[1] See _Capitularia regum Francorum_, ii. 474.
[2] _De l'administration des finances_, iii. 136; see also the
article "Enfant expose" in Diderot's _Encyclopedie_, 1755, and
Chamousset's _Memoire politique sur les enfants,_ 1757.
[3] Addison had suggested such a charity (_Guardian_, No. 3).
FOUNTAIN (Late Lat. _fontana_, from _fons_, a spring), a term applied in
a restricted sense to such outlets of water as, whether fed by natural
or artificial means, have contrivances of human art at a point where the
water emerges. A very early existing example is preserved in the carved
Babylonian basin (about 3000 B.C.) found at Tello, the ancient Lagash,
and Layard mentions an Assyrian fountain, found by him in a gorge of the
river Gomel, which consists of a series of basins cut in the solid rock
and descending in steps to the stream. The water had been originally led
from one to the other by small conduits, the lowest of which was
ornamented by two rampant lions in relief. The term is applied equally
to the simpler arrangements for letting water gush into an ornamental
basin or to the more elaborate ones by which water is mechanically
forced into high jets; and a "fountain" may be either the ornamental
receptacle or the jet of water itself. In modern times the examples of
ornamental or useful fountains are legion, and it will suffice here to
mention some of the more important facts of historical interest.
Among the Greeks fountains were very common in the cities. Springs being
very plentiful in Greece, little engineering skill was required to
convey the water from place to place. Receptacles of sufficient size
were made for it at the springs; and to maintain its purity, structures
were raised enclosing and covering the receptacle. In Greece they were
dedicated to gods and goddesses, nymphs and heroes, and were frequently
placed in or near temples. That of Pirene at Corinth (mentioned also by
Herodotus) was formed of white stone, and contained a number of cells
from which the pleasant water flowed into an open basin. Legend connects
it with the nymph Pirene, who shed such copious tears, when bewailing
her son who had been slain by Diana, that she was changed into a
fountain. The city of Corinth possessed many fountains. In one near the
statues of Diana and Bellerophon the water flowed through the hoofs of
the horse Pegasus. The fountain of Glauce, enclosed in the Odeum, was
dedicated to Glauce, because she was said to have thrown herself into it
believing that its waters could counteract the poisons of Medea. Another
Corinthian fountain had a bronze statue of Poseidon standing on a
dolphin from which the water flowed. The fountain constructed by
Theagenes at Megara was remarkable for its size and decorations, and for
the number of its columns. One at Lerna was surrounded with pillars, and
the structure contained a number of seats affording a cool summer
retreat. Near Pharae was a grove dedicated to Apollo, and in it a
fountain of water. Pausanias gives a definite architectural detail when
he says that a fountain at Patrae was reached from without by descending
steps. Mystical, medicinal, surgical and other qualities, as well as
supernatural origin, were ascribed to fountains. One at Cyane in Lycia
was said to possess the quality of endowing all persons descending into
it with power to see whatever they desired to see; while the legends of
fountains and other waters with strange powers to heal are numerous in
many lands. The fountain Enneacrunus at Athens was called Callirrhoe
before the time the water was drawn from it by the nine pipes from which
it took its later name. Two temples were above it, according to
Pausanias, one dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, and the other to
Triptolemus. The fountain in the temple of Erechtheus at Athens was
supplied by a spring of salt water, and a similar spring supplied that
in the temple of Poseidon Hippios at Mantinea.
The water-supply of Rome and the works auxiliary to it were on a scale
to be expected from a people of such great practical power. The remains
of the aqueducts which stretched from the city across the Campagna are
amongst the most striking monuments of Italy. Vitruvius (book viii.)
gives minute particulars concerning the methods to be employed for the
discovery, testing and distribution of water, and describes the
properties of different waters with great care, proving the importance
which was attached to these matters by the Romans. The aqueducts
supplied the baths and the public fountains, from which last all the
populace, except such as could afford to pay for a separate pipe to
their houses, obtained their water. These fountains were therefore of
large size and numerous. They were formed at many of the _castella_ of
the aqueducts. According to Vitruvius, each _castellum_ should have
three pipes,--one for public fountains, one for baths and the third for
private houses. Considerable revenue was drawn from the possessors of
private water-pipes. The Roman fountains were generally decorated with
figures and heads. Fountains were often also the ornament of Roman
villas and country houses; in those so situated the water generally
ally fell from above into a large marble basin, with at times a second
fall into a still lower receptacle. Two adjacent houses in Pompeii had
very remarkable fountains. One, says Gell, "is covered with a sort of
mosaic consisting of vitrified tesserae of different colours, but in
which blue predominates. These are sometimes arranged in not inelegant
patterns, and the grand divisions as well as the borders are entirely
formed and ornamented with real sea-shells, neither calcined by the heat
of the eruption nor changed by the lapse of so many centuries"
(_Pompeiana_, i. 196). Another of large size was similarly decorated
with marine shells, and is supposed to have borne two sculptured
figures, one of which, a bronze, is in the museum at Naples. This
fountain projects 5 ft. 7 in. from the wall against which it is placed,
and is 7 ft. wide in front, while the height of the structure up to the
eaves of the pediment is 7 ft. 7 in. On a central column in the piscina
was a statue of Cupid, with a dove, from the mouth of which water
issued. Cicero had, at his villa at Formiae, a fountain which was
decorated with marine shells.
Fountains were very common in the open spaces and at the crossways in
Pompeii. They were supplied by leaden pipes from the reservoirs, and had
little ornament except a human or animal head, from the mouth of which
it was arranged that the water should issue. Not only did simple running
fountains exist, but the remains of _jets d'eau_ have been found; and a
drawing exists representing a vase with a double jet of water, standing
on a pedestal placed in what is supposed to have been the impluvium of a
house. There was also a _jet d'eau_ at the eastern end of the peristyle
of the Fullonica at Pompeii.
As among the Greeks, so with the early Celts, traces of superstitious
beliefs and usages with relation to fountains can be traced in
monumental and legendary remains. Near the village of Primaleon in
Brittany was a very remarkable monument,--one possibly unique, as giving
distinct proof of the existence of an ancient cult of fountains. Here is
a dolmen composed of a horizontal table supported by two stones only,
one at each end. All the space beneath this altar is occupied by a long
square basin formed of large flat stones, which receives a fountain of
water. At Lochrist is another vestige of the Celtic cult of fountains.
Beneath the church, and at the foot of the hill upon which it is built,
is a sacred fountain, near which is erected an ancient chapel, which
with its ivy-covered walls has a most romantic appearance. A Gothic
vault protects this fountain. Miraculous virtues are still attributed to
its water, and on certain days the country people still come with
offerings to draw it (see La Poix de Freminville, _Antiquites de la
Bretagne_, i. p. 101). In the enchanted forest of Brochelande, so famous
from its connexion with Merlin, was the fountain of Baranton, which was
said to possess strange characteristics. Whoever drew water from it, and
sprinkled the steps therewith, produced a tremendous storm of thunder
and hail, accompanied with thick darkness.
Christianity transferred to its own uses the ancient religious feeling
concerning fountains. Statues of the Virgin or of saints were erected
upon the rude structures that collected the water and preserved its
purity. There is some uniformity in the architectural characteristics of
these structures during the middle ages. A very common form in rural
districts was that in which the fountain was reached by descending steps
(_fontaine grotte_). A large basin received the water, sometimes from a
spout, but often from the spring itself. This basin was covered by a
sort of porch or vault, with at times moulded arches and sculptured
figures and escutcheons. On the bank of the Clain at Poitiers is a
fountain of this kind, the Fontaine Joubert, which though restored in
1597 was originally a structure of the 14th century. This kind of
fountain is frequently decorated with figures of the Virgin or of
saints, or with the family arms of its founder; often, too, the water is
the only ornament of the structure, which bears a simple inscription. A
large number of these fountains are to be found in Brittany and indeed
throughout France, and the great antiquity of some of them is proved by
the superstitions regarding them which still exist amongst the
peasantry. A form more common in populous districts was that of a large
open basin, round, square, polygonal, or lobed in form, with a columnar
structure at the centre, from the lower part of which it was arranged
that spouts should issue, playing into an open basin, and supplying
vessels brought for the purpose in the cleanest and quickest manner. The
columns take very various forms, from that of a simple regular
geometrical solid, with only grotesque masks at the spouts, to that of
an elaborate and ornate Gothic structure, with figures of virgins,
saints and warriors, with mouldings, arches, crockets and finials. At
Provins there is a fountain said to be of the 12th century, which is in
form an hexagonal vase with a large column in the centre, the capital of
which is pierced by three mouths, which are furnished with heads of
bronze projecting far enough to cast the water into the basin. In the
public market-place at Brunswick is a fountain of the 15th century, of
which the central structure is made of bronze. Many fountains are still
existing in France and Germany which, though their actual present
structure may date no earlier than the 15th or 16th century, have been
found on the place of, and perhaps may almost be considered as
restorations of, pre-existing fountains. Except in Italy few fountains
are of earlier date than the 14th century. Two of that date are at the
abbey of Fontaine Daniel, near Mayenne, and another, of granite, is at
Limoges. Some of these middle-age fountains are simple, open reservoirs
enclosed in structures which, however plain, still carry the charm that
belongs to the stone-work of those times. There is one of this kind at
Cully, Calvados, walled on three sides, and fed from the spring by two
circular openings. Its only ornamentation is a small empty niche with
mouldings. At Lincoln is a fountain of the time of Henry VIII., in front
of the church of St Mary Wickford. At Durham is one of octangular plan,
which bears a statue of Neptune.
The decay of architectural taste in the later centuries is shown by the
fountain of Limoges. It is in form a rock representing Mount Parnassus,
upon which are carved in relief Apollo, the horse Pegasus, Philosophy
and the Nine Muses. At the top Apollo, in the 16th-century costume,
plays a harp. Rocks, grass and sheep fill up the scene.
Purely ornamental fountains and _jets d'eau_ are found in or near many
large cities, royal palaces and private seats. The celebrated Fontana di
Trevi, at Rome, was erected early in the 18th century under Pope Clement
XII., and has all the characteristics of decadence. La Fontana Paolina
and those in the piazza of St Peter's are perhaps next in celebrity to
that of Trevi, and are certainly in better taste. At Paris the Fontaine
des Innocens (the earliest) and those of the Place Royal, of the Champs
Elysees and of the Place de la Concorde are the most noticeable. The
fountain of the lions and other fountains in the Alhambra palace are,
with their surroundings, a very magnificent sight. The largest _jets
d'eau_ are those at Versailles, at the Sydenham Crystal Palace and at
San Ildefonso.
About the earliest drawing of any drinking fountain in England occurs in
Moxon's _Tutor to Astronomie and Geographie_ (1659); it is "surmounted
by a diall, which was made by Mr John Leak, and set upon a composite
column at Leadenhall corner, in the majoralty of Sir John Dethick,
Knight." The water springs from the top and base of the column, which
stands upon a square pedestal and bears four female figures, one at
least of which represents the costume of the period.
In the East the public drinking fountains are a very important
institution. In Cairo alone there are three hundred. These "sebeels" are
not only to be seen in the cities, but are plentiful in the fields and
villages.
The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain Association (1859) has done much to
provide facilities in London for both man and beast to get water to
drink in the streets. And in the United States liberal provision has
also been made by private and public enterprise.
FOUNTAINS ABBEY, one of the most celebrated ecclesiastical ruins in
England. It lies in the sequestered valley of the river Skell, 3 m. S.W.
of the city of Ripon in Yorkshire. The situation is most beautiful. The
little Skell descends from the uplands of Pateley Moor to the west a
clear swift stream, traversing a valley clothed with woods, conspicuous
among which are some ancient yew trees which may have sheltered the
monks who first sought retreat here. Steep rocky hills enclose the vale.
Mainly on the north side of the stream, in an open glade, rise the
picturesque and extensive ruins, the church with its stately tower, and
the numerous remnants of domestic buildings which enable the great abbey
to be almost completely reconstructed in the mind. The arrangements are
typical of a Cistercian house (see ABBEY). Building began in earnest
about 1135, and was continued steadily until the middle of the 13th
century, after which the only important erection was Abbot Huby's tower
(c. 1500). The demesne of Studley Royal (marquess of Ripon) contains the
ruins. It is in part laid out in the formal Dutch style, the work of
John Aislabie, lord of the manor in the early part of the 18th century.
Near the abbey is the picturesque Jacobean mansion of Fountains Hall.
In 1132 the prior and twelve monks of St Mary's abbey, York, being
dissatisfied with the easy life they were living, left the monastery and
with the assistance of Thurstan, archbishop of York, founded a house in
the valley of the Skell, where they adopted the Cistercian rule. While
building their monastery the monks are said to have lived at first under
an elm and then under seven yew trees called the Seven Sisters. Two
years later they were joined by Hugh, dean of St Peter's, York, who
brought with him a large sum of money and a valuable collection of
books. His example was followed by Serlo, a monk of St Mary's abbey,
York, and by Tosti, a canon of York, and others. Henry I. and succeeding
sovereigns granted them many privileges. During the reign of Edward I.
the monks appear to have again suffered from poverty, partly no doubt
owing to the invasion of the Scots, but partly also through their own
"misconduct and extravagance." On account of this Edward I. in 1291
appointed John de Berwick custodian of the abbey so that he might pay
their debts from the issues of their estates, allowing them enough for
their maintenance, and Edward II. in 1319 granted them exemption from
taxes. After the Dissolution Henry VIII. sold the manor and site of the
monastery to Sir Richard Gresham, and from him after passing through
several families it came to the marquess of Ripon.
See _Victoria County History, Yorkshire_; Dugdale, _Monasticon_;
Surtees Society, _Memorials of the Abbey of St Mary of Fountains_,
collected and edited by J.R. Walbran (1863-78).
FOUQUE, FERDINAND ANDRE (1828-1904), French geologist and petrologist,
was born at Mortain, dept. of La Manche, on the 21st of June 1828. At
the age of twenty-one he entered the _Ecole Normale_ in Paris, and from
1853 to 1858 he held the appointment of keeper of the scientific
collections. In 1877 he became professor of natural history at the
_College de France_, in Paris, and in 1881 he was elected a member of
the Academy of Sciences. As a stratigraphical geologist he rendered much
assistance on the Geological Survey of France, but in the course of time
he gave his special attention to the study of volcanic phenomena and
earthquakes, to minerals and rocks; and he was the first to introduce
modern petrographical methods into France. His studies of the eruptive
rocks of Corsica, Santorin and elsewhere; his researches on the
artificial reproduction of eruptive rocks, and his treatise on the
optical characters of felspars deserve special mention; but he was
perhaps best known for the joint work which he carried on with his
friend Michel Levy. He died on the 7th of March 1904. His chief
publications were: _Santorin et ses eruptions_, 1879; (with A. Michel
Levy) _Mineralogie micrographique, Roches eruptives francaises_ (2
vols., 1879); and _Synthese des mineraux et des roches_ (1882).
FOUQUE, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH KARL DE LA MOTTE, BARON (1777-1843), German
writer of the romantic movement, was born on the 12th of February 1777
at Brandenburg. His grandfather had been one of Frederick the Great's
generals and his father was a Prussian officer. Although not originally
intended for a military career, Friedrich de la Motte Fouque ultimately
gave up his university studies at Halle to join the army, and he took
part in the Rhine campaign of 1794. The rest of his life was devoted
mainly to literary pursuits. Like so many of the younger romanticists,
Fouque owed his introduction to literature to A.W. Schlegel, who
published his first book, _Dramatische Spiele von Pellegrin_ in 1804.
His next work, _Romanzen vom Tal Ronceval_ (1805), showed more plainly
his allegiance to the romantic leaders, and in the _Historie vom edlen
Ritter Galmy_ (1806) he versified a 16th-century romance of medieval
chivalry. _Sigurd der Schlangentoter, ein Heldenspiel_ (1808), the first
modern German dramatization of the _Nibelungen_ saga, attracted
attention to him, and influenced considerably subsequent versions of the
story, such as Hebbel's _Nibelungen_ and Wagner's _Ring des Nibelungen_.
These early writings indicate the lines which Fouque's subsequent
literary activity followed; his interests were divided between medieval
chivalry on the one hand and northern mythology on the other. In 1813,
the year of the rising against Napoleon, he again fought with the
Prussian army, and the new patriotism awakened in the German people left
its mark upon his writings.
Between 1810 and 1815 Fouque's popularity was at its height; the many
romances and novels, plays and epics, which he turned out with
extraordinary rapidity, appealed exactly to the mood of the hour. The
earliest of these are the best--_Undine_, which appeared in 1811, being,
indeed, one of the most charming of all German _Marchen_ and the only
work by which Fouque's memory still lives to-day. A more comprehensive
idea of his powers may, however, be obtained from the two romances _Der
Zauberring_ (1813) and _Die Fahrten Thiodulfs des Islanders_ (1815).
From 1820 onwards the quality of Fouque's work rapidly degenerated,
partly owing to the fatal ease with which he wrote, partly to his
inability to keep pace with the changes in German taste. He remained the
belated romanticist, who, as the reading world turned to new interests,
clung the more tenaciously to the paraphernalia of romanticism; but in
the cold, sober light of the post-romantic age, these appeared merely
flimsy and theatrical. The vitalizing imaginative power of his early
years deserted him, and the sobriquet of a "Don Quixote of Romanticism"
which his enemies applied to him was not unjustified.
Fouque's first marriage had been unhappy and soon ended in divorce. His
second wife, Karoline von Briest (1773-1831) enjoyed some reputation as
a novelist in her day. After her death Fouque married a third time. Some
consolation for the ebbing tide of popular favour was afforded him by
the munificence of Frederick William IV. of Prussia, who granted him a
pension which allowed him to spend his later years in comfort. He died
in Berlin on the 23rd of January 1843.
Fouque's _Ausgewahlte Werke_, edited by himself, appeared in 12 vols.
(Berlin, 1841); a selection, edited by M. Koch, will be found in
Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_, vol. 146, part ii.
(Stuttgart, 1893); _Undine_, _Sintram_, &c., in innumerable reprints.
Bibliography in Goedeke's _Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen
Dichtung_ (2nd ed., vi. pp. 115 ff., Dresden, 1898). Most of Fouque's
works have been translated, and the English versions of _Aslauga's
Knight_ (by Carlyle), _Sintram and his Companions_ and _Undine_, have
been frequently republished. For Fouque's life cp. _Lebensgeschichte
des Baron Friedrich de la Motte Fouque. Aufgezeichnet durch ihn
selbst_ (Halle, 1840), (only to the year 1813), and also the
introduction to Koch's selections in the _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_.
(J. G. R.)
FOUQUET (or FOUCQUET), NICOLAS (1615-1680), viscount of Melun and of
Vaux, marquis of Belle-Isle, superintendent of finance in France under
Louis XIV., was born at Paris in 1615. He belonged to an influential
family of the _noblesse de la robe_, and after some preliminary
schooling with the Jesuits, at the age of thirteen was admitted as
_avocat_ at the parlement of Paris. While still in his teens he held
several responsible posts, and in 1636, when just twenty, he was able to
buy the post of _maitre des requetes_. From 1642 to 1650 he held various
intendancies at first in the provinces and then with the army of
Mazarin, and, coming thus in touch with the court, was permitted in 1650
to buy the important position of _procureur general_ to the parlement of
Paris. During Mazarin's exile Fouquet shrewdly remained loyal to him,
protecting his property and keeping him informed of the situation at
court.
Upon the cardinal's return, Fouquet demanded and received as reward the
office of superintendent of the finances (1653), a position which, in
the unsettled condition of the government, threw into his hands not
merely the decision as to which funds should be applied to meet the
demands of the state's creditors, but also the negotiations with the
great financiers who lent money to the king. The appointment was a
popular one with the moneyed class, for Fouquet's great wealth had been
largely augmented by his marriage in 1651 with Marie de Castille, who
also belonged to a wealthy family of the legal nobility. His own credit,
and above all his unfailing confidence in himself, strengthened the
credit of the government, while his high position at the parlement (he
still remained _procureur general_) secured financial transactions from
investigation. As minister of finance, he soon had Mazarin almost in the
position of a suppliant. The long wars, and the greed of the courtiers,
who followed the example of Mazarin, made it necessary at times for
Fouquet to meet the demands upon him by borrowing upon his own credit,
but he soon turned this confusion of the public purse with his own to
good account. The disorder in the accounts became hopeless; fraudulent
operations were entered into with impunity, and the financiers were kept
in the position of clients by official favours and by generous aid
whenever they needed it. Fouquet's fortune now surpassed even Mazarin's,
but the latter was too deeply implicated in similar operations to
interfere, and was obliged to leave the day of reckoning to his agent
and successor Colbert. Upon Mazarin's death Fouquet expected to be made
head of the government; but Louis XIV. was suspicious of his poorly
dissembled ambition, and it was with Fouquet in mind that he made the
well-known statement, upon assuming the government, that he would be his
own chief minister. Colbert fed the king's displeasure with adverse
reports upon the deficit, and made the worst of the case against
Fouquet. The extravagant expenditure and personal display of the
superintendent served to intensify the ill-will of the king. Fouquet had
bought the port of Belle Isle and strengthened the fortifications, with
a view to taking refuge there in case of disgrace. He had spent enormous
sums in building a palace on his estate of Vaux, which in extent,
magnificence, and splendour of decoration was a forecast of Versailles.
Here he gathered the rarest manuscripts, the finest paintings, jewels
and antiques in profusion, and above all surrounded himself with artists
and authors. The table was open to all people of quality, and the
kitchen was presided over by Vatel. Lafontaine, Corneille, Scarron, were
among the multitude of his clients. In August 1661 Louis XIV., already
set upon his destruction, was entertained at Vaux with a _fete_ rivalled
in magnificence by only one or two in French history, at which Moliere's
_Les Facheux_ was produced for the first time. The splendour of the
entertainment sealed Fouquet's fate. The king, however, was afraid to
act openly against so powerful a minister. By crafty devices Fouquet was
induced to sell his office of _procureur general_, thus losing the
protection of its privileges, and he paid the price of it into the
treasury.
Three weeks after his visit to Vaux the king withdrew to Nantes, taking
Fouquet with him, and had him arrested when he was leaving the presence
chamber, flattered with the assurance of his esteem. The trial lasted
almost three years, and its violation of the forms of justice is still
the subject of frequent monographs by members of the French bar. Public
sympathy was strongly with Fouquet, and Lafontaine, Madame de Sevigne
and many others wrote on his behalf; but when Fouquet was sentenced to
banishment, the king, disappointed, "commuted" the sentence to
imprisonment for life. He was sent at the beginning of 1665 to the
fortress of Pignerol, where he undoubtedly died on the 23rd of March
1680.[1] Louis acted throughout "as though he were conducting a
campaign," evidently fearing that Fouquet would play the part of a
Richelieu. Fouquet bore himself with manly fortitude, and composed
several mediocre translations in prison. The devotional works bearing
his name are apocryphal. A report of his trial was published in Holland,
in 15 volumes, in 1665-1667, in spite of the remonstrances which Colbert
addressed to the States-General. A second edition under the title of
_Oeuvres de M. Fouquet_ appeared in 1696.
See Cheruel, _Memoires sur la vie publique et privee de Fouquet...
d'apres ses lettres et des pieces inedites_ (2 vols., Paris, 1864); J.
Lair, _Nicolas Foucquet, procureur general, surintendant des finances,
ministre d'Etat de Louis XIV_ (2 vols., Paris, 1890); U.V. Chatelain,
_Le Surintendant Nicolas Fouquet, protecteur des lettres, des arts et
des sciences_ (Paris, 1905); R. Pfnor et A. France, _Le Chateau de
Vaux-le-Vicomte dessine et grave_ (Paris, 1888).