District
Court; born
in Ithaca, N.
in Ithaca, N.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v29 - BIographical Dictionary
Among his
(Poems) (1836) is the lyric - now become a
popular melody - (It stands in God's decrees »
(Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rat).
Feuerbach, Anselm (foi'er-bäch). A Ger-
man archæologist, brother of Ludwig; born
Sept. 9, 1798; died Sept. 8, 1851. His Vatican
Apollo) (1833), and essays and studies in classic
art and art history, are of great merit and im-
portance.
Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas. A noted Ger-
man philosopher; born in Landshut, July 28,
1804; died in the Reichenberg, near Nuremberg,
Sept. 13, 1872. He was a Hegelian and ma-
terialist whose opinions hindered a professional
career, and who devoted himself to metaphys.
ics in retirement; but in his masterpiece, (The
Essence of Christianity' (4th ed. 1883), he is no
longer a Hegelian. In his (Theogonie) (2d ed.
1866), he deals with worship from the historical
standpoint.
Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von. An
eminent German criminalist and reformer of
the penal laws; born in Hainichen, near Jena,
Nov. 14, 1775; died at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
May 29, 1833. He is at his best in: (Review
of the Fundamental Principles and Ideals of
Penal Law) (1799); Exposition of Remarkable
Crimes) (1828); (Kaspar Hauser : An Instance
of a Crime against a Soul (1832).
Feuillet, Octave (fė-yā'). A distinguished
French novelist; born at St. LÔ, Aug. II, 1821 ;
died at Paris, Dec. 29, 1890. "The Great Old
Man) (1845) was his first story; but the (Ro-
mance of a Poor Young Man) (1858), which
was dramatized, first made him famous. Among
his numerous other novels are : «The History
of Sibylla) (1862), a romance of mysticism;
Julia de Trécour) (1872), dramatized as (The
Sphinx); (A Marriage in High Life) (1875);
(Story of a Parisienne); La Morte) (1886).
He was also a successful playwright: Mont-
joye) (1863) mirrored the moral rottenness of
the Second Empire. He was elected to the
Academy in 1863. Beginning as a young-girls'
novelist of the discreetest sort, he ended in
much the usual French fashion. *
Feuillet de Conches, Baron Félix Sébas-
tien (fė-yā dė konsh). A French writer of
biographical and historical miscellany; born
in Paris, Dec. 4, 1798; died there, Feb. 6, 1887.
Literary criticism is the mother of Metaphysi-
cal Meditations and Correspondence of Male-
branche) (1841) and Léopold Robert: His
Life, Labors, and Letters) (1849); while a gos-
sipy fluency imparts interest to "An Old Child's
Tales) (1860) and a History of the English
School of Painting (1883).
Féval, Paul (fā-väl'). A notable French nov-
elist; born at Rennes, Sept. 27, 1817; died at
Paris, March 8, 1887. His first story, 'The Seals'
Club) (1841), and others, having given him
some note, he was offered a large sum to write,
under the pseudonym Francis Trollope ) (as
though an Englishman), a sensational story
(The Mysteries of London,' after the manner
of Sue's Mysteries of Paris. It was done in
II vols. , was immensely successful, widely trans-
lated, and put on the stage. He remained a
very fertile, spirited, and popular writer, often
dramatized, with long runs. Especially success-
ful were : (The Son of the Devil) (1847); (The
Hunchback) (1858); Mrs. Gil Blas); (The
Last Man Alive) (1873); (The Wonders of Mt.
St. Michael (1879).
Feydeau, Ernest (fā-do'). A French novel-
ist (1821-73). His ill-famed story (Fanny)
(1858) had an unprecedented success. It was
followed by Daniel (1859); (Catherine d'Over-
meire) (1860); (Sylvie) (1861); and (A Début
at the Opera) (1863). Of his later works one
only had any marked success, (The Countess
de Chalis, or the Morals of our Day) (1868).
He tried, but with little success, to write for
the stage.
He repeatedly felt the need of
rebutting the charge of indecency: (On the
Luxury of Women ; on Morals, Literature, and
Virtue) (1866) is an elaborate apologia.
Ffraid, I. D. , pseudonym of John Evans.
A Welsh poet and essayist; born at Ty Mawr,
Llansantffraid yn Nghonwy, July 23, 1814; died
there (? ), March 4, 1876. He wrote brilliant
papers for the Baner and other journals; while
his (Mixed Poems) (Difyrwch Bechgyn Glanau
Conwy) (1835) aroused general admiration.
Fibiger, Johannes Henrik Tauber (fib'ê.
ger). A Danish poet; born at Nykjöbing, Jan.
27, 1821. He wrote dramas founded on Biblical
history, --( Jephtha's Daughter) (1849); (Jere-
miah) (1850); John the Baptist) (1857); also
## p. 187 (#203) ############################################
FICHTE - FIELDS
187
>
a few secular tragedies, the most notable among
them being 'Cross and Love) (1858) and (The
Everlasting Struggle' (1866); and a narrative
poem in 16 cantos, (The Gray Friars) (1882).
Fichte, Immanuel Hermann von (fiċh'te).
A German philosopher, son of Johann; born
in Jena, July 18, 1796; died in Stuttgart, Aug.
8, 1879. He was a mystic theist, but tried to
frame a compromise which should not exclude
disbelief in a supreme being. Speculative
Theology) (1847); “System of Ethics) (1850);
and “The Soul Question: A Philosophic Con-
fession (1859), are his typical works.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. A celebrated Ger-
man philosopher; born at Rammenau in Upper
Lusatia, May 19, 1762; died at Berlin, Jan. 27,
1814. He wrote his treatise (Essay toward a
Critique of All Revelation (1792) as a "letter
of introduction to Kant. He was appointed
professor of philosophy in the University of Jena
in 1794 ; and the following year published his
Doctrine of Science,' a fundamental departure
from Kant. Of his philosophical writings the
most important are: (The Doctrine of Science)
(1794); (Foundations of the Whole Doctrine of
Science) (1794); Introduction to the Doctrine
of Science) (1798); “System of Moral Doctrine)
(1798); (Man's Destiny) (1800). *
Field, Mrs. Caroline Leslie (Whitney).
An American writer, daughter of Mrs. A. D. T.
Whitney; a native of Massachusetts. She is
a resident of Guilford, Conn. Her works are :
(High Lights) (1885), a novel; “The Unseen
King, and Other Poems) (1887).
Field, Eugene. An American poet and hu-
morous journalist; born at St. Louis, Mo. , Sept.
2, 1850; died Nov. 4, 1895. His latter years
were spent in Chicago. By his poems and
tales in the press he won a high reputation
in the West, which before his death had be-
come national. His poems for children are
admirable in their simplicity and in their sym-
pathetic insight into the child's world of thought
and feeling. His complete works comprise :
Love Songs of Childhood); (A Little Book
of Western Verse); (A Second Book of Verse);
(The Holy Cross, and Other Tales); (The Love
Affairs of a Bibliomaniac. ' He made, in col-
laboration with his brother Roswell Martin
Field, some good translations from Horace -
(Echoes from the Sabine Farm. *
Field, Henry Martyn. An American clergy-
man and scholar; born in Stockbridge, Mass. ,
April 3, 1822. He is a graduate of Williams
College, and was ordained to the ministry in
1812. In 1854 he became editor and proprietor
of the New York Evangelist. He has been a
lifelong traveler. Among his works
*Summer Pictures from Copenhagen to Venice)
(1859); (History of the Atlantic Telegraph)
(1866); (From the Lakes of Killarney to the
Golden Horn) (1876); (From Egypt to Japan)
(1878); (On the Desert! (1883); Among the
Holy Hills) (1883); (The Greek Islands and
Turkey after the War) (1885); (Our West-
ern Archipelago); (The Barbary Coast); (Old
Spain and New Spain); “Gibraltar); (Bright
Skies and Dark Shadows); (The Story of the
Atlantic Cable. )
Field, Kate. (Mary Katherine Kemble. ) An
American author and lecturer; born in St. Louis,
Mo. , about 1840; died in Honolulu, Hawaii,
May 19, 1896. During several years she was
European correspondent of the New York
Tribune and other journals. She founded Kate
Field's Washington (1889), in Washington,
D. C. Among her books are: Planchette's
Diary) (1868); (Ten Days in Spain) (1875);
(History of Bell's Telephone);(Life of Fechter);
etc.
Field, Maunsell Bradhurst. An American
prose and verse writer; born in New York
city, March 26, 1822; died there, Jan. 24, 1875.
Among his published works are a volume of
poems (1869). In collaboration with G. P. R.
James he wrote (Adrian; or the Clouds of the
Mind) (1852), and Memoirs of Many Men
and Some Women) (1874).
Fielding, Henry. A celebrated English nov-
elist; born at Sharpham Park, Somersetshire,
April 22, 1707, of the blood of the Hapsburgs;
died at Lisbon, Oct. 8, 1754. After ill success
as playwright and lawyer he wrote (The Ad-
ventures of Joseph Andrews) (1742), to bur-
lesque Richardson's Pamela'; it grew in his
hands into a strong novel of a new type, and
his career and fame were determined. His
masterpiece is (Tom Jones; or the History of
a Foundling) (1749). His last novel, (Amelia)
(1752), is characteristic of his sentiments rather
than of his genius. (The History of Jonathan
Wild' is a piece of irony directed against the
professors of conventional morality.
Fielding, Sarah. An English novelist, sister
to Henry; born in East Stour, Dorsetshire,
Nov. 8, 1710; died at Bath, 1768. Contem-
poraries adjudged her to show something like
genius in her novels (The Adventures of David
Simple in Search of a Faithful Friend (1744),
and “The Governess) (1749). She also did a
few important biographies and translations.
Fields, Annie (Adams). An American poet
and essayist, wife of James T. Fields; born in
Boston, 1834. She has been a leader in char-
ity organization and work. She published :
(Under the Olive,' poems (1881); Biography
of James T. Fields) (1884); How to Help
the Poor) (1885); (The Singing Shepherd );
(Authors and their Friends); (A Shelf of Old
Books) (1896); Life and Letters of llarriet
Beecher Stowe) (1897).
Fields, James Thomas. An American pub-
lisher and author; born in Portsmouth, N. H. ,
Dec. 31, 1817; died in Boston, Mass. , April 24,
1881. The various publishing firms of which
he was partner, with Ticknor, Osgood, and
others, were of the first rank. He edited the
Atlantic Monthly in 1862–70; and was an ac-
ceptable lecturer on literary subjects and authors.
He published: (Poems) (1849); A Few Verses
are :
## p. 188 (#204) ############################################
188
FIÉVÉE – FINCK
for a Few Friends) (1858); (Yesterdays with
Authors) (1872); Hawthorne) (1875); (Old
Acquaintance: Barry Cornwall and Some of
his Friends) (1875); "In and Out of Doors
with Dickens) (1876); “Underbrush) (1881),
essays; Ballads and Other Verses) (1881);
and (with Edwin P. Whipple) edited (The
Family Library of British Poetry) (1878).
Fiévée, Joseph (fyā-vā'). A French political
writer and journalist; born in Paris, April 9,
1767; died there, May 7, 1839. His experiences
during the French Revolution were not happy,
largely in consequence of his work (On the
Necessity of a Religion (1795); but the Na-
poleonic rule proved more favorable to him.
He produced (Suzette's Dowry) and (Frede-
rick, two rather colorless fictions, besides a
variety of historical works on aspects of the
republic, consulate, and empire.
Figueroa, Cristóval Suarez de (fë-gā-roʻä).
A Spanish poet of the first half of the seven-
teenth century.
His most celebrated poems
are a translation of the Faithful Shepherd
(1602) of Guarini, and (Constant Amaryllis)
(1609). He wrote a history of “The Deeds of
Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza) (1613) in
the wars with the Araucanians, interesting but
written in an inflated style; also an epic,
(Spain Defended) (1612).
Figueroa, Francisco de. A Spanish poet
(1540? -1620? ). He was called by his contempo-
raries “the Divine Figueroa,” and at Rome he
won the poet's crown. He wrote verse with
equal facility and elegance in Castilian and
Italian. When dying he burned all his verses;
but they were published - including the cele-
brated volume of eclogues in blank verse, the
(Tirsi) -- from copies in the hands of his
friends.
Figueroa, Francisco. A Mexican annalist,
diarist, and theologian ; born in Toluca, 17. 30
(? ); died in the City of Mexico, 1800 (? ). He
was a Franciscan priest, and taught and lect-
ured well; but his great service to literature
consisted in the compilation of materials for
a history of Mexico, among them a History
of the Conquest of New Galicia, by Mota
Padilla, besides diaries and letters.
Figueroa, Francisco Acuña de. A Uru-
guayan poet; born in Montevideo, 1791; died
there, Oct. 6, 1862. A civil-service post af-
forded him leisure to prepare his Poetic Mo-
saic) (1857), a verse collection, and his more
notable (Paraphrases of the Psalms, and (The
Toraidas,' a series of Paraguayan notes. He
has been assigned a high rank by competent
European critics; lofty inspiration and sonor-
ous diction being his characteristics, exemplified
in the National Hymn of Uruguay. '
Figuier, Guillaume Louis. A French scien-
tific writer; born at Montpellier, Feb. 15, 1819;
died at Paris, Nov. 9, 1894. He has done much
for the popularization of science as editor of
the scientific column of the Presse, and as au-
thor of The Exposition and History of the
Principal Modern Scientific Discoveries) (1851-
53); Alchemy and Alchemists) (1854); “Great
Ancient and Modern Inventions) (1864, 3d ed. );
(The Earth before the Deluge) (1866, 5th ed. );
(Lives of Illustrious Savants) (1866); Marvels
of Science) (1867-69).
Fileti - Ramondetta, Concettina (fe-lā'tē.
ra-mon-det'ta). An Italian poet; born (Ra-
mondetta) in Palermo, Dec. 31, 1830. Although
of a distinguished family, her childhood was
passed in comparative poverty, and she had
little formal schooling. Her talent was pre-
cocious, and at sixteen she wrote verses which
captivated the public. Becoming a wife and
mother, however,- with ten children at that,-
her association with the Muse has been inter-
mittent in recent years; but she has made
even this of some literary service, as in her
later Poems) (1887).
Filicaja, Vincenzo da (fe-le-kä'yä). A dis-
tinguished Italian poet (1642-1707). He lived
several years in retirement, devoted to political
study and composition, but publishing nothing
till 1684, when appeared his grand odes on the
rescue of Vienna from the Turks, which won
for him the admiration of all Italy, and hon-
orable notice on the part of the Emperor Leo-
pold and King John Sobieski of Poland. Queen
Christina of Sweden named him a member of
her newly founded Academy. In depth and
nobility of thought, in beauty of expression,
and in the melodiousness of his verse, Filicaja
is one of the foremost lyrists of Italy; never-
theless he trusts perhaps too much to art and
less to nature and inspiration. *
Filon, Auguste (fé-lôn'). A French histo-
rian; born in Paris, June 7, 1800; died there,
Dec. I, 1875. A commanding point of view
and an alluring style are conspicuous through-
out his Comparative History of France and
England) (1832); «The Spiritual Power in its
Relations with the State) (1844); (History of
the Roman Senate) (1850); History of the
Athenian Democracy) (1854); and several other
important works.
Finch, Francis Miles. An American poet,
and a judge of the U. S.
District Court; born
in Ithaca, N. Y. , June 9, 1827. He graduated
at Yale; and is the author of the well-known
lyrics (Nathan Hale) and (The Blue and the
Gray,' and of a popular college song beginning
«Floating away like the fountain's spray. ”
Finck, Henry Theophilus. An American
musical critic and author; born in Bethel, Mo. ,
Sept. 22, 1854. He graduated at Harvard in
1876; and from 1878 to 1881 studied physio-
logical psychology at Berlin, Heidelberg, and
Vienna. He is musical critic of the New York
Evening Post, and a contributor to the Nation.
His works include: (Wagner and Other Musi-
cians) (1887); Romantic Love and Personal
Beauty) (1887); (The Pacific Coast Scenic
Tour) (1890); (Chopin, and Other Musical
Essays); Lotos Time in Japan (1895); and
(Spain and Morocco.
## p. 189 (#205) ############################################
FINLAY - FISCHART
189
Finlay, George. An English historian of
the first rank; born in Faversham, Kent, of
Scotch blood, Dec. 21, 1799; died in Athens,
Greece, Jan. 26, 1875. An ardent Philhellene,
he joined Byron's company at Missolonghi in
1823 to assist in liberating Greece from the
Turks; and ended by residing there perma-
nently,-- at first a cultivator, and then a student
of and writer upon Greek history. He was for
many years the Athens correspondent of the
London Times. His "Greece under the Ro-
mans, B. C. 146 to A. D. 717) (1844) raised him
at once to a place among the few foremost
historians : Edward A. Freeman declared it to
be the most truly original historical work of
modern times; and for sound broad humanity,
acute judgment, and luminous common-sense
on both the practical and the philosophic sides
of history, it has few equals of any age. It is
not in the form of detailed annals except in
the last part, most of it being a set of essays
on the political and social conditions of Greece
as a subject province. Succeeding volumes
carried the story more in detail down to mod-
ern times, ending with two volumes on the
Greek Revolution. The whole, revised and
some volumes wholly rewritten by the author,
was published posthumously in 7 vols. (1877).
Finley, John. An American poet; born at
Brownsburg, Va. , Jan. II, 1797; died in Rich-
mond, Ind. , Dec. 23, 1866. He was one of the
editors of the Richmond Palladium, 1831-34.
His poems were collected in one volume, 'The
Hoosier's Nest, and Other Poems) (1865).
Finley, Martha. An American novelist ;
born in Chillicothe, O. , April 26, 1828. She is
the author, under the name of Martha Far-
quharson, of a number of novels, including
(Elsie Dinsmore) (1868); (Wanted - A Pedi-
gree! (1872); and (The Thorn in the Nest)
(1886). She has written in all over twenty (Elsie
Books, as well as (The Mildred Books,' etc.
Finotti, Joseph Maria. An American cler-
gyman and author; born at Ferrara, Italy, in
1817; died at Denver, Col. , in 1879. He studied
theology in the Jesuit College, Rome, and in
1845 removed to the United States.
He was
ordained priest, and stationed at Alexandria,
Va. In 1852 he left the Jesuit Society and
became literary editor of the Boston Pilot.
His health having failed, he removed to Cin-
cinnati, and afterwards to Omaha, and to Cen-
tral City, Col. His works include: A Month
of Mary) (1853); Italy in the Fifteenth Cen-
tury); (The French Zouave) (1863); (Ameri-
can Catholic Bibliography) (unfinished).
Firdausi or Firdusi (fēr-dou'sē). A cele-
brated Persian poet who lived from about 935
to about 1020. lle is the greatest of Persian
epic poets. In 1010, after 35 years of labor, was
completed his first heroic epic, the "Shāh-
Vāmah' (King's Book) in about 60,000 distichs :
it recounts the ancient Persian traditions of
heroism. His other great poem, Jussuf and
Zulikha,' a religious-romantic epos, is founded
on the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar's
wife. There are English translations of sun-
dry passages from the (Shāh-Nāmah,' and a
German translation of the whole of the Jussuf
and Zulikha. *
Firenzuola, Agnolo (fé-rents-woʻlä). (Prop-
erly Girolamo Giovannini. ] An Italian poet;
born in Florence, Sept. 28, 1493; died at Prato
or in Rome, about 1545. His works consist
of burlesque poems; two comedies, including
(The Shining Ones); a translation of Apu-
leius's (Golden Ass); a didactic story, Dis-
courses about Animals); Dialogue on the
Beauties of Women'; and ten (novels, mostly
stories in the vein of Boccaccio. He writes in
a style of great elegance, but with unpardon-
able lubricity. *
Firmenich-Richartz, Johannes Matthias
(fēr'men-ich-rich'ärts). A German poet, phil-
ological literary critic and student, and drama-
tist; born in Cologne, July 5, 1808; died in
Potsdam, May 10, 1889. His play (Clotilde
Montalvi) (1840), a romantic tragedy, and
After a Hundred Years,' a humorous compo-
sition in dialogue, as well as poems in vari-
ous languages, are highly meritorious; but his
monumental achievement is (Germany's Folk-
Voices: A Collection of German Dialect
Poems, Songs, Fables, Sagas, etc. ) (1843-66.
sup. 1868), showing the most profound learning
and scholarly acuteness.
Fischart, Johann (fish'ärt). A famous Ger-
man satirist (about 1545-91). He took the doc-
tor's degree in the University of Basel 1574,
and afterward was an official of the Imperial
Chamber of Justice at Spires. The period of
his literary production lies between 1575 and
1581, while he assisted his brother-in-law
Jobin, who had a printing-office in Strasburg.
He was a man of deep patriotic feeling, a
notable poet, and the greatest Protestant pub-
licist of his time. Among his compositions
in verse may be mentioned : “The Jester in
Rhyme,' a satire on the Dominicans and
Franciscans (1571); Description of the Four-
Cornered Hat) (1580), against the Jesuits; the
(Flohhatz Weibertratz) (1573), in which he
describes a contest at law between fieas and
women; Podagramic Book of Consolation)
(1577), showing how the gout (podagra) spares
the laboring poor and kindly chastens the rich,
while leaving their minds free for wit and
humor ; (The Hive of the Holy Roman Swarm)
(1579). In imitation of Rabelais's 'Gargantua,'
but giving free play to his own native humor
and wit, he wrote of (The Wondrous Deeds,
Thoughts, and Words of the Famous Heroes
and Lords Grandgusier, Gargantua, and Pan-
tagruel (1575). Here, in full accord with the
spirit of the Reformation, he contrasts the
sound human understanding with the vagaries
of idealism, the common people's bluntness
and uncouthness with the aristocratic-romantic
perversity of the upper class )); all the while
glorifying intellectual progress. As a treasury
of ingeniously contrived word compounds the
work is of great value to the philologist.
## p. 190 (#206) ############################################
190
FISCHER-FLAGG
Fischer, Johann Georg (fish'er). A German
poet; born at Gross Süssen, Würtemberg, Oct.
25, 1816. His lyric poems are in 8 vols. (1854-
91). He excels in popular songs and ballads :
he has the gift of combining humor with grav-
ity. In his love songs he nobly idealizes nature
and passion. He wrote four dramas: (Saul)
(1862); (Frederic II. of Hohenstaufen) (1863);
(Florian Geyer) (1866); (Emperor Maximilian
of Mexico) (1868). In (From Bird Life) (1863)
he notes the characteristic phenomena of the
psychic life of animals with the acuteness of a
naturalist and the sympathy of a poet.
Fischer, Kuno. A German historian of phi-
losophy; born at Sandewalde, in Silesia, July
23, 1824. He was interdicted from teaching
philosophy at Heidelberg in 1853; but after
filling professorships in Berlin and Jena, he
had the satisfaction of being called to the
chair of philosophy at Heidelberg in 1872. He
is of the school of Hegel. Ilis principal writ-
ings are: (Diotima: The Idea of the Beautiful)
(1849); (Logic and Metaphysic, or the Doctrine
of Science (1852); (History of Modern Phi.
losophy) (8 vols. , 1852-93), his greatest work,
written in the form of brilliant monographs on
Descartes, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and other
great philosophers down to Schopenhauer;
(Francis Bacon and his Successors) (1856);
(Lessing's Nathan the Wise) (1864); (Spino-
za's Life and Character) (1865); (Origin and
Evolution-Forms of Wit) (1871). *
Fisher, George Park. An American divine
and writer ; born in Wrentham, Mass. , Aug. 10,
1827; became professor of divinity at Yale
(1854), and professor of ecclesiastical history
(1861). Included in his works are : Essays on
the Supernatural Origin of Christianity); (His-
tory of the Reformation) (1873); (Faith and
Rationalism) (1879); (Outlines of Universal
History); History of the Christian Church)
(1888); Nature and Method of Revelation)
(1890); "Colonial History of the United States. )
Fiske, Daniel Willard, scholar and librarian;
born in Ellisburg, Jefferson County, N. Y. , Nov.
II, 1831 ; was educated at Hamilton College,
N. Y. , and Upsala University, Sweden. He
was secretary of the New York Geographical
Society, and attached to the American Lega-
tion at Vienna under Motley. He is an adept
in many modern languages; in 1869 was made
professor of North-European languages, and
librarian, at Cornell; and has been a volu-
minous contributor to Swedish, German, Ice-
landic, Italian, English, and American journals.
He has made the largest existing collections
of Icelandic and of Petrarch, and the largest
in America of Dante. He is now engaged in
trying to create a written Egyptian language.
Fiske, John. An American historian; born
at Hartford, Conn. , March 30, 1842. He grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1863, and in 1865
took his degree in law, but never practiced.
He was for a while lecturer on philosophy at
Harvard, and in 1872-79 assistant librarian.
He is author of Myths and Myth-Makers)
(1872); (Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy) (2
vols. , 1875), his principal work, in which he
gives an exposition of the philosophy of nat-
ural evolution ; (The Unseen World) (1876);
Darwinism (1879); (The Idea of God (1885).
On phases of American history, he has writ-
ten : (American Political Ideas) (1885); (The
Critical Period of American History, 1783–89)
(1888); (The Beginnings of New England)
(1889); (The American Revolution) (3 vols. ,
1891); Discovery of America) (2 vols. , 1892). *
Fitch, William Clyde. An American play-
wright and author; born in 1865. He was edu-
cated at Hartford, Conn. , and Amherst College,
Amherst, Mass. He has written and adapted
a number of successful plays, among them
(Beau Brummell) and (Bohemia. He is also
the author of "The Knighting of the Twins,
and Ten Other Tales) (1891); (Some Corre-
spondence and Six Conversations) (1896).
Fitts, James Franklin. An American jour-
nalist and novelist; born in Lockport, N. Y. ,
in 1840; died there, Jan. II, 1890. During the
Civil War he distinguished himself on several
occasions, and was rewarded with promotions.
After the war he devoted himself to miscella-
neous writing. Of his novels the most popu-
lar were : (The Parted Veil); (A Version);
(A Modern Miracle); (Captain Kidd's Gold.
Fitzgerald, Edward. A great English poet ;
born at Bredfield House, near Suffolk, March
31, 1809; died June 14, 1883. (Fitzgerald was
his mother's family name, assumed by his father
John Purcell. ) His writings are mostly remod-
eled translations of foreign poems; among them
are versions of (Six Dramas from Calderon)
(1853), and two more, and far finer (The
Mighty Magician and (Such Stuff as Dreams
are Made ON) subsequently; (The Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyam (1859), which ultimately
won him assured immortality, though at first
published anonymously and utterly neglected ;
Æschylus's (Agamemnon) and Sophocles's
(Edipus) plays, and part of Attár's (Bird Par-
liament. *
Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington. A pleasing
Irish novelist and biographical essayist; born
in Fane Valley, Louth, Ireland, 1834. He
wrote: (The Romance of the English Stage
(1874); Lives of the Sheridans) (1887); and
of novels, Never Forgotten, (Diana Gay,'
(Bella Donna, Dear Girl,' etc.
Fitzpatrick, William John. An Irish bio-
grapher and topical historian; born in Dublin,
Aug. 31, 1830. From the day of his graduation
at the Catholic College in Clongowes Wood,
he devoted himself to the study of Ireland's
rights and wrongs, and of the actors in Irish
history. Lord Edward Fitzgerald and his
Betrayers) (1859); “The Sham Squire and the
Informers of 1798) (1866); and Daniel O'Con-
nell, the Liberator) (1888), are a few among
his many widely read productions.
Flagg, Edmund. An American novelist and
journalist; born in Wiscasset, Me. , Nov. 24,
(
## p. 191 (#207) ############################################
FLAGG- FLETCHER
191
1815. He was the author of a number of novels
and other prose writings. His best work is
(Venice, the City of the Sea) (2 vols. , 1853).
He contributed to the New World Magazine
seven historical romances, based on the dramas
of Victor Hugo. Edmond Dantès,' a sequel
to (Monte Cristo,' was written by him, as also
were Mary Tudor) and other dramas.
Flagg, Wilson. An American naturalist,
scientific and political writer; born in Beverly,
Mass. , Nov. 5, 1805; died in North Cambridge,
Mass. , May 6, 1884. Some of his books are:
"Studies in the field and Forest) (1857); (Hal-
cyon Days); A Year among the Trees) (1881);
and A Year among the Birds. ?
Flammarion, Camille ( Ha-ma-re-ôn”). A
French astronomer, writer on descriptive as-
tronomy, and (astronomical novelist); born
in Montigny-le-Roi, Feb. 25, 1842. He was
designed by his parents for the Church, but
went over to science, and by a long course of
writings of a more or less popular character
has made his name widely known. ( The Plural-
ity of Inhabited Worlds) (1862); (Celestial
Wonders) (1865); (The Atmosphere) (1872);
(Urania) ( 1889 ); and “The Planet Mars and
its Habitability) (1892), are his best-known
works, not to mention an experiment or two
in romance of the astronomical creation. "
Flash, Henry Lynden. An American writer
of verse; born in Cincinnati, O. , Jan. 20, 1835.
He is the author of Poems) (1860), and of
many popular ballads which appeared during
the Civil War.
Flassan, Gaétan Raxis, Count de (fläs-än').
A French diplomatist and historian of diplo-
macy; born at Bedouin, Venaissin, 1770; died
in Paris, March 20, 1845. His career in the
diplomatic service was fairly distinguished,
enabling him to gather material for a valu-
able History of French Diplomacy from the
Foundation of the Monarchy to Aug. 10, 1792)
(1808-11), and one or two works of less im-
portance.
Flaubert, Gustav (fő-bãr'). A distinguished
French novelist; born at Rouen, Dec. 12, 1821 ;
died there, May 8, 1880. His greatest novel
was his first, Madame Bovary) (1857). He
next wrote a historical novel, “Salammbộ, the
scene laid in the most fourishing period of
Carthage,-a splendid description of ancient
Punic life, but having lively interest as a story;
(The History of a Young Man (1869), like
Madame Bovary) a pessimistic picture of so-
cial life; (The Temptation of St. Anthony)
(1874), a piece of imaginative writing dealing
with philosophical problems; and (Three Sto-
ries) (1877), which had a favorable reception.
The posthumous novel ( Bouvard and Pécuchet)
(1881) is a satire on humanity in general. His
comedy (The Candidate) (1874) failed on the
stage. *
Fléchier, Esprit (fā-shyā'). A notable
French pulpit orator and writer; born at
Pernes, in the Venaissin, June 10, 1632 ; died at
Montpellier, Feb. 16, 1710. His funeral orations,
especially those on Montausier and Turenne,
are models of elegiac oratory. He wrote a
(History of Theodosius the Great' (1679);
(Panegyrics of aints ) (1690); History of
Cardinal Ximenes) (1693).
Fleming, George. See Fletcher, Julia.
Fleming, Mrs. May Agnes (Early). A
Canadian story-writer; born in New Brunswick,
1840; died 1880. She was a prolific author of
romances, mostly sersational, among them be-
ing: Guy Earlscourt's Wife); Lost for a
Woman); (Pride and Passion); etc.
Fleming, Paul (flem'ing). A distinguished
German poet; born at Hartenstein in Saxony,
Oct. 5, 1609; died at Hamburg, April 2, 1640.
As an attaché of an embassy to Russia and Per-
sia, he had an opportunity (1635-39) of studying
many peoples. His "German Poems, which
appeared in 1642, were often republished.
(Poems) (1836) is the lyric - now become a
popular melody - (It stands in God's decrees »
(Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rat).
Feuerbach, Anselm (foi'er-bäch). A Ger-
man archæologist, brother of Ludwig; born
Sept. 9, 1798; died Sept. 8, 1851. His Vatican
Apollo) (1833), and essays and studies in classic
art and art history, are of great merit and im-
portance.
Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas. A noted Ger-
man philosopher; born in Landshut, July 28,
1804; died in the Reichenberg, near Nuremberg,
Sept. 13, 1872. He was a Hegelian and ma-
terialist whose opinions hindered a professional
career, and who devoted himself to metaphys.
ics in retirement; but in his masterpiece, (The
Essence of Christianity' (4th ed. 1883), he is no
longer a Hegelian. In his (Theogonie) (2d ed.
1866), he deals with worship from the historical
standpoint.
Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm von. An
eminent German criminalist and reformer of
the penal laws; born in Hainichen, near Jena,
Nov. 14, 1775; died at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
May 29, 1833. He is at his best in: (Review
of the Fundamental Principles and Ideals of
Penal Law) (1799); Exposition of Remarkable
Crimes) (1828); (Kaspar Hauser : An Instance
of a Crime against a Soul (1832).
Feuillet, Octave (fė-yā'). A distinguished
French novelist; born at St. LÔ, Aug. II, 1821 ;
died at Paris, Dec. 29, 1890. "The Great Old
Man) (1845) was his first story; but the (Ro-
mance of a Poor Young Man) (1858), which
was dramatized, first made him famous. Among
his numerous other novels are : «The History
of Sibylla) (1862), a romance of mysticism;
Julia de Trécour) (1872), dramatized as (The
Sphinx); (A Marriage in High Life) (1875);
(Story of a Parisienne); La Morte) (1886).
He was also a successful playwright: Mont-
joye) (1863) mirrored the moral rottenness of
the Second Empire. He was elected to the
Academy in 1863. Beginning as a young-girls'
novelist of the discreetest sort, he ended in
much the usual French fashion. *
Feuillet de Conches, Baron Félix Sébas-
tien (fė-yā dė konsh). A French writer of
biographical and historical miscellany; born
in Paris, Dec. 4, 1798; died there, Feb. 6, 1887.
Literary criticism is the mother of Metaphysi-
cal Meditations and Correspondence of Male-
branche) (1841) and Léopold Robert: His
Life, Labors, and Letters) (1849); while a gos-
sipy fluency imparts interest to "An Old Child's
Tales) (1860) and a History of the English
School of Painting (1883).
Féval, Paul (fā-väl'). A notable French nov-
elist; born at Rennes, Sept. 27, 1817; died at
Paris, March 8, 1887. His first story, 'The Seals'
Club) (1841), and others, having given him
some note, he was offered a large sum to write,
under the pseudonym Francis Trollope ) (as
though an Englishman), a sensational story
(The Mysteries of London,' after the manner
of Sue's Mysteries of Paris. It was done in
II vols. , was immensely successful, widely trans-
lated, and put on the stage. He remained a
very fertile, spirited, and popular writer, often
dramatized, with long runs. Especially success-
ful were : (The Son of the Devil) (1847); (The
Hunchback) (1858); Mrs. Gil Blas); (The
Last Man Alive) (1873); (The Wonders of Mt.
St. Michael (1879).
Feydeau, Ernest (fā-do'). A French novel-
ist (1821-73). His ill-famed story (Fanny)
(1858) had an unprecedented success. It was
followed by Daniel (1859); (Catherine d'Over-
meire) (1860); (Sylvie) (1861); and (A Début
at the Opera) (1863). Of his later works one
only had any marked success, (The Countess
de Chalis, or the Morals of our Day) (1868).
He tried, but with little success, to write for
the stage.
He repeatedly felt the need of
rebutting the charge of indecency: (On the
Luxury of Women ; on Morals, Literature, and
Virtue) (1866) is an elaborate apologia.
Ffraid, I. D. , pseudonym of John Evans.
A Welsh poet and essayist; born at Ty Mawr,
Llansantffraid yn Nghonwy, July 23, 1814; died
there (? ), March 4, 1876. He wrote brilliant
papers for the Baner and other journals; while
his (Mixed Poems) (Difyrwch Bechgyn Glanau
Conwy) (1835) aroused general admiration.
Fibiger, Johannes Henrik Tauber (fib'ê.
ger). A Danish poet; born at Nykjöbing, Jan.
27, 1821. He wrote dramas founded on Biblical
history, --( Jephtha's Daughter) (1849); (Jere-
miah) (1850); John the Baptist) (1857); also
## p. 187 (#203) ############################################
FICHTE - FIELDS
187
>
a few secular tragedies, the most notable among
them being 'Cross and Love) (1858) and (The
Everlasting Struggle' (1866); and a narrative
poem in 16 cantos, (The Gray Friars) (1882).
Fichte, Immanuel Hermann von (fiċh'te).
A German philosopher, son of Johann; born
in Jena, July 18, 1796; died in Stuttgart, Aug.
8, 1879. He was a mystic theist, but tried to
frame a compromise which should not exclude
disbelief in a supreme being. Speculative
Theology) (1847); “System of Ethics) (1850);
and “The Soul Question: A Philosophic Con-
fession (1859), are his typical works.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. A celebrated Ger-
man philosopher; born at Rammenau in Upper
Lusatia, May 19, 1762; died at Berlin, Jan. 27,
1814. He wrote his treatise (Essay toward a
Critique of All Revelation (1792) as a "letter
of introduction to Kant. He was appointed
professor of philosophy in the University of Jena
in 1794 ; and the following year published his
Doctrine of Science,' a fundamental departure
from Kant. Of his philosophical writings the
most important are: (The Doctrine of Science)
(1794); (Foundations of the Whole Doctrine of
Science) (1794); Introduction to the Doctrine
of Science) (1798); “System of Moral Doctrine)
(1798); (Man's Destiny) (1800). *
Field, Mrs. Caroline Leslie (Whitney).
An American writer, daughter of Mrs. A. D. T.
Whitney; a native of Massachusetts. She is
a resident of Guilford, Conn. Her works are :
(High Lights) (1885), a novel; “The Unseen
King, and Other Poems) (1887).
Field, Eugene. An American poet and hu-
morous journalist; born at St. Louis, Mo. , Sept.
2, 1850; died Nov. 4, 1895. His latter years
were spent in Chicago. By his poems and
tales in the press he won a high reputation
in the West, which before his death had be-
come national. His poems for children are
admirable in their simplicity and in their sym-
pathetic insight into the child's world of thought
and feeling. His complete works comprise :
Love Songs of Childhood); (A Little Book
of Western Verse); (A Second Book of Verse);
(The Holy Cross, and Other Tales); (The Love
Affairs of a Bibliomaniac. ' He made, in col-
laboration with his brother Roswell Martin
Field, some good translations from Horace -
(Echoes from the Sabine Farm. *
Field, Henry Martyn. An American clergy-
man and scholar; born in Stockbridge, Mass. ,
April 3, 1822. He is a graduate of Williams
College, and was ordained to the ministry in
1812. In 1854 he became editor and proprietor
of the New York Evangelist. He has been a
lifelong traveler. Among his works
*Summer Pictures from Copenhagen to Venice)
(1859); (History of the Atlantic Telegraph)
(1866); (From the Lakes of Killarney to the
Golden Horn) (1876); (From Egypt to Japan)
(1878); (On the Desert! (1883); Among the
Holy Hills) (1883); (The Greek Islands and
Turkey after the War) (1885); (Our West-
ern Archipelago); (The Barbary Coast); (Old
Spain and New Spain); “Gibraltar); (Bright
Skies and Dark Shadows); (The Story of the
Atlantic Cable. )
Field, Kate. (Mary Katherine Kemble. ) An
American author and lecturer; born in St. Louis,
Mo. , about 1840; died in Honolulu, Hawaii,
May 19, 1896. During several years she was
European correspondent of the New York
Tribune and other journals. She founded Kate
Field's Washington (1889), in Washington,
D. C. Among her books are: Planchette's
Diary) (1868); (Ten Days in Spain) (1875);
(History of Bell's Telephone);(Life of Fechter);
etc.
Field, Maunsell Bradhurst. An American
prose and verse writer; born in New York
city, March 26, 1822; died there, Jan. 24, 1875.
Among his published works are a volume of
poems (1869). In collaboration with G. P. R.
James he wrote (Adrian; or the Clouds of the
Mind) (1852), and Memoirs of Many Men
and Some Women) (1874).
Fielding, Henry. A celebrated English nov-
elist; born at Sharpham Park, Somersetshire,
April 22, 1707, of the blood of the Hapsburgs;
died at Lisbon, Oct. 8, 1754. After ill success
as playwright and lawyer he wrote (The Ad-
ventures of Joseph Andrews) (1742), to bur-
lesque Richardson's Pamela'; it grew in his
hands into a strong novel of a new type, and
his career and fame were determined. His
masterpiece is (Tom Jones; or the History of
a Foundling) (1749). His last novel, (Amelia)
(1752), is characteristic of his sentiments rather
than of his genius. (The History of Jonathan
Wild' is a piece of irony directed against the
professors of conventional morality.
Fielding, Sarah. An English novelist, sister
to Henry; born in East Stour, Dorsetshire,
Nov. 8, 1710; died at Bath, 1768. Contem-
poraries adjudged her to show something like
genius in her novels (The Adventures of David
Simple in Search of a Faithful Friend (1744),
and “The Governess) (1749). She also did a
few important biographies and translations.
Fields, Annie (Adams). An American poet
and essayist, wife of James T. Fields; born in
Boston, 1834. She has been a leader in char-
ity organization and work. She published :
(Under the Olive,' poems (1881); Biography
of James T. Fields) (1884); How to Help
the Poor) (1885); (The Singing Shepherd );
(Authors and their Friends); (A Shelf of Old
Books) (1896); Life and Letters of llarriet
Beecher Stowe) (1897).
Fields, James Thomas. An American pub-
lisher and author; born in Portsmouth, N. H. ,
Dec. 31, 1817; died in Boston, Mass. , April 24,
1881. The various publishing firms of which
he was partner, with Ticknor, Osgood, and
others, were of the first rank. He edited the
Atlantic Monthly in 1862–70; and was an ac-
ceptable lecturer on literary subjects and authors.
He published: (Poems) (1849); A Few Verses
are :
## p. 188 (#204) ############################################
188
FIÉVÉE – FINCK
for a Few Friends) (1858); (Yesterdays with
Authors) (1872); Hawthorne) (1875); (Old
Acquaintance: Barry Cornwall and Some of
his Friends) (1875); "In and Out of Doors
with Dickens) (1876); “Underbrush) (1881),
essays; Ballads and Other Verses) (1881);
and (with Edwin P. Whipple) edited (The
Family Library of British Poetry) (1878).
Fiévée, Joseph (fyā-vā'). A French political
writer and journalist; born in Paris, April 9,
1767; died there, May 7, 1839. His experiences
during the French Revolution were not happy,
largely in consequence of his work (On the
Necessity of a Religion (1795); but the Na-
poleonic rule proved more favorable to him.
He produced (Suzette's Dowry) and (Frede-
rick, two rather colorless fictions, besides a
variety of historical works on aspects of the
republic, consulate, and empire.
Figueroa, Cristóval Suarez de (fë-gā-roʻä).
A Spanish poet of the first half of the seven-
teenth century.
His most celebrated poems
are a translation of the Faithful Shepherd
(1602) of Guarini, and (Constant Amaryllis)
(1609). He wrote a history of “The Deeds of
Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza) (1613) in
the wars with the Araucanians, interesting but
written in an inflated style; also an epic,
(Spain Defended) (1612).
Figueroa, Francisco de. A Spanish poet
(1540? -1620? ). He was called by his contempo-
raries “the Divine Figueroa,” and at Rome he
won the poet's crown. He wrote verse with
equal facility and elegance in Castilian and
Italian. When dying he burned all his verses;
but they were published - including the cele-
brated volume of eclogues in blank verse, the
(Tirsi) -- from copies in the hands of his
friends.
Figueroa, Francisco. A Mexican annalist,
diarist, and theologian ; born in Toluca, 17. 30
(? ); died in the City of Mexico, 1800 (? ). He
was a Franciscan priest, and taught and lect-
ured well; but his great service to literature
consisted in the compilation of materials for
a history of Mexico, among them a History
of the Conquest of New Galicia, by Mota
Padilla, besides diaries and letters.
Figueroa, Francisco Acuña de. A Uru-
guayan poet; born in Montevideo, 1791; died
there, Oct. 6, 1862. A civil-service post af-
forded him leisure to prepare his Poetic Mo-
saic) (1857), a verse collection, and his more
notable (Paraphrases of the Psalms, and (The
Toraidas,' a series of Paraguayan notes. He
has been assigned a high rank by competent
European critics; lofty inspiration and sonor-
ous diction being his characteristics, exemplified
in the National Hymn of Uruguay. '
Figuier, Guillaume Louis. A French scien-
tific writer; born at Montpellier, Feb. 15, 1819;
died at Paris, Nov. 9, 1894. He has done much
for the popularization of science as editor of
the scientific column of the Presse, and as au-
thor of The Exposition and History of the
Principal Modern Scientific Discoveries) (1851-
53); Alchemy and Alchemists) (1854); “Great
Ancient and Modern Inventions) (1864, 3d ed. );
(The Earth before the Deluge) (1866, 5th ed. );
(Lives of Illustrious Savants) (1866); Marvels
of Science) (1867-69).
Fileti - Ramondetta, Concettina (fe-lā'tē.
ra-mon-det'ta). An Italian poet; born (Ra-
mondetta) in Palermo, Dec. 31, 1830. Although
of a distinguished family, her childhood was
passed in comparative poverty, and she had
little formal schooling. Her talent was pre-
cocious, and at sixteen she wrote verses which
captivated the public. Becoming a wife and
mother, however,- with ten children at that,-
her association with the Muse has been inter-
mittent in recent years; but she has made
even this of some literary service, as in her
later Poems) (1887).
Filicaja, Vincenzo da (fe-le-kä'yä). A dis-
tinguished Italian poet (1642-1707). He lived
several years in retirement, devoted to political
study and composition, but publishing nothing
till 1684, when appeared his grand odes on the
rescue of Vienna from the Turks, which won
for him the admiration of all Italy, and hon-
orable notice on the part of the Emperor Leo-
pold and King John Sobieski of Poland. Queen
Christina of Sweden named him a member of
her newly founded Academy. In depth and
nobility of thought, in beauty of expression,
and in the melodiousness of his verse, Filicaja
is one of the foremost lyrists of Italy; never-
theless he trusts perhaps too much to art and
less to nature and inspiration. *
Filon, Auguste (fé-lôn'). A French histo-
rian; born in Paris, June 7, 1800; died there,
Dec. I, 1875. A commanding point of view
and an alluring style are conspicuous through-
out his Comparative History of France and
England) (1832); «The Spiritual Power in its
Relations with the State) (1844); (History of
the Roman Senate) (1850); History of the
Athenian Democracy) (1854); and several other
important works.
Finch, Francis Miles. An American poet,
and a judge of the U. S.
District Court; born
in Ithaca, N. Y. , June 9, 1827. He graduated
at Yale; and is the author of the well-known
lyrics (Nathan Hale) and (The Blue and the
Gray,' and of a popular college song beginning
«Floating away like the fountain's spray. ”
Finck, Henry Theophilus. An American
musical critic and author; born in Bethel, Mo. ,
Sept. 22, 1854. He graduated at Harvard in
1876; and from 1878 to 1881 studied physio-
logical psychology at Berlin, Heidelberg, and
Vienna. He is musical critic of the New York
Evening Post, and a contributor to the Nation.
His works include: (Wagner and Other Musi-
cians) (1887); Romantic Love and Personal
Beauty) (1887); (The Pacific Coast Scenic
Tour) (1890); (Chopin, and Other Musical
Essays); Lotos Time in Japan (1895); and
(Spain and Morocco.
## p. 189 (#205) ############################################
FINLAY - FISCHART
189
Finlay, George. An English historian of
the first rank; born in Faversham, Kent, of
Scotch blood, Dec. 21, 1799; died in Athens,
Greece, Jan. 26, 1875. An ardent Philhellene,
he joined Byron's company at Missolonghi in
1823 to assist in liberating Greece from the
Turks; and ended by residing there perma-
nently,-- at first a cultivator, and then a student
of and writer upon Greek history. He was for
many years the Athens correspondent of the
London Times. His "Greece under the Ro-
mans, B. C. 146 to A. D. 717) (1844) raised him
at once to a place among the few foremost
historians : Edward A. Freeman declared it to
be the most truly original historical work of
modern times; and for sound broad humanity,
acute judgment, and luminous common-sense
on both the practical and the philosophic sides
of history, it has few equals of any age. It is
not in the form of detailed annals except in
the last part, most of it being a set of essays
on the political and social conditions of Greece
as a subject province. Succeeding volumes
carried the story more in detail down to mod-
ern times, ending with two volumes on the
Greek Revolution. The whole, revised and
some volumes wholly rewritten by the author,
was published posthumously in 7 vols. (1877).
Finley, John. An American poet; born at
Brownsburg, Va. , Jan. II, 1797; died in Rich-
mond, Ind. , Dec. 23, 1866. He was one of the
editors of the Richmond Palladium, 1831-34.
His poems were collected in one volume, 'The
Hoosier's Nest, and Other Poems) (1865).
Finley, Martha. An American novelist ;
born in Chillicothe, O. , April 26, 1828. She is
the author, under the name of Martha Far-
quharson, of a number of novels, including
(Elsie Dinsmore) (1868); (Wanted - A Pedi-
gree! (1872); and (The Thorn in the Nest)
(1886). She has written in all over twenty (Elsie
Books, as well as (The Mildred Books,' etc.
Finotti, Joseph Maria. An American cler-
gyman and author; born at Ferrara, Italy, in
1817; died at Denver, Col. , in 1879. He studied
theology in the Jesuit College, Rome, and in
1845 removed to the United States.
He was
ordained priest, and stationed at Alexandria,
Va. In 1852 he left the Jesuit Society and
became literary editor of the Boston Pilot.
His health having failed, he removed to Cin-
cinnati, and afterwards to Omaha, and to Cen-
tral City, Col. His works include: A Month
of Mary) (1853); Italy in the Fifteenth Cen-
tury); (The French Zouave) (1863); (Ameri-
can Catholic Bibliography) (unfinished).
Firdausi or Firdusi (fēr-dou'sē). A cele-
brated Persian poet who lived from about 935
to about 1020. lle is the greatest of Persian
epic poets. In 1010, after 35 years of labor, was
completed his first heroic epic, the "Shāh-
Vāmah' (King's Book) in about 60,000 distichs :
it recounts the ancient Persian traditions of
heroism. His other great poem, Jussuf and
Zulikha,' a religious-romantic epos, is founded
on the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar's
wife. There are English translations of sun-
dry passages from the (Shāh-Nāmah,' and a
German translation of the whole of the Jussuf
and Zulikha. *
Firenzuola, Agnolo (fé-rents-woʻlä). (Prop-
erly Girolamo Giovannini. ] An Italian poet;
born in Florence, Sept. 28, 1493; died at Prato
or in Rome, about 1545. His works consist
of burlesque poems; two comedies, including
(The Shining Ones); a translation of Apu-
leius's (Golden Ass); a didactic story, Dis-
courses about Animals); Dialogue on the
Beauties of Women'; and ten (novels, mostly
stories in the vein of Boccaccio. He writes in
a style of great elegance, but with unpardon-
able lubricity. *
Firmenich-Richartz, Johannes Matthias
(fēr'men-ich-rich'ärts). A German poet, phil-
ological literary critic and student, and drama-
tist; born in Cologne, July 5, 1808; died in
Potsdam, May 10, 1889. His play (Clotilde
Montalvi) (1840), a romantic tragedy, and
After a Hundred Years,' a humorous compo-
sition in dialogue, as well as poems in vari-
ous languages, are highly meritorious; but his
monumental achievement is (Germany's Folk-
Voices: A Collection of German Dialect
Poems, Songs, Fables, Sagas, etc. ) (1843-66.
sup. 1868), showing the most profound learning
and scholarly acuteness.
Fischart, Johann (fish'ärt). A famous Ger-
man satirist (about 1545-91). He took the doc-
tor's degree in the University of Basel 1574,
and afterward was an official of the Imperial
Chamber of Justice at Spires. The period of
his literary production lies between 1575 and
1581, while he assisted his brother-in-law
Jobin, who had a printing-office in Strasburg.
He was a man of deep patriotic feeling, a
notable poet, and the greatest Protestant pub-
licist of his time. Among his compositions
in verse may be mentioned : “The Jester in
Rhyme,' a satire on the Dominicans and
Franciscans (1571); Description of the Four-
Cornered Hat) (1580), against the Jesuits; the
(Flohhatz Weibertratz) (1573), in which he
describes a contest at law between fieas and
women; Podagramic Book of Consolation)
(1577), showing how the gout (podagra) spares
the laboring poor and kindly chastens the rich,
while leaving their minds free for wit and
humor ; (The Hive of the Holy Roman Swarm)
(1579). In imitation of Rabelais's 'Gargantua,'
but giving free play to his own native humor
and wit, he wrote of (The Wondrous Deeds,
Thoughts, and Words of the Famous Heroes
and Lords Grandgusier, Gargantua, and Pan-
tagruel (1575). Here, in full accord with the
spirit of the Reformation, he contrasts the
sound human understanding with the vagaries
of idealism, the common people's bluntness
and uncouthness with the aristocratic-romantic
perversity of the upper class )); all the while
glorifying intellectual progress. As a treasury
of ingeniously contrived word compounds the
work is of great value to the philologist.
## p. 190 (#206) ############################################
190
FISCHER-FLAGG
Fischer, Johann Georg (fish'er). A German
poet; born at Gross Süssen, Würtemberg, Oct.
25, 1816. His lyric poems are in 8 vols. (1854-
91). He excels in popular songs and ballads :
he has the gift of combining humor with grav-
ity. In his love songs he nobly idealizes nature
and passion. He wrote four dramas: (Saul)
(1862); (Frederic II. of Hohenstaufen) (1863);
(Florian Geyer) (1866); (Emperor Maximilian
of Mexico) (1868). In (From Bird Life) (1863)
he notes the characteristic phenomena of the
psychic life of animals with the acuteness of a
naturalist and the sympathy of a poet.
Fischer, Kuno. A German historian of phi-
losophy; born at Sandewalde, in Silesia, July
23, 1824. He was interdicted from teaching
philosophy at Heidelberg in 1853; but after
filling professorships in Berlin and Jena, he
had the satisfaction of being called to the
chair of philosophy at Heidelberg in 1872. He
is of the school of Hegel. Ilis principal writ-
ings are: (Diotima: The Idea of the Beautiful)
(1849); (Logic and Metaphysic, or the Doctrine
of Science (1852); (History of Modern Phi.
losophy) (8 vols. , 1852-93), his greatest work,
written in the form of brilliant monographs on
Descartes, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and other
great philosophers down to Schopenhauer;
(Francis Bacon and his Successors) (1856);
(Lessing's Nathan the Wise) (1864); (Spino-
za's Life and Character) (1865); (Origin and
Evolution-Forms of Wit) (1871). *
Fisher, George Park. An American divine
and writer ; born in Wrentham, Mass. , Aug. 10,
1827; became professor of divinity at Yale
(1854), and professor of ecclesiastical history
(1861). Included in his works are : Essays on
the Supernatural Origin of Christianity); (His-
tory of the Reformation) (1873); (Faith and
Rationalism) (1879); (Outlines of Universal
History); History of the Christian Church)
(1888); Nature and Method of Revelation)
(1890); "Colonial History of the United States. )
Fiske, Daniel Willard, scholar and librarian;
born in Ellisburg, Jefferson County, N. Y. , Nov.
II, 1831 ; was educated at Hamilton College,
N. Y. , and Upsala University, Sweden. He
was secretary of the New York Geographical
Society, and attached to the American Lega-
tion at Vienna under Motley. He is an adept
in many modern languages; in 1869 was made
professor of North-European languages, and
librarian, at Cornell; and has been a volu-
minous contributor to Swedish, German, Ice-
landic, Italian, English, and American journals.
He has made the largest existing collections
of Icelandic and of Petrarch, and the largest
in America of Dante. He is now engaged in
trying to create a written Egyptian language.
Fiske, John. An American historian; born
at Hartford, Conn. , March 30, 1842. He grad-
uated at Harvard College in 1863, and in 1865
took his degree in law, but never practiced.
He was for a while lecturer on philosophy at
Harvard, and in 1872-79 assistant librarian.
He is author of Myths and Myth-Makers)
(1872); (Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy) (2
vols. , 1875), his principal work, in which he
gives an exposition of the philosophy of nat-
ural evolution ; (The Unseen World) (1876);
Darwinism (1879); (The Idea of God (1885).
On phases of American history, he has writ-
ten : (American Political Ideas) (1885); (The
Critical Period of American History, 1783–89)
(1888); (The Beginnings of New England)
(1889); (The American Revolution) (3 vols. ,
1891); Discovery of America) (2 vols. , 1892). *
Fitch, William Clyde. An American play-
wright and author; born in 1865. He was edu-
cated at Hartford, Conn. , and Amherst College,
Amherst, Mass. He has written and adapted
a number of successful plays, among them
(Beau Brummell) and (Bohemia. He is also
the author of "The Knighting of the Twins,
and Ten Other Tales) (1891); (Some Corre-
spondence and Six Conversations) (1896).
Fitts, James Franklin. An American jour-
nalist and novelist; born in Lockport, N. Y. ,
in 1840; died there, Jan. II, 1890. During the
Civil War he distinguished himself on several
occasions, and was rewarded with promotions.
After the war he devoted himself to miscella-
neous writing. Of his novels the most popu-
lar were : (The Parted Veil); (A Version);
(A Modern Miracle); (Captain Kidd's Gold.
Fitzgerald, Edward. A great English poet ;
born at Bredfield House, near Suffolk, March
31, 1809; died June 14, 1883. (Fitzgerald was
his mother's family name, assumed by his father
John Purcell. ) His writings are mostly remod-
eled translations of foreign poems; among them
are versions of (Six Dramas from Calderon)
(1853), and two more, and far finer (The
Mighty Magician and (Such Stuff as Dreams
are Made ON) subsequently; (The Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyam (1859), which ultimately
won him assured immortality, though at first
published anonymously and utterly neglected ;
Æschylus's (Agamemnon) and Sophocles's
(Edipus) plays, and part of Attár's (Bird Par-
liament. *
Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington. A pleasing
Irish novelist and biographical essayist; born
in Fane Valley, Louth, Ireland, 1834. He
wrote: (The Romance of the English Stage
(1874); Lives of the Sheridans) (1887); and
of novels, Never Forgotten, (Diana Gay,'
(Bella Donna, Dear Girl,' etc.
Fitzpatrick, William John. An Irish bio-
grapher and topical historian; born in Dublin,
Aug. 31, 1830. From the day of his graduation
at the Catholic College in Clongowes Wood,
he devoted himself to the study of Ireland's
rights and wrongs, and of the actors in Irish
history. Lord Edward Fitzgerald and his
Betrayers) (1859); “The Sham Squire and the
Informers of 1798) (1866); and Daniel O'Con-
nell, the Liberator) (1888), are a few among
his many widely read productions.
Flagg, Edmund. An American novelist and
journalist; born in Wiscasset, Me. , Nov. 24,
(
## p. 191 (#207) ############################################
FLAGG- FLETCHER
191
1815. He was the author of a number of novels
and other prose writings. His best work is
(Venice, the City of the Sea) (2 vols. , 1853).
He contributed to the New World Magazine
seven historical romances, based on the dramas
of Victor Hugo. Edmond Dantès,' a sequel
to (Monte Cristo,' was written by him, as also
were Mary Tudor) and other dramas.
Flagg, Wilson. An American naturalist,
scientific and political writer; born in Beverly,
Mass. , Nov. 5, 1805; died in North Cambridge,
Mass. , May 6, 1884. Some of his books are:
"Studies in the field and Forest) (1857); (Hal-
cyon Days); A Year among the Trees) (1881);
and A Year among the Birds. ?
Flammarion, Camille ( Ha-ma-re-ôn”). A
French astronomer, writer on descriptive as-
tronomy, and (astronomical novelist); born
in Montigny-le-Roi, Feb. 25, 1842. He was
designed by his parents for the Church, but
went over to science, and by a long course of
writings of a more or less popular character
has made his name widely known. ( The Plural-
ity of Inhabited Worlds) (1862); (Celestial
Wonders) (1865); (The Atmosphere) (1872);
(Urania) ( 1889 ); and “The Planet Mars and
its Habitability) (1892), are his best-known
works, not to mention an experiment or two
in romance of the astronomical creation. "
Flash, Henry Lynden. An American writer
of verse; born in Cincinnati, O. , Jan. 20, 1835.
He is the author of Poems) (1860), and of
many popular ballads which appeared during
the Civil War.
Flassan, Gaétan Raxis, Count de (fläs-än').
A French diplomatist and historian of diplo-
macy; born at Bedouin, Venaissin, 1770; died
in Paris, March 20, 1845. His career in the
diplomatic service was fairly distinguished,
enabling him to gather material for a valu-
able History of French Diplomacy from the
Foundation of the Monarchy to Aug. 10, 1792)
(1808-11), and one or two works of less im-
portance.
Flaubert, Gustav (fő-bãr'). A distinguished
French novelist; born at Rouen, Dec. 12, 1821 ;
died there, May 8, 1880. His greatest novel
was his first, Madame Bovary) (1857). He
next wrote a historical novel, “Salammbộ, the
scene laid in the most fourishing period of
Carthage,-a splendid description of ancient
Punic life, but having lively interest as a story;
(The History of a Young Man (1869), like
Madame Bovary) a pessimistic picture of so-
cial life; (The Temptation of St. Anthony)
(1874), a piece of imaginative writing dealing
with philosophical problems; and (Three Sto-
ries) (1877), which had a favorable reception.
The posthumous novel ( Bouvard and Pécuchet)
(1881) is a satire on humanity in general. His
comedy (The Candidate) (1874) failed on the
stage. *
Fléchier, Esprit (fā-shyā'). A notable
French pulpit orator and writer; born at
Pernes, in the Venaissin, June 10, 1632 ; died at
Montpellier, Feb. 16, 1710. His funeral orations,
especially those on Montausier and Turenne,
are models of elegiac oratory. He wrote a
(History of Theodosius the Great' (1679);
(Panegyrics of aints ) (1690); History of
Cardinal Ximenes) (1693).
Fleming, George. See Fletcher, Julia.
Fleming, Mrs. May Agnes (Early). A
Canadian story-writer; born in New Brunswick,
1840; died 1880. She was a prolific author of
romances, mostly sersational, among them be-
ing: Guy Earlscourt's Wife); Lost for a
Woman); (Pride and Passion); etc.
Fleming, Paul (flem'ing). A distinguished
German poet; born at Hartenstein in Saxony,
Oct. 5, 1609; died at Hamburg, April 2, 1640.
As an attaché of an embassy to Russia and Per-
sia, he had an opportunity (1635-39) of studying
many peoples. His "German Poems, which
appeared in 1642, were often republished.
