in London, see next article. The following are among the memorable fires of more

July 21, 1794

Sept. 17, 1794

Nov. 1, 1796

Feb. 11, 1800

July 9, 1803

Sept. 1, 1803

Sept. 20, 1808

Feb. 24, 1809

In Conduit-street; Mr. Windham, in aiding to save Mr. North's library, received an injury which caused his death

July 9, 1803

June 12, 1811

In Bury-street, St. Mary-axe, half the
street made ruins
Custom-house burned down, with many
adjoining warehouses, and the public
records

Feb. 12, 1814 March 16, 1820

At Rotherhithe; loss, 80,0001.
At Mile-end; loss, 200,0007.
In Smithfield; loss, 100,000%.
In Red-lion-street, 15 houses
English Opera-house, and several houses

in its rear, burnt

Jan. 22, 1821
Aug. 14, 1822
June 6, 1823

Feb. 16, 1830

At Shadwell, 20 houses burnt In the Minories, 30 houses March 23, 1797 In the King's Bench,50 residences July 14, 1799 Near the Customs, 3 West India warehouses; loss 300,000. These are but a few fires out of as many hundreds, and they refer chiefly to the loss of property. In the four last years, between 1841 and 1845, were many fires attended with serious loss of life; among these was that at Raggett's Hotel, Doverstreet, May 27, 1845. It is estimated that 300 fires occur in London annually. FIRES OF LONDON, THE GREAT. Awful one at London-bridge, which began on the Southwark side, but by some accident (not accounted for) it took fire at the other end also, and hemmed in the numerous crowd which had assembled to help the distressed. The sufferers, to avoid the flames, threw themselves over the bridge into boats and barges; but many of these sunk by people crowding into them, and 3000 persons were drowned in the Thames. The fire likewise, for want of hands to extinguish it, burnt great part of the city north and south from the bridge, 14 John 1212. The fire, called the GREAT FIRE, whose ruins covered 436 acres, extended from the Tower to the Temple-church, and from the north-east gate to Holborn-bridge. It began at a baker's house in Pudding-lane behind Monument-yard, and destroyed in the space of four days eighty-nine churches, including St. Paul's; the city gates, the Royal Exchange, the Custom House, Guildhall, Sion College, and many other public buildings, besides 13,200 houses, laying waste 400 streets. This conflagration happened (not without strong suspicion of treason), Sept. 2, 1666, and continued three days and nights, and was at last only extinguished by the blowing up of houses.-Hume; Rapin; Carte.

FIRST FRUITS. Primitia among the Hebrews. They were offerings which made a large part of the revenues of the Hebrew priesthood. First fruits were instituted by pope Clement V., in A.D. 1306; and were collected in England in 1316. The first year's income of every church benefice in England was given to the popes till the 27th of Henry VIII., 1535, when the first fruits were assigned, by act of parliament, to the king and his successors.-Carte. Granted, together with the tenths, to increase the incomes of the poor clergy, by queen Anne, Feb. 1704. Consolidation of the offices of First Fruits, Tenths, and queen Anne's Bounty, by Statute 1 Vict., April 1838.-See Augmentation of Poor Livings.

FISHERIES. The Fishmongers' company of London was incorporated in 1536. Fishing towns were regulated by an act passed in 1542. Fishing on our coasts was

forbidden by statute to strangers in 1609. The Dutch paid 30,000l. for permission to fish on the coasts of Britain, 1636. The corporation of the Free British Fisheries was instituted in 1750. Fish-machines for conveying fish by land to London, were set up in 1761; and supported by parliament 1764. The British Society of Fisheries was established in London in 1786. The Irish Fishery Company was formed in Dec. 1818.-See Herring, Whale, and Newfoundland Fisheries. FIVE-MILE ACT. This statute was passed 16 Charles II., October 1665. It obliged non-conformist teachers, who refused to take the non-resistance oath, not to come within five miles of any corporation where they had preached since the act of oblivion (unless they were travelling), under the penalty of fifty pounds.

FLAG. The flag acquired its present form in the sixth century, in Spain; it was previously small and square. The honour-of-the-flag salute at sea was exacted by England from very early times; but it was formally yielded by the Dutch in A.D. 1673, at which period they were defeated in many actions.-See Naval Battles. FLAGELLANTES, SECT Or. They established themselves at Perouse, A.D. 1260. They maintained that there was no remission of sins without flagellation, and publicly lashed themselves, while in procession preceded by the cross, until the blood Aowed from their naked backs. Their leader, Conrad Schmidt, was burnt, 1414. FLAMBEAUX, FEAST OF. Instituted to commemorate the fidelity of Hypermnestra, who saved her husband, while her forty-nine sisters, on the night of their nuptials, sacrificed theirs, at the command of their father, Danaus, 1425 B.C.-See Argos. FLANDERS. The country of the ancient Belgæ; conquered by Julius Cæsar, 47 B. C. It passed into the hands of France, A.D. 412. It was governed by its earls subject to that crown, from 864 to 1369. It then came into the house of Austria by marriage; but was yielded to Spain in 1556. Flanders shook off the Spanish yoke in 1572; and in 1725, by the treaty of Vienna, it was annexed to the German empire. --Priestley. Flanders was overrun by the French in 1792 and 1794, and was declared part of their Republic. It was made part of the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1814, and was erected into the kingdom of Belgium in 1831.-See Belgium. FLAT-BUSH, BATTLE OF, Long Island; between the British forces and the Americans, when the latter, after a desperate engagement, were defeated, with the loss of 2000 men killed, and 1000 prisoners, August 27, 1776. The Americans, in their retreat to New York, were providentially saved by the interposition of a thick fog. FLATTERY CAPE. Situate on the western coast of North America, was so named by captain Cook, because it promised to him a harbour at a distance, which it did not yield him upon his nearer approach, in 1778.—Cook's Voyages. FLAX. The flax seed was first planted in England in A.D. 1533. For many ages the core was separated from the flax, the bark of the plant, by the hand. A mallet was next used; but the old methods of breaking and scutching the flax yielded to a water-mill which was invented in Scotland about 1750.-See article Hemp. FLEET MARKET, PRISON, &c. Built on the small river Fleta, now arched over, and used as a common sewer. In the reign of Henry VII. this river was navigable to Holborn-bridge; and the obelisk in Fleet-street denotes the extent of it in 1775. The prison, for debtors, was founded as early as the first year of Richard I. It was the place of confinement for those who had incurred the displeasure of that arbitrary court, the Star Chamber; and persons are now committed here for contempts of the Court of Chancery. Fleet Prison was burnt down by the prisoners, June 7, 1780. Fleet-market was originally formed in 1737; and was removed from Farring

* An extraordinary and formidable evil once prevailed in this prison. Illicit marriages were celebrated in it to an amazing extent. Between the 19th October, 1704, and February 12, 1705, there were celebrated 2954 marriages in the Fleet, without license or certificate of banns. Twenty or thirty couple were sometimes joined in one day, and their names concealed by private marks, if they chose to pay an extra fee. Pennant, at a later period, describes the daring manner in which this nefarious traffic was carried on. He says, that in walking by the prison in his youth, he has been often accosted with "Sir, will you please to walk in and be married?" And he states, that painted signs, of a male and female hand conjoined, with the inscription "Marriages performed within," were common along the building. A dirty creature outside, generally conducted you to the parson, who was a Bardolph-looking fellow, in a tattered night-gown, and who, if he could not obtain more, would marry a couple for a glass of gin. This glaring abuse was only put an end to by the Marriage Act in 1753.

don-street, Nov. 20, 1829. The granite obelisk in Fleet-street, to the memory of Alderman Waithman, erected June 25, 1833, and completed in one day. Fleet Prison demolished (the debtors having been removed to the Queen's Bench), 1845. FLEUR-DE-LIS. The emblem of France, and of which it is gravely recorded, that it was sent to the French people from heaven by an angel, whose commission was addressed to Clovis, their first Christian king. Clovis, it is related, made a vow that if he proved victorious in a pending battle with the Alemans, he would embrace Christianity; and his arms having been triumphant in this battle, which was fought near Cologne, A.D. 496, he adopted the lily, and it has been the national emblem ever since. See Lily.

FLEURUS, BATTLE OF, between the allies under the prince of Coburg, and the French revolutionary army commanded by Jourdan. The allies, with an army of 100,000 men, had for their object the relief of Charleroi, when they were met on the plains of Fleurus, and signally defeated. Between eight and ten thousand were killed, wounded, and taken prisoners; and Jourdan was enabled to form a junction with the French armies of the Moselle, the Ardennes, and the north. In this memorable battle the French made use of a balloon to reconnoitre the enemy's army, an experiment which, it is said, contributed to the success of the day, June 17, 1794. FLIES. There happened an extraordinary and memorable fall of these insects in London, covering the clothes of passengers in the streets, in which they lay so thick, that the impressions of the people's feet were visible on the pavements, as they are in a thick fall of snow, A.D. 1707.-Chamberlain's History of London. In the United States of America is an insect, commonly called the Hessian fly, from the notion of its having been brought there by the Hessian troops in the service of England in the American war of Independence; its ravages were very extensive on the wheat in 1777, et seq.; but the injury to the crops was much less after a few years. FLOATING BATTERIES. See article Batteries, and Gibraltar, Siege of, 1781. FLODDEN FIELD, Battle or, between the English and Scots. James IV. of Scotland, having taken part with Louis XII. of France, against Henry VIII. of England, this battle was one of the consequences of his unfortunate policy; and James, and most of his chief nobles, and upwards of 10,000 of his army were slain, while the English, who were commanded by the earl of Surrey, lost only persons of small note. Henry VIII. was at the time besieging Terouenne, near St. Omer; fought Sept. 9, 1513.

FLORALIA. Games, in honour of Flora at Rome, instituted about the age of Romulus, but they were not celebrated with regularity and proper attention till the year U.c. 580. They were observed yearly, and exhibited a scene of the most unbounded licentiousness. It is reported that Cato wished once to be present at the celebration, and that when he saw that the deference for his presence interrupted the feast, he retired, not choosing to be the spectator of the prostitution of naked women in a public theatre.-Valerius Max.

PLORENCE. Is said to have been founded by the soldiers of Sylla, and enlarged by the Roman Triumviri. It was destroyed by Totila, and was rebuilt by Charlemagne. This city is truly the seat of the arts. In its palaces, university, academies, churches, and libraries, are to be found the rarest works of sculpture and painting in the world. The Florentine academy, and the Accademia della Crusca, were instituted to enrich the literature and improve the language of Tuscany; the latter is so named because it rejects like bran all words not purely Tuscan. Florence was taken by the French in July 1796, and again in March, 1799; and was restored in 1814. FLORES, OR ISLE OF FLOWERS. Discovered by Vanderberg, in 1439; and settled by the Portuguese in 1448. The whole surface of this island presented originally the appearance of a garden of flowers, rich in perfume, the summer breeze wafting the odour round the coast. This is one of the Azores; so called by Martin Behem, on account of their abounding in hawks. FLORIDA. First discovered by Sebastian Cabot in A.D. 1497. It was visited by Ponce de Leon, the Spanish navigator, April 2, 1512, in a voyage he had absurdly undertaken to discover a fountain whose waters had the property of restoring youth to the aged who tasted them! Florida was conquered by the Spaniards under Ferdinand de Soto in 1539; but the settlement was not fully established until 1565. It was plundered by sir Francis Drake in 1585; and by Davis, a buccaneer, in 1665.

Q

It was invaded by the British in 1702. Again, by general Oglethorpe in 1740. Ceded to the British crown in 1763. Taken by the Spaniards in 1781; and guaranteed to them in 1783. Ceded by Spain to the United States in 1820.

FLORIN. A coin first made by the Florentines. A floren was issued by Edward III. which was current in England at the value of 6s., in 1337.-Camden. This English coin was called floren after the Florentine coin, because the latter was of the best gold.-Ashe. The florin of Germany is in value 2s. 4d.; that of Spain 4s. 44d.; that of Palermo and Sicily 2s. 6d. ; that of Holland 2s.-Ayliffe.

FLOWERS. The most delightful and fragrant among the ornaments of our gardens are of foreign production. The modern taste for flowers came, it is said, from Persia to Constantinople, and was imported thence to Europe for the first time in the sixteenth century; at least many of the productions of our gardens were conveyed by that channel.-Beckmann. With what goodness does GoD provide for our happiness and enjoyments, by making even the most remote countries contribute towards them!-Sturm. From the reign of Henry VII. to that of Elizabeth, our present common flowers were, for the most part, introduced into England. The art of preserving flowers in sand was discovered in 1633. A mode of preserving them from the effects of frost in winter, and hastening their vegetation in summer, was invented in America, by George Morris, in 1792. Among the flowers, the periods of whose introduction to our gardens have been traced, are the following :—

FLUSHING, Siege of. A British armament under the command of the earl of Chatham, landed at Walcheren, August 16, 1809, with a view to the destruction of the ships and arsenal at Antwerp; but a number of untoward circumstances first rendered the principal object of the expedition abortive, and then the pestilential nature of the island, at that particular season of the year, obliged the British to relinquish every advantage they had gained, and the place was evacuated, with great loss, in December following.-See Walcheren Expedition.

FLUTE. Invented by Hyagnis, a Phrygian, the father of Marsyas.-Plutarch. The flute, harp, lyre, and other instruments were known to the Romans; and the flute was so prized in antiquity, that several female deities lay claim to its invention. It was in far more general use as a concert instrument than the violin, until early in the last century, when the works of Corelli came over.-See Musiv. FLUXIONS. Invented by Newton, 1669. The differential calculus by Leibnitz, 1684. The finest applications of the calculus are by Newton, Euler, La Grange, and La Place. FLYING, ARTIFICIAL. It has been attempted in all ages. Friar Bacon maintained the possibility of the art, and predicted it would be of general practice, A.D. 1273. Bishop Wilkins says, it will yet be as usual to hear a man call for his wings when he is going on a journey, as it is now to hear him call for his boots, 1651. We apprehend that many ages will pass away previously to the accomplishment of these predictions. FONTHILL-ABBEY, IN WILTSHIRE. The celebrated mansion of Mr. Beckford. Within this vast and sumptuous edifice were collected the most costly articles of vertu, the rarest works of the old masters, and the finest specimens of the arts. The auction of its treasures, and the sale of the abbey to Mr. Farquhar, took place in 1819. FONTAINEBLEAU, PEACE OF, concluded between France and Denmark in 1679. Treaty of Fontainebleau between the emperor of Germany and Holland, signed November 8, 1785. Treaty of Fontainebleau between Napoleon and the royal family of Spain Oct. 27, 1807. Concordat of Fontainebleau between Napoleon and pope Pius VII. January 25, 1813. Fontainebleau was entered by the Austrians, Feb. 17, 1814. And here Napoleon resigned his imperial dignity, and bade a farewell to his army, April 5, 1814.

FONTENOY, BATTLE OF, near Tournay, between the French under count Saxe, and the English, Hanoverians, Dutch, and Austrians, commanded by the duke of Cumberland. The battle was fought with great obstinacy, and the carnage on both sides was considerable, the allies losing 12,000 men, and the French nearly an equal number of lives; but the allies were in the end defeated. Count Saxe, who was at the time ill of the disorder of which he afterwards died, was carried about to all the posts in a litter, assuring his troops that the day would be their own; fought April 30, 1745.

FONTS. Formerly the baptistry was a small room, or place partitioned off in a church, where the persons to be baptised (many of whom in the early ages were adults), were submerged. Previously to these artificial reservoirs, lakes and rivers were resorted to for immersion. Fonts for the initiation into Christianity were instituted in A.D. 167.

FOOLS, FESTIVALS OF, at Paris. They were held on the first of January, and were continued for 240 years. In their celebration, we are told, all sorts of absurdities and indecencies were committed, A.D. 1198. Fools or licensed jesters were kept at court in England (as they were at other courts of Europe), and were tolerated up to the time of Charles I. 1625.

FOREIGNERS. See Aliens. Foreigners were banished by proclamation, in conse