.
FONBLANQUE, ALBANY WILLIAM, journalistic editor, after serving on
the staff of the _Times_ and the _Morning Chronicle_ became editor of the
_Examiner_, which he conducted successfully from 1830 to 1847; Carlyle
was introduced to him on his visit to London in 1831, and describes him
as "a tall, loose, lank-haired, wrinkly, wintry, vehement-looking flail
of a man," but "the best of the Fourth Estate" then extant; "I rather
like the man," he adds, "has the air of a true-hearted Radical"
(1793-1872).
FONTAINEBLEAU, a town on the left bank of the Seine, 35 m. SE. of
Paris, and famous for a chateau or palace of the kings of France, and the
forest that surrounds it. This chateau, founded towards the end of the
10th century, was enlarged and embellished by successive kings, beginning
with Francis I., and was the place where Napoleon signed his abdication
in 1814.
FONTANES, LOUIS, MARQUIS DE, poet and man of letters, born at Niort,
Poitou; came to Paris and achieved some celebrity by his poems and
translations from Pope and Gray; changing from the Royalist side, he,
during the Revolution, edited two journals in the Republican interest,
and held the post of professor of Literature at the College of the Four
Nations; was for some time a refugee in England, but afterwards returned
and became a zealous supporter of Napoleon, on the downfall of whom he
embraced the Bourbon cause, and was raised to the peerage (1757-1821).
FONTENELLE, BERNARD LE BOVIER DE, a miscellaneous French writer,
born at Rouen, a nephew of Corneille, whose Life he wrote; was designed
for the bar, but under his uncle's patronage embarked on a literary
career in Paris; he vehemently upheld the moderns in the famous literary
quarrel of Moderns _versus_ Ancients, and brought upon himself the
satirical attacks of Boileau and Racine; became Secretary and then
President of the Academie des Sciences; died in his hundredth year; his
vigorous and versatile nature found vent in a wide variety of
writings--literary, scientific, and historical; author of "Dialogues of
the Dead," in imitation of Lucian, and "Conversations on the Plurality of
Worlds"; is credited with the saying, "A man may have his hand full of
truth, and yet only care to open his little finger," and this other, "No
man was ever written down but by himself" (1657-1757).
FONTENOY, a village in Belgium, 5 m. SW. of Tournay, where Marshal
Saxe beat the English, Dutch, and Austrians under the Duke of Cumberland
in 1745.
FOOCHOW (630), a Chinese city, the capital of the province of
Fu-chien, situated on the Min, 125 m. NE. of Amoy. Massive walls 30 ft.
high enclose the original town, but the extensive suburbs reach down to
the river, which is bridged, and is a convenient waterway for trading
with the interior; it was made a free port in 1842, and is the centre of
a busy trade in tea, timber, and textiles.
FOOLS, FEAST OF, a festival of wild mirth in the Middle Ages, held
on 1st January, in which the Ass of Scripture celebrity played a chief
part, and in which many of the rites and ceremonies of the Church were
travestied.
FOOT-POUND, the name given in mechanics to the force required to
raise 1 lb. through 1 foot, the unit of work.
FOOTE, SAMUEL, a celebrated English actor and playwright, born at
Truro, Cornwall, of a good family; was educated at Oxford, and studied
law, but ruined himself by gaming, and took to the stage; he became the
successful lessee of Haymarket Theatre in 1747, where, by his inimitable
powers of mimicry and clever comedies, he firmly established himself in
popular favour (1720-1777).
FORBES, ARCHIBALD, a noted war-correspondent, born in Morayshire;
was educated at Aberdeen University; served in a cavalry regiment, acted
as war-correspondent for the _Daily News_ during the Franco-German war,
and has since been the brilliant chronicler of war news in all parts of
the globe; has published several volumes; _b_. 1838.
FORBES, DUNCAN, of Culloden, a distinguished lawyer and patriotic
politician, born at Bunchrew; was trained at Edinburgh and Leyden, and
called to the Scotch bar in 1709; took an active part in putting down the
rebellion of 1715, and in 1722 entered Parliament; three years later he
was appointed Lord Advocate and Lord President of the Court of Session;
succeeded his brother in the estates of Culloden and Bunchrew; during the
1745 rebellion he was active in the Hanoverian interest, and did much to
quell the uprising; Forbes was a devoted Scot, and unweariedly strove to
allay the Jacobite discontent and to establish the country in peace, and
used his great influence and wealth to further these ends, services
which, in the end, impoverished him, and received little or no
recognition at the hands of Government (1685-1747).
FORBES, EDWARD, a noted naturalist, born at Douglas, in the Isle of
Man; studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he became smitten with the love
of natural science, to which he devoted his life; in 1841 he accompanied
the _Beacon_ as naturalist, and returning in 1843 found himself elected
to the chair of Botany in King's College, London; various geological
appointments followed, and in 1852 he became President of the Geological
Society, and two years later received the chair of Natural History in
Edinburgh; Forbes was a prolific author, and his writings cover the whole
field of natural science, to every section of which he has made
contributions of great value (1815-1854).
FORBES, JAMES DAVID, physicist, born at Edinburgh, the grandson of
Sir William, and the son of the first lady-love of Sir Walter Scott, and
very like her; was called to the bar in 1830; physical science, however,
was his ruling passion, and in 1833 he became professor of Natural
Philosophy in Edinburgh University, from which he was called in 1859 to
the Principalship of the United College, St. Andrews, in which he
succeeded Sir David Brewster, whom he had defeated in obtaining the
Edinburgh chair; he made some valuable contributions to natural science,
including discoveries in the polarisation of heat and in regard to the
motion of glaciers, to investigate which he travelled in Norway and in
the Alps (1809-1868).
FORBES, SIR JOHN, physician, born at Cuttlebrae, Banffshire; entered
the navy as assistant-surgeon in 1807, and became M.D. of Edinburgh ten
years later; practised at Penzance and Chichester, but finally settled at
London in 1840, where he became physician to the Queen; was for twelve
years editor of the _British and Foreign Medical Review_, which he
founded in 1836, and was joint-author of the "Cyclopaedia of Practical
Medicine"; first to use the stethoscope in England (1787-1861).
FORBES, SIR WILLIAM, an eminent banker, son of a Scotch advocate and
baronet, born in Edinburgh; became partner in the banking firm of Messrs.
John Coutts & Co.; two years later a new company was formed, of which he
rose to be manager, and which in 1830 became the Union Bank of Scotland;
he is author of a Life of his friend Beattie, the Scottish poet, and of
"Memoirs of a Banking-House" (1739-1806).
FORD, JOHN, dramatist, born at Islington, North Devon; studied at
Oxford, and entered the Middle Temple in 1602, but was never called to
the bar; in 1606 appeared his first poetic work "Fame's Memorial," an
elegy on the death of the Earl of Devonshire, and for the next 33 years
he was a prolific writer of plays, chiefly tragedies, collaborating in
some cases with Dekker and Webster; "The Broken Heart" was greatly
admired by Charles Lamb, and "Perkin Warbeck" is considered by Stopford
Brooke the best historical drama after Shakespeare; there is little of
the lighter graces about his work, and he is prone to go beyond the
bounds of nature in his treatment of the tragic, but his grip on the
greater human passions, and his power of moving presentment, are
undoubted (1586-1639).
FORDUN, JOHN OF, a Scottish chronicler; lived in the 14th century;
was a canon of Aberdeen Cathedral, and wrote a chronicle of Scottish
history, bringing the story up to 1153; materials for further volumes,
which he left, were utilised by Walter Bower, an abbot of Inchcolm, in
the Forth, who extended the account to 1437, but often tampered with
Fordun's narrative; the work is the chief authority in Scottish history
up to the time it treats of.
FORELAND, NORTH AND SOUTH, two rocky promontories on the E. coast of
Kent, which lie 16 m. apart; have the Downs and Goodwin Sands between
them; they are well marked with lighthouses.
FORENSIC MEDICINE, or MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, a branch of legal
science in which the principles of medicine are applied to the purposes
of the law, and originating out of the frequency with which medical
points arise in the administration of justice, e. g. in murder trials
and in cases where insanity is involved.
FOREST LAWS, laws enacted in ancient times for the purpose of
guarding the royal forest lands as hunting preserves, and which were up
to the time of Henry III. of excessive harshness, death being a not
infrequent penalty for infringement. The privileges of forest (at one
time the sole prerogative of the sovereign, but by him capable of being
vested in another), which might include the right to the wild animals in
the forests lying in the domains of a private estate, have now fallen
into abeyance, as also the special Forest Courts, while many of the royal
forests, which in Henry VIII.'s time numbered 69, have been
disafforested.
FORFAR (13), the county town of Forfarshire, 14 m. NE. of Dundee;
manufactures linen; was once an important royal residence, and was made a
royal burgh by David I.
FORFARSHIRE or ANGUS (278), a maritime county on the E. side of
Scotland, lying N. of the Firth of Tay; Strathmore and the Carse of
Gowrie are fertile valleys, where agriculture and cattle-rearing
flourish, and which, with the Braes of Angus in the N. and the Sidlaw
Hills to the S., make up a finely diversified county; jute and linen are
the most important articles of manufacture, of which Dundee and Arbroath
are centres; Forfarshire is a county particularly rich in
antiquities--Roman remains, castles, priories, &c.
FORMOSA (3,500), a large island off the coast of China, from which
it is separated by the Fukien Channel, 90 m. broad. Formosa was ceded to
Japan by the Chinese in 1895; it is an island of much natural beauty, and
is traversed N. and S. by a fine range of hills; is famed for its
bamboos, and exports coal, rice, tea, &c. Name also of a large territory
in the Argentine.
FORNARINA, a Roman lady of great beauty, a friend of Raphael's, and
who frequently posed as a model to him.
FORRES (3), a royal burgh in Elginshire, on the Findhorn, 2 m. from
the sea and 10 m. SW. of Elgin by railway; has ruins of a castle--once a
royal residence--and a famous "Stan'in Stane," Sueno's Stone, 25 ft.
high, placed in the year 900.
FORREST, EDWIN, a celebrated American actor, born in Philadelphia;
went on the stage at 14, and from the provinces made his way to New York,
where his rendering of Othello at the age of 20 raised him to the front
rank among actors; he made three tours in England, but during his last in
1845 he entirely lost the popular favour through his conduct in an
embittered quarrel with Macready; after his final appearance on the stage
in 1871 he continued for a short while to give Shakespearian readings; he
was a tragedian of the highest order, and in his profession amassed a
large fortune (1806-1872).
FORS CLAVIGERA, the name given by Ruskin to a series of letters to
workmen, written during the seventies of this century, and employed by
him to designate three great powers which go to fashion human destiny,
viz., _Force_, wearing, as it were, (_clava_) the club of Hercules;
_For_titude, wearing, as it were, (_clavis_) the key of Ulysses; and
_For_tune, wearing, as it were, (_clavus_) the nail of Lycurgus; that is
to say, Faculty waiting on the right moment, and then striking in. See
Shakespeare's "Time and tide in the affairs of men," &c., the "flood" in
which is the "Third Fors." The letters are represented as written at the
dictation of the Third Fors, or, as it seems to the author, the right
moment, or the occurrence of it.
FOeRSTER, ERNST, an art critic, brother of succeeding, author of a
number of elaborate and important works bearing on the history of art in
Germany and Italy; was the son-in-law of Jean Paul, whose works he
edited, and to whose biography he made contributions of great value
(1800-1885).
FOeRSTER, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPH, German poet and historian; his poetic
gifts were first called into exercise during the war of liberation, in
which he served as a volunteer, and the series of spirited war-songs he
then wrote procured him a wide-spread fame; afterwards he lived in
Berlin, teaching in the school of artillery, and subsequently becoming
custodian of the Royal Art Museum; besides poems he wrote several
historical and biographical works (1791-1868).
FORSTER, JOHANN GEORGE ADAM, naturalist, son of the succeeding;
accompanied his father in the voyage with Cook, and contributed to the
literature anent the expedition; subsequently became professor of Natural
History at Cassel and at Wilna, and eventually librarian to the Elector
of Mayence in 1788; his works are published in 9 vols. (1754-1794).
FORSTER, JOHANN REINHOLD, a German naturalist and traveller, born in
Prussia; accompanied Captain Cook as a naturalist on his second
expedition to the South Seas, and in connection with which he wrote a
volume of observations; died professor of Natural History and Mineralogy
at Halle (1729-1798).
FORSTER, JOHN, a noted English writer, born at Newcastle; was
educated for the bar, but took to journalism, and soon made his mark as a
political writer in the _Examiner_; he subsequently edited the _Foreign
Quarterly Review_, the _Daily News_ (succeeding Dickens), and the
_Examiner_ (1847-56); he was the author of several historical sketches,
but his best-known works are the admirable biographies of Goldsmith,
Landor, and Dickens (1812-1876).
FORSTER, WILLIAM EDWARD, statesman, born at Bradpole, Dorset, son of
a Quaker; entered upon a commercial career in a worsted manufactory at
Bradford, but from the first politics engaged his paramount attention,
and in 1861 he became member of Parliament for Bradford; became in
succession Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Vice-president of the
Council of Education, and a Privy Councillor; his chief legislative
measure was the Elementary Education Bill of 1870, which, as a member of
Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet, he carried through Parliament, two years after
which the Ballot Act was introduced by him; in 1874 he visited the United
States, and on his return was elected Lord Rector of Aberdeen University;
as Irish Secretary in 1880 he made an earnest effort to grapple with the
Irish problem, but losing the support of his colleagues, over the
imprisonment of Mr. Parnell and other Land League leaders, he resigned;
he was married to Jane, eldest daughter of Dr. Arnold of Rugby; his
transparent honesty and rugged independence of character won him
universal esteem (1819-1886).
FORT AUGUSTUS, a small village on the Caledonian Canal, 33 m. SW. of
Inverness; the fort, built in 1716 and enlarged in 1730, was utilised as
a barrack during the disturbances in the Highlands, but after being
dismantled and again garrisoned down to 1857, it finally, in 1876, passed
into the hands of the BENEDICTINES (q. v.), who have converted
it into an abbey and college.
FORT GEORGE, a fortress on the Moray Firth, 12 m. NE. of Inverness;
was built in 1748, and is now the head-quarters of the Seaforth
Highlanders.
FORT WILLIAM, a small police-burgh in Inverness-shire, 66 m. SW. of
Inverness, near the southern end of the Caledonian Canal; the railway
station stands on the site of the old fort, which in 1655 was built by
Monk; a meteorological observatory was erected here in 1889.
FORTESCUE, SIR JOHN, an eminent English lawyer, born in
Somersetshire; flourished in the 15th century; was called to the bar at
Lincoln's Inn, and in 1442 became Lord Chief-Justice of the Court of
King's Bench; he was a staunch Lancastrian during the Wars of the Roses,
and shared the exile of Queen Margaret and her son Edward, for whom he
wrote in dialogue form his famous "De Laudibus Legum," a treatise still
read; the fate of the Lancastrian cause was sealed on the field of
Tewkesbury, and he himself was taken prisoner; he died at the advanced
age of 90.
FORTH, a river of Scotland, formed by the junction of Duchray Water
and the Avondhu, streams which rise one on Ben Lomond and the other on
Ben Venue, and which, after 14 and 9 m., unite at Aberfoyle; the river
thence flows with many windings, called Links, through some of the
fairest country of the eastern lowlands to Alloa (511/2 m.), where begins
the Firth, which stretches 51 m. to the German Ocean, and which at
Queensferry is spanned by a massive railway bridge known as the Forth
Bridge (1882-1890).
FORTUNA, a Roman divinity, the goddess of luck, and especially good
luck, to whom Servius Tullius, in acknowledgment of her favours to him,
erected several temples in Rome; is represented in art as standing poised
on a globe or a wheel, to express her inconstancy.
FORTUNATUS, a character in a popular German legend, who possessed a
_purse_ out of which he was able to provide himself with money as often
as he needed it and _cap_, by putting on of which, and wishing to be
anywhere, he was straightway there; these he got, by his own free
election and choice, conceded to him by the Upper Powers, and they proved
a curse to him rather than a blessing, he finding out when too late that
"the god Wish is not the true God."
FORTY THIEVES, a fraternity in the "Arabian Nights" who inhabited a
secret den in a forest, the gate of which would open only to the magic
word "Sesame."
FORUM, a public place in Rome and Roman cities where the courts of
justice were held, and popular assemblies for civic business.
FORWARDS, MARSHAL, MARSHAL BLUeCHER (q. v.).
FOSCARI, a Doge of Venice from 1423 to his death; his reign was
distinguished by the glories of conquest, but his life was embittered by
the misfortunes of his sons, and the judicial tortures inflicted on one
of them which he was compelled to witness; he died at the age of 87,
broken-hearted (1370-1457).
FOSCOLO, UGO, an Italian patriot and author, born at Zante; his
literary career began in Venice with the successful performance of his
tragedy "Trieste," but on the Austrian occupation of the town he joined
the French army; disappointed in the hope that France would unite with
and free Italy, he returned to literary work in Milan, and in 1809 was
called to the chair of Eloquenco in Pavia; but the conquering Austrians
again forced him to become a refugee, first in Switzerland and finally in
England, where he died; he was the author of various essays, poems, etc.,
and of a translation of Sterne's "Sentimental Journey" (1778-1827).
FOSTER, BIRKET, a celebrated artist, born at North Shields; his
earliest work was done in wood-engraving under the direction of Landells,
and many of his sketches appeared in the _Illustrated London News_;
following this he executed, in collaboration with John Gilbert, a series
of illustrations for the works of Goldsmith, Cowper, Scott, and other
poets, in which he exhibited a rare skill in rural scenes; subsequent
work has been in water-colours, and in 1861 he was elected a member of
the Water-Colour Society (1825-1899).
FOSTER, JOHN, an English essayist, born in Halifax, Yorkshire; was
trained for the Baptist ministry, and for 25 years officiated in various
congregations, but met with little success; from 1817 he devoted himself
solely to literature, and became a contributor to the _Eclectic Review_,
for which he wrote no fewer than 184 articles; his best-known work is an
"Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance," in which he advocates a system
of national education (1770-1843).
FOTHERINGAY, a village in Northamptonshire, on the Nen, 9 m. SW. of
Peterborough; the ruined castle there was the scene of the execution of
Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587.
FOUCAULT, JOHN BERNARD, a French physicist, born in Paris;
distinguished for his studies in optics and problems connected with
light; demonstrated the rate of the rotation of the globe by the
oscillation of a pendulum (1819-1868).
FOUCHE, JOSEPH, Duke of Otranto, born at Nantes, a member of the
National Convention, and voted for the death of Louis XVI.; became
Minister of Police under Napoleon; falling into disfavour, was sent into
exile, but recalled to Paris in 1814; advised Napoleon to abdicate at
that time and again after Waterloo; served under Louis XVIII. for a time,
but was obliged at length to quit France for good; died at Trieste
(1763-1820).
FOULA, a high and rocky islet among the Shetlands, 32 m. W. of
Lerwick; its sandstone cliffs on the NW. are 1220 ft. in height, and rise
sheer from the water; it is sparsely peopled; fishing is the almost sole
pursuit.
FOULD, ACHILLE, French statesman, born at Paris; entered political
life in 1842; became an authority in finance, served in that capacity
under Louis Napoleon (1800-1865).
FOULIS, ROBERT and ANDREW, celebrated printers; were brought up
in Glasgow, where Robert, the elder, after practising as a barber, took
to printing, and in 1743 became printer to the university; his press was
far-famed for the beauty and accuracy of editions of the classics; Andrew
was trained for the ministry, but subsequently joined his brother; an
academy, started by the brothers in 1753 for engraving, moulding, etc.,
although a complete success artistically, involved them in expense, and
eventually financial ruin; they have been called the "Scottish Elzevirs"
(Robert, 1707-1776; Andrew, 1712-1775).
FOULON, a French financier, nicknamed the _Ame damnee_, Familiar
demon, of the parlement of Paris prior to the Revolution; "once, when it
was objected to some financial scheme of his, 'What will the people do?'
made answer, 'The people may eat grass,'" words which the people never
forgot; when attacked by them "he defended himself like a mad lion, but
was borne down, trampled, hanged, and mangled," his head thereafter
paraded through the city on a pike and the mouth stuffed with grass
(1715-1789).
FOUNDLING HOSPITALS are institutions for the rearing of children who
have been deserted by their parents, and exist with varying regulations
in most civilised countries; the first foundling hospital was established
at Milan in 787, and others arose in Germany, Italy, and France before
the 14th century; the Paris foundling hospital is a noted institution of
the kind, and offers every encouragement for children to be brought in,
and admits legitimate orphans and children pronounced incorrigible
criminals by the court; the London foundling hospital was founded by
Captain Thomas Coram, and supports about 500 illegitimates.
FOUQUIER-TINVILLE, a merciless revolutionary, born near Artois;
member of the Jacobin Club, Attorney-General of the Revolutionary
Tribunal, purveyor of the guillotine; was guillotined himself after the
fall of Robespierre (1747-1795).
FOURTH ESTATE, the daily press, so called by Edmund Burke, pointing,
in the House of Commons, to the reporters' gallery.
FOURTH OF JULY, the anniversary of the declaration of American
Independence in 1776.
FOWLER, SIR JOHN, K.C.M.G., civil engineer, born at Sheffield; was
actively engaged in the construction of numerous railways (notably the
London and Brighton), and in dock and bridge building; carried through
important works in Egypt in 1885, and, along with Sir B. Baker, he
designed the Forth Bridge, on the completion of which he received a
baronetcy (1817-1889).
FOX, CHARLES JAMES, an eminent Whig statesman, third son of Henry
Fox, first Lord Holland, born in London; was educated at Eton and Oxford,
and at the age of 19 sat in Parliament for Midhurst; under Lord North he
held office, but quarrelled with the premier and went over to the Whigs,
then led by Rockingham; here he came under the influence of Burke, and
with him offered uncompromising opposition to the American War; in the
Rockingham ministry which followed he was Foreign Secretary, and
subsequently joined North in the short-lived coalition ministry of 1783;
during the next 14 years he was the great opponent of Pitt's Government,
and his brilliant powers of debate were never more effectively displayed
than in his speeches against Warren Hastings and in the debates arising
out of the French Revolution, in which he advocated a policy of
non-intervention; his sympathy with the French revolutionaries cost him
the friendship of Burke; during a retirement of five years he wrote his
"History of James II."; on Pitt's death in 1806 he again came into office
as Foreign Secretary, but died shortly afterwards when about to plead in
the House of Commons the cause of slave abolition; Fox stands in the
front rank of our parliamentary debaters, and was a man of quick and
generous sympathies, but the reckless dissipation of his private life
diminished his popular influence, and probably accounts for the fact that
he never reached the highest office of State (1749-1806).
FOX, GEORGE, the first of the Quakers, born at Drayton,
Leicestershire; son of a poor weaver, and till his twentieth year plied
the trade of a shoemaker; conceived, as he drudged at this task, that he
had a call from above to withdraw from the world and give himself up to a
higher ministry; stitched for himself one day a suit of leather, and so
encased wandered through the country, rapt in his thoughts and bearing
witness to the truth that God had revealed to him; about 1646 began his
crusade against the religion of mere formality, and calling upon men to
trust to the "inner light" alone; his quaint garb won him the title of
"the man with the leather breeches," and his mode of speech with his
"thou's" and "thee's" subjected him to general ridicule; but despite
these eccentricities he by his earnestness gathered disciples about him
who believed what he said and adopted his principles, and in the
prosecution of his mission he visited Wales, Scotland, America, and
various parts of Germany, not without results; he had no kindly feeling
towards Cromwell, with whom he had three interviews, and who in his
public conduct seemed to him to pay no regard to the claims of the "inner
light" and the disciples of it (1624-1690). See "SARTOR RESARTUS,"
BOOK III. CHAP. I.
FOX, WILLIAM JOHNSON, religious and political orator, born near
Southwold, Suffolk; was trained for the Independent ministry, but seceded
to the Unitarians, and subsequently established himself as a preacher of
pronounced rationalism at Finsbury; as a supporter of the Anti-Corn-Law
movement he won celebrity as an impassioned orator, and from 1847 to 1863
represented Oldham in Parliament; he was editor of the _Monthly
Repository_, and a frequent contributor to the _Westminster Review_, and
published various works on political and religious topics (1786-1864).
FOXE, JOHN, martyrologist, born at Boston, Lincolnshire; in 1545 he
resigned his Fellowship in Magdalen College, Oxford, on account of his
espousing the doctrines of the Reformation, and for some years after he
acted as a private tutor in noble families; during Queen Mary's reign he
sought refuge on the Continent, where he formed acquaintance with Knox
and other leading Reformers; he returned to England on the accession of
Elizabeth, and was appointed a prebend in Salisbury cathedral, but his
Nonconformist leanings precluded his further preferment; his most famous
work is his "Book of Martyrs," first published in Latin on the Continent,
the noble English version appearing in 1563 (1516-1587).
FOYERS, FALL OF, a fine cascade, having a fall of 165 ft., on the
lower portion of the Foyers, a river of Inverness-shire, which enters
Loch Ness on the E. side, 10 in. NE. of Fort Augustus.
FRA DIAVOLO, chief of a band of Italian brigands, born in Calabria;
leader in sundry Italian insurrections; was hanged at Naples for
treachery, in spite of remonstrances from England; gave name to an opera
by Auber, but only the name (1760-1806).
FRACAS`TORO, GIROLAMO, a learned physician and poet, born at Verona;
became professor of Dialectic at Padua in his twentieth year;
subsequently practised as a physician, but eventually gave himself up to
literature (1483-1553).
FRAGONARD, JEAN HONORE, a French artist, born at Grasse; gained the
"prix de Rome" in 1752, and afterwards studied in Rome; was a member of
the French Academy, and during the Revolution became keeper of the Musee;
many of his paintings are in the Louvre, and are characterised by their
free and luscious colouring (1732-1806).
FRANC, a silver coin 835/1000 fine, the monetary unity of France
since 1799, weighs 5 grammes and equals about 91/2 d. in English currency
(L1 = 25.3 francs); has been adopted by Belgium and Switzerland, while
under other names a similar coin is in use in Spain (peseta), Italy
(lira), and Greece (drachma).
FRANCE (38,343), the land of the French; a nation standing in the
front rank among the powers of Europe. It occupies a geographical
position of peculiar advantage in the western portion of it, having a
southern foreshore on the Mediterranean and a western and northern
seaboard washed by the Atlantic and the English Channel, possessing
altogether a coast-line, rather undeveloped however, of upwards of 2000
m., while to the E. it abuts upon Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and
Italy. It is divided into 87 departments, including Corsica. It is mainly
composed of lowland and plateau, but has the Cevennes in the S., while
the Pyrenees and Alps (with the Vosges and Ardennes farther N.) lie on
its southern and eastern boundaries. Rivers abound and form, with the
splendid railway, canal, and telegraph systems, an unrivalled means of
internal communication; but there are singularly few lakes. It enjoys on
the whole a fine climate, which favours the vineyards in the centre (the
finest in the world), the olive groves in the S., and the wheat and
beetroot region in the N. The mineral wealth is inconsiderable, and what
of coal and iron there is lies widely apart. Her manufactures, which
include silk, wine, and woollen goods, are of the best, and in fine
artistic work she is without an equal. The colonies are together larger
in area than the mother-country, and include Algeria, Madagascar, and
Cochin China. The French are a people of keen intelligence, of bright,
impulsive, and vivacious nature; urbane, cultured, and pleasure-loving in
the cities, thrifty and industrious in the country; few races have given
so rich a bequest to the literature and art of the world. Roman
Catholicism is the dominant form of religion, but Protestantism and the
Jewish religion are also State supported, as also Mohammedanism in
Algiers. Free compulsory education is in vogue. The Government is a
Republic, and there are two chambers--a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.
Originally occupied by Celts, the country, then called Gallia, was
conquered by the Romans between 58 and 51 B.C., who occupied it till the
4th century, when it was overrun by the Teutons, including the Franks,
who became dominant; and about 870 the country, under Charles the Bald,
became known as France. The unsettling effects of the great cataclysm of
1789 have been apparent in the series of political changes which have
swept across the country this century; within that time it has been
thrice a monarchy, thrice an empire, and thrice a republic.
FRANCESCA, PISTRO DELLA, an Italian painter, sometimes called Piero
Borghese after his native place; did fresco-work in Florence and at
Loretto; painted pictures for the Duke of Rimini, notably "The
Flagellation"; was a friend of Raphael's father; some of his pictures are
in the London National Gallery (1420-1492).
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, a beautiful Italian lady of the 13th century,
whose pathetic love story finds a place in Dante's "Inferno"; she was
betrothed by her father, the Lord of Ravenna, to Giovanni of Rimini, but
her affections were engaged by Paolo, his brother; the lovers were found
together by Giovanni and murdered by him.
FRANCESCO DI PAULA or ST. FRANCIS OF PAOLA, founder of the
order of the Minims, born at Paula, in Calabria; was trained in a
Franciscan convent, but at the age of 19 took up his abode in a cave,
where the severe purity and piety of his life attracted to him many
disciples; subsequently he founded an ascetic brotherhood, first called
the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, but afterwards changed to
Minim-Hermits of St. Francis of Paola; he eventually lived in France,
where convents were built for him and his brotherhood under royal
patronage (1416-1507).
FRANCHE-COMTE, an ancient province in the E. of France, added to the
crown of France in the reign of Louis XIV. at the peace of Nimeguen in
1671.
FRANCIA, DR. JOSE GASPAR RODRIGUEZ DA, dictator of Paraguay, born
near Asuncion, in Paraguay; graduated as a doctor of theology, but
subsequently took to law, in the practice of which profession he was
engaged for 30 years, and won a high reputation for ability and
undeviating honesty; in the revolutionary uprising which spread
throughout Spanish South America, Paraguay played a conspicuous part, and
when in 1811 she declared her independence, Francia was elected secretary
of the first national junta, and two years later one of two consuls;
eventually, in 1814, he became dictator, a position he held till his
death; he ruled the country with a strong hand and with scrupulous, if
somewhat rough, justice, making it part of his policy to allow no
intercourse, political or commercial, with other countries; the country
flourished under his rule, but fell into disorder after his death; he is
the subject of a well-known essay by Carlyle, who finds him a man very
much after his own heart (1757-1840).
FRANCIS, ST., OF ASSISI, founder of the Franciscan order, born at
Assisi, in Umbria; began life as a soldier, but during a serious illness
his thoughts were turned from earth to heaven, and he devoted himself to
a life of poverty and self-denial, with the result that his enthusiasm
provoked emulation, and some of his neighbours associated with him and
formed a brotherhood, which gave rise to the order; St. Dominic and he
were contemporaries, "the former teaching Christian men how to behave,
and the latter what they should think"; each sent a little company of
disciples to teach and preach in Florence, where their influence soon
made itself felt, St. Francis in 1212 and St. Dominic in 1220.
FRANCIS, ST., OF SALES, bishop of Geneva, born In the chateau of
Sales, near Amiens, founder of the Order of the Visitation; was sent to
persuade the Calvinists of Geneva back to the Church of Rome, and applied
himself zealously to the reform of his diocese and the monasteries
(1567-1622).
FRANCIS JOSEPH, emperor of Austria and king of Hungary; succeeded to
the throne in 1848 on the abdication of his uncle, Ferdinand I.; the
Hungarian difficulty has been the chief problem of his reign, with which
he at first dealt in a spirit of harsh oppression, but since 1866 a
milder policy has been adopted, and the desire for national autonomy was
met by the creation of a dual monarchy in 1867, Francis being crowned
king of Hungary; other important events have been the cession of Lombardy
to Sardinia in 1859 and of Venetia in 1866, after an unsuccessful war
with Prussia; _b_. 1830.
FRANCISCANS, or MINORITES, an order of monks founded by St.
Francis of Assisi in 1208; according to Ruskin, they were the order that
preached with St James the gospel of Works as distinct from the
Dominicans, who preached with St. Paul the gospel of Faith, and their
gospel required three things: "to work without money and be poor, to work
without pleasure and be chaste, and to work according to orders and be
obedient"; these were the rules they were sworn to obey at first, but
they gradually forsook the austerity they enjoined, acquired great
wealth, instituted a highly sensuous ceremonial, and became invested with
privileges which excited the jealousy of the regular clergy; with the
order were associated a number of men eminent in the Church, and many no
less so in philosophy, literature, and art.
FRANCK, SEBASTIAN, early German writer, born at Donauwoerth; from a
Catholic priest became a Protestant, but fell into disfavour for
promulgating the doctrine that regeneration of life is of more importance
than reform of dogma, and in 1531 was banished from Strasburg;
subsequently he became a soap-boiler and eventually a printer; his most
noted work is his "Chronica," a rough attempt--the first in Germany--at a
general history (1499-1542).
FRANCKE, AUGUST HERMANN, a German religious philanthropist, born at
Luebeck; was professor of Oriental Languages and subsequently of Theology
at Halle; he founded various educational institutions and a large
orphanage, all of which still exist and afford education for some 3000
children annually; he was active in promoting PIETISM, q. v.
(1663-1727).
FRANCONIA, the name formerly applied to a loosely defined district
in Central Germany, which, as the home of the Franks, was regarded as the
heart of the Holy Roman Empire; the emperors long continued to be crowned
within its boundaries; subsequently it was divided into two duchies, East
Franconia and Rhenish Franconia; the latter was abolished in 1501 and the
former much diminished; from 1806 to 1837 the name had no official
existence, but in 1837 the names Upper, Middle, and Lower Franconia were
given to the three northern divisions of Bavaria.
FRANC-TIREURS (i. e. free-shooters), French volunteers, chiefly
peasants, who carried on a guerilla warfare against the Germans in the
Franco-German War; were at first denied the status of regular soldiers by
the Germans and mercilessly shot when captured, but subsequently, having
joined in the movements of the regular army, they were when captured
treated as prisoners of war.
FRANKENSTEIN, a monster of romance created without a soul, yet not
without craving for human sympathy, who found existence on these terms a
curse, as a man with high cravings might find science to be without God.
FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN (180), one of the old free cities of Germany,
a centre of importance under the Kaisers and the seat of the Diet of the
Germanic Confederation, and one of the great banking cities of the world;
it is the birthplace of the poet Goethe, and is associated with his early
history.
FRANKFORT-ON-THE-ODER (56), a town of Prussia, in the province of
Brandenburg, 51 m. SE. of Berlin, is a well-built town; has a university
incorporated with Breslau in 1811, and is actively engaged in the
manufacture of machinery, chemicals, paper, &c.
FRANKLAND, SIR EDWARD, an eminent chemist, born at Churchtown,
Lancashire; has held successively the chairs of Chemistry in Owens
College, in Bartholomew's Hospital, in the Royal Institution, in the
Royal College of Chemistry, and in the Normal School of Science, South
Kensington, the latter of which he resigned in 1885; has published
various works, and was engaged with Lockyer in researches on the
atmosphere of the sun; _b_. 1825.
FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, born in Boston, was the youngest son of a
tallow-chandler and one of a family of 17; received a meagre education,
and at the age of 12 became apprenticed to his brother, a printer and
proprietor of a small newspaper, to whose columns he began to contribute;
but subsequently quarrelling with him made his way almost penniless to
Philadelphia, where he worked as a printer; in 1724 he came to England
under promises of assistance, which were not fulfilled, and for 18 months
laboured at his printing trade in London, when he returned to
Philadelphia, and there, by steady industry, won a secure position as a
printer and proprietor of the _Pennsylvania Gazette_; in 1732 began to
appear his _Poor Richard's Almanac_, which, with its famous maxims of
prudential philosophy, had a phenomenal success; four years later he
entered upon a public career, rising through various offices to the
position of Deputy Postmaster-General for the Colonies, and sitting in
the Assembly; carried through important political missions to England in
1757 and 1764, and was prominent in the deliberations which ended in the
declaration of American independence in 1776; he visited France and
helped to bring about the French alliance, and made an unavailing effort
to bring in Canada, and, as American minister, signed the Treaty of
Independence in 1783; was subsequently minister to France, and was twice
unanimously elected President of Pennsylvania; his name is also
associated with discoveries in natural science, notably the discovery of
the identity of electricity and lightning, which he achieved by means of
a kite; received degrees from Oxford and Edinburgh Universities, and was
elected an F.R.S.; in 1730 he married Deborah Reid, by whom he had two
children (1706-1790).
FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN, a famous Arctic explorer, born at Spilsby,
Lincolnshire; entered the navy in 1800; was a midshipman; was present at
the battle of Copenhagen; shortly afterwards accompanied an expedition,
under Captain Minders, to explore and survey the coasts of Australia; was
wrecked, and returned home on board the _Camden_ as a signal-midshipman;
he subsequently distinguished himself at the battle of Trafalgar, and
took part in the attack on New Orleans; in 1818 he was second in command
of an expedition sent out under Captain Buchan to discover a North-West
Passage, which, although unsuccessful, contributed to reveal Franklin's
admirable qualities as a leader, and in 1819 he was chosen to head
another Arctic expedition, which, after exploring the Saskatchewan and
Copper-Mine Rivers and adjacent territory, returned in 1822; Franklin was
created a post-captain, and for services in a further expedition in
search of a North-West Passage was, in 1829, knighted; after further
services he was in 1845 put in command of an expedition, consisting of
the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, for the discovery of the North-West Passage;
the expedition never returned, and for many years a painful interest was
manifested in the various expeditions (17 in all) which were sent out to
search for the lost party; many relics of this unfortunate explorer were
found, demonstrating the discovery of the North-West Passage; but the
story of his fate has never been precisely ascertained (1786-1847).
FRANKS, the name given in the 3rd century to a confederation of
Germanic tribes, who subsequently grouped themselves into two main bodies
called the Salians and the Ripuarians, the former dwelling on the Upper
Rhine, and the latter on the Middle Rhine. Under their king, Clovis, the
Salians overran Central Gaul, subjugating the Ripuarians, and extending
their territory from the Scheldt to the Loire, whence in course of time
there generally developed the kingdom of France. The Franks were of a
tall and martial bearing, and thoroughly democratic in their political
instincts.
FRANZ, ROBERT, musical composer, born at Halle; his first songs
appeared in 1843, and were cordially appreciated by Mendelssohn and other
masters; in 1868 ill-health forced him to resign his musical appointments
in Halle, but by the efforts of Liszt, Joachim, and others, funds were
raised by means of concerts to ensure him a competence for life; he
published upwards of 250 songs (1815-1892).
FRANZENSBAD or FRANZENSBRUNN (2), a watering-place on the NW.
frontier of Bohemia, 3 m. NW. of Eger; is 1460 ft. above sea-level,
amidst a mountainous country; is much frequented by invalids for its
mineral springs.
FRANZ-JOSEF LAND, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, N. of Nova
Zembla; was discovered and partly explored in 1873-74 by Payer and
Weyprecht; consists of two main divisions, Wilczek Land to the E., and
Zichy Land to the W., between which runs Austria Sound. Arctic animals
are found in good numbers. It is considered an excellent base for
expeditions in quest of the North Pole.
FRASER, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, philosopher, born at Ardchattan,
Argyllshire; after a university training at Edinburgh and Glasgow he
entered the Free Church; was for a brief term Free Church minister of
Cramond, from which he was transferred to a chair in the Free Church
College, but in 1856 succeeded Sir William Hamilton as professor of Logic
and Metaphysics at Edinburgh, a position he held till 1891, when he
resigned; his writings include the standard edition of Berkeley, with
notes and a life, monographs on Locke and Berkeley in the series of
"Philosophical Classics," and two vols. on the "Philosophy of Theism,"
being the Gifford Lectures delivered 1895-96; _b_. 1819.
FRASER, JAMES, bishop of Manchester, born near Cheltenham, became a
Fellow of Oriel after graduating with highest honours, and in 1847 was
appointed to a college living; he issued in 1862-1864 valuable reports on
education in Canada and the United States after visiting these countries;
and in 1870 was appointed bishop by Mr. Gladstone; his strong sense and
wide sympathy and interest in the labour questions won him universal
respect (1818-1885).
FRASER RIVER, the chief river of British Columbia, is formed by the
junction near Fort George of two streams, one rising in the Rockies, the
other flowing out of the Lakes Stuart and Fraser; it discharges into the
Georgian Gulf, 800 m. below Fort George. Rich deposits of gold are found
in the lower basin, and an active industry in salmon-catching and canning
is carried on.
FRATICELLI (i. e. Little Brethren), a religious sect which arose
in Italy in the 13th century, and continued to exist until the close of
the 15th. They were an offshoot from the FRANCISCANS (q. v.),
who sought in their lives to enforce more rigidly the laws of St.
Francis, and declined to accept the pontifical explanations of monastic
rules; ultimately they broke away from the authority of the Church, and
despite the efforts of various popes to reconcile them, and the bitter
persecutions of others, maintained a separate organisation, going the
length of appointing their own cardinals and pope, having declared the
Church in a state of apostasy. Their regime of life was of the severest
nature; they begged from door to door their daily food, and went clothed
in rags.
FRAUNHOFER, JOSEPH VON, German optician, born in Straubing, Bavaria;
after serving an apprenticeship as a glass-cutter in Muenich, he rose to
be manager of an optical institute there, and eventually attained to the
position of professor in the Academy of Sciences; his name is associated
with many discoveries in optical science as well as inventions and
improvements in the optician's art; but he is chiefly remembered for his
discovery of the dark lines in the solar spectrum, since called after him
the Fraunhofer lines (1787-1826).
FREDEGONDA, wife of Chilperic I. of Neustria; a woman of low birth,
but of great beauty and insatiable ambition, who scrupled at no crime to
attain her end; made away with Galswintha, Chilperic's second wife, and
superseded her on the throne; slew Siegbert, who had been sent to avenge
Galswintha's death, and imprisoned Brunhilda, her sister, of Austrasia,
and finally assassinated her husband and governed Neustria in the name of
her son, Clotaire II. (543-597).
FREDERICK I., surnamed Barbarossa (Red-beard), of the house of
Swabia, emperor of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE (q. v.) from 1152 till
1190; "a magnificent, magnanimous man, the greatest of all the Kaisers";
his reign is the most brilliant in the annals of the empire, and he
himself among the most honoured of German heroes; his vast empire he
ruled with iron rigour, quelling its rival factions and extending his
sovereign rights to Poland, Hungary, Denmark, and Burgundy; the great
struggle of his reign, however, was with Pope Alexander III. and the
Lombard cities, whose right to independence he acknowledged by the treaty
of Constanz (1183); he "died some unknown sudden death" at 70 in the
crusade against Saladin and the Moslem power; his lifelong ambition was
to secure the independence of the empire, and to subdue the States of
Italy to the imperial sway (1123-1190).
FREDERICK II., called the Wonder of the World, grandson of the
preceding; he was crowned emperor in 1215, at Aix-la-Chapelle, having
driven Otto IV. from the throne; he gave much attention to the
consolidating of his Italian possessions, encouraged learning and art,
founded the university of Naples, and had the laws carefully codified; in
these attempts at harmonising the various elements of his empire he was
opposed by the Papal power and the Lombards; in 1228 he gained possession
of Jerusalem, of which he crowned himself king; his later years were
spent in struggles with the Papal and Lombard powers, and darkened by the
treachery of his son Henry and of an intimate friend; he was a man of
outstanding intellectual force and learning, but lacked the moral
greatness of his grandfather (1194-1250).
FREDERICK III., emperor of Germany, born at Potsdam; bred for the
army; rose to command; did signal service at Koeniggratz in 1860, and
again in 1870 in the Franco-German War; married the Princess Royal of
England; succeeded his father, but fell a victim to a serious throat
malady after a reign of only 101 days, June 18 (1831-1888).
FREDERICK V., Electoral Prince Palatine; succeeded to the Palatinate
in 1610, and three years later married Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of
England; an attempt to head the Protestant union of Germany and his
usurpation of the crown of Bohemia brought about his ruin and expulsion
from the Palatinate in 1620 by the Spaniards and Bavarians; he took
refuge in Holland, but two years later his principality was given to
Bavaria by the emperor (1596-1632).
FREDERICK III., of Denmark, succeeded to the throne in 1648; during
his reign the arrogance and oppression of the nobles drove the commons,
headed by the clergy, to seek redress of the king by proclaiming the
constitution a hereditary and absolute monarchy (1609-1670).
FREDERICK V., of Denmark, ascended the throne in 1746; during his
reign Denmark made great progress, manufactures were established,
commerce extended, while science and the fine arts were liberally
patronised (1723-1766).
FREDERICK VI., of Denmark, became regent in 1784 during the insanity
of his father, who died in 1808; his reign is noted for the abolishment
of feudal serfdom and the prohibition of the slave-trade in Danish
colonies, and the granting of a liberal constitution in 1831; while his
participation in the maritime confederation between Russia, Sweden, and
Prussia led to the destruction of the Danish fleet off Copenhagen in 1800
by the British, and his sympathy and alliance with Napoleon brought about
the bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, and the cession of Norway to
Sweden in 1814 (1768-1839).
FREDERICK I., first king of Prussia, third elector of Brandenburg,
and son of the Great Elector Frederick-William, whom as elector he
succeeded in 1688; he extended his territory by purchase; supported
William of Orange in his English expedition, and lent assistance to the
Grand Alliance against France, for which he received the title of king of
Prussia, being crowned such in Koenigsberg in 1701; he was "an expensive
Herr, and much given to magnificent ceremonies, etiquettes, and
solemnities" (1657-1713).
FREDERICK II., king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, surnamed "The
Great," grandson of the preceding, and nephew of George I. of England,
born at Berlin; the irksome restraints of his early military education
induced him to make an attempt, which failed, to escape to England, an
episode which incensed his father, and nearly brought him to the
scaffold; after his marriage in 1733 he resided at Rheinsburg, indulging
his taste for music and French literature, and corresponding with
Voltaire; he came to the throne with the ambition of extending and
consolidating his power; from Austria, after two wars (1740-1744), he
wrested Silesia, and again in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and in
1778 by force of arms acquired the duchy of Franconia; as administrator
he was eminently efficient, the country flourished under his just, if
severe, rule; his many wars imposed no debt on the nation; national
industries were fostered, and religious toleration encouraged; he was not
so successful in his literary attempts as his military, and all he wrote
was in French, the spirit of it as well as the letter; he is accounted
the creator of the Prussian monarchy "the first," says Carlyle, "who, in
a highly public manner, announced its creation; announced to all men that
it was, in very deed, created; standing on its own feet there, and would
go a great way on the impulse it got from him and others" (1712-1786).
FREDERICK CHARLES, PRINCE, nephew of William I. of Germany; bred for
the army; distinguished himself in the wars against Denmark and Austria,
and in the Franco-German War (1828-1885).
FREDERICK-WILLIAM I., king of Prussia, born at Berlin, ascended the
throne in 1713; in 1720, at the peace of Stockholm, he received part of
Pomerania with Stettin for espousing the cause of Denmark in her war with
Russia and Poland against Sweden; the rest of his reign was passed in
improving the internal conditions of his country and her military
resources; in praise of him as a sternly genuine man and king, Carlyle
has much to say in the early volumes of his "Frederick"; "No Baresark of
them" ("the primeval sons of Thor"), among whom he ranks him, "no
Baresark of them, not Odin's self, I think, was a bit of truer human
stuff; his value to me in these times, rare and great" (1688-1740).
FREDERICK-WILLIAM II., king of Prussia, nephew of FREDERICK THE
GREAT (q. v.); succeeded to the throne in 1786, but soon lost
favour by indolence and favouritism; in 1788 the freedom of the press was
withdrawn, and religious freedom curtailed; he involved himself in a weak
and vacillating foreign policy, wasting the funds accumulated by his
uncle in a useless war with Holland; at the partition of Poland in 1793
and 1795 various districts were added to the kingdom (1744-1797).
FREDERICK-WILLIAM III., king of Prussia from 1797 till 1840; incited
by the queen and the commons he abandoned his position of neutrality
towards Napoleon and declared war in 1806; defeat followed at Jena and in
other battles, and by the treaty of Tilsit (1807) Prussia was deprived of
half her possessions; under the able administration of Stein the country
began to recover itself, and a war for freedom succeeded in breaking the
power of France at the victory of Leipzig (1813), and at the treaty of
Vienna (1815) her lost territory was restored; his remaining years were
spent in consolidating and developing his dominions, but his policy was
sometimes reactionary in its effects (1770-1840).
FREDERICK-WILLIAM IV., king of Prussia from 1840 till 1861; his
reign is marked by the persistent demands of the people for a
constitutional form of government, which was finally granted in 1850; a
year previous he had declined the imperial crown offered by the Frankfort
Diet; in 1857 he became insane, and his brother was appointed regent
(1795-1861).
FREDERIKSHALD, a fortified seaport of Norway, 65 m. SE. of
Christiania; was burnt in 1826, but handsomely restored in modern style;
timber is the main trade; in the immediate neighbourhood is the
impregnable fortress of Frederiksteen, associated with the death of
Charles XII. of Sweden, who fell fighting in the trenches before its
walls in 1718.
FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, an ecclesiastical body formed by those who
left the Established Church in 1843 on the ground that they were not free
in their connection with the State to enforce certain obligations which
they considered lay on them as a Church of Christ, to whom, and not to
the State, they held themselves as a Church subject.
FREE CITIES OF GERMANY, were cities which enjoyed sovereign rights
within their own walls, independent representation in the Diet, and owned
allegiance solely to the emperor. Their internal government was sometimes
democratic, sometimes the opposite. Their peculiar privileges were
obtained either by force of arms, by purchase, or by gift of the
emperors, who found in them a convenient means of checking the power of
their feudal lords. Most of them lost their privileges in 1803, and since
1866 only Luebeck, Bremen, and Hamburg remain in the category of free
cities.
FREE PORT, name given to a port at which ships of all nations may
discharge or load cargo without payment of customs or other duties, save
harbour dues. They were created in various Continental countries during
the Middle Ages for the purpose of stimulating trade, but Copenhagen and,
in a restricted sense, Hamburg and Bremen are now the only free ports in
Europe. The system of bonded warehousing has superseded them.
FREE SOILERS, a political party which arose in the United States in
1848 to oppose slave-extension. In 1856 their principles were adopted,
and the party absorbed in the newly-formed Republican party.
FREE TRADE, the name given to the commercial policy of England,
first elaborately set forth with cogent reasoning by Adam Smith in his
"Wealth of Nations," and of which the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was
the first step towards its adoption. Strictly used, the term is
applicable only to international or foreign trade, and signifies a policy
of strict non-intervention in the free competition of foreign goods with
home goods in the home markets. Differential duties, artificial
encouragements (e. g. bounties, drawbacks), to the home producer, all
of which are characteristic of a protective system of trading, are
withheld, the belief being entertained by free-traders that the
industrial interests of a country are best served by permitting the
capital to flow into those channels of trade into which the character and
resources of the country naturally dispose it to do, and also by bringing
the consumer as near as possible to the cheapest producer. But it is not
considered a violation of the Free Trade principles to impose a duty for
revenue purposes on such imported articles as have no home competitor,
e. g. tea.
FREEMAN, EDWARD AUGUSTUS, historian, born at Mitchley Abbey,
Staffordshire; was a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford; examiner in the
School of Law and Modern History; in 1884 he was elected Regius Professor
of Modern History at Oxford; most of his life was spent in country
retirement at Somerleaze, varied by Continental travel; he is the author
of many scholarly works ranging over the whole field of history, his
fame, however, mainly resting on his great "History of the Norman
Conquest" (1823-1892).
FREEMASONRY, in modern times is the name given to a world-wide
institution of the nature of a friendly benevolent society, having for
its objects the promotion of social intercourse amongst its members, and,
in its own language, "the practice of moral and social virtue," the
exercise of charity being particularly commended. By a peculiar grip of
the hand and certain passwords members are enabled to recognise each
other, and the existence of masonic lodges in all countries enables the
freemason to find friendly intercourse and assistance wherever he goes.
Its origin is found in the masonic brotherhoods of the Middle Ages, and
some of the names, forms, and symbols of these old craft guilds are still
preserved. In an age when great cathedrals and monasteries were rapidly
springing up masons were in great demand, and had to travel from place to
place, hence signs were adopted by which true masons might be known
amongst each other and assisted. The idea of utilising this secret method
of recognition for general, social, and charitable purposes, without
reference to the mason's craft, seems to have originated in the Edinburgh
Lodge, where, in 1600, speculative or theoretical masons were admitted.
In its present form of organisation it dates back to 1813, when the
"United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of England" was
formed, and of which, since 1874, the Prince of Wales has been
Grand-Master, and which has nearly 2000 local lodges under its
protection.
FREEPORT, SIR ANDREW, a London merchant; a member of the imaginary
club under whose auspices the _Spectator_ was issued.
FREIBERG (29), in the centre of the Saxon mining district, 20 m. SW.
of Dresden; is an old town, which arose upon the discovery of its silver
mines in 1163. It has a fine old cathedral, and a famous school of mines;
and the manufactures comprise gold and silver work, wire, chemicals, etc.
FREIBURG, 1, a Swiss canton (119) between Bern and Vaud, and having
three esclaves in the latter; the population consists chiefly of French
Catholics; is hilly; dairy-farming, watchmaking, and straw-plaiting are
the chief industries. 2, Capital (12) of the canton, is situated on the
Saane, 19 m. SW. of Bern; the river is spanned by a suspension bridge,
and there is an old Gothic cathedral with one of the finest-toned organs
in Europe.
FREIBURG (49), in Breisgau, an important town in Baden, at the W.
side of the Black Forest, and 32 m. NE. of Basel; has a Gothic cathedral
famous for its architectural beauty, a university with 87 professors and
teachers and 884 students; has important manufactures in silk, cotton,
thread, paper, etc.; is the seat of a Catholic archbishop, and is
associated with many stirring events in German history.
FREILIGRATH, FERDINAND, a popular German poet, born at Detmold; was
engaged in commerce in his early years, but the success of a small
collection of poems in 1838 induced him to adopt a literary career;
subsequently his democratic principles, expressed in stirring verse,
involved him in trouble, and in 1846 he became a refugee in London; he
was permitted to return in 1848, and shortly afterwards was the
successful defendant in a celebrated trial for the publication of his
poem "The Dead to the Living," after which fresh prosecution drove him to
London in 1851, where, till his return in 1868, he engaged in poetical
work, translating Burns, Shakespeare, and other English poets
(1810-1876).
FREISCHUeTZ (i. e. Freeshooter), a legendary hunter who made a
compact with the devil whereby of seven balls six should infallibly hit
the mark, and the seventh be under the direction of the devil, a legend
which was rife among the troopers in the 13th and 14th centuries, and has
given name to one of Weber's operas.
FREMONT, JOHN CHARLES, an American explorer, born at Savannah,
Georgia; at first a teacher of mathematics in the navy, subsequently took
to civil-engineering and surveying; in 1843 explored the South Pass of
the Rockies, and proved the practicability of an overland route; explored
the Great Salt Lake, the watershed between the Mississippi and Pacific,
and the upper reaches of the Rio Grande; he rendered valuable services in
the Mexican War, but was deprived of his captaincy for disobedience;
after unsuccessfully standing for the Presidency in the anti-slavery
interest, he again served in the army as major-general; a scheme for a
southern railway to the Pacific brought him into trouble with the French
government in 1873, when he was tried and condemned for fraud, unjustly
it would seem; from 1878 to 1882 he was governor of Arizona; he was the
recipient of distinctions from various geographical societies
(1813-1890).
FRENCH PHILOSOPHISM, an analysis of things conducted on the
presumption that scientific knowledge is the key to unlock the mystery
and resolve the riddle of the universe.
FRENCH REVOLUTION, according to Carlyle "the open violent revolt,
and victory, of disimprisoned Anarchy against corrupt, worn-out
Authority, the crowning Phenomenon of our Modern Time," but for which, he
once protested to Mr. Froude, he would not have known what to make of
this world at all; it was a sign to him that the God of judgment still
sat sovereign at the heart of it.
FRERE, SIR HENRY BARTLE EDWARD, a distinguished diplomatist and
colonial governor, born near Abergavenny; entering the East India Company
in 1834, he rendered important services as administrator in Mahratta and
as Resident in Sattara in 1847; as the chief-commissioner in Sind he did
much to open up the country by means of canals, roads, etc.; during the
Mutiny, which arrested these works of improvement, he distinguished
himself by the prompt manner in which he suppressed the rising in his own
province; from 1862 to 1867 he was governor of Bombay; in 1867 was
knighted, and five years later carried through important diplomatic work
in Zanzibar, signing the treaty abolishing the slave-trade; his last
appointment was as governor of the Cape and High-Commissioner for the
settlement of South African affairs; the Kaffir and Zulu Wars involved
him in trouble, and in 1880 he was recalled, having effected little
(1815-1884).
FRERE, JOHN HOOKHAM, English politician and author, born in London,
uncle of the preceding; he was a staunch supporter of Pitt, and in 1799
became Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs; a year later he was envoy to
Lisbon, and subsequently minister to Spain; in 1821 he retired to Malta,
where he devoted himself to scholarly pursuits, twice declining a
peerage; in his early days he was a contributor to the _Anti-Jacobin_,
and shares with his school-fellow Canning the authorship of the "Needy
Knife-Grinder"; but he is best known by his fine translations of some of
Aristophanes' plays (1769-1841).
FRESCO, the art of painting on walls freshly laid with plaster, or
which have been damped so as to permit of the colour sinking into the
lime; there were two methods, the _fresco secco_ and the _fresco buon_;
in the first the wall was sprinkled with water, and the colours were then
worked into the damp surface; in the second process, in which finer and
more permanent effects were obtained, the artist worked upon the fresh
plaster of the wall (which is laid for him as he proceeds), pouncing or
tracing his designs with a stylus; only colours which are natural earths
can be employed, as they require to be mixed with lime ere being applied,
and are subject to the destroying effect of that substance; as a method
of mural decoration it was known to the ancients, and some of the finest
specimens are to be seen in the Italian cathedrals of the 14th and 15th
centuries; the art is still in vogue, but can only be practised
successfully in a dry climate.
FRESNEL, AUGUSTIN JEAN, French physicist, born at Broglie, Eure; as
an engineer he rose to be head of the Department of Public Works at
Paris; in 1825 he was elected an F.R.S. of London; he made discoveries
in optical science which helped to confirm the undulatory theory of
light, also invented a compound lighthouse lens (1783-1827).
FRESNO (11), a town in California, on the Southern Pacific Railway,
207 m. SE. of San Francisco; the surrounding district, extensively
irrigated, produces abundance of fruit, and raisins and wine are largely
exported.
FREUND, WILHELM, German philologist, born at Kempen, in Posen;
studied education at Berlin and Breslau, and was chiefly occupied in
teaching till 1870, when he retired in order to devote himself to his
literary pursuits; besides classical school-books and some works on
philology, he compiled an elaborate Latin dictionary in 4 vols., which
has been the basis of the standard English-Latin dictionaries since; _b_.
1806.
FREYR, figures in the Scandinavian mythology as the god who rules
the rain and sunshine, and whose gifts were peace, wealth, and abundant
harvests; the wooing of Gerda, daughter of the giant Gymer, by Freyr is
one of the most beautiful stories in the northern mythology; his festival
was celebrated at Christmas, and his first temple was built at Upsala by
the Swedes, who especially honoured him.
FREYTAG, GUSTAV, an eminent German novelist and dramatist, born at
Kreuzburg, Silesia; from 1839 was teacher of German language and
literature at Breslau, and became editor of a journal, a position he held
till 1870; was a member of the North German Diet, and accompanied the
Crown Prince during the war of 1870-71; from 1879 resided at Wiesbaden;
his many novels and plays and poems, which reveal a powerful and
realistic genius, place him in the front rank of modern German
litterateurs; several of his novels have been translated into English,
amongst which his masterpiece, "Soll und Haben" (Debit and Credit)
(1816-1895).
FRIAR (i. e. brother), a name applied generally to members of
religious brotherhoods, but which in its strict significance indicated an
order lower than that of priest, the latter being called "father," while
they differed from monks in that they travelled about, whereas the monk
remained secluded in his monastery; in the 13th century arose the Grey
Friars or Franciscans, the Black Friars or Dominicans, the White Friars
or Carmelites, Augustinians or Austin Friars, and later the Crutched
Friars or Trinitarians.
FRIAR JOHN, a friar of Seville, in Rabelais' "Pantagruel," notorious
for his irreverence in the discharge of his religious duties and for his
lewd, lusty ways.
FRIAR TUCK, Robin Hood's chaplain and steward, introduced by Scott
into "Ivanhoe" as a kind of clerical Falstaff.
FRIDAY, the young savage, the attendant of Robinson Crusoe, so
called as discovered on a Friday.
FRIDAY, the sixth day of the week, so called as consecrated to
Freyia or Frigga, the wife of Odin; is proverbially a day of ill luck;
held sacred among Catholics as the day of the crucifixion, and the
Mohammedan Sunday in commemoration as the day on which, as they believe,
Adam was created.
FRIEDLAND, VALENTIN, an eminent scholar and educationist, born in
Upper Lusatia; friend of Luther and Melanchthon; his fame as a teacher
attracted to Goldberg, in Silesia, where he taught, pupils from far and
near; the secret of his success lay in his inculcating on his pupils
respect for their own honour; had a great faith in the intelligence that
evinced itself in clear expression (1490-1556).
FRIEND OF MAN, Marquis de Mirabeau, so called from the title of one
of his works, "L'Ami des Hommes."
FRIENDLY ISLANDS, islands of the S. Pacific, some 180 in number,
mostly of coral or volcanic origin, and of which 30 are inhabited; the
natives rank high among the South Sea islanders for intelligence. See
TONGA ISLANDS.
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, associations of individuals for the purpose of
mutual benefit in sickness and distress, and of old and wide-spread
institution and under various names and forms.
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