[1] The heights given by explorers vary from 9200 to 10,800 ft.
[2] Some authorities maintain that another Portuguese seaman, Lopes
Gonsalves, was the discoverer of the island. The years 1469, 1471 and
1486 are variously given as those of the date of the discovery.
FERNEL, JEAN FRANCOIS (1497-1558), French physician, was born at
Clermont in 1497, and after receiving his early education at his native
town, entered the college of Sainte-Barbe, Paris. At first he devoted
himself to mathematical and astronomical studies; his _Cosmotheoria_
(1528) records a determination of a degree of the meridian, which he
made by counting the revolutions of his carriage wheels on a journey
between Paris and Amiens. But from 1534 he gave himself up entirely to
medicine, in which he graduated in 1530. His extraordinary general
erudition, and the skill and success with which he sought to revive the
study of the old Greek physicians, gained him a great reputation, and
ultimately the office of physician to the court. He practised with great
success, and at his death in 1558 left behind him an immense fortune. He
also wrote_ Monalosphaerium, sive astrolabii genus, generalis horarii
structura et usus_ (1526); _De proportionibus_ (1528); _De evacuandi
ratione_ (1545); _De abditis rerum causis_ (1548); and _Medicina ad
Henricum II._ (1554).
FERNIE, an important city in the east Kootenay district of British
Columbia. Pop. about 4000. It is situated on the Crow's Nest branch of
the Canadian Pacific railway, at the junction of Coal Creek with the Elk
river, and owes its importance to the extensive coal mines in its
vicinity. There are about 500 coke ovens in operation at Fernie, which
supply most of the smelting plants in southern British Columbia with
fuel.
FERNOW, KARL LUDWIG (1763-1808), German art-critic and archaeologist,
was born in Pomerania on the 19th of November 1763. His father was a
servant in the household of the lord of Blumenhagen. At the age of
twelve he became clerk to a notary, and was afterwards apprenticed to a
druggist. While serving his time he had the misfortune accidentally to
shoot a young man who came to visit him; and although through the
intercession of his master he escaped prosecution, the untoward event
weighed heavily on his mind, and led him at the close of his
apprenticeship to quit his native place. He obtained a situation at
Lubeck, where he had leisure to cultivate his natural taste for drawing
and poetry. Having formed an acquaintance with the painter Carstens,
whose influence was an important stimulus and help to him, he renounced
his trade of druggist, and set up as a portrait-painter and
drawing-master. At Ludwigslust he fell in love with a young girl, and
followed her to Weimar; but failing in his suit, he went next to Jena.
There he was introduced to Professor Reinhold, and in his house met the
Danish poet Baggesen. The latter invited him to accompany him to
Switzerland and Italy, a proposal which he eagerly accepted (1794) for
the sake of the opportunity of furthering his studies in the fine arts.
On Baggesen's return to Denmark, Fernow, assisted by some of his
friends, visited Rome and made some stay there. He now renewed his
intercourse with Carstens, who had settled at Rome, and applied himself
to the study of the history and theory of the fine arts and of the
Italian language and literature. Making rapid progress, he was soon
qualified to give a course of lectures on archaeology, which was
attended by the principal artists then at Rome. Having married a Roman
lady, he returned in 1802 to Germany, and was appointed in the following
year professor extraordinary of Italian literature at Jena. In 1804 he
accepted the post of librarian to Amelia, duchess-dowager of Weimar,
which gave him the leisure he desired for the purpose of turning to
account the literary and archaeological researches in which he had
engaged at Rome. His most valuable work, the _Romische Studien_,
appeared in 3 vols. (1806-1808). Among his other works are--_Das Leben
des Kunstlers Carstens_ (1806), _Ariosto's Lebenslauf_ (1809), and
_Francesco Petrarca_ (1818). Fernow died at Weimar, December 4, 1808.
A memoir of his life by Johanna Schopenhauer, mother of the
philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, appeared in 1810, and a complete
edition of his works in 1829.
FEROZEPUR, or FIROZPUR, a town and district of British India, in the
Jullundur division of the Punjab. The town is a railway junction
connecting the North-Western and Rajputana railways, and is situated
about 4 m. from the present south bank of the Sutlej. Pop. (1901)
49,341. The arsenal is the largest in India, and Ferozepur is the
headquarters of a brigade in the 3rd division of the northern army
corps. British rule was first established at Ferozepur in 1835, when, on
the failure of heirs to the Sikh family who possessed it, a small
territory 86 m. in extent became an escheat to the British government,
and the present district has been gradually formed around this nucleus.
The strategic importance of Ferozepur was at this time very great; and
when, in 1839, Captain (afterwards Sir Henry) Lawrence took charge of
the station as political officer, it was the outpost of British India in
the direction of the Sikh power. Ferozepur accordingly became the scene
of operations during the first Sikh War. The Sikhs crossed the Sutlej in
December 1845, and were defeated successively at Mudki, Ferozepur,
Aliwal and Sobraon; after which they withdrew into their own territory,
and peace was concluded at Lahore. At the time of the mutiny Ferozepur
cantonments contained two regiments of native infantry and a regiment of
native cavalry, together with the 61st Foot and two companies of
European artillery. One of the native regiments, the 57th, was disarmed;
but the other, the 45th, broke into mutiny, and, after an unsuccessful
attempt to seize the magazine, which was held by the Europeans,
proceeded to join the rebel forces in Delhi. Throughout the mutiny
Ferozepur remained in the hands of the English.
Ferozepur has rapidly advanced in material prosperity of late years, and
is now a very important seat of commerce, trade being mainly in grain.
The main streets of the city are wide and well paved, and the whole is
enclosed by a low brick wall. Great improvements have been made in the
surroundings of the city. The cantonment lies 2 m. to the south of the
city, and is connected with it by a good metalled road.
The DISTRICT OF FEROZEPUR comprises an area of 4302 sq. m. The surface
is level, with the exception of a few sand-hills in the south and
south-east. The country consists of two distinct tracts, that liable to
annual fertilizing inundations from the Sutlej, known as the _bhet_, and
the _rohi_ or upland tract. The only river is the Sutlej, which runs
along the north-western boundary. The principal crops are wheat, barley,
millet, gram, pulses, oil-seeds, cotton, tobacco, &c. The manufactures
are of the humblest kind, consisting chiefly of cotton and wool-weaving,
and are confined entirely to the supply of local wants. The Lahore and
Ludhiana road runs for 51 m. through the district, and forms an
important trade route. The North-Western, the Southern Punjab, and a
branch of the Rajputana-Malwa railways serve the district. The other
important towns and seats of commerce are Fazilka (pop. 8505), Dharmkot
(6731), Moga (6725), and Muktsar (6389). Owing principally to the
dryness of its climate, Ferozepur has the reputation of being an
exceptionally healthy district. In September and October, however, after
the annual rains, the people suffer a good deal from remittent fever. In
1901 the population was 958,072. Distributaries of the Sirhind canal
water the whole district.
FEROZESHAH, a village in the Punjab, India, notable as the scene of one
of the chief battles in the first Sikh War. The battle immediately
succeeded that of Mudki, and was fought on the 21st and 22nd of December
1845. During its course Sir Hugh Gough, the British commander, was
overruled by the governor-general, Lord Hardinge, who was acting as his
second in command (see SIKH WARS). At the end of the first day's
fighting the British had occupied the Sikh position, but had not gained
an undisputed victory. On the following morning the battle was resumed,
and the Sikhs were reinforced by a second army under Tej Singh; but
through cowardice or treachery Tej Singh withdrew at the critical
moment, leaving the field to the British. In the course of the fight the
British lost 694 killed and 1721 wounded, the vast majority being
British troops, while the Sikhs lost 100 guns and about 5000 killed and
wounded.
FERRAND, ANTOINE FRANCOIS CLAUDE, COMTE (1751-1825), French statesman
and political writer, was born in Paris on the 4th of July 1751, and
became a member of the parlement of Paris at eighteen. He left France
with the first party of emigrants, and attached himself to the prince of
Conde; later he was a member of the council of regency formed by the
comte de Provence after the death of Louis XVI. He lived at Regensburg
until 1801, when he returned to France, though he still sought to serve
the royalist cause. In 1814 Ferrand was made minister of state and
postmaster-general. He countersigned the act of sequestration of
Napoleon's property, and introduced a bill for the restoration of the
property of the emigrants, establishing a distinction, since become
famous, between royalists of _la ligne droite_ and those of _la ligne
courbe_. At the second restoration Ferrand was again for a short time
postmaster-general. He was also made a peer of France, member of the
privy council, grand-officer and secretary of the orders of Saint Michel
and the Saint Esprit, and in 1816 member of the Academy, He continued
his active support of ultra-royalist views until his death, which took
place in Paris on the 17th of January 1825.
Besides a large number of political pamphlets, Ferrand is the author
of _L'Esprit de l'histoire, ou Lettres d'un pere a son fils sur la
maniere d'etudier l'histoire_ (4 vols., 1802), which reached seven
editions, the last number in 1826 having prefixed to it a biographical
sketch of the author by his nephew Hericart de Thury; _Eloge
historique de Madame Elisabeth de France_ (1814); _Oeuvres dramatiques
_(1817); _Theorie des revolutions rapprochee des evenements qui en ont
ete l'origine, le developpement, ou la suite_ (4 vols., 1817); and
_Histoire des trois demembrements de la Pologne, pour faire suite a
l'Histoire de l'anarchie de Pologne par Rulhiere_ (3 vols., 1820).
FERRAR, NICHOLAS (1592-1637), English theologian, was born in London in
1592 and educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, graduating in 1610. He was
obliged for some years to travel for his health, but on returning to
England in 1618 became actively connected with the Virginia Company.
When this company was deprived of its patent in 1623 Ferrar turned his
attention to politics, and was elected to parliament. But he soon
decided to devote himself to a religious life; he purchased the manor
of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, where he organized a small
religious community. Here, in 1626, he was ordained a deacon by Laud,
and declining preferment, he lived an austere, almost monastic life of
study and good works. He died on the 4th of December 1637, and the house
was despoiled and the community broken up ten years later. There are
extant a number of "harmonies" of the Gospel, printed and bound by the
community, two of them by Ferrar himself. One of the latter was made for
Charles I. on his request, after a visit in 1633 to see the "Arminian
Nunnery at Little Gidding," which had been the subject of some
scandalous--and undeserved--criticism.
FERRAR, ROBERT (d. 1555), bishop of St David's and martyr, born about
the end of the 15th century of a Yorkshire family, is said to have been
educated at Cambridge, whence he proceeded to Oxford and became a canon
regular of St Augustine. He came under the influence of Thomas Gerrard
and Lutheran theology, and was compelled to bear a faggot with Anthony
Dalaber and others in 1528. He graduated B.D. in 1533, accompanied
Bishop Barlow on his embassy to Scotland in 1535, and was made prior of
St Oswald's at Nostell near Pontefract. At the dissolution he
surrendered his priory without compunction to the crown, and received a
liberal pension. For the rest of Henry's reign his career is obscure;
perhaps he fled abroad on the enactment of the Six Articles. He
certainly married, and is said to have been made Cranmer's chaplain, and
bishop of Sodor and Man; but he was never consecrated to that see.
After the accession of Edward VI., Ferrar was, probably through the
influence of Bishop Barlow, appointed chaplain to Protector Somerset, a
royal visitor, and bishop of St David's on Barlow's translation to Bath
and Wells in 1548. He was the first bishop appointed by letters patent
under the act passed in 1547 without the form of capitular election; and
the service performed at his consecration was also novel, being in
English; he also preached at St Paul's on the 11th of November clad only
as a priest and not as a bishop, and inveighed against vestments and
altars. At St David's he had trouble at once with his singularly
turbulent chapter, who, finding that he was out of favour at court since
Somerset's fall in 1549, brought a long list of fantastic charges
against him. He had taught his child to whistle, dined with his
servants, talked of "worldly things such as baking, brewing, enclosing,
ploughing and mining," preferred walking to riding, and denounced the
debasement of the coinage. He seems to have been a kindly, homely,
somewhat feckless person like many an excellent parish priest, who did
not conceal his indignation at some of Northumberland's deeds. He had
voted against the act of November 1549 for a reform of the canon law,
and on a later occasion his nonconformity brought him into conflict with
the Council; he was also the only bishop who satisfied Hooper's test of
sacramental orthodoxy. The Council accordingly listened to the
accusations of Ferrar's chapter, and in 1552 he was summoned to London
and imprisoned on a charge of _praemunire_ incurred by omitting the
king's authority in a commission which he issued for the visitation of
his diocese.
Imprisonment on such a charge under Northumberland might have been
expected to lead to liberation under Mary. But Ferrar had been a monk
and was married. Even so, it is difficult to see on what legal ground he
was kept in the queen's bench prison after July 1553; for Mary herself
was repudiating the royal authority in religion. Ferrar's marriage
accounts for the loss of his bishopric in March 1554, and his opinions
for his further punishment. As soon as the heresy laws and
ecclesiastical jurisdiction had been re-established, Ferrar was examined
by Gardiner, and then with signal indecency sent down to be tried by
Morgan, his successor in the bishopric of St David's. He appealed from
Morgan's sentence to Pole as papal legate, but in vain, and was burnt at
Caermarthen on the 30th of March 1555. It was perhaps the most wanton of
all Mary's acts of persecution; Ferrar had been no such protagonist of
the Reformation as Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper and Latimer; he had had
nothing to do with Northumberland's or Wyatt's conspiracy. He had taken
no part in politics, and, so far as is known, had not said a word or
raised a hand against Mary. He was burnt simply because he could not
change his religion with the law and would not pretend that he could;
and his execution is a complete refutation of the idea that Mary only
persecuted heretics because and when they were traitors.
See _Dictionary of National Biography_, xviii. 380-382, and
authorities there cited. Also Acts of the Privy Council (1550-1554);
H.A.L. Fisher, _Political History of England_, vol. vi. (A. F. P.)
FERRARA, a city and archiepiscopal see of Emilia, Italy, capital of the
province of Ferrara, 30 m. N.N.E. of Bologna, situated 30 ft. above
sea-level on the Po di Vomano, a branch channel of the main stream of
the Po, which is 3-1/2 m. N. Pop. (1901) 32,968 (town), 86,392
(commune). The town has broad streets and numerous palaces, which date
from the 16th century, when it was the seat of the court of the house of
Este, and had, it is said, 100,000 inhabitants.
The most prominent building is the square castle of the house of Este,
in the centre of the town, a brick building surrounded by a moat, with
four towers. It was built after 1385 and partly restored in 1554; the
pavilions on the top of the towers date from the latter year. Near it is
the hospital of S. Anna, where Tasso was confined during his attack of
insanity (1579-1586). The Palazzo del Municipio, rebuilt in the 18th
century, was the earlier residence of the Este family. Close by is the
cathedral of S. Giorgio, consecrated in 1135, when the Romanesque lower
part of the main facade and the side facades were completed. It was
built by Guglielmo degli Adelardi (d. 1146), who is buried in it. The
upper part of the main facade, with arcades of pointed arches, dates
from the 13th century, and the portal has recumbent lions and elaborate
sculptures above. The interior was restored in the baroque style in
1712. The campanile, in the Renaissance style, dates from 1451-1493, but
the last storey was added at the end of the 16th century. Opposite the
cathedral is the Gothic Palazzo della Ragione, in brick (1315-1326), now
the law-courts. A little way off is the university, which has faculties
of law, medicine and natural science (hardly 100 students in all); the
library has valuable MSS., including part of that of the _Orlando
Furioso_ and letters by Tasso. The other churches are of less interest
than the cathedral, though S. Francesco, S. Benedetto, S. Maria in Vado
and S. Cristoforo are all good early Renaissance buildings. The numerous
early Renaissance palaces, often with good terra-cotta decorations, form
quite a feature of Ferrara; few towns of Italy have so many of them
proportionately, though they are mostly comparatively small in size.
Among them may be noted those in the N. quarter (especially the four at
the intersection of its two main streets), which was added by Ercole
(Hercules) I. in 1492-1505, from the plans of Biagio Rossetti, and hence
called the "Addizione Erculea." The finest of these is the Palazzo de'
Diamanti, so called from the diamond points into which the blocks of
stone with which it is faced are cut. It contains the municipal picture
gallery, with a large number of pictures of artists of the school of
Ferrara. This did not require prominence until the latter half of the
15th century, when its best masters were Cosimo Tura (1432-1495),
Francesco Cossa (d. 1480) and Ercole dei Roberti (d. 1496). To this
period are due famous frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia, which was
built by the Este family; those of the lower row depict the life of
Borso of Este, in the central row are the signs of the zodiac, and in
the upper are allegorical representations of the months. The vestibule
was decorated with stucco mouldings by Domenico di Paris of Padua. The
building also contains fine choir-books with miniatures, and a
collection of coins and Renaissance medals. The simple house of Ariosto,
erected by himself after 1526, in which he died in 1532, lies farther
west. The best Ferrarese masters of the 16th century of the Ferrara
school were Lorenzo Costa (1460-1535), and Dosso Dossi (1479-1542), the
most eminent of all, while Benvenuto Tisi (Garofalo, 1481-1559) is
somewhat monotonous and insipid.
The origin of Ferrara is uncertain, and probabilities are against the
supposition that it occupies the site of the ancient Forum Alieni. It
was probably a settlement formed by the inhabitants of the lagoons at
the mouth of the Po. It appears first in a document of Aistulf of 753 or
754 as a city forming part of the exarchate of Ravenna. After 984 we
find it a fief of Tedaldo, count of Modena and Canossa, nephew of the
emperor Otho I. It afterwards made itself independent, and in 1101 was
taken by siege by the countess Matilda. At this time it was mainly
dominated by several great families, among them the Adelardi.
In 1146 Guglielmo, the last of the Adelardi, died, and his property
passed, as the dowry of his niece Marchesella, to Azzolino d' Este.
There was considerable hostility between the newly entered family and
the Salinguerra, but after considerable struggles Azzo Novello was
nominated perpetual podesta in 1242; in 1259 he took Ezzelino of Verona
prisoner in battle. His grandson, Obizzo II. (1264-1293), succeeded him,
and the pope nominated him captain-general and defender of the states of
the Church; and the house of Este was from henceforth settled in
Ferrara. Niccolo III. (1393-1441) received several popes with great
magnificence, especially Eugene IV., who held a council here in 1438.
His son Borso received the fiefs of Modena and Reggio from the emperor
Frederick III. as first duke in 1452 (in which year Girolamo Savonarola
was born here), and in 1470 was made duke of Ferrara by Pope Paul II.
Ercole I. (1471-1505) carried on a war with Venice and increased the
magnificence of the city. His son Alphonso I. married Lucrezia Borgia,
and continued the war with Venice with success. In 1509 he was
excommunicated by Julius II., and attacked the pontifical army in 1512
outside Ravenna, which he took. Gaston de Foix fell in the battle, in
which he was supporting Alphonso. With the succeeding popes he was able
to make peace. He was the patron of Ariosto from 1518 onwards. His son
Ercole II. married Renata, daughter of Louis XII. of France; he too
embellished Ferrara during his reign (1534-1559). His son Alphonso II.
married Barbara, sister of the emperor Maximilian II. He raised the
glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of Tasso and
Guarini, favouring, as the princes of his house had always done, the
arts and sciences. He had no legitimate male heir, and in 1597 Ferrara
was claimed as a vacant fief by Pope Clement VIII., as was also
Comacchio. A fortress was constructed by him on the site of the castle
of Tedaldo, at the W. angle of the town. The town remained a part of the
states of the Church, the fortress being occupied by an Austrian
garrison from 1832 until 1859, when it became part of the kingdom of
Italy.
A considerable area within the walls of Ferrara is unoccupied by
buildings, especially on the north, where, the handsome Renaissance
church of S. Cristoforo, with the cemetery, stands; but modern times
have brought a renewal of industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main
line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna and
Poggio Rusco (for Suzzara).
See G. Agnelli, _Ferrara e Pomposa_ (Bergamo, 1902); E.G. Gardner,
_Dukes and Poets of Ferrara_ (London, 1904).
FERRARA-FLORENCE, COUNCIL OF (1438 ff.). The council of Ferrara and
Florence was the culmination of a series of futile medieval attempts to
reunite the Greek and Roman churches. The emperor, John VI. Palaeologus,
had been advised by his experienced father to avoid all serious
negotiations, as they had invariably resulted in increased bitterness;
but John, in view of the rapid dismemberment of his empire by the Turks,
felt constrained to seek a union. The situation was, however,
complicated by the strife which broke out between the pope (Eugenius
IV.) and the oecumenical council of Basel. Both sides sent embassies to
the emperor at Constantinople, as both saw the importance of gaining the
recognition and support of the East, for on this practically depended
the victory in the struggle between papacy and council for the supreme
jurisdiction over the church (see COUNCILS). The Greeks, fearing the
domination of the papacy, were at first more favourably inclined toward
the conciliar party; but the astute diplomacy of the Roman
representatives, who have been charged by certain Greek writers with the
skilful use of money and of lies, won over the emperor. With a retinue
of about 700 persons, entertained in Italy at the pope's expense, he
reached Ferrara early in March 1438. Here a council had been formally
opened in January by the papal party, a bull of the previous year having
promptly taken advantage of the death of the Emperor Sigismund by
ordering the removal of the council of Basel to Ferrara; and one of the
first acts of the assemblage at Ferrara had been to excommunicate the
remnant at Basel. A month after the coming of the Greeks, the Union
Synod was solemnly inaugurated on the 9th of April 1438. After six
months of negotiation, the first formal session was held on the 8th of
October, and on the 14th the real issues were reached. The time-honoured
question of the _filioque_ was still in the foreground when it seemed
for several reasons advisable to transfer the council to Florence:
Ferrara was threatened by condottieri, the pest was raging; Florence
promised a welcome subvention, and a situation further inland would make
it more difficult for uneasy Greek bishops to flee the synod.
The first session at Florence and the seventeenth of the union council
took place on the 26th of February 1439; there ensued long debates and
negotiations on the _filioque_, in which Markos Eugenikos, archbishop of
Ephesus, spoke for the irreconcilables; but the Greeks under the
leadership of Bessarion, archbishop of Nicaea, and Isidor, metropolitan
of Kiev, at length made a declaration on the _filioque_ (4th of June),
to which all save Markos Eugenikos subscribed. On the next topic of
importance, the primacy of the pope, the project of union nearly
suffered shipwreck; but here a vague formula was finally constructed
which, while acknowledging the pope's right to govern the church,
attempted to safeguard as well the rights of the patriarchs. On the
basis of the above-mentioned agreements, as well as of minor discussions
as to purgatory and the Eucharist, the decree of union was drawn up in
Latin and in Greek, and signed on the 5th of July by the pope and the
Greek emperor, and all the members of the synod save Eugenikos and one
Greek bishop who had fled; and on the following day it was solemnly
published in the cathedral of Florence. The decree explains the
_filioque_ in a manner acceptable to the Greeks, but does not require
them to insert the term in their symbol; it demands that celebrants
follow the custom of their own church as to the employment of leavened
or unleavened bread in the Eucharist. It states essentially the Roman
doctrine of purgatory, and asserts the world-wide primacy of the pope as
the "true vicar of Christ and the head of the whole Church, the Father
and teacher of all Christians"; but, to satisfy the Greeks,
inconsistently adds that all the rights and privileges of the Oriental
patriarchs are to be maintained unimpaired. After the consummation of
the union the Greeks remained in Florence for several weeks, discussing
matters such as the liturgy, the administration of the sacraments, and
divorce; and they sailed from Venice to Constantinople in October.
The council, however, desirous of negotiating unions with the minor
churches of the East, remained in session for several years, and seems
never to have reached a formal adjournment. The decree for the Armenians
was published on the 22nd of November 1439; they accepted the _filioque_
and the Athanasian creed, rejected Monophysitism and Monothelitism,
agreed to the developed scholastic doctrine concerning the seven
sacraments, and conformed their calendar to the Western in certain
points. On the 26th of April 1441 the pope announced that the synod
would be transferred to the Lateran; but before leaving Florence a union
was negotiated with the Oriental Christians known as Jacobites, through
a monk named Andreas, who, at least as regards Abyssinia, acted in
excess of his powers. The _Decretum pro Jacobitis_, published on the 4th
of February 1442, is, like that for the Armenians, of high dogmatic
interest, as it summarizes the doctrine of the great medieval
scholastics on the points in controversy. The decree for the Syrians,
published at the Lateran on the 30th of September 1444, and those for
the Chaldeans (Nestorians) and the Maronites (Monothelites), published
at the last known session of the council on the 7th of August 1445,
added nothing of doctrinal importance. Though the direct results of
these unions were the restoration of prestige to the absolutist papacy
and the bringing of Byzantine men of letters, like Bessarion, to the
West, the outcome was on the whole disappointing. Of the complicated
history of the "United" churches of the East it suffices to say that
Rome succeeded in securing but fragments, though important fragments, of
the greater organizations. As for the Greeks, the union met with much
opposition, particularly from the monks, and was rejected by three
Oriental patriarchs at a synod of Jerusalem in 1443; and after various
ineffective attempts to enforce it, the fall of Constantinople in 1453
put an end to the endeavour. As Turkish interests demanded the isolation
of the Oriental Christians from their western brethren, and as the
orthodox Greek nationalists feared Latinization more than Mahommedan
rule, a patriarch hostile to the union was chosen, and a synod of
Constantinople in 1472 formally rejected the decisions of Florence.
AUTHORITIES.--Hardouin, vol. 9; Mansi, vols. 31 A, 31 B, 35; Sylvester
Sguropulus (properly Syropulus), _Vera historia Unionis_, transl. R.
Creyghton (Hague, 1660); Cecconi, _Studi storici sul concilio di
Firenze_ (Florence, 1869), (appendix); J. Zhishman, _Die
Unionsverhandlungen ... bis zum Concil von Ferrara_ (Vienna, 1858);
Gorski, of Moscow, 1847, _The History of the Council of Florence_,
trans. from the Russian by Basil Popoff, ed. by J.M. Neale (London,
1861); C.J. von Hefele, _Conciliengeschichte_, vol. 7 (Freiburg i. B.,
1874), 659-761, 793 ff., 814 ff.; H. Vast, _Le Cardinal Bessarion_
(Paris, 1878), 53-113; A. Warschauer, _Uber die Quellen zur Geschichte
des Florentiner Concils_ (Breslau, 1881), (Dissertation); M.
Creighton, _A History of the Papacy during the Period of the
Reformation_, vol. 2 (London, 1882), 173-194 (vivid); Knopfler, in
Wetzer and Welte's _Kirchenlexikon_, vol. 4 (2nd ed., Freiburg i. B.,
1885), 1363-1380 (instructive); L. Pastor, _History of the Popes_,
vol. 1 (London, 1891), 315 ff.; F. Kattenbusch, _Lehrbuch der
vergleichenden Confessionskunde_, vol. 1 (Freiburg i. B., 1892), 128
ff.; N. Kalogeras, archbishop of Patras, "Die Verhandlungen zwischen
der orthodox-katholischen Kirche und dem Konzil von Basel uber die
Wiedervereinigung der Kirchen" (_Internationale Theologische
Zeitschrift_), vol. 1 (Bern, 1893, 39-57); P. Tschackert, in
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_, vol. 6 (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1899),
45-48 (good bibliography); Walter Norden, _Das Papsttum und Byzanz:
Die Trennung der beiden Machte und das Problem ihrer Wiedervereinigung
bis 1453_ (Berlin, 1903), 712 ff. (W. W. R.*)
FERRARI, GAUDENZIO (1484-1549), Italian painter and sculptor, of the
Milanese, or more strictly the Piedmontese, school, was born at
Valduggia, Piedmont, and is said (very dubiously) to have learned the
elements of painting at Vercelli from Girolamo Giovenone. He next
studied in Milan, in the school of Scotto, and some say of Luini;
towards 1504 he proceeded to Florence, and afterwards (it used to be
alleged) to Rome. His pictorial style may be considered as derived
mainly from the old Milanese school, with a considerable tinge of the
influence of Da Vinci, and later on of Raphael; in his personal manner
there was something of the demonstrative and fantastic. The gentler
qualities diminished, and the stronger intensified, as he progressed. By
1524 he was at Varallo in Piedmont, and here, in the chapel of the Sacro
Monte, the sanctuary of the Piedmontese pilgrims, he executed his most
memorable work. This is a fresco of the Crucifixion, with a multitude of
figures, no less than twenty-six of them being modelled in actual
relief, and coloured; on the vaulted ceiling are eighteen lamenting
angels, powerful in expression. Other leading examples are the
following. In the Royal Gallery, Turin, a "Pieta," an able early work.
In the Brera Gallery, Milan, "St Katharine miraculously preserved from
the Torture of the Wheel," a very characteristic example, hard and
forcible in colour, thronged in composition, turbulent in emotion; also
several frescoes, chiefly from the church of Santa Maria della Pace,
three of them being from the history of Joachim and Anna. In the
cathedral of Vercelli, the choir, the "Virgin with Angels and Saints
under an Orange Tree." In the refectory of San Paolo, the "Last Supper."
In the church of San Cristoforo, the transept (in 1532-1535), a series
of paintings in which Ferrari's scholar Lanini assisted him; by Ferrari
himself are the "Birth of the Virgin," the "Annunciation," the
"Visitation," the "Adoration of the Shepherds and Kings," the
"Crucifixion," the "Assumption of the Virgin," all full of life and
decided character, though somewhat mannered. In the Louvre, "St Paul
Meditating." In Varallo, convent of the Minorites (1507), a
"Presentation in the Temple," and "Christ among the Doctors," and (after
1510) the "History of Christ," in twenty-one subjects; also an ancona in
six compartments, named the "Ancona di San Gaudenzio." In Santa Maria di
Loreto, near Varallo (after 1527), an "Adoration." In the church of
Saronno, near Milan, the cupola (1535), a "Glory of Angels," in which
the beauty of the school of Da Vinci alternates with bravura of
foreshortenings in the mode of Correggio. In Milan, Santa Maria delle
Grazie (1542), the "Scourging of Christ," an "Ecce Homo" and a
"Crucifixion." The "Scourging," or else a "Last Supper," in the Passione
of Milan (unfinished), is regarded as Ferrari's latest work. He was a
very prolific painter, distinguished by strong expression, animation and
fulness of composition, and abundant invention; he was skilful in
painting horses, and his decisive rather hard colour is marked by a
partiality for shot tints in drapery. In general character, his work
appertains more to the 15th than the 16th century. His subjects were
always of the sacred order. Ferrari's death took place in Milan. Besides
Lanini, already mentioned, Andrea Solario, Giambattista della Cerva and
Fermo Stella were three of his principal scholars. He is represented to
us as a good man, attached to his country and his art, jovial and
sometimes facetious, but an enemy of scandal. The reputation which he
enjoyed soon after his death was very great, but it has not fully stood
the test of time. Lomazzo went so far as to place him seventh among the
seven prime painters of Italy.
See G. Bordiga, two works concerning _Gaudenzio Ferrari_ (1821 and
1835); G. Colombo, _Vita ed opere di Gaudenzio Ferrari_ (1881); Ethel
Halsey, _Gaudenzio Ferrari_ (in the series _Great Masters_, 1904).
There was another painter nearly contemporary with Gaudenzio,
Difendente Ferrari, also of the Lombard school. His celebrity is by no
means equal to that of Gaudenzio; but _Kugler_ (1887, as edited by
Layard) pronounced him to be "a good and original colourist, and the
best artist that Piedmont has produced." (W. M. R.)
FERRARI, GIUSEPPE (1812-1876), Italian philosopher, historian and
politician, was born at Milan on the 7th of March 1812, and died in Rome
on the 2nd of July 1876. He studied law at Pavia, and took the degree of
doctor in 1831. A follower of Romagnosi (d. 1835) and Giovan Battista
Vico (q.v.), his first works were an article in the _Biblioteca
Italiana_ entitled "Mente di Gian Domenico Romagnosi" (1835), and a
complete edition of the works of Vico, prefaced by an appreciation
(1835). Finding Italy uncongenial to his ideas, he went to France and,
in 1839, produced in Paris his _Vico et l'Italie_, followed by _La
Nouvelle Religion de Campanella_ and _La Theorie de l'erreur_. On
account of these works he was made Docteur-es-lettres of the Sorbonne
and professor of philosophy at Rochefort (1840). His views, however,
provoked antagonism, and in 1842 he was appointed to the chair of
philosophy at Strassburg. After fresh trouble with the clergy, he
returned to Paris and published a defence of his theories in a work
entitled _Idees sur la politique de Platon et d'Aristote_. After a short
connexion with the college at Bourges, he devoted himself from 1849 to
1858 exclusively to writing. The works of this period are _Les
Philosophes Salaries, Machiavel juge des revolutions de notre temps_
(1849), _La Federazione repubblicana_ (1851), _La Filosofia della
rivoluzione_ (1851), _L' Italia dopo il colpo di Stato_ (1852),
_Histoire des revolutions, ou Guelfes et Gibelins_ (1858; Italian
trans., 1871-1873). In 1859 he returned to Italy, where he opposed
Cavour, and upheld federalism against the policy of a single Italian
monarchy. In spite of this opposition, he held chairs of philosophy at
Turin, Milan and Rome in succession, and during several administrations
represented the college of Gavirate in the chamber. He was a member of
the council of education and was made senator on the 15th of May 1876.
Amongst other works may be mentioned _Histoire de la raison d'etat, La
China et l' Europa, Corso d' istoria degli scrittori politici italiani_.
A sceptic in philosophy and a revolutionist in politics, rejoicing in
controversy of all kinds, he was admired as a man, as an orator, and as
a writer.
See Marro Macchi, _Annuario istorico italiano_ (Milan, 1877);
Mazzoleni, _Giuseppe Ferrari_; Werner, _Die ital. Philosophie des 19.
Jahrh._ vol. 3 (Vienna, 1885); Uberweg, _History of Philosophy_ (Eng.
trans. ii. 461 foll.).
FERRARI, PAOLO (1822-1889), Italian dramatist, was born at Modena. After
producing some minor pieces, in 1852 he made his reputation as a
playwright with _Goldoni e le sue sedici commedie_. Among numerous later
plays his comedy _Parini e la satira_ (1857) had considerable success.
Ferrari may be regarded as a follower of Goldoni, modelling himself on
the French theatrical methods. His collected plays were published in
1877-1880.
FERREIRA, ANTONIO (1528-1569), Portuguese poet, was a native of Lisbon;
his father held the post of _escrivao de fazenda_ in the house of the
duke of Coimbra at Setubal, so that he must there have met the great
adventurer Mendes Pinto. In 1547-1548 he went to the university of
Coimbra, and on the 16th of July 1551 took his bachelor's degree. The
Sonnets forming the First Book in his collected works date from 1552 and
contain the history of his early love for an unknown lady. They seem to
have been written in Coimbra or during vacations in Lisbon; and if some
are dry and stilted, others, like the admirable No. 45, are full of
feeling and tears. The Sonnets in the Second Book were inspired by D.
Maria Pimentel, whom he afterwards married, and they are marked by that
chastity of sentiment, seriousness and ardent patriotism which
characterized the man and the writer. Ferreira's ideal, as a poet, was
to win "the applause of the good," and, in the preface to his poems, he
says, "I am content with this glory, that I have loved my land and my
people." He was intimate with princes, nobles and the most distinguished
literary men of the time, such as the scholarly Diogo de Teive and the
poets Bernardes, Caminha and Corte-Real, as well as with the aged Sa de
Miranda, the founder of the classical school of which Ferreira became
the foremost representative.
The death in 1554 of Prince John, the heir to the throne, drew from him,
as from Camoens, Bernardes and Caminha, a poetical lament, which
consisted of an elegy and two eclogues, imitative of Virgil and Horace,
and devoid of interest. On the 14th of July 1555 he took his doctor's
degree, an event which was celebrated, according to custom, by a sort of
Roman triumph, and he stayed on as a professor, finding Coimbra with its
picturesque environs congenial to his poetical tastes and love of a
country life. The year 1557 produced his sixth elegy, addressed to the
son of the great Albuquerque, a poem of noble patriotism expressed in
eloquent and sonorous verse, and in the next year he married. After a
short and happy married life, his wife died, and the ninth sonnet of
Book 2 describes her end in moving words. This loss lent Ferreira's
verse an added austerity, and the independence of his muse is remarkable
when he addresses King Sebastian and reminds him of his duties as well
as his rights. On the 14th of October 1567 he became _Disembargador da
Casa do Civel_, and had to leave the quiet of Coimbra for Lisbon. His
verses tell how he disliked the change, and how the bustle of the
capital, then a great commercial emporium, made him sad and almost
tongue-tied for poetry. The intrigues and moral twists of the courtiers
and traders, among whom he was forced to live, hurt his fine sense of
honour, and he felt his mental isolation the more, because his friends
were few and scattered in that great city which the discoveries and
conquests of the Portuguese had made the centre of a world empire. In
1569 a terrible epidemic of carbunculous fever broke out and carried off
50,000 inhabitants of Lisbon, and, on the 29th of November, Ferreira,
who had stayed there doing his duty when others fled, fell a victim.
Horace was his favourite poet, erudition his muse, and his admiration of
the classics made him disdain the popular poetry of the Old School
(_Escola Velha_) represented by Gil Vicente. His national feeling would
not allow him to write in Latin or Spanish, like most of his
contemporaries, but his Portuguese is as Latinized as he could make it,
and he even calls his poetical works _Poemas Lusitanos_. Sa de Miranda
had philosophized in the familiar _redondilha_, introduced the epistle
and founded the comedy of learning. It was the beginning of a
revolution, which Ferreira completed by abandoning the hendecasyllable
for the Italian decasyllable, and by composing the noble and austere
Roman poetry of his letters, odes and elegies. It was all done of set
purpose, for he was a reformer conscious of his mission and resolved to
carry it out. The gross realism of the popular poetry, its lack of
culture and its carelessness of form, offended his educated taste, and
its picturesqueness and ingenuity made no appeal to him. It is not
surprising, however, that though he earned the applause of men of
letters he failed to touch the hearts of his countrymen. Ferreira wrote
the Terentian prose comedy _Bristo_, at the age of twenty-five (1553),
and dedicated it to Prince John in the name of the university. It is
neither a comedy of character nor manners, but its _vis comica_ lies in
its plot and situations. The _Cioso_, a later product, may almost be
called a comedy of character. _Castro_ is Ferreira's most considerable
work, and, in date, is the first tragedy in Portuguese, and the second
in modern European literature. Though fashioned on the great models of
the ancients, it has little plot or action, and the characters, except
that of the prince, are ill-designed. It is really a splendid poem, with
a chorus which sings the sad fate of Ignez in musical odes, rich in
feeling and grandeur of expression. Her love is the chaste, timid
affection of a wife and a vassal rather than the strong passion of a
mistress, but Pedro is really the man history describes, the
love-fettered prince whom the tragedy of Ignez's death converted into
the cruel tyrant. King Alfonso is little more than a shadow, and only
meets Ignez once, his son never; while, stranger still, Pedro and Ignez
never come on the stage together, and their love is merely narrated.
Nevertheless, Ferreira merits all praise for choosing one of the most
dramatic episodes in Portuguese history for his subject, and though it
has since been handled by poets of renown in many different languages,
none has been able to surpass the old master.
The _Castro_ was first printed in Lisbon in 1587, and it is included
in Ferreira's _Poemas_, published in 1598 by his son. It has been
translated by Musgrave (London, 1825), and the chorus of Act I.
appeared again in English in the _Savoy_ for July 1896. It has also
been done into French and German. The _Bristo_ and _Cioso_ first
appeared with the comedies of Sa de Miranda in Lisbon in 1622. There
is a good modern edition of the Complete Works of Ferreira (2 vols.,
Paris, 1865). See Castilho's _Antonio Ferreira_ (3 vols., Rio, 1865),
which contains a full biographical and critical study with extracts.
(E. Pr.)
FERREL'S LAW, in physical geography. "If a body moves in any direction
on the earth's surface, there is a deflecting force arising from the
earth's rotation, which deflects it to the right in the northern
hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere." This law applies
to every body that is set in motion upon the surface of the rotating
earth, but usually the duration of the motion of any body due to a
single impulse is so brief, and there are so many frictional
disturbances, that it is not easy to observe the results of this
deflecting force. The movements of the atmosphere, however, are upon a
scale large enough to make this observation easy, and the simplest
evidence is obtained from a study of the direction of the air movements
in the great wind systems of the globe. (See METEOROLOGY.)
FERRERS, the name of a great Norman-English feudal house, derived from
Ferrieres-St-Hilaire, to the south of Bernay, in Normandy. Its ancestor
Walkelin was slain in a feud during the Conqueror's minority, leaving a
son Henry, who took part in the Conquest. At the time of the Domesday
survey his fief extended into fourteen counties, but the great bulk of
it was in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, especially the former. He
himself occurs in Worcestershire as one of the royal commissioners for
the survey. He established his chief seat at Tutbury Castle,
Staffordshire, on the Derbyshire border, and founded there a Cluniac
priory. As was the usual practice with the great Norman houses, his
eldest son succeeded to Ferrieres, and, according to Stapleton, he was
ancestor of the Oakham house of Ferrers, whose memory is preserved by
the horseshoes hanging in the hall of their castle. Robert, a younger
son of Henry, inherited his vast English fief, and, for his services at
the battle of the Standard (1138), was created earl of Derby by Stephen.
He appears to have died a year after.
Both the title and the arms of the earls have been the subject of much
discussion, and they seem to have been styled indifferently earls of
Derby or Nottingham (both counties then forming one shrievalty) or of
Tutbury, or simply (de) Ferrers. Robert, the 2nd earl, who founded
Merevale Abbey, was father of William, the 3rd earl, who began the
opposition of his house to the crown by joining in the great revolt of
1173, when he fortified his castles of Tutbury and Duffield and
plundered Nottingham, which was held for the king. On his subsequent
submission his castles were razed. Dying at the siege of Acre, 1190, he
was succeeded by his son William, who attacked Nottingham on Richard's
behalf in 1194, but whom King John favoured and confirmed in the earldom
of Derby, 1199. A claim that he was heir to the honour of Peveral of
Nottingham, which has puzzled genealogists, was compromised with the
king, whom the earl thenceforth stoutly supported, being with him at his
death and witnessing his will, with his brother-in-law the earl of
Chester, and with William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, whose daughter
married his son. With them also he acted in securing the succession of
the young Henry, joining in the siege of Mountsorrel and the battle of
Lincoln. But he was one of those great nobles who looked with jealousy
on the rising power of the king's favourites. In 1227 he was one of the
earls who rose against him on behalf of his brother Richard and made him
restore the forest charters, and in 1237 he was one of the three
counsellors forced on the king by the barons. His influence had by this
time been further increased by the death, in 1232, of the earl of
Chester, whose sister, his wife, inherited a vast estate between the
Ribble and the Mersey. On his death in 1247, his son William succeeded
as 5th earl, and inherited through his wife her share of the great
possessions of the Marshals, earls of Pembroke. By his second wife, a
daughter of the earl of Winchester, he was father of Robert, 6th and
last earl. Succeeding as a minor in 1254, Robert had been secured by the
king, as early as 1249, as a husband for his wife's niece, Marie,
daughter of Hugh, count of Angouleme, but, in spite of this, he joined
the opposition in 1263 and distinguished himself by his violence. He was
one of the five earls summoned to Simon de Montfort's parliament,
though, on taking the earl of Gloucester's part, he was arrested by
Simon. In spite of this he was compelled on the king's triumph to
forfeit his castles and seven years' revenues. In 1266 he broke out
again in revolt on his own estates in Derbyshire, but was utterly
defeated at Chesterfield by Henry "of Almain," deprived of his earldom
and lands and imprisoned. Eventually, in 1269, he agreed to pay L50,000
for restoration, and to pledge all his lands save Chartley and Holbrook
for its payment. As he was not able to find the money, the lands passed
to the king's son, Edmund, to whom they had been granted on his
forfeiture.
The earl's son John succeeded to Chartley, a Staffordshire estate long
famous for the wild cattle in its chase, and was summoned as a baron in
1299, though he had joined the baronial opposition in 1297. On the
death, in 1450, of the last Ferrers lord of Chartley, the barony passed
with his daughter to the Devereux family and then to the Shirleys, one
of whom was created Earl Ferrers in 1711. The barony has been in
abeyance since 1855.
The line of Ferrers of Groby was founded by William, younger brother of
the last earl, who inherited from his mother Margaret de Quinci her
estate of Groby in Leicestershire, and some Ferrers manors from his
father. His son was summoned as a baron in 1300, but on the death of his
descendant, William, Lord Ferrers of Groby, in 1445, the barony passed
with his granddaughter to the Grey family and was forfeited with the
dukedom of Suffolk in 1554. A younger son of William, the last lord,
married the heiress of Tamworth Castle, and his line was seated at
Tamworth till 1680, when an heiress carried it to a son of the first
Earl Ferrers. From Sir Henry, a younger son of the first Ferrers of
Tamworth, descended Ferrers of Baddesley Clinton, seated there in the
male line till towards the end of the 19th century. The line of Ferrers
of Wemme was founded by a younger son of Lord Ferrers of Chartley, who
married the heiress of Wemme, Co. Salop, and was summoned as a baron in
her right; but it ended with their son. There are doubtless male
descendants of this great Norman house still in existence.
Higham Ferrers, Northants, and Woodham Ferrers, Essex, take their names
from this family. It has been alleged that they bore horseshoes for
their arms in allusion to Ferrieres (i.e. ironworks); but when and why
they were added to their coat is a moot point.
See Dugdale's _Baronage_; J.R. Planche's _The Conqueror and his
Companions_; G.E. C(okayne)'s _Complete Peerage_; _Chronicles and
Memorials_ (Rolls Series); T. Stapleton's _Rotuli Scaccarii
Normannie_. (J. H. R.)
FERRERS, LAURENCE SHIRLEY, 4TH EARL (1720-1760), the last nobleman in
England to suffer a felon's death, was born on the 18th of August 1720.
There was insanity in his family, and from an early age his behaviour
seems to have been eccentric, and his temper violent, though he was
quite capable of managing his business affairs. In 1758 his wife
obtained a separation from him for cruelty. The Ferrers estates were
then vested in trustees, the Earl Ferrers secured the appointment of an
old family steward, Johnson, as receiver of rents. This man faithfully
performed his duty as a servant to the trustees, and did not prove
amenable to Ferrer's personal wishes. On the 18th of January 1760,
Johnson called at the earl's mansion at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire,
by appointment, and was directed to his lordship's study. Here, after
some business conversation, Lord Ferrers shot him. In the following
April Ferrers was tried for murder by his peers in Westminster Hall. His
defence, which he conducted in person with great ability, was a plea of
insanity, and it was supported by considerable evidence, but he was
found guilty. He subsequently said that he had only pleaded insanity to
oblige his family, and that he had himself always been ashamed of such a
defence. On the 5th of May 1760, dressed in a light-coloured suit,
embroidered with silver, he was taken in his own carriage from the Tower
of London to Tyburn and there hanged. It has been said that as a
concession to his order the rope used was of silk.
See Peter Burke, _Celebrated Trials connected with the Aristocracy in
the Relations of Private Life_ (London, 1849); Edward Walford, _Tales
of our Great Families_ (London, 1877); _Howell's State Trials_ (1816),
xix. 885-980.
FERRET, a domesticated, and frequently albino breed of quadruped,
derived from the wild polecat (_Putorius foetidus_, or _P. putorius_),
which it closely resembles in size, form, and habits, and with which it
interbreeds. It differs in the colour of its fur, which is usually
yellowish-white, and of its eyes, which are pinky-red. The
"polecat-ferret" is a brown breed, apparently the product of the
above-mentioned cross. The ferret attains a length of about 14 in.,
exclusive of the tail, which measures 5 in. Although exhibiting
considerable tameness, it seems incapable of attachment, and when not
properly fed, or when irritated, is apt to give painful evidence of its
ferocity. It is chiefly employed in destroying rats and other vermin,
and in driving rabbits from their burrows. The ferret is remarkably
prolific, the female bringing forth two broods annually, each numbering
from six to nine young. It is said to occasionally devour its young
immediately after birth, and in this case produces another brood soon
after. The ferret was well known to the Romans, Strabo stating that it
was brought from Africa into Spain, and Pliny that it was employed in
his time in rabbit-hunting, under the name _Viverra_; the English name
is not derived from this, but from Fr. _furet_, Late Lat. _furo_,
robber. The date of its introduction into Great Britain is uncertain,
but it has been known in England for at least 600 years.
The ferret should be kept in dry, clean, well-ventilated hutches, and
fed twice daily on bread, milk, and meat, such as rabbits' and fowls'
livers. When used to hunt rabbits it is provided with a muzzle, or,
better and more usual, a cope, made by looping and knotting twine about
the head and snout, in order to prevent it killing its quarry, in which
case it would gorge itself and go to sleep in the hole. As the ferret
enters the hole the rabbits flee before it, and are shot or caught by
dogs as they break ground. A ferret's hold on its quarry is as obstinate
as that of a bulldog, but can easily be broken by a strong pressure of
the thumb just above the eyes. Only full-grown ferrets are "worked to"
rats. Several are generally used at a time and without copes, as rats
are fierce fighters.
See Ferrets, by Nicholas Everitt (London, 1897).
FERRI, CIRO (1634-1689), Roman painter, the chief disciple and successor
of Pietro da Cortona. He was born in the Roman territory, studied under
Pietro, to whom he became warmly attached, and, at an age a little past
thirty, completed the painting of the ceilings and other internal
decorations begun by his instructor in the Pitti palace, Florence. He
also co-operated in or finished several other works by Pietro, both in
Florence and in Rome, approaching near to his style and his particular
merits, but with less grace of design and native vigour, and in especial
falling short of him in colour. Of his own independent productions, the
chief is an extensive series of scriptural frescoes in the church of S.
Maria Maggiore in Bergamo; also a painting (rated as Ferri's best work)
of St Ambrose healing a sick person, the principal altarpiece in the
church of S. Ambrogio della Massima in Rome. The paintings of the cupola
of S. Agnese in the same capital might rank even higher than these; but
this labour remained uncompleted at the death of Ferri, and was marred
by the performances of his successor Corbellini. He executed also a
large amount of miscellaneous designs, such as etchings and
frontispieces for books; and he was an architect besides. Ferri was
appointed to direct the Florentine students in Rome, and Gabbiani was
one of his leading pupils. As regards style, Ferri ranks as chief of the
so-called Machinists, as opposed to the school founded by Sacchi, and
continued by Carlo Maratta. He died in Rome--his end being hastened, as
it is said, by mortification at his recognized inferiority to Bacciccia
in colour.
FERRI, LUIGI (1826-1895), Italian philosopher, was born at Bologna on
the 15th of June 1826. His education was obtained mainly at the Ecole
Normale in Paris, where his father, a painter and architect, was engaged
in the construction of the Theatre Italien. From his twenty-fifth year
he began to lecture in the colleges of Evreux, Dieppe, Blois and
Toulouse. Later, he was lecturer at Annecy and Casal-Montferrat, and
became head of the education department under Mamiani in 1860. Three
years later he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the Istituto
di Perfezionamento at Florence, and, in 1871, was made professor of
philosophy in the university of Rome. On the death of Mamiani in 1885 he
became editor of the _Filosofia delle scuole italiane_, the title of
which he changed to _Rivista italiana di filosofia_. He wrote both on
psychology and on metaphysics, but is known especially as a historian of
philosophy. His original work is eclectic, combining the psychology of
his teachers, Jules Simon, Saisset and Mamiani, with the idealism of
Rosmini and Gioberti. Among his works may be mentioned _Studii sulla
coscienza_; _Il Fenomeno nelle sue relazioni con la sensazione_; _Della
idea del vero_; _Della filosofia del diritto presso Aristotile_ (1885);
_Il Genio di Aristotile_; _La Psicologia di Pietro Pomponazzi_ (1877),
and, most important, _Essai sur l'histoire de la philosophie en Italie
au XIX^e siecle_ (Paris, 1869), and _La Psychologie de l'association
depuis Hobbes jusqu'a nos jours_.
FERRIER, ARNAUD DU (c. 1508-1585), French jurisconsult and diplomatist,
was born at Toulouse about 1508, and practised as a lawyer first at
Bourges, afterwards at Toulouse. Councillor to the _parlement_ of the
latter town, and then to that of Rennes, he later became president of
the _parlement_ of Paris. He represented Charles IX., king of France, at
the council of Trent in 1562, but had to retire in consequence of the
attitude he had adopted, and was sent as ambassador to Venice, where he
remained till 1567, returning again in 1570. On his return to France he
came into touch with the Calvinists whose tenets he probably embraced,
and consequently lost his place in the privy council and part of his
fortune. As compensation, Henry, king of Navarre, appointed him his
chancellor. He died in the end of October 1585.
See also E. Fremy, _Un Ambassadeur liberal sous Charles IX et Henri
III, Arnaud du Ferrier_ (Paris, 1880).
FERRIER, JAMES FREDERICK (1808-1864), Scottish metaphysical writer, was
born in Edinburgh on the 16th of June 1808, the son of John Ferrier,
writer to the signet. His mother was a sister of John Wilson
(Christopher North). He was educated at the university of Edinburgh and
Magdalen College, Oxford, and subsequently, his metaphysical tastes
having been fostered by his intimate friend, Sir William Hamilton, spent
some time at Heidelberg studying German philosophy. In 1842 he was
appointed professor of civil history in Edinburgh University, and in
1845 professor of moral philosophy and political economy at St Andrews.
He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for chairs in Edinburgh, for that
of moral philosophy on Wilson's resignation in 1852, and for that of
logic and metaphysics in 1856, after Hamilton's death. He remained at St
Andrews till his death on the 11th of June 1864. He married his cousin,
Margaret Anne, daughter of John Wilson. He had five children, one of
whom became the wife of Sir Alexander Grant.
Ferrier's first contribution to metaphysics was a series of articles in
_Blackwood's Magazine_ (1838-1839), entitled _An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Consciousness_. In these he condemns previous philosophers
for ignoring in their psychological investigations the fact of
consciousness, which is the distinctive feature of man, and confining
their observation to the so-called "states of the mind." Consciousness
comes into manifestation only when the man has used the word "I" with
full knowledge of what it means. This notion he must originate within
himself. Consciousness cannot spring from the states which are its
object, for it is in antagonism to them. It originates in the will,
which in the act of consciousness puts the "I" in the place of our
sensations. Morality, conscience, and responsibility are necessary
results of consciousness. These articles were succeeded by a number of
others, of which the most important were _The Crisis of Modern
Speculation_ (1841), _Berkeley and Idealism_ (1842), and an important
examination of Hamilton's edition of Reid (1847), which contains a
vigorous attack on the philosophy of common sense. The perception of
matter is pronounced to be the _ne plus ultra_ of thought, and Reid, for
presuming to analyse it, is declared to be a representationist in fact,
although he professed to be an intuitionist. A distinction is made
between the "perception of matter" and "our apprehension of the
perception of matter." Psychology vainly tries to analyse the former.
Metaphysic shows the latter alone to be analysable, and separates the
subjective element, "our apprehension," from the objective element, "the
perception of matter,"--not matter _per se_, but the perception of
matter is the existence independent of the individual's thought. It
cannot, however, be independent of thought. It must belong to some mind,
and is therefore the property of the Divine Mind. There, he thinks, is
an indestructible foundation for the _a priori_ argument for the
existence of God.
Ferrier's matured philosophical doctrines find expression in the
_Institutes of Metaphysics_ (1854), in which he claims to have met the
twofold obligation resting on every system of philosophy, that it should
be reasoned and true. His method is that of Spinoza, strict
demonstration, or at least an attempt at it. All the errors of natural
thinking and psychology must fall under one or other of three
topics:--Knowing and the Known, Ignorance, and Being. These are
all-comprehensive, and are therefore the departments into which
philosophy is divided, for the sole end of philosophy is to correct the
inadvertencies of ordinary thinking.
The problems of knowing and the known are treated in the "Epistemology
or Theory of Knowing." The truth that "along with whatever any
intelligence knows it must, as the ground or condition of its knowledge,
have some cognizance of itself," is the basis of the whole philosophical
system. Object + subject, thing + me, is the only possible knowable.
This leads to the conclusion that the only independent universe which
any mind can think of is the universe in synthesis with some _other_
mind or _ego_.
The leading contradiction which is corrected in the "Agnoiology or
Theory of Ignorance" is this: that there can be an ignorance of that of
which there can be no knowledge. Ignorance is a defect. But there is no
defect in not knowing what cannot be known by any intelligence (e.g.
that two and two make five), and therefore there can be an ignorance
only of that of which there can be a knowledge, i.e. of
some-object-_plus_-some-subject. The knowable alone is the ignorable.
Ferrier lays special claim to originality for this division of the
_Institutes_.
The "Ontology or Theory of Being" forms the third and final division. It
contains a discussion of the origin of knowledge, in which Ferrier
traces all the perplexities and errors of philosophers to the assumption
of the absolute existence of matter. The conclusion arrived at is that
the only true real and independent existences are
minds-together-with-that-which-they-apprehend, and that the one strictly
necessary absolute existence is a supreme and infinite and everlasting
mind in synthesis with all things.
Ferrier's works are remarkable for an unusual charm and simplicity of
style. These qualities are especially noticeable in the _Lectures on
Greek Philosophy_, one of the best introductions on the subject in the
English language. A complete edition of his philosophical writings was
published in 1875, with a memoir by E.L. Lushington; see also
monograph by E.S. Haldane in the Famous Scots Series.
FERRIER, PAUL (1843- ), French dramatist, was born at Montpellier on
the 29th of March 1843. He had already produced several comedies when in
1873 he secured real success with two short pieces, _Chez l'avocat_ and
_Les Incendies de Massoulard_. Others of his numerous plays are _Les
Compensations_ (1876); _L'Art de tromper les femmes_ (1890), with M.
Najac. One of Ferrier's greatest triumphs was the production with
Fabrice Carre of _Josephine vendue par ses soeurs_ (1886), an _opera
bouffe_ with music by Victor Roger. His opera libretti include _La
Marocaine_ (1879), music of J. Offenbach; _Le Chevalier d'Harmental_
(1896) after the play of Dumas pere, for the music of A. Messager; _La
Fille de Tabarin_ (1901), with Victorien Sardou, music of Gabriel
Pierne.
FERRIER, SUSAN EDMONSTONE (1782-1854), Scottish novelist, born in
Edinburgh on the 7th of September 1782, was the daughter of James
Ferrier, for some years factor to the duke of Argyll, and at one time
one of the clerks of the court of session with Sir Walter Scott. Her
mother was a Miss Coutts, the beautiful daughter of a Forfarshire
farmer. James Frederick Ferrier, noticed above, was Susan Ferrier's
nephew.
Miss Ferrier's first novel, _Marriage_, was begun in concert with a
friend, Miss Clavering, a niece of the duke of Argyll; but this lady
only wrote a few pages, and _Marriage_, completed by Miss Ferrier as
early as 1810, appeared in 1818. It was followed in 1824 by _The
Inheritance_, a better constructed and more mature work; and the last
and perhaps best of her novels, _Destiny_, dedicated to Sir Walter Scott
(who himself undertook to strike the bargain with the publisher Cadell),
appeared in 1831. All these novels were published anonymously; but, with
their clever portraiture of contemporary Scottish life and manners, and
even recognizable caricatures of some social celebrities of the day,
they could not fail to become popular north of the Tweed. "Lady
MacLaughlan" represents Mrs Seymour Damer in dress and Lady Frederick
Campbell, whose husband, Lord Ferrier, was executed in 1760, in manners.
Mary, Lady Clark, well known in Edinburgh, figured as "Mrs Fox" and the
three maiden aunts were the Misses Edmonstone. Many were the conjectures
as to the authorship of the novels. In the _Noctes Ambrosianae_
(November 1826), James Hogg is made to mention _The Inheritance_, and
adds, "which I aye thought was written by Sir Walter, as weel's
_Marriage_, till it spunked out that it was written by a leddy." Scott
himself gave Miss Ferrier a very high place indeed among the novelists
of the day. In his diary (March 27, 1826), criticizing a new work which
he had been reading, he says, "The women do this better. Edgeworth,
Ferrier, Austen, have all given portraits of real society far superior
to anything man, vain man, has produced of the like nature." Another
friendly recognition of Miss Ferrier is to be found at the conclusion of
his _Tales of my Landlord_, where Scott calls her his "sister shadow,"
the still anonymous author of "the very lively work entitled
_Marriage_." Lively, indeed, all Miss Ferrier's works are,--written in
clear, brisk English, and with an inexhaustible fund of humour. It is
true her books portray the eccentricities, the follies, and foibles of
the society in which she lived, caricaturing with terrible exactness its
hypocrisy, boastfulness, greed, affectation, and undue subservience to
public opinion. Yet Miss Ferrier wrote less to reform than to amuse. In
this she is less like Miss Edgeworth than Miss Austen. Miss Edgeworth
was more of a moralist; her wit is not so involuntary, her caricatures
not always so good-natured. But Miss Austen and Miss Ferrier were
genuine humorists, and with Miss Ferrier especially a keen sense of the
ludicrous was always dominant. Her humorous characters are always her
best. It was no doubt because she felt this that in the last year of her
life she regretted not having devoted her talents more exclusively to
the service of religion. But if she was not a moralist, neither was she
a cynic; and her wit, even where it is most caustic, is never
uncharitable.
Miss Ferrier's mother died in 1797, and from that date she kept house
for her father until his death in 1829. She lived quietly at Morningside
House and in Edinburgh for more than twenty years after the publication
of her last work. The pleasantest picture that we have of her is in
Lockhart's description of her visit to Scott in May 1831. She was asked
there to help to amuse the dying master of Abbotsford, who, when he was
not writing _Count Robert of Paris_, would talk as brilliantly as ever.
Only sometimes, before he had reached the point in a narrative, "it
would seem as if some internal spring had given way." He would pause,
and gaze blankly and anxiously round him. "I noticed," says Lockhart,
"the delicacy of Miss Ferrier on such occasions. Her sight was bad, and
she took care not to use her glasses when he was speaking; and she
affected to be also troubled with deafness, and would say, 'Well, I am
getting as dull as a post; I have not heard a word since you said
so-and-so,'--being sure to mention a circumstance behind that at which
he had really halted. He then took up the thread with his habitual smile
of courtesy--as if forgetting his case entirely in the consideration of
the lady's infirmity."
Miss Ferrier died on the 5th of November 1854, at her brother's house in
Edinburgh. She left among her papers a short unpublished article,
entitled "Recollections of Visits to Ashestiel and Abbotsford." This is
her own very interesting account of her long friendship with Sir Walter
Scott, from the date of her first visit to him and Lady Scott at
Ashestiel, where she went with her father in the autumn of 1811, to her
last sad visit to Abbotsford in 1831. It contains some impromptu verses
written by Scott in her album at Ashestiel.
Miss Ferrier's letters to her sister, which contained much interesting
biographical matter, were destroyed at her particular request, but a
volume of her correspondence with a memoir by her grand-nephew, John
Ferrier, was published in 1898.
FERROL [_El Ferrol_], a seaport of north-western Spain, in the province
of Corunna; situated 12 m. N.E. of the city of Corunna, and on the Bay
of Ferrol, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Pop. (1900) 25,281. Together
with San Fernando, near Cadiz, and Cartagena, Ferrol is governed by an
admiral, with the special title of captain-general; and it ranks beside
these two ports as one of the principal naval stations of Spain. The
town is beautifully situated on a headland overlooking the bay, and is
surrounded by rocky hills which render it invisible from the sea. Its
harbour, naturally one of the best in Europe, and the largest in Spain
except those of Vigo and Corunna, is deep, capacious and secure; but the
entrance is a narrow strait about 2 m. long, which admits only one
vessel at a time, and is commanded by modern and powerfully armed forts,
while the neighbouring heights are also crowned by defensive works.
Ferrol is provided with extensive dockyards, quays, warehouses and an
arsenal; most of these, with the palace of the captain-general, the
bull-ring, theatres, and other principal buildings, were built or
modernized between 1875 and 1905. The local industries are mainly
connected with the shipping trade, or the refitting of warships. Owing
to the lack of railway communication, and the competition of Corunna at
so short a distance, Ferrol is not a first-class commercial port; and in
the early years of the 20th century its trade, already injured by the
loss to Spain of Cuba and Porto Rico in 1898, showed little prospect of
improvement. The exports are insignificant, and consist chiefly of
wooden staves and beams for use as pit-props; the chief imports are
coal, cement, timber, iron and machinery. In 1904, 282 vessels of
155,881 tons entered the harbour. In the same year the construction of a
railway to the neighbouring town of Betanzos was undertaken, and in 1909
important shipbuilding operations were begun.
Ferrol was a mere fishing village until 1752, when Ferdinand VI. began
to fit it for becoming an arsenal. In 1799 the British made a fruitless
attempt to capture it, but on the 4th of November 1805 they defeated the
French fleet in front of the town, which they compelled to surrender. On
the 27th of January 1809 it was through treachery delivered over to the
French, but it was vacated by them on the 22nd of July. On the 15th of
July 1823 another blockade was begun by the French, and Ferrol
surrendered to them on the 27th of August.
FERRUCCIO, or FERRUCCI, FRANCESCO (1489-1530), Florentine captain. After
spending a few years as a merchant's clerk he took to soldiering at an
early age, and served in the _Bande Nere_ in various parts of Italy,
earning a reputation as a daring fighter and somewhat of a swashbuckler.
When Pope Clement VII. and the emperor Charles V. decided to reinstate
the Medici in Florence, they made war on the Florentine republic, and
Ferruccio was appointed Florentine military commissioner at Empoli,
where he showed great daring and resource by his rapid marches and
sudden attacks on the Imperialists. Early in 1530 Volterra had thrown
off Florentine allegiance and had been occupied by an Imperialist
garrison, but Ferruccio surprised and recaptured the city. During his
absence, however, the Imperialists captured Empoli by treachery, thus
cutting off one of the chief avenues of approach to Florence. Ferruccio
proposed to the government of the republic that he should march on Rome
and terrorize the pope by the threat of a sack into making peace with
Florence on favourable terms, but although the war committee appointed
him commissioner-general for the operations outside the city, they
rejected his scheme as too audacious. Ferruccio then decided to attempt
a diversion by attacking the Imperialists in the rear and started from
Volterra for the Apennines. But at Pisa he was laid up for a month with
a fever--a misfortune which enabled the enemy to get wind of his plan
and to prepare for his attack. At the end of July Ferruccio left Pisa at
the head of about 4000 men, and although the besieged in Florence,
knowing that a large part of the Imperialists under the prince of Orange
had gone to meet Ferruccio, wished to co-operate with the latter by
means of a sortie, they were prevented from doing so by their own
traitorous commander-in-chief, Malatesta Baglioni. Ferruccio encountered
a much larger force of the enemy on the 3rd of August at Gavinana; a
desperate battle ensued, and at first the Imperialists were driven back
by Ferruccio's fierce onslaught and the prince of Orange himself was
killed, but reinforcements under Fabrizio Maramaldo having arrived, the
Florentines were almost annihilated and Ferruccio was wounded and
captured. Maramaldo out of personal spite despatched the wounded man
with his own hand. This defeat sealed the fate of the republic, and nine
days later Florence surrendered. Ferruccio was one of the great soldiers
of the age, and his enterprise is the finest episode of the last days of
the Florentine republic. See also under FLORENCE and MEDICI.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--F. Sassetti, _Vita di Francesco Ferrucci_, written in
the 16th century and published in the _Archivio storico_, vol. iv. pt.
ii. (Florence, 1853), with an introduction by C. Monzani; E. Aloisi,
_La Battaglia di Gavinana_ (Bologna, 1881); cf. P. Villari's criticism
of the latter work, "Ferruccio e Maramaldo," in his _Arte, storia, e
filosofia_ (Florence, 1884); Gino Capponi, _Storia della repubblica di
Firenze_, vol. ii. (Florence, 1875).
FERRULE, a small metal cap or ring used for holding parts of a rod, &c.,
together, and for giving strength to weakened materials, or especially,
when attached to the end of a stick, umbrella, &c., for preventing
wearing or splitting. The word is properly _verrel_ or _verril_, in
which form it was used till the 18th century, and is derived through the
O. Fr. _virelle_, modern _virole_, from a diminutive Latin _viriola_ of
_viriae_, bracelets. The form in which the word is now known is due to
the influence of Latin _ferrum_, iron. "Ferrule" must be distinguished
from "ferule" or "ferula," properly the Latin name of the "giant
fennel." From the use of the stalk of this plant as a cane or rod for
punishment, comes the application of the word to many instruments used
in chastisement, more particularly a short flat piece of wood or leather
shaped somewhat like the sole of a boot, and applied to the palms of the
hand. It is the common form of disciplinary instrument in Roman Catholic
schools; the pain inflicted is exceedingly sharp and immediate, but the
effects are momentary and leave no chance for any dangerous results. The
word is sometimes applied to the ordinary cane as used by schoolmasters.
FERRY, JULES FRANCOIS CAMILLE (1832-1893), French statesman, was born at
Saint Die (Vosges) on the 5th of April 1832. He studied law, and was
called to the bar at Paris, but soon went into politics, contributing to
various newspapers, particularly to the _Temps_. He attacked the Empire
with great violence, directing his opposition especially against Baron
Haussmann, prefect of the Seine. Elected republican deputy for Paris in
1869, he protested against the declaration of war with Germany, and on
the 6th of September 1870 was appointed prefect of the Seine by the
government of national defence. In this position he had the difficult
task of administering Paris during the siege, and after the Commune was
obliged to resign (5th of June 1871). From 1872-1873 he was sent by
Thiers as minister to Athens, but returned to the chamber as deputy for
the Vosges, and became one of the leaders of the republican party. When
the first republican ministry was formed under W.H. Waddington on the
4th of February 1879, he was one of its members, and continued in the
ministry until the 30th of March 1885, except for two short
interruptions (from the 10th of November 1881 to the 30th of January
1882, and from the 29th of July 1882 to the 21st of February 1883),
first as minister of education and then as minister of foreign affairs.
He was twice premier (1880-1881 and 1883-1885). Two important works are
associated with his administration, the non-clerical organization of
public education, and the beginning of the colonial expansion of France.
Following the republican programme he proposed to destroy the influence
of the clergy in the university. He reorganized the committee of public
education (law of the 27th of February 1880), and proposed a regulation
for the conferring of university degrees, which, though rejected,
aroused violent polemics because the 7th article took away from the
unauthorized religious orders the right to teach. He finally succeeded
in passing the great law of the 28th of March 1882, which made primary
education in France free, non-clerical and obligatory. In higher
education the number of professors doubled under his ministry. After the
military defeat of France by Germany in 1870, he formed the idea of
acquiring a great colonial empire, not to colonize it, but for the sake
of economic exploitation. He directed the negotiations which led to the
establishment of a French protectorate in Tunis (1881), prepared the
treaty of the 17th of December 1885 for the occupation of Madagascar;
directed the exploration of the Congo and of the Niger region; and above
all he organized the conquest of Indo-China. The excitement caused at
Paris by an unimportant reverse of the French troops at Lang-son caused
his downfall (30th of March 1885), but the treaty of peace with China
(9th of June 1885) was his work. He still remained an influential member
of the moderate republican party, and directed the opposition to General
Boulanger. After the resignation of President Grevy (2nd of December
1887), he was a candidate for the presidency of the republic, but the
radicals refused to support him, and he withdrew in favour of Sadi
Carnot. The violent polemics aroused against him at this time caused a
madman to attack him with a revolver, and he died from the wound, on the
17th of March 1893. The chamber of deputies voted him a state funeral.
See Edg. Zevort, _Histoire de la troisieme Republique_; A. Rambaud,
_Jules Ferry_ (Paris, 1903).
FERRY (from the same root as that of the verb "to fare," to journey or
travel, common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. _fahren_; it is connected
with the root of Gr. [Greek: poros], way, and Lat. _portare_, to carry),
a place where boats ply regularly across a river or arm of the sea for
the conveyance of goods and persons. The word is also applied to the
boats employed (ferry boats). In a car-ferry or train-ferry railway cars
or complete trains are conveyed across a piece of water in vessels which
have railway lines laid on their decks, so that the vehicles run on and
off them on their own wheels. In law the right of ferrying persons or
goods across a particular river or strait, and of exacting a reasonable
toll for the service, belongs, like the right of fair and market, to the
class of rights known as franchises. Its origin must be by statute,
royal grant, or prescription. It is wholly unconnected with the
ownership or occupation of land, so that the owner of the ferry need not
be proprietor of the soil on either side of the water over which the
right is exercised. He is bound to maintain safe and suitable boats
ready for the use of the public, and to employ fit persons as ferrymen.
As a correlative of this duty he has a right of action, not only against
those who evade or refuse payment of toll when it is due, but also
against those who disturb his franchise by setting up a new ferry, so as
to diminish his custom, unless a change of circumstances, such as an
increase of population near the ferry, justify other means of passage,
whether of the same kind or not. See also WATER RIGHTS.
FERSEN, FREDRIK AXEL, COUNT VON (1719-1794), Swedish politician, was a
son of Lieutenant-General Hans Reinhold Fersen and entered the Swedish
Life Guards in 1740, and from 1743 to 1748 was in the French service
(_Royal-Suedois_), where he rose to the rank of brigadier. In the Seven
Years' War Fersen distinguished himself during the operations round
Usedom and Wollin (1759), when he inflicted serious loss on the
Prussians. But it is as a politician that he is best known. At the diet
of 1755-1756 he was elected _landtmarskalk_, or marshal of the diet, and
from henceforth, till the revolution of 1772, led the Hat party (see
SWEDEN: _History_). In 1756 he defeated the projects of the court for
increasing the royal power; but, after the disasters of the Seven Years'
War, gravitated towards the court again and contributed, by his energy
and eloquence, to uphold the tottering Hats for several years. On the
accession of the Caps to power in 1766, Fersen assisted the court in its
struggle with them by refusing to employ the Guards to keep order in the
capital when King Adolphus Frederick, driven to desperation by the
demands of the Caps, publicly abdicated, and a seven days' interregnum
ensued. At the ensuing diet of 1769, when the Hats returned to power,
Fersen was again elected marshal of the diet; but he made no attempt to
redeem his pledges to the crown prince Gustavus, as to a very necessary
reform of the constitution, which he had made before the elections, and
thus involuntarily contributed to the subsequent establishment of
absolutism. When Gustavus III. ascended the throne in 1772, and
attempted to reconcile the two factions by a composition which aimed at
dividing all political power between them, Fersen said he despaired of
bringing back, in a moment, to the path of virtue and patriotism a
people who had been running riot for more than half a century in the
wilderness of political licence and corruption. Nevertheless he
consented to open negotiations with the Caps, and was the principal Hat
representative on the abortive composition committee. During the
revolution of August 1772, Fersen remained a passive spectator of the
overthrow of the constitution, and was one of the first whom Gustavus
summoned to his side after his triumph. Yet his relations with the king
were never cordial. The old party-leader could never forget that he had
once been a power in the state, and it is evident, from his _Historiska
Skrifter_, how jealous he was of Gustavus's personal qualities. There
was a slight collision between them as early as the diet of 1778; but at
the diet of 1786 Fersen boldly led the opposition against the king's
financial measures (see GUSTAVUS III.) which were consequently rejected;
while in private interviews, if his own account of them is to be
trusted, he addressed his sovereign with outrageous insolence. At the
diet of 1789 Fersen marshalled the nobility around him for a combat _a
outrance_ against the throne and that, too, at a time when Sweden was
involved in two dangerous foreign wars, and national unity was
absolutely indispensable. This tactical blunder cost him his popularity
and materially assisted the secret operations of the king. Obstruction
was Fersen's chief weapon, and he continued to postpone the granting of
subsidies by the house of nobles for some weeks. But after frequent
stormy scenes in the diet, which were only prevented from becoming
melees by Fersen's moderation, or hesitation, at the critical moment, he
and twenty of his friends of the nobility were arrested (17th February
1789) and the opposition collapsed. Fersen was speedily released, but
henceforth kept aloof from politics, surviving the king two years. He
was a man of great natural talent, with an imposing presence, and he
always bore himself like the aristocrat he was. But his haughtiness and
love of power are undeniable, and he was perhaps too great a
party-leader to be a great statesman. Yet for seventeen years, with very
brief intervals, he controlled the destinies of Sweden, and his
influence in France was for some time pretty considerable. His
_Historiska Skrifter_, which are a record of Swedish history, mainly
autobiographical, during the greater part of the 18th century, is
excellent as literature, but somewhat unreliable as an historical
document, especially in the later parts.
See C.G. Malmstrom, _Sveriges politiska Historia_ (Stockholm,
1855-1865); R.N. Bain, _Gustavus III._ (London, 1895); C.T. Odhner,
_Sveriges politiska Historia under Gustaf III.'s Regering_ (Stockholm,
1885, &c.); F.A. Fersen, _Historiska Skrifter_ (Stockholm, 1867-1872).
(R. N. B.)
FERSEN, HANS AXEL, COUNT VON (1755-1810), Swedish statesman, was
carefully educated at home, at the Carolinum at Brunswick and at Turin.
In 1779 he entered the French military service (_Royal-Baviere_),
accompanied General Rochambeau to America as his adjutant, distinguished
himself during the war with England, notably at the siege of Yorktown,
1781, and in 1785 was promoted to be _colonel proprietaire_ of the
regiment _Royal-Suedois_. The young nobleman was, from the first, a
prime favourite at the French court, owing, partly to the recollection
of his father's devotion to France, but principally because of his own
amiable and brilliant qualities. The queen, Marie Antoinette, was
especially attracted by the grace and wit of _le beau Fersen_, who had
inherited his full share of the striking handsomeness which was
hereditary in the family.
It is possible that Fersen would have spent most of his life at
Versailles, but for a hint from his own sovereign, then at Pisa, that he
desired him to join his suite. He accompanied Gustavus III. in his
Italian tour and returned home with him in 1784. When the war with
Russia broke out, in 1788, Fersen accompanied his regiment to Finland,
but in the autumn of the same year was sent to France, where the
political horizon was already darkening. It was necessary for Gustavus
to have an agent thoroughly in the confidence of the French royal
family, and, at the same time, sufficiently able and audacious to help
them in their desperate straits, especially as he had lost all
confidence in his accredited minister, the baron de Stael. With his
usual acumen, he fixed upon Fersen, who was at his post early in 1790.
Before the end of the year he was forced to admit that the cause of the
French monarchy was hopeless so long as the king and queen of France
were nothing but captives in their own capital, at the mercy of an
irresponsible mob. He took a leading part in the flight to Varennes. He
found most of the requisite funds at the last moment. He ordered the
construction of the famous carriage for six, in the name of the baroness
von Korff, and kept it in his hotel grounds, rue Matignon, that all
Paris might get accustomed to the sight of it. He was the coachman of
the _fiacre_ which drove the royal family from the Carrousel to the
Porte Saint-Martin. He accompanied them to Bondy, the first stage of
their journey.
In August 1791, Fersen was sent to Vienna to induce the emperor Leopold
to accede to a new coalition against revolutionary France, but he soon
came to the conclusion that the Austrian court meant to do nothing at
all. At his own request, therefore, he was transferred to Brussels,
where he could be of more service to the queen of France. In February
1792, at his own mortal peril, he once more succeeded in reaching Paris
with counterfeit credentials as minister plenipotentiary to Portugal. On
the 13th he arrived, and the same evening contrived to steal an
interview with the queen unobserved. On the following day he was with
the royal family from six o'clock in the evening till six o'clock the
next morning, and convinced himself that a second flight was physically
impossible. On the afternoon of the 21st he succeeded in paying a third
visit to the Tuileries, stayed there till midnight and succeeded, with
great difficulty, in regaining Brussels on the 27th. This perilous
expedition, a monumental instance of courage and loyalty, had no
substantial result. In 1797 Fersen was sent to the congress of Rastatt
as the Swedish delegate, but in consequence of a protest from the French
government, was not permitted to take part in it.
During the regency of the duke of Sudermania (1792-1796) Fersen, like
all the other Gustavians, was in disgrace; but, on Gustavus IV.
attaining his majority in 1796, he was welcomed back to court with open
arms, and reinstated in all his offices and dignities. In 1801 he was
appointed _Riksmarskalk_ (= earl-marshal). On the outbreak of the war
with Napoleon, Fersen accompanied Gustavus IV. to Germany to assist him
in gaining fresh allies. He prevented Gustavus from invading Prussia in
revenge for the refusal of the king of Prussia to declare war against
France, and during the rest of the reign was in semi-disgrace, though
generally a member of the government when the king was abroad.