nally, perhaps, all punishments were corporal: but after the use of money, when the profits of the courts arose from the money paid out of the civil causes, and the fines and confiscations in criminal ones, the commutation of punishments was allowed of, and the corporal punishment, which was only in terrorem, changed into pecuniary, whereby they found their own advantage. Thus arose the distinction between greater and less offences; for in the crimina majora there was at least a fine to the king, which was levied by a capiatur; but upon the lesser of fences there was only an amercement, which was affeered, and for which a distringas, or action of debt lay. 2 New. Ab. 502. The discretionary fines (and discretionary length of imprisonment), which the courts of justice are enabled to impose, may seem an exception to the general rule, that the punishment of every offence is ascertained by the law. But the general nature of the punishment is in these, as in other cases, fixed and determinate; though the duration and quantity of each must frequently vary, from the aggravations, or otherwise, of the offence, the quality and condition of the parties, and from innumerable other circumstances. The quantum in particular of pecuniary fines, neither can nor ought to be ascertained by an invariable law. Our statute law, therefore, has not often ascertained the quantity of fines, nor the common law, ever; it directing certain offences to be punished by fine in general, without specifying the certain sum; which is fully sufficient when we consider that, however unlimited the power of the court may seem, it is far from being wholly arbitrary; but its discretion is regulated by law. For the Bill of Rights, stat. 1 W. & M. stat. 2, c. 2. has particularly declared, that excessive fines ought not to be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted; and the same statute further declares, that all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction, are illegal and void. Now the Bill of Rights was only declaratory, of the old constitutional law; and accordingly we find it expressly holden, long before, that all such previous grants are void; since thereby, many times, undue means, and more violent prosecution, would be used for private lucre, than the quiet and just proceeding of law would permit. 2 Inst. 48. The reasonableness of fines in criminal cases has been usually regulated by the determination of Magna Charta, c. 14, concerning amercements for misbehaviour by the suitors in matters of civil right. Liber homo non amercietur pro parvo delicto nisi secundum modum ipsius delicti, et pro magno delicto, secundum magnitudinem delicti; salvo contenemento suo: et mercator eodem modo, salvâ mercandisâ suâ; et villanus eodem modo amercietur, salvo wainagio suo. A rule that obtained even in Henry II's time (Glan. 1. 9. cc. 8, 11.) and means only, that no man shall have a larger amercement imposed upon him than his circumstances or personal estate will bear: saving to the land-holder his contenement or land; to the trader his merchandise; and to the countryman his wainage or team and VOL. IX. instruments of husbandry. In order to ascertain which, the great charter also directs, that the amercement, which is always inflicted in general terms (sit in misericordia) shall be set, ponatur, or reduced to a certainty by the oath of good and lawful men of the neighbourhood. Which method of liquidating the amercement to a precise sum, was usually performed in the superior courts by the assessment or affeerment of the coroner, a sworn officer chosen by the neighbourhood, under the equity of the star. West. 1. c. 18; and then the judges estreated them into the exchequer. F. N. B. 76. But in the courtleet and court-baron it is still performed by affeerors or suitors sworn to afferee, that is tax and moderate the general amercement according to the particular circumstances of the offence and the offender: the affeeror's oath is conceived in the very terms of Magna Charta, Fitzh. Surv. c. 11. Amercements imposed by the superior courts on their own officers and ministers were affeered by the judges themselves; but when a pecuniary mulct was inflicted by them on a stranger (not being party to any suit) it was then denominated a fine. 8 Rep. 40. And the ancient practice was, when any such fine was imposed to enquire by a jury quantum inde regi dare valeat per annum, salva sustentatione sua et uxoris, et liberorum suorum. Gilb. Exch. c. 5. And since the disuse of such inquest it is never usual to assess a larger fine than a man is able to pay, without touching the implements of his livelihood: but to inflict corporal punishment, or a limited imprisonment, instead of such fine as might amount to imprisonment for life. And this is the reason why fines in the king's court are frequently denominated ransoms, because the penalty must otherwise fall upon a man's person unless it be redeemed or ransomed by a pecuniary fine. Mirr. c. 5. § 3. Lamb. Fir. 575. According to an ancient maxim, qui non habet in crumenâ luat in corpore. Yet where any statute speaks both of fine and ransom, it is holden that the ransom shall be treble to the fine at least. FINERS, OF REFINERS, OF GOLD AND SILVER, persons who purify and part those metals from coarser ones by fire and acids. They are also called parters in our old law-books, and sometimes departers. FINE-STILLING, that branch of the art of distilling which is employed in distilling the spirit from treacle, or other preparations or recrements of sugar. It is so called by way of distinction from malt-stilling. This operation is the same with that used in making the malt spirit; a wash of the saccharine matter being made with water, from treacle, &c., and fermented with yeast. It is usual to add in this case, however, a considerable portion of malt, and sometimes powdered jalap, to the fermenting backs. The malt accelerates the fermentation, and makes the spirit come out the cheaper; and the jalap prevents the rise of any musty head on the surface of the fermenting liquor, so as to leave a greater opportunity for the free access of the air, and thus to shorter. the work, by turning the foamy into a hissing for mentation. Q FINE'SSE, n. s. Fr. Artifice; stratagem: an unnecessary word which is creeping into the language.-Johnson. A circumstance not much to be stood upon, in case it were not upon some finesse. Hayward. In what the world calls a suit of clothes, embroidery is sheer wit; gold fringe is agreeable conversation; gold lace, repartee; a huge long peruke, humour; and a coat full of powder very good raillery: all which require abundance of finesse and delicatesse to manage with advantage, as well as a strict observance of the times and fashions. Swift. But he (his musical finesse was such, So nice his ear, so delicate his touch) Made poetry a mere mechanic art; And every warbler has his tune by heart. Cowper. FINET (Sir John), an English writer, descended from an ancient family of Italy, was born near Dover in 1571. He was brought up at court, where he made himself by his wit a favorite with James I. In 1614 he was sent into France upon public business, and soon after was knighted. In 1626 he was made assistant-master of the ceremonies. He was the author of Fineti Philoxenus, some choice observations touching the reception and precedency, &c., of foreign ambassadors in England. He also translated from the French, The Beginning, Continuance, and Decay, of Estates, 1606. FINGAL, king of Morven, in ancient Caledonia. He flourished in the third century; and, according to the Irish histories, died A. D. 283, although there is some reason from Ossian's poems for placing his death a few years later. Fingal was descended in all probability from those Celtic tribes who were the first inhabitants of Britain. Tradition, and the poems of Ossian, give him a long line of royal ancestors, such as Combal, Trenmor, Trathal, &c., who had all reigned over the same territory. Whether this territory was bounded by the Caledonian forest, or extended somewhat farther south towards the Roman province, is uncertain; but it doubtless extended over all the North and West Highlands, comprehending the Hebrides, whose petty chiefs were all subject to the king of Morven. His principal place of residence was Selma, which was probably in the neighbourhood of Glenco, supposed to be the Cona of Ossian; though some imagine it to have been in Strath-Conan in Moray. The truth seems to be, that, as Fingal and his people lived by hunting, they often shifted their habitation. Hence, in all parts of the Highlands, we find in the names of places, buildings, &c., such monuments as justify their several claims for the honor of Fingal's residence. Fingal acquired great fame by his prowess in arms. He made many successful incursions into the Roman province, whence he carried away spoils; and by sea we find him frequently making voyages to Scandinavia, the Orkneys, and Ireland; called by Ossian Lochlin, Innistore, and Ullin. The time of his death is uncertain. "The character of Fingal,' Dr. Blair observes, speaking of him as he appears in Ossian, 'is perhaps the most perfect that was ever drawn by a poet, for we may boldly defy all the writers of antiquity to show us any hero equal to Fingal. Throughout the whole of Ossian's works he is presented to us in all that variety of lights which give the full display of a character. In him concur almost all the qualities that can ennoble human nature; that can either make us admire the hero, or love the man. He is not only unconquerable in war, but he makes his people happy by his wisdom in the days of peace. He is truly the father of his people. He is known by the epithet of 'Fingal of the mildest look,' and distinguished on every occasion by humanity and generosity. He is merciful to his foes, full of affection to his children, full of concern about his friends, and never mentions Agandecca, his first love, without the utmost tenderness. He is the universal protector of the distressed; none ever went sad from Fingal.' The controversy respecting the genuineness of the originals of these celebrated poems, at one time so long and so ably defended by the partizans on each side the question, we need not here enter upon. A real hero of the above name seems to be known to history. On the subject of the poems in question, see OSSIAN. FINGER, n. s. & v. a. FINGERFERN, FINGERING, FINGER-STONE. Sax. Fingen, from Fangen, to hold; Sw. finger; Goth. finge; Belg. vinger. See FANG. The flexible member of the hand, by which we seize, or hold; the hand; any instrument of work; a small measure of extension: fingerfern is a plant (asplenum); finger-stone, a fossil (selenites): fingering, the act of touching lightly; manner of playing music; fine or delicate work. Woo to you wise men of lawe, for ye chargen men with birthuns whiche thei moun not bere: and ye you silf with your o fyngir touchen not the heuynessis. Wiclif. Luk. xi. Not any skilled in loops of fingering fine, You seem to understand me, Spenser. Shakspeare. Macbeth. I did but tell her she mistook her frets, Id. With what eye should we have beheld this stone, which was hewen and written with the very finger of God. Bp. Hall's Contemplations, One of these bows with a little arrow did pierce through a piece of steel three fingers thick. Wilkins. Diogenes, who is never said, For aught that ever I could read, To whine, put finger i' the' eye, and sob, Because h' had ne'er another tub. Fool, that forgets her stubborn look, This softness from thy finger took. Hudibras. Waller. Removed four fingers from approaching death; Go now, go trust the wind's uncertain breath, Or seven at most, when thickest is the board. One that is covetous is not so highly pleased with the meer sight and fingering of money, as with the thoughts of his being considered as a wealthy man. Grew. His ambition would needs be fingering the sceptre, and hoisting him into his father's throne. South. A hand of a vast extension, and a prodigious number of fingers playing upon all the organ pipes of the world, and making every one sound a particular note. Keil against Burnet. The fingers and thumb in each hand consist of fifteen bones, there being three to each finger. Quincy. Poor Peg sewed, spun, and knit, for a livelihood, 'till her fingers' ends were sore. Arbuthnot. John Bull. Young Philanthropy, with voice divine, Convolves the adoring youth to Virtue's shrine; Who with raised eye and pointing finger leads To truths celestial, and immortal deeds. Darwin. Anon her thin wan fingers beat the wall In time to his old tune; he changed the theme, And sung of love; the fierce name struck through all Her recollection. Byron. FIN'GLE-FANGLE, n. s. From FANGLE, which see. A trifle; a burlesque word. We Hudibras. We agree in nothing but to wrangle About the slightest fingle-fangle. FIN'ICAL, adj. Apparently from FINE, FIN'ICALLY, ado. which see. Nice; overFIN'ICALNESS, n. s. particular; foppish. A low and burlesque word. A whoreson, glassglazing, superserviceable, finical rogue. Shakspeare. King Lear. I cannot hear a finical fop romancing, how the king took him aside at such a time; what the queen said to him at another. L'Estrange. Taylor and Barrow are incomparably the greatest preachers and divines of their age. It is true they are both incompti or rather exuberant. But it is for such little writers as the preachers of Lincoln's Inu to hide their barrenness by the finicalness of culWarburton to Hurd. ture. FINING OF WINES. The usual method of fining down wines, so as to render them expeditiously bright, clear, and fit for use, is this:Take an ounce of isinglass, beat it into thin shreds with a hammer, and dissolve it by boiling in a pint of water; this when cold becomes a stiff jelly. Whisk up some of this jelly into a froth with a little of the wine intended to be fined, then stir it well among the rest in the cask, and bung it down tight; by this means the wine will become bright in eight or ten days. This method, however, is found to be best suited to the white wines; for the red ones the winecoopers commonly use the whites of eggs beat up to a froth and mixed in the same manner with their wines. The method by which these viscous bodies act in the operation is this: they entangle themselves among the flying lee or light fæculencies that float in the wine, and thus forming a mass specifically heavier than the wine, they sink through the body thereof like a the way to the bottom; but when the wine is exnet, carrying down all the foulness they meet in tremely rich, so that its specific gravity is greater than that of the mass formed by the ingredients used in fining and the dregs or lee; this mass then rises upwards, and floats at the surface of the wine, which will in this case also draw off fine. See CLARIFICATION. FIN'ISH, v. a. FINISHER, n. s. FINISHING. Fr. finir; Span. and Port. fenecer; Lat. finio, fio; à Gr. qvw, to produce. -Ainsworth. To bring to an end; complete; make perfect; polish. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. Luke xiv, 28. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished!" and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. John xix. 30. The author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews. They hindered the finishing of the building. Esdras v. 73. This was the condition of those times; the world against Athanasius, and Athanasius against it: half an hundred of years spent in doubtful trials which of the two, in the end, would prevail; the side which had all, or else that part which had no friend but God and death; the one a defender of his innocency, the other a finisher of all his troubles. He that of greatest works is finisher, Oft does them by the weakest minister. Hooker. Shakspeare. O prophet of glad tidings! finisher Of utmost hope. Milton's Paradise Lost. Though here you all perfection should not find, Yet is it all the Eternal Will designed; It is a finished work, and perfect in his kind. Blackmore. I would make what bears your name as finished as my last work ought to be; that is more finished than the rest. Pope. A poet uses episodes; but episodes, taken separately, finish nothing. Broome on the Odyssey. When these are once stirred, there wants nothing but the assent of the will, and then the work is finished. Mason. I am out of Humanity's reach, Cowper. I must finish my journey alone, Never hear the sweet music of speech; I start at the sound of my own. FINISTERRE, Lat. finis terræ, i. e. land's end. A department of France, bounded on the north-west and south by the sea, and on the east by the departments of the North and Morbihan. It is about fifty miles long from north to south, and between forty and forty-five broad from east to west, comprehending the west part of the cidevant province of Bretagne. It is the most western part of France, and contains the five arrondissements of Quimper, Brest, Chateaulin, Morlaix, and Quimperle. Quimper is the capital, but Brest its largest town; the Aulne and the Oder are the chief rivers. The climate here is very wet, and the soil not very fertile in the interior: along the coast good buck-wheat, oats, and flax are grown; the fisheries are abundant, and the pasturage is good. The manufactures are woollen, coarse linens, and leather. Q2 Sometimes he doth act in methods of wisdom, and by rules of justice, surpassing our capacity to know, either from the finiteness of our nature, or the feebleness of our reason, or the meanness of our state and circumstances here. Barrow. FINLAND, or FINNLAND, a country of European Russia, bounded on the north by Lapland, on the east by Russia, on the south by a gulf to which it gives name, and on the west by the gulf of Bothnia. It was divided by the Swedes, who formerly possessed the sovereignty, into Finland Proper and East Bothnia, an extensive country to the northward; but the whole is now comprised under the general name of Finland, containing seven provinces, of which East Both nia is the least fertile. In superficial extent Finland is equal to England; but the population, including Russian Finland and the islands of Aland, does not exceed 1,100,000. Though the pastures are good, the cattle are small, and the forests of firs furnish the principal articles of commerce, in wood, charcoal, timber, and plank. Game is abundant of various kinds. The lakes and rivers abound in fish, and pearls are found on the coasts. At the bottom of the morasses earth is dug, from which iron is extracted. There are also some mines of lead. In the more favored districts rice, oats, and barley, are successfully cultivated, and wheat in particular situations. The exports of the country consist in tar, pitch, wood, iron, and copper. The towns lie generally along the coast; the principal are Abo, the capital, Helsingfors, Nistadt, Wasa, and Uleaborg; in the interior is Tavasthus, and adjacent to the southern frontier is the town of Wyborg. The houses, and even the public edifices, are generally built of wood; yet the poorest of the peasantry have a small building for the purpose of taking the warm bath. Thinly peopled as Finland still is, it was much more so in the middle of the eighteenth century; the inhabitants continue visibly on the increase, although their habitations, particularly in the north, are very wretched. They speak a language quite different both from Russian or Swedish; this language is spoken also in Lapland, Esthonia, and in part of Livonia. In point of religion the Finlanders are in general Luthe rans. The Fins are a race of people very distinct from their neighbours and masters, the Russians. They are of a middle stature, fair complexion, generally red hair, their beards shaven. Their hair, parted at top, is suffered to hang over their shoulders. A thoughtful disposition, often darkening into melancholy, and a singular language, without prepositions, complete the picture of their national characteristic." 'The villages we saw,' says Mr. James, speakburgh, were of the meanest appearance and ing of his journey from Wyburg to St. Peterscharacter, for whatsoever in this country is not made for display and show, is poor indeed; and, by our recollection of the different state of things we had left behind, Sweden was now as much raised as she had before been sunk on comparison. Instead of the neat-built red-ochred cottages, the road-side was disfigured by large dismal huts, with walls made of the round trunks of trees barely stripped of their bark, and resembling externally a casual pile of timber, rather than a human dwelling. The interstices of this framework were caulked with moss and clay, and though a few glazed windows were seen, their place was generally supplied by square open crannies. These structures called to mind the first rude efforts of primitive man after he left the shelter of the forest-oak, and looked as if age after age had passed over the heads of the people without their attempting any improvement in the arts of civil life. The ancient Russian Chroniclers, who speak of the founder of any place as having cut the town (roubitgorod) might easily be supposed to be describing in that phrase the builders of the present day;-so little different is the modern process; the felling of the timber in fact, is the only part of the labor which a peasant thinks it behoves him to calculate upon when about to erect his habitation. 'The cottages of the islanders,' says our traveller, 'are rough-hewn log-houses, and they were themselves people apparently of such simple manners and habits, as their secluded situation and scanty number might lead one to expect; each rustic householder was provided with the tools and implements of a dozen necessary arts or professions; performing for himself, with equal address, the duties of carpenter, shoemaker, tailor, fisherman, baker, miller, &c. So little was the division of labor studied, or the appropriation of means, that we observed the corn mills almost equalled in number the houses of the villagers; they were cheap and of simple form, acting by sails constructed of wooden planks, and their mill-stones shaped like the querne or old Celtic machine, for grinding with the hand. Luxuries, such as ochre paint for their cabins, or coats of woollen cloth, where sheeps-skins would suffice, were not common. Caps of the most ordinary fur served as covering for their heads; and for their feet, the want of shoes was supplied by a mis-shapen bag of dried seal-skin the harness of their horses consisted of nothing more than a plain collar attached to the shafts of the cart or sledge; the horse's neck was thrust through, and he had nothing to do but proceed; the contrivance answers all the purposes of draught, because neither here nor in Sweden is the animal trained to resist the weight of a carriage on a descent, however steep it may be.' Speaking of his arrival at the chief town of the southern frontier, he says, 'I gazed with wonder at the spectacle that presented itself in the streets of Wyborg; the glare of white houses, their green roofs and oriental cupolas, the noble mansions of the wealthy, and the religious fane, all so spacious and splendid in comparison of what we had lately been accustomed to see; and yet above all, the new costume of the by-standers dressed in long caftans, their bare necks, their flowing beards, their sash, cap, and boots of red, were altogether objects so singular, that the spectacle impressed itself on my mind rather as a dream of the morning than as a scene of real life. The men seemed quite another race of beings; no longer the modest homely Fin, but persons of strong masculine habit, carrying a stubborn and listless mien, that, combined with their majestic stature, seemed not altogether devoid of dignity: while the colored ornaments with which they were set off lent them an air of grotesque magnificence, not ill according with the showy buildings that surrounded us; every object, in short, which met our eyes, partook of the same character, and bore a hint of Asiatic origin.' (p. 224.) Dr. Clarke, who visited that part of Finland which borders on the top of the Bothnian Gulf, thus describes the dress of the inhabitants of those regions. The pure costume of the Finland peasants is very elegant; we saw it here generally worn. It consists, among the men, of a jacket, with pantaloons, buskins, and a yellow sash, worn as a girdle round the loins. The sash, although generally yellow, is sometimes red, and sometimes it is variegated with flowers. The buskins are bound about the ancles with scarlet garters, ending in a black tassel. The jacket and pantaloons are of the same color, and generally white; but blue, black, and gray, are also used. Some of the men, but very few, appear in long white coats, bound with the same sort of sash with the Don Cossacks. The dress of the women resembles the costume of the females of the Venetian territory, and is very beautiful. They appear in a short scarlet or striped vest, made as gaudy as possible, with large and loose shift sleeves of very white linen, and white hoods or handkerchiefs upon their heads. The vests are often of silk or rich damask, embroidered with large brocade flowers.' One Finnish custom mentioned by Mr. James would provide so appropriate an occupation for a numerous body of respectable females in this country, and keep them out of mischief so much to the peace and comfort of their neighbours, that we cannot but refer to it. The solemnisation of marriages takes place only once a year, and that on a fixed day in the teeming autumn. Before this time arrives, the expectant lover is not permitted, by the custom of the land, to pay his addresses in person to the object of his wishes: his offer is made by sending a piece of money, that is accepted or not as the fair one is inclined to approve or reject his suit: but both the conveyance of this token of love, and the whole of the after-ceremonials of courtship, are carried on through the intervention of some old woman of the village, whose occupation and calling may seem enviable to some bustling gentlewomen in other countries, being that of a regularly established match-maker.' (p. 214, 215). Finland was formerly an independent kingdom, then an archduchy annexed to Sweden. În 1742 great part of it was conquered by the Russians; but ceded again to Sweden except Carelia, Kexholm, &c. In the twelfth century great pains were taken for the conversion of the Finns to Christianity; and Henry, who was bishop of Upsal in 1157, fell a martyr to his zeal in carrying on that pious undertaking. That prelate founded the first cathedral in Finland at Randamoke; but the see was afterwards removed to Abo, which lies in the neighbourhood of the former. Martin Skytte and Peter Serkilar were the first preachers of the Lutheran doctrine here. It was in 1808 that Finland was overrun by a Russian army, and annexed to that empire; its vicinity to Petersburgh, and its advantages for naval purposes, had long made its conquest a favorite object with that court: East Bothnia and Kemi-Lappmark shared the same fate. On the east of the Baltic is the Gulf of Finland, eighty leagues long, and from eleven to twenty-two broad. Its entrance is between Spinthamer Point in Estonia, and Hango-head in Finland. The latter point is the extremity of a peninsula, with a fire tower, and off it several islands, forming a port, defended by some batteries. The greatest depth of the gulf is sixty fathoms; but it is encumbered with a vast number of rocky islands and reefs, level with the water, distinguished by fire beacons, or flags of different colors, hoisted on high wooden crosses, to superintend which two Russian galliots are constantly employed, while the gulf remains open; nevertheless, shipwrecks are extremely frequent. FINMARK, an extensive province of Sweden, lying to the north of Norway, and usually considered a part of Lapland. It is divided into four districts, West and East Finmark, Senjen, and Tromsoe. The inhabitants derive their principal subsistence from fishing; and it is only on the coast that human beings are to be met with in any number. To this province belong several islands, on one of which, Magheroe, is the North Cape, the most northern promontory of Europe. Finmark was ceded to Sweden with the rest of Norway in 1814. It contains 27,000 inhabitants, of whom 6000 are Laplanders. FINNI, or FENNI, the ancient people of Finningia; whose ferocity,' says Tacitus, was |