THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY :
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT
eF THE
LIVES AND WRITINGS
OF THE
MOST EMINENT PERSONS
IN EVERY NATION;
PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH;
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME.
A NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY
ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A.
VOL. XIV.
LONDON:
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1814.
'
.SSITY OF TORONTO
A NEW AND GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
J? ABER (BASIL), an eminent Lutheran divine, was born
in 1520, at Soraw in Lusatia, on the confines of Silesia.
He was bred to letters, and successively became a teacher
in the schools at Nordhausen, Tennstadt, and Quedlin-
burg, and lastly, rector of the Augustinian college of Er-
furt. He was a zealous Lutheran, and translated into
German, the remarks of Luther on Genesis. He published
also observations on Cicero, and other learned works, and
was concerned in the Magdeburgh Centuries; but the
'chief foundation of his fame was his " Thesaurus Erudi-
tionis Scholasticse," an undertaking which required the
labour of many able men to render it complete. It was
first published in 1571. After his death it was augmented
and improved by Buchner, Thomasius, the great Christo-
pher Cellarius, and the Grarvius's, father and son. The
edition published at the Hague in 1735, in 2 vols. folio,
was long esteemed the best, but that by John Henry Leich,
published at Francfort in 1749, 2 vols. fol. is thought
superior. l
FABER (JOHN), sirnamed from one of his works, the
Hammer of Heretics, " Malleus Hereticorum," was born
in Suabia in 1479, and distinguished himself in the uni-
versities of Germany in the sixteenth century. In 1519
he was appointed vicar-general to the bishop of Constance;
in 1526, Ferdinand king of the Romans, afterwards em-
peror, named him as his confessor, and in 1531, advanced
1 Moreri, Diet, Hist. Saxii Onymast,
VOL, XIV. B
2 FABER.
him to the see of Vienna. He died in 1542, at the age of
sixty-three. His works are comprised in three volumes
folio, printed at Cologne in 1537 1541 ; but that for
which he was most celebrated was entitled " Malleus Hae-
reticorum," in which he discusses many controversial
points with considerable warmth, and was considered by
those of his persuasion as a formidable enemy to the re-
formers. Luther having been one of his opponents, Eras-
mus said, when he was advanced to the episcopacy, " that
Luther, poor as he was, found means to enrich his enemies."
He was impetuous in argument, and his enemies attributed
to him many indiscreet expressions, the consequence of
the anger he felt in being conquered in debate. There
was another divine of the same names, and who lived about
the same time, and distinguished himself by many contro-
versial writings against the reformed religion, which are
no longer remembered. l
FABER (JOHN), is the name of two engravers whose
works are held in some estimation among portrait-collec-
tors. The elder was born in Holland, where he learned
the art of mezzotinto-scraping, and also drew portraits
from the life, on vellum, with a pen. What time he came
into England does not appear, but he resided here a con-
siderable time, in Fountain court in the Strand, London.
He died at Bristol in May 1721. He drew many of the
portraits which he engraved from nature, but they are not
remarkable either for taste or execution. His most esteemed
works were, a collection of the founders of the colleges of
Oxford, half sheet prints, the heads of the philosophers
from Rubens, and a portrait of Dr. Wallis the mathema-
tician, from Kneller. The other JOHN FABER, the younger,
was his son, and lived in London, at the Golden Head in
Bloomsbury-square, where Strutt thinks he died in 1756.
Like his father, he confined himself to the engraving of
portraits in mezzotinto ; but he excelled him in every
requisite of the art. The most esteemed works are the
portraits of the Kit- Cat club, and the Beauties of Hamp-
ton Court. Some of his portraits are bold, free, and
beautiful.*
FABER. See FAVRE and FEVRE.
FABERT (ABRAHAM), an eminent French officer, was
the son of a bookseller at Mentz (author of " Notes sur la
1 Moreri. Dupio. * Strutt' j Diet, Walpole's Anerdotet.
F A fc E R T; $
Couturhe de Lorraine," 1657^ fol.) He was educated with
the duke d'Epernon, and saved the royal army at the fa-
mous retreat of Mentz ; which has been compared by some
authors to that of Xenophon's 10,000. Being wounded in
the thigh by a musket at the siege of Turin, M. de Tu-
renne, and cardinal de la Valette, to whom he was aid de
camp, intreated him to submit to an amputation, which
was the advice of all the surgeons ; but he replied, " I
must not die by piece-meal ; death shall have me intire, or
not at all." Having, however, recovered from this wound,
he was afterwards made governor of Sedan ; where he
erected strong fortifications, and with so much ceconomy,
that his majesty never had any places better secured at
so little expence. In 1654 he took Stenay, and was ap-
pointed marechal of France in 1658. His merit, integrity,
and modesty, gained him the esteem both of his sovereign
and the grandees. He refused the collar of the king's
orders, saying it should never be worn but by the ancient
nobility ; and it happened, that though his family had been
ennobled by Henry IV. he could not produce the qualifi-
cations necessary for that dignity, and <{ would not," asi
he said, " have his cloke decorated with a cross, and his
soul disgraced by an imposture." Louis XIV. himself an-
swered his letter of thanks in the following terms : " No
person to whom I shall give this collar, will ever receive
more honour from it in the world, than you have gained in
my opinion, by your noble refusal, proceeding from so
generous a principle." Marechal Fabert died at Sedan,
May 17, 1662, aged sixty-three. His Life, by father
Barre, regular canon of St. Genevieve, was published at
Paris, 1752, 2 vols. 12mo. There is one older, in one
thin vol. 12ino. l
FABIAN. SeeFABYAN.
FABIUS MAXIMUS (QuiNTus, surnamed RULLIANUS),
was a celebrated Roman, who was five times consul, three
times dictator, and triumphed twice or more, yet was al-
ways distinguished by his modesty and equanimity. The
first public office in which we trace him, is that of "curule
sedile, which he bore in the year before Christ 330. In
the year 324, he was named master of the horse by the
dictator L. Papirius Cursor, in the war against the Sam-
rates j and, having given battle to the enemy in the
Moreri. Diet, Hist,.
2
* F A B I U S.
absence of the dictator, contrary to his express order, though
completely victorious, was capitally condemned ; and
through the strictness of Roman discipline, and the in-
flexible severity of the dictator, would have been executed
bad be not been first rescued by the army, and then
strongly interceded for by the senate and people of Rome.
His first consulship was three years after, in the year 321
B. C. It was not till the year 303 B. C. when he bore the
office of censor, that he acquired the sirname of MAXIMUS,
which afterwards was continued in his family, and was
given him in consequence of his replacing the low and tur-
bulent mob of Rome in the four urban tribes, and thereby
diminishing their authority, which, when they were scat-
tered in the various tribes, had been considerable on ac-
count of their numbers. His last consulship was in the
year 294 B. C. and it is not likely that he lived many years
after that period. We find him, however, three years
after, attending the triumph of his son the proconsul, a
very old man, and celebrated by the historians for his mo-
dest demeanour, and respectful acknowledgment of his
son's public dignity. l
FABIUS MAXIMUS (QuiNTUS, surnamed VEKRUCOSUS
and CUNCTATOR), a noble Roman, was the fourth in de-
cent from the preceding, and in a very similar career of
honours, obtained yet more glory than his ancestor. He
also was consul five times, in the years 233 Ant. Chr. 228,
C 15, 214, and 2 10; and dictator in the years 221 and 2 17.
His life is among those written by Plutarch. In his first
consulship, he obtained the honour of a triumph for a
signal victory over the Ligurians. His second consulship
produced no remarkable event, nor, indeed, his first dic-
tatorship, which seems to have been only a kind of civil
appointment, for the sake of holding comitia, and was
frustrated by some defect in the omens. But in the con-
sternation which followed the defeat at Thrasymene, his
country had recourse to him as the person most able to
retrieve affairs, and he was created dictator a second time.
In this arduous situation he achieved immortal fame, by
his prudence in perceiving that the method of wearing out
an invader was to protract the war, and avoid a general
engagement, and his steady perseverance in preserving
that system. By this conduct he finally attained the ho-
1 LJry.Hooke's Roman Hist,
F A B I U 8L
nourable title of CUNCTATOR, or protector. But before
he could obtain the praise he merited, he had to contend
not only with the wiles and abilities of Hannibal, but with
the impatience and imprudence of his countrymen. The
former he was able to baffle, the latter nearly proved fatal
to Rome. " If Fabius," said Hannibal, " is so great a
commander as he is reported to be, let him come forth
and give me battle." " If Hannibal," said Fabius in re-
ply, " is so great a commander as he thinks himself, let
him compel me to it." A battle in Apulia, however, was
brought on by the rashness of his master of the horse, Mi-
nucius, and it required all the ability of Fabius to prevent
an entire defeat. His moderation towards Minucius after*
wards, was equal to his exertions in the contest. Afte*
he had laid down his office, the consul Paulus jEmilius
endeavoured to tread in his steps ; but rashness again pre-
vailed over wisdom, and the defeat at Cannae ensued in
the year 215, and then the Romans began to do full justice
to the prudence of Fabius. He was called the ^ield, as
MarcelUis_the sword of the republic ; and, by an honour
almost unprecedented, was continued in the consulship
for two successive years. He recovered Tarentum before
Hannibal could relieve it, and continued to oppose that
general with great and successful skill. It has been laid
to his charge that when Scipio proposed to carry the war
into Africa, he opposed that measure through envy ; and
Plutarch allows that though he was probably led at first to
disapprove, from the cautious nature of his temper, he
afterwards became envious of the rising glory of Scipio.
It is, however, possible, that he might think it more glo
rious to drive the enemy by force out of Italy, than to draw"
him away by a diversion. Whether this were the case or
not, he did not live to see the full result of the measure,
for he died in the year 203, at a very advanced age, be-
ing, according to some authors, near a hundred. This was
the very year preceding the decisive battle of Zama, winch
concluded the second Punic war. The highest encomiums
are bestowed by Cicero upon Fabius, under the person of
Cato, who just remembered him, and had treasured many
of his sayings. *
FABIUS (PiCTOR), a Roman historian, the first prose
writer on the subject of Roman history, was the son of C
l Plutarch. Livy. Hooke's Roman Hist.
6 F A B I U S.
Fabius Pictor, who was consul with Ogulnius Callus in
the year 271 B. C. and grandson of the Fabius who painted
the temple of health, from whom this branch of the family
obtained the name of Pictor. He was nearly related to
the preceding Fabius, and after the battle of Cannae was
sent to the Delphic oracle to inquire by what supplications
the gods might be appeased. He wrote the history of this
war with Hannibal, and is cited by Livy as authority in it.
The fragments of his annals that remain in the works of
the ancients, whether in Greek or Latin, for he wrote in
both, relate chiefly to the antiquities of Italy, the begin-
nings of Rome, or the acts of the Romans. He is cen-r
sured by Polybius, as too partial to the Romans, and not
even just to the Carthaginians. His style was doubtless
that of his age, unformed, and imperfect. An history,
circulated as his, consisting of two books, one on the
golden age, the other on the origin of Rome, is now known
to have been a forgery of Annius of Viterbo, l
FABRA (ALOYSIO, or Louis DELLA), -an Italian phy-
sician, was born at Ferrara in 1655. His father was a
surgeon of much reputation, and recommended the me-
dical profession to this son, who after the usual course of
studies, took fris degree of doctor at Ferrara, where he
became afterwards first professor of medicine. He died
May 5, 1723, after having published various dissertations
on medical subjects and cases, which were collected in a
quarto volume, and published at Ferrara in 1712 under the
title " Dissertationes Physico-medicae." Haller speaks
rather slightingly of this author's works. 8
FABRE D'EGLANTINE (PHILIP FRANCIS NAZAIRE),
one of the agents in the French revolution, was born at
Carcassane, Dec. 28, 1755, and was educated in polite
literature and natural philosophy by his parents, whom he
quitted in his youth, and became by turns a painter, mu-
sician, engraver, poet, and actor. He performed on the
stages of Versailles, Brussels, and Lyons, but with no
great success. As a writer for the stage, however, he was
allowed considerable merit, and obtained, on one occasion,
at the Floral ia, the prize of the EGLANTINE, the name of
which he added to his own. In 1786 he published in a
French periodical work, " Les Etrennes du Parnasse," a
little poem called " Chalons sur Marne," in which he
1 Vossius dc Hiit. Lat, Saxii Ongmast Market ami Haller. Diet. Hist.
F A B R E.
drew a very charming picture of the moral pleasures that
were to be found in that place and its neighbourhood.
This piece, however, fell very short of the celebrity to
which he afterwards attained. In 1789 and 1790 he pub-
lished two comedies, " Le Philinte," and- " L'Intrigue
Epistolaire," the former of which was reckoned one of the
best French pieces of the last century.
He was soon, however, called to perform a more im-
portant part on the revolutionary stage, being chosen, in
1792, a deputy to the national convention. For this of-
fice he had all the negative qualities that were necessary,
no regard for religion or Civil subordination; and accord-
ingly took a very active part in the insurrection of Aug. 10,
and the prison massacres of the September following ; the
latter are called " measures which would save France."
After this, it was in character to vote for the death of the
king. It was generally supposed that he contributed with
Danton and Robespierre to the massacre of May 31, 1793,
when the Girondine faction was overthrown by a popular
insurrection. What gives the appearance of authenticity
to this supposition is, that Fabre himself, some days after-
wards, observed to a friend, that the domineering spirit of
the Girondines, who had engrossed all power and office,
had induced him and his colleagues, in order to shake off
the yoke, to throw themselves into the hands of the sans*
culoterie ; but that he could not help, however, foreboding
dangerous consequences from that day, May 31st, as the
same mob which they had taught to despise the legislature,
might, at the instigation of another faction^ overthrow him
in his turn.
On the overthrow of the Girondine party, and the esta-
blishment in power of the sansculoterie, Fabre began to
render himself more conspicuous. As a member of the
committee of public safety, he demanded of the jacobins
" a manifesto furnished with 300,000 signatures, for the
formation of a faction, or holy league of public safety,"
and was one of the instigators of the decree that ordained
that all the English and Hanoverian prisoners should be
shot, which, however, we believe, was never carried into
execution. He was also appointed a member of the com-
mittee of public instruction, and in August 1793 gave his
vote for suppressing all academies and literary corporations,
which, from their privileges and aristocratic spirit, were
considered as unfriendly to a truly republican government.
S FABRE.
In October 1793, he submitted to the national convention
the plan of a new calendar, which was afterwards adopted ;
but which, absurd as we find it, is said not to have been
of bis own composition.
In the winter of 1793, the Sansculoterie became divided
into two parts or factions, the jacobins and cordeliers, or,
in other words, the Robespierrists, and the Dantonists.
Fabre was of the faction of Danton, and was confined with
Danton's adherents in the prison of the Luxemburgh. After
a month's imprisonment, Fabre was, with many others,
dragged to the scaffold in April 1794, where he was exe-
cuted in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Mercier, who
was his colleague, speaks of him thus in his " Tableau de
Paris :" " He was a promoter and panegyrist of the revo-
lutionary system, the friend, the companion, the adviser of
the pro-consuls, who carried throughout France, fire and
sword, devastation and death.'* In 18O2 a collection of
his works was published in 2 vols. 8vo, containing some
posthumous pieces. '
FABRE (JOHN CLAUDIUS), a voluminous French writer,
or rather compiler, was born April 25, 1668, at Paris, the
son of an eminent surgeon. He was subdeacon, and ba-
chelor of the Sorbonne, and had been second teacher at
St. Quintin, when he entered the congregation of the ora-
tory at Paris. He rose to be successively professor of phi-
losophy at Itumilly in Savoy, at Toulon, Riom, Mans, and
Nantes ; afterwards taught theology three years at Riom,
and during three more at the seminary of the congrega-
tion at Lyons. While he lived in the last named city, he
published a small dictionary, Latin and French, 8vo, com-
piled from the best classical authors, which has passed
through several editions ; and he also published at Lyons,
in 1709, a new edition of Richelet's dictionary, 2 vols. folio,
under the title of Amsterdam, which edition was suppressed
on account of several theological articles respecting the
affairs of the times ; and because in his list of authors, he
bestowed great encomiums on Messrs, of Port Royal, but
none on their adversaries. This obliged him to quit the
oratory, and retire to Clermont in Auvergne, where, being
destitute of a maintenance, he undertook the education of
some children, and had recourse to father Tellier, a Jesuit,
the king's confessor, who twice supplied him with money.
1 Diet. Hist, JBiog. Moderne. Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
F A B R 9
In the latter end of 1 7 1 , Fabre again entered the congre-
gation of the oratory, and was sent to Douay, where he
wrote a small pamphlet, entitled " Entretigns de Christine^
et de Pelagie, sur la lecture de PEcriture-Sainte ;" whi< ' t
is still in request. Having afterwards preached the Sun-^
day sermons of the oratory of Tragany with great credit (for
he had also talents for preaching), he went to reside at
Montmorency, towards the end of 1723, and there began
his " Continuation de 1'Histoire Ecclesiastique, de feu M.
TAbbe Fleury ;" and published 16 vols. 4to or 12mb, which
induced his superiors to invite him again to their houses,
Rue St. Honore*, at Paris, where he died, October 22, 1755,
aged eighty-five, much lamented by his brethren and
friends, for his mildness, candour, modesty, and virtue.
The discourse " Sur le renouvellement des etudes eccle-
siastiques," &c. at the beginning of the thirteenth volume
of the Continuation, is by the abbe Goujet. This Conti-
nuation discovers great learning, and facility in writing,
but has neither the wit, penetration, character, style, nor
accuracy of judgment possessed by the abbe Fleury. Fabre
would have carried it on much farther, but was forbidden
to print any new volumes. He made the index to M, de
Thou's history translated into French, 4to, and had begun
one to the " Journal des Sgavans," but soon gave up his
undertaking to the abbe* de Claustre, to whom the public
owes that useful work, 10 vols. 4to. Fabre also left a mo-
derate translation of Virgil, 4 vols. 12mo, and a translation
of the Fables of Phaedrus, Paris, 1728, 12mo, with notes. *
FABRETTI (RAPHAEL), a very learned antiquary of
Italy, was born at Urbino, of a noble family, in 1619. After
he had passed through his first studies at Cagli, he returned
to Urbino to finish himself in the law, in which he was ad-
mitted doctor at eighteen. Having an elder brother at
Rome, who was an eminent advocate, he also went thither,
and applied himself to the bar ; where he soon distinguished
himself to such advantage, that he was likely to advance his
fortune. Cardinal Imperiali entertained so great an esteem
for him, that he sent him into Spain, to negociate several
important and difficult affairs ; which he did with such suc-
cess, that the office of the procurator fiscal of that kingdom
falling vacant, the cardinal procured it for him. Fabretti
continued thirteen years in Spain, where he was for some
* Moreri, Diet Hist, de L'Avocat.
10 FABRETTI.
time auditor general of the Nunciature. These employ.^
inents, however, did not engage him so much, but that he
found time to read the ancients, and apply himself to po-
lite literature. He returned to Rome with cardinal Bo-
nelli, who had been nuncio in Spain ; and from his do-
mestic became his most intimate friend. He was appointed
judge of the appeals to the Capitol ; which post he after-
wards quitted for that of auditor of the legation of Urbino,
under the cardinal legate Cerri. His residence in his own
country gave him an opportunity of settling his own pri-
vate affairs, which had been greatly disordered during his
absence. He continued there three years, which appeared
very long to him, because his inclination to study and an-
tiquities made him wish to settle at Rome, where he might
easily gratify those desires to the utmost. He readily ac-
cepted, therefore, the invitation of cardinal Corpegna, the
pope's vicar, who employed him in drawing up the apos-
tolical briefs, and other dispatches belonging to his office,
and gave him the inspection of the reliques found at Rome
and parts adjacent. Alexander VIII. whom Fabretti had
served as auditor when cardinal, made him secretary of the
memorials, when he was advanced to the pontificate ; and
had so great a value and affection for him, that he would
certainly have raised him to higher dignities, if he had lived
a little longer.
Upon the death of Alexander, Fabretti retired from bu-
siness, and devoted himself entirely to his favourite amuse-
ment. He went to search antiquities in the country about
Home, without any other companion than his horse, and
without any regard to the heat or inclemency of the wea-
ther. As he always made use of the same horse, his friends
gave that animal, by way of jest, the name of Marco Polo,
the famous traveller ; and said, that this horse used to dis-
cover ancient monuments by the smell, and to stop of him-
self immediately when he came to any ruins of an old
building. Fabretti was so well pleased with the name given
to his horse, that he used it to write a letter to one of his
friends in an ironical strain, yet full of learning, upon the
study of antiquity : but this letter was never printed. In-
nocent XII. obliged him to quit his retirement, and made
him keeper of the archives of the castle of St. Angelo ; a
post, which is never given but to men of the most approved
integrity, since he who enjoys that place is master of all
the secrets of the pope's temporal estate. All these dif-
FABRETTI. n
ferent employments never interrupted his researches into
antiquity ; and he collected enough to adorn his paternal
house at Urbino, as well as that which he had built at Rome
after the death of Alexander VIII. Neither could old age
divert him from his studies, nor hinder him from labouring
at the edition of his works, which he printed at his own
house. He died Jan. 7, 1700. He was a member of the
academy of the Assorditi at Urbino, and the Arcadi at
Rome/
He was the author of the following works : 1 . <c De Aquis
& Aquae-ductibus Veteris Romae Dissertationes tres,"
Romae, 1680, 4to. This book may serve to illustrate Fron-
tinus, who has treated of the aqueducts of Rome, as they
were in his time under the emperor Trajan. It is inserted
in the fourth volume of Graevius's " Thesaurus Antiquita-
tum Romanarum.". 2. " De Columna Trajana Syntagma.
Accesseruntexplicatio Veteris Tabellae Anaglyphae Homeri
Iliadem, atque ex Stesichoro, Arctino, et Lesche Ilii exci-
dium continentis, et emissarii lacus Fucini descriptio,"
Romae, 1683, folio. 3. " Jasithei ad Grunnovium Apolo-
gema, in ej usque Titivilitia, sive de Tito Livio somnia,
animadversiones," Neapol. 1686, 4tp. This work is an
answer to James Gronovius' s " Responsio ad Cavillationes
R. Fabretti," printed at Leyden, 1685. Fabretti had given,
occasion to this dispute, by censuring, in his book " De
Aquae-ductibus," some corrections of Gronovius ; and thus
had drawn upon himself an adversary, who treated him witk
very little ceremony. Fabretti replied to him here, under
the name Jasitheus, and treated him with equal coarseness.
Gronovius called him Faber fiusticus, which he retorted by
styling his antagonist Grunnovius. 4. " Inscriptionum An-
tiquaruni, quae in aedibus paternis asservantur, explicatio et
additamentum," Romae, 1699, folio. Fabretti had an ad-
mirable talent in decyphering the most difficult inscrip-
tions, and discovered a method of making something out
of those which seemed entirely disfigured through age, and
the letters of which were effaced in such a manner as not
to be discernible. He cleaned the surface of the stone,
without touching those places where the letters had been,
engraven. He then laid upon it a piece of thick paper well
moistened, and pressed it with a spunge, or wooden pin
covered with linen ; by which means the paper entered
into the cavity of the letters, and, taking up the dust there,
Discovered the traces of the letters. M. Baudelot, in hi*
1* FABRETTI.
book " De FUtilitc* des Voyages," informs us of a secret
very like this, in order to read upon medals those letters
which are difficult to be deciphered. 5. " A Letter to the
abb Nicaise," containing an inscription remarkable for
the elegance of its style, inserted in the "Journal des Sea-
vans" of Dec. 1691. He left unfinished " Latium vetus
illustratum." Fabretti discovers in his writings a lively
genius, a clear and easy conception, and a great deal of
learning. l
FABHI (HONORE'), an industrious and learned Jesuit,
was born in the diocese of Bellay in 1606 or 1607. He
for a long time held the chair of professor of philosophy in
the college de la Trinit at Lyons ; but in consequence of
his profound knowledge of theology, he was called to
Home, where he was made a penitentiary. He died in
that city on the 9th of March, 1688. He was a man of
most extensive and universal knowledge, and studied me-
dicine and anatomy with considerable ardour. He assumed
the credit of the discovery of the circulation of the blood,
and father Regnault, and other credulous persons, have
supported his assumption, on the grounds that he had main*-
tained the fact of the circulation in a discussion in 1638 :
but Harvey had published his discovery in 1623. The
medical works of this Jesuit consist of an apology for the
Peruvian bark, in answer to Plempius, which he published
at Rome in 1655, under the title of " Pulvis Peruvianus
Febrii'ugus vindicatus j" and two other essays, one, " De
Plantis, et Generatione Animalium," the other, " De Ho-
mine," published at Paris in 1666, and at Nuremberg in
1677. His theological works are mostly controversial, and
now held in little estimation. 8
FABR1ANO (GENTILE DA), a famous painter, in the
early stage of the art after its restoration, was born at Ve-
rona in 1332, and was a disciple of Giovanni da Fiesole.
His most conspicuous work was a picture in the great
council chamber of the state of Venice, executed by order
of the doge and senate, who regarded the work in so extra-
ordinary a degree of esteem, that they granted him a pen-
sion for life, and conferred upon him the privilege of wear-
ing the habit of a noble Venetian ; the highest honour in
the power of the state to bestow. Many of his pictures
Fabroni Vita Italorum, rol. VI. Gen. Diet. Moreri, Saxii Onomast.
Moreru Diet. Hist. Rees's Cyclopaedia,
FABRIANO. 13
adorn the pope's palace of St. Giovanni Laterano, and the
churches in Florence, Urbino, Perugia, Sienna, and Rome.
One of them in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, placed
over the tomb of cardinal Adimari, representing the Vir-
gin and child, with St. Joseph and St. Benedict, was highly
commended by Michael Angelo ; whom Vasari represents
as being accustomed to say that in painting the hand of
Gentile was correspondent with his name. He died in
1412, 80 years old. 1
FABRICIUS (ANDREW), a learned popish divine in the
sixteenth century, was born at a village in the country of
Liege, and studied philosophy and divinity under his bro-
ther Geoffry ; such was his progress that he was soon pre-
ferred to teach those sciences at Louvain. While here
Otho, cardinal of Augsburgh, engaged him in his service,
and sent him to Rome where he. remained his agent for
about six years under the pontificate of Pius V. On his re-
turn he was promoted to be counsellor to the dukes of Ba-
varia, and by their interest was farther advanced to the
provostship of Ottingen, where probably he died, in 1581.
His principal work was " Harmonia confessionis Augusti-
nianae," Cologn, 1573 and 1587, folio. He wrote also a
" Catechism," with notes and illustrations, Antwerp, 1600,
8vo ; and three " Latin tragedies," which are said to be
written in elegant language: 1. "Jeroboam rebellens,"
Tngoldstadt, 1585. 2. " Religio patiens," Cologn, 1566;
and " Samson," ibid. 1569. The two former, it must be
observed, are ingeniously contrived to assimilate the here-
tics, that is those of the reformed religion, with the rebel-
lious Israelites. 3
FABRICIUS (CAius), sirnamed LUSCINUS, an illustri-
ous Roman, was much and justly celebrated for his inflexi-
ble integrity, and contempt of riches. He was twice con-
sul, first in the year before Christ 282, when he obtained
a triumph for his victories over the Samnites, Lucani, and
Bruttii. Two years after this, Pyrrhus invaded Italy ; and,
after the defeat of the Romans near Tarentum, Fabricius
was sent to that monarch to treat of the ransom and ex-
change of prisoners, on which occasion he manifested a,
noble contempt of every endeavour that could be made, iu
any shape, to shake his fidelity, and excited the admiration
of Pyrrhus. His second consulship was in the year 27$,
. Rees's Cyclopaedia, * Moreru Foppen Bibl, Be!f.
14 F A B R I C I U S.
when, his refined generosity yet further secured the esteem
of the royal enemy, whom he informed of the treacherous
design of his physician to give him poison. According to
some authors, he again triumphed this year over the allies
of Pyrrhus. It was remarked, that when the comitia were
held for the ensuing consuls, Cornelius Rufinus, a man of
notorious avarice, and detested by Fabricius for that vice,
but an excellent general, obtained the consulship chiefly
by his interest. Being asked the reason of this unexpected
proceeding, he said, " In times of danger it is better that
the public purse should be plundered, than the state be-
trayed to the enemy." But when he became censor in the
year 275, he proved his fixed dislike to that man's charac-
ter, by removing him from the senate, for possessing an
unlawful amount of silver plate. The war with Pyrrhus
was then concluded. St. Evremond, with the contempti-
ble sneer of a man who has no conception of disinterested
virtue, insinuates that his poverty was ambitious, and his
severity envious ; but it is not for a French Epicurean to
judge the motives of a Fabricius. His frugality and po-
verty became almost proverbial j and Virgil has charac-
terized him in very few words :
" parvoque potentem
" Fabricium.
The state paid a glorious tribute to his memory by por-
tioning his daughters after his death. !
FABRICIUS (FRANCIS), professor of divinity in the uni-
versity of Leipsic, was born at Amsterdam April 10, 1663.
His father was a divine and pastor of the church of Meurs,
but he had the misfortune to lose both parents when he
was only five years old. His education then devolved upon
his maternal grandfather, Francis Felbier, who appears to
have done ample justice to him, and particularly introduced
him to that intimate acquaintance with the French language
for which he was afterwards distinguished. He began to
be taught Latin in the public school of Amsterdam in 1673 ;
"but in less than three months his grandfather died, and on
bis death-bed advised him to devote himself to the study
of divinity, which was the wish and intention both of him-
self and of his parents. He accordingly pursued his clas-
sical studies with great assiduity ; and in 1679, when in his
sixteenth year, was much applauded for a discourse he
1 Plutarch iu Pyrrhus. Gen. Diet. Roman Hist.
FABRICIUS. 1*
pronounced, according to the custom of the school. His
subject was that " justice elevates a nation.' 7 After this
he remained two more years at Amsterdam, and studied
philosophy and rhetoric under the ablest professors; and
at his leisure hours David Sarphati Pina, a physician and
rabbi, gave him lessons in the Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Sy-
riac languages, and enabled him to read the works of the
Jewish doctors. In Sept. 1681 he removed to Leyden,
where for two years he studied philosophy, Greek and Ro-
man antiquities, and ecclesiastical history and geography,
under the celebrated masters of that day, De Voider, Theo-
dore Ryckius, James Gronovius, and Frederic Spanheim ;
and went on also improving himself in the Oriental lan-
guages. Such was his proficiency in this last pursuit, that
he already was able to carry on a correspondence with his
master at Amsterdam, the above-mentioned Pina, in the
Hebrew language, and he translated the gospels of St.
Matthew and Mark into that language.
At the age of twenty he began his theological studies,
and in 1686 returned to Amsterdam, where he remained
for a year, during which he had frequent disputes with his
old Hebrew master on the subject of the Messiah. In 1 687
he was ordained according to the forms of the Dutch
church, and preached first at Velzen, where he was much
admired, and here he married Anne van Teylingen, the
daughter of a gentleman high in office in the Dutch
East Indies. In 1696, the church of Leyden invited him
to "become their pastor, which he accepted ; and in 1705,
on the death of James Trigland, he succeeded to the chair
of divinity professor, of which he took possession Dec. 13,
with an oration on the subject of " Jesus Christ the sole
and perpetual foundation of the church." Besides his pro-
fessorship, he had, like his predecessor, the charge of the
schools attached to the college. So much employment
rendered it necessary for him to resign part of his pastoral
charge, but he fulfilled his share of its duties until within
four years of his death. In 1723 the curators of the uni-
versity of Leyden founded a professorship of sacred elo-
quence, and appointed him to it, where his business was
to teach the art of preaching. In 1726 the London society
for the propagation of the gospel elected him a member.
In 1737 he suffered very much by the consequences of a
repelled gout, which at length proved fatal on July 27,
1738. Fabricius was four times rector magmficus of the
16 F A B R I C I U S.
university, in 1708, 1716, 1724, and 1736. On taking
leave on this last occasion, he delivered a harangue very
suitable to his age and character, on the duty of Christians
in general, and divines in particular when they arrived at
old age. The synod of South Holland had likewise chosen
liim as one of their deputies. His works consist of five
volumes of dissertations, the subjects of which he had
treated, but not so fully, in his academical orations.
1 . " Chi istus unicum ac perpetuum fundamentum ec-
'lesiae," Leyden, 1717, 4to. 2. " De Sacerdotio Christ!
juxta ordinemjlelchizedeci," ibid. 1720, 4to. 2. "Chris-
to* gia Noachica et Abrahamica," ibid. 1727, 4to. This
consists of twelve dissertations on several passages in the
Old and New Testament, calculated to prove that Christ
was the object of the faith of Noah and Abraham. At the
end are some letters to the author. 4. " De Fide Christi-
ana Patriarcharum & Prophetarum," ibid. 4to. 5. " Ora-
tor Sacer," ibid. 1733, 4to. This contains the substance of
bis lectures on preaching, and is a complete treatise on
*he subject, although in some respects peculiarly adapted
for the church of which he was a member. His sentiments,
however, are so liberal, his view of the subject so compre-
hensive, and his historical illustrations so happy, that we
arrj rather surprized this work has not found its way into
tLis country, by translation. Fabricius published also six
sermons preached on public occasions. l
FABRICIUS (GEORGE), a learned German, and cele-
brated for a talent at Latin poetry, was born at Chemnitz
in Misnia, a province of Upper Saxony, 1516. After a
liberal education, he went to Italy and Rome, in quality
of tutor to a nobleman ; where he spent his time in a man-
ner suitable to his parts and learning. He did not content
himself with barely looking on, and blindly admiring ; but
he examined with great accuracy and minuteness, all the
remains of antiquity, and compared them with the descrip-
tions which the Latin writers have given of them. The
result of these observations was his work entitled " Roma,"
published in 1550, containing a description of that city.
From Rome he returned to his native country, and was ap-
pointed master of the great school at Meissen, over which
he presided twenty-six years, and died in that station, in
1571. He was the author of numerous Latin poems, and
1 Oratio de Vita, &c. F. Fabricii. Chaufepie. Moreri.
tf'ABRICIUS. 17
had the strongest passion for verse that can be conceived.
His poems appeared at Bale in 1567, in two volumes 8vo ;
and, besides this collection, there are also hymns, odes
against the Turks, the Art of Poetry, Comparisons of the
Latin Poets, &c. He is said to have received the laurel
from the emperor Maximilian, a short time before his.
death.
His poems are written with great purity and elegance.
He was particularly careful in the choice of his words ; and
he carried his scruples in this respect so far, that he would
not on any account make use of a word in his " Sacred
Poems" which favoured the least of Paganism. He con-,
demned some liberties of this sort, which he had taken in
his youth ; and he exceedingly blamed those Christians
who applied themselves for matter to the divinities of Par-
nassus, and the fables of the ancients. He wrote also in,
prose, the " Roma," already mentipned ; the " Annals of
Messein," in seven books ; " Origines Saxonies," in two
volumes, folio ; the same quantity on the affairs of Ger-
many and Saxony, &c. His " Roma" has been greatly
admired by some, by Barthius in particular : and there is,
this singularity in it, that he has so adapted to his descrip-
tions the language of the Latin writers who have described
the same things, as to make some Germans fancy it an
ancient work. !
FABRICIUS (JAMES), an eminent physician, was born
at Rostock, Aug. 28, 1577. Following the advice of Hip-
pocrates, he joined the study of the mathematics with thai
of medicine, and was a pupil of Tycho Brahe, as he had
been before of the learned Chytraeus. His medical studies
were not confined to his own country ; for he travelled
through England, Germany, and the Low Countries, in
order to obtain the instructions of the most celebrated pro-
fessors ; and afterwards repaired to Jena, where he was
distinguished by the extent of his acquirements, and ob-
tained the degree of doctor at the age of twenty-six. He
soon gained extensive employment in his profession,, and,
at length received several lucrative and honourable ap-
pointments. He filled the stations of professor of medicine
and of the mathematics at Rostock during forty years, was
first physician to the duke of Mecklenburgh, and after-
wards retired to Copenhagen, where he was appointed chief
1 Moreri. Baillet Jugemcas des Savans, Blount't Censura, Sax'u Qnotuast,
You XIV, G
18 F A B R I C 1 U S.
physician to the kings of Norway and Denmark, Christian
IV. and Frederick III. He died at Copenhagen on August
1 4, 1652, in the seventy-fifth year of his age ; and his re-
mains were carried to Rostock for interment, by his sons-
in-law and daughters, and a monument was afterwards
erected to his memory. His works are entitled, 1. " Peri-
ciihim Medicum, seu Juvenilium Faeturae priores," Halae,
1600. 2. " Uroscopia, seu de Urinis Tractatus," Ros-
tochii, 1605. 3. " De Cephalalgia Autumnali," ibid. 1617.
4. " Institutio Medici practicam aggredientis," ibid. 1619.
.*>. " Oratio Renunciationi novi Medicinse Doctoris prce-
inissa, de Causis Cruentantis cadaveris praesente Homi-
cida," ibid. 1620. 6. " Dissertatio de Novo-antiquo Ca-
pitis Morbo ac Dolore, cum aliis Disquisitionibus Medicis
de diffic. nonnul. Materiis Practice," ibid. 1640. '
FABRICIUS (.JAMES), a Lutheran divine, was born at
Coslin, a town of Pomerania, in 15D3. In his youth, as
his parents were poor, he contrived to defray the expences
of his education by instructing a few pupils in what he had
already learned, and having the charge of some of them
to Rostock, he soon distinguished himself among the
learned of that city. Having taken orders, he was chosen
preacher at Coslin, and chaplain to the duke Bogislaus XI V.
who five years after recommended him to a doctor's de-
gree at Gripswald. About this time the king of Sweden,
Gustavus Adolphus, arriving in Germany, made him his
confessor, and superintendant of his army; and after the
battle of Lutzen, in which that prince lost his life, the duke
Bogislaus recalled Fabricius, and made him superintendant
of Upper Pomerania, in which office he was afterwards con-
tinued by queen Christina. He was also appointed minis-
ter of the principal church of Stettin, and professor of di-
vinity. He died suddenly of an apoplectic stroke, Aug.
11, 165+. His principal writings are, 1. " Disputationes
in Genesim, et in Kpistolam ad Romanes. 2. " Probatio
\isionum," a work which involved him in disrepute with
some of his brethren, and obliged him to publish in defence
of it, 'J. " Invictir visionum probationes." 4. "JustaGus-
taviana."' He published besides some pieces in German. 2
FVBRICIL'S :\JI:IIOMK), more generally known by the
name of lln > FABIUCIUS AC AUUAPENDKMK, was
' M vcloprctlia. MJII/CI Hiljl. M'1. Fu-hcri Thcatrura.
-II. L>.it .
FABRICIUS. is,
born at Aquapendente, in the territory of Orvieto, in Italy,
in 1537. His parents, although poor, found the means of pro-
curing him a good education at Padua, where he acquired
a knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and, after
having gone through the usual course of philosophy, he
began the study of anatomy and surgery under Gabriel
Fallopius, one of the most intelligent professors of his time.
His progress under this excellent tutor was such as to ac-
quire for him a character not less distinguished than that
of his master, whom he afterwards succeeded in the pro-
fessor's chair, in which he taught the same sciences for
nearly half a century, in the university of Padua. During
the whole of this long period he maintained an uniform
character for eloquence and sound knowledge, and conti-
nued to excite great interest in his lectures. He died uni-
versally regretted in 1619, at the age of eighty-two years.
The kindness and disinterested generosity of Fabricius
gained him the esteem of the principal families of Padua,
and the republic of Venice built a spacious anatomical
amphitheatre, on the front of which his name was inscribed ;
they also decreed him an annual stipend of a thousand
crowns, and the honour of a statue, and created him a
knight of St. Mark. But the celebrity which he obtained
for the university of Padua by his talents, afforded him a
gratification above that which accrued from all those flat-
tering favours.
His attention was chiefly directed to anatomy and sur-
gery, both of which his researches materially contributed
to elucidate. He is said to have been the first to notice
the valves of the veins, having demonstrated their struc-
ture in 1574. The honour of this discovery has also been
given to Paul Sarpi; but Albinus and Morgagni are of
opinion that he was anticipated by Fabricius. These ana-
tomists, however, were ignorant of the use of this valvular
apparatus; but Fabrieius has given excellent views of its
structure in his engravings. He was exceedingly methodi-
cal in his writings, first describing the structure of each
part of the body, and then its uses. Valuable as his ana-
tomical writings were, however, his surgical works obtained
for him a still higher reputation. The improvements which
he introduced into the practice of his art, in consequence
of his accurate anatomical knowledge, and the consistent
form which he gave to it, have, in fact, gained him the ap-
pellation of the father of mo*dern surgery. His works are
C 2
tO F A B R I C I U S.
numerous : the first, entitled " Pentateuchus Chirurgicus,"
publishedat Francfort in 1592, contains five dissertations
on tumours, wounds, ulcers, fractures, and luxations. 2.
" De Visione, Voce, et Auditu," Venice, 1600. 3. " Trac-
tatus de Oculo, visusque Orgauo," Padua, 1601. 4. " DC
Venarum Ostiolrs," ibid. 1603. 5. " De Locutione, et
ejus Instru mentis," ibid. 1603. It is said that, in one day,
all the Germans deserted the school of Fabricius, because,
in explaining the mechanism of the muscles of speech, h
had ridiculed their mode of pronunciation. 6. " Opeca
Anatomica, quan continent de formato Fretu, de formation*
Ovi et Pulli, de Locutione et ejus Instruments, de Bruto-
rum loquela," Padua, 1604. The essay on the language
of brute animals, in this work, is curious, and worthy the
attention of naturalists. 7. " De Musculi Artificio, et Os-
ium Articulationibus," Vicentia, 1614. 8. " De Respira/-
tione et ejus Instrumentis, libri duo," Padua, 1615. 9. " De
Motu locali Animalium," Padua, 1618. 10. " De Gula,
Ventriculo, et Intestinis, Tractatus," ibid. 1618. 11. "De
Jntegumentis Corporis," ibid. 1618. 12. "Opera Chinnv-
gica in duas Partes divisa," ibid. 1617. This work, in which
all the diseases of the body, which are curable by manual
operation, are treated, passed through seventeen editions,
In different languages. 13. " Opera omnia Physiologica
et Anatomica," Leipsic, 1687. 14. The whole of his work*
were also published at Leyden in 1723, and in 1737, in
folio. '
FABRICIUS (JOHN ALBERT), one of the most eminenjt
and laborious scholars of his time in Europe, was descended
both by the father's and mother's side from a family ori-
ginally of Holstein. His father, Werner Fabricius, a native
of Itzhoa, in Holstein, was director of the music at St.Paul'p
in Leipsic, organist of the church of St. Nicholas in that
city, and a poet and a man of letters, as appears by a work
be published in 1657, entitled " Delicias Harmonicas.'*
His mother was Martha Corthum, the daughter of John
Corthum, a clergyman of Bergedorff, and the descendant
of a series of protestant clergymen from the time of the
reformation. He was born at Leipsic Nov. 11, 1668. His
mother died in 1674, and his father in 1679 ; but the lat-
ter, while he lived, had begun to instruct him, and on hig
death-bed recommended him to the care of Valentine AU
> lUrv.-R*'s Cyclopaedia. -Mangel and Waller.
F A B R I C I U S. +\
bert, an eminent divine and philosopher, who employed,
as his first master, Wenceslau* Buhl, whom Mayer calls
the common Msecenas of orphans ; and he appears to have
been taught by him for about five years. He also received
instructions at the same time under Jo. Goth. Herrichius,
rector of the Nicolaitan school at Leipsic, an able Greek
and Latin scholar, whose services Fabricius amply acknow-
ledges in the preface to Herrichius's " Poemata Graeca et
Latina," which he published in 1718, out of regard to the
memory of this tutor. In 1684, Valentine Albert sent him
to Quedlinburgh to a very celebrated school, of which the
learned Samuel Schmidt was at that time rector. It was
here that he met with, in the library, a copy of Barthius's
" Adversaria," and the first edition of Morhoff's " Poly-
histor," which he himself informs us, gave the first direc-
tion to his mind as to that species of literary history and
research which he afterwards carried beyond all his prede-
cessors, and in which, if we regard the extent and accuracy
of his labours, he has never had an equal. Schmidt had
accidentally shown him Barthius^, and requested him to
look into it ; but it seemed to open to him such a wide
field of instruction and pleasure, that he requested to take
it to his room and study it at leisure, and from this he con-
ceived the first thought, although, perhaps, at that timfe,
indistinct, of his celebrated Bibliothecas. After his return,
to Leipsic in 1686, he met with Morhoff, who, he says,
gave his new-formed inclination an additional spur. He
now was matriculated in the college of Leipsic, and was
entirely under the care of his guardian Valentine Albert,
one of the professors, with whom he lodged for seven years.
During this time he attended the lectures of Carpzovius,
Olearius, Feller, Rechenberg, Ittigius, Menckenius, &c.
and other learned professors, and acknowledges hisobliga-
tions in particular to Ittigius, who introduced him to a
knowledge of the Christian fathers, and of ecclesiastical
history. It is perhaps unnecessary to add of one who has
given such striking proofs of the fact, that his application
to his various studies was incessant and successful. His
reading was various and extensive, and, like most scholars
of his class, he read with a pen in his hand.
Such proficiency could not escape the attention of hi#
masters, nor go unrewarded, and accordingly we find that
he was admitted to the degree of bachelor of philosophy,
as it is styled in that college, Nov. 27, 1686, and on Jam
<* TABRICIUS.
26, 1688, to that of master. In this last year, he produced
his first publication, a dissertation " de numero septua-
genario ;" and in the same year published his " Scriptorum
recentiorum decas," a sort of criticism on ten eminent
writers, George Morhoff, Christ. Cellarius, Henning Witte,
Christian Thomasius, William Salden, Abraham Berkelius,
Servatius Gallaeus, James Tollius, George Matthias Konig,
and Christian William Eyben. This was published at
Hamburgh, without his name, and having been attacked
by an anonymous opponent, he replied in a " Defensio
decadis adversus hominis malevoli maledicum judicium,
justis de causis ab auctore suscepta." He was a young
man when he assumed such a decisive and disrespectful
tone, of which his good sense soon made him ashamed, and
he afterwards abstained from this opprobrium of contro-
versial writing, and received every criticism or remark on
his works with perfect submission and temper. It was pe-
culiar to him that the more he knew, the more he learned
how to excuse the imperfections of others, and to speak
diffidently of his own acquisitions.
In 1689, he published his " Decas Decadum, sive pla-
giariorum et pseudonymorum Centuria," in which he as-
sumed the name of Faber. To this was added a disserta-
tion on the GreeK Lexicons, which he enlarged afterwards,
and inserted in the fourth volume of his " Bibl. Graeca."
This same year he edited a corrected and enlarged edition
of Weller's Greek grammar. In 1691 he published, in
Greek and Latin, the books of the Apocrypha, with a pre-
face and new translation of the book of Tob'it ; and at the
same time, a new edition of Lewis Cappel's " Historia apo-
stolica." For his degree of doctor in philosophy, he sup-
ported two theses: one in March 1692, on the sophisms of
the ancient philosophers, and particularly the stoics ; and
the other in 1693, on the Platonism of Philo.
Besides his studies in the belles lettres and philosophy,
he had much inclination to that of medicine, and would
probably have pursued it as a profession ; but Berger, the
medical professor, under whom he studied, being removed
from Leipsic, he thenceforth devoted himself entirely to
divinity. In April 1692 he had been admitted a preacher,
and his four disputations on subjects of theology procured
him the highest praises from his tutors. In 1693 he went
to Hamburgh, without any immediate design, except that
pf visiting some relations, particularly his maternal uncle.
F A B R I C I U S. 23
but intended afterwards to travel, from which he was di-
verted by an unexpected event. His guardian Valentine
Albert now wrote to him that his whole patrimony, amount-
ing only to 1000 German crowns, had been expended in
his education, and that he was indebted to him for a con-
siderable sum advanced. Fabricius returned an answer to
this letter, expressing his concern at the news, but full of
gratitude to his guardian for the care he had taken of him
and his property. He had, however, to seek for the means
of subsistence, and might have been reduced to the greatest
distress, had he not found a liberal patron in John Frederick
Mayer. This gentleman was minister of the church of St.
James at Hamburgh, ecclesiastic-counsellor to the king of
Sweden, and honorary professor of divinity at Kiel. Being
made acquainted with Fabricius^s situation, and probably
no stranger to the fame he had acquired at Leipsic, he gave
him an invitation to his house, and engaged him as his
librarian, on which office Fabricius entered in June 1694,*
and during his residence here, which lasted five years,
divided his time betwixt study and preaching, in the
church of St. James, and other churches. In the month of
August 1695, he sustained a disputation at Kiel on the ir-
rational logic of the popes, in the presence of the dukes of
Holstein and Brunswick. In 1697 he published the first
edition of his " Bibliotheca Latina," in a small volume, Svo,
and appears to have prepared some of his other works for
the press ; but a fuller list of these, with their dates, will
be given at the conclusion of this article.
In 1696 he went into Sweden with M. Mayer, who in-
troduced him to Charles XL; and after their return, Mayer
endeavoured to procure for him the professorship of logic
and metaphysics, vacant by the resignation of Gerard Ma'ier.
Fabricius accordingly became a candidate, and sustained
a public cjisputation, without a respondent, the subject of
which was " Specimen elencticum historic logicte, &c."
After the other candidates had exhibited their talents, their
number was reduced to Fabricius and another, Sebastian
Edzard. The votes on the election happened to be equal,
and the matter being therefore determined by casting lots,
Edzard was chosen. Fabricius, however, was not long
without a situation befitting his talents. In the same year,
1699, he was unanimously chosen to be professor of elo-
quence, in the room of Vincent Placcius, who died in April;
aud on June 29, Fabricius delivered his inaugural speech
24 F A B R I C I U S.
" on the eloquence of Epictetus," and he now settled at
Hamburgh for the remainder of his life, having a few
months before taken his degree of doctor in divinity at
Kiel. On this occasion he supported a thesis " De recor-
datione animae humame post fata superstitis." In April
J700 he married Margaret Scultz, daughter of the rector
of the lower school in that city, to which situation Falm-
cius was presented in 1708, in order to keep him at Ham-
burgh, for he had many tempting invitations from other
universities, particularly in 1701, when his friend and pa-
tron Mayer left Hamburgh to settle at Grypswald, and pro-
cured Fabricius the offer of the divinity-professorship in
that university, with a salary of 500 crowns. On entering
on the duties of his new situation, as rector of the schools,
he began, as usual, with an oration, on the causes of the
contempt of public schools ; but after the deaih of M.
Scultz, Fabricius resigned this office in 171 1, as interfering
too much with the duties of his professorship. In 1719,
the landgrave of Hesse Cassel offered him the professorship
of divinity at Giessen, and with it the place of superinten-
dent of the churches of the confession of Augsburgh. Fa-
bricius had some inclination to have accepted this offer;
but the magistrates of Hamburgh, sensible of the value of
his services, made a very considerable increase of his sa-
lary, the handsome manner of offering which, more than
the value of the money, induced him to adhere to his reso-
lution of never leaving Hamburgh ; and in this city he died
April 30, 1736. His last illness appears to, have been a
complication of asthma and fever, attended with great pain
and difficulty of breathing, which he bore with unexampled
patience ; and employed his last powers of speech in pious
reflections and exhortations to his family and servants.
His whole life had been spent in the practice of piety and
the accumulation of learning, and his death was regretted
as an irreparable loss to the university to which he belonged,
and to the learned world at large. Few men, indeed, have
laid scholars under greater obligations ; and he has contri-
buted, perhaps, more than any man ever did to abridge the
labours of the student, and facilitate the researches of the
most minute inquirer. He had a prodigious memory, and
a great facility in writing; and both enabled him to accom-
plish labours, at the thought of which many a modern scho-
lar would be appalled. Never, perhaps, was there such an
instance of literary and professional industry. In the first
FABHICIUS. 25
six years of his professorship he devoted ten hours a day to
his scholars ; and afterwards seldom less than eight, unless
when his last illness obliged him to reduce his hours to four
or five. With such employment in public, it is, with all
the explanation his biographers have given, difficult to
comprehend how he could find time and health, not only
for his numerous printed undertakings, but for that vast
extent 'of correspondence which he carried on with the
learned men of his time, and for the frequent visits of his
friends, whom he received with kindness.
Besides many funeral orations, poems, &c. in honour of
Fabricius, Reimar, his scholar and colleague, and afterwards
his son-in-law, published a " Commentarius de Vita et
Scriptis," which contains many curious particulars of Fa-
bricius, and a complete list of his writings ; extracts from
the correspondence of his friends, &c. Of his separate
publications, although a few have been incidentally men-
tioned, the following chronological account cannot be un-
interesting, as a stupendous monument to his industry and
erudition.
1. " Scriptorum recentiorum Decas, 1 ' Hamburgh, 1688,
4to, without his name. 2. " Defensio Decadis, &c." 4to,
without place or date. 3. tf Decas Decadum, sive plagia-
riorum et pseudonymorum centuria," Leipsic, 1689, 4to.
4. " Grammatica Graeca Welleri," ibid. 1689, 8vo, often
reprinted, but Fabricius never put his name to it. 5.
" Bibliotheca Latina, sive notitia auctorum veterum Latin-
orum, quorumcunque scripta ad nos pervenerunt," Ham.'
burgh, 16^7, 8vo, afterwards enlarged in subsequent edi-
tions, the best of which is that of 1728, 2 vols. 4to. An
edition of a part of this work has been more recently pub-
lished by Ernesti, in 3 vols. 8vo, which is not free from
errors. 6. " Vita Procli Philosophi Platonici scriptore
Marino Neapolitano, quam alteraparte, de virtutibus Procli
theoreticis ac theurgicis auctiorem et nunc demum inte-
gram primus edidit, &c." Hamburgh, 1700, 4to, dedicated
to Dr. Bentley. 7. " Codex Apocryphus N. T. collectus,
castigatus, &c." ibid. 1703, 8vo. 8. " Bibliotheca Graeca,
sive Notitia Scriptorum Veterum Graecorum, quorumcun-
que Monumenta integra aut fragmenta edita extant : turn
plerorumqtie ex Manuscripts ac Deperditis." This con-
sists of 14 vols. in 4to, and gives an exact account of the
Greek authors, their different editions, and of all those who
commented, or written notes upon thenv
26 F A B R I C I U S.
the " Bibliotheca Latina," exhibits a very complete history
of Greek and Latin learning. Twelve volumes of a new
edition of the " Bibliotheca Graeca" have been published
by Hades, with great additions, and a new arrangement of
the original matter. 9. " Centuria Fabriciorum scriptis
clarorum, qui jam diem suum obierunt," Hamburgh, 1700,
8vo, and " Fabriciorum centuria secunda," ibid. 1727, 8vo.
It was his intention to have added a third and fourth cen-
tury, including the Fabri, Fabretti, Fabrotti, Le Fevre's,
&c. but a few names only were found after his death among
his manuscripts. 10. " Memoriae Hamburgenses, sive Ham-
burgi et virorum de ecclesia, requepublica et scholastica
Hamburgensi bene meritorum, elogia et vitae," Hamburgh,
1710 1730, 7 vols. 11. " Codex pseudepigraphus Ve-
teris Testamenti," as a companion to his preceding ac-
count of the apocryphal writers of the New Testament
.times; ibid. 1713, 8vo, reprinted with additions in 1722.
12. " Menologiunj, sive libellusde mensibus, centum cir-
citer populornm menses recensens, atque inter se con-
ferens, cum triplice indice, gentium, mensium et scrip-
torum," ibid. 1712, 8vo. 13. " Bibliographia Antiquaria,
sive introductio in notitiam scriptorum, qui antiquitates
Hebraicas, Graccas, Romanas et Christianas scriptis illus-
trarunt. Accedit Mauricii Senonensis de S. Missae ritibus
carmen, nunc primum editum," 1713, 4to, and an en-
larged edition, in which Mauricius's poem is omitted, 1710,
4to. 14. " Mathematische Remonstration, &c." Hamburgh,
1714, 8vo, a work in German against Sturmius, on the
institution of the Lord's Supper. J 5. " S. Hippolyti Opera,
non antea collecta, et pars nunc primum a MSS. in lucem
edita, Gr. et Lat. &c." ibid. 1716 and 1718, 2 vols. fol.
16. "Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica," ibid. 1718, fol. a very
valuable collection of notices of ecclesiastical writers and
their works from various biographers, beginning with
Jerome, who goes to near the end of the fourth century,
and concluding with Miraeus, who ends in 1650. 17.
" Sexti Empirici Opera," Gr. and, Lat. Leipsic, 1718, fol.
18. " Anselmi Bandurii Bibliotheca Nummaria," Ham-
burgh, 1719, 4to. 19. S. Philastri de Hicresibus Liber,
cum emendationibus et notis, additisque indicibus, ibid.
1721, 8vo. 20. " Delectus argumentorum et syllabus
scriptorum, qui veritatem religionis Christianas adversus
Atheos, Epiciireos, Deistas seu Naturalistas, Idolatras,
Judaeos, et Mohammedanos lucubrat;onibus suis asseru-
F A B R I C I U S. 27
erunt," Hamb. 1725, 4to. This performance, very valuable
in itself, is yet more so, on account of the Proemium and
first chapters of Eusebius's " Demonstratio Evangelica,"
which are wanting in all the editions of that work, and
were supposed to be lost ; but which are here recovered
by Fabricius, and prefixed to the " Delectus," with a La-
tin translation by himself. 21. " Imp. Caes. Augusti tem-
porum notatio, genus, et scriptorum fragmenta," ibid.
1727, 4to. 22. " Centifolium Lutheranum, sive notitia
literaria scriptorum omnis generis de B. D. Luthero, ej us-
que vita, scriptis et reformatione ecclesiae, &c. digesta,"
ibid. 1728 and 1730, 2 parts or volumes, 8vo. 23. A
German translation of Derham's "Astro-theology," and
" Physico-theology," 1728, 1730, 8vo, by Weiner, to
which Fabricius contributed notes, references, an analysis,
preface, &c. 24. " Votum Davidicum (cor novum crea
in me Deus) a centum quinquaginta amplius metaphrasibus
expressum, carmine Hebraico, Graeco, Latino, Germani-
co, &c." ibid. 1729, 4to. 25. " Conspectus Thesauri Li-
terariae Italiae, premissam habens, praeter alia, notitiam
diariorum Italiae literariorum, &c." ibid, 1730, 8vo. Every
Italian scholar acknowledges the utility of this volume.
26. " Hydrotheologise Sciagraphia," in German, ibid, 1730,
4to. 27. " Salutaris Lux Evangelii, toti orbi per divinam
gratiam exoriens : sive notitia historico-chronologica, li-
teraria, et geographica, propagatorum per orbern totum
Christianorum. Sacrorum," Hamb. 1731, 4to. This work
is very curious and interesting to the. historian as well as
divine. It contains some epistles of the emperor Julian,
never before published. 28. " Bibliotheca Mediae et in-
fitnse Latinitatis," printed in 5 vols. 8vo, 1734, reprinted
at Padua, in 6 vols. 4to, 1754, a work equal, if not su-
perior, to any of Fabricius's great undertakings, and one
of those, which, like his " Bibliotheca Graeca," seems to
set modern industry at defiance. 29. " Opusculorum His-
torico-critico-litterariorum sylloge quse sparsim viderant
lucem, nunc recensita denuo et partim aucta," Hamburgh,
1738, 4to.
Besides these, Reimar gives a list of fifteen works to
which he contributed additions and dissertations ; thirteen
original dissertations, or academical theses, published from
1688 to 1695; sixteen programmata ; thirteen lives; six
prations, and thirty- eight prefaces, all from the pen of this
2 S FABRICIUS.
indefatigable writer : he left also a considerable number
of unfinished manuscripts. 1
FABRICIUS (JOHN LEWIS), an eminent protestant di-
vine of the seventeenth century, was born at Schafhousen,
July 29, 1639. He began his studies under the inspection
of his father, who was rector of thq college; but in 1647
went to Cologne, where his brother Sebaldus lived, and
there for about a year studied Greek and Latin. In 1643
he returned to Schafhousen, but left it for Heidelberg in
the following year, where his brother had been appointed
professor of history and Greek. In 1650 he went to
Utrecht, and for about two years was employed in teach-
ing. At the end of that time he visited Paris as tutor of
the son of M. de la Lane, governor of Reez, and remained
in tnis station for three years. Having returned to Heidel-
berg in 1656, he took his degree of master of arts, and the
following year was admitted into holy orders, and appointed
professor extraordinary of Greek, but was, not long after,
requested by the elector to go again to Paris as tutor to
the baron Rothenschild, and in 1659 he accompanied his
pupil to the Hague, and afterwards into England. On
their return to France they parted, and Fabricius went to
Leyden, where he took his degree of doctor in divinity.
Soon after he was appointed professor of divinity at Heidelr
berg, superintendant of the studies of the electoral prince,
inspector of the college of wisdom, and philosophy pro-
fessor. In 1664 he was appointed ecclesiastical counsellor
to the elector, who, in 1666, sent him to Schafhousen to
explain to that canton the reasons for the war of Lorraine,
which office Dr. Boeckelman had discharged in the other
cantons. In 1674, when the French army advanced to-
wards Heidelberg, Fabricius retired to Fredericksburgh,
and to Cologne, but returned the same year. In 168O,
although a Calvinist, he was commissioned with a Roman
catholic to open the temple of concord at Manheim. In
1688, the French, who had taken possession of Heidelberg,
showed so much respect for his character as to give him a
passport, which carried him safely to Schafhousen ; but
the continuance of the war occasioned him again to shift
his place of residence, and when at Francfort, he was em-
ployed by the king of England (William III.) and the
States General to join the English envoy in Swisserland,
1 Himar ubi supra. Chaufepie. Morcri. Niceron, vol XL. Saxii Onomast;
F A B R I C I U S. 29
and watch the interests of the States General. In the
execution of this commission he acquitted himself with
great ability, and was particularly successful in adjusting
tjbe differences between the Vaudois and the duke of
Savoy, and afterwards in accomplishing an alliance between
the duke and the States General. We find him afterwards
at Heidelberg, and Francfort, at which last he died in
1697. From these various employments it appears that he
was a man of great abilities and political weight, and he
derived likewise considerable reputation from his writings
as a divine. Such was his abhorence of Socinianism that
he opposed the settlement of the Socinian Poles when
driven out of their own country in the Palatinate; in which,
however, at that time he was not singular, as, according
to Mosheim, none of the European nations could be per-
suaded to grant a public settlement to a sect whose mem-
bers denied the divinity of Christ. The same historian
informs us that he "was so mild and indulgent" as to
maintain, that the difference between the Lutherans and
Roman catholics was of so little consequence, that a Lu-
theran might safely embrace popery ; an opinion, which,
mild and indulgent as Mosheim thinks it, appears to us
more in favour of popery than of Lutheranism. His works,
on controversial topics, were collected and published in a
quarto volume, by Heidegge^ with a life of the author,
printed at Zurich in 1698. !
FABRICIUS (VINCENT), a man eminent for wit and
learning, and for the civil employments with which he was
honoured, was born at Hamburgh in 1613. He was a
good poet, an able physician, a great orator, and a learned
civilian. He gained the esteem of all the learned in Hol-
land while he studied at Leyden ; and they liked his Latin
poems so well, that they advised him to print them. He
was for some time counsellor to the bishop of Lubec, and
afterwards syndic of the city of Dantzic. This city also
honoured him with the dignity of burgomaster^ and sent
him thirteen times deputy in Poland. He died at Warsaw,
during the diet of the kingdom, in 1667. The first edition
^f his poems, in 1632, was printed upon the encourage-
ment of Daniel Heinsius, at whose house he lodged. He
published a second in 1638, with corrections and additions:
to which he added a satire in prose, entitled " Pransus
i, MosheioL S;mi Qnotnast,
30 F A B R I C I U S.
Paratus," which he dedicated to Salmasius ; and in which
he keenly ridiculed the poets who spend their time in
making anagrams, or licentious verses, as also those who
affect to despise poets. The most complete edition of his
poems is that of Leipsic, 1685, published under the direc-
tion of his son. It contains also Orations of our author,
made to the kings of Poland ; an Oration spoken at Ley-
den in 1632, concerning the siege and deliverance of that
city ; and the Medical Theses, which were the subject of
his public disputations at Leyden in 1634, &c. !
FABRICIUS (WILLIAM), an eminent surgeon and phy-
sician, was known also by his surname of HILDANUS, from
Hilden, a village of Switzerland, where he was born, July
25 t 1560. Like his predecessor of the same name, Fa-
bricius of Aquapendunte, he became one of the most
eminent surgeons of his age, and contributed not a. little
to the improvement of the art. He repaired to Lausanne
in 1586, where he completed himself in the art of surgery,
under the instruction of Griffon, an intelligent teacher in
that city. Here he pursued his researches with indefati-
gable industry, and undertook the cure of many difficult
cases, in which he was singularly successful. He com-
bined a .knowledge of medicine with that of his own art,
and began to practise both at Payerne in 1605, where he
remained ten years, and in 1615 settled himself at Berne,
in consequence of an invitation from the senate, who
granted him a pension. Here he enjoyed the universal
esteem of the inhabitants. But in the latter period of his
life he was prevented by severe and frequent attacks of
the gout from rendering his services to his fellow-citizens
with his accustomed assiduity. At length, liowever, this
malady left him, and he was seized with an asthma, of
which he died on the 14th of February, 1634, at the age
of seventy-four. His works were written in the German
language, but most of them have been translated into the
Latin. He published five " Centuries of Observations,"
which were collected after his death, and printed at Lyons
in 1641, and at Strasburgh in 1713 and 1716. These
" Observations" present a considerable number of curious
facts, as well as descriptions of a great number of instru-
ments of his invention. His collected treatises were pub-
lished in Latin, at Francfort in 1646, and again in 1682,
* Gen. Die*. Moreri. Saxii Onomast,
F A B R I C I U S. si
in folio, under the title of " Opera Omnia." And a Ger-
man edition appeared at Stutgard in 1652. 1
FABRICIUS (BARON), known to the public by his let-
ters relating to Charles XII. of Sweden, during his resi-
dence in the Ottoman empire, was sprung from a good
family in Germany. His father was president of Zell for
George I. as elector of Hanover, and he had a brother who
held a considerable office in that prince's service. The
baron, of whom we are speaking, as soon as he had finished
his studies, went into Holstein, and was early taken into
the service of that court, where his talents were much
admired. He was sent from thence, by the duke admini-
strator, in a public character, to his Swedish majesty,
while he continue at Bender. He was then in the flower
of his youth, had a good person, pleasing address, great
accomplishments, and no vanity. He soon stood very high
in the good graces of that prince ; accompanied him in his
exercises, was frequently at his table, and spent hours
alone with him in his closet. He it was that gave him a
turn for reading ; and it was out of his hand that monarch
snatched the book, when he tore from it the 8th satire of
Boileau, in which Alexander the Great is represented
as a madman. He had but one enemy in the court, viz.
general Daldorff, who was made prisoner by the Tartars,
when they stormed the king's camp at Bender. Fabricius
took pains to find him out, released him, and supplied him
with money ; which so entirely vanquished the general,
that he afterwards became a warm friend. This amiable
man was likewise in favour with king Stanislaus, and with
our own monarch George I. whom he accompanied in his
last journey to Hanover, and who may be said to have died
in his arms. "A translation of his genuine letters in English,
containing the best accounts relating to the Northern Hero
during his residence in Turkey, was published in one vo-
lume 8vo, Lond. 1761. 2
FABRICY (GABRIEL), a French Dominican, was born
in 1726 at St. Maximin in Provence, and, in 1757, was
appointed secretary to the library of la Casanati in Rome ;
and in 1771 French theologist to that establishment. He
was also admitted a member of the Arcadi. He died Jan.
13, 1800. His principal works' are, 1. " Recherches sur
Tepoque de 1'equitation, et de i'usage des chars equestres,
* Market and Haller. Fees'? Cyclopedia. - Letters as above.
32 F A B ft I C Y.
chez les anciens," Rome, 1764, 1765, 2 vols. 8vo. 2 f .
" Memoire pour servir a Thistoire litteraire de la vie des
deux P. P. Ansaldi, des P. P. Mamachi, Palnzzi, Richini,
6t Rubeis," inserted in Richards's " Diet. Univ. des Sciences
Ecclesiastiques," vol. V. and VJ. 3. " Des litres primitifs
de la revelation, ou, considerations critiques sur la purete*
et I'integrit6 du texte original des livres saints de 1'Ancien
Testament," Rome and Paris, 1772, 2 vols. 8vo, recom-
mending a new translation of the Bible. 4. " Diatribe
qua bibliographies antiquarise et sacrae critices capita aliquot
illustrantur," Rome, 1782, 8vo. He wrote also some papers
in the literary journals. l
FABRONI (ANGELO), an eminent Italian scholar and
biographer, was born Sept. 25, 1732, at Marradi in Tus-
cany, of a family once so opulent as to be able to assist the
falling fortunes of the Medici. He was the youngest of
the eleven children of Alexander and Hyacinth Fabroni.
He was educated first at home under able masters, and
afterwards went to Rome, in 1750, to the college founded
by Bandinelli for the youth of Tuscany, who were also re-
quired to attend the public schools of the Jesuits. Here
he studied rhetoric, logic, geometry, physics, and meta-
physics. After he had been here three years, Peter Fran-
cis Foggini, who had acted as a second father to him (for
his own died in 1750), introduced him to Bottari, as his
assistant in the duties of a canonicate which he held in the
church of St. Mary ; and as Bottari was a great favourer
of the Jansenists, Fabroni thought to please him by trans-
lating from the French of Quesnel, and publishing " La
preparazione alia morte ;" and " Principi e regale della
vita Cristiana." About the same time he published " Ler
Massime della Marchesa di Sable," also translated from the
French, with notes. This, he informs us, was a work of
little consequence, yet served to show that he was at this
time tolerably versed in the reading of ancient authors.
From bis earliest youth he cultivated a pure and ready
Latin style, and as a specimen, he now, encouraged by
Foggini, published the life of Clement XII. in that lan-
guage. This however, he allows, was a severe task, and
although he re-wrote it twice or thrice, and had the advice
of his friend, he did not think it worthy of the illustrious
subject. Cardinal Corsini, however, had a higher opinion
) Diet. Hist.
F A B R O N 1. 33
of its merit, and not only defrayed the expence of printing,
but made the author a handsome present.' Such liberality
produced a suitable impression on Fabroni' s mind, who
became in gratitude attached to this patron, and when a
female of the Corsini family married about this time, he,
with learned gallantry, invited the most celebrated Italian
poets to celebrate the joyous occasion. About this time
having presented an oration, which he had delivered in.
the pope's chapel, on the ascension, to Benedict XIV. his
holiness received him very graciously, and exhorted him to
continue the studies he had begun so well. Among these
we find that he had for some time made considerable pro-
gress in canon law, and had even defended some causes,
but afterwards resigned all this for the more agreeable study
of the belles lettres and classics. At the funeral of James
III. of England, as he was styled, Fabroni was ordered by
his college to compose an oration in praise of that prince,
which he accordingly delivered in the presence of the car-
dinal duke of York, who expressed his sense of its merit
not only by tears and kind words, but by a liberal present.
After this Fabroni appears to have employed himself in
preparing his valuable lives of the eminent Italian literati
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the first vo-
lume of which he published at Rome in 1766, 8vo, and,
as he informs us, soon had to encounter an host of Aristar-
chus's. In 1767, a vacancy occurring of the office of
prior of the church of St. Lorenzo at Florence, he was ap-
pointed to that preferment by the duke Peter Leopold,
and here he remained for two years, during which he went
on with his great work. At the end of this period, he ob-
tained leave to return to Rome, and as he had considera-
ble expectations from pope Ganganelli (Clement XIV.)
would have probably attached himself to him, had he not
thought that it would appear ungrateful to his patron the
duke Peter Leopold, if he served any other master ; but
gratitude does not seem to have been his only motive, and
he hints that implicit reliance' was not always to be placed
in Ganganelli's promises.
At Pisa, in 1771, he began a literary journal which ex-
tended to 102 parts or volumes; in this he had the occa-
sional assistance of other writers, but often entire volumes
were from his pen. At length the grand duke, who always
had a high regard for Fabroni, furnished him liberally with
the means of visiting the principal cities of Europe.
VOL. XIV. D
54 F A B R O N 1.
ing this tour he informs us that he was introduced to, and
lived familiarly with the most eminent characters in France,
with D'Alembert, Conclorcet, La Lande, La Harpe, Mi-
rabeau, Condilliac, Rousseau, Diderot, &c. and laments
that he found them the great leaders of impiety. He then
came to England, where he resided about four months, and
became acquainted with Waring, Maskelyne, Priestley,
and Dr. Franklin, who once invited him to go to America,
which, he informs us, he foolishly refused. With what he
found in England he appears to be little pleased, and could
not be brought to think the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge equal, for the instruction of youth, to those of
Italy. In short he professes to relish neither English diet,
manners, or climate ; but perhaps our readers may dispute
his taste, when at the same time he gives the preference
to the manners, &c. of France. In 1773 he returned to
Tuscany, and was desired by the grand duke to draw up a
scheme of instruction for his sons, with which he insinuates
that the duke was less pleased at last than at first, and adds
that this change of opinion might arise from the malevolent
whispers of literary rivals. He now went on to prosecute
^various literary undertakings, particularly his " Vitas Italo-
rum," and the life of pope Leo, &c. The greater part
were completed before 1 800, when the memoirs of his life
written by himself end, and when his health began to be
much affected by attacks of the gout. In 1801 he? desisted
from his accustomed literary employments, and retired to
a Carthusian monastery near Pisa, where he passed his time
in meditation. Among other subjects, he reflected with
regret on any expressions used in his works which might
have given offence, and seemed to set more value on two
small works he wrote of the pious kind at this time, than
on all his past labours. When the incursions of the French
army had put an end to the studies of the youth at Pisa,
Fabroni removed to St. Cerbo, a solitary spot near Lucca,
and resided for a short time with some Franciscans, but
returned to Pisa, where an asthmatic disorder put an end
to his life Sept. 22, 1803. He left the bulk of his pro-
perty, amounting to about 1500 scudi, to the poor, or to
public charitable institutions ; and all the classics rn his
library, consisting of the best editions, to his nephew, Ra-
phael Fabroni.
Of his principal work, the " Vitoe Italorum doctrina
excelleutium, qua sceculis XVII. eV^VUI. floruerunt,"
F A B R O N I.
35
eighteen volumes were published in his life-time; and two
more were afterwards added : the last contains some me-
moirs of his life written by himself, with illustrative notes,
a short continuation, and a collection of letters addressed
to him by various illustrious and learned characters. His
lives are written with great accuracy and precision, and
many of them are much fuller and more minute than was
attempted by any preceding biographer ; but his Latin,
style, which he fancied to be pure, is deformed by many
words and phrases of modern Latinity, and he has rendered
many circumstances obscure by Latinizing the names of
eminent persons of all nations.
His other works, not already mentioned, are, 1. f< Dia-
lochi di Focione del Mably, trad, del Francese." 2. " Let-
tere del Magolotti," Florence, 1769. 3. " Lettered'Uo-
mini dotti a Leopoldo Medici." 4. " Istoria dell' arte del
disegno." 5. " Dissertazione sulla fabola di Niobe."
5. " Prefazioni al I. e II. tomo degli Uomini Illustri Pi-
sani." 6. " Vita Laurentii Medicei," 4to. 7. " Historia
Lycaei Pisani," 3 vols. 4to. He was at one time rector of
the university of Pisa, but his employment ceased with the
incursions of the French army. 8. " Viaggi d'Anacarsi."
9. " Vita Leonis X." 4to. 10. " Vita Cosnii Medicei," 4to.
11. " Epistolae Francisci Petrarchae," 4to. 12. " Vita F.
Petrarchae," 4to. 13. "Vita Pallantis Stroctii," 4to.
14. " Elogi d'illustri Italiani, cioe di Michelangelo Giaco-
melli, Eust. Zanotti, Tomaso Perelli, Paolo Frisi, Inno-
cenzo Frugeni, e Pietro Metastasio." 15. " Elogi di
Dante Alighieri, di Angelo Poliziano, di Ludovico Ariosto,
e di Torquato Tasso," Parma, 1800. 16. " Oratio ad S.
R. E. Cardinales cum subrogandi Pontificis causa conclave
Venetiis ingressuri essent," Pisa, 1800. 17. " Oratio in
funere Franc. Leopoldi Austriaci," Pisa, 1800. 18. " De-
voti AfFetti in prepa. .;zione alle Feste del S. natale," &c.
ibid. 1801. 19. " Novena in onore di Maria S. S. Au-
siliatrice, colP aggiunta di dodici Meditazioni," isa,
1803. 1
FABROT (CHARLES ANNIBAL), a very learned lawyer
and scholar, was born in 1580, at Aix in Provence, whither
his father, a native of Nismes in Languedoc, had retired
during the civil wars. After making very distinguished
progress in Greek and Latin, the belles lettres, and juris-
i Fabreni Vitse, vol. 3pC.
2
36 F A B R O T.
prudence, he was admitted doctor of laws in 1606, and
then became an advocate in the parliament of Aix. Among
the many friends of distinction to whom his talents recom-
mended him, were M. de Peiresc, a counsellor of that par-
liament, and William de Vair, first president. By the
interest of this last-mentioned gentleman, he was promoted
to the law- professorship at Aix, which office he filled until
1617, when Du Vair being made keeper of the seals, in-
vited him to Paris. On Du Vair's death in 1621, Fabrot
resumed his office in the university of Aix, where he was
appointed second professor in 1632, and first professor in
1638. At this time he was absent, having the preceding
year gone to Paris to print his notes on the institutes of
Theophilus, an ancient jurist. This work he dedicated to
the chancellor Seguier, who requested him to remain in
Paris, and undertake the translation of 1 the Basilics, or
Constitutions of the Eastern emperors, and gave him a
pension of 2000 livres. This work, and his editions of
some of the historians of Constantinople, which he pub-
lished afterwards, procured him from the king the office of
counsellor of the parliamentof Provence, but the intervention
of the civil wars rendered this appointment null. During
his stay at Paris, however, several of the French univer-
sities were ambitious to add him to the number of their
teachers, particularly Valence and Bourges, offers which
his engagements prevented his accepting. His death is
said to have been hastened by the rigour of his application
in preparing his new edition of Cujas; but his life had al-
ready been lengthened beyond the usual period, as he was
in his seventy-ninth year when he died, Jan. 16, 1659.
His works are: 1. " Antiquite's de la ville de Marseille,"
Lyons, 1615 and 1632, 8vo. This is a translation from the
Latin MS. of Raymond de Soliers. 2. " Ad tit. Codicis
Theodosiani de Paganis, Sacrificiis, et Templis notae,"
Paris, 1618, 4to. 3. " Exercitationes duae de tempore
humani partus et de numero puerperii," Aix, 1628, 8vo ;
Geneva, 1629, 4to, with a treatise by Carranza, on natural
and legitimate birth. 4. " Car. Ann. Fabroti Exercita-
tiones XII. Accedunt leges XIV. quae in libris digestarum
deerant, Gr. et Lat. mine primum ex Basilicis editnc,"
Paris, 1639, 4to. 5. rt Thcophili Antecessoris Institu-
iK-iies," Gr. et Lat. Paris, 1638 and 1657, 4to. 6. " In-
-tiuuiones Justiniani, cum notis Jacobi Cujacii," ibid.
I, 12mo. 7. " Epistolae de Mutuo, cum responsionc
F A B R O T. 37
Claudii Salmasii ad ^gidium Menagium," Leyden, 1645,
8vo. 8. " Replicatio adversus C. Salmasii refutationem,"
&c. Paris, 1647, 4to. 9. " Basilicorum libri sexaginta,"
Gr. et Lat. ibid. 1647, 7 vols. folio. The whole of the
translation of this elaborate collection of the laws and con-
stitutions of the Eastern emperors, was performed by Fabrot,
except books 38, 39, and 60, which had been translated
by Cujas, whose version he adopted. 10. " Nicetae Aco-
minati Choniatoe Historia," ibid. 1647, fol. 11." Georgii
Cedreni Compendium historiarum," Gr. et Lat. ibid. 1647,
2 vols. fol. 12. " Theophylacti Simocattse Hist, libri octo,"
ibid. 1647, fol. 13. " Anastasii Bibliothecarii Hist. Eccle-
siastica," ibid. 1649, fol. 14. " Laonici Chalcondyla? Hist.
de origine ac rebus gestis Turcarum, libri decem," ibid.
1650. fol. 15. " Praelectio in tit. Decret. Gregorii IX. de
vitaet honestate Clericorum," ibid. 1651, 4to. 16. " Con-
stantini Manassis Breviarium Historicum," Gr. et Lat. ibid,
1655, fol. 17. " Cujacii Opera omnia," ibid. 1658, 10
vols. fol. 15. " J. P. de Maurize Juris Canonici Selecta,"
ibid. 1659, 4to. 19. " Notae in T. Balsamonis collectionem
constitutionum Ecclesiasticarum." This is inserted in the
second volume of Justel and VoePs Bibliotheca of Canon
law. Ruhnkenius published a supplementary volume to
his edition of Cujas at Leyden in 1765. *
FABYAN, or FABIAN (ROBERT), an English historian,
was an alderman of London, and presents us with the rare
instance of a citizen and merchant, in the fifteenth century,
devoting himself to the pleasures of learning : but we
know little of his personal history. There was nothing re-
markable in his descent, and he made no great figure in
public life. From his will it appears that his father's name
was John Fabyan ; and there is reason to believe that,
although he was apprenticed to a trade, his family were
people of substance in Essex. Bishop Tanner says he was
born in London. At what period he became a member of
the Drapers' company cannot now be ascertained. Their
registers would probably have furnished a clue to guess at
the exact time of his birth, but the hall of that ancient
company was twice destroyed by fire, and they have no
muniments which reach beyond 1602. From records, how-
ever, in the city archives, it appears that he was alderman
of the ward of Farringdon Without ; in 1493 he served the
1 Niceron, vol. XXIX. Moreri. Saxii Onomasticon.
38 F A B Y A N.
office of sheriff; and in the registers which go by the name
of the " Repertory," a few scattered memoranda are preserved
of the part which he occasionally took, at a period some-
what later, in public transactions.
On the 20th of September, 1496, in the mayoralty of
sir Henry Colet, we find him " assigned and chosen," with
Mr. Recorder and certain commoners, to ride to the king
" for redress of the new impositions raised and levied upon
English cloths in the archduke's land." 'This probably al-
ludes to the circumstance of Philip, to whom the emperor
Maximilian had resigned the Low Countries the year be-
fore, exacting the duty of a florin upon every piece of
English cloth imported into his dominions ; but which he
desisted from in the articles of agreement signed by his
ambassadors in London, July 7, 1497. In the following
year, when the Cornish rebels marched towards London,
alderman Fabyan was appointed with John Brooke, and
John Warner, late sheriff, to keep the gates of Ludgate
and Newgate, the postern of the house of Friars- preachers,
and the Bar of the New Temple. A few months after, in the
thirteenth of Henry VII. we find him an assessor upon the
different wards of London, of the fifteenth which had been
granted to the king for the Scottish war. In 1502, on the
pretext of poverty, he resigned the alderman's gown, not
willing to take the mayoralty ; and probably retired to the
mansion in Essex, mentioned in his will, at Theydon Ger-
non. That he was opulent at this period cannot be doubted,
but he seems to have considered that the expences of the
chief magistracy were too great, even at that time, to be
sustained by a man who had a family of sixteen children,
for such is the number specified in his will, and whose
figures in brass he ordered to be placed upon his monu-
ment. Stowe, in his " Survey of London," gives the Eng-
lish part of the epitaph on Fabyan's tomb, from the church
of St. Michael, Cornhill, and says he died in 1511 ; adding
that his monument was gone. Bale, who places Fabyan's
death on February 28, 1512, is probably nearest the truth,
as his will", though dated July ilth, 1511, was not proved
till July 12th, 1513 ; which, according to the ecclesiastical
computation, would be somewhat less than five months after
the supposed time of his death. His will, which affords a
curious comment on the manners of the time of Henry VIII.
may be seen in Mr. Ellis' s late excellent edition of his
F A B Y A N. 39
Chronicle, to the preface to which edition this article is
solely indebted.
From several passages in Fabyan's history, it is evident
that he was conversant in French, and no layman of the
age he lived in is said to have been better skilled in the
Latin language. With these accomplishments, with great
opportunities, and with a taste for poetry, he endeavoured
to reconcile the discordant testimonies of historians, and
therefore named his work " The Concordance of Histories ;"
adding the fruits of personal observation in the latter and
more interesting portion of his Chronicle. His poetry,
indeed, is not of a superior cast. Mr. Warton considered
" The Complaint of king Edward II." to be the best of his
metres ; but observes, that it is a translation from a Latin
poem attributed to that monarch, but probably written by
William of Wyrcestre. " Our author's transitions," he
adds, " from prose to verse, in the course of a prolix narra-
tive, seem to be made with much ease, and when he be-
gins to versify, the historian disappears only by the addi-
tion of rhyme and stanza."
Fabyan, like the old chroniclers in general, for fear of
neglecting some important facts, went beyond the age of
historical certainty in his details. He divides his Chronicles
into seven portions, giving a copy of verses as an epilogue
to each, under the title of the Seven Joys of the Blessed
Virgin. The first six portions bring his history from the
landing of Brute to the Norman conquest. The seventh
extends from the conquest to the conclusion. That he was
a little tinged with superstition must be allowed; but he
was no great favourer of the monastic institution, and his
observations on some of the miracles related in his history
are too pointed to be mistaken.
There iave been five editions of Fabyan ; the first printed
by Pynson, in 1516, the great rarity of which is attributed
by Bale to cardinal Wolsey, who ordered some copies
"exemplaria nonnulla" to be burnt, because the author
had made too clear a discovery of the revenues of the
clergy. This obnoxious part, Mr. Ellis thinks, was the ab~
stractof the bill projected by the house of commons in the
eleventh year of Henry IV. for depriving ecclesiastics of
their temporal possessions. Bale's assertion, however, is
unsupported by any other writer. The second edition was
printed by Rastell in 1533 ; the third by John Reynes in
1542; the fourth by Kingston in 1559, all in folio; and
40 F A B Y A N.
the fifth makes part of the series of Chronicles lately re-
printed by a society of the most eminent booksellers of
London, and was edited by Henry Ellis, esq. F. R. S. and
F. S. A. with such collations and improvements as give it a
very superior value. It is reprinted from Pynsori's edition
of 1516, the first part collated with the editions of 1533,
1542, and 1559, and the second with a manuscript of the
author's own time, as well as the subsequent editions ; in-
cluding the different continuations. l
FACCIO, or FATIO (NICOLAS of DUILIER), a man of
considerable learning, but unfortunately connected with
the French prophets, was a native of Switzerland, whither
his family, originally Italians, were obliged to take refuge,
for religion's sake, in the beginning of the reformation.
He was born Feb. 16, 1664. His father intending him for
the study of divinity, he was regularly instructed in Greek
and Latin, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy ; learn-
ed a little of the Hebrew tongue, and began to attend the
lectures of the divinity professors of Geneva : but his mo-
ther being averse to this, he was left to pursue his own
course, and appears to have produced the first fruits of his
studies in some letters on subjects of astronomy sent to Cas-
sini, the French king's astronomer. In 1682 he went to
Paris, where Cassini received him very kindly. In the
following year he returned to Geneva, where he became
particularly acquainted with a count Fenil, who formed the
design of seizing, if not assassinating the prince of Orange,
afterwards William III. This design Faccio having learned
from him communicated it to bishop Burnet about 1686,
who of course imparted it to the prince. Bishop Burnet,
in the first letter of his Travels, dated September 1685,
speaks of him as an incomparable mathematician and phi-
losopher, who, though only twenty-one years old, was
already become one of the greatest men of his age, and
seemed born to carry learning some sizes beyond what it
had hitherto attained. Whilst Dr. Calamy studied at the
university of Utrecht, Faccio resided in that city as tutor
to two young gentlemen, Mr. Ellys and Mr. Thornton, and
conversed freely with the English. At this time he was
generally esteemed to be a Spinozist ; and his discourse,
says Dr. Calamy, very much looked that way. Afterwards,
it is probable, that he was professor of mathematics at
1 Preface as above.
F A C C I O. 41
Geneva. In 1687 he came into England, and was honoured
with the friendship of the most eminent mathematicians of
that age. Sir Isaac Newton, in particular, was intimately
acquainted with him. Dr. Johnstone of Kidderminster had
in his possession a manuscript, written by Faccio, containing
commentaries and illustrations of different parts of sir
Isaac's Principia. About 1704 he taught mathematics in
Spitafnelds, and obtained about that time a patent fora
species of jewel-watches. When he unfortunately attached
himself to the new prophets, he became their chief secre-
tary, and committed their warnings to writing, many of
which were published. The connexion of such a man with
these enthusiasts, and their being supported, likewise, by
another person of reputed abilities, Maximilian Misson, a
French refugee, occasioned a suspicion, though without
reason, that there was some deep contrivance and design
in the affair. On the second of December, 1707, Faccio
stood in the pillory at Charing-cross, with the following
words affixed to his hat : " Nicolas Fatio, convicted for
abetting and favouring Elias Marion, in his wicked and
counterfeit prophecies, and causing them to be printed and
published, to terrify the queen's people." Nearly at the
same time, alike sentence was executed upon Elias Marion,
one of the pretended prophets, and John d'Ande, another
of their abattors. This mode of treatment did not convince
Faccio of his error; and, indeed, the delusion of a man of
such abilities, and simplicity of manners, was rather an
object of compassion than of public infamy and punish-
ment. Oppressed with the derision and contempt thrown
upon himself and his party, he retired at last into the
country, and spent the remainder of a long life in silence
and obscurity. He died at Worcester in 1753, about eighty-
nine years old. When he became the dupe of fanaticism,
he seems to have given up his philosophical studies and
connections. Faccio, besides being deeply versed in all
branches of mathematical literature, was a great proficient
in the learned and oriental languages. He had read much,
also, in books of alchymy. To the last, he continued a
firm believer in the reality of the inspiration of the French
prophets. Dr. Wall of Worcester, who was well acquainted
with him, communicated many of the above particulars to
Dr. Johnstone, in whose hands were several of Faccio's fa-
natical manuscripts and journals; and one of his letters
giving an account of count Fenil's conspiracy, and some
42 F A C C I O.
particulars of the author's family was communicated to the
late Mr. Seward, and published in the second volume of
his Anecdotes. In the Republic of Letters, vol. I. we find
a Latin poem by Faccio, in honour of sir Isaac Newton ; and
in vol. XVIII. a communication on the rules of the ancient
Hebrew poesy, on which subject he appears to have cor-
responded with Whiston. There are also many of his ori-
ginal papers and letters in the British Museum ; and among
them a Latin poem, entitled "N. Facii Duellerii Auriacus
Throno-Servatus," in which he claims to himself the merit
of having saved king William from the above-mentioned
conspiracy. '
FACCIOLATI (JAMES), a learned Italian orator and
grammarian, was born Jan. 4, 1682, at Toreglia, and stu-
died principally at Padua, where he took his degree of
doctor in divinity in 1704, and taught for some time, and
afterwards was professor of philosophy for three years. He
was then appointed regent of the schools. As the Greek
and Latin languages were now his particular department,
he bestowed much pains in providing his scholars with
suitable assistance, and with that view, reviewed and pub-
lished new and improved editions of the Lexicons of Cale*
pinus, Nizolius, and Schrevelius. Some years after he
was promoted to be logic professor, and in that as well as
the former situation, endeavoured to introduce a more cor-
rect and useful mode of teaching, and published a work on
the subject for the use of his students. In 1739, when the
business of teaching metaphysics was united to that of
logic, Facciolati was desirous of resigning, that he might
return to his original employment ; but the magistrates of
Padua would by no means allow that their university should
be deprived of his name, and therefore, allowing him to
retain his title and salary, only wished him to take in hand
the history of the university of Padua, which Papadopoli
had written, and continue it down to the present time.
This appears, from a deficiency of proper records, a very
arduous task, yet by dint of perseverance he accomplished
it in a manner, which although not perfectly satisfactory,
as far as regards the " Fasti Gymnastici," yet was entirely
so in the " Syntagmata." He wrote also some works in
theology and morals, and had the ambition to be thought a
1 Bioy. Brit. vol. III. art. Calamy. Seward's Anecdotes. Tatler, itk notes,
1806, roU IV.
FACCIOLATI. 43
poet, but his biographer Fabroni thinks that in this he was
not successful. His principal excellence was as a classical
scholar and critic, especially in the Latin, and his high
fame procured him an invitation from the king of Portugal
to superintend a college for the young nobility at Lisbon,
but he excused himself on account of his advanced age.
Fabroni mentions a set of china sent to him by this sove-
reign, which he says was a very acceptable present, and
corresponded to the elegant furniture of Facciolati's house.
He had a garden in which he admitted no plants or fruit-
trees but what were of the most choice and rare kind, and
four or five apples from Facciolati's garden was thought no
mean present. In every thing he was liberal to his friends,
and most henevolent to the poor. He died in advanced
age of the iliac passion, Aug. 27, 1769.
His works were, 1. " Orationes Latinse," separately
published, but collected and printed at Padua in 1744,
8vo, and reprinted with additions in 1767. 2. " Logica?
disciplines rudimenta," Venice, 1728, 8vo. 3. " Acroases
dialecticae," first published separately, and afterwards in-
corporated in a work, entitled " J. Facciolati logica tria
complectens, Rudimenta, Institutiones, Acroases undecim,"
Venice, 1750. 4. " De Vita Cardinalis Cornelii episcopi
Patavini." This life of one of his early patrons appeared
in the "Acta Erudit." Lips. 1722. 5. "Ortografia moderna
Italiana," Padua, 1721. 6. " Exercitationes in duas priores
Ciceronis orationes," Padua, 1731. 7. " Animadversiones
Critics; in I. Litteram Latini Lexici cui titulus Magnum
Dictionarium Latino Gallicum," Padua, 1731, 8yo. 8.
" Animadversiones criticse in X. Litterarum ejusdem
Lexici." This is in Calogera's collection of scientific
works, vol. XIX. Venice, 1739. 9. " Scholia in libros Ci-
ceronis de officiis, de senectute, &c." Venice, 8vo. 10.
Monita Isocratea, Gr. et Lat." Padua, 1741, 8vo. 11. " De
Gymnasio Patavino syntagmata duodecim ex ejusdem Gym-
nasii fastis excerpta," ibid. 1750, 8vo, 12. " Fasti. Gym-
nasii Patavini, ab anno 1260 ad annum. 1756,'Mbid. 1757,
4to. 13. " Sfera e geografia per le scuole de fanciulli."
14. "Ciceronis Vita Literaria," ibid. 15. Vita et acta
Jesu Christi secundum utramque generationem, divinam
ac humanam," ibid. 1761. 16. " Vita et acta B. Mariae,"
ibid. 1764. 17. " Viatica Theologica X. quibus adversus
religionis dissidia catholicus viator munitur/' Padua, 1765.
18. Epistolse Latins CLXXI Jacobi Facciolati, 7 ibid.
41 F A C I N I.
1765. Besides these he was the author of some articles in
the literary journals. '
FACIN1 (PETER), a painter of history, Was born at Bo-
logna in 1560. He began to paint when already grown up
to manhood, at the advice of An. Caracci, who, on seeing
a whimsical design of his in charcoal, concluded he would
be an acquisition to his school. Of this advice he had rea-
son to repent, not only because Facini roused his jealousy
by the rapidity of his progress, but because he saw him
leave his school, become his rival in the instruction of
youth, and even lay snares for his life. Facini had two
characteristics of excellence, a vivacity in the attitudes
and heads of his figures, that resembled the style of Tin-
toretto, and a truth of carnation which made Annibal him-
self declare that his colours seemed to be mixed with hu-
man flesh Beyond this he has little to surprise; his de-
sign is weak, his bodies vast and undefined, his heads and
hands ill set on, nor had he time to correct these faults, as
he died young, in 1602. At St. Francesco, in Bologna, is
an altar-piece of his, the marriage of St. Catherine, at-
tended by the four tutelary saints of the city, and a number
of infant angels, which shews the best of his powers. His
children carolling, or at play, in the gallery Matvezzi, and
elsewhere at Bologna, are equally admired ; they are in
the manner of Albani, but with grander proportions. 2
FACIO (BARTHOLOMEW), a very learned man of the
fifteenth century, was a native of Spezia, a sea-port in the
Genoese territory. The most curious inquirers into the
history of literature have not yet been able to ascertain the
precise period of his birth. From many passages, however,
which occur in his works, it appears, that he was indebted
for instruction in the Latin and Greek languages to Guarino
Veronese, whom he frequently mentions in terms of affec-
tionate esteem. Facio was one of the numerous assemblage
of scholars that rendered illustrious the court of Alphonsus,
king of Naples, by whom he was treated with distinguished
honour. He had been sent by the Genoese to Alphonsus
on a political erraod, in which he failed; but the interviews
he had gave the king so favourable an opinion of him, that
he invited him into his service, and made him his secretary,
an office which he filled for many years. During his
1 Fabroni Vitae Italorum. Saxii Onomasticon, a curious article, with some
original correspondence.
F A C I O. 45
residence at Naples, the jealousy of rival ship betrayed him
into a violent quarrel with Laurentius Valla, against whom
he composed four invectives, and as he happened to die
soon after Valla, the circumstance occasioned the following
lines :
" Ne vel in Elysiis sine vindice Valla susurret,
Facius baud multos post obiit ipse dies."
Some -say Facio composed these lines himself on his death-
bed, which is doubtful, as indeed is the period of his death.
Menus, his last biographer, fixes his death in 1457 ; but
Valla, we know, died eight years before, which is rather a
too liberal translation of " baud multos dies." Niceron
contends for 1467, which is nine years after the death of
Alphonsus.
His works, according to the catalogue given by Mehus,
are, 1. De Bello Veneto Ciodiano ad Joannem Jacobum
Spinulam, liber," Leyden, 1568. 2. " De humanae vita?
felicitate," Hanov. 1611, and with it, " De excellentia et
prrcstantia hominis," a work erroneously ascribed to Pius II.
with whom Facio was intimately acquainted. 3." De rebus
gestis ab Alphonso primo Neapolitarum rege Commenta-
riorum libri deceoi," Leyden, 1560, 4to, and reprinted in
1562 and 1566. The first seven books were also published
at Mantua in 1563, and it has been inserted in various col-
lections of Italian history. 4. " Arriani de rebus gestis
Alexandri libri octo, Latine redditi," Basil, 1539, folio.
This translation was made by Facio at the request of his
patron Alphonsus. 5. " De viris illustribus liber," pub-
lished for the first time by the abbe Mehus, at Florence,
1745, 4to, with a life of the author, and some of his cor-
respondence. Saxius has -published in his Onomasticon a
small tract of Facio's, " de differentiis," or the difference
between words apparently of the same meaning. Tira-
boschi thinks Facio's style much more elegant than that of
any of his contemporaries, and in his lives of illustrious
men, published by Mehus, he displays much impartial and
just criticism. *
FACUNDUS, bishop of Hermianum in Asia, is noticed
by ecclesiastic writers as having been present at the coun-
cil of Constantinople, held by pope Vigilius in the year
547, where he was a strenuous defender of the writings
Shepherd's Life of Poggio, p. 435. Ginguene Hist, Lift, d'ltalie, Nice-
ron, vol. XXI. Moreri, Saxii Onotaast.
46 F A C U N D U a
called The Three Chapters," which the council of Chal-
cedon had pronounced orthodox. The works so named
were, 1. The writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia. 2. The
books which Theodoret ot" Cyrus wrote, against the twelve
anathemas published by Cyril against the Nestorians. 3.
The letter which Ibas of Edessa had written to Maris, a
Persian, concerning the council of Ephesus, and the con-
demnation of Nestorius. The question of condemning
these writings, had been raised by Theodore bishop of
Csesarea, for the sake of weakening the authority of the
council of Chalcedon, and crushing the Nestorians. The
emperor Justinian listened to this prelate, published an
edict against The Three Chapters in the year 544, and in
the council of Constantinople above-mentioned, forced the
pope Vigilius to accede to the same sentence. Vigilius,
agitated between the contending parties, changed his
opinion and conduct four times; but Facundus remained
firm, and was banished for -bis perseverance. He wrote
twelve books on the subject, addressed to Justinian, which
are still extant, and one against Mutianus, but^in fatft^
against Vigilius ; both published with notes, by P. Sir-
mond, in 1629. There is also an " Epistola Catholics
fidei pro defensione trium capitulorum," added to the
edition of 1675. His style is animated, but he is fre-
quently deficient in moderation. 1
FAERNO (GABRIEL), an elegant Latin poet and philo-
logist, was born at Cremona in the early part of the six*
teenth century, and by his accomplishments in polite
literature, gained the esteem and friendship of the car-
dinal de Medicis, afterwards pope Pius IV. and of his ne-
phew the cardinal Borromeo. Having acquired a critical
knowledge of the Latin language, he was enabled to dis-
play much judgment in the correction of the Roman clas-
sics, and in the collation of ancient manuscripts on which
he was frequently employed, and indeed had an office of
that kind in the Vatican library. Ghilini says that he was
equally learned in the Greek language, but Muret asserts
that he was quite unacquainted with the Greek. That he
was a very elegant Latin poet, however, is amply proved
by his " Fables,'* and perhaps his being accused of steal-
ing from Phgedrus may be regarded as a compliment to his
style. Thuanus appears to have first suggested this accu-
1 Moreri, Duj>i. Moheim, Saxii Onomast
F A E R N O. 47
sation. He says that the learned world was greatly obliged
to him, yet had been more so, if, instead of suppressing,
he had been content with imitating the Fables of Phaedrus,
and asserts that Faeruo dealt unfairly with the public con-
cerning Phoedrus, who was then unknown ; having a ma-
nuscript of that author, which he concealed from the world
for fear of lessening the value of the Latin fables he had
made in imitation of ^Esop. Perrault, however, who pub-
lished a translation of Faerno' s Fables into French verse at
Paris in 1699, has defended his author from Thuanus's
imputation. His words in the preface are as follow :
" Faerno has been called a second Phsedrus, by reason of
the excellent style of his Fables, though he never saw
Phaedrus, who did not come to our knowledge till above
thirty years after his death ; for Pithoeus, having found
that manuscript in the dust of an old library, published it
in the beginning of this century, Thuanus, who makes
very honourable mention of our author in his history, pre-
tends, that Phcedrus was not unknown to him ; and even
blames him for having suppressed that author, to conceal
what he had stolen from him. But there is no ground for
what he says ; and it is only the effect of the strong per-
suasion of all those who are so great admirers of antiquity
as to think that a modern author can do nothing that i*
excellent, unless he has an ancient author for his model.
Out of the hundred fables which Faerno published in Latin
verse, there are but five that had been treated by Phsedrus $
and out of those five there are but one or two that have
been managed nearly in the same manner : which hap-
pened only because it is impossible that two men, who
treat on the same subject, should not agree sometimes in
the same thoughts, or in the same expressions."
Faerno died in the prime of life, at Rome, Nov. 17,1561.
Plow much might have been expected from his talents and
habits of study, had he lived longer, ntay appear from,
what he left: 1. " Terentii Comcediae," Florence, 15.65, 2
vols. 8vo, a valuable and rare edition. There is no an-
cient editor to whom Terence is more indebted than to
Faerno ; who, by a judicious collation of ancient manu-
scripts and editions, especially the one belonging to Bern-
bus (examined by Politian, and unknown to all preceding
editors), has restored the true reading of his author 4n
many important passages. Faerno's edition became the
basis of almost every subsequent one, and Dr. Bentley
48 F A E R N O.
bad such an opinion of his notes that he reprinted them
entire in his edition. 2. " Ciceronis Orationes Philippicae,"
Rome, 1563, 8vo, very highly praised by Graevius. 3.
" Centum Fabulae ex antiquis Autoribus delectae, et car-
minibus explicate," Rome, 1564, 4to, with prints, from
which it is said that the subjects for the fountains at Ver-
sailles were taken. There is another edition of London,
1743, 4to, very beautiful, but not so much valued as the
former. It is said that this work was occasioned by a wish
expressed by the pope that he would make a collection of
the best of Esop's fables, and those of other ancient authors,
and put them into Latin verse for the instruction of the
young. 4. " Censura emendationum Livianarum Sigonii."
Among the collections of Latin poetry written by Italian
scholars are some attributed to Faerno, as " In Lutheranos,
sectam Germanicam ;" " Ad Homobonum Hoffredum ;"
a Physician of Cremona; " In Maledicum," &c. !
FAGAN (CHRISTOPHER BARTHELEMI), a French comic
writer of some eminence within the last century, was born
at Paris in 1702. He was son of a clerk in a public office
at Paris, in which he also obtained an appointment that
gave him little trouble, and left him leisure for literacy
occupations. He wrote for several of the French theatres,
and his works were collected into four volumes, I2mo,1760.
The general character of his comedies is a delicate and
natural liveliness. The most approved of them were, u The
Rendezvous," and " The Ward." In his own character,
as well as in talents, he was not unlike la Fontaine, indo-
lent, averse to business, negligent of his appearance, ab-
sent, timid, and by no means likely to be taken by a
stranger for a man of genius. He died April 28, 1755, at
the age of fifty-three. a
FAGE (RAIMOND DE LA), a self-taught genius, was born
in 1648 at Lisle en Albigeois in Languedoc. He drevr
with the pen, or Indian ink, and arrived at such eminence
in that branch as to be complimented upon it by Carlo
Marat. He went to visit that painter, who received him
with politeness, and offered him his pencil ; when he de-
clined using it, saying, that he had never practised paint-
ing. " I am glad to hear it," said the artist, " for if I
may judge from your drawings of the progress you would
i Nicergn, rol. XXIII. Morori.Tiraboschi. Sxii Onomast. Dibdin'*
Classic*. Diet, Hist. Mweri.
F A G fc. 49
have made in painting, I must certainly have given place
to you." Fage lived irregularly, generally drawing at a
public-house, and sometimes paying his bills by a sketch,
produced upon the occasion. He died in 169 . Audran,
Simoneau, and others, engraved a collection of one hun-
dred and twenty- three prints from his designs, and Strutt
mentions some prints engraved by himself !
FAGIUS (PAUL), or sometimes PHAGIUS, whose Ger-
man name was BUCHLEIN, a protestant minister, and one of
the early reformers, was born at Rheinzabern in Germany,
1504, and laid the foundation of his learning in that town
under the care of his father, who was a school-master. He
was sent to Heidelberg at eleven, and at eighteen to Stras-
burgh ; where not being properly supported, he had re-
course to teaching others, in order to defray the expence
of his own books and necessaries. The study of the He-
brew becoming fashionable in Germany, he applied him-
self to it ; and by the help of Elias Levita, the learned
Jew, became a great proficient in it. In 1527 he took
upon him the care of a school at Isne, where he married
and had a family. Afterwards, quitting the occupation of
a schoolmaster, he entered into the ministry, and became
a sedulous preacher among those of the reformed religion.
Buffler, one of the senators of Isne, being informed of his
perfect knowledge in the Hebrew tongue, and of his natural
bias to the arts, erected a printing-house at his own
charge, that Fagius might publish whatever he should
deem useful to religion in that way ; but the event did not
answer the expence.
In 1541 the plague began to spread at Isne; when Fagius
understanding that the wealthiest of the inhabitants were
about to leave the place, without having any regard to the
poorer sort, rebuked them openly, and admonished them
of their duty ; telling them that they should either continue
in the town, or liberally bestow their alms before they
went, for the relief of those they left behind ; and de-
claring at the same time, that during the time of that ca-
lamity he would himself in person visit those that were
sick, would administer spiritual comfort to them, pray for
them, and be present with them day and night : all which
he did, and yet escaped the distemper. At the same sea-
son the plague raged in Strasburg, and among many others,
1 Moreri. Diet. Hist.
VOL. XIV. E
4o F A G I U S.
proved fatal to the reformer, Wolfang Capito ; upon which
Fagius was called by the senate to succeed him. Here he
continued to preach till the beginning of the German wars,
when the elector Palatine, intending a- reformation in his
churches, called Fagius from Strasburg to Heidelberg, and
made him the public professor thefe: but the emperor pre-
vailing against the elector, an obstruction was thrown in
the way of the reformation. During his residence here,
however, he published many books for the promotion of
Hebrew learning, which were greatly approved by Bucer
and others, and form the most important of the works he
has left.
His father dying in 1548, and the persecution in Ger-
many rendering that country unsafe to all who did not pro-
fess the Romish doctrine, he and Bucer came over to Eng-
land in consequence of receiving letters from archbishop
Cranmer, in which they had assurances of a kind reception
and a handsome stipend, if they would continue here.
They arrived in April 1 5*y, but Strype says in 1548 ; were
entertained some days in the palace at Lambeth, and ap-
pointed to reside at Cambridge, where they were to un-
dertake a new translation and illustration of the scriptures,
Fagius taking the Old Testament, and Bucer the New, for
their several parts. A pension of 100/. a year was settled
on Fagius, and the same on Bucer, besides the salary they
were to receive from the university. But this was all put
an end to, by the sudden illness and death of both these
professors. Fagius fell ill at London of a quartan fever,
but would be removed to Cambridge, on hopes of receiving
benefit from the change of air. He-died there Nov. 12, 1550;
and Bucer did not live above a year after. Melcbior Adam
and Verheiden suggested that Fagius was poisoned, but
for this we find no other authority. By a disgraceful
bigotry, both their bodies were dug up and burnt in the
reign of queen Mary.
Fagius's works were numerous, both in German and
Latin. Among them we find, 1. " Sententise vere elegantes
pian, sive capitula Patrum," Heb. et Lat. Isne, 1541, 4to.
ii. " txpositio Dictionum Hebraicarum literalis in quatnor
capita Geneseos," Isne, 1542, 4to. 3. " Liber Fidei,"
Heb. et Lat. ibid. 1542, 4to. 4. " Liber Tobijr," Heb. et
Lat. ibid. 1542, 4to. 5. " Isagoge in Linguam Hebracam/'
Const. 154'.*, 4to. 6. " Sententice Morales Ben Syrgp,"
F A G N A N I. 51
*with notes, 1542, 4to. 7. " Breves annotationes in Tar-
gum," 1546, fol. &c. &C. 1
FAGNANI (PROSPER), a celebrated canonist of the
seventeenth century, was regarded at Rome as an orator,
and every cause which he took in hand as successful. He
was for about fifteen years secretary to several popes, all
of whom entertained a high respect for his talents, and
frequently consulted him. He became blind at the age of
forty-four, which misfortune does not appear to have in-
terfered with his professional labours, for it was after this
that he composed his celebrated " Commentary on the
Decretals/' in 3 vols. folio, which extended his fame
throughout all Europe. It was dedicated to pope Alex-
ander VII. by whose order he had engaged in the under-
taking, and was printed at Rome in 1661, and five times
reprinted. The best edition is that of Venice, 1697, in
which the entire text of the Decretals is given. Fagnani
continued deprived of his sight, but in full possession of
his mental faculties until his death in 1678, as it is sup-
posed, in the eightieth year of his age. His memory ap-
pears to have been uncommon, and the stores of learning
he had laid up before he was deprived of his sight he could
bring forth with promptitude and accuracy, even to a quo-
tation from the poets whom he studied in his youth. 2
FAGON (Guv CRESCENT), an eminent French physi-
cian in the reign of Louis XIV. was born at Paris, May
1 1, 1638. He was the son of Henry Fagon, commissioner
in ordinary of war, and of Louisa de la Brosse, niece of
Guy de la Brosse, physician in ordinary to Louis XIII.
and grandson of a physician in ordinary to Henry IV. He
studied first in the Sorbonne, under M. Gillot, an eminent
doctor, with whom he resided as student, and who per-
suaded him to chuse the medical profession. M. Fagon
never forgot M. Gillot in his highest prosperity ; but, if he
met him in the street, alighted from his coach, and con-
ducted him to the house where he was going. This young
physician had scarcely begun to dispute, when he ventured
to maintain, in a thesis, the circulation of the blood, which
was at that time held as a paradox among the old doctors ;
and also another on the use of tobacco, published long
afterwards ; " An frequens Nicotian ye usus vitam abbre-
Melchior Adam in vitig Germ. Theol. Mareri. Strype's Life of Cranmer,
p. 19$, 197, 199, and Appendix, ffo. 44, 117, whre be it frequently called
Phagiws. * Moreri.
E 2
52 FAGON.
viet," Paris, 1699, 4to. He took his doctor's degree 1664,
1\1. Vallot wishing to repair and replenish the royal garden,
M. Fagon offered his services ; and going, at his own
expence, to Auvergne, Languedoc, Provence, the Alps,
and the Pyrenees, returned with an ample collection of
curious and useful plants. He had the principal share in
the catalogue of the plants in that garden, puhlished 1665,
entitled " Hortus Regius," to which he prefixed a little
Latin poem of his own. M. Fagon was made professor of
botany and chemistry at the royal garden, and began to
have the plants engraved; but there are only forty -five
plates finished, which are very scarce. The king appointed
bim first physician to the dauphiness in 1680, and to the
queen some months after. In 1693 he was made first phy-
sician to the king, and superintendant of the royal garden
in 1698, to which he retired after the king's death, and,
for the improvement of which, he persuaded Louis XIV.
to send M. de Tournfort into Greece, Asia, and Egypt,
which produced the scientific voyage so well known to the
learned world. Fagon died March 11, 1718, aged near
eighty. The academy of sciences had chosen him an
honorary member in 1699. He left " Les Qualit6s du
Quinquina," Paris, 1703, 12mo. He married Mary Noze-
reau, by whom he had two sons : Anthony, the eldest,
bishop of Lombez, then of Vannes, died February.16, 1742 ;
the second, Lewis, counsellor of state in ordinary, and to
the royal council, and intendant of the finances, died at
Paris May 8, 1741, unmarried. The Fagonia, in botany,
was so called by Tournfort in honour of him. '
FAHRENHEIT (GABRIEL DANIEL), the celebrated im-
prover of the thermometer, was horn at Dantzic, May
14, 1686. He was originally intended for commerce, but
having a decided turn for philosophical studies, employed
himself in the construction of barometers and thermometers,
which art he carried to great perfection. About 1720 he
introduced an essential improvement in the thermometer,
by substituting meccury for spirit of wine. He also made
a new scale for the instrument, fixing the extremities of it
at the point of severe cold observed by himself in Iceland
in 1709, which he conceived to be the greatest degree of
cold, and at the point where mercury boils, dividing the
intermediate space into 600 degrees. His point ot extreme
1 Dkt. llit. de L'AvocAt. Moron.
FAHRENHEIT. 53
cold, which is the same that is produced by surrounding the
bulb of the thermometer with a mixture of snow, sal am-
moniac, and sea salt, he marked 0, and carried his degrees
upwards ; though few thermometers have been practically
formed which carry their degrees much above 212, the
point at which water boils. Forty degrees below the of
Fahrenheit, have since been observed at Petersburg, and
elsewhere ; and as this is the point at which mercury
freezes, it would make a better limit to the scale, which
would thus be confined between the utmost extremities of
heat and cold that can be examined by means of that fluid.
Our English philosophers have in general adopted the
scale of Fahrenheit ; those of France have preferred Reau-
mur's. Fahrenheit published a dissertation on thermo-
meters in 1724. He travelled to Holland, and in various
parts of the continent, in pursuit of knowledge, and died
Sept. 16, 1736. '
FAIDIT. See FAYDIT.
FAILLE (GERMAIN DE LA), a French topographical
writer, was born at Castelnaudari in Upper Languedoc,
Oct. 30, 1616. x\fter going through a course of studies at
Toulouse, he was in 1638 appointed king's advocate to
the presidial of his native city, which office he resigned in
1655 on being chosen syndic to the city of Toulouse, and
came to reside in the latter, where he was enabled to cul-
tivate his taste for the belles lettres ; and during the dis-
charge of the duties of his office, which he executed with
zeal arid disinterestedness, the opportunity he had of in-
specting the archives suggested to him the design of writing
the annals of Toulouse. On making known his intentions,
the parliament granted him permission to examine its re-
gisters, and the city undertook to defray the expense of
printing his work. Having been advanced to the rank of
capitoul, or alderman of the city, which office he served
for the third time in 1673, he communicated to his brethren
a plan of ornamenting their capitolium, or town -hall, with
busts of the most distinguished personages who had filled
the offices of magistracy, and they having allowed him to
make choice of the proper objects, a gallery was completed
in 1677 with the busts of thirty persons whom he had se-
lected as meriting that honour. This, and other services
which he rendered to the citizens of Toulouse, induced
1 Diet. Hist.
54 FAILLE.
them to confer a handsome pension on him, and likewise
to bestow the reversion of the place of syndic on his ne-
phew, who dying before La Faille, they gave it to his
grand-nephew. In 1694 the academy of the " Jeux Flo-
raux" elected him their secretary, a situation which he
filled for sixteen years with much reputation ; for, besides
the fame he had acquired as an historian and magistrate*
he possessed considerable literary taste and talents, and
even in his ninetieth year produced some poetical pieces
in which there was more spirit and vivacity than could
have been expected at that very advanced period. He
died at Toulouse Nov. 12, 1711, in his ninety-sixth year.
His " Annales de la ville de Toulouse" were published
there in 2 vols. fol. 1687 and 1701. The style, although;
somewhat incorrect, is lively and concise. The annals are
brought down only to 1610, the author being afraid, if he
proceeded nearer to his own times, that he might be
tempted to violate the impartiality which he had hitherto
endeavoured to preserve. He published also " Trait6 de
la noblesse des Capitouls," 1707, 4to, a very curious work,.
\vhich is said to have given offence to some of the upstart
families. To the works of Goudelin of Toulouse, a poet,
published in 1678, 12mo, he prefixed a life, and criticism
on his poems. Some of his own poetical pieces are in the
" Journal de Verdun," for May 1709. 1 -
FAIRCLOUGH. See FEATLY.
FAIRFAX (EDWARD), an ingenious poet, who flourished:
in the reigns of queen Elizabeth and king James the First,
was the second son of sir Thomas Fairfax, of Den ton, York-
shire, by Dorothy his wife, daughter of George Gale, of
Ascham-Grange, esq. treasurer to the Mint at York*. In
what year he was born is not related. The family from
which he sprang wns of a very military turn. His father
had passed his youth in the wars of Europe, and was with
Charles duke of B.ourbon, at the sacking of Rome, in 1527.
* The author of the Lives of the poet, sent to Dr. Atterbury in 1704-5,
Poets," published under the ijame o docs not speak of him as if he had any
Theophilus (Jibber, says that Mr. Ed- idea that he was of illegitimate birth,
ward Fairfax was the natural son of The circumstances, too, of his being
sir Thomas ; and this opinion has been always styled Edward Fairfax, esq. of
pretty generally received. But Doug- Newhall in. Fuyistone, in the forest of
las, who is a writer of good authprity, Knaresborough, and of his living upon
lias positively expressed himself as we his own estate, iu the bosom of his fa-
read in the te*t; and Mr. Brian Fair- mily, seem best to accord with the
fax, secretary t f > the archbishop of supposition of his having been a lawful
in his account of our branch of that family.
Niceron, rul IV. Moreri. Diet. Hist,
FAIRFAX. 55
His engaging in this expedition is said to have g'lYen such
offence to sir William Fairfax, that he was disinherited ;
but this is not reconcileable to the fact of his succeeding
to the family estate at Denton, which he transmitted to his
descendants. It was in 1577, or, according to Douglas, in
1579, when far advanced in years, that he was knighted by
queen Elizabeth. The poet's eldest brother, Thomas, who
in process of time became the first lord Fairfax of Cameron,
received the honour of knighthood before Rouen in Nor-
mandy, in 1591, for his bravery in the army sent to the
assistance of Henry the Fourth of France ; and he after-
wards signalized himself on many occasions in Germany
against the house of Austria. A younger brother of Ed-
ward Fairfax, sir Charles, was a captain under sir Francis
Vere, at the battle of Newport, fought in 1600; and in
the famous three years' siege of Ostend, commanded al)
the English in that town for some time before it surren-
dered. Here he received a wound in his face, from the
piece of a skull of a marshal of France, killed near him by
a cannon-ball, and was himself killed in 1604.
While his brothers were thus honourably employed
abroad, Edward Fairfax devoted himself to a studious
course of life. That he had the advantages of a very libe-
ral education cannot be doubted, from his intellectual ac-
quirements, and the distinction which he soon obtained in
the literary world. Indeed, his attainments were such,
that he became qualified to have filled any employment,
either in church or state. But an invincible modesty, and
the love of retirement, induced him to prefer the shady
groves and natural cascades of Denton, and the forest of
Knaresborough, to the employments and advantages of a
public station. Accordingly, having married, he fixed
himself at Fuyistone, as a private gentleman. His time
was not, however, inactively or ingloriously spent. This
was apparent in his poetical exertions, and in several com-
positions in prose, the manuscripts of which were left by
him in the library of lord Fairfax, at Denton. The -tare
and education of his children, for which he was so well
qualified, probably engaged some part of his attention.
We are informed, likewise, that he was very serviceable,
in the same way, to his brother lord Fairfax ; besides which,
lie assisted him in the government of his family and the
management of his atVairs. The consequence of this was,
that all his lordship's children were bred scholars, and well
56 FAIRFAX.
principled in religion and virtue ; that his house was famed
for its hospitality, and, at the same time, his estate im-
proved. Wiiat Mr. Edward Fairfax's principles were, ap-
pears from the character which he gives of himself, in his
book on daemonology : " For myself," says he, "I am in
religion neither a fantastic puritan, nor a superstitious pa-
pist : but so settled in conscience, that I have the sure
ground of God's word to warrant all I believe, and the
commendable ordinances of our English church to approve
all I practise : in which course I live a faithful Christian,
and an obedient subject, and so teach my family." In
these principles he persevered to the end of his days, which
took place about 1632. He died at his own house, called
Newhall, in the parish of Fuyistone, between Demon and
Knar* sborough, and was buried in the same parish, where
a marble stone, with an inscription, was placed over his
grave.
Such are the few particulars that are related concerning
the private life of Fairfax. But it is as a poet that he is
principally entitled to attention ; and in this respect he is
held in jqst reputation, and deserves to have his name
transmitted with honour to posterity. His principal work
was his translation of Tasso's heroic poem of " Godfrey of
Bologne" out of Italian into English verse ; and what adds
to the merit of the work is, that it was his first essay in
poetry, and executed when he was very young. On its
appearance, it was dedicated to queen Elizabeth. The
book was highly commended by the best judges and wits
of the age in which it was written, and their judgment has
been sanctioned by the approbation of succeeding critics.
King James valued it above all other English poetry ; and
king Charles used to divert himself with reading it in the time
of his confinement. All who mention Fairfax, do him the
justice to allow that he was an accomplished genius. Dry-
den introduces Spenser and Fairfax almost on the level, as
the leading authors of their times, and Waller confessed
that he owed the music of his numbers to Fairfax's Godfrey
of Bologne. " The truth is," says the author of Cibber's
Lives, "this gentleman is, perhaps, the only writer down
to sir William Davenant, who needs no apology to be made
for him on account of the age in which he lived. His dic-
tion is so pure, elegant, and full of graces, and the turn of
his lines so perfectly melodious, that one cannot read it
without rapture ; and we can scarcely imagine th,e original
FAIRFAX. 57
Italian has greatly the advantage in either : nor is it very
probable, that while Fairfax can be read, any author will
attempt a new translation of Tasso with success." With-
out disputing the general truth of this eulogium (which,
however, might somewhat have been softened), it cannot
fail to be observed, how much the biographer has been
mistaken in his concluding conjecture. A new translation
of Tasso has not only been attempted, but executed, by
Mr. Hoole, with remarkable success and with distinguished
excellence ; and indeed in such a manner, that in the opi-
nion of Dr. Johnson, Fairfax's work will perhaps not soon
be reprinted. Of Fairfax, it has been justly said that he
had the powers of genius and fancy, and broke through
that servile custom of translation which prevailed in his
time. His liberal elegance rendered his versions more
agreeable than the dry ness of Jonson, and the dull fidelity
of Sandys and May ; and he would have translated Tasso
with success, had he not unhappily chosen a species of ver-
sification which was ill adapted to the English language.
Mr. Hoole, in assigning the reasons for his giving a new
version of Tasso's " Jerusalem Delivered," remarks that
Fairfax's stanzas cannot be read with pleasure by the gene-
rality of those who have a taste for English poetry : of which
no other proof is necessary than that it appears scarcely to
have been read at all. It is not only unpleasant, but irk-
some, in such a degree as to surmount curiosity, and more
than counterbalance all the beauty of expression and senti-
ment, which is to be found in that work. He does not,
however, flatter himself that he has excelled Fairfax, ex-
cept in measure and versification ; and, even of these, the
principal recommendation is, that they are more modern, and
better adapted to the ear of all readers of English poetry,
except of the very few vtho have acquired a taste for the
phrases and cadencies of those times, when our verse, if
not our language, was in its rudiments." The author of iris
life in the Biog. Britannica, however, is of opinion that it
was not necessary to the justification of Mr. Hoole's new
version, that he should pass so severe a censure on Fair-
fax's measure. To say that " it is not only unpleasant, but
irksome, in such a degree as to surmount curiosity, and
more than counterbalance all the beauty of expression
which is to be found in the work," appears to be very un-
just The perspicuity and harmony of Fairfax's ver>ifica-
tion are indeed extraordinary, considering the time in
58 FAIRFAX.
which he wrote ; and in this respect he ranks nearly with
Spenser. Nothing but a fine fancy and an elegant mind
could have enabled him, in that period, to have made such
advances towards perfection. Hume seems to be nearly
of the same opinion. " Fairfax," says that historian, " has
translated Tasso with an elegance and ease, and at the
same time with an exactness, which for that age are sur-
prising. Each line in the original-is faithfully rendered by
a correspondent line in the translation. Harrington's trans-
lation of Ariosto is not likewise without its merit. It is to
be regretted, that these poets should have imitated the
Italians in their stanza, which has a prolixity and unifor-
mity in it that displeases in long performances. They had
otherwise, as well as Spenser, contributed much to the po-
lishing and refining of English versification.- 7
Mr. Fairfax's poetical exertions did not end with his
translation of Tasso. He wrote the history of Edward the
black prince, and a number of eclogues. No part of the
history of Edward the black prince has, we believe, ever
been laid before the public ; which is the rather to be re-
gretted as it might hence have more distinctly been dis-
cerned what were our poet's powers of original invention.
The eclogues were composed in the first year of the reiga
of king James, and, after their being finished, lay neg-
lected ten years in the author's study, until Lodowic, duke
of Richmond and Lenox, desired a sight of them, which
occasioned Mr. Fairfax to transcribe them for his grace's use.
That copy was seen and approved by many learned men ;
and Dr. Field, afterwards bishop of Hereford, wrote verses
upon it. But the book itself, and Dr. Field's encomium,
perished in the fire, when the banqueiing-house at White-
hall was burnt, and with it part of the duke of Richmond's
lodgings. Mr. William Fairfax, however, our author's son,
recovered the eclogues out of his father's loose papers.
These eclogues were twelve in number, and were com-
posed on important subjects, relating to the manners, cha-
racters, and incidents of the times. They were pointed
with many fine strokes of satire; dignified with wholesome
lessons of morality and policy to those of the highest ranks;
and some modest hints were given even to majesty itself.
With respect to poetry, they were entitled to high com-
mendation ; and the learning they contained was so various
and extensive, that, according to the evidence of his son,
who wrote large annotations on each, no man's reading be*
FAIRFAX. $9
side the author's own was sufficient to explain his refe-
rences effectually. The fourth eclogue was printed, by
Mrs. Cooper, in " The Muses Library," published in
1737. It is somewhat extraordinary that the whole of them
should never have appeared in print. If they are still in
being, it might not, perhaps, be an unacceptable service
to give them to the public.
None of Fairfax's writings in prose have ever been pub-
lished. They most of them related to the controversy of'
religion with the church of Rome, and are represented as
having afforded signal proofs of his learning and judgment.
The person with whom the controversy was carried on was
one John Dorrell, a Romish priest of no ordinary fame,
at that time a prisoner in the castle of York. Between
him and Mr. Fairfax a variety of letters passed, relative to
the most distinguished tenets of popery. A copy of our
author's treatise on Dsemonology was in the possession of
Isaac Reed, esq. entitled, " A Discourse of Witchcraft, as
it was acted in the family of Mr. Edward Fairfax, of Fuyis-
tone, in the county of York, in the year 1 621." Fairfax left
several children, sons and daughters. William, his eldest
son, before mentioned, was a scholar, and of the same
temper with his father, but more cynical. He translated
Diogenes Laertius out of Greek into English. This gen-
tleman was grammatical tutor to Mr. Stanley, the cele-
brated author of the History of Philosophy. It is asserted
by Mrs. Cooper, that the greatest part of that work, as
well as the notes on Euripides, truly belonged to Mr. Wil-
liam Fairfax, though his modesty and friendship declined
the reputation of them. To such vague assertions little
regard, we apprehend, is to be paid ; and it was not Euri-
pides, but JEschylus, that 'was published by Mr. Stanley. 11
FAIRFAX (THOMAS, Lord), a very active man in the
parliaments service during the civil wars, and at length
general of their armies, was the eldest son of Ferdinando,
lord Fairfax, by Mary his wife, daughter of Edmund Shef-
field earl of Mulgrave. He was born at Demon within the
parish of Otley, in Yorkshire, in January, 1611. After a
proper school education, he studied sometime in St. John's
college, in Cambridge, to. which, in his latter days, he
became a benefactor. He appears to have been a lover of
learning, though he did not excel in any branch, except;
1 Biog. Brit, -Atterbury's Correspondence, -Cooper's Muses JUbrary t
60 FA I R F A X.
it was in the history and antiquities of Britain, as will ap-
pear in the sequel. Being of a martial disposition even in
his younger years, but finding no employment at home,
he went and served in Holland as a volunteer under the
command of Horatio lord Vere, in order to learn the art of
war. After some stay there (but how long we cannot learn)
he came back to England ; and, retiring to his father's
house, married Anne, fourth daughter of lord Vere. Here
he contracted a strong aversion for the court; either by
the instigation of his wife, who was a zealous presbyterian,
or eLe by the persuasions and example of his father, who,
as Clarendon says, grew " actively and factiously disaf-
fected to the king." When the king first endeavoured to
raise a guard at York for his own person, he was entrusted
by his party to prefer a petition to the king, beseeching
him to hearken to his parliament, and not to take that
course of raising forces, and when his majesty seemed to
shun receiving it, Fairfax followed him with it, on Hey-
worth-moor, in the presence of near 100,000 people, and
presented it upon the pommel of his saddle. Shortly after,
upon the actual breaking out of the civil wars, in 1642, his
father having received a commission from the parliament
to be general of the forces in the North, he had a commis-
sion under him to be general of the horse. His first ex-
ploit was at Bradford in Yorkshire, which he obliged a
body of royalists to quit, and to retire to Leeds. A few
days after, he and captain Hotham, with some horse and
dragoons marching thither, the royalists* fled in haste to
York. And the former having advanced to Tadcaster, re-
solved to keep the pass at Wetherby, for securing the
West Riding of Yorkshire, whence their chief supplies
came. Sir Thomas Glemham attempted to dislodge them
thence ; but, after a short and sharp encounter, retired.
On this, Will, am Cavendish earl of Newcastle, and Henry
Clifford earl of Cumberland, united their forces at York,
amounting to 9000 men, and resolved to fall upon Tad-
caster : which being judged untenable, the lord Fairfax,
and his son sir Thomas, drew out to an advantageous piece
of ground near the town : but, alter a six hours fight, were
beaten, and withdrew in the night to Selby. Three days
after, sir Thomas marched in the night by several towns
Inch the royalists lay, and came to Bradford, where
he entrenched himself. But having too many soldiers to
lie idle, and too few to be upon constant duty, he resolved
FAIRFAX. 6 i
to attack his enemies in their garrisons. Accordingly,
coming before Leeds, he carried that town (Jan. 23, J 642-3)
after a hot dispute, and found a good store of ammuni-
tion, of which he stood in great want. He next defeated
a party of 700 horse and foot at Gisborough, under the
command of colonel Slingsby; and then Wakefield and
Doncaster yielded themselves to the parliament. But, For
these overt acts, William earl of Newcastle, the king's
general, proclaimed sir Thomas and his father traitors, and
the parliament did the like for the earl. In the mean time,
the lord Fairfax, being denied succour from Hull and the
East Riding, was forced to forsake Selby, and retire to
Leeds: of which the earl of Newcastle having intelligence,
lay with his army on Clifford-moor, to intercept him in
his way to Leeds. On this sir Thomas was ordered, by
his father, to bring what men he could to join with him at
Sherburne, on purpose to secure his retreat. To amuse
the earl, sir Thomas made a diversion at Tadcaster, which
'the garrison immediately quitted, but lord Goring march-
ing to its relief, with twenty troops of horse and dragoons,
defeated sir Thomas upon Bramham-moor : who also re-
ceived a second defeat upon Seacroft-moor, where some
of his men were slain, and many taken prisoners, and him-
self made his retreat with much difficulty to Leeds, about
an hour after his father was safely come thither. Leeds
and Bradford being all the garrisons the parliament had in
the North, sir Thomas thought it necessary to possess some
other place: therefore with about 1100 horse and foot, he
drove, on the 21st of May, the royalists out of Wakefield,
which they had seized again ; and took 1400 prisoners, 80
officers, arid great store of ammunition. But, shortly
after, the earl of Newcastle coming to besiege Bradford,
and sir Thomas and his father having the boldness, with
about 3000 men, to go and attack his whole army, which
consisted of 10,000, on Adderton-moor ; they were en-
tirely routed by the earl r on the 30th of June, with a con-
siderable loss. Upon that, Halifax and Beverly being
abandoned by the parliamentarians, and the lord Fairfax
having neither a place of strength to defend himself in, nor
a garrison in Yorkshire to retire to, withdrew the same
night to Leeds, to secure that town. By his order, sir
Thomas stayed in Bradford with 800 foot, and 60 horse,
but being surrounded, he was obliged to force his way
through : in which desperate attempt, hjs lady, and many
*2 FAIRFAX.
Bothers, were taken prisoners. At his coming to Leeds, he
found things in great distraction ; the council of war hav-
ing resolved to quit the town, and retreat to Hull, which
was sixty miles off; with many of the "king's garrison in the
way, but he got safely to Selby, where there was a ferry,
and hard by one of the parliament's garrisons at Cawood.
Immediately after his coming to Selby, being attacked by
a party of horse which pursued him, he received a shot in
the wrist of his left arm, which made the bridle fall out of
liis hand, and occasioned such an effusion of blood, that
he was ready to fall from his horse. But, taking the reins
in the other hand in which he had his sword, he withdrew
himself out of the crowd ; and after a very troublesome and
dangerous passage, he came to Hull. Upon these re-
peated disasters, the Scots were hastily solicited to send
20,000 men to the assistance of the parliamentarians, who
were thus likely to be overpowered. Lord Fairfax, after
his coming to Hull, made it his first business to raise new
forces, and, in a short time, had about 1500 foot, and 700
horse. The town being little, sir Thomas was sent to Be-
verly, with the horse and 600 foot : for, the marquis of
Newcastle looking upon them as inconsiderable, and leav-
ing only a few garrisons, was marched with his whole army
into Lincolnshire; having orders to go into Essex, and
t>lock up London on that side. But he was hastily recalled
northward, upon lord Fairfax's sending out a large party
to make an attempt upon Stanford-bridge near York. The
marquis, at his return into Yorkshire, first dislodged, from
Beverly, sir Thomas, who retreated into Hull, to which
the marquis laid siege, but could not carry the place.
During the siege, the horse being useless, and many dying
every day, sir Thomas was sent with them over into Lin-
colnshire, to join the earl of Manchester's forces, then
commanded by major-general Cromwell. At Horncastle,
or Winsby, they routed a party of 5000 men, commanded
by sir John Henderson : and, at the same time, the be-
sieged in Hull making a sally upon the besiegers, obliged
them to retire. These two defeats together, the one fall-
ing heavy upon the horse, the other upon the foot, kept
the royalists all that winter from attempting any thing;
and the parliamentarians, after the taking of Lincoln, set-
tled themselves in winter quarters. But sir Thomas had
not long the benefit of them ; for, in the coldest season of
the year, he was commanded by the parliament to go and
FAIRFAX. 63
raise the siege of Nantwich in Cheshire, which lord Byron,
with an army from Ireland, had reduced to great extre-
mity. He set forward from Lincolnshire, December 29,
and, being joined by sir William Brereton, entirely routed,
911 the 21st of January, lord Byron, who was drawn out to
meet them. After that, they took in several garrisons in
Cheshire, particularly Crew-house, &c. Sir Thomas, hav-
ing stayed in those parts till the middle of March, was or-
dered back by his father into Yorkshire, that by the con-
junction of their forces he might be abler to take the field.
They met about Ferry-bridge ; and colonel Bellasis, go-
vernor of York, having advanced to Selby to hinder their
junction, they found means, notwithstanding, to join, and
entirely defeated him, on the llth of April, 1644. This
good success rendered sir Thomas master of the field in
Yorkshire, and nothing then hindered him from marching
into Northumberland, as he had been ordered by the par-
liament, to join the Scots, which were kept from advancing
southward by the superior forces of the marquis of New-
castle, quartered at Durham. But that stroke having
thrown York into the utmost distraction, the inhabitants
speedily sent to the marquis to haste back thither; by which
means a way was left open for the Scots, who, with cold,
and frequent alarms, were reduced to great extremity.
They joined the lord Fairfax at Wetherby, on the 20th of
April, and, marching on to York, laid siege to that city *,
wherein the marquis of Newcastle had shut himself up,
being closely pursued, on the way thither, by sir Thomas,
and major-general Desley. And, when prince Rupert was
advancing out of Lancashire to the relief of that place,
they marched with 6000 horse and dragoons, and 5000
foot, to stop his progress : but he, eluding their vigilance,
and bringing round his army, which consisted of above
20,000 men, got into York. Whereupon the parliamen-
tarians raised the siege, and retired to Hessey-moor. The
English were for fighting, and the Scots for retreating ;
which last opinion prevailing, they both marched away to
Tadcaster, there being great differences and jealousies be-
tween the two nations. But the rash and haughty prince,
instead of harassing and wearing them out by prudent de-
lays, resolved, without consulting the marquis of Nevv-
* fa our account cf Dodsworth (vol. XII. p. 181), will be found some eir-
cnmstances favourable t sir Thomas Fairfax's character in the conduct ot' this.
64 F A I R F A X.
castle, or any of his officers, to engage them, on Marston-
moor, eight miles from York, on the 2d of July : where
that bloody battle was fought which entirely ruined the
king's affairs in the north. In this battle, sir Thomas Fair-
fax commanded the right wing of the horse. The prince,
after his defeat, retiring towards Lancashire, and the mar-
quis, in discontent, sailing away to Hamburgh, the three
parliament-generals came and sat down again before York,
which surrendered the 15th of July: and the North was
now wholly reduced by the parliament's forces, except
some garrisons. In September following, sir Thomas was
sent to take Helmesley- castle, where he received a dan*
gerous shot in one of his shoulders, and was brought back
to York, all being doubtful of his recovery for some time.
Some time after, he was more nearly killed by a cannon-
shot before Pomfret- castle.
Hitherto he had acquitted himself with undaunted bra-
very, and with great and deserved applause from his party.
Had he stopped here, or at such times at least as the king's
concessions were in reason and equity a just ground for
peace (which was more than once), he might have been
honourably ranked among the rest of those patriots, who
took up arms only for the redress of grievances. But his
boundless ambition, and his great desire to rule, made him
weakly engage, with the utmost zeal, in the worst and
most exceptionable parts of the rebellion. When the par-
liamentarians thought fit to new-model their army, and to
lay aside the earl of Essex, they unanimously voted sir
Thomas Fairfax to be their general in his room, he being
ready to undertake or execute any thing that he was or-
dered. To him Oliver Cromwell was joined with the title
of lieutenant-general, but with intention of being his go-
vernor, exercising the superiority of deep art over a com-
paratively weak mind. Sir Thomas, being thus voted com-
mander-in-chief of the parliament's army on the 21st of
January, 1644-5, received orders from the parliament
speedily to come up from the north to London, where he
arrived privatcsly, Feb. 18, and, the next day, was brought
by four of the members into the house of commons, where
he was highly complimented by the speaker, and received
his commission of general. The 15th of the same month,
an ordinance was made, for raising and maintaining of forces
under his command : it having been voted, a few days be-
fore, that he should nominate all the commanders in his
FAIRFAX 65
army, to be taken out of any of the other armies, with the
approbation of both houses. March 25, the parliament
ordered him 1500/. The 3d of April, he went from Lon-
don to Windsor, where he appointed the general rendez-
vous : and continued there till the last day of that month,
new-framing and modelling the army : or rather Cromwell
doing it in his name. April 16, he was appointed, by
both houses, governor of Hull. In the mean time, Taup-
ton, in Somersetshire, one of the parliament's garrisons,
being closely besieged by the royalists, sir Thomas Fairfax
received orders to hasten to its relief, with 8000 horse and
foot. He began his march May 1, and by the 7th had
reached Blandford in Dorsetshire : but, the king taking
the field from Oxford, with strong reinforcements brought
by the princes Rupert and Maurice, sir Thomas was or-
dered by the parliament to send 3000 foot and 1500 horse
to relieve Taunton, and himself to return, with the rest of
Juis forces, to join Oliver Cromwell and major-general
Browne, and attend the king's motions. The 14th of May
he was come back as far as Newbury ; where having rested
three nights, he went and faced Dennington-castle, and
took a few prisoners. Thence he proceeded to lay siege
to Oxford, as he was directed by the committee of both
kingdoms, and sat down before it the 22d. But, before
lie had made any progress in this siege, he received orders
to draw near the king, who had taken Leicester by storm,
May 31, and was threatening the eastern associated coun-
ties. Sir Thomas therefore rising from before Oxford,
June 5, arrived the same day at Marsh-Gibbon, in Buck-
inghamshire ; on the llth he was at Wootton, and the
next day at Gilsborough, in Northamptonshire : where he
kept his head- quarters till the 14th f when he engaged the
king's forces, at the fatal and decisive battle of Naseby,
and obtained a complete victory. The king, after that,
retiring into Wales, sir Thomas went and laid siege on
the 16th to Leicester, which surrendered on the 18th. He
proceeded, on the 22d, to Warwick; and thence (with 'a
disposition either to go over the Severn towards the king,
or to move westward as he should be ordered) he marched
on through Gloucestershire towards Marlborough, where
he arrived the 28th. Here he received orders from the
parliament, to hasten to the relief of Taunton, which was
besieged again by the royalists ; letters being sent at the
same time into the associated comities for recruits, and tfce
VOL. XIV. F
66 FAIRFAX.
arrears of pay for his army ; but on his arrival at Bland ford,
he was informed, that lord Goring had drawn off his horse
from before Taunton, and left his foot in the passage to
block up that place, marching himself with the horse to-
wards Langport. Sir Thomas Fairfax, therefore, advanc-
ing against him, defeated him there on the 10th of July ;
and the next day^ went and summoned Bridgewater, which
was taken by storm on the 22d. He became also master
of Bath the 30th of the same month ; and then laid close
siege to Sherborne-castle, which was likewise taken by
storm August 15. And, having besieged the city of
Bristol from the 22d of August to the 10th of September,
it was surrendered to him by prince Rupert. After this
laborious expedition, the general rested some days at Bath,
having sent out parties to reduce the castles of the Devises
and Berkley, and other garrisons between the west and
London ; and on the 23d moved from Bath to the Devises,
and thence to Warminster on the 27th, where he stayed
till October 8, when he went to Lyme in Dorsetshire.
From this place he came to Tiverton, of which he became
master on the 19th ; and then, as he could not undertake
a formal siege in the winter season, he blocked up the
strong city of Exeter, which did not surrender till the 13th
of April following: in the mean time, he took Dartmouth
by storm, January 18, 1645-6; and several forts and gar-
risons at different times. Feb. 16, he defeated the .lord
Hopton near Torrington. This nobleman retreating with
his broken forces into Cornwall, sir Thomas followed him :
in pursuit of whom he came to Launceston Feb. 25, and
to Bodmin March 2. On the 4th, Mount Edgecornbe was
surrendered to him ; and Fowey about the same time. At
last the parliament army approaching Truro, where lord
Hopton had his head-quarters, and he being so hemmed in
as to remain without a possibility of escaping, sir Thomas,
on the 5th of March, sent and offered him honourable
terms of capitulation, which after some delays, lord Hoptoit
accepted, and a treaty was signed by commissioners on
both sides, March 14 ; in pursuance of which, the royalists,
consisting of above 5000 horse, were disbanded ; and took
an oath never to bear arms against the parliament. But,
before the treaty was signed, lord Hopton, and Arthur
lord Capel, retired to Scilly, whence they passed into
Jersey, April 17, with Charles prince of Wales, sir Kd-
tvard Hyde, and other persons of distinction. Thus the
FAIRFAX. 67
king's army in the west being entirely dispersed by the
vigilance and wonderful success of general Fairfax, he re-
turned, March 31, to the siege of Exeter, which surren-
dered to him upon articles, the 13th of April, as already
observed : and with the taking of this city ended his west-
ern expedition. He then marched, with wonderful speed,
towards Oxford, the most considerable garrison remaining
in the king's hands, and arriving on the 1st of May, with
his army, began to lay siege to it. The king, who was
there, afraid of being enclosed, privately, and in disguise,
departed thence on the 27th of April; and Oxford sur-
rendered upon articles, June 24, as did Wallingford, July
22. After the reduction of these places, sir Thomas went
and besieged Raglan d- castle, in Monmouthshire, the pro-
perty of Henry Somerset, marquis of Worcester, which
yielded Aug. 19. His next employment was to disband
major-general Massey's brigade, which he did at the De-
vises. About that time he was seized with a violent fit of
the ston*, unjder which he laboured many days. As soon
as he was recovered, he took a journey to London ; where
he arrived November 12, being met some miles off by
great crowds of people, and the city militia. The next
day, both houses of parliament agreed to congratulate his
coming to town, and to give him thanks for his faithful
services and wise conduct : which they did the day follow-
ing, waiting upon him at his house in Queen-street*.
Hardly had he had time to rest, when he was called upon
to convoy the two hundred thousand pounds that had been
granted to the Scotish army ; the price of their delivering
up their sovereign king Charles. For that purpose he set
out from London, December 18, with a sufficient force,
carrying at the same time 50,000/. for his own army. The
king being delivered by the Scots to the parliament's com-
missioners at Newcastle, Jan. 30, 1646-7, sir Thomas went
and met him, Feb. 15, beyond Nottingham, in his way to
Holmby ; and his majesty stopping his horse, sir Thomas
alighted, and kissed his hand; and afterwards mounted,
* They gave him something more 1646, an ordinance was made for set-
substantial than words and compli- tling 50001. a year upon him and his
menis, by making him very consider- heirs. And 4000/. a year was granted
able presents and grants at different to him out of the duke of Buckingham's
times. As, namely, in 1645, they sent estate : which probably was part of the
him a jewel of great value, set with 5000/. settled upon him by the parlia-
tU a mentis, which was tied in a blue ment. Instead of the other thousand,
ribband, and put about Iws neck. In 10,000^, was giveuhim bj* parliament,
F 2 '
8 FAIRFAX.
and discoursed with him as they rode along. The 5th of
March following, after long debate in parliament, he was
toted general of the forces that were to be continued. He
came to Cambridge the 12th of the same month, where he
was highly caressed and complimented, and created master
of arts.
Hitherto, the crafty and ambitious Cromwell had per-
mitted him to enjoy in all respects the supreme command,
at least to outward appearance. And, under his conduct,
the army's rapid success, after their new model, had much
surpassed the expectation of the most sanguine of their
masters, the parliament* The question now was, to dis-
band the majority of them after their work was done, and
to employ a part of the rest in the reduction of Ireland.
But either of the two appeared to all of them intolerable.
For, many having, from the dregs of the people, risen to
the highest commands, and by plunderings and violence
amassing daily great treasures, they could not bear the
thoughts of losing such great advantages. To maintain
themselves therefore in the possession of them, Cromwell,
and his son-in-law Ireton, as good a contriver as himself,
but a much better writer and speaker, devised how to raise
a mutiny in the army against the parliament. To this end
they spread a whisper among the soldiery, " that the par-
liament, now they had the king, intended to disband
them ; to cheat them of their arrears ; and to send them,
into Ireland, to be destroyed by the Irish." The army,
enraged at this, were taught by Ireton to erect a council
among themselves, of two soldiers out of every troop and
every company, to consult for the good of the army, and
to assist at the council of war, and advise for the peace and
safety of the kingdom. These, who were called adjutators,
or agitators, were wholly under Crom well's influence and
direction, the most active of them being his avowed crea-
tures. Sir Thomas saw with uneasiness his power on the
army usurped by these agitators, the forerunners of con-
fusion and anarchy, whose design (as he observes) was to
raise their own fortunes upon the public ruin ; and that
made him resolve to lay down his commission. But he
was over-persuaded by the heads of the Independent fac-
tion to hold it till he had accomplished their desperate
projects, of rendering themselves masters not only of the
parliament, but of the whole kingdom ; for, he joined in
tbe several petitions and proceedings of the army that
FAIRFAX. 69
tended to destroy the parliament's power. About the be-
ginning of June, he advanced towards London, to awe the
parliament, though both houses desired his army might not
come within fifteen miles of the same ; June 15, he was a
party in the charge against eleven of the members of the
house of commons ; in August, he espoused the speakers
of both houses, and the sixty -six members that had fled to
the army, and betrayed the privileges of parliament : and,
entering London, August 6, restored them in a kind of
triumph ; for which he received the thanks of both
houses, and was appointed constable of the Tower. On
the other hand it is said that he was no way concerned in,
the violent removal of the king from Holmby, by cornet
Joyce, on the 3d of June; and waited with great respect
upon his majesty at sir John Cutts's house near Cambridge.
Being ordered, on the 15th of the same month, by the
parliament, to deliver the person of the king to such per-
sons as both houses should appoint; that he might be brought
to Richmond, where propositions were to be presented to
him for a safe and well-grounded peace; instead of com-
plying (though he seemed to do so) he carried his majesty
from place to place, according to the several motions of
the army, outwardly expressing, upon most occasions, a
due respect for him, but, not having the will or resolution
to oppose what he had not power enough to prevent, he
resigned himself entirely to Cromwell. It was this un-
doubtedly that made him concur, Jan. 9, 1647-8, in that
infamous declaration of the army, of " No further ad-
dresses or application to the king ; and resolved to stand by
the parliament, in what should be further necessary for
settling and securing the parliament and kingdom, without
the king and against him." His father dying at York,
March 1 3, he became possessed of his title and estate ;
and was appointed keeper of Pontefract-castle, custos
rotulorum of Yorkshire, &c. in his room. But his father's
death made no alteration in his conduct, he remaining
the same servile or deluded tool to Cromwell's ambition.
He not only sent extraordinary supplies, and took all
pains imaginable for reducing colonel Poyer in Wales, but
also quelled, with the utmost zeal and industry, an insur-
rection of apprentices and others in London, April 9, who
had declared for God and king Charles. The 1st of the
same month he removed his head-quarters to St. EdmundV
bury ; and, upon the royalists seizing Berwick and Carlisle,
70 FAIRFAX.
and the apprehension of the Scots entering England, he
was desired, May 9, by the parliament, to advance in per-
son into the North, to reduce those places, and to prevent
any danger from ihe threatened invasion. Accordingly
he began to march that way the 20th. But he was soon
recalled to quell an insurrection in Kent, headed by George
Goring, earl of Norwich, and sir William Waller. Ad-
vancing therefore against them from London in the latter
end of May, he defeated a considerable party of them at
Maidstone, June 2, with his usual valour. But the earl
and about 500 of the royalists, getting over the Thames at
Greenwich into Essex, June 3, they were joined by several
parties brought by sir Charles Lucas, and Arthur lord
Capel, which made up their numbers about 400 ; and went
and shut themselves up in Colchester on the 12th of June.
Lord Fairfax, informed of their motions, passed over with
his forces at Gravesend with so much expedition, that he
arrived before Colchester June 13. Immediately he sum-
mons the royalists to surrender; which they refusing, he
attacks them the same afternoon with the utmost fury,
but, being repulsed, he resolved, June 14, to block up
the place in order to starve the royalists into a compliance.
These endured a severe and tedious siege of eleven weeks,
not surrendering till August 28, and feeding for about five
weeks chiefly on horse-flesh; all their endeavours for ob-
taining peace on honourable terms being ineffectual. This
affair is the most exceptionable part in lord Fairfax's
conduct, if it admits of degrees, for he granted worse
terms to that poor town than to any other in the whole
course of the war ; he endeavoured to destroy it as much
as possible ; he laid an exorbitant fine, or ransom, of
J2,000/. upon the inhabitants, to excuse them from being
plundered ; and he vented his revenge and fury upon sir
Charles Lucas and sir George Lisle, who had behaved in
the most inoffensive manner during the siege, sparing that
buffoon the earl of Norwich, whose behaviour had been
quite different : so that his name and memory there ought
to be for ever detestable. After these mighty exploits
against a poor and unfortified town, he made a kind of
triumphant progress to Ipswich, Yarmouth, Norwich, St.
Edmund's-bui y, Harwich, Mersey, and Maldon. About
the beginning of December he came to London, to awe
that .city and tiie parliament, and to forward the proceed-
ings against the king ; quartering himself in the royal
FAIR FA X. 7*
palace of Whitehall : and it was by especial order from
him and the council of the army, that several members of
the house of commons were secluded and imprisoned, the
6th and 7th of that month ; he being, as Wood expresses
it, lulled in a kind of stupidity. Yet, although his name
stood foremost in the list of the king's judges, he refused
to act, probably by his lady's persuasion*. Feb. 14, 1648-9,
he was voted to be one of the new council of state, but
on the 19th he refused to subscribe the test, appointed
by parliament, for approving all that was done concerning
the king and kingship. March 31 he was voted general
of all the forces in England and Ireland ; and in May he
inarched against the levellers, who were grown very nu-
merous, and began to be troublesome and formidable in
Oxfordshire, and utterly routed them atBurford. Thence,
on the 22d of the same month, he repaired to Oxford with
Oliver Cromwell, and other officers, where he was highly
feasted, and created LL.D. Next, upon apprehension of
the like risings in other places, he went and viewed the
castles and fortifications in the Isle of Wight, and at South-
ampton, and Portsmouth ; and near Guildford had a ren-
dezvous of the army, which he exhorted to obedience.
June 4, he was entertained, with other officers, &c. by the
city of London, and presented with a large and weighty
bason and ewer of beaten gold. In June 1650, upon the
Scots declaring for king Charles II. the juncto of the
council of state having taken a resolution to be beforehand,
and not to stay to be invaded from Scotland, but to carry
first the war into that kingdom j general Fairfax, being
* From Whitlock and Clarendon we *' No, nor the hundredth part of them :'
learn that this lady, at the mock trial upon which, one of the officers bid the
of king Charles, exclaimed aloud a- soldiers give tire into that box whence the
gainst the proeeedings of the high presumptuous words were uttered. Bu
court, and the irreverent usage of the it was quickly discerned that it was the
king by his subjects, insomuch that general's wife, who had uttered both
the ur.t was interrupted: for, her those sharp sayings ; who was. presently
husband, the lord Fairfax, being called persuaded or forced to leave the place,
first as one of the judges, and no an- to prevent any new disorder. Having
swer being made, the crier called hico, been bred in Holland, she had, littl
the second time, when there was a reverence for the church of England,
voice heard that said, " he had more and so had unhappily concurred in her
wit than to be there," which put the husband's entering into rebellion, never
court into some disorder ; and some- imagining, says Clarendon, what mi-
body asking who it was, there was no sery it would bring upon the kingdom ;
answer, but a little murmuring. But, and now abhorred the work in hand, as
presently, when the impeachment was much as any body could do, and did all
read, and that expressiqn used, pf she could to hinder her husb.and from
'* All the good people of England," the acting any part in it,
:aoie voice, in a louder tone, answered,
72 FAIRFAX.
consulted, seemed to approve of the design : but afterwards,
by the persuasions of his lady, and of the presbyterian
ministers, he declared himself unsatisfied that there was a
just ground for the parliament of England to send their
army to invade Scotland ; and resolved to lay down his
commission rather than engage in that affair ; and on the
26th that high trust was immediately committed to Oliver
Cromwell, who was glad to see him removed, as being no
longer necessary, but rather an obstacle to his farther am-
bitious designs. Being thus released from all public em-
ployment, he went and lived quietly at his own house in
Nun-Appleton in Yorkshire ; always earnestly wishing and
praying (as we are assured) for the restitution of the royal
family, and fully resolved to lay hold on the first oppor-
tunity to contribute his part towards it, which made him
always looked upon with a jealous eye by the usurpers of
that time. As soon as he was invited by general Monk to
assist him against Lambert's army, he cheerfully embraced
the occasion, and appeared, on the 3d of December J659,
at the head of a body of gentlemen of Yorkshire ; and,
upon the reputation and authority of his name, the Irish
brigade of 1200 horse forsook Lambert's army, and joined
him. The consequence was, the immediate breaking of
all Lambert's forces, which gave general Monk an easy
inarch into England. The 1st of January 1659-60, his
lordship made himself master of York ; and, on the 2d of
the same month, was chosen by the rump parliament one
of the council of state, as he was again on the 23d of Fe-
bruary ensuing. March '29 he was elected one of the
knights for the county of York, in the healing parliament ;
and was at the head of the committee appointed May 3,
by the house of commons, to go and attend king Charles
II. at the Hague, to desire him to make a speedy return
to his parliament, and to the exercise of his kingly office.
May 16 he waited upon his majesty with the rest, and
endeavoured to atone in some measure for all past offences,
by readily concurring and assisting in his restoration. After
the dissolution of the short healing parliament, he retired
again to his seat in the country, where he lived in a private
manner till his death, which happened November 12, 1671,
in the sixtieth year of his age*. Several letters, remons-
* In a paper extracted from an ori- for 1773, are some circumstances re-
ginal manuscript by Dr. Bryan Fairfax, lating to the latter part of lord Kair-
and inserted in the Annual Register fax's life. He was afflicted with the
FAIRFAX. 73
trances, and other papers, subscribed with his name, are
preserved in Rushworth and other collections, being pub-
lished during the time he was general ; but he disowned
most of them. After his decease, some " short memorials,
written by himself," were published in 1699, 8vo, by
Brian Fairfax, esq. but do his lordship no great honour,
either as to principle, style, or accuracy. Lord Fairfax,
as to his person, was tall, but not above the just proportion,
and of a gloomy and melancholy disposition. He stam-
mered a little, and was a bad orator ou the most plausible
occasions. As to the qualities of his mind, he was of a
good natural disposition; a great lover of learning, having
contributed to the edition of the Polygiott, and other large
works ; and a particular admirer of the History and Anti-
quities of Great Britain, as appears by the encouragement
he gave to Mr. Dodsvrorth. In religion he professed Pres-
byterianismn, but where he first learned that, unless ia
the army, does not appear. He was of a meek and humble
carriage, and but of few words in discourse and council ;
yet, when his judgment and reason were satisfied, he was
unalterable ; and often ordered things expressly contrary
to the judgment of all his council. His valour was un-
questionable. He was daring, and regardless of self-in-
terest, and, we are told, in the field he appeared so highly
transported, that scarcely any durst speak a word to him,
and he would seem like a man distracted and furious. Had
not the more successful ambition and progress of Cromwell
eclipsed lord Fairfax's exploits, he would have been con-
sidered as the greatest of the parliamentary commanders ;
and one of the greatest heroes of the rebellion, had not
the extreme narrowness of his genius, in every thing but
war, obstructed his shining as a statesman. We have al-
ready noticed that he had some taste for literature, and
that both at York and at Oxford he endeavoured to pre-
gout and stone, the pains of which he were ever represented in the figure of
endured with a courage and patience mortal man. Most of his time was
equal to what he had shewn in his war- spent in religious duties, and 'a great
like exploits. These disorders were the part of the remainder in reading
result of the wounds he had suffered, valuable b-aoks, fur which he was well
and the fatigues he had gone through, qualified by his skill in modern ian
during the war. The gout took from guages. His death was occasioned by
him the use of his legs, and confined a fever, which carried him off in a few
him to a chair, in which he sat like an days. The last morning of his life he
old Roman, his manly countenance called for a bible, spying, " his eyes
striking awe and reverence into all that grew dim," and read the forty-secoud
beheld him ; while it was mixed with Psalm.
as much modesty and sweetness as
74 FAIRFAX.
serve the libraries from being pillaged. He also presented
twenty-nine ancient MSS. to the Bodleian library, one of
which is a beautiful MS. of -Cower' s " Confessio Amantis."
When at Oxford we do not find that he countenanced any
of the outrages committed there, but on the contrary,
exerted his utmost diligence in preserving the Bodleian
from pillage ; and, in fact, as Mr. Warton observes, that
valuable repository suffered less than when the city was in'
the possession of the royalists. Lord Orford has intro-
duced lord Fairfax among his " Royal and Noble Authors,"
" not only as an historian, but a poet. In Mr. Thores-
by's museum were preserved in manuscript the following
pieces: "The Psalms of David;" "The Song of Solo-
mon ;" " The Canticles;" and " Songs of Moses, Exod.
15. and Deut. 32." and other parts of scripture versified.
" Poem on Solitude." Besides which, in the same col-
lection were preserved " Notes of Sermons by his lord-
ship, by his lady, and by their daughter Mary," the wife
of the second duke of Buckingham ; and " A Treatise on
the Shortness of Life." But, of all lord Fairfax's works,
by far the most remarkable were some verses which he
wrote on the horse on which Charles the Second rode to
liis coronation, and which had been bred and presented to
the king by his lordship. How must that merry monarch,
not apt to keep his countenance on more serious occasions,
have smiled at this awkward homage from the old victorious
hero of republicanism and the covenant !" Besides these,
several of his MSS. are preserved in the library at Denton,
of which Mr. Park has given a list in his new edition of the
" Royal and Noble Authors." '
FAIRFAX (THOMAS, SIXTH LORD), was born about
3691. He was the eldest son of Thomas, fifth lord Fair-
fax, of Cameron, in the kingdom of Scotland, by Catherine,
only daughter and heiress of Thomas lord Culpepper ; in
whose right he afterwards possessed Leeds Castle, with
several manors and estates in the county of Kent, and in
the Isle of Wight ; and that immense tract of country
comprised within the boundaries of the rivers Potowmac
and Rappahannoc in Virginia, called the Northern Neck ;
containing by estimation live millions seven hundred thou-
sand acres. He had the misfortune to lose his father while
young ; and at his decease, he and his two brothers, Henry
i
. BriU
F A I R F A X. 75
and Robert, and four sisters, one of whom, Frances, was
afterwards married to Denny Martin, esq. of Loose, in
Kent, came under the guardianship of their mother and
grandmother, the dowager ladies Fairfax and Culpepper,
the latter of whom was a princess of the house of Hesse
Cassel.
Lord Fairfax, at the usual age, was sent to the univer-
sity of Oxford to complete his education, and was highly
esteemed there for his learning and accomplishments. His
judgment upon literary subjects was then, and at other
times, frequently appealed to; and his biographer informs
us he was one of the writers of the Spectator, but the an-
notators on that work have not been able to ascertain any of
his papers. After some years' residence in the university,
he took a commission in the regiment of horse called the
Blues, and remained in it, as is supposed, till the death of
the survivor of the two ladies above mentioned ; who had
usually resided at Leeds Castle. Some time before their
decease, a circumstance happened, that eventually occa-
sioned him much uneasiness. He had been persuaded,
upon his brother'Henry's arriving at the age of twenty-one,
or rather compelled by the ladies Culpepper and Fairfax,
under a menace, in case of refusal, of never inheriting the
Northern Neck, to cut off the intail, and to sell Denton
Hall, and the Yorkshire estates, belonging to this branch
of the Fairfax family, which had been in their possession
for five or six centuries, in order to redeem those of the
late lord Culpepper, that had descended to his heiress,
exceedingly encumbered, and deeply mortgaged. This
circumstance happened while lord Fairfax was at Oxford,
and is said to have occasioned him the greater vexation,
as it appeared afterwards, that the estates had been dis-
posed of, through the treachery of a steward, for consider-
ably less than their value ; less even than what the timber
that was cut down to discharge the purchase money, be-
fore the stipulated day of payment came, was sold for. He
conceived, therefore, a violent disgust against the -ladies,
who, as he used to say, had treated him with such un-
paralleled cruelty; and ever afterwards expressed the
keenest sense of the injury that had been done, as he
thought, to the Fairfax family. After entering into pos-
session, he began to inquire into the value and situation of
his estates ; and he soon discovered that the proprietary
lands in Virginia had been extremely mismanaged and
7 FAIRFAX.
under-let. An agent, who at the same time was a tenant,
had been employed by the dowager lady Fairfax, to super-
intend her concerns in that quarter of the world ; and he
is said to have abused her confidence, and to have enriched
himself and family, as is too frequently the case, at the
expence of his employer. Lord Fairfax therefore wrote to
William Fairfax, esq. his father's brother's second son, who
held, at that time, a place of considerable trust and emolu-
ment under the government in New England ; requesting
him to remove to Virginia, and to take upon himself the
agency of the Northern Neck. With this request Mr.
Fairfax readily complied ; and as soon as he conveniently
could, he removed with his family to Virginia, and settled
in Westmoreland county. He there opened an agency-
office for the granting of the proprietary lands ; and as the
quit-rent demanded was only after the rate of two shillings
for every hundred acres, the vacant lands were rapidly let,
and a considerable and permanent income was soon derived
from them.
Lord Fairfax, informed of these circumstances, deter-
mined to go himself to Virginia, to visit his estates, and
the friend and relation to whom he was so greatly obliged.
Accordingly, about 1739, he embarked for that continent;
and on his arrival in Virginia, he went and spent twelve
months with his friend Mr. Fairfax, at his house in West-
moreland county ; during which time he became so capti-
vated with the climate, the beauties and produce of the
country, that he formed a resolution of returning to Eng-
land, in order to prosecute a suit, which he had with the
crown, on account of a considerable tract of land claimed
in behalf of the latter by governor Gooch (which suit was
afterwards determined in his favour) ; and, after making
pome necessary arrangements, and settling his family af-
fairs, to return to Virginia, and spend the remainder of
his life upon his vast and noble domain there. It is not
quite certain how long he remained in England to adjust
all these concerns, but he appears to have finally settled
in the Northern Neck in 1746, or 1747.
On his return at this time, he went to Belvoir, the seat
of his friend and relation Mr. William Fairfax, and remained
several years in his family, undertaking and directing the
management of his farms and plantations, and amusing
himself with hunting and the pleasures of the field. At
length, the lands about Belvoir not answering his expecta-
FAIRFAX. 77
tion, and the foxes becoming less numerous, he determined
to remove to a fine tract of land on the western side of the
Blue Ridge, or Apalachian mountains, in Frederic county,
about eighty miles from Belvoir ; where he built a small
neat house, which he called Green way- court ; and laid out
one of the most beautiful farms, consisting of arable and
grazing lands, and of meadows two or three miles in length,
that had ever been seen in that quarter of the world. He
there lived the remainder of his life, in the style of a gen-
tleman farmer, or rather of an English country gentleman.
He kept many servants, white and black ; several hunters ;
a plentiful, but plain table, entirely in the English fashion;
and his mansion was the mansion of hospitality. His dress
corresponded with his mode of life, and notwithstanding
he had every year new suits of clothes, of the most fashion-
able and expensive kind, sent out to him from England,
which he never put on, was plain in the extreme. His man-
ners were humble, modest, and unaffected ; not tinctured
in the smallest degree with arrogance, pride, or self-con-
ceit. He was free from the selfish passions, and liberal
almost to excess. The produce of his farms, after the de-
duction of what was necessary for the consumption of his
own family, was distributed and given away to the poor
planters and settlers in his neighbourhood. To these he
frequently advanced money, to enable them to go on with
their improvements; to clear away the woods, and culti-
vate the ground ; and where the lands proved unfavourable,
and not likely to answer the labour and expectation of the
planter or husbandman, he usually indemnified him for the
expence he had been at in the attempt, and gratuitously
granted him fresh lands of a more favourable and promising
nature. He was a friend and father to all who held and
lived under him ; and as the great object of his ambition
was the peopling and cultivating of that beautiful country
of which he was the proprietor, he sacrificed every other
pursuit, and made every other consideration subordinate,
to this great point
Lord Fairfax had been brought up in revolution princi-
ples, and had early imbibed high notions of liberty, and of
the excellence of the British constitution. He devoted a
considerable part of his time to the public service. He
was lord lieutenant and custos rotulprum of the county of
Frederic ; presided at the county courts held at Winches-
ter, where during the sessions he always kept open table j
78 FAIRFAX.
and acted as surveyor and overseer of the highways and
public roads. His chief if not sole amusement was hunt*
ing ; and in pursuit of this exercise he frequently carried
his hounds to distant parts of the country ; and entertained
every gentleman of good character and decent appearance,
who attended him in the field, at the inn or ordinary, where
he took up his residence for the hunting season. So unex-
ceptionable and disinterested was his behaviour, both pub-
lic and private, and so generally was he beloved and re-
spected, that during the late contest between Great Britain
and America, he never met with the least insult or molesta-
tion from either party, but was suffered to go on in his
improvement and cultivation of the Northern Neck ; a pur-
suit equally calculated for the comfort and happiness of
individuals, and for the general good of mankind.
In 1751, Thomas Martin, esq. second son of his sister
Frances, came over to Virginia to live with his lordship ;
and a circumstance happened, a few years after his arri-
val, too characteristic of lord Fairfax not to be recorded.
After general Braddock's defeat in 1755, the Indians in
the interest of the French committed the most dreadful
massacres upon all our back settlements. Their incursions
were every where stained with blood ; and slaughter and
devastation marked the inroads of these cruel and merciless
savages. Every planter of name or reputation became an
object of their insidious designs ; and as lord Fairfax had
been pointed out to them as a captain or chief of great
renown, the possession of his scalp became an object of
their sanguinary ambition, and what they would have re-
garded as a trophy of inestimable value. With this view
they made daily inroads into the vicinage of Greenway-
court; and it is said that not less than 3000 lives were sa-
crificed to their cruel barbarity between the Apalachian
and Alleghenny mountains. The most serious apprehen-
sions were entertained for the safety of lord Fairfax and
the family at Greenway-court. In this crisis of danger hi
lordship, importuned by his friends and the principal gen-
try of the colony to retire to the inner settlements for se-
curity, is said to have addressed his nephew, who now
bore the commission of colonel of militia, nearly in the fol-
lowing manner: "Colonel Martin, the danger we are
exposed to, which is undoubtedly great, may possibly ex-'
cite in your mind apprehension and anxiety. If so, I am
ready to take any step that you may judge expedient foe
FAIRFAX. 79
our common safety. I myself am an old man, and it is of
little importance whether 1 fall by the tomahawk of an In-
tlian, or by disease and old age : but you are young, and,
it is to be hoped, may have many years before you. I will
therefore submit it to your decision, whether we shall re-
main where we are, taking every precaution to secure our-
selves against the ravages of the enemy, or abandon our
habitation, and retire within the mountains, that we may
be sheltered from the danger to which we are at present
exposed. If we determine to remain, it is possible, not-
withstanding our utmost care and vigilance, that we may
both fall victims : if we retire, the whole district will imme-
diately break up ; and all the trouble and solicitude which
1 have undergone to settle this fine country will be frus-
trated, and the occasion perhaps irrecoverably lost." Co-
lonel Martin, after a short deliberation, determined to re-
main, and as affairs in that quarter soon took a more favour-
able turn, the danger gradually diminished, and at length,
entirely disappeared.
Lord Fairfax, though possessed of innumerable good
qualities, had some few singularities in his character. Early
in life he had been disappointed in a love-match, and this
is thought to have made a deep impression on lord Fairfax's
mind \ and to have had no inconsiderable share in deter-
mining him to retire from the world, and to settle in the
wild, and at that time almost uninhabited, forests of North
America. It is thought also to have excited in him a ge-
neral dislike of the sex, in whose company, unless he was
particularly acquainted with the parties, it is said he was
reserved, and under evident constraint and embarrassment.
But his biographer thinks this has been misrepresented.
He possibly might not entertain a very favourable opinion
of the sex ; owing partly to the above-mentioned circum-
stance, in which the lady behaved very treacherously, per-
mitting the carriages, equipage, &c. to be prepared, and
then accepting another offer; and partly to the treatment
he had experienced from the ladies of Leeds Castle ; but
this does not seem to have influenced his general behaviour
to them. He had lived many years retired from the world,
in a remote wilderness, sequestered from all polished so-
ciety, and perhaps might not feel himself perfectly at ease,
when he came into large parties of ladies, where ceremony
and form were to be observed ; but he had not forgot those
accomplished manners which he had acquired in his early
80 FAIRFAX.
youth ; at Leeds Castle, at the university, and in the army.
His motive for settling in America was of the most noble
and heroic kind. It was, as he always himself declared, to
settle and cultivate that beautiful and immense tract of
country, of which he was the proprietor ; and in this he
succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations, for the
Northern Neck was better peopled, better cultivated, and
more improved, than any other part of the dominion of
Virginia.
Lord Fairfax lived to extreme old age at Greenway-
court, universally beloved, and died as universally lamented,
in January or February 1782, in the ninety-second year of
his age. He was buried at Winchester, where he had so
often and so honourably presided as judge of the court.
He bequeathed Greemvay-court to his nephew colonel
Martin ; and his barony descended to his only surviving
brother Robert Fairfax, to whom he had before consigned
Leeds Castle, and his other English estates. This Robert,
seventh lord Fairfax, died at Leeds Castle in 1791, and
bequeathed that noble mansion, and its appendages, to his
nephew the reverend Denny Martin, who has since taken
the name of Fairfax. The barony or title, by regular de-
scent, is now vested in the reverend Bryan Fairfax, the
present and eighth lord Fairfax, third son of William Fair-
fax, esq. above mentioned. His claim on the barony was
confirmed, in 1800, by the house of peers. 1
FAITHORNE (WILLIAM), a very celebrated engraver,
was born in London in the early part of the seventeenth
century. He was the pupil of Peake, the printer and
printseller, who was afterwards knighted, and worked with
him three or four years. At the breaking out of the civil
war, Peake espoused the cause of Charles I. ; and Faithorne,
who accompanied his master, was taken prisoner by the
rebels at Basing-house, whence he was sent to London,
and confined in Aldersgate. In this uncomfortable situa-
tion he exercised his graver ; and a small head of the first
Villiers, duke of Buckingham, in the style of Mallan, was
one of his first performances. The solicitations of his
friends in his favour at last prevailed ; and he was released
from prison, with permission to retire on the continent.
* For this iutereiting account of the enterprizing and patriotic Thomas lord
Fairfax, we art indebted to Dr. Burnaby's " Tiavels through the Middle Set-
tlements in North America/' 1798, 3d edit. 4to, where are other particulars ef
Ute I-aixfax family,
FAITHORNE. 81
The story of his banishment for refusing to take the oath
to Oliver Cromwell, would have done him no discredit,
had it been properly authenticated, but that does not ap-
pear to be the case. Soon after his arrival in France, he
found protection and encouragement from the abbe* de
Marolles, and formed an acquaintance with the celebrated
Nanteuil, from whose instructions he derived very consi-
derable advantages. About 1650, he returned to Eng-
land, and soon after married the sister of a person who is
called " the famous" captain Ground. By her he had two
sons, Henry, who was a bookseller, and William, an en-
graver in mezzotinto.
He now opened a shop opposite the Palsgrave -head
tavern without Temple-bar, where he sold not only his
own engravings, but those of other English artists, and im-
ported a considerable number of prints from Holland,
France, and Italy. He also worked for the booksellers,
particularly Mr. Royston, the king's bookseller, Mr. Mar-
tin, his brother-in-law, in St. Paul's church-yard, and Mr.
William Peake, a stationer and printseller on Snow-hill, the
younger brother of his old master. About 1680, he retired
from his shop, and resided in Printing-house-yard : but he
still continued to work for the booksellers, and painted por-
traits from the life in crayons, which art he learned of
Nanteuil, during his abode in France. He also painted in
miniature ; and his performances in both these styles were
much esteemed. These portraits are what we now find
with the inscription " W. Faithorne pinxit" He appears
to have been well paid for his engravings, of which lord
Orford has given a very full list. Mr. Ashmole gave him
seven pounds for the engraving of his portrait, which, if
not a large one, or very highly finished, could not at that
time have been a mean price. Unfortunately, however,
for him, his son William dissipated a considerable part of
his property, and it is supposed that the vexation he suf-
fered from this young man's misconduct, tended to shorten
his days. He died in May 1691, and was buried by the
side of his wife in the church of St. Anne, Blackfriars. In
1662 he published " The Art of Engraving and Etching."
Portraits constitute the greater part of Faithorne's en-
gravings. He worked almost entirely with the graver in a
free clear style. In the early part of his life, he seems to
have followed the Dutch and Flemish manner of en-
graving ; but at his return from France he had consider-
VOL. XIV. G
82 FA I- THORN E.
ably improved it. Some of his best portraits are admirable
prints, and finished in a free delicate style, with much
force of colour; but he did not draw the human figure
correctly, or with good taste, and his historical plates by
no means convey a proper idea of his abilities. His son
scraped portraits in mezzotinto, and probably might have
acquired a comfortable subsistence, but he neglected his
business before he had attained any great degree of excel-
lence, and died about the age of thirty. 1
FALCANDUS is ranked among the Sicilian historians
of the twelfth century, but his personal history is involved
in obscurity. Muratori makes him a Sicilian, but Mongi-
tori says he was only educated in Sicily, and that he was
more of a Norman than a Sicilian, although he lived many
years in the latter kingdom. The editors of the " L'Art
de verifier les Dates" are of opinion that the true name of
Falcandus is Fulcandus, or Fducanlt. According to them,
Hugues Foucault, a Frenchman by birth, and at length
abbot of St. Denys, had followed into Sicily his patron
Stephen de la Perche, uncle to the mother of William II.
archbishop of Palermo, and great chancellor of the king-
dom. Yet Falcandus has all the feelings of a Sicilian ; and
the title of alumnus , which he bestows on himself, appears
to indicate that he was born, or at least, according to Mon-
gitori, was educated in that island. Falcandus has been
styled the Tacitus of Sicily, and Gibbon seems unwilling
to strip him of his title : "his narrative," says that histo-
rian, " is rapid and perspicuous, his style bold and ele-
gant, his observation keen ; he had studied mankind, and
feels like a man." There are four editions of his history,
one separate, Paris, 1550; a second in the Wechels' col-
lection of Sicilian histories, 1579, folio; a third in Caru-
sio's Sicilian library ; and a fourth in the seventh volume
of Muratori 7 ! collection. Falcandus appears to have been
living about 1190. His history embraces the period from
1130 to 1169, a time of great calamity to Sicily, and of
which he was an eye-witness. 3
FALCO, a historian of Benevento, of the twelfth cen-
tury, was notary and secretary to pope Innocent II. and
was also a judge or magistrate of Benevento. He wrote a
curious chronicle of events strikingly told, but in a bad
l Walpole'i Anecdotes Strutt's Dictionary.
* Moreri; Gibbon's Hist, Fabric. Bibl. Med, et Inf. Lat.
, F A L C O. 83
style, which happened from 1102 to 1140. Mirseus says
that Falco's readers are as much impressed as if they had
been present at what he relates. This chronicle was first
printed by Ant. Caraccioli, a priest of the order of regular
clerks, along with three other chroniclers, under the title
" Antiqui chronologi quatuor," Naples, 1626, 4to. It has
since been reprinted in Muratori's and other collections. l
FALCONER (THOMAS), an English gentleman of ex-
traordinary talents and attainments, was the son of William
Falconer, esq. one of the magistrates of Chester, by his
wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Ralph Wilbraham, esq. of
Townsend in Cheshire, and was born in 1736. That his
education had not been neglected appears evidently from
the uncommon progress he made in classical learning and
antiquities, to which he appears to have been early at-
tached, and in the study of which he persevered during a
long and painful course of years. He had a permanent
indisposition, which lasted thirty-two years, and which he
bore with pious resignation. Such was his thirst of know-
ledge during this period, that he used to read in a kneeling
posture, the only one in which he had a temporary respite
from internal uneasiness, from which he was never entirely
free. He was a man of taste and science, of extraordinary
memory, and pqwers of application, and singularly com-
prehensive in his reading, and judicious and communica-
tive. He was particularly acquainted with voyages and
travels, and retained a fondness for both to the last. His
latter days, when indisposition permitted him, were chiefly
dedicated to the preparation of an edition of Strabo, in
which he had made a considerable progress at the time of
his death, Sept. 4, 1792. He was buried in St. Michael's
church, within the city of Chester, where he died, but
there is a marble tablet to his memory in St. John's church,
in which parish he resided until within a few years of his
death. On this tablet is a just and elegant inscription to
his memory from the pen of his brother Dr. William Fal-
coner of Bath.
As Mr. Falconer had little ambition to appear often in
the character of an author, his works bear small proportion
to the extent of his knowledge. The only publications
from his pen were, " Devotions for the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, with an Appendix containing a method of
Moreri. Fabric. Bibl. Med. et Inf. Lat.
G 2
3* FALCONER.
digesting the book of Psalms, so as to be applicable to the
common occurrences of life. By a Layman," 1786, which
has often been reprinted ; " Observations on Pliny's Ac-
count of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus," inserted in the
Archaeologia, vol. XI. of which a very close examination
and analysis may be seen in the British Critic, vol. VII. ;
and " Chronological Tables from the reign of Solomon to
the death of Alexander the Great," Clarendon press, 1796,
4to. This was found among his MSS. in a prepared state,
and presented to the university of Oxford by the author's
brother. The prefatory discourse, which is replete with
elaborate research and profound erudition, while it explains,
in a very satisfactory way, the arrangement of the tables,
and settles many dark and discordant points of ancient
history, may also be considered as a dissertation on the fine
arts during the aera which it comprises ; and the chrono-
logical tables will be highly acceptable to those who adhere
to archbishop Usher's mode of computation. His very
learned and elaborate edition of Strabo, after being many
years in the Clarendon press, was finally published in 1807,
2 vols. folio, by his nephew the rev. Thomas Falconer, M. A.
of Corpus Christi college, Oxford, the translator of Hanno's
Periplus, and the author of several works worthy of the
fame of his father and uncle. Of the merits of this edi-
tion of Strabo, it would be unnecessary to enlarge in this
place, as they have so recently been the subject of much
critical controversy, which the work will, outlive with last-
ing reputation. l
FALCONER (WILLIAM), an ingenious poet, was born
about 1730, and was the son of a poor but industrious bar-
ber at Edinburgh, all of whose children, with the excep-
tion of ,our author, were either deaf or dumb. William
received such common education as might qualify him for
some inferior employment, and appears to have contracted
a taste for reading, and a desire for higher attainments
than his situation permitted. In the character of Arion,
unquestionably intended for his own, he hints at a farther
progress in study than his biographers have been able to
trace :
" On him fair Science dawn'd in happier hour,
Awakening into bloom young Fancy's flower :
But soon Adversity, with freezing blast
The blossom wither'd, and the dawn o'ercast,
' Churton's Life of Dr. Towason prefixed to hi* Works, p. Iv. Brit. Grit
*ols. VII. and IX.
FALCONER. 35
Forlorn of heart, and by severe decree
Condemn'd reluctant to the faithless sea."
Tt must indeed have been with reluctance that a boy who
had begun to taste the sweets of literature, consented to
serve an apprenticeship on board a merchant vessel at Leith,
which we are told he did when very young. He was after-
wards in the capacity of a servant to Campbell, the author
of Lexiphanes, when purser of a ship. Campbell is said
to have discovered in Falconer talents worthy of cultivation ;
and when the latter distinguished himself as a poet, used
to repeat with some pride, that he had once been his
scholar.
Falconer, probably by means of this friend, was made
second mate of a vessel employed in the Levant trade,
which was shipwrecked during her passage from Alexan-
dria to Venice, and only three of the crew saved. The
date of this event cannot now be ascertained ; but what he
saw and felt on the melancholy occasion made the deepest
impression on his memory, and certainly suggested the
plan and characters of his celebrated poem. Whether be-
fore this time he had made any poetical attempts we are
not informed. The favours of a genuine muse are usually
early, and it is at least probable that the classical allusions
so frequent in " The Shipwreck," were furnished by much
previous reading.
In 1751 he appeared among the poets who lamented the
death of Frederick prince of Wales, in a poem published
at Edinburgh, which probably gratified the humble ex-
pectations of a friendly circle, without procuring him much
encouragement. He is said, however, to have followed up
his first effort, by some small pieces sen to that accus-
tomed repository of early talent, the Gentleman's Maga-
zine. Mr. Clarke has pointed out " The Chaplain's peti-
tion to tlie Lieutenants in the ward-room," the " Descrip-
tion of a ninety-gun Ship," and some lines " On the un-
common scarcity of Poetry." Mr. Clarke has likewise pre-
sented his readers with a whimsical little poem, descrip-
tive of the abode and sentiments of a midshipman, which
was one of Falconer's early productions ; and offers some
reasons for being of opinion that he was the author of the
popular song " Cease, rude Boreas."
Our author is supposed to have continued in the mer-
chant service until he gained the patronage of his royal
highness Edward duke of York, by dedicating to him
86 FALCONER.
"The Shipwreck," in the spring of 1762; and it is mucti
to the honour of his highness' s taste that he joined in the
praise bestowed on this poem, and became desirous to place
the author in a situation where he could befriend him.
With this view, the duke advised him to quit the mer-
chant service for the royal jiavy ; and before the summer
had elapsed, Falconer was rated a midshipman on board
sir Edward Hawke's ship, the Royal George, which at the
peace of 1763, was paid off; but previously to that event,
Falconer published an " Ode on the Duke of York's se-
cond departure from England as Rear-Admiral." His high-
ness had embarked on board the Centurion with commo-
dore Harrison, for the Mediterranean ; and Falconer com-
posed this ode " during an occasional absence from his
messmates, when he retired into a small space formed be-
tween the cable tiers and the ship's side." It is a rambling,
incoherent composition, in which we discover little of the
author of the Shipwreck.
As Falconer wanted much of that complementary time of
service, which might enable him to arrive at the commis-
sion of Lieutenant, his friends advised him to exchange the
military for the civil department of the royal navy ; and
accordingly, in the course of 1763, he was appointed purser
of the Glory frigate of 32 guns. Soon after he married a
young lady of the name of Hicks, the daughter of the sur-
geon of Sheerness Yard. With this lady, who had consi-
derable taste, he appears to have lived happily, although
his circumstances were reduced for want of employment.
That this was the case appears from a whimsical incident
related by his biographer. " When the Glory was laid up
in ordinary at Chatham, commissioner Hanway, brother to
the benevolent Jonas Hanway, became delighted with the
genius of its purser. The captain's cabin was ordered to
be fitted up with a stove, and with every addition of com-
fort that could be procured ; in order that Falconer might
thus be enabled to enjoy his favourite propensity, without
either molestation or expence."
Here he employed himself, for some time, in various
literary occupations. Among others he compiled an " Uni-
versal Marine Dictionary," a work of great utility, and
highly approved by professional men in the navy. In 1764,
he published a new edition of the Shipwreck, in 8vo, cor-
rected and enlarged, with a preface which indicates no
great facility in that species of composition. In the fol-
FALCONER. 37
lowing year, appeared " The Demagogue," a political sa-
tire on lord Chatham, Wilkes, and Churchill, and intended
as an antidote to the writings of the latter. It contains a
sufficient proportion of the virulent spirit of Churchill, but
lord Chatham and Wilkes were not at this time vulnerable,
and " The Demagogue" was soon forgotten.
The Marine Dictionary was published in 1769, before
which period he appears to have left his naval retreat at
Chatham for an abode in the metropolis of a less comfort-
able kind. Here, depressed by poverty, but occasionally
soothed by friendship, and by the affectionate attentions
of his wife, he subsisted for some time on various resources.
In 1768 he received proposals from the late Mr. Murray,
the bookseller, to be admitted a partner in the business
which that gentleman afterwards established.
No reason can be assigned with more probability for his
refusing this liberal offer, than his appointment, imme-
diately after, to the pursership of the Aurora frigate, which
was ordered to carry out to India, Messrs. Vansittart,
Scrofton, and Forde, as supervisors of the affairs of the
Company. He was also promised the office of private se-
cretary to those gentlemen, a situation from which his
friends conceived the hopes that he might eventually ob-
tain lasting advantages. Dis aliter msum. The Aurora
sailed from England on the 30th of September, 1769, and
after touching at the Cape, was lost during the remainder
of the passage in a manner which left no trace by which
the cause of the calamity could be discovered. The most
probable conjecture is, that she foundered in the Mosam-
bique channel.
" In person," says Mr. Clarke, " Falconer was about
five feet seven inches in height ; of a thin light make, with
a dark weather-beaten complexion, and rather what is
termed hard-featured, being considerably marked with the
small-pox ; his hair was of a brownish hue. In point of
address, his manner was blunt, awkward, and forbidding ;
but he spoke with great fluency ; and his simple yet im-
pressive diction was couched in words which reminded his
hearers of the terseness of Swift. Though he possessed a
warm and friendly disposition, he was fond of controversy,
and inclined to satire. His observation was keen and rapid;
his criticisms on any inaccuracy of language, or expression,
were frequently severe ; yet this severity was always in-
tended eventually to create mirth, and not by any means
88 FALCONER.
to show his own superiority, or to give the smallest offence.
In his natural temper he was cheerful, and frequently used
to amuse his messmates by composing acrostics on their
favourites, in which he particularly excelled. As a pro-
fessional man he was a thorough seaman ; and, like most
of that profession, was kind, generous, and benevolent.
He often assured governor Hunter, that his education had
been confined merely to reading English, writing, and a
4ittle arithmetic ; notwithstanding which he was never at a
loss to understand either French, Spanish, Italian, or even
German." .
As a poet, Falconer's fame must rest entirely on " The
Shipwreck." His other pieces could never have survived
the occasion which produced them, and could have ranked
him only among the versifiers of a day^ while the Ship-
wreck bids fair for immortality. In the powers of descrip-
tion, he has scarcely a superior, and has excluded com-
parison by choosing a subject with which accident only can
make a poet acquainted, a subject which may be described,
for he has described it in all its awful dignity, but which
surpasses the common reach of imagination. The distant
ocean, and its grand phenomena, have often employed
the pens of the most eminent poets, but they have generally
produced an effect by indefinite outlines and imaginary
incidents. In Falconer, we have the painting of a great
artist taken on the spot, with such minute fidelity as well
as picturesque effect, that we are chained to the scene
with all the feelings of actual terror.
In the use of imagery, Falconer displays original powers.
His Sun-set, Midnight, Morning, &c. are not such as have
descended from poet to poet. He beheld these objects
under circumstances in which it is the lot of few to be
placed. His images cannot, therefore, be transferred or
borrowed ; they have an appropriation which must not be
disturbed, nor can we trace them to any source but that of
genuine poetry. Although we may suspect that he had
studied the ^Eneid, there are no marks of servile imitation,
while he has the high merit of enriching English poetry by
a new train of ideas, and conducting the imagination into
an undiscovered country.
The principal objection to this poem is the introduction
of sea-terms; and although it must be confessed that he
has softened these by an exquisite harmony of numbers,
some of his descriptions must ever remain unintelligible to
FALCONER. 89
indolent readers. But Falconer did not need to be told of
this objection, and in his introduction, he deprecates what
he had full reason to expect. If, however, we attend to
his design, it will become evident that the introduction of
sea-terms was absolutely necessary. " The Shipwreck'*
is didactic, as well as descriptive, and may be recom-
mended to a young sailor, not only to excite his enthusi-
asm, but to improve his knowledge of the art. Mr. Clarke,
whose judgment on this subject may be followed with
safety, and whose zeal for the reputation of the British
navy does honour both to his head and heart, says, that,
the Shipwreck " is of inestimable value to this country,
since it contains within itself the rudiments of navigation ;
if not sufficient to form a complete seaman, it may cer-
tainly be considered as the grammar of his professional
science. I have heard many experienced officers declare,
that the rules and maxims delivered in this poem, for the
conduct of a ship in the most perilous emergency, form
the best, indeed the only opinions which a skilful mariner
should adopt."
With such views it was impossible to exclude a language
which is uncouth only where it is not understood, and
which as being the language of those heroes who have
elevated the character of their country beyond all prece-
dent and all comparison, merits higher veneration than the
technical terms of common mechanics ; nor, upon this ac-
count, ought the Shipwreck to involve the blame which
attaches to the " Cyder" of Philips, or the " Fleece" of
Dyer. No art can give dignity to such subjects, nor did
they demand the aid of poetry to render them more useful
or more pleasing. Falconer's subject was one of the most
sublime inflictions of Providence. He described it for
those who might be destined to behold it, and he knew
that if among sailors he found no acute critics, he would
find intelligent and sympathizing readers. When there-
fore we consider his whole design, the objection may ad-
mit of some apology even from those who will yet regret
that a poet of such genuine skill should have narrowed his
fame by writing for a class. l
FALCONET (CAMILLE), born at Lyons in 1671, was
bred a physician, in which profession his family had long
1 Johnson and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810, Clarke's edition of the Ship-
wreck, Irving's Life of Falconer.
90 FALCONET.
been celebrated, but distinguished himself more iii general
literature than in medicine. He settled at Paris, became
a friend of Malebranche, and in 1716 was elected into the
French academy. He had a library of forty-five thousand
volumes, from which, in 1742, he presented to the royal
library all those that were wanting to that collection. He
died Feb. 8, 1762, at the age of 91, being supposed (like
Fagon), to have prolonged his life by his skill. He was of
a lively disposition, with a ready natural eloquence ; and
though he was not so famous in the practice of medicine,
he was much esteemed in consultation. His chief works
are, 1. A translation of Viliemont's " Systema Planeta-
rum," published in 1707. 2. An edition of the Greek
pastoral of " Daphnis and Chloe," translated by Amyot,
with curious notes. 3. An edition of Desperier's " Cym-
balum Mundi," with notes. 4. Several dissertations in the
inemoirs of the academy ; and some medical theses. He
was uncle to Stephen Falconet, the celebrated sculptor, of
whom we regret that no good account has yet reached this
country, where he has long been known for his writings. *
FALCONIA (PROBA), a Roman poetess, who flourished
about 395, under the emperor Honorius, was a native of
Horta, or Hortanum, in Etruria. There is still extant by
her, a cento from Virgil, giving the sacred history from
the creation to the deluge; and the history of Christ, in
verses selected from that poet, introduced by a few lines
of her own. Authors have sometimes confounded her with
Anicia Falconia Proba, the mother of three consuls : and
some have said she was that Valeria Proba, who was the
wife of Adelfius, a proconsul. Her poem was first pub-
lished with Ausonius, at Venice, 1472, under the title
" Probae Falconiae, cento ^Virgilianus, seu Centimetrum
de Christo, versibus Virgilianis compaginatum.'! The
last edition is that of Wolfius in the " Mulierum Grxcarum
Frag." Hamb. 1734, 4to. 8
FALETTI (JERONIMO), an Italian poet of the sixteenth
century, was a native of Savona, in the state of Genoa.
He published in 1557 a poem, in ottava rima, on the wars
of Charles V. in Flanders, and other miscellaneous poems;
and in 1558, twelve of his orations were published at Ve-
nice by Aldus, in folio. He wrote on the causes of the
German war under Charles V. and an Italian translation of
1 Diet. Hiit. * Saxii Onomast. Clark's Bibliographical Dictionary.
F A L E'T T I. 91
Athenagoras on the resurrection, 1556, 4to. He was also
one of the authors of the celebrated collection under the
title of " Polyanthea." He was distinguished as a states-
man, an orator, and an historian, as well as a poet, and
was deputed on an embassy to Venice by Hercules Antes-
tini, duke of Ferrara. *
FALK (JOHN PETER), one of the scientific travellers,
employed by the late empress of Russia to explore her
vast dominions, was born in Westrogothia, a province in
Sweden, about 1727. He studied medicine in the univer-
sity of Upsal, and went through a course of botany under
the celebrated Linnaeus, to whose son he was, tutor. He
publicly defended the dissertation (in the Linnaei " Amce-
nitates Academics") which that famous botanist had com-
posed on a new species of plants, which he called astrome-
Ti'a. In 1760, he was so deeply affected with depression
of spirits, that Linnaeus, in order to amuse his mind, sent
him to travel over the island of Gothland, to make a col-
lection of the plants it produces, and the various kinds of
corals and corallines which the sea leaves on its shores ;
but this journey was attended with no diminution of his
distemper, which found a continual supply of aliment in a
sanguine melancholy temperament, in a too sedentary way
of life, and in the bad state of his finances.
Professor Forskael having left Upsal for Copenhagen in
1760, Falk followed him thither, in hopes of being ap-
pointed his assistant in his famous journey through Arabia,
but the society that were to go on that important expedi-
tion being already formed, his application failed, and being
obliged to return, he herborised as he travelled, and en-
riched the Flora Suecica with several new discoveries. A
man in office at St. Petersburgh having written to Linnaeus
to send him a director for his cabinet of natural history,
Falk .accepted the post, which led him to the chair of pro-
fessor of botany at the apothecaries' garden at St. Peters-
burgh, a place that had been long vacant ; but his hypo-
chondriac complaint still continued to torment him.' When,
the imperial academy of sciences was preparing in 1768
the plan of its learned expeditions, it took Falk into its
service, though his health was uncertain. He was recalled
in 1771, but having got only to Kasan in 1773, he there
obtained permission to go and use the baths of Kissiar,
1 Moreri.
92 F A L K.
from which he returned again to Kasan at the end of the
year, with his health apparently better; but his disease
soon returned with redoubled violence, and his mind being
deranged he put a period to his life on March 31, 1774.
His fate was generally and justly lamented. His papers
were found in the greatest disorder. They contained,
however, very useful and important relations. He parti-
cularly made it his business to inquire about the Kirguises
and the other Tartarian nations ; and as he frequently re-
mained for the space of nine months together in the same
place, he was enabled to procure satisfactory reports con-
cerning the objects of his investigations. The imperial
academy, in 1774, appointed professor Laxmann to ar-
range his manuscripts in order for publication ; which was
done accordingly, but they were not published until 1735,
when they appeared at Petersburgh in 3 vols. 4to. !
FALKENSTEIN (JoiiN HENRY), a voluminous com-
piler of historical documents, was born in Franconia in
1682, and died in 1760. In 1724 he was appointed direc-
tor of the university of Erlangen, but turning catholic, he
entered into the service of the bishop of Eichstadt, and
after the death of that prelate, obtained the patronage of
the margrave of Anspach. Among other compilations of a
similar kind, without taste or arrangement, but which may
be useful to future historians, are his " Antiquities of
Nordgau in the bishopric of Eichstadt," 3 vols. fol. 2
FALKLAND. See GARY.
FALLE (PHILIP), a learned man, was born in the isle of
Jersey in 1655, and in 1669 became a commoner of Exeter
college in Oxford ; from whence he removed to St. Alban's
hall, and took both his degrees in arts, that of master in
July 1676. Afterwards he went into orders, retired to his
native country, where he was made rector of St. Saviour's,
and was afterwards chosen deputy from the states of that
island to king William and queen Mary. He was also rec-
tor of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, where he built an ele-
gant house at the expense of 1000/. King William re-
commended him to a prebend in Durham. The golden
prebend was then vacant, but the bishop removed Dr.
Pickering to it, and gave Dr. Falle the fourth stall, of
which he afterwards complained. The repairing of the
prebendal house cost him 200/. He died at Shenley, in
1 Dr. Cleig's Suppl. to the Encyclop. Britan, Diet. Hist. Diet. Hist.
F A L L E. 93
1742, and left his excellent library (excepting a collection
of sacred music, which he gave to the library at Durham),
to the island of Jersey. He published three sermons ; one
preached at St. Hilary's in Jersey, in 1692; another at
Whitehall in 1694 ; and another before the mayor of Lon-
don in 1695. He was the author also of " An account of
the isle of Jersey, the greatest of those islands that are
now the only remainder of the English dominions in
France : with a new and accurate map of that island,'*
1694, 8vo. This is much quoted by bishop Gibson. 1
FALLOPIUS (GABRIEL), a most celebrated physician
and anatomist of Italy, was descended from a noble family,
and born at Modena, most probably in 1523, although some
make him born in 1490. He enjoyed a strong and vigo-
rous constitution, with vast abilities of mind, which he cul-
tivated by an intense application to his studies in philoso-
phy, physic, botany, and anatomy. In this last he made
some discoveries, and, among the rest, that of the tubes
by which the ova descend from the ovarium, and which
from him are called the " Fallopian tubes." He travelled
through the greatest part of Europe, and penetrated by
his labour the most abstruse mysteries of nature. He prac-
tised physic with great success, and gained the character
of one of the ablest physicians of his age. He was made
professor of anatomy at Pisa in 1548, and was promoted to
the same office at Padua in 1551 ; at which last place he
died October 9, 1563, according to the common opinion,
in the prime of life, but not so, if born in 1490.
His writings, by which he very much distinguished him-
self, were first published separately, at the time they were
written ; and afterwards collected with the title of, " Opera
genuina omnia, tarn Practica, quam Theoretica, in tres
tomos distributa." They were printed at Venice in 1584,
and in 1606; and at Francfort in 1600, "cum Operum
Appendice," and in 1606, in 3 vols. folio.*
FALSTER (CHRISTIAN), was a celebrated Danish critic
and philologer of Flensburg, the exact time of whose
birth and death we have not been able to learn. His chief
works, which are all of a curious and interesting nature,
and published between the years 1717 and 1731, are:
1. " Supplementum Lingua Latinae," consisting of obser-
Ath.Ox. vol. II. Hutchinson's Hist, of Durham, vol. II. p. 186.
* Gen. Diet. Moreri.Niceron, vols. IV. and X. Manget and Haller.
Saxii Qnomast.
94 F A L S T E R.
vations on Cellarius's edition of Faber ; Flensburg, 1717.
2. " Animadversiones Epistolicae," of a similar nature,
published at the same place and time. 3. " Quaestiones
Romanae," containing an idea of the literary history of the
Romans, with memorials of eminent writers and works ;
Flensburg, 1718. 4. " Cogitationes Philologicae," Lips.
1719. 5. " Sermo Panegyricus de variarum gentium bib-
liothecis," ibid. 1720. 6. Vigilia prima noctium Ripen-
sium," containing observations on A. Gellius, Hafnicc,
1721. 7. " Amcenitates Philologicae," Amst. 1729 32,
3 vols. And, 7. " A Danish translation of the fourteenth
satire of Juvenal," Hafn. 1731, in 4to, the rest are 8vo. *
FALZ (RAYMOND), a celebrated medallist, was the son
of a jeweller, and born at Stockholm in 1658. His father
dying in his infancy, he was sent to Stettin to the care of
his maternal uncle, and afterwards being brought back to
Stockholm, employed himself in goldsmith's work, paint-
ing, and modelling in wax. In 1680 he went to Copen-
hagen, and thence to Lubeck, Hamburgh, and many other
places, for the sake of improvement in his art. At Augs-
burgh he learned to work on steel. In 1683, after study-
ing the French language, he went to Paris, and was em-
ployed by Cheron the French king's medallist, and having
acquired a very high reputation for his workmanship, he
began business on his own account, and executed a great
number of excellent medals illustrative of the history of
Louis XIV. who was so well pleased with his performances
as to settle a pension of 1200 livres upon him, besides
paying him liberal prices for his works. In 1686 he took
a trip to the Netherlands, and thence into England. After
returning to the continent, he re-visited his native coun-
try, Sweden, where the king gave him an handsome pen-
sion ; and in 1688, Frederic, elector of Brandenburgh,
invited Falz to his court, and appointed him his medallist.
After increasing his fame in Sweden, at Berlin, and at
Hanover, he died at Berlin May 26, 1703.*
FANCOURT (SAMUEL), a native of the West of Eng-
land, who may be termed the inventor of circulating li-
braries, was, .at the beginning of the last century, pastor
of a congregation of protestant dissenters in Salisbury,
where he had a number of pupils for near twenty years.
Professing a creed very different from, the opinions of
1 Saxii Onomast. * Moreri.
F A N C O U R T. 95
Calvin, as appears by his numerous publications, he in-
curred the displeasure of persons of that persuasion, and a
controversy arose in which clergymen of the establishment
and the dissenters had an equal share. It turned on the
divine prescience, the freedom of the human will, the
greatness of the divine love, and the doctrine of reprobation.
Driven from a comfortable settlement to the great me-
tropolis, where he acquired no new one as a teacher, Mr.
Fancourt, about 1740 or 1745, established the first circu-
lating library for gentlemen and ladies, at a subscription
of a guinea a year for reading ; but in 1748 extended it to
a guinea in all, for the purchase of a better library, half
to be paid at the time of subscribing, the other half at the
delivery of a new catalogue then in the press, and twelve
pence a quarter beside, to begin from Michaelmas 1754,
to the librarian. < Subscriptions were to be paid without
further charge to the proprietors, but to pay only from
the time of subscribing; out of which quarterly payments
were to be deducted the rent of the rooms to receive the
books, and accommodate subscribers, a salary to the libra-
rian to keep an open account, and to circulate the books ;
a stock to buy new books and duplicates as there was occa-
sion; the expence of providing catalogues, and drawing
up writings for settling the trust. This trust was to be
vested in twelve or thirteen persons chosen by ballot out
of the body of proprietors ; and the proposer, Mr. Fan-
court himself, was to be the first librarian, and to continue
so as long as he discharged his office with diligence and
fidelity. Every single subscription .entitled the subscriber
to one book and one pamphlet at a time, to be changed
ad libitum for others, and kept ad Libitum, if not wanted
by other subscribers. Mr. Fancourt advertised himself
also in these proposals as a teacher of Latin, to read, write,
and speak it with fluency in a year's time or less, at twelve
guineas a year, one guinea a month, or twelve pence an
hour, allowing five or six hours in a week. The great
hypercritic of Mr. Fancourt's design was the }ate.Dr. C.
Mortimer. Not to trace the poor librarian through every
shifting of his quarters, he fixed at last at the corner of
one of the streets in the Strand, where, encumbered with a
helpless and sick wife, turned out of fashion, and out-
planned by a variety of imitators, and entangled with a
variety of plans, not one of which could extricate him
from perplexities, this poor man, who may be said to have
96 FANCOURT.
first circulated knowledge among us, sunk under a load of
debt, unmerited reproach, and a failure of his faculties,
brought on by the decay of age, precipitated by misfor-
tunes. His library became the property of creditors, and
he retired in humble poverty to Hoxton-square, where
some of his brethren relieved his necessities till the close
of his life, in his ninetieth year, June 8, 1768. As a
preacher, though neither what is now called popular, nor
pastor of a London congregation, he was occasionally called
upon to fill up vacancies, and is said to have preached
with a considerable degree of manly eloquence.
He published three or four occasional sermons, besides
his tracts against Calvinistic principles, which were an-
swered by Messrs. Morgan, Norman, Bliss, Millar, and
Eliot, all, or mostly, dissenting ministers, and defended
in various pamphlets by the author. !
FANNIUS (CAius), surnamed STRABO, was consul at
Rome in 161 B. C. with Valerius Messala. The law called
Pannia was made during his consulate, for regulating the
expences of feasts, and empowering the pretors to drive
the rhetoricians and philosophers from Rome. This law
prohibited more than ten asses to be spent at a common
feast, and an hundred at the most solemn, such as those of
the Saturnalia, or of the public games ; which seems al-
most incredible, when it is considered that a sheep at
that time cost ten asses, and an ox an hundred, according
to the opinion of several learned men. Caius Fannius, his
son, distinguished himself by his eloquence, and was consul
120 B. C. He opposed the enterprizes of Caius Gracchus,
and made a speech against him, which is praised by Cicero.
Caius Fannius, cousin-german of this latter, was questor
139 B. C. and pretor ten years after; served under Scipio
Africanus the younger in Africa; and, in Spain, under
Fabius Maximus Servilianus. He was the disciple of Pane-
tius, a celebrated stoic philosopher; married the youngest
daughter of Lelius, and wrote some annals, which are
much praised by Cicero. 2
FANSHAWE (the Right Hon. Sir RICHARD, Knt. and
bart.), a statesman, negociator, and poet of the last cen-
tury, was the youngest son, and tenth child, of sir Henry
Fanshawe, knt. remembrancer of the exchequer, and bro-
ther of lord viscount Fanshawe, of Dromore, in the king-
i Gent, Mag. vol. LIV. * Geu. Diet.
F A N S H A W E.
dom of Ireland, and was born at Ware-park in Hertford-
shire, in the month of June 1608. Being only seven years
of a_re when his father died, the care of his education de-
volved upon his mother, who placed him under the famous
schoolmaster Th6mas Farnaby. November 12, 1623, he
was admitted a fellow- commoner of Jesus college, Cam-
bridge, under the tuition of Dr. Beale, where he prose-
cuted his studies with success, and discovered a genius for
classical learning. Thence he was removed to the Inner
Temple, Jan. 22, 1626 ; but at his mother's death he re-
solved to pursue a line of life better adapted to his genius
and inclination, and accordingly he travelled to France and
Spain, for the purpose of acquiring the languages, and
studying the manners of those countries. On his return
home he was appointed secretary to the embassy at Madrid,
under lord Aston, and was left resident there from the
time of lord Aston's resignation to the appointment of sir
Arthur Hopton in 1638.
Being in England at the breaking-out of the civil war,
he declared early for the crown, and was employed in
several important matters of state. In 1644, attending the
court at Oxford, he had the degree of D. C. L. conferred
upon him, and was appointed secretary at war to the prince
of Wales, whom he attended into the western parts of
England, and thence into the islands of Scilly and Jersey.
In 1648 he was appointed treasurer to the navy under
prince Rupert, which office he held till 1650, when he was
created a baronet, and sent to Madrid to represent the
necessitous situation of his master, and to beg a temporary
assistance from Philip IV. He was then sent for to Scot-
land, and served there in the capacity of secretary of state
to the great satisfaction of all parties, although he took
neither covenant nor engagement *. About this time he was
recommended by the king to the York party, who received
him with great kindness, and entrusted him with the broad
seal and signet. In 1651 he was taken prisoner at the
battle of Worcester, and committed to close custody in
London ; but, having contracted a dangerous sickness, he
had liberty allowed him, upon giving bail, to go for th
* When sir Richard Fanshawe't ill
health obliged him to apply for hi eu-
largemeut after the battle of Worcester,
where he was taken prisoner, sir Henry
Vane proposed, as one of the condi-
tions, that he should take the engage-
VOL. XIV.
mcnt ; upon which Cromwell, who wa*
present, replied, that he nevr kne*
the engagement given as a medicine :
his liberty was then granted <m 4000/.
bail.
H
$8 FANSHAWE.
recovery of his health to any place he should chtise, pro-
vided he stirred not five miles thence without leave from
the parliament. In 1654 he was at Tankersley park in
Yorkshire, which place he hired of his friend lord Siraf-
ford, to whom he dedicated his translation of the " Lusiad
of Camoens," written during his residence there. In Fe-
bruary 1659 (under pretence of travelling abroad with the
eldest ,son of Philip earl of Pembroke), he obtained his
bail to be returned, and repaired to king Charles II. at
Breda, who knighted him in April following ; and ap-
pointed him master of requests, and secretary of the Latin
tongue.
Upon his majesty's restoration he expected to be ap-
pointed secretary of state, from a promise wfoich had for-
merly been made him of that office ; but to his great dis-
appointment, it was, at the instance of the duke of Albe-
marle, given to sir William Morrice, which circumstance
lady Fanshawe states thus : "The king promised sir Richard
that he should be one of the secretaries of state (at the Resto-
tion), and both the duke of Ormond and lord chancellor
Clarendon were witnesses of it ; yet that false man made
the king break his word for his own accommodation, and
placed Mr. Morrice, ,a poor country gentleman of about
200/. a year, a fierce presbyterian, and one who never saw
the king's face ; but still promises were made of the rever-
sion to sir Richard."
He was elected one of the representatives of the univer-
sity of Cambridge* in the parliament which met the 8th
of May 1661, and was soon after sworn a privy counsellor
of Ireland. Having by his residence in foreign courts
qualified himself for public employments abroad, he was
sent envoy extraordinary to Portugal, with a dormant com-
mission to the ambassador, which he was to make use of
as occasion should require. Shortly after, he was ap-
pointed ambassador to that court, where he negotiated the
marriage between his master king Charles II. and the in-
fanta donna Catharina, daughter of king John VI. and
returned to England towards the end of the same year. It
appears that he was again sent ambassador to that crown in
166i, and was, upon his return to England the following
* Sir Richard had the good fortune this cost him no more than a letter of
to be the first, chosen, and the first thanks, two l>rare of bucks, and twenty
returned member in the commons- broad pieces for wiue.
*,,.<IM- after the king catne home, and
F A N S H A W E. 99
year, sworn of his majesty's privy-council. His integrity,
abilities, and industry, became so well known in Portugal,
that he was recommended and desired by that crown to be
sent to Spain as the fittest person to bring about an accom-
modation between Spain and Portugal. In the beginning
of 1664 he was sent ambassador to Philip IV. king of
Spain^ and arrived, February the 29th, at Cadiz, where
he was saluted in a manner unexampled to others, and
received with several circumstances of particular esteem.
It appears from one of sir Richard's letters, that this ex-
traordinary respect was paid him not only upon his own,
but also upon his master the king of England's account.
He says, " I had not been three hours on shore (at Cadiz)
when an extraordinary messenger arrived from Madrid
with more particular orders than formerly, from his catholic
majesty, importing that our master's fleet, when arrived,
and his ambassador, should be pre-saluted from the city in
a manner unexampled toothers, and which should not be
drawn into example hereafter. Moreover (and this so
likewise), that I and all my company must be totally de-
frayed, both here and all the way up to Madrid, upon his
catholic majesty's account; with several other circumstances
of particular esteem for our royal master, above all the
world beside." From a passage in another letter of his it is
evident, that the hope the Spaniards entertained, of having
Tangier and Jamaica restored to them by England, was,
" that which made his arrival impatiently longed for, and
so magnificently celebrated." During his residence at this
court, however, after all that apparent good will, he ex-
perienced such frequent mortifications as ministers use to
meet with in courts irresolute and perplexed in their own
affairs, and had made a journey to Lisbon upon the earnest
desire of Spain, and returned without effect. ^On a sudden,
when the recovery of Philip IV. grew desperate, a project
for a treaty was sent to the ambassador, containing more
advantages of trade to the nation, and insisting upon fewer
inconvenient conditions than had ever been in any* of the
former, and urging the immediate acceptation or rejection
of it, on account of the king's illness, "which," they de-
clared, " might make such an alteration in counsels, that,
if it were not done in his life-time, they knew not what
might happen ' after." The ambassador, surprised with
this overture, compared what was offered with what he was
to demand by his instructions ; and what was defective in
H 2
100 F A N S H A W E.
those particulars he added to the articles presented to him,
with such farther additions, as, upon his own observation
and conference with the merchants, occurred to him; which
being agreed to, he signed the treaty, with a secret article
respecting Portugal, and sent it to England. The treaty
was no sooner brought to the king, and perused in council,
but many faults were found with it, and in the end the
king concluded that he would not sign it ; and the ambas-
sador was recalled.
Sir Richard was preparing for his return to England; when,
June 4, 1666, he was seized at Madrid with a violent fever,
which put an end to his life the 16th of the same month,
the very day he had designed to set out on his return home.
Hfts body, being embalmed, was conveyed by his lady,
with all his children then living, by land to Calais, and
afterwards to All Saints church in Hertford, where it was
deposited in the vault of his father-in-law, sir John Har-
rison, till May 18, 1671, and then was removed into a
new vault, made on purpose for him and his family in thl
parish-church of Ware. Near the vault there is a hand-
some monument erected to his memory. He was remark-
able for his meekness, sincerity, humanity, and piety;
and also was an able statesman and a great scholar, being
in particular a complete master of several modern lan-
guages, especially Spanish, which was perfectly familiar
to him.
Although much of his life was spent in active business,
he found leisure to produce the following works : 1. An
English translation in rhyme of Guarini's " II Pastor Fido,
or the Faithful Shepherd," 1646, 4to. 2. A translation from,
English into Latin verse of Fletcher's " Faithful Shep-
herdess,'* 1658. 3. In the octavo edition of " The Faith-
ful Shepherd," are inserted the following poems of our
author; An Ode on his majesty's Proclamation in 1630,
commanding the gentry to reside upon their estates in the
country; an English translation of the fourth book of Vir-
gil's Aneid ; Odes of Horace, translated into English;
and a summary Discourse of the Civil Wars of Rome.
4. He translated from Portuguese into English, Canpens'
" Lusiad, or Portugal's Historical Poem," 1655, folio. 5.
After his decease were published two pieces in 4to, 1671 r
*' (luerer per solo querer," " To love only for love's sake,'*
a dramatical romance, represented before the king and
<jueen of Spain ; and " Figstas de Aranjeuz," Festival at
FANSHAWE. 101
Aranjeuz. Both written in Spanish by Antonio de Men-
doza, upon celebrating the birth-day of Philip VI. in 1623,
at Aranjuez ; and translated by our author in 1654, during
his confinement. 6. His correspondence was published in
1701, in one volume, 8vo, under this title: "'Original
Letters of his excellency sir Richard Fanshawe during his
embassy in Spain and Portugal; which, together with di-
vers letters and answers from the chief ministers of state in
England, Spain, and Portugal, contain the whole nego-
tiations of the treaty of peace between those three crowns."
The publisher received these letters from the hands of a
daughter of sir Richard, who had them in her possession.
He also composed other things, remaining in manuscript,
which he wrote in his younger years, but had not tha
leisure to complete. Even some of the preceding printed
pieces have not all the perfection which our ingenious
author could have given them : for, as his biographer ob-
serves, " being, for his loyalty and zeal to his master's
service, tossed from place to place, and from country to
country, during the unsettled times of our anarchy, some
of his manuscripts falling by misfortune into unskilful
hands, were printed and published without his consent or
knowledge, and before he could give them his last finish-
ing strokes." But that was not the case with his transla-
tion of " II Pastor Fido," which was published by himself,
and procured him much reputation.
His lady, by whom he had six sons and eight daughters,
of whom one son and four daughters survived him, was the
daughter of sir John Harrison by Margaret his wife, daugh-
ter of Robert Fanshawe, of Fanshawe-gate, esq. great uncle
to si* Richard, to whom she was married in Wolvercot
church, near Oxford, May 18, 1644.- She compiled, for
the use of her only son, " Memoirs of the Fanshawe Fa-
mily," containing a particular account of their sufferings in
the royal cause, in which she and her sister Margaret Har-
rison (who in 1654 married sir Edmund Tumor, of Stoke-
Rochford, co. Lincoln, knt.) bore a considerable share, be-
ing the constant companions of sir Richard in those peri-
lous times. The description of her and her husband's
taking leave of Charles 1. when he was a prisoner at Hamp-
ton-court, is a very affecting specimen of these Memoirs,
and is told with great simplicity. During the king's stay
at Hampton-court, I went three times to pay my duty to
him, both as I was the daughter of his servant, and the wife
102 - F A N S H A W E.
of his servant ; the last time I ever saw him I could not
refrain from weeping. When I took my leave of the king,
he saluted me, and I prayed God to preserve his majesty
with long life and happy years. The king stroked me on
the cbeek, and said, " Child, if God pleaseth it shall be
so, but both you and I must submit to God's will ; and you
know in what hands I am in.' Then turning to my hus-
band, he said, ' Be sure, Dick, to tell my son all that I
have said, and deliver these letters to my wife. Pray God
bless her ; and I hope 1 shall do well." Then taking my
husband in his arms, he said, " Thou hast ever been an
honest man ; I hope God will bless thee, and make thee a
happy servant to my son, whom I have charged in my let-
ter to continue his love and trust to you ;' adding, ' And
I do promise you, if I am ever restored to my dignity, I
will bountifully reward you both for your services and suf-
ferings.' Thus did we part from that glorious sun, that
within a few months afterwards was extinguished, to the
grief of all Christians, who are not forsaken of their God."
These memoirs, from the variety of interesting matter
they contain, might, if they were published, prove an ac-
ceptable present to the public. The excellent writer of
them was no less distinguished for her strength of mind and
courage than for her piety and virtue. When the vessel
that carried her from Ireland to Spain was attacked, she put
on men's clothes, arid fought with the sailors. In the se-
cond volume of Mr. Seward's " Anecdotes" are many other
curious extracts from lady Fanshawe's Memoirs. 1
FANTONI (JOHN), a celebrated physician, was born at
Turin in 1675. He studied philosophy and the belles
lettres in the university of his native city, with distinguished
success, and then passed to the medical classes, in which
he gave farther evidence of his abilities, and obtained his de-
gree of doctor. He was enabled, through the liberality of his
prince, to traverse France, Germany, and the Low Countries,
every where making valuable additions to his knowledge.
1 Biog. Brit, new edit, an aiticlc contributed by Edmund Tumor, eq. The
account of sir Richard in the pit ceding edition of the Biog. Brit, and in this Dic-
tionary, being taken from the Life prefixed to hi* Letters, was erroneous, as to
facts. An advertisement appeared in the London Gazette, No. 3TJS, announc-
ing that the account of sir Richard prefixed lo his Letters, was added by the
booksellers, durng the absence and without the consent of the person by whose
direction tbe letters were printed, and that it is very erroneous : but as to the
Letters themselves, " the reader may depend on the truth of them, setting aside
the errors of the press.
F A N T O N I. 103
On his return to Turin, he commenced public teacher of
anatomy, and afterwards was successively chosen to fill the
chairs of theoretical and practical medicine. In the interim
the king of Sardinia appointed him physician to the prince
of Piedmont, his son. This office, however, did not inter-
fere with his labours in the university, where he was still
distinguished near the middle of the succeeding century,
notwithstanding his advanced age. The period of his
death is not known.
The first publication of Fantoni was entitled te Disser-
tationes Anatomicae XI. Taurini, 1701." The second,
" Anatomia corporis humani ad usum Theatri Medici ac-
coiiimodata, ibid. 1711." This edition, which is, in fact, a
part of the preceding work, relates to the anatomy of the
abdomen and chest only. 3. " Dissertationes dure de
structura et usu dune matris et lymphaticorum vasorum, ad
Antonium Pacchionum conscripts;, Romae, 1721." 4.
a Dissertationes duae de ,Thermis Valderianis, Aquis Gra-
tianis, Maurianensibus, Genevas," 1725, in 8vo, and 1738,
in 4to. 5. " Opuscula Medica et Physiologica, Genevoe,
1738." This contains likewise some observations of his
father. 6. " Dissertationes Anatomicae septem priores re-
novatae, de Abdomine, Taurini, 1745." 7. " Commenta-
riolum de Aquis Vindoliensibus, Augustanis, et Ansionen-
sibus, ibid. 1747." His father, JOHN BAPTIST FANTONI,
though less distinguished than his son, was also a teacher
of anatomy and of the theory of medicine at Turin, as well
as librarian, and first physician to Victor Amadeus II. duke
of Savoy. He died prematurely in 1692, (having only at-
tained the age of forty), in the vicinity of Embrun, where
the duke, his patron, was encamped, during the siege of
Chorges. He left several unfinished manuscripts, which
John Fantoni revised, and of which he published a collec-
tion of the best parts, under the title of " Observationes
Anatomico medicos selectiores," at Turin, in 1699, and at
Venice in 1713. This work contains some useful observa-
tions relative to the diseases of the heart. 1
FARDKLLA (MICHAEL ANGELO), a celebrated profes-
sor of astronomy and natural history at Padua, was born in
1650, of a noble family, at Tripani in Sicily. He entered
the third order of St. Francis; taught mathematics at Mes-
sina, and theology at Rome, where he had taken a doctor's'
Moreri. Diet. Hist. Reel's Cyclopaedia, from Eloy.
10* F A R D E L L A.
degree in the college della Sapienza. Francis II. duke of
Modena made him professor of philosophy and geometry
in his capital ; but he gave up that situation to go to Ve-
nice, where he quitted the Franciscan habit in 1693, by
permission of the pope, and took that of a secular priest.
He was afterwards appointed professor of astronomy and
physic in the university of Padua, and died at Naples, from
a second attack of an apoplexy, January 2, 1718. Far*
della had a lively genius and fertile imagination, but be-
came 50 absent, by a habit of profound thought, that he
sometimes appeared to have lost his senses. He left se-
reral works on literature, philosophy, and mathematics ;
some in Latin, others in Italian. The principal are, " Uni-
versae Philosophise Systema," Venice, 16iU, 12mo ; " Uni-
versae Usualis Mathematics Theoria," 12mo; " Animoe
humanae Natura ab Augustino detecta," 1698, folio; seve-
yal works in favour of Descartes* s philosophy, &c. !
FARE (CHARLES AUGUSTUS, MARQUIS DE LA), was born
in 1644, at the castle of Valgorge, in Vivarais. He was
captain of the guards to the duke of Orleans, and his son,
who was regent. His gaiety, and sprightly wit, made him
the delight of the best companies. He left a few songs,
and other poetical pieces, which have been printed with
those of his friend the abb de Chaulieu, and separately,
with his Memoirs, 2 vols. small 12mo. They are full of
wit and delicacy ; but we are told he had attained the age
of sixty before he made any poetical etibrt, and that then
his inspirer was rather Cupid or Bacchus than Apollo, He
also wrote the words of an opera, called " Panthea." His
" Memoirs" are written with great freedom and openness,
and show the dislike which their author, and all his party,
had to the government. We do not find when they were
first published, but an English edition bears date 1719.
The Author died at Paris, 1712. 2
FAREL (WILLIAM), a learned minister of the church,
and most intrepid reformer, was the son of a gentleman of
J)auphin6 in France, and born at Gap in 1489. He stu-
died philosophy, and Greek and Hebrew, at Paris with great
success, and was for some time a teacher in the college of
cardinal le Moine. Briyonnet, bishop of Meaux, hem.; in-
clined to the reformed religion, invited him to preach in
Jiis diocese in 1521; but the persecution raised there-
i Moicii. Niceron, vol. XIL ' Diet. Hist, in La Fare.
F A R E L. 10*
against the early protestants who were styled heretics, ia
1523, obliged him to provide for his security out of France.
He then retired to Strasburgh, where Bucer and Capito
admitted him as a. brother ; and he was afterwards received
as such by Zwinglius at Zurich, by Haller at Berne, and
by Oecolampadius at Basil. As he was thought well qua-
lified by zeal and knowledge for such a task, he was ad-
vised to undertake the reformation of religion at Montbe-
liard, in which design he was supported by the duke of
Wittenberg, who was lord of that place ; and he succeeded
in it most happily. He was a man on some occasions of
too much warmth and enthusiasm against popery, which,
however, he tempered a little, by the advice of Oecolam-
padius. Once on a procession-day, he pulled out of the
priest's hand the image of St. Antony, and threw it from a
bridge into the river, a boldness and imprudence which
was unnecessary, and might have cost him his life. Eras-
mus by no means liked Farel's temper, as appears from
what he wrote of him to the official of Besancon. " You,
have," says he, " in your neighbourhood the new evan-
gelist, Farel ; than whom I never saw a man more false,
more virulent, more seditious." Erasmus has also given a
very unfavourable character of him elsewhere : but he
thought Farel had censured him in some of his writings,
and therefore is not to be altogether believed in every
thing he says of him ; nor indeed was a man of decision
and intrepidity likely to be a favourite with the timid and
time-serving Erasmus.
In |528, he had the same success in promoting the re-
formation in the city of Aigle, and soon after in the bailU
wick of Morat. He went afterwards to Neufchatel in 1529,
and disputed against the Roman catholic party with so
much strength, that this city embraced the reformed reli-
gion, and established it entirely Nov. 4, 1530. He was
sent a deputy to the synod of the Waldenses, held in the
valley of Angrogne. Hence he went to Geneva, where he
laboured against popery : but the grand vicar and the
other clergy resisted him with so much fury, that he was
obliged to retire. He was called back in 1534 by the in-
habitants, who had renounced the Roman catholic religion ;
and was the chief person that procured the perfect aboli-
tion of it the next year. He was banished from Geneva
with Calvin in 1533, and retired to Basil, and afterwards
to Neufchatel, where there was great probability of a large
106 F A R E L.
evangelical harvest. From thence he went to Metz, but
had a thousand difficulties to encounter; and was obliged
to retire into the abbey of Gorze, where the count of Jur-
stemberg protected him and the new converts. But they
could not continue there long ; for they were besieged in
the abbey, and obliged at last to surrender, after a capitu-
lation. F..rel very happily escaped, though strict search
was made alter him, having been put in a cart among the
sick and infirm. He took upon him his former functions
of a minister at Neufchatel, whence he took now and then
a journey to Geneva. When he went thither in 1553, he
was present at Servetus's execution. He went again to
Geneva in 1564, to^take his last leave of Calvin, who was
dangerously ill. He took a second journey to Metz in
1565, being invited by his ancient flock, to witness the
success of his lubours, but returned to Neufchatel, and
died there Sept. 13, or, as Dupin says, Dec. 3, in the same
year.
He married at the age of sixty-nine, and left a son, who
survived him but three years. Though he was far better
qualified to preach than to write books, yet he was the
author of some few publications of the controversial kind,
among which are a treatise " Upon the true use of the
Cross, 1 ' Paris, 1560, and another "Upon the authority of
the Word of God, and human traditions.*' 1
FA RET (NICHOLAS), a French' wit and poet, was born
in 1600 at Bourg en Bresse, and going very young to Paris,
attached himself to Vaugeias, Boisrobert, and Coeffetau ;
and was afterwards made secretary to the count d'Harcourt,
and then steward of his house. Faret was one of the first
members of the French academy, and employed to settle
its statutes. He was very intimate with St. Amand, who
celebrates him in his verses, as an illustrious debauchee,
inertly to furnish a rhyme to Cabaret. He was at length
appointed secretary to the king, and died at Paris in Sep-
tember 1640, leaving several children by two marriages.
His works are, a translation of Eutropius; " L'Honnete
Homme," taken from the Italian of Castiglione, J2mo;
" Vertus necessaires a un Prince ;" and several poems in
the collections of his time. He also left a life of Rene II.
dhke of Lorraine, and Memoirs of the famous count d'Har-
cuurt, MS.*
1 Melchior Adam Gen. Diet. Dnpin.
Moreri. Meeruu, vol. XXill. Diet. HUt.
F A R I A. 107
x
FAKIA DE SOUSA (^MANUEL), one of the most cele-
brated historians and poets of his nation in the seventeenth
century, was born March 18, 1590, at Sonto near Cara-
villa in Portugal, of a noble family, both by his father's
and mother's side. His father's name was Arnador Perez
d'Eiro, and his mother's Louisa Faria, but authors are not
agreed in their conjectures why he did not take his father's
name, but preferred Faria, that of his mother, and Sousa,
which is thought to have been his grandmother's name.
In his infancy he was very infirm, yet made considerable
progress, even when a puny child, in writing, drawing, and
painting. At the age of ten, his father sent him to school
to learn Latin, in which his proficiency by no means ans-
wered his expectations, owing to the boy's giving the pre-
ference to the Portuguese and Spanish poets. These he
read incessantly, and composed several pieces in verse and
prose in both languages, but he had afterwards the good
sense to destroy his premature effusions, as well as to per-
ceive that the Greek and Roman classics are the foundation
of a true style, and accordingly he endeavoured to repair
his error by a careful study of them. In 1604, when only
in his fourteenth year, he was received in the Tank of gen-
tleman into the household of don Gonzalez de JVloraes,
bishop of Porto, who was his relation, and afterwards made
him his secretary ; and during his residence with this pre-
late, which lasted ten years, he applied himself indefati-
gably to his studies, and composed some works, the best
of which was an abridgment of the historians of Portugal,
" Epitome de las historias Portuguesas, desde il diluyio
hasta el anno 1628," Madrid, 1628, 4to. In this he has
been thought to give rather too much scope to his imagi-
nation, and to write more like an orator than a historian.
In 1612 he fell in love with a lady of Porto, whom he calls
Albania, and who was the subject of some of his poems ;
but it is doubtful whether this was the lady he married
in 1614, some time after he left the bishop's house, on ac-
count of his urging him to go into the church, for which he
had no inclination. -He remained at Porto until 1618,
when he paid his father a visit at Pombeiro. The year
following he went to Madrid, and into the service of Peter
Alvarez Pereira, secretary of state, and counsellor to
Philip the III. and IV. but Pereira did not live long enough
to give him any other proof of his regard than by procuring
to be made a knight of the order of Christ in Portugal
108 F A R I A.
ki 1628 he returned to Lisbon with his family, but quitted
Portugal in 1631, owing to his views of promotion being
disappointed. Returning to Madrid, he was chosen se-
cretary to the marquis de Castel Rodrigo, who was about
to set out for Rome as ambassador at the papal court. At
Rome Faria was received with great respect, and his merit
acknowledged ; but having an eager passion for study, he
visited very few. The pope, Urban VIII. received him
very graciously, and conversed familiarly with him on the
subject of poetry. One of his courtiers requested Faria to
write a poem on the coronation of that pontiff, which we
find in the second volume of his poems. In 1634, having
some reason to be dissatisfied with his master, the ambas-
sador, he quitted his service, and went to Genoa with a
view to return to Spain. The ambassador, piqued at his
departure, which probably was not very ceremonious, wrote
a partial account of it to the king of Spain, who caused
Faria to be arrested at Barcelona. So strict was his con-
finement, that for more than three months no person had
access to him ; until Jerome de Villa Nova, the protho-
notary of Arragon, inquired into the affair, and made his
innocence known to the king. This, however, had no
other effect than to procure an order that he should be a
prisoner at large in Madrid ; although the king at the same
time assured him that he was persuaded of his innocence,
and would allow him sixty ducats per month for his sub-
sistence. Faria afterwards renewed his solicitations to be
allowed to remove to Portugal, but in vain; and his con-
finement in Madrid, with his studious and sedentary life,
brought on, in 1647, a retention of urine, the torture of
which he bore with great patience. It occasioned his death,
however, on June 3, 1640. He appears to have merited
an excellent character, but was too little of a man of
the world to make his way in it. A spirit of independence
probably produced those obstacles which he met with in his
progress; and even his dress and manner, we are told, were
rather those of a philosopher than of a courtier. Be-
sides his History of Portugal, already mentioned, and of
which the best edition was published in 1730, folio, he
Wote, 1. " Noches claras," a collection of moral and poli-
tical discourses, Madrid, 1623 and 1626, 2 vols. 12mo. 2.
** Fuente de Aganipr, o Rimes varias," a collection of his
poems, in 7 vols. Madrid, 1644, &c. 3. " Commentarios
sobra las Lusiadas de Luis de Camoens," an immense com-
FARIA. 10 g
mentary on the Lusiad, ibid. 1639, in 2 vols. folio. He is
said to have began it in 1614, and to have bestowed twenty-
five years upon it. Some sentiments expressed here had
alarmed the Inquisition, and the work was prohibited. He
was permitted, however, to defend it, which he did in, 4.
* Defensa o Information por'los Commentaries, &c." Ma-
drid, 1640 or 1645, folio. 5. " Imperio de la China, &e."
and an account of the propagation of religion by the Je-
uits, written by Semedo : Faria was only editor of this
work, Madrid, 1643, 4to. 6. " Nobiliario del Concle D.
Petro de Barcelos," &c. a translation from the Portuguese,
with notes, ibid. 1646, folio. 7. " A Life of Don Martin
Bapt. de Lanuza," grand justiciary of Arragon," ibid. 1 650,
4to. 8. " Asia Portuguesa," Lisbon, 1666, &c. 3 vols.
folio. 9. " Europa Portuguesa," ibid. 1678, 2 vols. folio.
10. "Africa Portuguesa," ibid. 1681, folio. Of this we
have an English Edition by John Stevens, Lond. 1695, 3
vols. 8vo. 11. "America Portuguesa." All these" histo-
rical and geographical works have been considered as cor-
rect and valuable. Faria appears to have published some
ether pieces of less importance, noticed by Antonio. J
FARINACCIO (PROSPER), an eminent lawyer, was born
October 30, 1554, at Rome. He was a Roman advocate,
and fiscal procurator ^ took pleasure in defending the least
supportable causes, and is said to have acted with extreme
rigour and seventy in his office of fiscal procurator. This
conduct drew him into very disagreeable situations, and
would have proved his ruin, had not some cardinals, who
admired his wit and genius, interceded for him with Cle-
ment VIII. who said, alluding to the name of Farinaccio,
that " the farina was excellent, but the sack which con-
tained it was good for nothing." Farinaccio died at Rome
October 30, 1618, aged sixty-four. His works have been
printed at Antwerp, 1620 ; and the following make 13 vols.'
folio : " Decisiones Rotse," 2 vols. ; " Decisiones Rotas
novissimse," 1 vol. ; " Decisiones Rotae recentissimae," 1
vol.; " Repertorium Judiciale," 1 vol.; " De Haeresi," i
Tol.; " Consilia," 2 vols. ; " Praxis Criminalis," 4 vols. ;
" Succus praxis criminalis," 1 vol. All these were consi-
dered as valuable works by the Roman lawyers. 2
FARINATO (PAUL), an Italian painter, was born at
Verona in 1522 ; his mother dying in labour of him. He
1 Chaufepie. Antonio Bibl. Hisp. Niceroo, vol. XXXVI.
* Mereri. -Erythr*i Pina<wtheca<
110 F A R I N A T O.
was a disciple of Nicolo Golfino, and an admirable de-
signer, but not altogether so happy in his colouring :
though there is a piece of his painting in St. George's
church at Verona, 50 well performed in both respects, that
it does not seem inferior to one of Paul Veronese, which
is placed next to it. He was famous also for being an ex-
cellent swordsman, and a very good orator, and Strutt
mentions some engravings by him. He had considerable
knowledge in sculpture and architecture, especially that
part of it which relates to fortifications. His last moments
are said to have been as remarkable as his first, on account
of the death of his nearest relation. He lay upon his
death-bed in 1606 ; and his wife, who was sick in the same
room, hearing him cry out r 4< He was going," told him,
" She would bear him company; and actually did so, as
they both expired at the same minute. 1
FARINELLI. See BROSCHI.
FARINGDON (ANTHONY), an English divine, was born
at Sunning in Berks, 1596. He was admitted scholar of
Trinity college, Oxford, in 1612, and elected fellow in
1617. Three years after, he took a master of arts degree ;
about which time entering into orders, he became a cele-
brated preacher in those parts, an eminent tutor in the col-
lege, and, as Wood says, an example fit to be followed by
all. In 1634, being then bachelor of divinity, he was made
\icar of Bray near Maidenhead in Berks, and soon after
divinity-reader in the king's chapel at Windsor. He con^
tinued at the first of these places, though not without some
trouble, till after the civil commotions broke out; and
then he was ejected, and reduced with his wife and family
to such extremities, as to be very near starving. Lloyd
says that his house was plundered by Ireton, in mean re-
venge, because Mr. Faringdon had reproved him for some
irregularities when at Trinity college. At length sir John
Robinson, alderman of London, related to archbishop Laud,
and some of the parishioners of Milk-street, London, in-
vited him to be pastor of St. Mary Magdalen in that city,
which he gladly accepted, and preached with great appro-
bation from the loyal party. In Io47, he published a folio
volume of these sermons, and dedicated them to his patron
Robinson, " as a witnesse or manifesto," says he to him,
" of my deep apprehension of your many noble favours,
1 Mwreri. Pilkington. Strutt.
F A R I N G D O N. m
and great charity to me and mine, when the sharpnesse of
the weather, and the roughnesse of the times, had blown
all from us, and well-neer left us naked."
After his death, which happened at his house in IVIilk-
street, Sept. 1658, his executors published, in 1663, a
second folio volume of his sermons, containing forty, and a
third in 1673, containing fifty. He left also behind him,
in MS. memorials of the life of John Hales of Eaton, his
intimate friend and fellow-sufferer; but these memorials
have never come to light. Some particulars of his inti-
macy with Hales will be given in our account of that ex-
cellent man. 1
FARINGTON '(GEORGE), an English artist of great
promise, the fourth son of the rev. William Farington, B. D.
rector of Warrington, and vicar of Leigh in Lancashire,
was born in 1754, and received his first instructions in the
art from his brother Joseph, one of the present royal aca-
demicians i but his inclinations leading him to the study of
historical painting, he acquired farther assistance from Mr.
West. He was for some time employed by the late alder-
man Boy dell, for whom he executed several very excellent
drawings from the Houghton collection. He studied long
in the royal academy, and obtained a silver medal in 1779 ;
and in 1780, obtained the golden medal for the best his-
torical picture, the subject of which was the cauldron scene
in Macbeth. In 1782 he left England, and went to the
East Indies, being induced to undertake that voyage by
some advantageous offers. In India he painted many pic-
tures ; but his principal undertaking was a large work, re-
presenting the Durbar, or court of the nabob, at Mer-
shoodabad. Whilst employed on this work, he imprudently
exposed himself to the night air, to observe some cere-
monies of the natives, in order to complete a series of
drawings begun for that purpose, when he was suddenly
seized with a complaint, which, in a few days, unfortu-
nately terminated his life in 1788. 2
FARMER (HUGH), a learned divine among the-protes-
tant dissenters, was born in 17 14, at a village near Shrews-
bury, where his parents resided, and being early designed
for the dissenting ministry, received the first part of his
grammatical learning in a school in Llanegrin, nearTowyn,
Ath. Ox % vol. II. Lloyd's Memoirs, fol. p. 543. Harwood's Alumni E;a-
nense?.
8 Edwards's Anecdotes of Painting.
112 F A R M E R.
Merionethshire, which had been founded by two of hi*
progenitors. From tiiis place he was sent to perfect his
classical education under the tuition of Dr. O\ven : of War-
rington ; and in 1730, began his academical studies at
Northampton, under the care of Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Dod-
dridge, being one of the doctor's earliest pupils. After
JVlr. Farmer had finished his academical course, he became
chaplain to William Coward, esq. of Waltham-Stowe, Es-
sex, and preacher in a meeting-house which had been lately
erected by that gentleman, whose name is of great note^
among the dissenters, on account of the large bequests
which he made for the education of young men for the
ministry, and for other beneficent purposes. Mr. Coward
was remarkable for the peculiarities and oddities of his
temper ; and in this respect many pleasant stories are re-
lated concerning him. Amongst his other whimsies, his
house was shut up at an uncommon early hour, we believe
at six in the winter, and seven in the summer; and who-
ever, whether a visitant or a stated resident, trespassed
upon the time, was denied admission. Mr. Farmer having
one evening been somewhat too late, was of course ex-
cluded. In this exigence he had recourse to a neighbour-
ing family, that of William Snell, esq. a solicitor, in which
he continued more than thirty years, during the lives of
Mr. and Mrs. Snell, by whom he was treated more like an
equal than an inferior. Here he enjoyed a long series of
peaceful leisure, which he employed in collecting a large
fund of sacred and profane literature, and in his duties as*
a pastor. His congregation, which, when he accepted
the charge of it, was very small, gradually became one or
the most wealthy dissenting societies in or near the city of"
London.
Mr. Farmer's first appearance as an author was in a dis-
course on the suppression of the rebellion of 1745. It was
preached on the day of public thanksgiving appointed upon
that occasion in 1746, and printed in the same year. This
was the only sermon that we recollect his having ever com-
mitted to the press. His abilities, though they might have
been usefully displayed in that way, led him to those novel
opinions on which his temporary fame was founded. Iiv
J761, he published " An Inquiry into the nature and de-
sign of Christ's Temptation in the Wilderness ;" the gene-
ral intention of which is to show, that this part of the evan-
gelical history is not only to be understood as a recital of
FARMER. ii3^
visionary representations, but that the whole was a divine
vision, premonitory of the labours and offices of our Lord's
future ministry. An interpretation so new and singular,
could not pass unnoticed. In 1762 there appeared a
pamphlet against the Inquiry, entitled " Christ's Tempta-
tions, real facts : or, a Defence of the Evangelic History ;
shewing that our Lord's temptations may be fairly and rea-
sonably understood as a narrative of what was really trans-
acted." A second edition of Mr. Farmer's treatise was
soon called for ; in which the subject received additional
illustration from a considerable number of new notes. Be-
sides this, he published in 1764, an appendix to the "In-
quiry," containing some farther observations on the point
in debate, and an answer to objections. Another tract, the
publication of which was occasioned by the " Inquiry," was
entitled " The Sovereignty of the Divine Administration
vindicated, or a rational Account of our blessed Saviour's
remarkable Temptation in the* Wilderness ; the Possessed
at Capernaum, the Demoniacs at Gadara, and the Destruc-
tion of the Swine : with free Remarks on several other im-
portant passages in the New Testament." This was a post-
humous piece, which had been written before Mr. Farmer's
work appeared, by Mr. Dixon, who had been a dissenting
minister, first at Norwich, and afterwards at Bolton in
Lancashire. Mr. Dixon proposes a figurative or allego-
rical interpretation of our Lord's temptation. A third edi-
tion, with large additions, of Mr. Farmer's " Inquiry" \vai
published in 1776. In 1771, he published "A Disserta-
tion on Miracles, designed to shew that they are arguments
of a divine interposition, and absolute proofs of the mission
and doctrine of a Prophet," 8vo. Not long -after the ap-
pearance of the " Dissertation," a notion was propagated,
that Mr. Farmer had made considerable use of a treatise of
Le Moine l s on the same subject, without acknowledging it ;
and it was asserted, that his book had the very same view
with Mr. Le Moine's, and was a copy of his work. .Mr.
Farmer therefore endeavoured to vindicate himself in a
pamphlet, published in 1772, entitled " An Examination
of the late rev. Mr. Le Moine's Treatise on Miracles," in
which he enters into a particular discussion of that per-
formance, and a defence of himself; but the accusation
continued to be repeated, particularly by a writer in th?
London Magazine.
In 1775, Mr. Farmer gave to the world " Essay on the
VOL. XIV. I
114 FAR M E R.
Demoniacs of the New Testament," in which his opi-
nions were too far remote from those of the Christian world
to give much satisfaction. It was ably attacked by Dr.
Worthington, a learned clergyman, who had already fa-
voured the public with some pious and valuable writings,
in " An impartial Inquiry into the case of the Gospel De-
moniacs, with an Appendix, consisting of an essay on
Scripture Demonology," 1777. There were some things
advanced in this work, which, in Mr. Farmer's opinion,
deserved to be considered; and he thought that certain
parts of the subject were capable of farther and fuller illus-
tration. He printed, therefore, in 1778, " Letters to the
rev. Dr. Worthington, in answer to his late publication,
entitled An impartial Inquiry into the case of the Gospel
. Demoniacs." Another of Mr. Fanner's antagonists was
the late rev. Mr. Fell, a dissenting minister, at that time of
Thaxted in Essex, and afterwards one of the tutors of the
dissenting academy at Homerton. This gentleman pub-
Jished in 177l>, a treatise, entitled " Demoniacs ; an in-
quiry into the lieathen and the Scripture doctrine of Dae-
mons ; in which the hypotheses of the rev. Mr. Farmer, and
others, on this subject, are particularly considered," In
this Mr. Fell deduces the injurious consequences to natu-
ral and revealed religion which he apprehends to result
from- the doctrines advanced in the " Dissertation on Mi-
racles," and the " Essay on the Demoniacs," but acquits
.Mr. Farmer of any evil design, and allows "that he really
meant to serve the cause of virtue, which he thought could
not be more effectually done than by removing every thing
which appeared to him in the light of superstition."
Mr. Farmer's last work appeared in 1783, and was en-
titled " The general prevalence of the worship of Human
Spirits in the ancient lieathen Nations asserted and proved."
In this work, which had liule success, there arc a number
of notes referring to Mr. Fell, and which shew Mr. Farmer's
sensibility to the attack that had been made upon him by
that writer. Indeed, says his panegyrist, we cannot ap-
prove of the oblique manner in which some of these notes
are composed. It would have been far preferable in our
author, either not to have taken any notice of Mr. Fell at
all, or to have done it in a more open and manly way.
Mr. Fell was not backward in his own vindication. This
appeared in 1785, in a publication entitled "The Idolatry
-of Greece and Home distinguished from that of o'.hcr
FARMER. H5
heathen nations : in a letter to the reverend Hugh Farmer."
At the same time that in this tract ample retaliation is
made upon Mr. Farmer for his personal severities, it
appears to us to contain many things, which, if he had
continued to publish on the subject, would have been
found deserving of consideration and reply.
As a minister Mr. Farmer received every mark of honour
from the dissenters which it was in their power to bestow.
For a great number of years he preached twice a day at
Walthamstow : but, an associate being at length provided
for him at that place, he became in 1761 afternoon-
preacher to the congregation of Salters-hall, and some
time after was chosen one of the Tuesday-lecturers at Sal-
ters-hall. He was also a trustee of the rev. Dr. Daniel
Williams' s various bequests ; and he was likewise one of
Mr. Coward's trustees; in which capacity he became a
dispenser of the large charities that had been left by the
gentleman with whom he had been connected in early life.
As Mr. Farmer advanced in years, he gradually remitted
of his employments as a divine. He resigned first, in 1772,
the being afternoon-preacher at Salters-hall ; after which,
in 1780, he gave up the Tuesday lectureship of the same
place. In his pastoral relation at Walthamstow he con-
tinued a few years longer, when he quitted the pulpit
entirely. In these several cases his resignations were ac-
cepted with peculiar regret. After he had ceased to be a
preacher, it was his general custom to spend part of the
winter at Bath. Early in 1785, Mr. Farmer was afflicted
with almost a total failure of sight, which, however, was
restored by the skill, first of Baron Wenzel, and after-
wards of Mr. Wathen. Infirmities, however, growing upon
him, he departed this life on the 6th of February, 1787,
in the seventy-third year of his age, and was buried in
Walthamstow church-yard, in the same grave with his
friends Mr. and Mrs. Snell. On Sunday, the 1 8th, his
funeral sermon was preached by Mr. Urvvick, of Clapham,
whose discourse was printed. In his last will, besides
providing handsomely for his relations, and remembering
his servants, he left a hundred pounds to the fund for the
widows of dissenting ministers, and forty pounds to the
poor of Walthamstow parish. His regard to the family
with which he had so long been connected, and to which
he had been so peculiarly obliged, was testified by his
bequeathing pecuniary legacies to every member of that
l 2
116 FARMER.
family. Smaller legacies were left by him to others of his
friends. His executors were William Snell, esq. of Clap-
ham, and William Hood, esq. of Chancery-lane, barrister;
the first the son, and the second one of the grandsons of
Mr. Farmer's great patron. To another grandson, the rev.
Robert Jacomb, our author bequeathed his library, with
the exception of such classic books as Mr. Snell might
select; who also was a residuary legatee, in conjunction
with his sister, Mrs. Hood. In this will he also made his
request (for that is the term used), that his executors
would burn his sermons and manuscripts, unless he should
direct otherwise by a separate paper ; and, in case they
should not do it, the legacies of a hundred pounds each,
which he had left them, were to be null ami void. He had
nearly completed a second volume on the demonology of
the ancients ; a curious dissertation on the story of Balaam,
which he had transcribed for the press, and for the printing
of which he had given his directions, and had made pre-
parations for a second edition of his Treatise on Miracles,
by which it would have been considerably enlarged, ami
highly improved; all which were destroyed, as, in the
opinion of the executors, coming within the intent of his
will. His biographer laments bitterly this undistinguishing
destruction, which, indeed, seems rather too much to re-
semble what happened in Don Quixote's library.
As to his general character, we are told that he was
particularly excellent in the pulpit, and that his sermons
were rational, spiritual, evangelical, and not unfrequcntly
pathetic ; that he had an admirable talent, without trim-
ming, of pleasing persons of very different sentiments,
and that when he was speaking of the doctrines of the
gospel, there was a swell in his language that looked as if
he was rising to a greater degree of orthodoxy* in expres-
sion than some persons might approve ; but it never cam6
to that point. In conversation he was lively and brilliant to
an uncommon degree; and, like Doddridge, he sometimes
went far enough in his complimentary language to persons
present. He was likewise very backward in readily de-
claring his sentiments, when asked them, concerning par-
ticular topics, living writers, or recent publications. Any
question of this kind not un frequently produced from him,
what has been ascribed to the quakers, another question
in return. He appears, however, to have been no philo-
sopher, for we are told that it was probably some feeling
FAR M E R. 1I7
of bis last work's not having met with the attention he
expected, which dictated the order concerning the burning
of his manuscripts. He had great generosity of disposi-
tion, and in his distributions to charitable designs and
objects went to the utmost extent of his property. l
FARMER (RICHARD), D. D. a learned critic and dis-
tinguished scholar, was the descendant of a family long
seated at Ratcliffe Culey. a hamlet within the parish of
Shepey, in the county of Leicester. His grandfather
(who died in 1727, aged sixty-three) is described on his
tomb in St. Mary's church at. Leicester as " John Farmer
of Nuneaton, gent." His father, who was largely en-
gaged in Leicester in the business of a maltster, married in
1732-3, Hannah Knibb, by whom he had five sons and
four daughters. He died in 1778, at the age of eighty,
and his widow in 1808, at the advanced age of ninety-
seven. The subject of this article was their second son,
and was born in Leicester, Aug. 23, 1735. He received
the early part of his education under the rev. Gerrard
Andrewes (father of the present dean of Canterbury) in the
free grammar-school of Leicester, a seminary in which
many eminent persons were his contemporaries. About
1753 he left the school with an excellent character for
temper and talents, and was entered a pensioner at Ema-
miei college, Cambridge, when Dr. Richardson, the bio-
grapher or the English prelates, was master, and Mr,
Bickham and Mr. Hubbard were tutors. Here Mr. Farmer
applied himself chiefly to classical learning and the belles
lettres, with a predilection for the latter, in which, in truth,
he was best qualified to shine. He took his degree of
B. A. in 1757, ranked as a senior optime, and gained the
silver cup given by Ernanuel college to the best graduate
of that year, which honorary reward is still preserved with
great care in his family. His only Cambridge' verses were
a poem on laying the foundation-stone of the public library
in 1755, and a sonnet on the late king's death in 1760.
In 1760 he proceeded M. A. and succeeded as classical
tutor to Mr. Bickham, who was at that time presented to the
college-rectory of Loughborough, in Leicestershire. He
proved an excellent classical tutor, and had the art of
gaining the esteem of his pupils; but, having less attach-
ment to theology and mathematics, he is thought to have
1 Biog. Dict.T-Memoirs by the late Michael Dodson, 8vo, IS05.
US F A R M E 11.
been less zealous in recommending those studies, although
he never remitted what was necessary for the purposes of
initiation, and more can perhaps seldom be achieved by
any tutor in the short time he has to direct the pursuits of
his scholars. At what time he took orders is not mentioned,
but during bis byeing tutor he served the curacy of Swave-
sey, a village about eight miles from Cambridge. The
bent of his private studies being to ancient literature and
antiquities, he was in 1763 recommended to, and elected
a fellow of, the society of antiquaries'. In 1765 he served
the office of junior proctor of the university. In May of
the following year he published, from the university press,
proposals for a history of the town of Leicester, " originally
collected by William Staveley, esq. barrister at Jaw, now
first offered to the public from the author's MS. with very
large additions and improvements, &c." It is somewhat
singular that Mr. Farmer should mistake the name of
Staveley, which was Thomas, both in these proposals and
in the imprimatur which he obtained for it in 1767. That
however he set about this work with full intention of
pursuing it with diligence, is evident from the tenour of
many of the letters which he addressed at that period to
some eminent antiquaries, his friends ; but, in a very few
months, he began to perceive that the task he had under-
taken was much more lahorious than he had at first ima-
gined. He. clung to it, however, through many delays,
sometimes flattering himself, and sometimes his subscribers,
that it would be completed, until, at length, when he had
actually begun to print it, he took the advantage of his
promotion to the mastership of Emanuel college, and
urging that as an excuse for discontinuing his labours, ad-
vertised to return the subscription-money, which was punc-
tually done when called for. He then presented the MSS.
and plates to Mr. Nichols, who has since completed the
history both of the town and county of Leicester, with a
degree of spirit, ability, and industry, perhaps unprece-
dented in this department of literature.
In 1766 Mr. Farmer published his justly celebrated
*' Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare," a thin octavo
volume, which completely settled a much litigated question,
contrary to the opinions of many eminent writers, in a
manner that carried conviction to the mind of every one
who had either carefully or carelessly reflected on the
subject. It may in truth be pointed out as a masterpiece,
FARMER.
whether we consider the sprightliness and vivacity with
xvliich it is written, the clearness of the arrangement, the
force and variety of the evidence, or the compression of
scattered materials into a narrow com pass; materials which
inferior writers would have expanded into a large volume.
A second edition of this valuable performance was called
for in 1767, in which are a few corrections of style ; and a
third was printed in 1789, without any additions, except a
note at the end, accounting for his finally abandoning his
intended publication of the Antiquities of Leicester. It
was afterwards added to the prolegomena of Steevens's
Shakspeare, 1793, 15 vols. and in the two subsequent editions
of 21 vols. by Mr. Reed in 1803, and Mr. Harris in 1812.
In 1767 Mr. Farmer took the degree of B. D. and in
1769 was appointed by Dr. Terrick, then bishop of Lon-
don, to be one of the preachers at the chapel royal, White-
hall. During the residence in London which this office
required, he lodged with the celebrated Dr. Askew, in
Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, and became himself a col-
lector of books at a time when such as are now thought
invaluable could be picked up at stalls at the most trifling
prices. In 1775, on the death of Dr. Richardson, he was
chosen master of Emanuel college ; Mr. Hubbard, the se-
nior fellow, who had been chosen, declining it, with, says
Mr. Cole, " his wonted moderation and disinterestedness,
and giving his full suffrage to his friend Mr. Farmer.'*
He now took the degree of D. D. and was very soon suc-
ceeded in his tutorship by Dr. William Bennet, the pre-
sent very learned and amiable bishop of Cloyne. In
1775-6, Dr. Farmer served, in his turn, the office of vice-
chancellor. During his holding this office an event oc-
curred, which would scarcely be worth mentioning in a
life of Dr. Farmer, had it not been grossly misrepresented.
When the disturbances in America had become serious,
the university of Cambridge, with numberless other loyal
bodies, voted an address to the king, approving of the
measures adopted by government to reduce the colonies
to their duty ; the address, however, was not carried una-
nimously, and was, in particular, opposed by Dr. John
Jebb, so well known for his free opinions in politics and
religion, and by some others, of whom, one man, a mem-
ber of the caput, carried his opposition so far, as actually
to refuse the key of the place which contained the seal
necessary on such occasions. In this emergency the vice-
120 F A R M E R.
chancellor, Dr. Farmer, is said to have forced open the
door with a sledge-hammer; and this act of violence is
called courtly zeal, and all his subsequent preferments are
attributed to it. But the fact'is, that the opening of this
door (of a chest) was not an act of intemperate zeal. The
sense of the university had been taken ; the senate, by its
vote, had given its sanction to the measure before the vice-
chancellor exerted his authority, and gave his servant his
official orders to break open the chest.
On the death of Dr. Barnardiston, master of Bene't
college, Dr. Farmer was, on June 27, 1778, unanimously
elected proto-bibliothecarius, or principal librarian of the
university, to which he was well entitled from his literary
character, and in which office he afforded easy access to
the public library to men of learning of all parties, an
obligation which some have not repaid by the kindest re-
gard for his memory. Not so the late Mr. Gilbert Wake-
field, who, besides other grateful notices, says, in p. 94
95 of his Life, that he is " acquainted with striking instances
of liberality in Dr. Farmer towards those of whose integrity
he was convinced, however opposite their sentiments" a
character, which, although Mr. Wakefield is here speaking
of the mastership of the college, may be applied to Dr.
Farmer throughout the whole progress of his life.
In April 1780, Dr. Farmer was collated by bishop Kurd,
then bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, to the prebend of
Aldrewas, and the chancellorship annexed, founded in the
cathedral church of Lichfield. In February 1782 he was
made prebendary of Canterbury, as it is supposed, through
the recommendation of the then first minister, lord North,
which he resigned in 1788, on being preferred by the late
Mr. Pitt to a residentiaryship of St. Paul's. A few hours
after this appointment, he jocosely said to his friend Mr.
Nichols, ' I could now, if I thought proper, cheat the
minister, for I have in my pocket an appointment to the
residentiaryship of St. Paul's, \\ithotit having resigned the
prebend of Canterbury."
Dr. Farmer had now attained the utmost of his wishes;
and although both an Knglish and an Irish bishoprick were
offered to him, he declined them, for which various reasons
have been assigned. One is certainly erroneous. It has
been said " that in early life he had felt the power of love,
and had suffered such a disappointment as had sunk deep
in his mind, and for a time threatened his understanding.
FAR M E R. 121
From that period, though he retained his faculties entire,
he acquired some peculiarities of manner, of which he was
so far conscious, as to be sensible that they would hardly
become the character of a bishop ; being likewise strongly
attached to dramatic entertainments (which, if we mistake
net, the English bishops never witness), and delighting in
clubs where he could have rational conversation without
state or ceremony of any kind, he very wisely preferred
his residentiaryship to the highest dignity in the church."
What is here said as to his habits being incompatible with
the character of a bishop, cannot be denied ; but these
habits were partly natural, from indolence and a love of
ease, and partly acquired by a seclusion from polished
society. The lady to whom Dr. Farmer is said to have
been attached, was the eldest daughter of sir Thomas'
Hatton, with whom he became acquainted while curate of
.Swavesey. Cole says, sir Thomas refused his consent, and
this refusal appears to have been given in 1782, when Dr.
Farmer was in his forty-seventh year, and if, as Cole af-
firms, the lady was then only twenty-seven or twenty-eight
years of age, she must have been an infant when Dr.
Farmer became acquainted with her father. The whole,
however, may be only one of Cole's gossiping stories; and
whether so or not, Dr. Farmer, neither at this or any
previous time, exhibited any symptoms of-" disappointed
love." It is more rational to suppose, with his last bio-
grapher (Mr. Nichols), that when he arrived at that situa-
tion, as to fortune, which gave him a claim to the object
of his affections, he found, on mature reflection, that his
habits of life were then too deeply rooted to be changed
into those of domestic arrangements with any probable
chance of perfect happiness to either party. As to his
promotion to a bishopric, it may yet be added, that
although few men have been more beloved by an extensive
circle of friends than Dr. Farmer, there was not, perhaps,
one of them who did not applaud his declining that station,
or who did not think, with all their respect for him, that
he would not have appeared to advantage in it. It is not
as a Divine that Dr. Farmer was admired by his contem-
poraries, or can be known to posterity.
Few circumstances of Dr. Farmer's life remain to be
noticed. His latter years were nearly equally divided
between Emanuel college and the residentiary-house in
Ameu Corner. His town residence was highly favourable
122 FARMER.
to his love of literary society, and for many years he was a
member of different clubs composed of men of letters, by
whom he was much esteemed. He died, after a long and
painful illness, at the lodge of Emanuel college, Sept.
8, 17^7, and was buried in the chapel. His epitaph in the
cloisters was written by Dr. Parr, who, in another place,
and while he was living, said of him, " His knowledge
is various, extensive, and recondite, with much seeming
negligence, and perhaps in later years some real relaxation ;
he understands more, and remembers more, about com-
mon and uncommon subjects of literature, than many of
those who would be thought to read all the day, and me-
ditate half the night. In quickness of apprehension, and
acuteuess of discrimination, I have not often seen his equal.
Through many a convivial hour have I been charmed with
his vivacity ; and upon his genius I have reflected in many
a serious moment with pleasure, with admiration ; but not
without regret, that he has never concentrated and exerted
all the great powers of his mind in some great work, upon
some great subject. Of his liberality in patronizing learned
men 1 could point out numerous instances. Without the
smallest propensities to avarice, he possesses a large in-
come ; and without the mean submissions of dependence,
he is risen to high station. His ambition, if he has any,
is without insolence ; his munificence is without ostenta-
tion ; his wit is without acrimony ; and his learning without
pedantry." The value of this elegant character is its li-
berality, for Dr. Parr avows that " upon some ecclesias-
tical, and many political matters," there could be no co-
incidence of opinion. From rooted principle and ancient
habit, Dr. Fanner was a tory, and Dr. Parr is a whig ; it
must be a third character, grown out of the corruption of
all principle, that would injure the fair fame of Dr. farmer
by attributing his rise in the world to clerical or political
Subserviency.
Besides the very liberal and faithful discharge of his
duties as master of his college, Dr. Farmer may be con-
sidered as a benefactor to the town of Cambridge, for by
his exertions every improvement and convenience intro-
duced for the last thirty years of his life, were either
originally proposed, or ultimately forwarded and carried
into execution by him. The plan for paving, watching,
and lighting the town, after many ineffectual attempts,
was accomplished in his second vice-chancellorship, greatly
to the satisfaction of all parties. As a magistrate, he was
FARMER. 123
active and diligent; and on more than one Occasion of
riots, displayed great firmness of mind in dangerous con-
junctures. In his office of residentiary of St. Paul's, if he
was not the first mover, he was one of the most strenuous
advocates for introducing the monuments of our illustrious
heroes and men of talents into the metropolitan cathedral.
His library, which was particularly rich in scarce tracts
and old English literature, was sold by Mr. King in 1798,
a sale of thirty-five days, which produced 2,21 0/. although
the books are supposed to have cost him less than 500/.
This and his other property he bequeathed to his brother
Joseph, a gentleman many years a much respected resi-
dent at Leicester, who died in 1813. Such was his indif-
ference to money matters, that his accounts with some
of his pupils were never^ settled to the day of his death.
Under such circumstances, it became necessary to re-
mind them of the debts they had early contracted with
their worthy tutor, and which still remained uncancelled.
The application was in most instances attended with the
desired success. The debt was no sooner stated than dis-
charged. The mention of Dr. Farmer's name precluded
the necessity of further inquiry. His life, they knew, was
distinguished by the most disinterested acts of generosity
and friendship. Some names might indeed be mentioned
of persons who were disposed to controvert the justice of
these claims, and to prevaricate rather than to settle ; but
they were few. 1
FARNABIE, or FARNABY (THOMAS), a learned gram-
marian, was born in London about 1575. His father was
a carpenter in that city ; his grandfather had been mayor
of Truro in Cornwall ; and his great-grandfather was an
Italian musician, who had settled in England*. After
having received a proper grammatical education, he was
admitted of Merton-college, Oxford, in the beginning of
1590, where he became servitor to Mr. Thomas French,
fellow of that college, and soon distinguished himself as a
youth of lively parts and great hopes. Being, however, of
an unsettled disposition, he abruptly quitted the university,
and, abandoning both his religion and his country, passed
* There was a Giles Farnaby, a musician, who was a contemporary with our
author, and of whom some notice is taken in our musical histories, but could
not be the person mentioned above.
i Nichols's Bowyer. Encyclop. Britan. Suppl. Europ. Mag. Feb. 1800..
Cole's MS Athene in Brit, Mus. Sewaid's Biog-raphiana. Uuswell's Life of
Johnson.
124 F A R N A B 1 E.
over to Spain, and was for some time educated there in
a college belonging to the Jesuits. At length, growing
weary of the severe discipline of the institution, he found
a way to leave it, and went with sir Francis Drake and sir
John Hawkins in their last voyage, in 15^5. By the former
of these great naval commanders he is said to have been
held in some esteem. Mr. Farnabie is afterwards reported
to have served as a soldier in the Low Countries. No ad-
vantage was gained by him in these expeditions; for, hav-
ing been reduced to much distress, he landed in Cornwall,
and from the urgency of his necessities was obliged to de-
scend to the humble employment of teaching children their
horn-book. Whilst he was in this low situation he did not
cbuse to go by his own name, but changed it to Thomas
Baimafe, the anagram of Farnabie. By degrees he rose
to those higher occupations of a school-master for which
he was so well qualified, and after some lime, he fixed at
Martock in Somersetshire, where he taught a grammar-
school with great success. In 1646, when Mr. Charles
Darby was called to teach the same school, he found in
that town, and the neighbourhood, many persons who had
been Mr. Farnahie's scholars, and who, in their grey hairs,
were ingenious men and good grammarians. From Mar-
tock Mr. Farnabie removed to London, and opened a
school in Goldsmiths'-rents, behind Red-Cross-street, near
Cripplegate, where were large gardens and handsome
houses, together with all the accommodations proper for
the young noblemen and gentlemen committed to his care.
So established was his reputation, that at one time the
number of his scholars amounted to more than three hundred.
Whilst he was at the head of this school, he was created
master of arts in the university of Cambridge, and on the
24th of April, 1616, was incorporated to the same degree
at Oxford.
After a course of years, on account of some differences
with his landlords, and the frequent sicknesses which oc-
curred in the city, Mr. Farnabie determined, in 1636, to
quit London, and reside at Sevenoaks in Kent, in the
neighbourhood of which town (at Otford) he had purchased
an estate. Here he renewed his former occupation, and,
from the number of noblemen's and gentlemen's sons who
boarded with him, grew o rich as to add considerably to his
landed property. One of the estates purchased by him was
near Horsham in Sussex. His works, which have transmitted
F A R N A B I E. 125
his name with honour to posterity, were not only well re-
ceived at home, but abroad, and have been applauded by
several eminent foreign scholars. When the civil commo-
tions broke out, in 1641, our author was esteemed to be
ill-affected to the parliament, because, on occasion of the
protestation's being urged that year, he had said, that " it
was better to have one king than five hundred." Being
afterwards suspected of having favoured the rising of the
county for the king about Tunbrjdge, in 1643, he was
imprisoned in Newgate, and thence carried on shipboard.
Jt was even debated in the house of commons whether he
should be sent to America ; but this motion being rejected,
he was removed to Ely-house in Holborn, where he re-
mained for a considerable time. It is insinuated by An-
thony Wood, that some of the members of both houses,
who had been his scholars, were amongst those who urged
his being treated with severity. Mr. Farnabie departed
this life on the twelfth of June, 1647, aged seventy-two,
and was interred in the chancel of the church ut Sevenoaks.
He was twice married. His first wife was Susanna, daugh-
ter of John Pierce, of Launcells, in Cornwall, gent. By
her he had a son named John, who becaoie a captain in
king Charles's army, and inherited his father's estate in
Sussex, where he lived in good esteem, and died about
the beginning of 1673. Mr. Farnabie's second wife was
Anne, the daughter of Dr. John Howson, bishop of Dur-
ham, by whom he had several children. One of them,
Francis", succeeded to his father's estate at Kippington, in
the parish of Sevenoaks. From this gentleman Anthony
Wood derived his information concerning the particulars
of our famous school-master's life, and asserts that he was
the chief grammarian, rhetorician, poet, Latinist, and Gre-
cian, of his time. Wood adds, that his school was so
much frequented, that more churchmen and statesmen
issued from it, than from any school taught by one man in
England.1
His works are: 1. " Notse ad Juveualis et Persu Saty-
ras," Lond. 1612, 8vo. The third edition was printed at
London, in 1620, under the following title : " Junii Juve-
nalis et Auli Persii Flacci Satyrse : cum annotationibus ad
marginem, quse obscurissima quseque dilucidare possint.
Tertia Editio, prioribus multo emendatior et auctior."
book is dedicated to Henry prince of Wales, who received
the author very kindly, and in some measure commanded
126 F A R N A B I E.
him to write such comments on all the Latin poets. 2.
" Notae ad Seneca? Tragcedias," Lond. 1613, 8vo. The
third edition was printed at the same place, in 1634, under
the following title: " L. et M, Annaei Senecte Trngccdisc.
Post omnes omnium editiones recensionesque editio tertia
auctior et emendatior, opera et studio Thorn te Farnabii."
To this edition is prefixed a privilege granted him from the
king, dated October 1634, for the sole printing of that,
and several other of his works, for on e-and- twenty years.
The book is accompanied with commendatory verses, by
Daniel Heinsius, Richard Andrews, M. D. Hugh Holland,
Laurence Whitaker, and Na, Tomkins. 3. " Notrc ad
Martialis Epigrammata," Lond. 1615, 8vo. Other editions
in 12 mo, were afterwards printed, both at London and
Geneva. These notes were dedicated to sir Robert Kille-
grew. 4. " Lucani Pharsalia, sive de Bello Civili Caesaris
et Pompeii Libri X. Adjeclis ad marginem notis T. Farna-
bii, quae loca obscuriora illustrent," London, 1618, 8vo.
Dedicated to sir Francis Stuart. To this edition are pre-
fixed commendatory verses by R. A. M. D.and Mr. Selden.
5. " Index Rhetoricus Scholis et Institutioni tenerioris
^Etatis accommodatus," Lond. 1625, 8vo. To an edition
published in the same city, in 1646, were added, " For-
mulae Oratoriae et Index Poeticus." The fifth edition was
printed at London, in 1654, under the following title:
" Index Rhetoricus et Oratorius, Scholis et Institutioni
tenerioris ^Etatis accommodatus. Cui adjiciuntur Formula;
Oratoriae et Index Poeticus. Opera et studio Thomae Far-
nabii. Editio quinta, prioribus emendation" This book
is dedicated to Dominico Molino, Senator of Venice. The
Index Poeticus, annexed to this, was first printed at Lon-
don in 1634. In the preface to the " Index Rhetoricus,"
Mr. Farnabie informs his readers, that he had published,
about twenty years before, his Scheme of Tropes, in verse,
without his nume ; which, meeting with success, was
claimed by a certain plagiary ; upon which our author
composed his " Index Rhetoricus." Mons. Gibert speaks
of this work with commendation, and observes that Mons.
BaiHet has passed a favourable judgment upon it. Father
Vavasseur, though he afiirms that Mr. Farnabie' s Latin is
sometimes exceptionable, allows him, nevertheless, to have
been a diligent and learned writer. 6. " Florilcgium Epi-
grammatum Graecorum, eorumque Latino versu a variis
redditorum," London, 1629, 8vo, &c. 7. " Notae ad Vir-
F A R N A B I E. 127
gilium," London, 1634, 8vo. 8. Ci Systeraa Grammati-
cum," London, 1641, 8vo. King Charles the First ordered
Mr. Farnabie to write a Latin grammar, for the use of all
the schools, when that which had been established by law,
and against which many complaints had been made, was to
be reformed. 9. " Notae in Ovidii Metamorphoses," Paris,
1637, folio; and London, in 12mo, 1677, &c. 10. " Phra-
siologia Anglo-Latina," London, 8vo. 11." Tabula? Grae-
ca? Linguae," London, 4to. 12. " Syntaxis," London, 8vo.
13. " Notse in Terentium." Our author had finished his
notes upon Terence only as far as the fourth comedy,
when he died. But Dr. Meric Casaubon completed the
two last comedies, and published the whole at London,
,1651, I2mo. Anthony Wood hath added to the catalogue,
" Epistolac variae ad doctissimos Viros." But this article
does not refer to a distinct publication, but to the letters
occasionally written by Farnabie to learned men, and par-
ticularly to Vossius. l
FARNEWORTH (ELLis), distinguished by translating
some capital authors, was born (as is presumed) at Bonte-
shall in Derbyshire, where his father, of the same names,
was rector. He was bred first at Chesterfield school under
Mr. William Burrow, a celebrated master, and afterwards
removed to Eton. He was admitted of Jesus college,
Cambridge; and matriculated Dec. 17, 1730. In 1734 he
took his degree of B. A, and in 1738 that of M. A. In
1762 he was presented by Dr. James Yorke, dean of Lin-
coln, to the rectory of Carsington in Derbyshire; but did
not enjoy it long, as he died March 25, 1763, His pub-
lications were, 1. " The life of Pope Sixtus V. translated
from the Italian of Gregorio Leti, with a preface, prole-
gomena, notes, and appendix, 1754," folio. 2. " Davila's
History of France," 1757, 2 vols. 4to. 3. "A translation
of the works of Machiavel, illustrated with annotations,
dissertations, and several new plans on the art of war,'*
1761, 2 vols. 4to: reprinted in 1775, 4 vols. Svo. 4. " A
short history of the Israelites, from the French of the -abbe"
de Fleury," 1756, Svo, has been attributed to him, but it
was his only by the kindness of Mr. Thomas Bedford (son
of Hilkiah), who gave him the translation, in hopes that he
might raise some money by it, as he was then poor. None
1 Biog. Brit. Ath. Ox. vol. II. Gen. Diet, where hi* Life was first inserted*
n, vol. XVI.
123 F A R N E W O R T H.
indeed of his works appear to have been profitable* al-
though his translation of Maehiavel, which he literally
" hawked round the town/' now .sells at a very high price.
On one occasion Dr. Addenbroke, dean of Lichfield, re-
commended him to translate Spelman's Life of Alfred from
the Latin into English, and Farneworth was about to have
begun, when Dr. Pegge luckily informed him that the Life
of Alfred was originally written in English, and thence
translated into Latin. Mr. Farneworth is supposed to have
been the author of a ludicrous and pleasant account of
Powell, the fire-eater, in Gent. Mag. 1755, signed Philo-
pyrphagus Asliburniensis. He was at that time curate to
the rev. John Fitzherbert, vicar of Ashbourne. '
FARQ.UHAR (GEORGE), an in<>-enious comic writer,
was the son of a clergyman in Ireland, and born at Lon-
donderry in 1678, where he received the rudiments of
education, and discovered n genius early devoted to the
muses. When he was very young, he gave specimens of
his poetry ; and discovered a force of thinking, and turn
of expression, much beyond his years. His parents, hav-
ing a numerous issue, could bestow on him no other for-
tune than a liberal education : therefore, when he was
qualified for the university, he was sent in 1694- to Trinity-
college, in Dublin. He made great progress in his studies,
and acquired a considerable reputation : but his gay and
volatile disposition could not long relish the gravity and
retirement of a college life, and therefore, soon quitting
it, he betook himself to the diversions of the stage, and
got admitted into the company of the Dublin theatre. He
had the advantage of a good person, and was well received
as an actor, though his voice was somewhat weak : for
which reason he resolved to continue on the stage, till
something better should offer. But his resolution was soon
broken by an accident : being to play the part of Guyo-
mar, who kills Vasquez, in Dryden's " Indian Emperor,"
and forgetting to exchange his sword for a foil, in the en-
gagement he wounded his brother tragedian, who repre-
sented Vasquez, very dangerously ; and though the wound
did not prove mortal, yet he was so shocked at it, that he
determined never more to appear on the stage.
Soon after this, having now no inducement to remain at
Dublin, he went to London, where, in 16yf>, the cele-
1 Nichols'* Bowyer.
FARQUHAR. 129
brated actor Wilks prevailed upon him to write a play, and,
knowing his humour and abilities, assured him, that he
was considered by all as fitter to furnish compositions for
the stage, than to act those of other writers. Another en-
couragement, which suffered him to exercise his genius at
leisure, he owed to the earl of Orrery, a patron as well as
a master of letters, who conferred a lieutenant's commis-
sion upon him in his own regiment in Ireland, which Far-
quhar held several years, and gave several proofs both of
courage and conduct. In 1698, his first comedy, called
" Love in a Bottle," appeared on the stage ; and for its
sprightly dialogue and busy scenes, was well received
by the audience. In 1700 he produced his " Constant
Couple, or, Trip to the Jubilee," it being then the jubilee
year at Rome, when persons of all countries flocked
thither, for pardons or amusements. In the character of
sir Harry Wildair, our author drew so gay and airy a cha-
racter, so suited to Wilks's talents, and so animated by his
gesture and vivacity of spirit, that the player gained almost
as much reputation as the poet. Towards the end of this
year, Farquhar was in Holland, probably upon his military
duty: and he has given a very facetious description of
those places and people, in two of his letters, dated from
the Brill and from Leyden : in a third, dated from the
Hague, he very humourously relates how merry he was
there, at a treat made by the earl of Westmoreland ; while
not only himself, but king William, and others of his sub-
jects, were detained there by a violent storm. There is
also ampng his poems, an ingenious copy of verses to his
mistress upon the same subject. This mistress is supposed
to have been Mrs. Oldfield, whom he first recommended
to the stage. In 1701 he was a spectator, if not a mourner,
at Dryden's, funeral ; for the description he has given of it
in one of his letters, affords little indication of sorrow.
Encouraged by the great success of his last play, he
wrote a continuation of it, in 1701, called, " Sir Harry
Wildair, or, The Sequel of the Trip to the Jubilee :"
in which Mrs. Oldfield obtained as much reputation, and
was as greatly admired in her part, as Wiiks was m
his. In 1702 he published his " Miscellanies, or, col-
lection of poems, letters, and essays," which contain a
variety of humourous and pleasant sallies of fancy. It*
is said, that some of the letters were published from
copies returned to bun. at his request, by Mrs. Oldfield,
K
ISO F A R Q U H A R.
There is at the end of them, " A discourse upon Comedy,
in reference to the English stage ;" and in one of the let-
ters, ' The Picture," containing a description and cha-
racter of himself, from which we learn that he was very
ingenuous, very good-natured, and very thoughtless. In
1703 he brought out another lively comedy called "The
Inconstant, or, the way to win him :" but the fashion now
turning towards Italian and French operas, this comedy,
although not inferior, was received more coldly than the
former. Farquhar was married this year, and, as was at
first reported, to a great fortune ; which indeed he ex-
pected, but was miserably disappointed. The lady had
fallen in love with him, and so violent was her passion,
that she resolved to have him at any rate : and as she knew
he was too much dissipated to fall in love, or to think of ma-
trimony, unless advantage was annexed to it, she first
caused a report to be spread of her being a great fortune,
and then had him persuaded that she was in love with
him. He married her : and though he found himself de-
ceived, his circumstances embarrassed, and his family in-
creasing, he never once upbraided her for the imposition,
but behaved to her with all the delicacy and tenderness of
an indulgent husband.
Very early in 1704, a farce called " The Stage-coach,"
in the composition of which he was jointly concerned with
another, made its first appearance, and was well received.
His next comedy, named " The Twin-Rivals," was played
in 1705; and in 1706, his comedy, called "The Recruit-
ing Officer." ' He dedicated this " to all friends round the
\Vrekin," a noted hill near Shrewsbury, where he had
been to recruit for his company ; and where, from his ob-
servations on country life, the manner in which Serjeants
inveigle clowns to enlist, and the loose behaviour of the
officers towards the milk-maids and country girls, he col-
lected matter sufficient to form a comedy which still holds
its place on the stage. His last comedy was " The Beaux
Stratagem," of which he did not live to enjoy the full suc-
cess. The characters in this play were all said to have
been taken from originals then living in or near the city of
Litchfield ; and the last of them, Thomas Bond, a servant
iu the family of sir Theophilus Biddulph, died in 1759.
He was the Scrub. This perhaps of all his pieces has re-
mained longest, and is oftenest acted on the stage. To-
wards the close of his short life, he was unhappily oppressed
some debts ; and this obliged him to make application
F A R Q U H A It. m
to a courtier, who had formerly made him many profession*
of friendship. His pretended patron advised him to con-
vert his commission into the money he wanted, and
pledged his honour that in a short time he would provide
him another. This circumstance appearing favourable,
and unable to bear the thoughts of want, he sold his
commission : but when he renewed his application, and
represented his distressed situation, his noble patron had
forgot his promise, or rather, perhaps, had never the least
intention to fulfil it. This distracting disappointment so
preyed upon his mind, as to occasion his death, April, 1 707,
before he was thirty years of age. Soon after, the follow-
ing letter to Mr. Wilks was found among his papers:
" Dear Bob, I have not any thing to leave thee to perpe-
tuate my memory but two helpless girls ; look upon them
sometimes, and think of him that was to the last moment
of his life, thine, George Farquhan" This recommenda-
tion, which resembled the celebrated testament of Euda-
midas, was duly regarded by Wilks ; and when the girls
became of an age to be put out into the world in business,
he procured a benefit for each of them, to supply the ne-
cessary resources.
The success of Farquhar's comedies is said, in general,
far to have exceeded his own expectations ; and of his
merits as a writer, various opinions have been entertained.
It may be allowed, however, that he was usually happy in
the choice of his subjects, and adorned them with a great
variety of characters and incidents : that his style is pure
and unaffected ; his wit natural and flowing ; and his plots
generally well contrived. Licentiousness has been justly
objectecl to his comedies, which was the vice of the times.
Pope used to call him a farce-writer; but his productions
were so pleasing, that many years ago his works had gone
through eight editions ; and to this day his comedies keep
their rank upon the stage.
Of his family, his wife died in circumstances of the ut-
most indigence : one of his daughters was married' to an
inferior tradesman, and died soon after. The other in
1764 was living, in indigent circumstances, without any
knowledge of refinement in sentiments or expences; she
seemed to take no pride in her father's fame, and was in
every respect fitted to her humble station. *
* Bio. Brit. B5o. Dram, Gibber's Lives, Spence's Anecdotes MS.
K 2
FAR R.
FARR (SAMUEL), an eminent physician at Taunton, was
born in 1741, of parents who were protestant dissenters,
and was first educated at the dissenting academy at War-
rington, from whence he removed to Edinburgh, and there
and at Leyden pursued his medical studies, taking his
degree at the latter university* He afterwards settled at
Taunton, where he was highly esteemed for his skill and
personal character. To the learning which peculiarly
qualified him for his profession, he united a considerable
acquaintance with general literature and science ; and with
medical knowledge and judgment, he possessed the powers
of instructing and entertaining, as the lively and sensible
companion of the social hour. He died March 11, 1795,
at the house of John Fisher, esq. Upcott, near Taunton.
His publications, in most of which he discovers much
original observation, extensive experience, and correct
theory, were, 1. " An Essay on the medical virtues of
Acids," 1769, 12mo. 2. " Aphorismi de Marasmo, ex
summis medicis collecti," 1772, 12mo. His attention to
the subject of consumption produced again, 3. " Inquiry
into the propriety of Blood-letting in Consumption," 1775,
*vo. Although he does not absolutely prohibit blood-
letting, he seems to place little reliance on it in this cruel
disorder. 4. "The History of Epidemics ; by Hippocrates,
in seven books, translated into English from the Greek,
with notes and observations, and a preliminary disserta-
tion on the nature and cause of infection," 1781, 4to. In
this work are not a few errors in judgment, proceeding,
probably, from a too great attachment to the authority of
Hippocrates. Dr. Farr acquired more reputation by his
last work, 5. " The Elements of Medical Jurisprudence j
to which are added, directions for preserving the Public
Health," 1788, Svo. 1
FARRAR. See FERRAR.
FASSOLO (BERNARDINO), of Pavia, an artist who
flourished about 1518, was a pupil or imitator of Lionardo
da Vinci, and the most successful of all his imitators, Luino
perhaps excepted, if he be judged by the only picture,
which, without hesitation, may be ascribed to him. This
picture, which belonged to the gallery of prince Braschi,
was carried by the French to that of the Louvre, and re-
presents, in a groupe of natural size, the Madonna with the.
1 Protertant Dfss, M. vol. IP.
A S S O L O.
13$
infant on her lap : the mother in quiet repose, with bent
eyes, and absorbed in meditation ; her simple attitude is
contrasted by the lively one of the child, who seems to
take refuge at her neck and breast from some external
object. The picture is inscribed " Bernardinus Faxolus
de Papia fecit, 1518." 1
FASTOLFF (JOHN), knight, and knight-banneret, a
valiant and renowned general, governor, and nobleman in
France, during our conquests in that kingdom, under king
Henry IV. V. and VI. of England, and knight-companion
of the most noble order of the garter, has been supposed,
from the title of his French barony, and from his name
being so often corruptly mentioned in the French histories^
owing to his long residence, and many engagements in
the wars there, to have been born in France, at least of
French extraction. Others, allowing him to have been
a native of England, have no less erroneously fixed hist
birth-place in Bedfordshire ; but it is well known that he
was descended of an ancient and famous English family in
the county of Norfolk, which had flourished there and in
other parts of the kingdom, in very honourable distinction,
before the conquest : and from a train of illustrious an-
cestors, many of them dignified with the honour of knight-
hood, invested with very eminent employments, and pos-
sessed of extensive patrimonies. But one of the principal
branches being seated at Castre in Fleg near Great Yar-
mouth in that county, which estate descending to these
ancestors, he afterwards adorned with a noble family seat,
it is presumed he was born therej or in Yarmouth. His
father was John Fastolff, esq. of that town, a man of con-
siderable account, especially for his public benefactions,
pious foundations, &c. His mother was Mary, daughter
of Nicholas Park, esq. and married to sir Richard Mortimer,
of Attleburgh ; and this their son was born in the latter
end of king Edward the Illd's reign. As he died at the
age of eighty, in 1459, his birth could not happen later
than 1378. It may fairly be presumed he was grounded
as well in that learning and other accomplishments which
afterwards, improved by his experience and sagacity, ren-
dered him so famous in war and peace, as in thos.- virtuous
and religious principles which governed his actions to the
last. His father dying before he was of age, the care of
Pilkington.
134 F A S T O L F F.
bis person and estate were committed to John duke of
Bedford, who was afterwards the most wise and able regent
of France we ever had there ; and he was the last ward
which that duke had : others, indeed, say that he was
trained up in the Norfolk family, which will not appear
improbable when we consider that it was not unusual in
those times for young noblemen whilst under wardship to
be trained under others, especially ministers of state, in
their houses and families, as in academies of behaviour, and
to qualify them for the service of their country at home
pr abroad. But if he was under Thomas Mowbray duke
pf Norfolk, while he enjoyed that title, it could be but
one year, that duke being banished the kingdom by king
Richard II. in 1398, though his younger son, who was
restored to that title many years after, might be one of sir
John FastoltFs feoffees. And it is pretty evident that he
\vas, but a few years after the banishment of that duke, in
some considerable post under Thomas of Lancaster, after^
wards duke of Clarence, and second son of the succeeding
king Henry IV. This Thomas was sent by his father so
early, according to some writers, as the second year of his
reign, which was in 1401, lord lieutenant of Ireland. And
it is not improbable that Fastolff was then with him ; for
we are informed by William of Wyrcestre, that in the sixth,
and seventh years of the said king Henry, that is, in 1405
and 1406, this John Fastolff, esq. was continually with,
him. And the same lord lieutenant of Ireland was again
there in 1408, 10 Henry IV. and almost to the beginning
of the next year, when it is no less probable that Fastolff
was still with him; for, in the year last mentioned, we
find that he was married in that kingdom to a rich
young widow of quality, named Milicent, lady Castlecomb,
daughter of Robert lord Tibetot, and relict of sir Stephen
Scrope, knight ; the same, perhaps, who is mentioned,
though not with the title of knighthood, by sir P. Ley-
cester, to have been the said lord lieutenant's deputy of
Ireland, during most of the intervals of his return to Eng-
land ; which deputy-lieutenant died in his office the same
year. This marriage was solemnized in Ireland on the
feast of St. Hilary, 1408, and Fastolff bound himself in
the sum of 1000/. to pay her 100/. a year, for pin-money
during life ; and she received the same to the 24th year of
king Henry VI. The lands in Wiltshire and Yorkshire
which came to Fastolff by this marriage with the said lady,
FASTOLFF. m
descended to Stephen Le Scrope, her son and heir. We
may reasonably believe that this marriage in Ireland en-
gaged his settlement in that kingdom, or upon his estate
in Norfolk, till his appointment to the command of some
forces, or to some post of trust under the English regency
in France, soon after required his residence in that king-
dom. For, according to the strictest calculation we can
make from the accounts of his early engagements in
France, the many years he was there, and the time of his
final return, it must be not long after his marriage that he
left either England or Ireland for that foreign service ;
being employed abroad by Henry IV. V. and VI. in the
wars in France, Normandy, Anjou, Mayne, and Guyenne,
upwards of forty years ; which agrees very well with what
Caxton has published, in his concise, yet comprehensive
character of him, little more than twenty years after his
death, where he speaks of his " exercisyng the warrys in
the royame of Fraunce and other countrees, &c. by fourty
yeres enduryng." So that, we cannot see any room, either
in the time or the temper, in the fortunes or employments
of this knight, for him to have been a companion with, or
follower and corrupter of prince Henry, in his juvenile
and dissolute courses; nor, that Shakspeare had any view
of drawing his sir John Falstaff from any part of this sir
John Fastolff's character; or so much as pointing at any
indifferent circumstance in it that can reflect upon his
memory, with readers conversant in the true history of
'him. The one is an old, humourous, vapouring, and
cowardly, lewd, lying, and drunken debauchee, about the
prince's court ; when the other was a young and grave,
discreet and valiant, chaste and sober, commander abroad ;
continually advanced to honours and places of profit, for
his brave and politic atchievements, military and civil;
continually preferred to the trust of one government or
other ; of countries, cities, towns, &c. or as a genera^
and commander of armies in martial expeditions while
abroad ; made knight-banneret in the field of battle ; baron,
in France, and knight of the garter in England ; and, par-
ticularly, when finally settled at home, constantly exercised
in acts of hospitality, munificence, and chanty ; a founder
of religious buildings, and other stately edifices ornamental
to his country, as their remains still testify ; a generous
patron of worthy and learned men, and a public benefactor
to the pious and the poor. In short, the more we coin*
136 F A S T O L F F.
pare the circumstances in this historical character, with
those in that poetical one, we can find nothing discredit-
able in the latter, that has any relation to the former, or
that would mislead an ignorant reader to mistake or con-
found them, but a little quibble, which makes some con-
formity in their names, and a short degree in the time
wherein the one did really, and the other is feigned to live.
And, in regard to the prince of Wales, or our knight's
being engaged in any wild or riotous practices of his youth,
the improbabilities may also appear from the comparison of
their age, and a view of this prince's commendable en-
gagements till that space of time in which he indulged his
interval of irregularities, when the distance of our knight
will clear him from being a promoter of, or partaker in
them. For it is apparent, that he had been intrusted with
a command in France some time before the death of king
Henry IV. ; because, in 1 41 3, the rery first year of his son,
who was now grown the reformed, and soon after proved
the renowned, Henry V. it appears that Fastolff had the
castle and dominion of Veires in Gascoigne committed to
his custody and defence : whence it is very reasonably in-
ferred, that he then resided in the said duchy, which at
that time was possessed by the English. In June 1415,
Fastolff, then only an esquire, was returned, by indenture,
with ten men of arms, and thirty archers, to serve the king
at his arrival in France. Soon after king Henry was ar-
rived in Normandy, in August following, with above 30,000
men, the English army having made themselves masters of
Harfleur, the most considerable port in that duchy, Fastolff
was constituted lieutenant thereof, with 1500 men, by the
earl of Derby, as Basset in his MS history informs us ;
but, as we find it in others, the king, upon this conquest,
constituted his said uncle Thomas Beaufort, earl of Dorset
and duke of Exeter, governor of Harfleur, in conjunction
sir John Fastolff; and, having repaired the fortifica-
placed therein a garrison of two thousand select
men, as Titus Livius numbers them ; or of fifteen hundred
ien at arms, and thirty-five knights, according to Hall's
account; to which number Monstrelet also adds a thousand
archers. Towards the latter end of October, in the year
last mentioned, he was dangerously engaged in the ever-
memorable battle of Agincourt, where it is said that Fas-
tolff, among others, signalized himself most gallantly by
taking the duke of Alengon prisoner ; though other his-
F A S T O L F F. 137
torians say that duke was slain after a desperate encounter
with king Henry himself, in which he cut off the crowned
crest of the king's helmet. The fact is, that, in a suc-
ceeding battle, Fastolff did take this duke's son and suc-
cessor prisoner. In the same year, 1415, he, with the
duke and 3000 English, invaded Normandy, and pene-
trated almost to Rouen; but on their return, loaded with
booty, they were surprised, and forced to retreat towards
Harfleur, whither the enemy pursuing them, were totally
defeated. The constable of France, to recover his credit,
laid siege to Harfleur, which made a vigorous defence
under sir John Fastolff and others till relieved by the fleet
under the duke of Bedford. He was at the taking of the
castle of Tonque, the city of Caen, the castle of Courcy,
the city of Sees, and town of Falaise, and at the great
siege at Rouen, 1417. For his services at the latter he
was made governor of Conde Noreau ; and for his eminent
services in those victories, he received, before the 29th of
January following, the honour of knighthood, and had the
manor and demesne of Fritense near Harfleur bestowed
upon him during life. In 1418 he was ordered to seize
upon the castle and dominion of Bee Crispin, and other
manors, which were held by James D'Auricher, and several
other knights ; and had the said castle, with those lands,
granted him in special tail, to the yearly value of 2000
scutes. In 1420 he was at the siege of Monsterau, as Peter
Basset has recorded ; and, in the next year, at that of
Meaulx-en-Brie. About five months after the decease of
king Henry V. the town of Meulent having been surprized
in January 1422, John duke of Bedford, regent of France,
and sir John Fastolff, then grand master of his household,
and seneschal of Normandy, laid siege to the same, and
re-took it. In 1423, after the castle of Craven t was re-
lieved, our knight was constituted lieutenant for the king
and regent in Normandy, in the jurisdictions of Rouen,
Evreux, Alengon, and the countries beyond the river
Seine : also governor of the countries of Anjou and Maine,
and before the battle of Verneuil was created banneret,
About three months after, being then captain of Alengon,
and governor of the marches thereof, he laid siege to the
castle of Tenuye in Maine, as a French historian informs
us, which was surrendered to him; and, in 1424, he was
sent to oppose the delivery of Alenon to the French, upon
a discovery made that a Gascoigner had secretly contracted
133 F A S T O L F F.
to betray the same. In September J425, he laid siege to
Beaumont le Vicompt, which surrendered to him. Then
also he took the castle of Sillie-Je-Guillem, from which he
was dignified with the title of baron : but this, revolting
afterwards again to the French, was assaulted by the earl
of Arundel, and retaken about seven years after. In the
year last mentioned, our active warrior took also St. Ouen
D'Estrais, near Laval, as likewise the castle of Gravelle,
with other places of strength, from the enemy ; for which
dangerous and indefatigable service in France he was about
the same time elected in England, with extraordinary
deference to his merits, knight companion of the order of
the garter. In 1426 John lord Talbot was appointed
governor of Anjou and Maine, and sir John Fastolff was
removed to another place of command, which, in all pro-
bability, might be the foundation of that jealousy, emula-
tion, or competition, between them, which never was cor-
dially reconciled. In October 1428, he had a protection
granted him, being then going into France ; and there he
performed an enterprise of such bravery and conduct as is
scarcely thought to have been paralleled in ancient or
modern history. The English army, at the siege of Or-r
leans, being in great want of provisions, artillery, and
other necessaries, sir John Fastolff, with some other ap-^
proved commanders, was dispatched for supplies by Wil-
liam de la Pole duke of Suffolk, to the regent at Paris ;
who not only provided him plentifully therewith, but al-
lowed him a strong guard at his return, that he might con-
vey the same safely to the siege. The French, knowing
the importance of this succour, united two armies of very
superior numbers and force to meet him ; but, either in
different encounters, or in a pitched battle, as the French
thetnselv es allow, he totally overthrew them ; slew greater
numbers than he had under his command, not to mention
the wounded and the prisoners; and conducted his convoy
safe to the English camp. And because it was in the time
of Lent, and he had, among his other provision, several
of his carriages laden with many barrels of herrings, which
he applied to form a fortification, the French have ever
since called this victory " The battle of herrings." But
as the fortune of war is precarious, the English army was
soon after obliged to raise the siege of Orleans, and though
they received recruits from the duke of Bedford, they were
iu no degree strong enough to encounter the French army
F A S T O L F F. 133
at Patay. At the battle which happened there in June
1429, many of the English, who were of most experienced
and approved valour, seeing themselves so unequal, and
the onset of the French so unexpected, made the best
retreat they could ; and, among them who saved them-
selves, as it is said, was sir John Fastolff ; vfho, with such
as could escape, retired to Corbeil ; thus avoiding being
killed, or, with the great lord Talbot, lord Hungerford,
and sir Thomas Ramps ton, taken prisoner of war. Here
the French tales, which some English historians have in-
considerately credited, contradict or invalidate themselves ;
for, after having made the regent most improbably, and
without any examination, or defence, divest Fastolff of his
honours, they no less suddenly restore him to them, for,
as they phrase it, " apparent causes of good excuse;
though against the mind of the lord Talbot;" between
whom there had been, it seems, some emulous contests,
and therefore it is no wonder that Fastolff found him upon
this occasion an adversary. It is not likely that the regent
ever conceived any displeasure at this conduct, because
Fastolff was not only continued in military and civil em-
ployments of the greatest concern, but appears more in
favour with the regent after the battle of Patay than be-
fore. So that, rather than any dishonour here can be
allowed, the retreat itself, as it is told, must be doubted.
It was but in 1430 that he preferred him to the lieutenancy
of Caen in Normandy. In 1432 he accompanied him into
France, and was soon after sent ambassador to the council
of Basil, and chosen, in the like capacity, to negociate
a final or temporary peace with France. And that year,
Fastolff, with the lord Willoughby, commanded the army
which assisted the duke of Bretagne against the duke of
Alen^on. Soon after this he was for a short space in Eng-
land ; for, in 1433, going abroad again, he constituted
John Fastolff, of Olton, probably a near relation, his ge-
neral attorney. In 1434, or the beginning of the year
after, sir John was again with the regent of France ;'and,
in 1435, he was again one of the ambassadors to conclude
a peace with France. Towards the latter end of this year
the regent died at Rouen, and, as the greatest proof he
could give of his confidence in the honour and integrity of
sir John Fastolff, he made him one of the executors of his.
last will. Richard, duke of York, who succeeded in the
regency of France, made Fastolff a grant of an annuity of
140 F A S T O L F F.
twenty pounds a year of his own estate, " pro notabili et
landdbili servicio, ac bono consilio ;" which is sufficient to
shew this duke's sentiments also of his merits. In 1436,
and tor about four years longer, he seems to have been
well settled at his government in Normandy ; after which,
in 1440, he made his final return home, and, loaclen
with the laurels he had gathered in France, became as il-
lustrious iu his domestic as he had been in his foreign
character. The late Mr. Gough, by whom this article was
much enlarged, had an inventory of all the rich jewels,
plate, furniture, &c. that he either had, or left in France,
at his return to England. In 1450 he conveyed to John
Kemp, cardinal archbishop of York, and others, his manor
'of Castre in Fleg, and several other lands specified in the
deed of conveyance. The same year, Nov. 8, the king
by writ directed Richard Waller, esq. David John William
Needham, and John Ingoldsby, to cause Thomas Danyell,
esq. to pay to sir John FastolfF, knight, the lOOl. that he
was indebted to him for provisions, and for his ship called
the George of Prussia, alias Danyell's Hulk, which ship
the said Danyell took on the sea as a prize, and never had
it condemned ; so that the king seized it, ordered it to be
sold, and sir John to be paid out of it. At length being
arrived, in 1459, beyond the age of fourscore years, he
says of himself, that he was " in good remembrance, albeit
I am gretly vexed with sickenesse, and thurgh age in-
febelyd." He lingered under an hectic fever and asthma
for an hundred and forty-eight days; but before he de-
parted he made his will on the fifth of November in that
year, and died at his seat at Castre the next day after,
being the festival of St. Leonard, or the eve before, as
appears in the escheats, in the 39th or last year of king
Henry the Vlth's reign, and no less than thirty-six years
beyond the extravagant period assigned by Fuller. He
was buried with great solemnity under an arch, in a chapel
of our lady of his own building, on the south side of the
choir at the abbey-church of St. Bennet in the Holm, in
Norfolk, which was ruined at the dissolution ; and so much
was he respected after his decease, that John Beauchamp,
lord of Powyke, in his last will dated the 15th of Edward
IV. appointed a chantry, more especially for the soul of
sir John Fastolff.
The ruins of his house at Castre still remaining, shew it
to have been alike capacious and strong. It was moate4
F A S T O L F F.
round, but the moat is now for the most part filled up.
The grand entrance was on the West. The house formed
a rectangled parallelogram ; the south and north sides
longer than east and west ; the stables in front ; the best
rooms on the right hand of the square, under which side is
a noble vault, and over it probably the hall. The embattled
brick tower at the north west corner is standing, above
one hundred feet high ; and over one of the windows were
carved his arms in the garter as above described, supported
by angels, now removed ; on one of the doors a saltire
engrailed. To it adjoined a dining-parlour, fifty-nine feet
long, and twenty-eight broad. East from the castle stood
the college, forming three sides of a square larger than
the former, with two round towers ; the who\e converted
into barns and stables. The castle moat is said to have
communicated with a navigable creek, and in a farm housa
north west of the mansion, called the barge-house, is shewn
a large arch, capable of receiving a boat of considerable
burthen. Weever says he had licence from Henry VI. to
build his house castle-wise as a fortification on that side of
Yarmouth, to which perhaps relates the licence granted
him 1443, 22 Hen. VI. to employ some of the king's ships
to carry materials for building and furnishing one of his
mansion-houses. The current tradition is, that this house
was erected by a French nobleman, who was taken prisoner
by our famous knight, according to the model and archi-
tecture of his own castle in France, as the price of his
ransom.
Sir John Fastolff had by his will appointed John Paston,
esq. eldest son and heir of sir William Paston, the judge,
one of his executors ; and had given to them all his manors,
lands, &c. in trust, to found the college of the seven
priests, and seven poor men, in the manor-house at Castre,
c. " For the singular trust and love," says sir John,
" that I have to my cousin John Paston before all others,
being in every belief that he will execute this my last will.*'
Edward IV. 1464, for 300 marks, 100 in hand, and the
remainder when the foundation takes place, granted John
Paston, sen. esq. licence to found the college before men-
tioned, and his favour and protection against Yelverton,
Jenney, and others ; but it appears that this John Paston*
*sq. had entered on this manor of Castre, and was impri-
soned in the Fleet of London by Nevill, bishop of Exeter,
(on Nov. 3, 1464 ? ) then chancellor. On his death, in 1466,
142 FASTOLFF.
he left it to his eldest son sir John Paston. July 6,
the king granted him a warrant under his hand and privy
seal, to take possession of all the lands and inheritance of
his late father, or of Agnes his grandmother, or of Mar-
garet his mother, or of William Paston, and Clement
Paston, his uncles ; also the manor and place of Castre,
or of any other estate which his father had, by way of gift,
or purchase, of the late sir John Fastolff ; which lands had
been seized by the king, on evil surmises made to him,
against his deceased father, himself and uncles, of all
which they were sufficiently, openly, and worshipfully
cleared before the king. " So that all yee now being in
the said place of Caster, or in any liBihode, late the sir
John Paston' s, by way of gift or purchase, of the late sir
John Fastolff, that was seized into our hands, avoid the
possession of the same, and suffer our truly and well be-
loved knight, sir John Paston, to enjoy the profits thereof,
with all the goods and chattels there, and pay all the issues
and profits thereof, as yee did unto his father, at any time
in his life."
Soon after this, on Monday before St. Bartholomew's
day, 1469, John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, laid preten-
sions to it ; and sent sir John Heveningham, a cousin of
sir John FastolfFs, to require John Paston, esq. governor
of it, being a castle well fortified, in the absence of his
eldest brother sir John Paston, to deliver it up to him ;
maintaining that the said duke had purchased the said
castle of William Yelverton (that cursed Norfolk justice,
as Worcester styles him), whereas sir John had ordered it
not to be sold, but to be a college for priests, and an hos-
pital for poor men. The said John Paston refusing to
surrender it, the duke came before it with 3000 armed
men, and with guns, culverines, and other artillery, and
laid siege to it immediately. The siege continued five
weeks and three days.
February 10, 1474, 13 Edw. IV. an indenture was made
between sir William Yelverton, William Jenny, serjeant
at law, and William Worcester, executors of sir John on
one part, and Thomas Cager and Robert Kytton on the
other, whereby the said Robert was appointed surveyor of
the lands and tenements in Southwark, and other places in
Surrey, late sir John's, to perform his last will, and also>
receiver of the rents ; who was to have six marks per an-
num, and to be allowed, besides all reasonable costs, that
F A S T O L F F. 143
he shall do in the defence and keeping out John Paston,
esq. and of all others claiming by him. Anthony lord
Scales, at another time, took possession of it in the name of
king Edward IV. under pretence that Paston was the king's
villan (though absolutely false), all which proved a great
destruction to the goods and effects in the same ; but sir
John Paston, through the favour and protection of king
Edward IV. had afterwards possession. Another misfortune
also happened to this seat or castle about the same time,
owing to the negligence of a girl, who in making a bed
set fire to it by her candle, and did considerable damage.
Sir John Fastolff had a house at Norwich in Pokethorp
opposite St. James's church, called Fastolff's place ; in the
windows of which Mr. Blomefield saw several paintings of
saints and scripture worthies, and two knights fighting,
which he imagined represented sir John and his French
prisoner. He likewise built a splendid seat in Yarmouth,
and a palace in Southwark.
As sir John Falstoff's valour made him a terror in war,
his humanity made him a blessing in peace: all we can
find in his retirement, being elegant, hospitable, and ge-
nerous, either as to the places of his abode, or those per-
sons and foundations on which he showered his bounty.
At his death he possessed lands and estates in Norfolk,
Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Wiltshire. He was a benefactor to
both the universities ; bequeathing a considerable legacy
to Cambridge, for building the schools of philosophy and
Jaw, for which the first order under their chancellor Lau-
rence, bishop of Durham, is dated in June 1458; and, at
Oxford, he was so bountiful to Magdalen college, through
the affection he had for his friend William Wainfleet, the
founder thereof two years before, that his name is com-
memorated in an anniversary speech ; and though the par-
ticulars of his bounty are not now remembered, because
he enfeoffed the said founder in his life-time, yet it is known,
that the boar's head in Southwark, now divided into tene-
ments, yielding one hundred and fifty pounds yearly, to-
gether with Caldecot manor in Suffolk, were part of the
lands he bestowed thereon ; and Lovingland in that county
is conceived also to have been another part of his donation.
There had been an ancient free chapel of St. John the
Baptist in the manor house at Castre, the ancient seat
of his family, as early as the reign of Edward I. Sir
John intended to have erected a college for seven monks
144 F A S T O L F F.
or secular priests (one of whom to be head), and seven poo?
men ; and to endow it with 120 marks rent charge, out of
several manors which he gave or sold to his cousin John
Paston, senior, esq. charged with this charity. Mr. Paston
laboured to establish this pious foundation till his death,
6 Ed. IV. as did his son sir John Paston, knight, but whe-
ther it was ever incorporated and fully settled, bishop Tan-
ner doubts, as there is no farther mention of it in the
rolls or the bishop of Norwich's registry. Only in the
valuation, 26 Hen. VIII. there is said to have been in Castre-
hall a chantry of the foundation of sir John Fastolff, knight,
worth tl. 135. 4d. per annum. 6 Ed. IV. from receipts it
appears that the priests had in money, besides their diet,
40/. per annum, and the poor men 40$. per annum each.
The foundation was certainly not completed till after
his decease ; for William Worcester, in a letter to Mar-
garet Paston in 1466, tells her he had communed with her
son whether it should not be at Cambridge in case it shall
not be at Castre, neither at St. Benet's (in the Holme),
and that the bishop of Winchester (Wainflete) was dis-
posed to found a college in Oxford for his sayd mayster to
be prayed for, yet with much less cost he might make some
other memorial in Cambridge. !
FATIO. See FACCIO.
FAUCHET (CLAUDE), a French antiquary of great fame,
whose laborious researches into the earliest and most ob-
scure parts of the history of his country, obtained him more
celebrity than profit, was born at Paris in 1529. Having
gone to Italy with cardinal de Tournon, his eminence often
sent him with dispatches to the French court, which served
to introduce him there with advantage, and procured him
the place of first president of the Cour des Monnoies ; and
he is said by some to have obtained a pension from Henry
IV. with the title of historiographer. He died in 1601,
overwhelmed with debts. His works were collected in 4to
at Paris, in 1610. The principal of them are, 1. His
" Gaulish and French antiquities," the first part of which
treats chiefly of matters anterior to the arrival of the Franks,
the second is extended to Hugh Capet. 2. " A treatise
on the Liberties of the Gallican church." 3. " On the
origin of knights, armorial bearings, and heralds." 4.
1 Biog. Brit, much enlarged by Mr. Cough, from the account given by Oldys
in the first edition of the Biog, Brit. Mr. Ciough had all Oldys's manuscript*
on the subject.
A U C H T. 145
w Origin of dignities and magistracies in France.'* All
these contain much curious matter, not to be found else*
where, but are written in a harsh, incorrect, and tedious
style. Saxius mentions an edition of his works printed at
Paris in 1710, 2 vols. 4to, which we conceive to be a mis-
take for 1610. It is said, that the pei'usal of his French
Antiquities gave Louis XIII. an invincible distaste to reading. 1
FAUCHEUR (MICHELLE), a French protestant preacher
of the highest estimation in his time. He preached origi*
nally at Montpellier, then at Charenton, and afterwards at
Paris ; where his eloquence was not less admired than in
the provinces. He preached one day against duels in so
persuasive and forcible a style, and with so much energy,
that the marechal de la Force, who was present, declared
to some brave officers who were near him, that should a
challenge be sent him, he would not accept it. Le Fau-
cheur was not less esteemed for his integrity than for his
extraordinary talents as a preacher. He died at Paris in a
very advanced age, April 1, 1657, leaving several volumes
of sermons, 8vo ; " Traite de 1' Action de TOrateur," Ley-
den, 1686, 12mo, an excellent work, which appeared first
under the name of Conrart ; " Recueil de Prieres et de
Meditations Chre"tiennes," and a "Traite" sur TEucharistie,"
Geneva, 1635, folio, against cardinal du Perron. This
work was so much admired by the protestant churches,
that it was printed at their expence, by order of a- national
synod. a
FAULKNER (GEORGE), a worthy printer of no mean
celebrity, is rather recorded in this work for the goodness
of his heart, than from his excellence as an author. It is,
however, no small degree of praise to say of him, that he
was the first man who carried his profession to a high de-
gree of credit in Ireland. He was the confidential printer
of dean Swift ; and enjoyed the friendship and patronage
of the earl of Chesterfield, whose ironical letters to Faulk-
ner, comparing him to Atticus, are perhaps the finest parts
of his writings. He settled at Dublin as a printer and
bookseller, soon after 1726 (in which year we find him in
London under the tuition of the celebrated Bowyer), &nd
raised there a very comfortable fortune by his well-known
44 Journal," and other laudable undertakings. In 1735, he
1 Gen. Diet Moreri. Niceron, vol. XXV. Diet. Hist. Saxii Onomas.t,
2 Gen. Diet. Moreri.* Diet. H'ist.
VOL. XIV. L
FAULKNER.
was ordered into custody by the house of commons in Ire-
land, for having published "A proposal for the better regu-
lation and improvement of quadrille;" an ingenious treatise
by bishop Hort ; which produced from Swift " The 4egion
club." Having had the misfortune to break his leg, he was
satirically introduced by Foote, who spared nobody, in the
character of " Peter Paragraph," in " The Orators, 1762."
He commenced a suit against the mimic ; and had the ho-
nour of lord Townshend's interference to arbitrate the dif-
ference. He died an alderman of Dublin, Aug. 28, 1775.
His style and manner were finely ridiculed in " An Epistle
to Gorges Edmund Howard, esq. with notes, explanatory,
critical, and historical, by George Faulkner, esq. and alder-
man," reprinted in Dilly's " Reppsitory," vol. IV. p. 175.
But a fairer specimen of his real talents at epistle-writing
may be seen in the " Anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer," or in the
second volume of the " Supplement to Swift ;" whence it
appears that, if vanity was a prominent feature in his cha-
racter, his gratitude was no less conspicuous. *
FAUNT (ARTHUR, or sometimes LAURENCE ARTHUR),
an English Jesuit, was born in 1554, at Foston in Leicester-
shire, and entered a student in Merton college, in 1568,
under the tuition of John Potts, whom Wood calls a noted
philosopher. In 157(7, Potts, who was a concealed papist,
being detected, conducted his young pupil, whose parents
were of that persuasion, to the Jesuits' college at Louvain.
In this seminary he continued till he had taken a bachelor
of arts degree, and then went to Paris. From thence he
travelled to Munich in Bavaria, where duke William al-
lowed him a handsome salary to prosecute his studies, and
Ivhere he took the degree of M. A. In 1575 he proceeded
to Rome, and became a member of the English Jesuits'
college, of which he was soon after appointed divinity-
reader. He was much distinguished and favoured by seve-
ral princes, and particularly by pope Gregory XIII. who,
as a token of his affection and confidence, gave him a seal
which empowered him to grant a pass to any of his country-
men travelling through the catholic dominions. In 1581
he was appointed president of the Jesuits' college at Posna
in Poland, in which country he spent the remainder of his
Jife. He died at Ulna, in the province of Lithuania, Feb.
1 Nichols's Bowyer. Swift's Works, \- Index. See a caricature
f Fdulkner, by Cumberland, ii\ hu Lift/, p. 173,
F A U NT. H7
18, 1591, much regretted by his fraternity, amongst whom
he had the character of a prudent, learned, and ^pious di-
vine. His works are : 1. ".De Christi in terris ecclesia,"
Posna, 1584, 4to. 2. " Contra Antonium Sadeelem Calv:-
nistam, libri III." 3. " Theses de variis fidei eontroversiis,"
Posna, 1584, 1590. 4. " Doctrina catholica de Sanctorum
Invocatione, &c." ibid. 1584, 8vo. 5. "Apologia Libri
sui de Invocatione, &c. contra Danielem Tossanum," Colon.
1589, 8vo. 6. " Coenae Lutherana? et Calvinistee oppu<r-
natio," Posna, 1586, 4to. 7. " Apologia Thesium de CcBUtt
Lutherana, &o." ibid. 1590, 4to. 8. " Oratio de causis
Haeresis, &c." 9. " Tractatus de Controversiis inter or-
dinem Eccles. et Secularem in Polonia," 1592, 4to. !
FAUR (Gui DE), lord of PIBRAC, by which name he i*
much better known, was born at Toulouse in 1528, and
distinguished himself at the bar in that city. He perfected
his knowledge of jurisprudence in Italy, and then returned
to be advanced to honours in his own country. In 1560 he
was deputed by his native city to the states-general held
at Orleans, and there presented to the king its petition of
grievances, which he had himself drawn up. By Charles
IX. he was sent as one of his ambassadors to the council of
Trent, where he eloquently supported the interests of the
crown, and the liberties of ihe Gallican church. In 1565
the chancellor de PHopital, appointed him advocate-gene-
ral in the parliament of Paris^ where he revived the in-
fluence of reason and eloquence. In 1570, he was, made
a counsellor of state, and two years afterwards, probably
constrained by his superiors, wrote his defence of the mas-
sacre of St. Bartholomew, published in 4to, and entitled
" Ornatissimi cujusdam viri, de rebus Gallicis, epistola, et
ad hanc de iisdem rebus responsio ;" but this barbarous
measure was too repugnant to the mildness of Pibrac's cha-
racter to be approved by him. For this, after the acces-
sion of Henry III. he made the best amends in his power,
by proposing and bringing to a conclusion, a treaty of
peace between the court and the protestants. While that
prince was duke of Anjou, and was elected king of Po-
land, he attended him as minister in that country ; but
when the succession to the crown of France, on the death
of his brother, tempted Henry to quit that kingdom clan-
1 Tanner. Pits, Atb. Ox, vol. I. E>odd' Ch. Hist.r~Nihols's Hist, ef
Leicestershire,
I. 2
148 $ A U R.
destinely, Pibrac was in danger of falling a sacrifice to
the resentment of the people. He afterwards tried in vain
to preserve that crown to his master. His services were
rewarded by being created one of the chief presidents of
the courts of law. He died in 1584, at the age of fifty-six.
The story of his falling in love with Margaret wife of
Henry IV. is supposed to be chiefly owing to the vanity of
that lady, who wished to have the credit of such a con-
quest. Pibrac published, besides his letter on the mas-
sacre, which was in Latin, pleadings and speeches, " Les
plaisirs de la vie rustique," Paris, 1577, 8vo, and a dis-
course on the sool and the sciences. But the work by
which he is best known, is his " Quatrains," or moral
stanzas of four lines, which were first published in 1574.
The last edition we know of, is that of 1746. They have
been extravagantly admired, and translated into almost all
languages, even Greek, Turkish, Arabic, and Persian.
They were rendered into English by Sylvester, the trans-
lator of du Bartas, in a manner not likely to give an ad-
vantageous notion of the original, which, though now anti-
quated, stiil preserves graces that recommend it to readers
of taste. Pibrac was a classical scholar ; and to the taste
he drew from that source, his "Quatrains" owe much of
their excellence. The subjects of some of them he took
from the book of Proverbs, which he used to say contained
all the good sense in the world. l
FAUST. See FUST.
FAUSTUS, an English monk of the fifth century, was
created abbot of a monastery in the Lerin islands about the
year 433, and afterwards bishop of Riez in Provence,
about the year 466. The time of his death is uncertain.
He wrote a homily on the life of his predecessor in the see,
Maximus ; which is extant among those attributed to Eu-
sebius Emisenus. He governed his diocese unblamcably, led
a holy life, and died regretted and esteemed by the church.
In the grand controversy of the fifth century, he rather
favoured the Semi-Pelagians, which a recent historian attri-
butes to his fear of the abuses of predestination, and a mis-
understanding of the consequences of Augustine's doctrine.
It is certain that in a treatise which he wrote on saving
grace, he shewed that grace always allures, precedes, and
1 Diet Hist. Moreri. Niceron, in art. Pibrac, vol. XXXIV. Elog par
L'Abbe Calvet, 1178. Saxii OnomasU in i'ibiauus.
F A U S T U S. U9
resists the human will, and that all the reward of our la-
hour is the gift of God. In a disputation, likewise, with
Lucidus, a priest, who was very tenacious of the sentiments
of Augustine, Faustus endeavoured to correct his ideas by
suggesting, that we must not separate grace and human
industry ; that we must abhor Pelagius, and yet detest
those who believe, that a man may be of the number of
the elect, without labouring for salvation. l
FAVORINUS, an ancient philosopher and orator, was
born at Aries in Gaul, flourished under the emperor Adrian,
in the second century, and taught both at Athens and
Home with high reputation. Adrian had no kindness for
him ; for such was the nature and temper of this emperor,
that, not content with being the first in dignity and power,
he would needs be the first in every thing else. This pe-
dantic affectation led him, as Spartian relates, to deride, to
contemn, to trample upon the professors of all arts and
sciences, whom he took a pleasure in contradicting upon
all occasions, right or wrong. Thus one day he reproved
Favorinus, with an air of great superiority, for using a
certain word; which, however, was a good word, and fre-
quently used by the best authors. Favorinus submitted
patiently to the emperor, without making any reply, though
he knew himself to be perfectly right : which when his
friends objected to, ".Shall not I easily suffer him," says
he, " to be the most learned of all men, who has thirty
legions at his command ?" This philosopher is said to
have wondered at three things : first, that being a Gaul he
should speak Greek so well; secondly, that being an
eunuch he should be accused of adultery ; and thirdly,
that being envied and hated by the emperor he should be
permitted to live. Many works are attributed to him ;
among the rest a Greek work of** Miscellaneous History,"
often quoted by Diogenes La/ertius, but none of them are
now extant. 4
FAVORINUS. See PHAVORINUS.
FAVOUR (JOHN), who, according to a tradition still cur-
rent at Halifax, was a good divine, a good physician, and
a good lawyer, was born at Southampton, and was pre-
pared for the university, partly there and partly at Win-
chester-school. From this seminary he was elected pro-
* Cave, vol. T. Milner's Ch. Hist. vol. II. p. 546-WT, Swii Ooomait.
* Plug. Lacrtius, -Brucker.- Saxii Onoraast,
150 F A V O U K.
bationer fellow of New-college, Oxford, in 1576, and two
years afterwards was made complete fellow. On June 5,
1592, he proceeded LL. D. and, as Wood says, was made
vicar of Halifax in Yorkshire, Jan. 4, 1593. In August
1608, according to Thoresby, but in March 1618, accord-
ing to Wood, he was made warden or master of St. Mary
Magdalen's hospital at Ripon. In March 1616, he was
collated to the prebend of Driffield, and to the chanter-
ship of the church of York. He was also chaplain to the
archbishop, and residentiary. He appears to have spent
much of his time in the discharge of the duties of the three
learned professions. In an epistle to the reader, prefixed
to a work we are about to mention, he gives as impediments
to its progress, " preaching every Sabbath-day, lecturing
every day in the week, exercising justice in the common-
-wealth, and practising physic and chirurgery." Amidst
all these engagements, however, he produced a large 4to
volume, printed at London in 1619, entitled " Antiquitie
triumphing over Noveltie ; whereby it is proved, that An-
tiquitie is a true and certain note of the Christian catho-
licke church and veritie, against all new and upstart here-
sies, advancing themselves against the religious honour of
Old Rome, &g." This is dedicated to archbishop Mat-
thews, and it appears that it was begun by the author,
when he was sixty years old, at the desire, and carried on
under the encouragement of the archbishop. Dr. Favour
died March 10, 1623, probably at an advanced age, and
was buried in Halifax church, where there is an inscription
Vo his memory. l
FAVRE (ANTONY), in Latin Faber, was a profound law-
yer and an author ; in a few instances, a poet, for some
quatrains by him remain among those of Pi brae, and there
is a tragedy of his e.ytant, entitled " The Gortlians, or
ambition. " He was born in 1557, was promoted as a law-
yer in his native town of Bresse, afterwards became go-
vernor of SaMpy, and was employed in confidential nego-
tiations between that dukedom and France. He might
have been further promoted in his own country, but re-
fused. He died in H>24. His works, chiefly on jurispru-
dence and civil law, form ten volumes in folio, printed from
1658 to 1661. For his son
FAVRE (CLAUDE). See VAUGELAS.
1 Ath. Ox. vol. I. Watson's Hist, of H'ifax.
* Moreri. Diet. Hibt, Niceron, TO). XIX.
F A W G E T T.
FAWCETT (BENJAMIN), a dissenting minister, was born
at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, Aug. 16, 1715, and after a re-
ligious education at home, was placed under Dr. Dod-
dridge at Northampton, where his conduct was exemplary,
and his improvement rapid. In 1741, by Doddridge's par-
ticular recommendation, he became a preacher at Taunton ;
and in 1745 removed to Kidderminster, where he officiated
as the pastor of a large congregation of dissenters for
thirty-five years, dying in Oct. 1780. He preached thrice
every Sunday, besides weekly services, lectures, visits, &c.
He also carried on an extensive correspondence with his
brethren in various parts of the kingdom, and found lei-
sure to prepare hfs various publications for the press. To
enable him to accomplish all this, he was a rigid recono-
mist of his time, and was seldom in bed after five o'clock
in the morning, to which habit, and a temperate mode of
living, he used to ascribe his remarkable and almost unin-
terrupted health and spirits until a short time before his
death, when he suffered severely from the stone. It is
perhaps more remarkable, that he had no fire in his study
in the depth of wiuter. His flow of spirits appears to have
been rather immoderate, according to Mr. Orion's account.
" I am told that after preaching twice, and administering
the Lord's Supper, he was so lively in the evening that
several of the people were in pain lest he should throw
himself out of the pulpit 1" In his sentiments he was what
is called a Baxterian, and drew upon himself, on spome oc-
casions, the censures of the more orthodox part of his
brethren, particularly by one of his pamphlets, " Candid
reflexions on the different modes of explaining the Trini-
ty." His other works were small pious, tracts ; some fune-
ral, and occasional sermons ; and abridgements of Baxter's
" Saints 1 everlasting Rest," and of some other pieces by
that divine. His personal character was so consistent and
amiable, that his death was lamented by persons of all per-
suasions at Kidderminster. 1
FAWCETT (Sin WILLIAM, K.B.), a brave English offi-
cer, the descendant of a very ancient family, was born
in 1728 at Shipdenhall, near Halifax, in Yorkshire, which,
for many centuries, had been in the possession of his an-
cestors, and is now the property and residence of their
lineal descendant. His father dying when he was very
* Ortou's Letters to Dissenting Ministers, by Palmer, '2vols, 12ino,
F A W C E T T.
young, his education was superintended by an uncle, a very
worthy clergyman. He was brought up at a free school in
Lancashire, where he was well grounded in classical learn-
ing, and became also a remarkable proficient in mathe-
matics. He has very frequently been heard to declare,
that, from his earliest youth, he always felt the strongest
predilection for the army, which his mother and nearest
relations constantly^ endeavoured to dissuade him from ;
but, finding all their arguments ineffectual, they either
bought, or he had an ensigncy given him, in general Ogle-
thorpe's regiment, then in Georgia ; but the war being then
going on in Flanders, he gave up his ensigncy, and went
there as a volunteer, furnished with letters from the late
marquis of Rockingham and Mr. Lascelles (afterwards lord
Harewood) to the commander and several others of the
officers. This step was at the time frequently taken
by young men of spirit of the first rank and fortune, fte
entered as a volunteer, but messed with the officers, and
was very soon presented with a pair of colours. Some
time after, he married a lady of good fortune and family,
and, at the pressing entreaties df her friends, he most re-
luctantly resigned his commission ; which he had no sooner
done, than he felt himself miserable, and his new relations
finding that his propensity to a military life was invincible,
agreed to his purchasing an ensigncy in the third regiment
of guards. Having now obtained the object of his most
anxious wishes, he determined to lose no opportunity of
qualifying himself for the highest situations in his favourite
profession. With this view he paid the most unremitting
attention to his duty, and every hour he could command
was given up to the study of the French and German lan-
guages, in which (by the assistance of his classical learn-
ing) he soon became such a proficient as not only to un-
derstand and write both, grammatically and elegantly, but
to speak them fluently. When he was a lieutenant in the
guards, he translated from the French, " The Reveries ;
Memoirs upon the Art of War, by field-marshal count
Saxe," which was published in 1757, in 4to, and dedicated
" To the general officers." He also translated from the
German, " Regulations for the Prussian cavalry," which
was also published in 1757, and dedicated to major-general
the earl of Albemarle, colonel of the king's own regiment
of dragoons. And he likewise translated from the Ger-
man, " llegulations for the Prussian Infantry," to which
F A W C E T T. 153
was gelded " The Prussian Tactics," which was published
in 1759, and dedicated to lieutenant-general the earl of
Rothes, colonel of the third regiment of foot guards.
Having attained the situation of adjutant in the guards, his
abilities and unremitting attention soon became conspicu-
ous ; and, on the late general Elliot's being ordered to,
Germany in the seven years war, he offered to take him as
his aid-de-camp, which he gladly accepted, as it gave him
an opportunity of gaining that knowledge which actual ser-
vice could alone impart. When he served in Germany,
his ardour, intrepidity, and attention to all the duties of
his situation, were such, that, on the death of general
Elliot, he had immediately offers both from the late prince
Ferdinand, the commander in chief, and the late marquis
of Granby, to be appointed aid-de-camp. By the advice
of a noble earl (who hinted to him that the German war
would not last for ever) he accepted the offer of the latter,
after making due acknowledgements for the honour in-
tended him by the former. In this his new situation his
ardour and attention were, if possible, increased, which
gained him the friendship of all those attached to lord
Granby, particularly of a noble lord who, being fixed
upon to bring to England the account of the battle of War-
burgh, gave up his appointment to captain Fawcett; an
instance of generous friendship which he always spoke of
with the most heartfelt gratitude. On his arrival in Eng-
land, he was introduced by the then great minister to his
late majesty king George the Second, who received him
most graciously, and not the less so on his giving the whole
account in German. Soon after he was promoted to a
company in the guards, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
in the army, and became military secretary to, and the
intimate and confidential friend of lord Granby. His
manners were formed with equal strength and softness ; and
to coolness, intrepidity, and extensive military knowledge,
he added all the requisite talents of a man of business ; and
the most persevering assiduity, without the least ostenta-
tion. Notwithstanding the most unassuming modesty, his
abilities were now so generally known, that he was fixed
upon as the most proper person to manage and support the
interest of his country, in settling many of the concerns of
the war in Germany j and by that means necessarily be-
came known to the great Frederic of Prussia, from whom
he afterwards had the most tempting offers, which he de-
134 F A W C E T T.
clined without hesitation, preferring the service of his
king and country to every other consideration.
Soon after his obtaining a company in the guards, he
acted as deputy adjutant-general under generals Harvey
and William Amherst ; and, in May 1772, he was pro-
moted to the rank of colonel by brevet. At the commence-
ment of the American war, he was sent to Germany, to
negociate with Hesse, Hanover, Brunswick, &c. for a body
of troops to serve in North America, Gibraltar, and the
East-Indies. In August 1777, he was raised to the rank
of major-general, and the following year he succeeded to
the adjutant-generalship by the death of general William
Amherst, and also became colonel of the fifteenth regiment
of foot. In Nov. 1782, he was made a lieutenant-general,
and in 1786 his majesty honoured him with the order of
the Bath. On the death of general Phillipson, in August
1792, that regiment was given to sir William Favvcett. In
the same year the " Rules and Regulations for the forma-
tions, field exercise, and movements of his majesty's
forces," were printed, and directed to be followed by the
British army, by an order signed by sir William. In May
1796 he obtained the rank of general, and on his resigning
the office of adjutant- general, his majesty was so sensible
of the value of his services, as to grant him an allowance
of five pounds per diem in lieu thereof, and ordered him to
be sworn in as one of his most honourable privy-council.
His last promotion was to the governorship of Chelsea hos-
pital, where he died March 22, 1804, aged seventy-six,
and was interred in the burial-ground of the hospital. A
monument has since been erected to his memory, and to
that of his lady, wH<5 survived him about a year. *
FAWKES (FRANCIS), a poetical and miscellaneous writer,
was born in Yorkshire about 1721. He was educated at
Leeds, under the care of the rev. Mr. Cookson, vicar of
that parish, from whence he went to Jesus college, Cam-
bridge, and took his bachelor's degree in 1741, and his
master's in 1745. After being admitted into holy orders,
he settled at Bramham in Yorkshire, near the elegant seat
of that name belonging to Robert Lane, esq. the beauties
of which afforded him the first subject for his muse. He
published his " Bramham Park," in 1745, but without his
name. His next publications were the " Descriptions of
Gent. Mag. 1804. Faulknei's Hist, of Chelsea.
F A W K E S. 155
May and Winter," from Gawen Douglas, the former ia
1752, the latter in 1754 : these brought him into consider-
able notice as a poetical antiquary, and it was hoped that
he would have been encouraged to modernize the whole of
that author's works. About the year last mentioned, he
removed to the curacy of Croydon in Surrey, where he had
an opportunity of courting the notice of archbishop Her-
ring, who resided there at that time, and to whom, among
other complimentary verses, he addressed an " Ode on
his Grace's recovery," which was printed in Dodsley's Col-
lection. These attentions, and his general merit as a
scholar, induced the archbishop to collate him, in 1755, to
the vicarage of Orpington, with St. Mary Cray in Kent.
In 1757 he had occasion to lament his patron's death in a
pathetic elegy, styled Aurelius, printed with his grace's
sermons in 1763, but previously in our author's volume of
poems in 17-61. About the same time he married miss
Furrier of Leeds. In April 1774, by the late Dr. Plump-
tre's favour, he exchanged his vicarage for the rectory of
Hayes, This, except the office of chaplain to the princess
dowager of Wales, was the only ecclesiastical promotion
he obtained.
In 1761 he published by subscription a volume of "Ori-
final Poems and Translations," by which he got more pro-
t than fame. His subscribers amounted to nearly eight
hundred, but no second edition was called for. Some
other pieces by him are in Mr. Nichols's Collection, and in
the " Poetical Calendar," a periodical selection of fugitive
Verses which he published in conjunction with Mr. Woty,
an indifferent poet of that time. In 1767 he published an
eclogue, entitled " Partridge Shooting," very inferior to
his other productions. He was the editor also of a " Fa-
mily Bible," with notes, in 4to, which is a work of very
inconsiderable merit, but to which he probably contributed
only his name, a common trick among the retailers of
" Complete Family Bibles."
His translations of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus,
and MUSIEUS, appeared in 1760, and his Theocritus, en-
couraged by another liberal subscription, in 1767. His
Apollonius Rhodius, a posthumous publication, completed
by the rev. Mr. Meen, of Emanuel college, Cambridge,
made its appearance in 1780, when Mr. Fawkes's widow
was enabled, by the kindness of the editor, to avail herself
of the subscriptions, contributed as usual very liberally.
Mr. Fawkes died August 20, 1777.
156 F A W K E S.
These scanty materials are taken chiefly from Mr. Ni-
chols's Life of Bowyer, and little can now be added to them.
Mr. Fawkes was a man of a social disposition, with much
of the imprudence which adheres to it. Although a pro-
found classical scholar, and accounted an excellent trans-
lator, he was unable to publish any of his works without
the previous aid of a subscription ; and his Bible was a
paltry job which necessity only could have induced him
to undertake. With all his failings, however, it appears
that he was held in esteem by many distinguished contem-
poraries, particularly by Doctors Pearce, Jortin, Johnson,
Warton, Plumptre, and Askew, who contributed critical
assistance to his translation of Theocritus.
As an original poet, much cannot be said in his favour.
His powers were confined to occasional slight and encomi-
astic verses, such as may be produced witbout great effort,
and are supposed to answer every purpose when they have
pleased those to whom they were addressed. The epitha-
lamic ode may perhaps rank higher, if we could forget an
obvious endeavour to imitate Dryden and Pope. In the
elegy on the death of Dobbin, and one or two other pieces,
there is a considerable portion of humour, which is a more
legitimate proof of genius than one species of poets are
disposed to allow. His principal defects are want of judg-
ment and taste. These, however, are less discoverable in
his translations, and it was probably a consciousness of
limited powers which inclined him so much to translation.
In this he every where displays a critical knowledge of his
author, while his versification is smooth and elegant, and
his expression remarkably clear. He was once esteemed
the best translator since the days of Pope, a praise which,
if now disallowed, it is much that it could in his own time
have been bestowed with justice. *
FAYDIT (ANSELME, or GAUCELM,) was one of the most
celebrated of the Provengal poets or troubadours. He had
a fine figure, abundance of wit, and a pleasing address,
and was much encouraged by the princes o his time. By
representing his comedies, he soon acquired considerable
riches, which his vanity and his love of debauchery
and expence did not suffer him to keep. From a miser-
able state of poverty he was relieved by the liberality
of Richard Cacur de Lion, who had a strong taste for the
1 Johnson and Chalmers's English Poets, 1810, 21 vote, Nichols's Poem*
*nu Buwyer.
F A Y D I T. 157
Provencal poetry. After the death of this protector, he
returned to Aix, where he married a young woman of dis-
tinguished wit and beauty ; but she did not long survive
her marriage with this profligate husband. He died soon
after, in 1220, at what age is not exactly known, but cer-
tainly early in life. Among the many pieces which he
wrote, the following are mentioned: I. A poem on the
death of his benefactor, Richard I. 2. " The palace of
Love," imitated afterwards by Petrarch. 3. Several come-
dies, one of which, entitled " Heregia dels Prestes," the
heresy of the priests, a satirical production against the cor-
ruptions of the church, was publicly acted at the castle of
Boniface, marquis of Montserrat.
Dr. Burney informs us that he found his poem on the
death of Richard I. in the Vatican, among the MSS. be-
queathed to that library by the queen of Sweden, with the
original music by the bard himself, who was as much ad-
mired by his contemporaries for setting his poems to music,
as writing them. A translation of the poem, and the mu-
sic itself, may be seen in Dr. Barney's History. 1
FAYDIT (PETER), a priest of Riom, once well known by
his singular opinions, entered the congregation of the ora-
tory in 1662, but was obliged to quit it in 1671, being a
friend to Cartesianism, which was then a heresy. He
preached against the conduct of Innocent XI. towards
France, and published a treatise on the Trinity 1696, in
which appearing to favour tritheisnr, he was confined at St.
Lazare in Paris, but afterwards received orders from the
king to retire to his country, where he died 1709. He
left " a life of St. Amable," 12mo; " Remarks on Homer,
Virgil, and the poetical style of Scripture," 2 vols. 12mo;
a collection in Latin verse, and French prose, entitled,
" Tombeau de M. de Santeuil," 12mo; '" La Telemaco-
manie, ou Critique du Telemaque de M. Fenelon," 12mo,
a foolish attack on Fenelon's celebrated performance. All
-his works contain singular opinions, great reading and
learning, but little taste or judgment. " Le Moines em-
prunte*s," 2 vols. 12mo, have been attributed to him, but
they are by Haitze. *
FAYETTE (MARIE MADELEINE, Pioche de la Vergne,
countess of), a French lady, daughter of Aymar de la
Vergne, marechal-de-camp, and governor of Havre-de-
* Moreri. Barney's Hist, of Music, YO>. U. 2 Moreii Diet, Hist,
ISS .F A Y E T T E.
Grace, bat more distinguished by her wit and literary pro-
ductions than by her family, was married to the count de
Fayette in 1655, and died in lt'i.93. She cultivated letters
and the fine arts ; and her hotel uas the rendezvous of all
who were most distinguished for literary taste. The duke
de la Rochefuucault, Huetius, Mennge, La Fontaine, Se-
grais, were those she saw most frequently. The last, when
obliged to quit the house of Mad. de Montpensier, found
an honourable retreat with her. The author of " The Me-
moirs of madame de Maintenon," has not spoken favour-
ably of this lady, nor represented her manners to be such
as from her connections we should suppose. But madame
de Sevigne, who had better opportunities of knowing her,
and is more to be relied on than the author of the memoirs,
has painted her very differently. This lady says, in a let-
ter to her daughter, " Mad. la Fayette is a very amiable
and a very estimable woman ; and whom yon will love
when you shall have time to be with her, and to enjoy the
benefit of her sense and wit ; the better you luiow her, the
more you will like her."
The principal works of this lady are, 1. " Zaide," a ro-
mance, often printed, and read by persons who do not
usually read romances. 2. " La princesse de Cleves," a
romance also, which Fontenelle professed to have read
four times. Mad. la Fayette was so regardless of fame,
that she published these works under the name of Segrais,
who, however, is supposed to have been no farther con-
cerned than in aiding a little in the design of them. 3.
" La princesse de Montpensier," another romance. Vol-
taire says, that the romances of Fayette were the first
which exhibited the manners of people of fashion in a
graceful, easy, and natural way ; all before having been
pompous bombast, and swelling every thing beyond nature
and life. 4. " Memoires de la cour de France pour lea
annles 1688 & 1689.'' This work is written with address-.
and spirit, and abounds with striking pictures and curious
anecdotes. 5. " Histoire d'Henriette d'Angleterre." 6.
" Divers portraits de quelques personnes de la cour." All
these works are still esteemed ; and she drew up also other
memoirs of the history of her times, which were lent to
every body, and lost, by her son the abbe de la Fayt-tte.
i>he understood Latin, which she learned in a very short
time. *
* Diet. Hist.
F A 1 Z E L L O.
159
FAZZELLO (THOMAS), the historian of Sicily, was born
at Sacca, a town of Palermo, in 1498. He was entered in
the order of Dominican monks, and was their provincial,
but from modesty declined the honour of being elected
general of the order. He was ten times chosen prior of
the monastery at Palermo, and died in possession of that
office in 1570. He wrote many works, but the most con-
siderable was a " History of Sicily," written in Latin in
two decades, which first appeared in Palermo in 1558, foL
and which has passed through several editions, and was
translated into the Italian language. 1
FAZZIO. See FACIO.
FEARNE (CHARLES), a barrister and law writer, was
the eldest son of Fearne, esq. judge advocate of the
admiralty in the latter end of the late king's reign. He
presided at the trial of admiral Byng ; and on that trial,
and in the general course of his profession, was distin-
guished as a very able and learned man. He gave his son
Charles the first rudiments of education himself, and at a
proper age sent him to Westminster school, where he soon
began to distinguish himself in classical and mathematical
learning. Being designed for the law, as soon as he had
finished his education at this seminary, he was entered of
the Inner Temple ; but at that time with no fixed resolu-
tion to become a barrister. His life had hitherto passed
in making excursions from one branch of learning to ano-
ther, in each of which he made very considerable ad-
vances, and might perhaps have succeeded in any. During
this state of irresolution, his father died; and his fortune,
which (from his habits of living) was very inconsiderable,
was equally partitioned between our author, and a brother
and sister. Here it was that young Fearne exhibited that
generosity and independence that distinguished him through
the greater part of his life. His father had given him, on
his entrance into the Inner Temple, a few huudred pounds,
to purchase chambers and books ; and, as he had likewise
given him a superior education to his younger brother, be
nobly resolved on accepting this as a full equivalent for his
share in the remainder of his father's fortune. His bro-
ther and sister had affection and delicacy enough to resist
this conduct for a while; but Fearne was immoveable.
* l My father," said he, " by taking such uncommon paiia*
1 Moreri. Tirabosclii.
160 FEARNE.
with my education, no doubt meant it should be my whole
dependence ; and if that won't bring me through, a fevV
hundred pounds will be a matter of no consequence." His
brother and sister therefore shared the father's fortune be-
tween them : the former settled in the Admiralty-office,
and the latter afterwards married a gentleman of equal rank
and condition with herself.
Amidst Mr. Fearne's various pursuits of knowledge, he
had always a particular attachment to experimental philo-
sophy, which, both at school and at the Temple, he prac-
tised occasionally. In this employment, he fancied that
he had discdvered the art of dying Morocco leather of par-
ticular colours, and after a new process. It appears that
the Maroquoniers in the Levant (who are called so from
dressing the skin of this goat, named the Maroquiu) keep
secret the ingredients which they put into the liquor,
which gives it that fine red colour. This secret, or what
would answer equally as well, Fearne thought he had dis-
overed, and, like most projectors, saw great profits arising
from the discovery. It was his misfortune, however, to
form a connection in this scheme, with a needy and ex-
pensive partner, which opened his eyes to the fallacy of
his hopes ; and at the suggestion of his friends, he reverted
to his original profession, or what his father intended for
such, and sat down to the study of the law with unremit-
ting diligence. He had not been long in chambers, when
his habits of study, diligence, and sobriety, were observed
by an eminent attorney in the Temple, who wanted an
abstract to be made of a voluminous body of papers, so as
to bring the matter clearly before counsel. The papers
were so intricate, and of such various references, that they
required a very clear head, and a man not much taken up
with other business, to arrange them. He saw Fearne an-
swered this last description very well ; and told him, "That
having a great body of papers to arrange, he should be
glad to employ him." Fearne accepted the offer, and
performed his task so ably, that his employer not only re-
warded him handsomely for his trouble, but from that time
gave him a considerable part of his business.
He now began to be known as a young man of very con-
siderable legal erudition, and a promising increase in busi-
ness encouraged him to relinquish his chambers, and take
a house in Breams-buildings, Chancery-lane, where he
became very successful as, what is called, a chamber coun-
F E A R N E. 161
sel. Before he left the Temple, he had published his very
useful " Legigraphical Chart of Landed Property,'* and he
now derived additional reputation from his more important
treatise, entitled " An Essay on the Learning of Contin-
gent Remainders and Executory Devises," which, although
published without his name, was soon traced to its author.
Fortune, as it is usually termed, was now before him, but
he had no extraordinary ambition for her favours, and, very
oddly, contracted his business within a 1 certain compass,
by which it might yield him an annual sum which he
thought sufficient for his wants. This, estimated by his
biographer at 1500/. a year, when he could with ease have
acquired 3000/. he spent on a town and country-house, a
carriage, &c. with an establishment on a genteel but mo-
derate scale ; and the time he denied to increase of busi-
ness, he employed in his house at Hampstead on mechani-
cal and philosophical experiments. At this retreat he was
wrapt up either in some philosophical experiment, or some
mechanical invention : the first of which he freely commu-
nicated to men of similar pursuits ; and the latter, when,
completed, he as liberally gave away to poor artists, or
dealers in these articles ; and here also he made some op?
tical glasses upon a new construction, which have been
reckoned improvements : he likewise constructed a ma-
chine for transposing the keys in music ; gave many useful
hints in the dyeing of cottons, and in a variety of other ar-
ticles, which equally shewed the enlarged state of his mind,
and the liberality of his heart. These he called his dissi-
pations, and with some degree of truth, as they often broke
jn upon his profession, and induced him to give up more
hours (to bring up for lost time) than was consistent with
more beneficial pursuits, or the natural strength of his con-
stitution.
While thus employed, an occasion presented itself, which
called forth his talents in a new way. Lord Mansfield,
when solicitor-general in 1747, having given an opinion in.
the state of a case on the will of William Williams (after-
wards the subject of the celebrated case of Perrin v. Blake),
which Mr. Fearne, on the authority of his friend the late
James Booth, esq. of Lincoln's-inn, quoted in the first
edition of his " Essay on the Learning of Contingent Re-
mainders, &c." his lordship afterwards disavowed that opi-
nion on the bench, insinuating at the same time that Mr,
Fearne was under some mistake in reporting it. Fearne,
VOL. XIV. M
162 F E A R N E.
all alive to the delicacy of his character, and knowing the
strong ground he proceeded upon (which was a copy of
that opinion given him by Mr. Booth, from a manuscript
collection of cases, taken from the originals), took this
opportunity to publish a letter, entitled " Copies of Opi-
nions ascribed to eminent counsel on the will which was
the subject of the case of Perrin v. Blake, before the court
of king's bench, 1769, addressed to the right hon. William
earl of Mansfield." This appeared about 1780, and is said
to have afforded lord Mansfield some uneasiness, who, how-
ever, took no notice of it.
The remainder of Mr. Fearne's life appears to have pass-
ed in a relaxation from professional cares, and to have been
embittered by the difficulties by which such imprudence
is generally followed. It would be painful to enter into a,
detail of this course, which terminated by his death, Jan.
21, 1794, when he had reached only his forty -fifth year,
and was worn out both in mind and body. In order to
contribute to the provision of his family, his friends col-
lected his posthumous works, which were published in
1797, consisting of "Observations on the Statute of Inroll-
ments of Bargains and Sales, 27 Hen. VIII. delivered by
the author in a reading at Lyon's-inn in 1778 ; Arguments
in the singular case of general Stanwix ; and a collection
of Cases and Opinions." l
FEATLEY, or FAIRCLOUGH (DANIEL), a learned
controversial divine of the church of England, was born at
Charltou upon Otmore, near Oxford, March 15, 1582.
FAIRCLOUGH was the name of his ancestors, so spelt by hi*
grandfather, father, and eldest brother, and it appears that
he was ordained by the same. Why he afterwards pre-
ferred FEATLEY, which is a corruption of Fairclough (or,
Faircliff, a place in Lancashire, where the family were ori-
ginally seated), we know not, nor is it perhaps of much
consequence. That the family were reduced, appears from
the occupation of his father, who was cook to Dr. Laurence
Humphrey, president of Magdalen, and served Corpus
Christi college, Oxford, in the same capacity. He had
interest enough, however, with his employers, to obtain
a good education for the subject of this memoir, who was
his second son, and whom we find mentioned first as a
chorister of Magdalen college. After having made consi-
1 European Mag. for August, September, and October, 1799.
F E A T L E Y.
163
derable progress in the school belonging to that college,
where, even at twelve years old, his Latin and Greek exer-
cises were noted for their excellence, he was admitted
scholar of Corpus Christi college, Dec. 13, 1594, and
Sept. 20, 1602, when B. A. was chosen probationer fellow.
He commenced M. A. at the usual time, and was always
eminent for his academical exercises, nor was he less noted
as a disputant and preacher. In 1607 he delivered an ora-
tion at the death of Dr. Reinold, president of Corpus, who
had been one of his earliest patrons.
In 1610, and the two following years, we find him in
attendance upon sir Thomas Edmondes, the king's minister
at the court of France. Several of the sermons he preached,
during this time, in the ambassador's chapel, are collected
in his " Clavis Mystica," and those which were levelled at
the errors of popery are said to have been very successful
both in converting some catholics, and in confirming the
opinions of those who had before embraced. the doctrines
of the reformation. He had also very frequent conferences
in the Cleremont with the Jesuits, and with the members
of the Sorboane, but especially with fathers Sirmund and
Petau, who, althdugh they at first ridiculed his figure, for
he was low of stature, yet afterwards were impressed with
a regard for his controversial talents, and treated his me-
mory with respect. His three disputations at Paris are
confessed by Holden, an eminent English catholic writer,
to have done more harm to the popish cause than thirty-
three he had read of before. By most of the foreign uni-
versities he was held in such honour as a disputant, that in
the tables of the celebrated schoolmen, whom they ho-
noured with the epithets of resolute, subtle, angelic, &c.
he was called acutissimus et acerrimus. According to
Wood, he commenced B. D. in 1613, and was the preacher
at the act of that year. His sermon on this occasion is
said to have been No. 37. in the " Clavis Mystica ;" but,
according to the evidence of his nephew John Featley, he
did not take that degree until 1615, and the sermon he de-
livered was a Latin concio ad clerum, dated March 25. In
1610 he had preached the rehearsal sermon at Oxford, and
by the bishop of London's appointment he discharged the
same duty at St. Paul's cross in 1613. By invitation from
Mr. Ezekiel Ascot, who had been his pupil, he accepted
the rectory of Northill in Cornwall, which he vacated on
his institution to the rectory of Lambeth in 1618. a change
MD
+i
164- FEATLEY.
which, if not more profitable, was certainly highly agrees
ahle to him, as he became now, by the recommendation
of the university, domestic chaplain to Abbot, archbishop
of Canterbury.
In 1619 he preached at Lambeth church, or in the cha-
pel of the palace, seven of the sermons in the "Clavis Mys-
tica," before the king's commissioners in ecclesiastical
causes^ and on other occasions, and delivered his sentiments
with uncommon freedom of spirit, which appears to have
been habitual to him. By the direction of archbishop Abbot,
who was desirous that De Dominis, archbishop of Spalato,
should be gratified with the hearing of a complete divinity-
act, Mr. Featley, in 1617, kept his exercise for the de-
gree of D. D. under Dr. Prideaux, the regius professor ;
and many other foreigners were present, with the flower of
the English nobility and gentry. The Italian primate was
so highly pleased with the performance, that he not only
thanked his grace for the entertainment he had procured
for him; but, being soon after appointed master of the
Savoy, he gave Dr. Featley a brother's place in that hos-
pital. In the course of this exercise Dr. Prideaux, appre-
hensive for his reputation before such an auditory, felt the
sharpness and acuteness of Featley's replies, almost to a
degree of resentment, but the archbishop effected a recon-
ciliation between two men whose agreement in more im-
portant points was of such consequence in those days.
In June 1623, was held a famous conference at sir
Humphrey Lynde's, between Dr.tWilson, dean of Carlisle,
and Dr. Featiey, with the Jesuits Fisher and Sweet, and
the result of it being published in 1624, by archbishop
Abbot's command, under the title of " The Romish Fisher
caught and held in his own net," was dedicated to the
archbishop by Featley. As chaplain to his grace, he was
intrusted with the invidious office of licensing books, and
examining clerks, which he is said to have discharged with
much prudence, and in general to the entire satisfaction of
his superiors. On one occasion, however, he is said to
have been censured for licensing Elton's Commentary on
the Colossians, an author we are unacquainted with, but
excused himself by pleading that the sheets which had
given offence were added after his imprimatur. His con-
duct, as licenser, with respect to Gataker's treatise " On
Lots," will occur to be mentioned in our account of thai
F E A T L E Y.
165
Hitherto the archbishop had bestowed no preferment on.
his chaplain ; but in 1627, as we are told, "urged by hear-
ing the discontents of the court and city, because his chap-
lain was kept behind the hangings," he bestowed on him
the rectory of Allhallows, Bread-street, and afterwards the
rectory of Acton. Much about the same time, but the year
not known, he was appointed provost of Chelsea college,
an institution which did not last long. In 1622 he had
married Mrs. Joyce Holloway, who was his parishioner,
and resided in Kennington-lane. This lady appears to
have been considerably older than Dr. Featley, but was a
woman of great piety and accomplishments. He concealed
his marriage for some time, lest it should interfere with his
residence at Lambeth palace ; but in 1625 he ceased to be
chaplain to the archbishop, and concealment was no longer
necessary. The cause of his quitting the archbishop's ser-
vice has been represented as " the unfeeling treatment" of
that prelate. But of this, his biographers have made too
much. The story, in short, is, that Dr. Featley fell sick
at Oxford, supposed of the plague, and was obliged to
leave the place and go to Lambeth ; and when he found
that the archbishop had removed to Croydon for fear of
the plague, he followed him thither, and the archbishop
refused him entrance, and was surely justifiable in every
endeavour to prevent the disorder from extending to the
place he had chosen as a refuge. The story is told with
some confusion of circumstances, but the above is probably
the truth. Dr. Featley, however, on recovering from his
disorder, which, after all, happened not to be the plague,
quitted the archbishop's service, and removed his books
from the palace. It was during the raging of the plague in
1625, or 1626, when the churches were deserted, that he
wrote his " Ancilla Pietatis, or Hand-maid to private devo*
tion," which became very popular; and before 1676, had
passed through eight editions. Wood appears to be mis-
taken in saying, that in this work Dr. Featley makes the
story of St. George, the tutelar saint of England, a "mere
fiction, and that archbishop Laud obliged him to apolo-
gize for this on his knees. Dr. Featley's words bear no
such meaning, but it is probable enough that there was a
misunderstanding between Featley and the archbishop, as
the former refused to obey the latter in turning the com-
munion-table of Lambeth church altar-wise ; and we know
that Featley was afterwards a witness against the arch-
166 F E A T L E Y.
bishop, upon the charge of his having made superstitious
innovations in Lambeth church.
While the ecclesiastical constitution stood, Dr. Featley
was member of several of the convocations; and upon ac-
count, as is supposed, of his being a Calvinist, he was in
1642 appointed by the parliament one of the Assembly of
Divines. He is said to have continued longer with them
than any other member of the episcopal persuasion ; but
this was no longer than he discovered the drift of their
proceedings. That he was not acceptable to the ruling
party, appears from his becoming in the same year, a vic-
tim to their revenge. In November, the soldiers sacked
his church at Acton, and at Lambeth would have mur-
dered him, had he not made his escape. These outrages
were followed Sept. 30, 1643, by his imprisonment in
Peter-house, in Aldersgate-street, the seizure of his library
and goods, and the sequestration of his estate. Charges
were preferred against him of the most absurd and con-
tradictory kind, which it was to little purpose to answer.
He was voted out of his living. Among his pretended
offences were, that he refused to assent to every clause in
the solemn league and covenant, and that he corresponded
with archbishop Usher, who was with the king at Oxford.
During his imprisonment, he amused himself by writing
his celebrated treatise, entitled " The Dippers dipt, or the
Anabaptists ducked and plunged over head and ears, at a
disputation in Southwark." It is, however, a striking
proof of that anarchy of sentiment which disgraced the
nation at this period, that he not only dedicates this book
to the parliament which had imprisoned him, but exhorts
them to employ the sword of justice against " heretics and
schismatics," although himself was n'ow suffering under the
latter description by that very parliament. He was better
employed soon after in an able vindication of the church
of England against the innovators who now bore rule ; but
his long confinement of eighteen months impaired his
health and shortened his clays. His situation appears to
have been represented to his persecutors, but it was not
until six weeks before his death that he obtained leave
from the parliament to remove to Chelsea for the benefit
of the air. Here he died April 17, 1645, on the very day
that he was bound to have returned to his confinement at
Peter-house. It was reported that a few hours before his
deaih, he prayed for destruction to the enemies of the
FEATLEY.
church and state, in expressions which have been called
" irascible and resentful." How far they were used by
him seems doubtful ; but had he prayed only for the resto-
ration of the constitution in church and state, it might have
still, in those times, been imputed to him that the destruc-
tion of their enemies was a necessary preliminary and a
fair innuendo. He was buried in the chancel of Lambeth
church, where his funeral sermon was preached by Dr.
Leo or Loe, who had been in habits of intimacy with him
for thirty-seven years* Dr. Leo represents him as being
" in his nature, meek, gracious, affable, and merciful :" as
a writer he was esteemed in his time one of the ablest de-
fenders of the doctrines of the reformation against the pa-
pists, and one of the ablest opponents of the anabaptists.
Wood has given a long list of his controversial works,
most of *..:iich are now little known, and seldom inquired
for. Among his writings of another description, however,
we may mention, l.The LIVES of Jewell, prefixed to his
works, and of Reinolds, Dr. Robert Abbot, &c. which are
in Fuller's " Abel Redivivus." 2. " The Sum of saving
Knowledge," a kind of catechism, London, 1626. 3.
"Clavis Mystica; a Key opening divers difficult and mys-
terious texts of Holy Scripture, in seventy Sermons," ibid.
1636, folio, Prynne says that Laud's chaplain obliterated
many passages in them respecting the papists. 4. " Hexa-
texium ; or six Cordials to strengthen the heart of every
faithful Christian against the terrors of death," ibid. 1637,
folio. 5. " Several Funeral Sermons, one preached at the
funeral of sir Humphrey Lynd," ibid. 1640, folio. The
proper title of this volume is " @^vwoj, the House of
Mourning furnished, delivered in forty-seven Sermons,"
by Daniel Featley, Martin Day, Richard Sibbs, and Tho-
mas Taylor, and other reverend divines ; but their respec-
tive shares are not pointed out, nor, except in one or two
instances, the persons at whose funerals the sermons were
preached. 6. " Dr. Daniel Featley revived, proving that
the protestant church (and not the Romish) is the on4y ca^
tholic and true church," ibid. 1660, 12mo. To this is pre-
fixed an account of his life by his nephew John Featley.
Dr. Featley also published king James's " Cygnea Cantio,"
ibid. 1629, 4to, which contains a scholastic duel between
that monarch and our author. l
1 Biog. Brit, vol. VI. Part I. of the new edition, unpublished an article
elaborately prepared by the Rev. Sam. Dome, for his Addenda to Dr. Duca-
rpl's History of Lambeth Palace, aud Mr. Nichols's History of that Parish.
168 F E A T L E Y.
FEATLEY (JOHN), nephew to the preceding, son of
John Fairclough, was a native of Northamptonshire, and
educated at All Souls' college, Oxford, which he is said to
have left after taking his first degree in arts, probably to
become his uncle's assistant at Lambeth or Acton. During
the rebellion he went to St. Christopher's in the West In-
dies, where he arrived in 1643, and had the honour of
being the first preacher of the gospel in the infancy of that
colony. It appears that he returned about the time of the
restoration, and was appointed chaplain to the king, who
also in August 1660 presented him to the precentorship of
Lincoln, and in September following to the prebend of
Milton Ross, in that cathedral. In 1662, he was created
D. D. and had from the dean and chapter of Lincoln the
vicarage of Edwinton in Nottinghamshire, worth about
sixty pounds a year. He died at Lincoln in 1666, and was
interred in a chapel in the cathedral. He published one
or two of his uncle's tracts, particularly " Dr. Featley re-
vived, &c." in which, as already noticed, there is a life of
his uncle. Of his own were only published two occasional
sermons, and " A divine antidote against the Plague, con-
tained in Soliloquies and Prayers," London, 1660. l
FECHT, or FECHTIUS (JOHN), of Brisgaw, a cele-
brated Lutheran divine and historian, author of several
learned works in Latin and in German, who was settled first
at Dourlach, and afterwards at Rostock, was born in 1636,
and died in 1716. Among his works are a " History of
Cain and Abel," with notes critical, philological, historical,
and theological, published at Rostock, in 8vo ; a " Trea-
tise on the Religion of the modern Greeks ;" another
against the " Superstitions of the Mass," &c. *
FECKENHAM (JOHN DE), so called, because he was
born of poor parents in a cottage, near the forest of Fec-
kenham in Worcestershire, his right name being Howmau,
was the last abbot of Westminster. Discovering in his
youth very good parts, and a strong propensity to learning,
the priest of the parish took him under his care, instructed
him some years, and then procured him admission into
Evesham monastery. At eighteen, he was sent by his abbot
to Gloucester-hall, Oxford; from whence, when he had
sufficiently improved himself in academical learning, he
was recalled to his abbey ; which being dissolved Nov. 17,
1 Biog. Brit. vol. VI. Part I. of the new edition, unpublished,
8 AJortn. Sa\ii Onumast.
F E C K E N H A M. 169
1-536, he had a yearly pension of an hundred florins al-
lowed him for his life. Upon this he returned to Glouces-
ter-hall, where he pursued his studies some years ; and in
1539, took the degree of bachelor of divinity, being then
chaplain to Bell bishop of Worcester. That prelate re-
signing his see in 1543, he became chaplain to Bonner
bishop of London ; but Bonner being deprived of his bi-
shopric, in 1 549, by the reformers, Feckenham was com-
mitted to the Tower of London, because, as some say, he
refused to administer the sacraments after the protestant
manner. Soon after, he was taken from thence, to dispute
on the chief points controverted between the protestants
and papists, and disputed several times in public before
and with some great personages.
He was afterwards remanded to the Tower, where he
continued till queen Mary's accession to the crown in 1553 ;
but was then released, and made chaplain to the queen.
He became also again chaplain to Bonner, prebendary of
St. Paul's, dean of St. Paul's, rector of Finchley in Mid-
dlesex, which he held only a few months; and then rector
of Greenford in the same county. In 1554, he was one of
the disputants at Oxford against Cranmer, Ridley, and La-
timer, before they suffered martyrdom, but said very little
against them ; and during Mary's reign, he was constantly
employed in doing good offices to the afflicted protestants
from the highest to the lowest. Francis Russel earl of
Bedford, Ambrose and Robert Dudley, afterwards earls
of Warwick and- Leicester, were benefited by his kind-
ness ; as was also sir John Cheke, whose life he and sir
Thomas Pope, the founder of Trinity college, Oxford, are
said to have saved, by a joint application to queen Mary.
Feckenham was very intimate with sir Thomas, and often
visited him at Tyttenhanger-house. Feckenham also inter-
ceded with queen Mary for the lady Elizabeth's enlarge-
ment out of prison, and that so earnestly, that the queen
was actually displeased with him for some time. In May
1556, he was complimented by the university of Oxford
with the degree of doctor in divinity ; being then in uni-
versal esteem for his learning, piety, charity, moderation,
humility, and other virtues. The September following, he
was made abbot of Westminster, which was then restored
by queen Mary ; and fourteen Benedictine monks placed
there under his government, with episcopal power.
Upon the death of Mary, in 1558, her successor Eliza-
170 tf E C K E N- H A M.
beth, not unmindful of her obligations to Feckenham, sent
for him before her coronation, to consult and reward him ;
and, as it is said, offered him the archbishopric of Canter-
bury, provided he would conform to the laws; but this he
refused. He appeared, however, in her first parliament,
taking the lowest place on the bishop's form ; and was the
last mitred abbot that sat in the house of peers. During
his attendance there he spoke and protested against every
thing tending towards the reformation ; and the strong
opposition which he could not be restrained from making,
occasioned his commitment to the tower in 1560. After
nearly three years confinement there, he was committed
to the custody of Home bishop of Winchester : but having
been old antagonists on the subject of the oath of supre-
macy, their present connection was mutually irksome, and
Feckenham was remanded to the Tower in 1564. After-
wards he was removed to the Marshalsea, and then to
a private house in Holborn. In 1571, he attended Dr.
John Storie before his execution. In 1578 we find him in
free custody with Cox bishop of Ely, whom the queen had
requested to use his endeavours to induce Feckenham to
acknowledge her supremacy, and come over to the church :
and he was at length prevailed on to allow her supremacy,
but could never be brought to a thorough conformity.
Soon after, the restless spirit of some Roman catholics,
and their frequent attempts upon the queen's life, obliged
her to imprison the most considerable among them : upon
which Feckenham was sent to Wisbich-castle in the Isle of
Ely, where he continued a prisoner to the time of his
death, which happened in 1585. As to his character,
Camden calls him " a learned and good man, that lived
long, did a great- deal of good to the poor, and always
solicited the minds of his adversaries to benevolence."
Fuller styles him, " a man cruel to none ; courteous and
charitable to all who needed his help or liberality." Bur-
net says, " he was a charitable and generous man, who
lived in great esteem in England." And Dart concludes
his account of him in these words : " though I cannot go
so far as Reyner, to call him a martyr; yet I cannot gather
but that he was a good, mild, modest, charitable man, and
a devout Christian."
Wood has given us the following catalogue of his works:
1. " A Conference dialogue-wise held between the lady
Jane Dudley and Mr. John Feckenham, four days before
F E C K E N H A M. 171
her death, touching her faith and belief of the sacrament,
and her religion, 1554." In April 1554, he had been
sent by the queen to this lady to commune with her, and
to reduce her from the doctrine of Christ to queen Mary's
religion, as Fox expresses it. The substance of this con-
ference may be seen also in Fox's " Acts and Monuments
of Martyrs." 2. " Speech in the house of lords, 1553."
5. " Two Homilies on the first, second, and third articles
of the Creed." 4. " Oratio funebris in exequiis ducissae
Parmse," &c. that is, " A funeral oration on the Death of
the duchess of Parma, daughter of Charles V. and gover-
ness of the Netherlands." 5. " Sermon at the exequy of
Joan queen of Spain, 1555." 6. The declaration of such
scruples and staies of conscience, touching the Oath of
Supremacy, delivered by writing to Dr. Home, bishop of
Winchester, 1566." 7. " Objections or Assertions made
against Mr. John Cough's Sermon, preached in the Tower
of London, Jan. 15, 1570." 8. " Caveat emptor :" which
seems to have been a caution against buying abbey-lands.
He had also written, " Commentaries on the Psalms," and
a " Treatise on the Eucharist," which were lost among
other things. Thus far Wood : but another author men-
tions, 9. " A Sermon on the Funeral of queen Mary, on
" Eeclesiastes iv. 2." l
FEIJOO. See FEYJOO.
FEITHIUS (EVERARD), a learned German, was born
at Elburg in Guelderland, in the sixteenth century. He
studied philosophy for some time, and afterwards applied
himself entirely to polite literature, in which he made a
considerable progress. He was a master of the Greek
tongue, and even of the Hebrew ; of which the professors
of the protestant university of Bern gave him an ample
testimonial. Being returned to his own country, from
\vhich he had been long absent, he was under great con-
sternation, on account of the expedition of the Spaniards
commanded by Spinola. This determined him to leave his
native country ; and he went to settle in France, where he
taught the Greek language, and was honoured with the
friendship of Casaubon, of M. Du Puy, and of the presi-
dent Thuanus. When he was walking one day at Rochelle,
attended by a servant, he was desired to enter into the
1 Bios:. Brit. Dodd's Ch. Hist. Nash's Worcestershire. TindaPs Hist, of
Evesham. Sirype's Cranmtr, pp. 258, 269, 335. Atfc, Ox, vol. 1. Warton's
Life of sir T. Pope, &c. &c.
172 P E I T H I U S.
house of a citizen : and after that day it could never be
discovered what became of him, notwithstanding all thf
strictest inquiries of the magistrates. He was but young
at the time of this most mysterious disappearing, " which,"
says Bayle, " is to be lamented ; for if he had lived to
grow old, he would have wonderfully explained most of the
subjects relating to polite letters." This judgement is
grounded upon his manuscript works, one of which was
published at Leyden in 1677, by Henry Brunaan, princi-
pal of the college at Swol, and the author's grand nephew,
entitled " Antiqnitatum Homericarum libri quatuor," 12mo.
It is very learned, and abounds with curious and instruc-
tive observations. An edition of it was published in 1743,
with notes, by Elias Stoeber, 8vo, at Strasburgh. There
are other works of his in being, as, " De Atheniensium
republica, De antiquitatibus Atticis," &c. which the editor
promised to collect and publish j but we do not know that
it was done. l
FELIBIEN (ANDREW), Sieur des Avaux et de Javerci,
counsellor and historiographer to the king of France, was
born at Chartres in 1619. He finished his first studies
there at the age of fourteen, and then was sent to Paris to
improve himself in the sciences, and in the management
of affairs : but his inclination soon made him devote him-
self entirely to the muses, and he gained a great reputation
by his knowledge in the fine arts. The marquis de Fon-
tenay-Mareuil, being chosen for the second time ambas-
sador extraordinary to the court of Rome in 1647, Felibien
was made secretary to the embassy, and perfectly answered
the hopes which that minister had conceived of him. Du-
ring bis stay at Rome, his fondness for the liberal arts
made him spend all the time he could spare in visiting
those who excelled in them ; and especially the celebrated
Poussin, from whose conversation he learned to under-
stand all that is most beautiful in statues and pictures :
and it was according to the exalted notions he then formed
to himself of the excellence and perfection of painting,
that he wrote those valuable works which established his
reputation. On his return from Italy he went to Chartres;
and, as he designed to settle himself, he married a lady of
considerable family. His friends introduced him after-
wards to Fouquet, who would have done something for
J Gen. Diet. Moreri. Saxii Onomxst,
F E L I B I E N. 173
him had he not soon after lost the king's favour : but Col-
bert, who loved the arts and sciences, did not suffer him to
be useless. After he had desired him to make some
draughts for his majesty, in order to engage him to com-
plete the works he had begun, he procured him a commis-
sion of historiographer of the king's buildings, superin-
tendant of them, and of the arts and manufactures in
France : this commission was delivered to him March
10, 1666. The royal academy of architecture having been
established in 1671, he was made secretary to it. The
king made him afterwards keeper of his cabinet of antiques,
in 1673, and gave him an apartment in the palace of Brion.
He was also one of the first members of the academy of
inscriptions and medals, and became afterwards deputy
comptroller general of the bridges and dykes of the king-
dom. He died June 11, 1695, aged seventy-six ; and left
five children.
His chief works are, 1. " Entretiens sur les Vies et sur
les Ouvrages des plus excellens Peintres anciens et mo-
dernes :" 1666 1688, 5 vols. 4to. 2. "Les Principes
de 1' Architecture, de la Sculpture, et de la Peinture, avec
un dictionaire des termes propres de ces artes," 1676, and
1691, 4to. 3. " De 1'origi.ne de la Peinture, avec plusieurs
pieces detachers," 1660. 4. "Several Descriptions, as
that of Versailles, of Entertainments given by the king,
and of several Pictures," collected into one vol. in 12mo.,
. " The Conferences of the royal academy of painting,"
in one vol. 4to. 6. " The Description of the Abbey de la
Trappe," in 12mo. He also left some translations: viz.
*' An Account of what passed in Spain, when the count
duke of Olivares fell under the king's displeasure," trans-
lated out of Italian ; " The Castle of the Soul," written
by St. Teresa, translated from the Spanish ; " The Life of
pope Pius V." translated from the Italian.
In all that he has written there appears sound judgment
and good taste, but his " Dialogues upon the Lives of the
Painters' 7 is the work which has done him the greatest
honour. His only fault is, that he is sometimes prolix and
immethodical. Voltaire informs us, that he was the first
who gave Lewis XIV. the surname of Great, in the in-
scriptions in the hotel-de-ville. Felibien had many good
qualities, and, free from ambition, was moderate in his
desires, and of a contented disposition. He was a man of
probity, of honour, of piety, Though he was naturally
J74 F E L I B I E N.
grave and serious, and of a hasty and somewhat severe
temper, yet his conversation was generally chearful and
lively. He was a steady advocate tor truth ; and he used
to encourage himself in it by this motto, which he caused
to be engraved on his seal, " Bene facere, et vera dicere,"
that is, " To do good, and speak the truth." His bio-
graphers seem agreed that he lived in a constant practice
of these two duties. l
FELIBIEN (JOHN FRANCIS), son of the preceding, suc-
ceeded his father in all his places, and seemed to inherit
his taste in the fine arts. He died in 1733. Some works
written by him must not be confounded with those of his
father: namely, 1. " An historical Collection of the Lives
and Works of the most celebrated Architects," Paris, 1687,
4to, frequently subjoined to his father's account of the
painters. 2. " Description of Versailles, ancient and mo-
dern," 12mo. 3. " Description of the Church of the In-
valids," 1706, fol. reprinted in 1756. There were also
two more Felibiens, \vho were authors: JAMES, brother
of Andrew, a canon and archdeacon of Chartres, who died
in 1716, and had published, among other works, one en-
titled " Pentateuchus Historicus," 1704, 4to, part of which
he was obliged afterwards to suppress, and consequently
the uncastrated copies are most valued ; and MICHAEL,
another of his sons, a Benedictine of the congregation of
St. Maur, who was born in 1666, and died in 1719. The
latter wrote a history of the abbey of St. Denys, in fo-
lio, published in 1706; and began the history of Paris,
which was afterwards continued and published by Lobineau. 8
FELIC1ANUS (JOHN BEUNARDINE), a native of Venice,
who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century,
established a great reputation at that time by his trans-
lations from Greek authors, a task which few, compa-
ratively, were then able to perform. He translated, among
others, the sixth book of Paul ^gineta, 1533 ; Aristotle's
Ethics, Venice, 1 541, fol.; " Alexandri Aphrodisiensis Com-
mentarius in primum priorum Analyticbrum Aristotelis,"
ibid. 1542, fol. ; "Ammonii Hermeae Comment, in Isagogen
Porphyrii," ibid. 1545, 8vo ; " Porphyrius de abstinentia
animalium," ibid. 1547, 4to ; and " Oecumenius in Acta et
Epistolas Catholicas," Basil, 1552, 8vo. We have no
1 Gen. Diet. Moreri. Niceron. vols. II. and X.
9 Moreri. JJict. Hist. Saxii Ouomasticon.
F E L I C I A N U S. 175
account of his life or death, but he appears to have been
a priest of the Benedictine order, and esteemed for his
learning. *
FELIX MINUCIUS. See MINUTIUS FELIX.
FELL (SAMUEL, D. D.) a learned divine, was born in
the parish of St. Clement Danes, London, 1594; elected
student of Christ Church from Westminster school in
1601; took a master of arts degree in 1608, served the
office of proctor in 1614, and the year following was ad-
mitted bachelor of divinity ; and about that time became
minister of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. In May 1619,
he was installed canon of Christ Church, and the same
year proceeded doctor in divinity, being about that time
domestic chaplain to James I. In 1626, he was made
Margaret professor of divinity, and consequently had a
prebend of Worcester, which was about that time annexed
to the professorship. He was then a Calvinist, but at
length, renouncing the opinions so called, he was, through
Laud's interest, made dean of Lichfield in 1637 ; and the
year following, dean of Christ Church. In 1645, he was
appointed vice-chancellor, which office he served also in
1647, in contempt of the parliamentary visitors, who at
length ejected him from that and his deanery, and their
minions were so exasperated at him for his loyalty to the
king, and zeal for the church, that they actually sought
his life : aqd being threatened to be murdered, he was
forced to abscond. He died broken-hearted, Feb. 1, 1648-9;
that being the very day he was made acquainted with the
murder of his royal master king Charles. He was buried
in the chancel of Sunning-well church, near Abingdon, in.
Berkshire (where he had been rector, and built the front
of the parsonage-house) with only this short memorial, on a
small lozenge of marble laid over his grave, " Depositum
S. F. February 1648." He was a public-spirited man, and
had the character of a scholar. Wood, though he supposes
there were more, only mentions these two Small produc-
tions of his ; viz. " Primitiae ; sive Oratio habita Oxoniae in
Schola TheologiiE, 9 Nov. 1626,'* and, " Concio Latina
ad Baccalaureos die cinerum in Coloss. ii. 8." They were
both printed at Oxford in 1627. He contributed very largely
to Christ Church college, completing most of the improve-
I Moreri,- Baillet Jugements, Saxii Qnojnast,
176 F E L L.
ments begun by his predecessor, Dr. Duppa, and would
have done more had not the rebellion prevented him. '
FELL (Dr. JOHN), an eminently learned divine, was the
son of the preceding, by Margaret his wife, daughter of
Thomas Wyld, of Worcester, esq. and was born at Long-
worth in Berkshire, June 23, 1625. He was educated
mostly at the free-school of Thame in Oxfordshire ; and
in 1636, when he was only eleven years of age, was ad-
mitted student of Christ Church in Oxford. In Oct. 1640
he took the degree of B. A. and that of M. A. in June
1643j about which time he was in arms for Charles I.
within the garrison of Oxford, and afterwards became an
ensign. In 1648 he was turned out of his place by the
parliamentarian visitors, being then in holy orders ; and
from that time till the restoration of Charles II. lived in a re-
tired and studious manner, partly in the lodgings, at Christ
Church, of the famous physician Willis, who was his
brother-in-law, and partly in his own house opposite Mer-
ton college, wherein he and others kept up the devotions
and discipline of the church of England.
A.fter the restoration he was made prebendary of Chi-
chester, and canon of Christ Church, in which last place
he was installed July 27, 1660; and in Nov. following was
made dean, being then D. D. and chaplain in ordinary to
the king. As soon as he was fixed, he earnestly applied
himself to purge the college of all remains of hypocrisy
and nonsense, so prevalent in the late times of confusion,
and to improve it in all sorts of learning as well as true
religion. Nor was he more diligent in restoring its disci-
pline, than in adorning it with magnificent buildings, to-
wards which he contributed very great sums. By his own
benefactions, and what he procured from others, he com-
pleted the north side of the great quadrangle, which had
remained unfinished from Wolsey's time, and in which his
father had made some progress when interrupted by the
rebellion. He rebuilt also part of the lodgings of the
canon of the second stall, the east side of the chaplain's
quadrangle, the buildings adjoining fronting the meadows,
the lodgings belonging to the canon of the third stall, and
the handsome tower over the principal gate of the college ;
into which, in 1683, he caused to be removed out of the
1 Ath. Ox. vol. II. Lloyd's Memoirs, p. 331. Wood's Annals and Col-
leges and Halls.
FELL. 177
steeple in the cathedral, the bell called " Great Tom of
Christ Church," feaid to have been brought thither with
the other bells from Oseney-abbey, which he had re-cast
with additional metal, so that it is now one of the largest
bells in England. Round it is this inscription : " Magnus
Thomas Clusius Oxoniensis, renatus April viii. MDCLXXX.
regnante Carolo Secundo, Decano Johanne Oxon. Epis-
copo, Subdecano Gulielmo Jane S. S. Theol. Professore,
Thesaurario Henrico Smith S. S. Theol. Professore, cura
et arte Christopher! Hodson." Sixteen men are required
to ring it; and it was first rung out on May 29, 1684.
From that time to this it has been tolled every night, as a
signal to all scholars to repair to their respective colleges
and halls; and so it used to be before its removal.
In 1666, 1667, 1668, and part of 1669, Dr. Fell was
vice-chancellor of the university : during which time he
used all possible means to restore the discipline and credit
of the place ; and such was his indefatigable spirit, that he
succeeded beyond all expectation. Among his other in-
junctions was, that persons of all degrees should appear in
their proper habits; he likewise looked narrowly to the
due performance of the public exercises in the schools,
and reformed several abuses that had crept in during a long
period of relaxation. He frequently attended in person
the disputations in the schools, the examinations for de-
grees, and the public lectures, and gave additional weight
and stimulus to the due performance of these duties. In
his own college he kept up the exercises with great strict-
ness, and, aware of the importance of the best education to
those who were destined for public life, it was his practice,
several mornings in the week, to visit the chambers of the
noblemen and gentlemen commoners, and examine their
progress in study. No one in his time was more zealous
in promoting learning in the university, or in raising its
reputation by the noblest foundations. The Sheldonian
theatre was built chiefly by his solicitation ; and he like-
wise advanced the press and improving printing in Oxford,
according to the public-spirited design of archbishop Laud.
He was likewise an eager defender of the privileges of the
university, especially while vice-chancellor. In 1675-6 he
was advanced to the bishopric of Oxford, with leave to
hold his deanery of Christ Church in commendarn, that he
might continue his services to his college and the univer-
sity : and he was no sooner settled in his see, than he
VOL. XIV. N
178 t E L L.
began to rebuild the episcopal palace of Cuddesden in Ox-
fordshire. Holding also the mastership of St. Oswald's
hospital, at Worcester, he re-built that in a sumptuous
manner, bestowing all the profits of his income there in
augmenting and recovering its estates : and, part of the
revenues of his bishopric arising from the i appropriation
of the dissolved prebend of Banbury, he liberally gave
500/. to repair that church. He likewise established daily
prayers at St. Martin's, or Carfax church, in Oxford, both
morning and evening. In a word, he devoted almost his
whole substance to works of piety and chanty. Among
his other benefactions to his college, it must not be for-
got, that the best rectories belonging to it were bought
with his money : and as he had been so bountiful a patron
to it while he lived, and, in a manner, a second founder,
so he left to it at his death an estate, for ten or more exhibi-
tions for ever. It is said that he brought his body to an ill
habit, and wasted his spirits, by too much zeal for the
public, and by forming too many noble designs; and that
all these things, together with the unhappy turn of religion
which he dreaded under James II. contributed to shorten
his life. He.died July 10, 1686, to the great loss of learn-
ing, of the whole university, and of the church of England :
for he was, as Wood has observed of him, " the most
zealous man of his time for the church of England ; a
great encourager and promoter of learning in the univer-
sity, and of all public works belonging thereunto ; of great
resolution and exemplary chanty ; of strict integrity ; a
learned divine; and excellently skilled in the Latin and
Greek languages." Wood relates one singularity of him,
which is unquestionably a great and unaccountable failing,
that he was not at all well-atfected to the royal society, and
that the noted Stubbes attacked that body under his sanc-
tion and encouragement. He was buried in Christ Church
cathedral ; and over his tomb, which is a plain marble, is
an elegant inscription, composed by Aldrich, his successor.
He was never married.
It may easily be imagined, that so active and zealous a
man as Fell had not much time to write books: yet we find
him the author and editor of the following works : 1. " The
Life of the most reverend, learned, and pious Dr. Henry
Hammond, who died April 25, 1660," 1660, reprinted
afterwards with additions at the head of Hammond's works.
2. " Alcinoi in Platonicam Philosophiam Introductio, 1667."
FELL.
3. " In lauclem Musices Carmen Sapphicum." Designed
probably for some of the public exercises in the university,
as it was set to music. 4. " Historia et -Antiquitates Uni-
versitatis Oxoniensis," &c. 1674, 2 vols. fol. This history
and antiquities of the university of Oxford was written in
English by Antony Wood, and translated into Latin, at
the charge of Fell, by Mr. Christopher Wase and Mr.
Richard Peers, except what he did himself. He was also
at the expence of printing it, with a good character, on a
good paper ; but " taking to himself," says Wood, " the
liberty of putting in and out several things according to his
own judgment, and those that he employed being not
careful enough to carry the whole design in their head, it
is desired that the author may not be accountable for any
thing which was inserted by him, or be censured for any
useless repetitions or omissions of his agents under him."
At the end of it, there is a Latin advertisement to the
reader, containing an answer to a letter of Hobbes ; in
which that author had complained of Fell's having caused
several things to be omitted or altered, which Wood had
written in that book in his praise. More of this, however,
will occur to be noticed in our life of Wood. 5. " The
Vanity of Scoffing: in a letter to a gentleman," 1674, 4to.
6. " St. Clement's two epistles to the Corinthians in Greek
and Latin, with notes at the end," 1677. 7. " Account of
Dr. Richard Allestree's life :" being the preface to the
doctor's sermons, published by our author. 8.. "Of the
Unity of the Church :" translated from the original of St.
Cyprian, 1681. 9. " A beautiful edition of St. Cyprian's
Works, revised and illustrated with notes," 1682. 10. " Se-
veral Sermons," on public occasions, 11. The following
pieces written by the author of the " Whole Duty of Man,"
with prefaces, contents, and marginal abbreviations, by
him, viz. " The Lady's Calling; the Government of the
Tongue ; the Art of Contentment ; the Lively Oracles,"
&c. He also wrote the general preface before the folio
edition of that unknown author's works. 12. " Artis. Lo-
gicae Compendium." 13. " The Paraphrase of St. Paul's
Epistles." There is another piece, which was ascribed to
him, with this title; *" The Interest of England stated : or,
a faithful and just account of the aims of all parties now-
prevailing; distinctly treating of the designments of the
Roman Catholic, Royalist, Presbyterian, Anabaptist," &c.
1659, 4to, but it not being certainly known whether he
N 2
180 E L L.
was the author or not, we do not place it among his works.
One thing in the mean time Wood mentions, relating to
his literary character, which must not be omitted : that
" from 1661, to the time of his death, viz. while he was
dean of Christ-church, he published or reprinted every
year a bookjf commonly a classical author, against new-
year's tide, to distribute among the students of his house ;
to which books he either put an epistle, or running notes,
or corrections. These," says Wood, " I have endeavoured
to recover, that the titles might be known and set down,
but in vain." But one of Dr. Fell's publications, unac-
countably omitted in former editions of this work, still re-
mains to be noticed ; his edition of the Greek Testament,
of which Michaelis has given a particular account. Dr. Fell
was the next after Walton, who published a critical edition
of the New Testament, which, although eclipsed since by
that of Mill, has at least the merit of giving birth to Mill'*
edition. It was published in small octavo, at the Sheldon
theatre, 1675. It appears from the preface, that the great
number of various readings which are printed in the sixth
volume of the London Polyglot, apart from the text, had
given alarm to many persons, who were ignorant of criti-
cism, and had induced them to suspect, that the New Tes-
tament was attended with so much uncertainty, as to be a
very imperfect standard of faith. In order to convince
such persons of their error, and to shew how little the sense
of the New Testament was altered by them, Fell printed
them under the text, that the reader might the more easily
compare them. This edition was twice reprinted at Leipsic,
in 1697 and 1702, and at Oxford in a splendid folio, by
John Gregory, in 1703, but without any additions, which
might have easily been procured from t'he bishop's papers ;
nor are even those which Fell had been obliged to print in
an appendix, transferred to their proper places, an instance
of very gross neglect. We learn also from Fabricius in his
Bibl. Graeca that the excellent edition of Aratus, Oxford,
1672, 8vo, was published by Dr. Fell. l
FELL (JOHN), a dissenting minister of considerable
learning, was born, Aug. 22, 1735, at Cockermouth in
Cumberland, of poor parents, and was at first brought up
to the business of a taylor. He was pursuing this employ-
ment in London, when some discerning friends perceived
1 Biog. Brit. Wood's Athens, rol. II. and Colleges and Halls.
FELL. 18!
\
in him a taste for literature, and an avidity of knowledge,
which they thought worthy of encouragement; and finding
that his principal wish was directed to the means of procur-
ing such education as might qualify him for the ministry
among the dissenters, they stepped forward to his assist-
ance, and placed him at the dissenting academy at Mile-
end, then superintended by Dr. Conder, Dr. Gibbons, and
Dr. Walker. Mr. Fell was at this time in the nineteenth
year of his age ; but, by abridging the hours usually allot-
ted to rest and amusement, and praportionably extending
those of application to his studies, and by the assiduous
exercise of a quick, vigorous, and comprehensive mind, he
made rapid advances in learning, gave his tutors and pa-
trons the utmost satisfaction ; and in due time, was ap-
pointed to preach to a congregation at Beccles, near Yar-
mouth. He was afterwards invited to take upon himself
the pastoral office in a congregation of Protestant dissent-
ers, at Thaxted, in Essex, where he was greatly beloved
by his congregation, and his amiable deportment, and dili-
gence in all the duties of his station, attracted the regard
even of his neighbours of the established church. At
Thaxted, Mr. Fell boarded and educated a few young gen-
tlemen, and it was also during his residence there, that he
distinguished himself by the rapid production of some well-
written publications, which conduced to establish his cha-
racter as a scholar. After he had thus happily resided se-
veral years at Thaxted, he was unfortunately prevailed
upon 'to be the resident tutor at the academy, formerly at
Mile-end, when he was educated there, but now removed
to Homerton, near London. The trustees and supporters
of this academy appear to have been at first very happy
that they had procured a tutor peculiarly calculated for
the situation ; but he had not been there long before dif-
ferences arose between him and the students, of what na-
ture his biographers have not informed us; but they re-
present that he was dismissed from his situation without a
fair trial ; and complain that this severity was exerted in
the case of " a character of no common excellence ; a
genius of no ordinary size ; a Christian minister, well fur-
nished with gifts and graces for that office ; a tutor, who
for biblical knowledge, general history, and classic taste,
had no superior, perhaps no equal, among any class of
dissenters." This affair happened in 1796, and Mr. Fell's
friends lost no time in testifying their unaltered regard for
182 PEL L.
his character. An annuity of 100/. was almost immediately
procured for him,, and he was invited to deliver a course
of lectures on the evidences of Christianity, for which he
was to be remunerated by a very liberal subscription. But
these testimonies of affection came too late for his enjoy-
ment of -them. Four of his lectures had been delivered to
crowded congregations at the Scotch church at London-
wall, when sickness interrupted him, and on Wednesday
Sept. 6, 1797, death put a period to his labours. The four
lectures he delivered were published in 1798, with eight
by Dr. Henry Hunter, who concluded the course, but who
does not appear well qualified to fill up Mr. FelPs outline.
Mr. Fell's previous publications, which show that the cha-
racter given of him by his friends is not overcharged, were
1. " Genuine Protestantism, or the unalienable Rights of
Conscience defended : in opposition to the late and new
mode of Subscription proposed by some dissenting minis-
ters, in three Letters to Mr. Pickard," 1773, 8vo. 2. " A
Fourth Letter to Mr. Pickard on genuine Protestantism ;
being a full Reply to the rev. Mr. Toulmin's Defence of
the Dissenters' new mode of Subscription," 1774, 8vo.
3. " The justice and utility of Penal Laws for the Direc-
tion of Conscience examined ; in reference to the Dis-
senters' late application to parliament. Addressed to a
member of the house of commons," 1774, 8vo. 4. " Dae-
moniacs. An enquiry into the Heathen and the Scripture
doctrine of Daemons, in which the hypothesis of the rev.
Mr. Farmer and others on the subject are particularly con-
sidered," J779, 8vo. (See FARMER). 5. "Remarks on
the Appendix of the Editor of Rowley's Poems, printed at
the end of Observations on the Poem attributed to Rowley
by Rayner Hickford, esq." Svo, no date (1783). 6. An
Essay towards an English Grammar, with a dissertation on
the nature and peculiar use of certain hypothetical verbs
in the English language," 1784, 12mo. 7. " The Idola-
try of Greece and Rome distinguished from that of other
Heathen Nations, in a Letter to the rev. Hugh Farmer,"
1785, Svo. Mr. Fell ranks among the orthodox, or calvi-
nistic dissenters ; but how far, or whether this had any
share in the animosity exerted against him, we are unable
to discover, % from the obscure manner in which his biogra-
phers advert to the disputes in the Homerton academy. \
1 Protestant Dissenters' Magazine, vols. IV. V. and VI,
F E L L E R. 183
FELLER (JOACHIM), a licentiate in theology, and pro-
fessor of poetry at Leipsic, was born at Zwickau in 1638,
and distinguished from his infancy tor uncommon talents.
In his thirteenth year he wrote a poem on " The Passion,"
which was much applauded. He was educated under the
celebrated Daumius, who prided himself on the great pro-
ficiency of his pupil, and when Feller went to Leipsic, re-
commended him to the principal literati of that city, who
found him deserving of every encouragement. Thomasius,
one of them, engaged him as tutor to his children, and
enhanced the favour by giving him free access to his curi-
ous and valuable library. In 1660 Feller took his master's
degree, and with such display of talents, that he was soon
after made professor of poetry, and in 1676 was appointed
librarian to the university. On this last preferment, he
employed much of his time in arranging the library, pub-
lished a catalogue of the MSS. in 1686, I2mo, and pro-
cured that the library should be open one day in every
week for the use of the public. His Latin poetry, which
he wrote with great facility, recommended him to the no-
tice and esteem of the emperor, of the electors of Saxony
and Brandenburgh, the duke of Florence, and other princes.
He also wrote many papers in the " Acta Lipsiensia,"
and the freedom of some of his criticisms in one or two in-
stances involved him in a controversy with James Grono-
vius, Eggelingen, Patin, and others. He was unfortunately
killed by a fall from a window, which he had approached
in his sleep, being as this would imply, a somnambulist.
This happened April 4, 1691. Besides the works already
mentioned, he published, 1. " Cygni quasimodo geniti,
sanctae vitae virorum celebrium Cygnese (Zwickau) na-
torum." 2. " Supplementum ad Rappolti commenta-
rium in Horatium." 3. " Flores philosophici ex Virgilio
collecti," Leipsic, 1681, 8vo. 4. " Notae in Lotichicii
eclogatn de origine domus Saxonicae et Palatinae."
FELLER (JOACHIM FREDERIC), the son of the preced-
ing, was born at Leipsic, Dec. 26, 1673, and imbibed a simi-
lar taste with his father for the belles lettres, bibliogra-
phy, and general literature. In 1 688 he received his degree
of doctor in philosophy, and two years after set out on what
may be called his literary travels. He remained some
time with Kirchmaier at Wittemberg, and with Bayer at
Moreri. Saxii Onomasticon.
FELLER.
Fribourg, whose library he carefully inspected. Going
thence to Zwickau, the senate of that city appointed him
to make a catalogue of the library of Daumius, which had
come into their possession by the death of that scholar.
Feller was very agreeably employed on this task, when the
news of the death of his father obliged him to pay a visit
to Leipsic, but as soon as he had settled his family affairs,
he returned to Zwickau, and completed the catalogue. He
then went again to Leipsic, and studied law, but in 1696
set out a second time on his travels, and at Wolfenbuttel,
became acquainted with Leibnitz, who conceiving a friend-
ship for him, detained him here for three years, and as-
sisted him in all his literary undertakings, especially his
history of the house of Brunswick, for which Feller was
enabled to collect a number of very curious documents of
the middle ages. At Francfort, we find him assisting Ludolf
in his historical works, but Ludolf is thought to have
availed himself too little of this assistance. After extend-
ing his acquaintance among learned men in various parts,
in 1706 the duke of Weimar appointed him his secretary,
and he appears to have died in his service Feb. 15, 1726.
His principal works were, 1. " Monumenta varia inedita,
variisque linguis conscripta, nunc singulis trimestribus pro-
deuntia ; e museo Joach. F. Felleri secretarii Wimariensis,"
Jena, 1714, 1715, 4to. This literary journal, for such it
is, is divided into twelve parts. 2. A Genealogical history
of the house of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, in German,
Leipsic, 1717, Svo. 3. c< Otium Hanoveranum, sive Mis-
cellanea ex ore et schedis G. G. Leibnitii quondam notata
et descripta," ibid. 1718, Svo. He also enlarged and cor-
rected, in 1713, an edition of Birken's History of the
Saxon heroes. *
FELLER (FRANCIS XAVIER DE), an ex-jesuit, was born
at Brussels Aug. 18, 1735, and became professor of rheto-
ric at Liege, Luxemburgh, and Turnau in Hungary, after
which he travelled in Italy, Poland, Austria, and Bohemia.
After the suppression of the society of the Jesuits in 1773,
he took the name of FLEXIERUE REVAL, which he exchanged
afterwards for that of FELLER, under which he published
at Luxemburgh, from 1774 to 1794, a political and lite-
rary journal, entitled " Clef des cabinets,'' in which he is
said to display considerable knowledge, riot unmixed with
1 Moreri. Niccroo, vol. XIX.
FELLER. 185
bigotry. The profits of this work not being adequate to
his wan*: s, he endeavoured to derive emolument from the
less reputable employment of literary piracy. In this way
he repubiished Vosgien's Geographical Dictionary ; and the
" Dictionnare Historique," of which last he published three
editions, with his name, the third a little before his death,
in 8 vols. When he wished to steal the contents of a
book, and make them pass for his own, he generally began
by an attack upon it in his journal, as a work good for no-
thing. He usually resided at Liege, but when the French
revolution broke out, he went to Maestricht, and after-
wards to other places of safety ; in 1797 he went to Ratis-
bon, where he died May 23, 1802. Whatever trutti there
may be in this character of Feller as a compiler, his ori-
ginal works are creditable to his talents. Among these
are : K " Jugement d'un ecrivain protestant touchant le livre
de Justinus Fabronius," Leipsic, 1771,' 8vo. 2. " Lettre,
sur le diner du comte de Boulainvilliers." 3. " Examen
critique de THistoire Naturelle de M. de Buffon," 1773.
This is chiefly an attack on Buffon's theory of the earth.
4. A translation of Soame Jenyns's " Internal evidence of
the Christian religion, with notes and observations, which
he published in 1779, under his assumed name of Flexier
de Reval. 5. " Observations philosophiques sur le sys-
teme de Newton, le mouvement de la terre, et la pluralite
des mondes," 1771 and 1788, in which he attempts to
prove that the motion of the earth has not been demon-
strated, and that a plurality of worlds is impossible. La
Lande answered this work. 6. " Examen impartial des
epoques de la nature de M. de Buffon," Luxemburgh,
1780, 12mo, and reprinted a fourth time at Maestricht in
1792. 7. " Catechisme philosophique," a collection of
remarks in favour of the Christian religion," Paris, 1777,
Svo. 8. " Discours sur divers sujets de religion, et de
morale," 1778, 12mo. 9. "Observations sur les rapports
physiques de Phuile avec les flots de la mer," 1778, 8vo.
He left also a great many MSS. and upon the whole ap-
pears to have been a man of extensive knowledge, and, as
his biographer allows, of prodigious memory, but had the
misfortune to make many enemies by the severity of his
criticisms, and the warmth of his temper !
FELTON (HENRY), a learned divine, was born Feb. 3,
1679, in the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-fields, Westmin-
> Diet. Hist.
186 F E L T O N.
ster, and was educated first at Cheneys in Buckingham-
shire, then at Westminster school under Dr. Busby, and
lastly at the Charter- house under Dr. Walker, to whom he
was a private pupil. At a proper age he was admitted of
Edmund hall, Oxford, of which Dr. Mill, the celebrated
critic, was at that time principal, and his tutor was Mr.
Thomas Mills, afterwards bishop of Waterford in Ireland.
In June 1702, he took his master's degree, and in Decem-
ber following was ordained deacon, in the royal chapel at
Whitehall, by Dr. Lloyd, bishop of Worcester. In June
1704 he was admitted to priest's orders by Dr. Compton,
bishop of London. In 1705-6, he first appeared as an
author, in a piece entitled " Remarks on the Colebrook
Letter/' a subject the nature of which we have not been
able to discover. In 1708 he had the care of the English
church at Amsterdam, but did not long continue in that
situation, returning to England in 1709. Soon after his
return he was appointed domestic chaplain to the duke of
Rutland, at Belvoir castle, and sustained that relation to
three successive dukes, for which noble house he always
preserved the warmest gratitude and affection. In the
same year (July 1 1, 1709) Mr. Felton was admitted to the
degree of B. D. being then a member of Queen's college.
Having been employed as tutor to John lord Roos, after-
wards third duke of Rutland, he wrote for that young no-
bleman's use, his " Dissertation on reading the Classics,
and forming a just style," 171 1, 12mo. A fourth edition
of this was published in 1730, but the best is that of 1757.
It was the most popular, and best known of all Dr. Felton's
works, although in the present improved state of criticism,
it may appear with less advantage.
In 1711, Mr. Felton was presented by the second duke
of Rutland to the rectory of Whitewell in Derbyshire;
and July 4, 1712, he preceded to the degree of doctor in
divinity. On the death of Dr. Pearson, in 1722, he was
admitted, by the provost and fellows of Queen's college,
principal of Edmund hall. In 1725, he printed a sermon
which he had preached before the university, and which
went through three editions, and excited no common at-
tention, entitled " The Resurrection of the same numeri-
cal body, and its re-union to the same soul ; against Mr.
Locke's notion of personality and identity." His next
publication, in 1727, was a tra'ct, written with much inge-
nuity, entitled " The Common People taught to defend
F E L T O N. 187
their Communion with the Church of England, against the
attempts and insinuations of Popish emissaries. In a dia-
logue between a Popish priest, and a plain countryman."
In 1728 and 1729, Dr. Felton was employed in preaching
eight sermons, at lady Moyer's lecture, at St. Paul's,
which were published in 1732, under the title of "The
Christian Faith asserted against Deists, Arians, and Soci-
irians." The sermons, when printed, were greatly aug-
mented, and a large preface was given concerning the light
and the law of nature, and the expediency and necessity
of revelation. This elaborate work was dedicated to Dr.
Gibson, bishop of London. In the title he is by some
mistake called late principal of Edmund hall, a situation
which he never resigned. In 1736 the duke of Rutland,
being chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, gave him the
rectory of Berwick in Elmet, Yorkshire, which he did not
long live to enjoy. In 1739 he was seized with a rheuma-
tic disorder; from which, however, he was so far reco-
vered, after a confinement of nearly three months, that he
thought himself able to officiate, in his church at Berwick,
on Christmas-day, where he preached his last sermon, and
with his usual fervour and affection. But having caught
cold, which was followed by a defluxion, attended with a
violent fever, he died March 1, 1739-40. During the
whole of his disorder, he behaved with a resignation and
piety becoming a Christian. He was interred in the chan-
cel of the church of Berwick. He left behind him, in-
tended for the press, a set of sermons on the creation, fall,
and redemption of man ; the sacrifices of Cain and Abel,
and the rejection and punishment of Cain, which were
published by his son, the rev. William Felton, in 1748,
with a preface containing a sketch of his father's life and
character. This work was the result of great attention.
The sermons were first composed about 1730, and preached
in the parish church of Whitwell in that and the following
year. In 1733 he enlarged them, and delivered them again
in the same church ; and in 1736 when removed to Ber-
wick, he transcribed and preached them at that place.
But though he had applied much labour to the subject of
the resurrection, he did not think that his discourses on
that head, or any other of his university sermons, were fit
for re-publication. *
1 Biog. Brit. vol. VI. Part I. unpublished. Life by his son prefixed to his
Posthumous Sermons.
188 F E L T O N.
FELTON (NICHOLAS), an English prelate, was born at
Yarmouth in Norfolk, and admitted of Pembroke-hall,
Cambridge, of which college he was chosen fellow Nov. 27,
15H3 Archbishop Whitgift collated him to the rectory of
St. Mary le Bow, Jan. 17, 1595-6, being then B. D. and
he was some time also rector of St. Antholin's, London.
He 'was elected master of Pembroke-hall, June 29, 1616 ;
admitted rector of Easton-Magna in Essex, Oct. 23, the
same year ; and collated to a prebend in St. Paul's, being
then D. D. March 4 following. In 1617, he was promoted
to the see of Bristol, to which he was consecrated, Dec. 14.
The next year he resigned his mastership, and was nomi-
nated to the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield, but was
translated to Ely, March 11, 1618-19. He died Oct. 5,
1626, in the sixty-third year of his age, and was buried
under the communion-table in St. Antholin's church, Lon-
don ; but without any memorial or inscription. He was a
\ery pious, learned, and judicious man, and deserves some
notice in this work, as one of those who was employed by
king James I. in the new translation of the Bible. There
is an excellent picture of him in the gallery of the palace
at Ely, which was presented for that purpose to the late
bishop Gooch, by Mr. Cole of Milton. '
FENELON (FRANCIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTTE),
archbishop of Cambray, and author of Telemachus, was of
an ancient and illustrious family, and born at the castle of
Fenelon, in the province of Perigord, August 6, 1651. At
twelve years of age, he was sent to the university of Ca-
bors ; and afterwards went to finish his studies at Paris,
under the care of his uncle Anthony marquis of Fenelon,
lieutenant-general of the king's armies. He soon made
bimself known at Paris, and at nineteen preached there
with general applause : but the marqurs, who was a very
wise and good man, fearing that the good disposition of
his nephew might be corrupted by this early applause, per-
suaded him to be silent for some years. At twenty-four
be entered into holy orders, and commenced the functions
of his ministry in the parish of St. Sulpice, under the abbe
Tron^on, the superior of that district, to whose care he had
been committed by his uncle. Three years after, he was
chosen by the archbishop of Paris, to be superior to the
newly-converted women in that city. In 1686, which was
JUntham's Hist, of Ely. Fuller's Worthies in art. Roger Fenton, D. D.
F E N E L O N. 189
the year after the edict of Nantes was revoked, the king
named him to be at the head of those missionaries, who
were sent along the coast of Saintonge, and the Pais de
Aunis, to convert the protestants. These conversions had
been hitherto carried on by the terrors of the sword, but
Fenelon declared against this mode, but said, that if
allowed to proceed by more rational and gentle means, he
would cheerfully become a missionary ; and after some
hesitation, his request was granted, but his success was
not remarkable.
Having finished his mission, he returned to Paris, and
was presented to the king : but lived two years afterwards
without going to court, being again entirely occupied in
the instruction of the new female converts. That he might
forward this good work by writings as well as lectures, he
published, in 1688, a little treatise, entitled "Education
de Filles ;" which the author of the Bibliotheque Univer-
selle, calls the best and most useful book written upon the
subject, in the French language. In 1688, he published a
work " Concerning the functions of the Pastors of the
Church;" written .chiefly against the protestants, with a
view of shewing, that the first promoters of the reforma-
tion had no lawful call, and therefore were not true pas-
tors. In 1689, he was made tutor to the dukes of Bur-
gundy, Anjou, and Berri ; and in 1693, was chosen mem-
ber of the French academy, in the room of Pelisson de-
ceased. In this situation, he was in favour with all. His
pupils, particularly the duke of Burgundy, improved ra-
pidly under his care. The divines admired the sublimity
of his talents ; the courtiers the brilliancy of his wit. The
duke, to the end of his life, felt the warmest regard for his
illustrious preceptor. At the same time, Fenelon pre-
served the disinterestedness of an hermit, and never re-
ceived or asked any thing either for himself or friends. At
last the king gave him the abbey of St. Valery, and, some
months after, the archbishopric of Cambray, to which he
was consecrated by Bossuet bishop of Meaux, in 16"95.
But a storm now arose against him, which obliged him
to leave the court for ever ; and was occasioned by his
book, entitled " An Explication of the Maxims of the
Saints concerning the interior life." This book was pub-
lished in 1697, and was occasioned by the writings of
madam Guyon, who pretended to a very high and exalted
devotion. She explained this devotion in some books which
190 F E N E L O N.
she published, and wrote particularly a mystical exposition
of Solomon's Song. Fenelon, whose gentle disposition is
said to have been strongly actuated by the lov of God,
became a friend of madam Guyon, in whom he fancied he
saw only a pure soul animated with feelings similar to his
own. This occasioned several conferences between the
bishop of Meaux, the bishop of Chalons, afterwards cardi-
nal de Noailles, and Mr. Tronon, superior-general to the
congregation of St. Sulpicius. Into these conferences, in
which madam Guyon's books were examined, Fenelon was
admitted ; but in the mean time began to write very se-
cretly upon the subject under examination, and his writ-
ings tended to maintain or excuse madam Guyon's books
without naming her. This examination lasted seven or
eight months, during which he wrote several letters to the
examiners, which abounded with so many testimonies of
submission, that they said they could not think God would
deliver him over to a spirit of error. While the confer-
ences lasted, the secret was inviolably kept with regard to
Fenelon ; the two bishops being as tender of his reputation,
as they were zealous to reclaim him. He was soon after
named archbishop of Cam bray, and yet continued with
the same humility to press the two prelates to give a final
sentence. They drew up thirty-tour articles at Issi, and
presented them to the new archbishop, who offered to sign
them immediately ; but they thought it more proper to
leave them with him for a time, that he might examine
them leisurely. He did so, and added to every one of the
articles such limitations as enervated them entirely : how-
ever, he yielded at last, and signed the articles March
10, 1695. Bossuet wrote soon after an instruction de-
signed to explain the articles of Issi, and desired Fenelon
to approve it ; bnt he refused, and let Bossuet know by a
friend, that he could not approve a book which condemned
madam Guyon, because he himself did not condemn her.
It was in order to explain the system of the mystics that
he wrote his book already mentioned. There was a sud-
den and general outcry against it, and the clamours coming
to the kino's ear, his majesty expostulated with the pre-
lates for having kept secret from him what they alone
knew. The controversy was for some time carried on
between the archbishop of Cambray and the bishop of
Meaux. But as the latter insisted upon a positive recanta-
tion, Fenelon applied to the king, and represented to his
F E N E L O N,
191
majesty, that there were no other means to remove the
offence which this controversy occasioned, than by ap-
pealing to the pope, Innocent XII. and therefore he
begged leave to go himself to Rome. But the king sent
him word, that it was sufficient to carry his cause thither,
without going himself, and sent him to his diocese in Au-
gust, 1697. When the question was brought before the
consultators of the inquisition to be examined, they were
divided in their opinions : but at last the pope condemned
the book, with twenty-three propositions extracted from
it, by a brief dated March 12, 1699. Yet, notwithstand-
ing this censure, Innocent seems to have disapproved the
violent proceedings against the author. He wrote thus to
the prelates who distinguished themselves as adversaries to
Fenelon : " Peccavit excessu amoris divini, sed vos pec-
eastis defectu amoris proximi." Some of Fenelon's friends
have pretended, that there was in this affair more court-
policy than zeal for religion. They have observed, that
this storm was raised against him at a time when the king
thought of choosing an almoner for the duchess of Bur-
gundy ; and that there was no way of preventing him, who
had been tutor to the duke her husband, and who had
acquitted himself perfectly well in the functions of that
post, from being made her almoner, but by raising sus-
picions of heresy against him. They think themselves
sufficiently justified in this opinion, by Bossuet's being
made almoner after Fenelon was disgraced and removed.
Be this as it will, he submitted patiently to the pope's
determination, and read his sentence, with his own recan-
tation, publicly in his diocese of Cambray, where he led a
most exemplary life, acquitting himself punctually in all
the duties of his station. Yet he was not so much taken
up with them, nor so deeply engaged in his contemplative
devotion, but he found time to enter into the contro-
versy with the Jansenists. He laboured not only to con-
fute them by his writings, but also to oppress them, by
procuring a bull from Rome against a book which the car-
dinal de Noailles, their chief support, had approved :
namely, father Quesnel's " Reflections upon the New Tes-
tament." The Jesuits, who were resolved to humble that
prelate, had formed a great party against him, and pre-
vailed with the archbishop of Cambray to assist them in
the affair. He accordingly engaged himself: wrote many
pieces against the Jansenists, the chief of which is the
192 F E N E L O N.
" Four Pastoral Letters," printed in 1704, at Valenciennes;
and spared no pains to get the cardinal disgraced, and the
book condemned, both which were at length effected.
But the work that has gained him the greatest repu-
tation, and will render his name immortal, is his " Tele-
machus," written, according to some, at court; accord-
ing to others, in his retreat at Cambray. A servant whom
Fenelon employed to transcribe it, took a copy for himself,
and had proceeded in having it printed, to about 200 pages,
when the king, Louis XIV. who was prejudiced against
the author, ordered the work to be stopped, nor was it
allowed to be printed in France while he lived. It was
published, however, by Moetjons, a bookseller, in 1699,
though prohibited at Paris; but the first correct edition
appeared at the Hague in 1701. This elegant work com-
pletely ruined the credit of Fenelon at the court of France.
The king considered it as a satire against his government;
the malignant found in it allusions which the author pro-
bably had never intended. Calypso, they said, was ma-
dam de Montespan ; Eucharis, mademoiselle de Font-
anges ; Antiope, the duchess of Burgundy ; Protesilaus,
Louvois; Idomeneus, king James II. ; Sesostris, Louis XIV.
The world, however, admired the flowing elegance of the
style, the sublimity of the moral, and the happy adoption
and embellishments of ancient stories ; and critics were
long divided, whether it might not be allowed the title of
an epic poem, though written in prose. It is certain that
few works have ever had a greater reputation. Editions
have been multiplied in every country of Europe ; but the
most esteemed for correctness is that published from his
papers by his family in 1717, 2 vols. 12mo. Splendid
editions have been published in various places, and trans-
lations in all modern languages of Europe, modern Greek
not excepted.
Fenelon passed the last years of his life in his diocese,
in a manner worthy of a good archbishop, a man of letters,
and a Christian philosopher. The amiableness of his man-
ners and character obtained for him a respect, which was
paid even by the enemies of his country ; for in the last
war with Louis XIV. the duke of Marlborough expressly
ordered the lands of Fenelon to be spared. He died in
January 1715, at the age of sixty-three.
He was a man of great learning, great genius, fine taste,
and exemplary manners : yet many have suspected that he
F E N E L O N. 193
was not entirely sincere in his recantation of his " Maxims
of the Saints ;" a work composed by him with great care,
and consisting, in great part, of extracts from the fathers.
Yet, if we consider the profound veneration of a pious
catholic bishop for the decisions of the church, the modesty
and candour of his character, and even his precepts to the
mystics, we shall be inclined to acquit him of the charge.
He had said to these persons in that very book, " that
those who had erred in fundamental doctrines, should not
be contented to condemn their error, but should confess
it, and give glory to Gocl ; that they should have no shame
at having erred, which is the common lot of humanity,
but should humbly acknowledge their errors, which would
be no longer such when they had been humbly confessed."
He has also been accused of ambition for his conduct in.
the controversy, with the Jansenists, but the charge rests
only on presumptive evidence, and is equally refuted by
his general character. In his theology, he seems to give
greater scope to feeling than to reason; but if he inclined
to mysticism, and thus seemed to deviate from the esta-
blished system of his church, he does not appear to have
made the least approach to protestantism. On the con-
trary, no one has more forcibly inculcated the danger of
putting the scriptures into the hands of the people (a fun-
damental tenet of popery), than Fenelon has done in his
" Letter to the archbishop of Arras." Submission to the
decisions of the holy see is likewise exemplified in his
whole conduct as well as in his writings. Indeed, Fene-
lon seems to have been one of those, who, either from
early prepossessions, or from false reasonings upon human
nature, or from an observation of the powerful impressions
made by authority on the credulity, and a pompous ritual
on the senses of the multitude, imagine, that Christianity,
in its native form, is too pure and elevated for vulgar souls,
and, therefore, countenance and maintain the absurdities
of popery, from a notion of their utility.
Fenelon published several works besides his "'Tele-
machus," and the " Explanation of the Maxims of the
Saints," already mentioned, which first appeared in 1697.
These were, 1. " Dialogues of the Dead," in two volumes,
12mo, composed for the use of the duke of Burgundy, and
intended in general to cure him of some fault, or teach
him some virtue. They were produced as the occasions
arose, and not laboured, 2. " Dialogues on Eloquence in
VOL. XIV. O
194 F E N E L O N.
general, and that of the. Pulpit in particular," 12mo, pub-
lished in 1718, after his death. He there discusses the
question, whether it is better to preach by memory, or
extemporaneously with more or less preparation. The
rules of eloquence are also delivered in a neat and easy
manner. 3. " Abridgment of the Lives of the ancient
Philosophers," 12 mo, written for the duke of Burgundy,
of which an excellent translation, with notes, was lately
published by the rev. John Cormack, 1808, 2 vols. 12mo.
4. " A Treatise on the Education of Daughters," 12mo,
an excellent work. 5. " Philosophical Works, or a demon-
stration of the Existence of God, by proofs drawn from
Nature," I2mo; the best edition is of Paris, 1726. 5.
" Letters on different subjects of Religion and Metaphy-
sics," 1718, 12mo. 6. " Spiritual Works," 4 vols. 12mo.
7. " Sermons," printed in 1 744, 1 2mo : the character of these
discourses is rather pathetic writing than strong reasoning;
the excellent disposition of Fenelon appears throughout;
but they are unequal and negligent. He preached extem-
poraneously with facility, and his printed sermons are in
the same style. 8. Several works in favour of the bull
41 Unigenitus," against Jansenism. 9. " Direction for the
Conscience of a king," composed for the duke of Bur-
gundy ; a small tract, but much esteemed, published in
1748, and re-published in 1774. There is a splendid
French edition of his works in 9 vols. 4to, Paris, 1787
1792; and one of his " OEuvres choices," 1799, 6 vols.
12mo. In 1&07 appeared at Paris a new volume of his
* Sermons choisies," 12mo, which is said to do credit to
his established reputation. *
FENESTELLA (Lucius), a Roman historian, who died
in the year 20, at the age of seventy, is mentioned by
Pliny, Gellius, and many other ancient authors. He wrote
annals in many books, the twenty-second book being cited
by Nonius ; also Archaics, and other works. A book on
the magistrates of Rome, falsely attributed to him, is now
known to be the production of Dominic Floccus, a Floren-
tine, in the fifteenth century. It was published about
1480, 4to. FenestelJa's " Fragmenta," with notes, were
published with Wasse's Sallust, Cambridge, 1710.*
1 Life, by Ramsay, 17C3, 12rr,o. Oen. Diet. Eloges par TVAlembert.
Memoirs de due de St. Simon. Gen. Diet, in Saliguac. Eloge par La Harpe,
1771.
* Vossius de HisU Lat. Fabric. Bib'. Lat.
F E N N. 195
FEKN (JOHN), an eminent scholar and translator, was
born at Montacute, in Somersetshire ; in his youth he was
for some time a chorister, which gave him an opportunity
of being instructed in Latin as well as music. Being
afterwards sent to Winchester school for academical edu-
cation, he was admitted of New college, Oxford, and
chosen fellow in 1552, studying chiefly the civil law. In
queen Mary's reign he was made chief master of a noted
free-school at St. Edmundsbury, in Suffolk, where he ac-
quired great reputation as a teacher. This station he re-
tained for some part of queen Elizabeth's reign, but an
information having been laid against him, as unqualified
by the laws of the reformation, he was obliged to quit it.
Some time after he went to Flanders, and afterwards to
Rome, where he was admitted into the English college,
studied theology for four years, and took orders. Re-
turning afterwards to Flanders, he became confessor to
the English nuns at Louvain, where he lived forty years,
employing his leisure hours in translating several books fa-
vourable to the Roman catholic religion. He died at an
advanced age, Dec. 27, 1615, with an excellent character
from those of his persuasion, for learning and piety. His
publications are, 1. " Vitae quorundam martyrum in Anglia,"
which is inserted in Bridgwater's " Concertatio Ecclesise Ca-
tholicae in Anglia." 2. Several of bishop Fisher's English
works, translated into Latin. 3. " Catechismus Tridentinus,"
translated into English. 4. Osorius's treatise against Wal-
ter Haddon, translated into English, Louvain, 1568, 8vo.
5. " The Life of St. Catherine of Sienna," from the Italian,
1609, 8vo. 6. " A Treatise on Tribulation," from the
Italian of Caccia Guerra. 7. " Mysteries of the Rosary,"
from Caspar Loartes. Fuller says that he proceeded Ba-
chelor of Laws at New college, till (in 1562) for his popish
activity, he was ejected by the queen's commissioners.
Wood, who mentions this in his Annals, although not in
his " Athens," leaves it doubtful whether he did not re-
sign it of his own accord. l
FENN (Sm JOHN), knt. an English antiquary, was born
at Norwich, Nov. 26, 1739, and educated partly at Scar-
ning, in Norfolk, and partly atBoresdale, in Suffolk, after
which he was admitted of Gonville and Caius college,
Cambridge, where he proceeded B. A. 1761, M. A. 1764,
> Atfa. Qx. vol. I. Wood's Annals. Dodd's Ch. Hist, vol. I. Fuller's Worthies.
O 2
196 FEN N.
and was an honorary fellow till Jan. 1, 1766, when he
married Ellenor, daughter of Sheppard Frere, esq. of
Roydon, in Suffolk, by whom he had no issue. He was
afterwards in the commission of the peace, and a deputy-
lieutenant, and served the office of sheriff for the county of
Norfolk in 1791, with that propriety and decorum that
distinguished all his actions ; and he left a history of the
duties of the office of sheriff, which might be serviceable
to his successors. Among other things, he revived the
painful duty of attending in person the execution of cri-
minals, as adding to the solemnity and impressive awe of
the scene; and he was the first to admit Roman catholics
on juries, under the new statute for that purpose enacted.
He died at East Dereham, Norfolk, Feb. 14, 1794.
Sir John Fenn distinguished himself early by his appli-
cation to the study of our national history and antiquities,
for which he had formed great collections, particularly
-that of Peter Le Neve, for the contiguous counties of Nor-
folk and Suffolk, from the wreck of that of Thomas Mar-
tin, to erect a monument to whose memory in the church
where he was buried, he left a large sum of money. Among
the rest was a large collection of original letters, written
during the reigns of Henry VI. Edward IV. Richard III.
and Henry VII. by such of the Paston family and others,
who were personally present in court and camp, and were,
in those times, persons of great consequence in the county
of Norfolk. These letters contain many curious and au-
thentic state anecdotes, relating not only to Norfolk, but
to the kingdom in general. Two volumes of them were
published in 1787, 4to, and dedicated by permission to
his majesty, who rewarded the merit of the editor with the
honour of knighthood. Two more volumes appeared in
1789, with notes and illustrations by sir John ; and a fifth
\vas left nearly ready for the press, which, however, if we
mistake not, has not yet been published. Though he
contributed nothing to the " Archaeologia" of the Society
of Antiquaries, of which he was a fellow, he was a bene-
factor to them, by drawing up " Three Chronological
. Tables" of their members, which were printed in a 4to
pamphlet, 1734, for the use of the society. His biogra-
pher concludes his character with observing, that " if the
inquisitive antiquary, the clear, faithful, and accurate
writer, be justly valued by literary characters ; the intel-
ligent and upright magistrate, by the inhabitants of the
F E N N. 197
county in which he resided ; the informing and pleasing
companion, the warm and steady friend, the honest and
worthy man, the good and exemplary Christian, by those
with whom he was cpnnected ; the death of few individuals
will be more sensibly felt, more generally regretted, or
more sincerely lamented." 1
FENNER (WILLIAM), an eminent puritan divine, was
born in 1660, and educated at Pembroke-hall, Cambridge,
where he took his degree of M. A. and in 1622 was ad-
mitted to the same at Oxford. He afterwards took his
degree of B. D. and became a preacher at Sedgeley, in
Staffordshire. Here he continued for four years, and theu
for some time appears to have officiated from place to
place, without any promotion, until the earl of Warwick,
who was his great friend and patron, presented him to the
rectory of Rochford, in Essex, in 1629, which he held
until his death, about 1640. Besides his popularity as a
preacher, and as a casuist, which was very great, he de-
rived no small posthumous reputation from the sermons
and pious tracts which he wrote, none of which appear to
have been published in his life-time. They were collected
in J658, in 1 vol. fol. 2
FENTON (EDWARD), an English navigator in the reign
of Elizabeth, was descended from an ancient family in
Nottinghamshire, where he had some property. This he
sold, as did also his brother Geoffrey, being, it is said,
more inclined to trust to their abilities, than the slender
patrimony descended to them from their ancestors ; and
they were among the very few of those who take such
daring resolutions in their youth, without living to repent
of them in their old age. The inclination of Edward lead-
ing him to the choice of a military life, he served some
time with reputation in Ireland ; but upon sir Martin Fro-
bisher's report of the probability of discovering a north-
west passage into the South seas, he resolved to embark
with him in his second voyage, and was accordingly ap-
pointed captain of the Gabriel, a bark of twenty-five tons,
in which he accompanied sir Martin in the summer of
1577, to the straits that now bear his name, but in their
return he was separated from him in a storm, and ar-
rived safely at Bristol, in a third expedition, which proved
1 Gent Mag vol. LXIV. Several of his letters are in Malcolm's " Granger's
Letters" from p. 791 14. * Atli. Ox. vol. II. Brook's Lives of the Puritans
198 F E N T O N.
unsuccessful, he commanded the Judith, one of fifteen
sail, and had the title of rear-admiral. The miscarriage of
this voyage had not convinced Fenton of the impractica-
bility of the project; he solicited another trial, and it was,
after much application, granted him, though the parti-
cular object of this voyage is not easily discovered ; his
instructions from the privy-council, which are still pre-
served, say, that he should endeavour the discovery of a
north-west passage, and yet he is told to go by the Cape
of Good Hope to the East Indies, thence to the South seas,
and to attempt his return by the supposed north-west pas-
sage, and not by any means to think of passing the Straits
of Magellan, except in case of absolute necessity. The
truth appears to be, he had interest enough to be allowed
to try his fortune in the South-seas. He sailed in the
spring 1582, with four vessels, and was making to Africa;
thence he intended to sail to Brazil, in his course to the
straits of Magellan, but having learnt that there was already
a strong Spanish fleet there, he put into a Portuguese
settlement, where he met with three of the Spanish squad-
ron, gave them battle, and after a severe engagement,
sunk their vice-admiral, and returned home in May 1583.
Here he was well received, and appointed to the command
of a ship sent out against the famous armada in 1588. In
some accounts of this action he is said to have commanded
the Antelope, in others, the Mary Rose ; but his talents
and bravery in the action are universally acknowledged,
and it is certain he had a very distinguished share in those
actions, the fame of which can never be forgotten. Little
more is recorded of him, than that he spent the remainder
of his days at or near Deptford, where he died in 1603.
A monument was erected to his memory in the parish
church of Deptford, at the expence of Richard earl of
Cork, who had married his niece. According to Fuller,
he died within a few days oi' his mistress, queen Elizabeth,
and he remarks, " Observe how God set up a generation
of military men both by sea and land, which began and
expired with the reign of queen Elizabeth, like a suit of
clothes made for her, and worn out with her ; for provi-
dence designing a peaceable prince to succeed her, in
whose time martial men would be rendered useless, so or-
dered the matter, that they all, almost, attended their
mistress, before or after, within some short distance, unto
her grave." This, however, was not strictly true, for the
F E N T O N. 199
celebrated earl of Nottingham, sir Charles Blount, sir
George Carew, sir Walter Raleigh, sir William Monson,
sir Robert Mansel, and other great officers by sea and
land, survived queen Elizabeth. 1
FENTON (SiR GEOFFREY), an eminent writer and
statesman during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. was
brother to the preceding, but the time of his birth does not
appear. He was certainly educated liberally, though we
cannot tell where ; since, while a young man, he gave
many proofs of his acquaintance with ancient and modern
learning, and of his being perfectly versed in the French,
Spanish, and Italian languages. He is well known for a
translation from the Italian of " The History of the Wars
of Italy, by Guicciardini," the dedication of which to
queen Elizabeth bears date Jan. 7, 1579. This was, how-
ever, his last work. He had published before, 1. " Cer-
taine Tragical Discourses written oute of French and La-
tin," 1567, 4to, reprinted 1579. Neither Ames nor Tanner
appear to have seen the first edition. The work is, says
Warton, in point of selection and size, perhaps the most
capital miscellany of the kind, a. e. of tragical novels.
Among the recommendatory poems prefixed is one from
Turberville. Most of the stories are on Italian subjects,
and many from Bandello. 2. " An Account of a Dispute
at Paris, between two Doctors of the Sorbonne, and two
Ministers of God's Word," .1571, a translation. 3. "An
Epistle, or Godly Admonition, sent to the Pastors of the
Flemish Church in Antwerp, exhorting them to concord
with other Ministers : written by Antony de Carro, 1578,"
a translation. 4. "Golden Epistles; containing variety
of discourses, both moral, philosophical, and divine, ga-
thered as well out of the remainder of Guevara's works,
as other authors, Latin, French, and Italian. Newly cor-
rected and amended. Mon heur viendra, 1577." The
familiar epistles of Guevara had been published in Eng-
lish, by one Edward Hellowes, in 1574; but this collec-
tion of Fenton's consists of such pieces as were not con-
tained in that work. The epistle dedicatory is to the right
honourable and vertuous lady Anne, countess of Oxen ford;
and is dated from the author's chamber in the Blackfriars,
London, Feb. 4, 1575. This lady was the daughter of
William Cecil lord Burleigh ; and it appears from the
1 Biog, Brit. Rees's Cyclopaedia. Fuller's \Yortto.
200 F E N T O N.
dedication, that her noble father was our author's best
patron. Perhaps his chief purpose in translating and pub-
lishing this work, was to testify his warm zeal and absolute
attachment to that great minister.
"What the inducements were, which engaged him to
leave his own country, in order to serve the queen in Ire-
laud, cannot easily be discovered ; it is, however, certain
that he went thither well recommended, and that being in
particular favour with Arthur lord Grey, then lord deputy
in that kingdom, he was sworn of the privy-council about
1581. It is more than probable that his interest might be
considerably strengthened by his marriage with Alice, the
daughter of Dr. Robert Weston, some time lord chancellor
of Ireland, and dean of the arches in England, a man of
great parts, and who had no small credit with the earl of
Leicester, and other statesmen in the court of Elizabeth ;
and when he was once fixed in the office of secretary, his
own great abilities and superior understanding made him
so useful to succeeding governors, that none of the changes
to which that government was too much subject in those
days, wrought any alteration in his fortune. One thing,
indeed, might greatly contribute to this, which was the
stron<r interest he found means to raise, and never was at
O *
a loss to maintain, in England ; so that whoever was lord
lieutenant in Ireland, sir Geoffrey Fenton continued the
queen's counsellor there, as a man upon whom she de-
pended, from whom she took her notions of state affairs in
that island, and whose credit with her was not to be shaken
by the artifices of any faction whatever. He took every
opportunity of persuading the queen that the Irish were to
be governed only by the rules of strict justice, and that
the safety and glory of her government in that island de-
pended on her subjects enjoying equal laws and protection
of their property. The queen frequently sent for her secre-
tary Fenton, to consult with him on her Irish affairs, which
shews the high opinion she entertained of his understanding,
though it often happened that when he was returned to his
duty, the advisers of Elizabeth persuaded her to adopt
measures the reverse of what Fenton had recommended.
He was the means of extinguishing more than one rebel-
lion, and of totally reducing the kingdom to submit to
English government.
In 1C03, sir Geoffrey married his only daughter Kathe-
rine to Mr. Boyle, afterwards the great earl of Corke; and
F E N T O N. 201
/
died at bis house in Dublin, Oct. 19, 1608. He was in-
terred with much funeral solemnity at the cathedral church
of St. Patrick, in the same tomb with his wife's father, the
lord chancellor Weston ; leaving behind him the character
of a polite writer, an accomplished courtier, an able states-
man, and a true friend to the English nation, and pro-
testant interest in Ireland. His translation of Guicciardini,
and his Guevara's Epistles, have lately risen in price, since
the language of the Elizabethan period has been more
studied; and the style of Fenton, like that of most of his
contemporaries, is far superior to that of the authors of the
succeeding reign, if we except Raleigh and Knowlles. J
FENTON (ELIJAH), an ingenious English poet, was
born at Shelton, near Newcastle-under-Line, in Stafford-
shire, May 20, 1683. His father, who was possessed of
a competent estate, was of an ancient family in that county,
an attorney at. law, and one of the coroners for the county
of Stafford. He died in 1691, aged fifty-six. His mother
is said to have descended in a direct line from one Mare,
an officer irv the army of William the Conqueror. Being
the youngest of twelve children, he was necessarily des-
tined to some lucrative employment, and the church was
fixed upon for his future profession. Accordingly, after
going through a proper course of grammatical education,
he was, July 1, 1700, admitted a pensioner of Jesus col-
lege, Cambridge, where he prosecuted his studies with
remarkable diligence and assiduity ; but after taking his
bachelor's degree, in 1704, he inclined to the sentiments
of the nonjurors of that time, and consequently refusing
to take the oaths to government, was obliged to quit the
university, which, however, he is said to have done with-
out separating from the church.
He was now induced to trust to his abilities for a sub-
sistence, but whatever his difficulties or discouragements,
lie kept his name unsullied, and never descended to any
mean or dishonourable shifts. Indeed, whoever mentioned
him, mentioned him with honour, in every period of his
life. His first employ he owed to a recommendation to
Charles earl of Orrery, whom he accompanied to Flanders,
in quality of secretary, and returned with his lordship to
England in 1705. Being then out of employment, he be-
1 Biog. Brit. Lloyd's Worthies. Fuller's Worthies. Warton's Hist, of
Poetry, vol. 111. p. 479481.
202 F E N T O N.
came assistant in the school of Mr. Bonwicke, (see Bo?7-
WICKI:), at Headley, near Leatherhead, in Surrey; after
which he was invited to the mastership of the free grammar
school at Sevenoaks, in Kent, and in a few years brought
that seminary into much reputation, while he enjoyed the
advantage of making easy and frequent excursions to visit
his friends in London. In 1710 he was prevailed upon by
Mr. St. John (lord Bolingbrokt ) to give up what was called
the drudgery of a school, for the worse drudgery of de-
pendence on a political patron, from whom, after all, he
derived no advantage. When Steele resigned his place of
commissioner in the stamp-office, Fenton applied to his
patron, who told him that it was beneath his merit, and
promised him a superior appointment ; but this, the sub-
sequent change of administration prevented him from ful-
filling, and left Fenton disappointed, and in debt. Not
long after, however, his old friend the earl of Orrery ap-
pointed him tutor to his son, lord Broghill, a boy of seven
years old, whom he taught English and Latin until he was
thirteen. About the time this engagement was about to
expire, Craggs, secretary of state, feeling his own want
of literature, desired Pope to procure him an instructor,
by whose help he might supply the deficiencies of his edu-
cation. Pope recommended Fenton, but Craggs's sudden
death disappointed the pleasing expectations formed from
this connection.
His next engagement was with Pope himself, who after
the great success of his translation of the Iliad, undertook
that of the Odyssey, arid determined to engage auxiliaries.
Twelve books he took to himself, and twelve he distributed
between Broome and Fenton. According to Johnson anc(
Warton, Fenton translated the first, fourth, nineteenth
and twentieth. But John, earl of Orrery, in a letter to
Mr. Duncombe, asserts that Fenton translated double ihe
number of books in the Odyssey that Pope has owned.
<' His reward," adds the noble writer, " was a trifle, an
arrant trifle. He has even told me, that he thought Pope
feared him more than he loved him. He had no opinion
of Pope's heart, and declared him, in the words of bishop
Atterbury, Alms curia in corpore curvo" It is, however,
no small praise to both Fen tun and Broome, that the readers
of poetry have never been able to distinguish their books
from those of Pope. In 1723, Fenton' s tragedy of " Ma-
rianine'" was brought on the stage in LincolnVinn-fields,
F E N T O N. 20*
and was performed with such success, that the profits of
the author are said to have amounted to nearly a thousand
pounds, with which he very honourably discharged the
debts contracted by his fruitless attendance on Mr. St.
John. The poetical merit of this tragedy is confessedly
great, but the diction is too figurative and ornamental.
Colley Cibber has been termed insolent for advising Fen-
ton to relinquish poetry, by which we presume he meant
dramatic poetry ; but Cibber, if insolent, was not inju-
dicious, for Mariamne has not held its place on the stage,
In 1 1727, Fenton revised a new edition of Milton's Poems,
and prefixed to it a short but elegant and impartial life of
the author. In 1729 he published a very splendid edition
of Waller, with notes, which is still a book of considerable
value.
The latter part of Mr. Fenton' s life was passed in a man-
ner agreeable to his wishes. By the recommendation of
Pope to the widow of sir William Trumbull, that lady in-
vited him to be tutor to her son, first at home, and after-
wards at Cambridge; and when disengaged from this at-
tendance on her son, lady Trumbull retained Fenton in
her family, as auditor of her accounts, an office which was
probably easy, as he had leisure to make frequent excur-
sions to visit his literary friends in London. He died July
13, 1730, at East-Hampstead, in Berkshire, lady Trum-
bull's seat, and was interred in the parish-church, and his
tomb was honoured with an epitaph by Pope. In person,
Fenton was tall and bulky, inclined to corpulence, which
he did not lessen by much exercise, as he was sluggish
and sedentary, rose late^ and when he had risen, sat down
to his book or papers. By a woman who once waited on
him in a lodging, he was told, that he would " lie a-bed,
and be fed with a spoon." Pope says in one of his letters,
that he died of indolence and inactivity; others attribute
his death to the gout ; to which lord Orrery adds, " a great
chair, and two bottles of port in a day." Dr. Johnson
observes, that " Of his morals and his conversation, the
account is uniform. He was never named but with praise
and fondness, as a man in the highest degree amiable and
excellent. Such was the character given him by the earl
of Orrery, his pupil ; such is the testimony of Pope; and
such were the suffrages of all who could boast of his ac-
quaintance." There is a story relating to him, which re*
fleets too much honour upon his memory to be omitted*
204 F E N T O N.
It was his custom in the latter part of his life, to pay a
yearly visit to his relations in the country. An entertain-
ment being made for the family by Jiis elder brother, he
observed that one of his sisters, who had been unfortunate
in her marriage, was absent ; and, upon inquiry, he found
that distress had made her thought unworthy of an invita-
tion ; hut he refused to sit at the table until she \vas sent
for ; and, when she had taken her place, he was careful to
shew her particular attention.
Fenton's principal reputation as a poet rests on his " Ma-
riamne," and his share in the Odyssey ; but his " Miscel-
laneous Poems," printed in 1717, have procured him a
place among the English Poets in Dr. Johnson's collection,
who has, upon the whole, a less favourable opinion of them
than Dr. Warton, yet he allows him the praise of an ex-
cellent versifier and a good poet. 1
FERDINAND of Cordoua, a learned Spaniard, con-
sidered as a prodigy in the fifteenth century, may be termed
the Crichton of Spain, whom he resembled in the marvel-
lous and universal knowledge attributed to him. He was
well skilled in languages and the sciences ; understood the
Bible, the works of Nicholas Lyranus, St. Thomas, St.
Bonaventura, Alexander Ales, and Scotus ; with those of
Aristotle, Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, and several law
authors. He was also a brave soldier, played on several
instruments, was admired for his singing and dancing, and
equalled any artist of Paris in painting. It is said that he
foretold the death of Charles the Rash, duke of Burgundy,
and in 1445, was the admiration of all the learned at Paris.
Commentaries on Ptolemy's Almagest, and on the Apoca-
lypse, are ascribed to him, and a treatise " De Artificio
omnis scibilis," and other works. 2
FERDINANDI (EPIPHANIL^), a physician of Messagna,
in the territory of Otranto, where he was born, October,
or according to Niceron, Nov. 2, 1569, cultivated the
study of the Latin and Greek poets at an early age, and
wrote elegant verses in both these languages. In 1583 he
went to Naples with the intention of going through the
courses of philosophy and medicine; but in 1591, all
strangers were compelled to leave the place. Ferdinand i,
' Biog. Brit, nfw edit. vol. VI. unpublished. Nichols's Poems.
TO!. LXI. ami LXIV. Bo vWs edition of P"pe j see Index. Johnson and
Chalmers's Poets, 21 vols. 1810. Rutf head's Pope, p. 283, 4to edit.
* Morcii.
FERDINAND I. 205
returning to his own country, taught geometry and philo-
sophy until 1594) when the viceroy's edict being revoked,
he returned to Naples, pursued a course of medical stu-
dies, and receired the degree of doctor in medicine and
philosophy. He then repaired to his native place, where
he settled himself in practice, and remained to the end of
his life, notwithstanding the tempting offers he received
from several seats of learning. The duke of Parma, in
particular, pressed him to take the professorship of me-
dicine in the university of his city ; and the same invitation,
was given from the university of Padua. I 
