EYRE, JUSTICES IN. The term signifies the itinerant court of justices. This court was instituted by Henry I.; and when the forest laws were in force, the office of Chief Justice in Eyre was one of great trust and dignity. By an ancient custom, these justices should go their circuit every third year, and punish all abuses committed in the king's forests. The last instance of a court being held in any of the forests is believed to have been during the reign of Charles II., A. D. 1671.-Beatson.

F.

FABII. A noble and powerful family at Rome, who derived their name from faba, a bean, because some of their ancestors cultivated this pulse: they were said to be descended from Fabius, a supposed son of Hercules, and were once so numerous that they took upon themselves to wage war against the Veientes. They came to a general engagement near the Cremera, in which all the family, consisting of 306 men, were totally slain, B.C. 477. There only remained one, whose tender age had retained him at Rome, and from him arose the noble Fabii in the following ages. FABLES. “Jotham's fable of the trees is the oldest extant, and as beautiful as any made since."-Addison. Nathan's fable of the poor man (2 Sam. xii.) is next in antiquity. The earliest collection of fables extant is of eastern origin, and preserved in the Sanscrit. The fables of Vishnoo Sarma, called Pilpay, are the most beautiful, if not the most ancient, in the world.-Sir William Jones. The well-known Æsop's fables (which see), were written about 540 B.c.-Plutarch.

FAIRLOP OAK. A celebrated tree in the forest of Hainault, Essex, blown down in February, 1820. Its extended branches covered a space of more than 300 feet in circumference; and beneath them a fair was annually held on the first Friday in July. This fair originated with the eccentric Mr. Day, a pump and block maker, of Wapping, who, having a small estate in the vicinity, annually repaired here with a party of friends, to dine on beans and bacon. Every year added to the number; and in the course of a short time it assumed the appearance of a regular fair, which is still continued, though the eccentric institutor and venerable oak no longer exist. FAIRS AND WAKES. They are of Saxon origin, and were first instituted in England by Alfred, A.D. 886.-Spelman. They were established by order of Gregory VII. in 1078, and termed Ferie, at which the monks celebrated the festival of their patron saint; the vast resort of people occasioned a great demand for goods, wares, &c. They were called wakes from the people making merry during the vigil, or eve. Fairs were established in France and England by Charlemagne and William the Conqueror, about A.D. 800 in the first, and 1071 in the latter kingdom. The fairs of Beaucaire, Falaise, and Leipsic, are the most famous in Europe. FALCONRY. The certainty of falconry in England cannot be traced until the reign of king Ethelbert, the Saxon monarch, A.D. 760.-Pennant. There are thirty-two species of the falco genus. It is no credit to human nature to state that these noble birds used formerly to be tamed, and kept for the genteel pastime of falconry.Phillips. The duke of St. Albans is hereditary grand falconer of England. FALCZI, PEACE OF. This celebrated peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey, July 2, 1711, the Russians giving up Azoph and all their possessions on the Black Sea to the Turks; in the following year the war was renewed, and terminated by the peace of Constantinople, April 16, 1712.

FALKIRK, BATTLE OF, between the English under Edward I. and the Scots, who were commanded by the heroic Wallace, in which 40,000 of the latter were slain; the whole Scotch army was broken up, and was chased off the field with dreadful slaughter, July 22, 1298. Battle of Falkirk between the king's forces and prince Charles Stuart, in which the former were defeated, January 18, 1746. FALKLAND ISLANDS. They were probably seen by Magellan; but Davis is deemed to have been the discoverer of them, in 1592. They were visited by Hawkins, in 1594; and commodore Byron made a settlement at Port Egmont, in 1764. In 1770, the Spaniards forcibly dispossessed the English. This affair was settled by a convention, and the English regained possession; but in 1774 the settlement was abandoned, and the islands were ceded to Spain.

FALSE NEWS. The disseminators and publishers of false news, of evil reports,

malicious and defamatory statements, and libels, were punished by the cutting out

of the tongue, or by paying the value of their heads; and they were afterwards deemed to be of no credit, 28th law of Alfred.-Asser's Life of Alfred. FAMINES, AND SEASONS OF REMARKABLE SCARCITY. The famine of the seven years in Egypt began 1708 B.C.-Usher; Blair. In a famine that raged at Rome thousands of the people threw themselves into the Tiber, 436 B.C.-Livy.

voured the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and vermin

One occasioned by long rains

262

A.D. 1315 1335

272

So dreadful in Italy, that parents ate

Scarcity of food, severely felt by the
Irish poor, 1814, 1816, 1822, and

1831

Again, so dreadful, that the people deFAN. The use of the fan was known to the ancients: Cape hoc flabellum et ventulum huic sic facito.-TERENCE. The modern custom among the ladies was borrowed from the East. Fans, together with muffs, masks, and false hair were first devised by the harlots in Italy, and were brought to England from France.-Stowe. The fan was used by females to hide their faces at church.-Pardon, FARCE. This species of dramatic entertainment originated in the droll shows which were exhibited by charlatans and their buffoons in the open street. These were

introduced into our theatres in a less ludicrous and more refined form; and they are now only shorter, but often superior to the pieces called comedies.-See article Drama. FARTHING. One of the earliest of the English coins. Farthings in silver were coined by king John; the Irish farthing of his reign is of the date 1210, and is valuable and rare. Farthings were coined in England in silver by Henry VIII. First coined in copper by Charles II. 1665; and again in 1672, when there was a large coinage of copper money. Half-farthings first coined in the reign of Victoria, 1843.-See Queen Anne's Farthings.

FASTING, AND FASTS. They were practised and observed by most nations from the remotest antiquity. Annual fasts, as that of Lent, and at other stated times, and on particular occasions, begun in the Christian church, to appease the anger of God, in the second century, A.D. 138. Retained as a pious practice by the reformed churches. -Eusebius. Fasting for an incredible time has been recorded of numerous persons. The Royal Society published an account of a woman in Ross-shire who was living altogether without food or drink, in 1777.-See Abstinence.

FEASTS AND FESTIVALS. The feast of the Tabernacles was instituted by Moses in the wilderness, 1490 B.C., but was celebrated with the greatest magnificence for fourteen days, upon the dedication of the temple of Solomon, 1005 B.C.-Josephus. In the Christian church, those of Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and the Pentecost or Whitsuntide, were first ordered to be observed by all Christians, A.D. 68. Rogation days were appointed in 469. Jubilees in the Romish church were instituted by Boniface VIII. in 1300.-See Jubilees. For fixed festivals observed in the Church of England, as settled at the Reformation, et seq., see Book of Common Prayer. FEBRUARY. The second month of the year, so called from Februa, a feast which was held therein in behalf of the manes of diseased persons, when sacrifices were performed, and the last offices were paid to the shades of the dead. This month, with January, was added to the year, which had previously but ten months, by Numa, 713 B.C.-See Calendar, and Year.

FECIALES. Heralds of ancient Rome, to denounce war or proclaim peace. When the Romans thought themselves injured, one of this sacerdotal body was empowered to demand redress; and after thirty-three days, if submission were not made, war was

declared, and the Feciales hurled a bloody spear into the territories of the enemy, in proof of intended hostilities. These priests or heralds were instituted by Numa, about 712 B.C.-Livy.

FENCING. This science, as it is called, was introduced into England from France. where it had long before been tolerated, and is still much in use, as instruction in self-defence, duels being fought chiefly by small swords there. Fencing-schools having led to duelling in England, they were prohibited in London, by statute 13 Edward I. 1284.-Northouck's Hist. of London.

FERE-CHAMPENOISE, BATTLE OF, between the French army under Marmont, Mortier, and Arrighi, and the Austrians under the prince of Schwartzenberg, by whom the French were surprised and defeated, March 25, 1814. Paris surrendered to the allied armies six days after this battle.-See France.

FERIE LATINE. These were festivals at Rome, instituted by Tarquin the Proud. The principal magistrates of forty-seven towns of Latium assembled on a mount near Rome, where they and the Roman authorities offered a bull to Jupiter Latialis. During these festivals it was not lawful for any person to work, 534 B.c.-Livy. FERNS, BISHOPRIC OF. Anciently this see was for a time archiepiscopal; for in the early ages of Christianity the title of archbishop in Ireland, except that of Armagh, was not fixed to any particular see, but sometimes belonged to one, and sometimes to another city, according to the sanctity and merits of the presiding bishop. He was not denominated from his see, but from the province in which his prelacy was situated. St. Edan was seated here, in A. D. 598.

FERRARS' ARREST. Mr. George Ferrars, a member of parliament, being in attendance on the house, was taken in execution by a sheriff's officer for debt, and committed to the Compter. The house dispatched their sergeant to require his release, which was resisted, and an affray taking place, his mace was broken. The house in a body repaired to the lords to complain, when the contempt was adjudged to be very great, and the punishment of the offenders was referred to the lower house. On another messenger being sent to the sheriffs by the commons, they delivered up the senator, and the civil magistrates and the creditor were committed to the Tower, the inferior officers to Newgate, and an act was passed releasing Mr. Ferrars from liability for the debt. The king, Henry VIII., highly approved of all these proceedings, and the transaction became the basis of that rule of parliament which exempts members to this day from arrest, A.D. 1542.-Hollingshed.

FERRO. The most western of the Canary Isles, from whose west point some geographers have taken their first meridian; this island was known to the ancients, and was re-discovered in 1402.-See Canary Islands. In the middle of the Island of Ferro is the fountain tree, from whose leaves great quantities of water are distilled. FERROL, BRITISH EXPEDITION TO. Upwards of 10,000 British landed near Ferrol under the command of sir James Pulteney, in August, 1800. They gained possession of the heights, notwithstanding which the British general, despairing of success on account of the strength of the works, desisted from the enterprise, and re-embarked the troops. His conduct on this occasion, which was in opposition to the opinion and advice of the officers of his army, was very much condemned in England. The French took seven sail of the line here, January 27, 1809. FESCENNINE VERSES. Were invented in Fescennia, and were a sort of rustic and obscene dialogue, in which the actors exposed before the auditory the failings and vices of particular persons, and by satirical humour and merriment endeavoured to raise the laughter of the company. They were often repeated at nuptials, and many lascivious expressions were used for the general diversion, 722 B.C. FETE DE DIEU. Berengarius, archbishop of Angers, was opposed to the doctrine of transubstantiation when it was first propagated, and to atone for this crime a yearly procession was made at Angers, which was called la fête de Dieu. A.D. 1019. FETE DE VERTU. An assemblage, chiefly of young persons, annually brought together by the late benevolent lady Harcourt, to be adjudged rewards for industry and virtue. The scene of this cheering exhibition was Newnham, in Oxfordshire; and here females of correct morals, and males engaged in laudable pursuits, obtained prizes every year. These fêtes were commenced in 1789, and continued till Lady Harcourt's death.

FEUDAL LAWS. The tenure of land, by suit and service to the lord or owner of it, was introduced into England by the Saxons, about A.D. 600. The slavery of this tenure was increased under William I. in 1068. This was done by dividing the kingdom into baronies, and giving them to certain persons, requiring them to furnish the king with money, and a stated number of soldiers. These laws were discountenanced in France by Louis XI. in 1470. The vassalage was restored, but limited by Henry VII. 1495. Abolished by statute 12 Charles II. 1663. The feudal system was introduced into Scotland by Malcolm II. in 1008; and was finally abolished in that kingdom, 20 George II. 1746.-Lyttleton; Ruffhead; Blackstone. FEUILLANS. Members of a society formed in Paris to counteract the intrigues and operations of the Jacobins, named from the Feuillan convent, where their meetings were held, early in the Revolution. A body of Jacobins invested the building, burst into their hall, and obliged them to separate, Dec. 25, 1791.

FEZ. The ancient Mauritania, founded by Edrus, a Barbary farmer, about A.D. 696. It soon afterwards became the capital of all the western Morocco States. Leo Africanus describes Mauritania as containing more than seven hundred temples, mosques, and other public edifices, in the twelfth century.

FICTION LAW. Invented by the lawyers in the reign of Edward I. as a means of carrying cases from one court to another, whereby the courts became checks to each other.-Hume. Memorable declaration of Lord Mansfield, in the Court of King's Bench, emphatically uttered, that "NO FICTION OF LAW SHALL EVER SO FAR PREVAIL

AGAINST THE REAL TRUTH OF THE FACT, AS TO PREVENT THE EXECUTION OF

JUSTICE," May 21, 1784. This constitutional maxim is now a rule of law.

FIEF. In France we find fiefs-men mentioned as early as the age of Childebert I., A.D. 511. They were introduced into Italy by the Lombards. Into Spain, before the invasion of the Moors, A.D. 710. Into England by the Saxons (see Feudal Laws). Into Scotland, directly from England, by Malcolm II., 1008.

FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD. Henry VIII. embarked at Dover to meet Francis I. of France, at Ardres, a small town near Calais in France, May 31, 1520. The nobility of both kingdoms here displayed their magnificence with such emulation and profuse expense, as procured to the place of interview (an open plain) the name of The Field of the Cloth of Gold. Many of the king's attendants involved themselves in great debts on this occasion, and were not able, by the penury of their whole lives, to repair the vain splendour of a few days. A painting of the embarkation, and another of the interview, are at Windsor-Castle.-Butler. FIESCHI'S ATTEMPT ON LOUIS-PHILIPPE. This assassin fired an infernal machine at the French king, as he rode along the lines of the National Guard, on the Boulevard du Temple, accompanied by his three sons and suite. The machine consisted of twenty-five barrels, charged with various species of missiles, and lighted simultaneously by a train of gunpowder. The king and his sons escaped; but marshal Mortier (duke of Treviso) was shot dead, many officers were dangerously wounded, and an indiscriminate slaughter was made among the spectators, there being upwards of forty persons killed or injured, July 28, 1835.

FIFTH MONARCHY-MEN. Fanatical levellers who arose in the time of Cromwell, and who supposed the period of the Millennium to be just at hand, when JESUS should descend from heaven and erect the fifth universal monarchy. They actually proceeded to elect JESUS CHRIST king at London! Cromwell dispersed them, 1653. FIG TREE, Ficus Carica; brought from the south of Europe, before A.D. 1548.The Botany-Bay Fig, Ficus Australis, brought from N. S. Wales in 1789.-See Fruits. FIGURES. Arithmetical figures (nine digits and zero), and the method of computing by them, were brought into Europe from Arabia, about A.D. 900. They were first known in England about the year 1253, previously to which time the numbering by letters was in use in these countries.-See Arithmetic.

FINES AND RECOVERIES. Conferring the power of breaking ancient entails and alienating estates. The practice of breaking entails by means of a fine and recovery was introduced in the reign of Edward IV., but it was not, properly speaking, law, till the statute of Henry VII., which, by correcting some abuses that attended the practice, gave indirectly a sanction to it; 4 Henry VII. 1489.-Hume.

FIRE. It is said to have been first produced by striking flints together. The poets suppose that fire was stolen from heaven by Prometheus. Zoroaster, king of Bactria, was the founder of the sect of the Magi, or Worshippers of Fire, since known by the appellation of Guebres, still numerous in the countries of the East, 2115 B.C. Justin; Pliny. Heraclitus maintained that the world was created from fire, and he deemed it to be a god omnipotent, and taught this theory about 506 B.c.— Nouv. Dict. In the Scriptures God is said often to have appeared in, or encompassed with fire-as to Moses in the burning bush, on Mount Sinai; and to the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and St. John. The wrath of God is described by a consuming fire, and the angels, as his ministers, are compared to it.-See the Bible. FIRE-ARMS. Small arms were contrived by Schwartz, A.D. 1378; they were brought to England about 1388. Fire-arms were a prodigious rarity in Ireland in 1489, when six muskets were sent from Germany as a present to the earl of Kildare, who was then chief-governor. Muskets were first used at the siege of Rhegen, in 1525. The Spaniards were the first nation who armed the foot soldier with these weapons. -Ulloa. Voltaire states, that the Venetians were the first to use guns, in an engagement at sea against the Genoese, in 1377; but our historians affirm, that the English had guns at the battle of Cressy, in 1346; and the year following at the siege of Calais.-See Artillery.

FIRE-BARS, DEATH BY THE. A punishment of China, the invention of the emperor Sheoo, who reigned in the 12th century B.C. The sufferer was compelled to walk on bars of red-hot iron, from which, if he fell, his almost certain fate, he was received in a burning furnace beneath, and was consumed in the flames.

FIRE-ENGINES. The fire-engine is of modern invention, although the forcingpump, of which it is an application, is more than two centuries old. The fire-engine, to force water, was constructed by John Vander Heyden, about the year 1663; it was improved materially in 1752, and from that time to the present. The firewatch, or fire-guard of London, was instituted November 1791. The fire-brigade was established in London in 1833.

FIRE-SHIPS. They were first used in the sixteenth century. Among the most formidable contrivances of this kind ever used, was an explosion vessel to destroy a bridge of boats at the siege of Antwerp, in 1585. The first use of them in the English navy was by Charles, lord Howard of Effingham, afterwards earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral of England, in the engagement with the Spanish Armada, July, 1588.-Rapin. FIRE-WORKS. Are said to have been familiar to the Chinese in remote ages: they were invented in Europe at Florence, about A.D. 1360; and were first exhibited as a spectacle in 1588. At an exhibition of fire-works in Paris, in honour of the marriage of the dauphin, afterwards Louis XVI., the passages being stopped up occasioned such a crowd, that the people, seized with panic, trampled upon one another till they lay in heaps; a scaffold erected over the river also broke down, and hundreds were drowned; more than 1000 persons perished on this occasion, June 21, 1770. Madame Blanchard ascending from Tivoli Gardens, Paris, at night in a balloon surrounded by fireworks, the balloon took fire, and she was precipitated to the ground, and dashed to pieces, July 6, 1819.-See Balloon.

FIRE-WORKS IN ENGLAND. The grandest ever known in this country were played off from a magnificent building purposely erected in the Green-park, London, at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was signed April 30, 1748. Sir William Congreve has borne the palm from the Italian and French artists; he erected the beautiful pagoda-bridge, the temple of concord, and other devices in the parks, and superintended the grand display of fire-works, August 1, 1814, in the celebration of the general peace, and to commemorate the centenary accession of the family of Brunswick to the British throne. The fire-works constructed by him on this occasion surpassed all previous exhibitions of the kind.

FIRES IN LONDON. The conflagration of a city, with all its tumult of concomitant distress, is one of the most dreadful spectacles which this world can offer to human eyes. Dr. Johnson. In London have been many fires of awful magnitude. Among the early fires, was one which destroyed the greater part of the city, A.D. 982. Ă fire happened in the 20th of William I., 1086; it consumed all the houses and churches from the west to the east gate.—Baker's Chron. For the GREAT FIRES