Part 2
=Fatal Marriage= (_The_), a tragedy by Thomas Southern (1659-1746). Isabella, a nun, marries Biron, the eldest son of Count Baldwin. The count disinherits his son for this marriage, and Biron, entering the army, is sent to the siege of Candy, where he is seen to fall, and is reported dead. Isabella, reduced to the utmost poverty, after seven years of “widowhood,” prays Count Baldwin to do something for her child, but he turns her out of doors. Villeroy (2 _syl._) proposes marriage to her, and her acceptance of him was “the fatal marriage,” for the very next day Biron returns and is set upon by ruffians in the pay of his brother Carlos, who assassinate him. Carlos accuses Villeroy of the murder, but one of the ruffians confesses, and Carlos is apprehended. As for Isabella, she stabs herself and dies.
=Fat Boy= (_Jo._). Obese page, or foot-boy of Mr. Wardell in _Pickwick Papers_.—Charles Dickens.
=Fates.= _The three Fatal Sisters_ were Clo´tho, Lachesis [_Lak´.e.sis_]. and At´ropos. They dwelt in the deep abyss of Demogorgon, “with unwearied fingers drawing out the threads of life.” Clotho held the spindle or distaff; Lachesis drew out the thread; and Atropos cut it off.
Sad Clotho held the rock, the whiles the thread By grisly Lachesis was spun with pain, That cruel Atropos eftsoon undid, With cursëd knife cutting the twist in twain. Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iv. 2. (1595).
=Father—Son.= It is a common observation that a father above the common rate of men has usually a son below it. Witness King John son of Henry II.; Edward II. son of Edward I.; Richard II. son of the Black Prince; Henry VI. son of Henry V.; Lord Chesterfield’s son, etc. So in French history: Louis VIII. was the son of Philippe _Auguste_; Charles _the Idiot_ was the son of Charles _le Sage_; Henri II. of François I. Again, in German history: Heinrich VI. was the son of Barbarossa; Albrecht I. of Rudolf; and so on, in all directions. _Heroum filii noxæ_ is a Latin proverb.
My trust, Like a good parent, did beget of him A falsehood, in its contrary as great As my trust was. Shakespeare, _The Tempest_, act i. sc. 2 (1609).
=Father Suckled by His own Daughter.= Euphrasia, called “The Grecian Daughter,” thus preserved the life of her father Evander in prison. (SEE EUPHRASIA.)
Xantippê thus preserved the life of her father Cimonos in prison.
=A Father’s Head Nursed by a Daughter after Death.= Margaret Roper “clasped in her last trance her murdered father’s head.” (SEE DAUGHTER.)
=Father of His Country.=
CICERO, who broke up the Catiline conspiracy (B.C. 106-43).
⁂ The Romans offered the same title to Marĭus after his annihilation of the Teutŏnês and Cimbri, but he would not accept it.
JULIUS CÆSAR, after he had quelled the Spanish insurrection (B.C. 100-44). AUGUSTUS, _P_ (B.C. 63-31 to A.D. 14).
COSMO DE MEDICI (1389-1464).
ANDREA DOREA; called so on his statue at Genoa (1468-1560).
ANDRONI´CUS PALÆOL´OGUS assumed the title (1260-1332).
GEORGE WASHINGTON, “Defender and Paternal Counseller of the American States” (1732-1799).
=Father of the People=.
LOUIS XII. of France (1462, 1498-1515).
HENRI IV. of France, “The Father and Friend of the People” (1553, 1589-1610).
LOUIS XVIII. of France (1755, 1814-1824).
GABRIEL DU PINEAU, a French lawyer, (1573-1644).
CHRISTIAN III. of Denmark (1502, 1534-1559).
⁂ For other “Fathers,” see under the specific name or vocation, as BOTANY, LITERATURE, and so on.
=Fathers= (_Last of the_), St. Bernard (1091-1153).
⁂ The “Fathers of the Church” were followed by “the Schoolmen.”
=Fatherless=. Merlin never had a father; his mother was a nun, the daughter of the king of Dimetia.
=Fathom= (_Ferdinand Count_), a villain who robs his benefactors, pillages any one, and finally dies in misery and despair.—T. Smollett, _The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom_ (1754).
(The gang being absent, an old beldame conveys the count to a rude apartment to sleep in. Here he found the dead body of a man lately stabbed and concealed in some straw; and the account of his sensations during the night, the horrid device by which he saved his life (by lifting the corpse into his own bed), and his escape, guided by the hag, is terrifically tragic).
=Fatima=, daughter of Mahomet, and one of the four perfect women. The other three are Khadîjah, the prophet’s first wife; Mary, daughter of Imrân; and Asia, wife of that Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea.
_Fat´ima_, a holy woman of China, who lived a hermit’s life. There was “no one affected with headache whom she did not cure by simply laying her hands on them.” An African magician induced this devotee to lend him her clothes and stick, and to make him the fac-simile of herself. He then murdered her, and got introduced into the palace of Aladdin. Aladdin, being informed of the trick, pretended to have a bad headache, and when the false Fatima approached, under the pretence of curing it, he plunged a dagger into the heart of the magician and killed him.—_Arabian Nights_ (“Aladdin or the Wonderful Lamp”).
_Fat´ima_, the mother of Prince Camaral´zaman. Her husband was Schah´zaman, Sultan of the “Isle of the Children of Khal´edan, some twenty days’ sail from the coast of Persia, in the open sea.”—_Arabian Nights_ (“Camaralzaman and Badoura”).
_Fat´ima_, the last of Bluebeard´s wives. She was saved from death by the timely arrival of her brothers with a party of friends.—C. Perrault, _Contes de Fées_ (1697).
=Fat´imite= (3 _syl._). _The Third Fatimite_, the Caliph Hakem B’amr-ellah, who professed to be incarnate deity, and the last prophet who had communication between God and man. He was the founder of the Druses (_q.v._).
What say you does this wizard style himself— Hakeem Biamrallah, the Third Fatimite? Robt. Browning, _The Return of the Druses_, v.
=Fatme=. Beautiful sultana, who, looking down from her lattice into the courtyard wept to see a lamb slaughtered, yet turned from the window to ask in eager hope if the poison administered to her rival had produced the desired effect.—_Heine_.
=Faulconbridge= (_Philip_), called “the Bastard,” natural son of King Richard I. and Lady Robert Faulconbridge. An admirable admixture of greatness and levity, daring and recklessness. He was generous and open-hearted, but hated foreigners like a true-born islander.—Shakespeare, _King John_ (1596).
=Faulkland=, the over-anxious lover of Julia [_Melville_], always fretting and tormenting himself about her whims, spirit, health, life. Every feature in the sky, every shift of the wind was a source of anxiety to him. If she was gay, he fretted that she should care so little for his absence; if she was low-spirited, he feared she was going to die; if she danced with another, he was jealous; if she didn´t, she was out of sorts.—Sheridan, _The Rivals_ (1775).
=Faultless Painter= (_The_), Andrea del Sarto (1488-1630).—R. Browning, _Andrea del Sarto_.
=Fauntleroy= (_Little Lord_). The story of Cedric Errol, heir to his grandfather, Lord Fauntleroy, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, has been dramatized, Elsie Leslie, a child of rare promise, taking the part of Cedric, and Kathryn Kidder that of his mother. (See ERROL).
=Faun=. Tennyson uses this sylvan deity of the classics as the symbol of a drunkard.
Arise and fly The reeling Faun, the sensual feast. _In Memoriam_, cxviii
=Faust=, a famous magician of the sixteenth century, a native of Suabia. A rich uncle having left him a fortune, Faust ran to every excess, and when his fortune was exhausted, made a pact with the devil (who assumed the name of Mephistoph´elês, and the appearance of a little grey monk) that if he might indulge his propensities freely for twenty-four years, he would at the end of that period consign to the devil both body and soul. The compact terminated in 1550, when Faust disappeared. His sweetheart was Margheri´ta [_Margaret_], whom he seduced, and his faithful servant was Wagner.
Goethê has a noble tragedy entitled _Faust_ (1798); Gounod an opera called _Faust e Margherita_ (1859) (See FAUSTUS.)
=Faustus= (_Dr._), the same as Faust; but Marlowe, in his admirable tragedy, makes the doctor sell himself to Lucifer and Mephistophilis.
=Favor= (_Anna_). Young Anna Favor, married to Ezra Dalton, conceives the insane idea that her baby is a changeling, and asks her husband to rake open the coals that she may lay it upon them, and the witch shall have her own.
“She’ll come when she hears it crying, In the shape of an owl or bat, And she’ll bring us our darling Anna In place of her screeching brat.”
The delusion is removed and her senses restored in answer to the prayer of her husband.
“Now, mount and ride, my goodman, As thou lovest thy own soul! Woe’s me if my wicked fancies Be the death of Goodwife Cole!” J.G. Whittier, _The Changeling_.
W. Bayle Bernard, of Boston, Mass., has a tragedy on the same subject.
=Favori´ta= (_La_), Leonora de Guzman, “favorite” of Alfonzo XI. of Castile. Ferdinando fell in love with her; and the king, to save himself from excommunication, sanctioned the marriage. But when Ferdinando learned that Leonora was the king’s mistress, he rejected the alliance with indignation, and became a monk. Leonora also became a novice in the same monastery, saw Ferdinando, obtained his forgiveness, and died.—Donizetti, _La Favorita_ (an opera, 1842).
=Faw= (_Tibbie_), the ostler’s wife, in Wandering Willie’s tale.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Faw´nia=, the lady beloved by Dorastus.—R. Greene, _Pandosto, The Triumph of Time_ (1588).
⁂ Shakespeare founded his _Winter’s Tale_ on Greene’s romance.
=Fazio=, a Florentine, who first tried to make a fortune by alchemy, but being present when Bartoldo died, he buried the body secretly, and stole the miser’s money-bags. Being now rich he passed his time with the Marchioness Aldabella in licentious pleasure, and his wife Bianca, out of jealousy, accused him to the duke of being privy to Bartoldo’s death. For this offence Fazio was condemned to die; and Bianca, having tried in vain to save him, went mad with grief, and died of a broken heart.—Dean Milman, _Fazio_ (1815).
=Fea= (_Euphane_), the old house-keeper of the old udaller at Burgh-Westra. (A “udaller” is one who holds land by allodial tenure.)—Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time, William III.).
=Fear Fortress=, near Saragossa. An allegorical bogie fort, conjured up by fear, which vanishes as it is courageously approached and boldly besieged.
If a child disappeared, or any cattle were carried off, the frightened peasants said: “The Lord of Fear Fortress has taken them.” If a fire broke out anywhere, it was the Lord of Fear Fortress who must have lit it. The origin of all accidents, mishaps, and disasters, was traced to the mysterious owner of this invisible castle.—L’Epine, _Croquemitaine_, iii. 1.
=Fearless= (_The_), Jean duc de Bourgoigne, called _Sans Peur_ (1371-1419).
=Featherhead= (_John_), Esq., an opponent of Sir Thomas Kittlecourt, M.P.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=Fedalina=. Daughter of the gypsy chief and heroine of _The Spanish Gypsy_, by George Eliot.
=Fee= and =Fairy=. Fee is the more general term, including the latter. _The Arabian Nights_ are not all fairy tales, but they are all fee tales or _contes des fées_. So again, the Ossianic tales, Campbell’s _Tales of the West Highlands_, the mythological tales of the Basques, Irish, Scandinavians, Germans, French, etc., may all be ranged under fee tales.
=Feeble= (_Francis_), a woman’s tailor, and one of the recruits of Sir John Falstaff. Although a thin, starveling yard-wand of a man, he expresses great willingness to be drawn. Sir John compliments him as “courageous Feeble,” and says to him, “Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most magnanimous mouse.... most forcible Feeble.”—Shakespeare, _2 Henry IV_. act iii. sc. 2 (1598).
=Feeder= (_Mr._), B.A., usher in the school of Dr. Blimber of Brighton. He was “a kind of human barrel-organ, which played only one tune.” He was in the habit of shaving his head to keep it cool. Mr. Feeder married Miss Blimber, the doctor’s daughter, and succeeded to the school.—C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).
=Feenix=, nephew of the Hon. Mrs. Skewton (mother of Edith, Mr. Dombey’s second wife), Feenix was a very old gentleman, patched up to look as much like a young fop as possible.
Cousin Feenix was a man about town forty years ago; but he is still so juvenile in figure and manner that strangers are amazed when they discover latent wrinkles in his lordship’s face, and crow’s feet in his eyes. But cousin Feenix getting up at half-past seven, is quite another thing from cousin Feenix got up.—C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_, xxxi. (1846).
=Feignwell= (_Colonel_) the suitor of Anne Lovely, an heiress. Anne Lovely had to obtain the consent of her four guardians before she could marry. One was an old beau, another a virtuoso, a third a broker on ’Change, and the fourth a canting quaker. The colonel made himself agreeable to all, and carried off his prize.—Mrs. Centlivre, _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ (1717).
=Feinai´gle= (_Gregory de_), a German mnemonist (1765-1820). He obtained some success by his aids to memory, but in Paris he was an object of ridicule.
Her memory was a mine ... For her Feinaigle’s was a useless art Byron, _Don Juan_, i. 11 (1819).
=Felice=, wife of Sir Guy Warwick, said to have “the same high forehead as Venus.”
=Felic´ian= (_Father_), a catholic priest and schoolmaster of Grand Pré, in Acadia (now called _Nova Scotia_). He accompanied Evangeline in part of her wanderings to find Gabriel, her affianced husband.—Longfellow, _Evangeline_ (1849).
=Felicians= (_The_), the happy nation. The Felicians live under a free sovereignty, where the laws are absolute. Felicia is the French “Utopia.”—Mercier de la Rivière, _L’Heureuse Nation_ (1767).
=Feliciano de Sylva=, Don Quixote’s favorite author. The two following extracts were, in his opinion, unsurpassed and unsurpassable:—
The reason, most adored one, of your unreasonable unreasonableness hath so unreasonably unseated my reason, that I have no reasonable reason for reasoning against such unreasonableness.
The bright heaven of your divinity that lifts you to the stars, most celestial of women, renders you deserving of every desert which your charms so deservedly deserve.—Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. i. 8 (1605).
=Félicie=, happy French girl, the daughter of Jean and Gabrielle Waldo. Her mother gives her poison by mistake, from the effects of which she is relieved by John of Lugio, summoned from his home many leagues away, “IN HIS NAME.”—Edward Everett Hale, _In His Name_ (1887).
=Felix=, a monk who listened to the singing of a milk-white bird for a hundred years; which length of time seemed to him “but a single hour,” so enchanted was he with the song.—Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_. (See also _Hildesheim_.)
_Felix_ (_Don_), son of Don Lopez. He was a Portuguese nobleman, in love with Violante; but Violante’s father, Don Pedro, intended to make her a nun. Donna Isabella, having fled from home to avoid a marriage disagreeable to her, took refuge with Violante; and when Colonel Briton called at the house to see Donna Isabella, her brother Don Felix was jealous, believing that Violante was the object of his visits. Violante kept “her friend’s secret,” even at the risk of losing her lover; but ultimately the mystery was cleared up, and a double marriage took place.—Mrs. Centlivre, _The Wonder_ (1714).
_Felix Holt_ (See Holt).
_Felix_ (_M. Minucius_), a Roman lawyer, who flourished A.D. 230; he wrote a dialogue entitled _Octavius_, which occupies a conspicuous place among the early Apologies of Christianity.
Like Menucius Felix, she believed that evil demons hid themselves in the marbles [_statues_].—Ouida, _Ariadnê_, i. 9.
_Felix_ (_St._), of Burgundy, who converted Sigbert (Sigebert or Sabert) king of the East Saxons, (A.D. 604).—Ethelwerd, _Chronicles_, v.
So Burgundy to us three men most reverend bare ... Of which way Felix first, who in th’ East Saxon reign Converted to the faith King Sigbert. Him again Ensueth Anselm ... and Hugh ... [_bishop of Lincoln_]. Drayton _Polyolbion_, xxiv. (1622).
=Fe´lixmar´te= (4 _syl._) of Hyrcania, son of Flo´risan and Martedi´na, the hero of a Spanish romance of chivalry. The curate in _Don Quixote_ condemned this work to the flames.—Melchior de Orteza, _Caballera de Ubĕda_ (1566).
=Felix= (_Varian_). The Adonis of his circle, who falls in love with a beautiful woman, already the wife of another man. He flies from temptation and does not return until she is the other man’s widow; then woos and weds her.—Miriam Coles Harris, _A Perfect Adonis_ (1875).
=Fell= (_Dr._). Tom Brown, being in disgrace, was sent by Dr. Fell, dean of Christ Church (1625-1686), to translate the thirty-third epigram of Martial.
Non amo te, Zabidi, nec possum dicere quare; Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.
Which he rendered thus:
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell— The reason why I cannot tell; But this I know, and know full well, I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.
=Feltham= (_Black_), a highwayman with Captain Colepepper or Peppercull (the Alsatian bully).—Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Femmes Savantes= (_Les_), women who go in for women’s rights, science, and philosophy, to the neglect of domestic duties and wifely amenities. The “blue-stockings” are (1) Philaminte (3 _syl._) the mother of Henriette, who discharges one of her servants because she speaks ungrammatically; (2) Armande (2 _syl._) sister of Henriette, who advocates platonic love and science; and (3) Bélise, sister of Philaminte, who sides with her in all things, but imagines that every one is in love with her. Henriette, who has no sympathy with these “lofty flights,” is in love with Clitandre, but Philaminte wants her to marry Trissotin, a _bel esprit_. However, the father loses his property through the “savant” proclivities of his wife, Trissotin retires, and Clitandre marries Henriette, the “perfect” or thorough woman.—Moliere, _Les Femmes Savantes_ (1672).
=Fenella=, _alias_ Zarah (daughter of Edward Christian), a pretended deaf and dumb fairy-like attendant on the countess of Derby. The character seems to have been suggested by that of Mignon, the Italian girl in Goethê’s _Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship._—Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
Let be _tableaux vivants_, and I will appear as “Fenella.” Percy Fitzgerald, _Parvenu Family_, iii. 224.
_Fenella_, a deaf and dumb girl, sister of Masaniello the fisherman. She was seduced by Alfonso, son of the Duke of Arcos; and Masaniello resolved to kill him. He accordingly headed an insurrection, and met with such great success that the mob made him chief magistrate of Portici, but afterwards shot him. Fenella, on hearing of her brother’s death, threw herself into the crater of Vesuvius.—Auber, _Masaniello_ (an opera, 1831).
=Fenris=, the demon wolf of Niflheim. When he gapes one jaw touches the earth and the other heaven. This monster will swallow up Odin at the day of doom. (Often but incorrectly written FENRIR.)—_Scandinavian Mythology_.
=Fenton=, clever fellow who makes caricatures while Browning is read, and when called upon for the substance of his notes by the president of the Club, rises with perfect coolness and pronounces opinion upon the poem.—Arlo Bates, _The Philistines_ (1889).
_Fenton_, the lover of Anne Page, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Page, gentle-folks living at Windsor. Fenton is of good birth, and seeks to marry a fortune to “heal his poverty.” In “sweet Anne Page” he soon discovers that which makes him love her for herself more than for her money.—Shakespeare, _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iii, sc. 4 (1601).
=Ferad-Artho,= son of Cairbre and only surviving descendant of the line of Conar (the first king of Ireland.) On the death of Cathmor (brother of the rebel Cairbar) in battle, Ferad-Artho was placed by Fingal on the throne as “king of Ireland.” The race was thus: (1) Conar (a Caledonian); (2) Cormac I., his son; (3) Cairbre, his son; (4) Artho, his son; (5) Cormac II., his son, (a minor); (6) Ferad-Artho, his cousin.—Ossian, _Temora_, vii.
=Fer´amorz,= the young Cashmerian poet who relates poetical tales to Lalla Rookh on her journey from Delhi to Lesser Bucharĭa. Lalla is going to be married to the young sultan, but falls in love with the poet. On the wedding morn she is led to her bridegroom, and finds with unspeakable joy that the poet is the sultan himself.—T. Moore, _Lalla Rookh_ (1817).
=Ferda=, son of Damman, chief of a hundred hills in Albion. Ferda was the friend of Cuthullin, general of the Irish forces in the time of king Cormac I. Deuga´la (spouse of Cairbar) loved the youth, and told her husband if he would not divide the herd she would no longer live with him. Cuthullin, being appointed to make the division, enraged the lady by assigning a snow-white bull to the husband, whereupon Duegala induced her lover to challenge Cuthullin to mortal combat. Most unwillingly the two friends fought, and Ferda fell. “The sunbeam of battle fell—the first of Cuthullin’s friends. Unhappy [_unlucky_] is the hand of Cuthullin since the hero fell.”—Ossian, _Fingal_, ii.
=Ferdinand=, king of Navarre. He agreed with three young lords to spend three years in severe study, during which time no woman was to approach his court; but no sooner was the agreement made than he fell in love with the princess of France. In consequence of the death of her father, the lady deferred the marriage for twelve months and a day.
... the sole inheritor Of all perfections that a man may owe [_own_] Matchless Navarre. Shakespeare, _Love’s Labor’s Lost_ (1594).
_Fer´dinand,_ son of Alonso, king of Naples. He falls in love with Miranda, daughter of Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan.—Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).
Haply so Miranda’s hope had pictured Ferdinand Long ere the gaunt wave tossed him on the shore. Lowell.
_Ferdinand_, a fiery young Spaniard, in love with Leonora.—Jephson, _Two Strings to your Bow_ (1792).
_Ferdinand_ (_Don_), the son of Don Jerome of Seville, in love with Clara d’Almanza, daughter of Don Guzman.—Sheridan, _The Duenna_ (1773).
=Ferdinan´do,= a brave soldier who having won the battle of Tari´fa, in 1340, was created Count of Zamo´ra and Marquis of Montreal. The king, Alfonso XI., knowing his love for Leonora de Guzman, gave him the bride in marriage; but no sooner was this done than Ferdinando discovered that she was the king’s mistress, so he at once repudiated her, restored his ranks and honors to the king, and retired to the monastry of St. James de Compostella. Leonora entered the same monastery as a novice, obtained the pardon of Ferdinando, and died.—Donizetti, _La Favori´ta_ (1842).
=Fergus= (_Derrick_). Engineer in the coalpits of Lancashire. “A young son of Anak, brains and muscle evenly balanced and fully developed.” Is interested in Joan Lowrie and at last wins her to a promise “to work an’ strive to make herself worthy of the man she loves.”—Frances Hodgson Burnett, _That Lass of Lowrie’s_ (1877).
_Fergus_, fourth son of Fingal, and the only one that had issue at the death of his father. Ossian, the eldest brother, had a son named Oscar, but Oscar was slain at a feast by Cairbar “Lord of Atha;” and of the other two brothers, Fillan was slain before he had married, and Ryno, though married, died without issue.
According to tradition, Fergus (son of Fingal) was the father of Congal; Congal of Arcath; and Arcath of Fergus II., with whom begins the real history of the Scots.—Ossian.
_Fergus_, son of Rossa, a brave hero in the army of Cuthullin, general of the Irish tribes.
Fergus first in our joy at the feast; son of Rossa; arm of death.—Ossian, _Fingal_, i.
=Fern= (_Fanny_) the pseudonym of Sarah Payson Willis, sister of N.P. Willis. She married James Parton, the author. (1811-1872).
_Fern_ (_Will_), a poor fellow who, being found asleep in a shed, is brought before Alderman Cute. He says emphatically “he must be put down.” The poor fellow takes charge of his brother’s child, and is both honest and kind, but, alas! he dared to fall asleep in a shed, an offence which must be “put down.”— C. Dickens, _The Chimes_, third quarter (1844).
=Fernan Calbal´lero,= the pseudonym of Cecilia Böhl de Faber, a Spanish novelist (1797-1877).