Thou art a fair woman to look upon. Gen. xii, 11.
Fair weather cometh out of the north.
Job.

Take fire, and bere it into the derkest hous
Betwix this and the Mount of Caucasus,
And let men shette the dores, and go thenne,
Yet wol the fire as faire lie and brenne
As twenty thousand men might it behold.
Chaucer. Cant. Tales.
Ey flattering fortune, loke thou neuer so fayre,
Or neuer so pleasantly begin to smile,
As though thou wouldst my ruine all repayre,
During my life thou shalt not me beguile.
Sir T. More.
He only fair, and what he fair hath made,
All other fair like flowers untimely fade. Spenser.
All the lords came in, and, being by fair means
wrought thereunto, acknowledged king Henry.
Id. On Ireland.

All this they fairly overcame, by reason of the continual presence of their king.

Id.

Arius, a priest in the church of Alexandria, a subtle-witted and a marvellous fairspoken man, but discontented that we should be placed before him in honour, whose superior he thought himself in desert; because through envy and stomach prone unto contradiction. Hooker.

Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

I never yet saw a man,

Shakspeare.

But she would spell him backward; if fair faced,
She'd swear the gentleman should be her sister:
If black, why, nature, drawing of an antick,
Made a foul blot. Id. Much Ado about Nothing.
Yourself, renowned prince, stood as fair
As any comer I have looked on yet,
For my affection. Id. Merchant of Venice.
Well, you must now speak sir John Falstaff fair.
Shakspeare.

O, princely Buckingham, I'll kiss thy hand,
In sign of league and amity with thee:
Now fair befall thee and thy noble house!
Thy garments are not spotted with our blood. Id.
Hereby, upon the edge of yonder coppice,

A stand where you may make the fairest shoot.

There is due from the judge to the advocate some commendation and gracing where causes are fairly pleaded.

Id. He through his virtue was as free from greediness, as through his fair livelihood, far from neediness. Carew. Careth the world, thou love, thou live, or die? Careth the world how faire thy faire one bee?

Bp. Hall's Satires. About three of the clock in the afternoon the weather was very fair and very warm. Clarendon.

The king did so much desire a peace, that no man need advise him to it, or could divert him from it, if fuir and honourable conditions of peace were offered to him.

Id.

As I interpret fairly your design,
So look not with severer eyes on mine. Id.
'Waiting 'till willing winds their sails supplied,
Within a trading town they long abide,
Full fairly situate on a haven's side."

Of sleep forsaken, to relieve his care,
He sought the conversation of the fair.

Id.

Id. Fables. When fair words and good counsel will not prevail upon us, we must be frighted into our duty. L'Estrange.

He that attacks received opinions, with any thing but fair arguments, may, I own, be justly suspected not to mean well, nor to be led by the love of truth; but the same may be said of him too who so defends them. Locke.

He who fair and softly goes steadily forward, in a course that points right, will sooner be at his journey's end, than he that runs after every one, though he gallop. Id. Gentlemen who do not design to marry, yet pay their devoirs to one particular fair. Spectator. Addison on Italy

This promised fair at first.

To the first advantages we may fairly lay claim; I wish we had as good a title to the latter.

Atterbury. I am not much for that present; we'll settle it between ourselves; fair and square, Nic, keeps friends together. Arbuthnot.

This nutritious juice, being a subtile liquor, scarce obtainable by a human body, the serum of the blood is fairly substituted in its place. Id. on Aliments.

I looked for the jugular veins, opened the fairest, and took away a dozen ounces of blood. Wiseman. Virtuous and vicious every man must be, Few in the' extreme, but all in the degree;

The rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise, And even the best, by fits what they despise.

The stage how loosely does Astrea tread, Who fairly puts all characters to bed!

limited.

Pope.

Id.

It is a church of England man's opinion, that the freedom of a nation consists in an absolute unlimited legislative power, wherein the whole body of the people are fairly represented in an executive duly Swift. There are other nice, though inferior cases, in which a man must guard, if he intends to keep fair with the world, and turn the penny. Collier on Popularity.

Nature's circle, like a chariot wheel
Rolling beneath their elevated aims,
Makes their fair prospect fairer every hour,
Advancing virtue in a line to bliss.

For as by depredations wasps proclaim
The fairest fruit, so these the fairest fame.
Behold, my fair, where'er we rove,
What dreary prospects round us rise.

Young.

Id.

Johnson. Winter's Walk. Not slothful he, though seeming unemployed, And censured oft as useless. Stillest streams Oft water fairest meadows, and the bird, That flutters least, is longest on the wing.

Cowper.

Darwin.

So, robed by beauty's queen, with softer charms
Saturnia wooed the thunderer to her arms;
O'er her fair limbs a veil of light she spread,
And bound a starry diadem on her head.
When blest with the smiles of my fair,
I know not how much I adore;
Those siniles let another but share,

And I wonder I prized them no more! Byron.

FAIR, N. s. Fr. foire; Ital. fieru; Port. FAIRING. faira; Span. feria: Teut. feyer; Welsh fair; Swed. fira; either from Lat. ferie, feast days, or forum, the market place; Gr. pootov, merchandise.-Minsheu. A stated market: a meeting-day, or meeting-place, for buyers and sellers: a fairing is a present brought from, or given at, a fair.

With silver, iron, tin and lead, they traded in thy fairs. Ezek.

Sweetheart, we shall be rich ere we depart, If fairings come thus plentifully in. Shakspeare. Like children that esteem every trifle, and prefer a fairing before their fathers. Ben Jonson.

His corn, his cattle, were his only care, And his supreme delight a country fair. Dryden. The ancient Nundina, or fairs of Rome, were kept every ninth day afterwards the same privileges were granted to the country markets, which were at first under the power of the consuls.

Arbuthnot on Coins. Now he goes on, and sings of fairs and shows; For still new fairs before his eyes arose : How pedlars stalls with glittering toys are laid, The various fairings of the country maid.

Gay's Pastorals. FAIRS are generally kept once or twice in the year, and in most places on the same day with the festival of some patron saint to whom the church was dedicated. This may in some measure serve to show us their origin. When bishops and abbots observed that crowds of people assembled to celebrate the festivals of their patron saints, they applied to the crown for charters to hold fairs at those times, for the accommodation of strangers, and with a view to in

crease their own revenues by the tolls which their charters authorised them to levy at these fairs. Hence the multitude of attendants increased, some of whom were actuated by religious, and others by commercial views. When a fair was held within the precincts of a cathedral or monastery, it was not uncommon to oblige every man to take an oath at the gate, before he was admitted, that he would neither lie, nor steal, nor cheat, while he continued at the fair. The duration of fairs is determined by proclamation, by stat. 2 Ed. III. c. 15; and if a person shall sell any goods after the time of the fair expires, he shall incur a forfeiture of double the value of the goods sold, one-fourth to the prosecutor, and the rest to the king. Any citizen of London may carry his goods to any fair or market in England at his pleasure. If any person is entitled to hold a fair or market, and another is set up within the distance of a third part of twenty miles, either on the same day, or a different day, it is a nuisance, and an action on the case lies; and also against persons disturbing such as are coming to buy or sell in the fair or market, so that the person holding the fair, &c., loses his toll, or receives prejudice in the profits arising from it. There is a toll usually paid in fairs on the sale of things, and for stallage, piccage, &c. Fairs abroad are either free, or charged with toll and impost. The privileges of free fairs consist chiefly, first, in that all traders, &c., whether natives or foreigners, are allowed to enter the kingdom, and are under the royal protection, exempt from duties, impositions, tolls, &c. Secondly, that merchants, in going or returning, cannot be molested or arrested, or their goods stopped. They are established by letters patent from the prince. Fairs, particularly free fairs, are of great importance in the commerce of Europe, especially in that of the Mediterranean, and inland parts of Germany, &c.

The principal fairs in Europe are-1. Two in Frankfort; the first commencing the Sunday before Palm Sunday, and the second on the Sunday before the 8th of September. Each lasts three weeks; the first called the week of acceptance, the second the week of payment. They are famous for the sale of all kinds of commodiof books, no where else to be found, whence the ties; but particularly for the immense quantity booksellers throughout all Europe used to furnish themselves. Before each fair there is a catalogue of all the books to be sold, printed and dispersed, to call together purchasers; though the learned have long complained of unfair practices herein; as fictitious titles, names of books purely imaginary, &c., besides great blunders in the names of the authors, and the titles of the real books. 2. The fairs of Leipsic, which are held thrice a-year; one beginning on the 1st of January, the second three weeks after Easter; and the third after Michaelmas. 3. The four fairs of Novi, in the Milanese, commencing on the 2d of February, the 2d of May, the 1st of August, and 2d of September. Though the commodities bought and sold are very considerable, yet what chiefly contributes to render them famous is, the vast concourse of the most considerable mer

chants and negociants of the neighbouring kingdoms, for transacting affairs and settling accounts. 4. The fairs of Riga, two in the year; in May and September, much frequented by the English, Dutch, and French ships, as also from all parts of the Baltic. The best time for the sale of goods at Riga is during the fairs. Since the building of Petersburg, these fairs have suffered some diminution. 5. Fair of Archangel, during which all the trade foreigners have with that city is managed. It holds a month, or six weeks, commencing in the middle of August. The Muscovite merchants attend here from all parts of that vast empire; and the English, Dutch, French, Swedish, Danish, and other ships in the port of that city, on this occasion, ordinarily amount to 300. But this is not a free fair as the rest are: The duties of exportation and importation are very strictly paid, and on a high footing. 6. The fair of St. Germain, near Paris, commencing the 3d of February, and holding till Easter, though it is only free for the first fifteen days. 7. The fairs of Lyons, which M. de Chesne, in his Antiquity of Cities, alleges, from a passage of Strabo, were established by the Romans; though the fairs, as they now stand, are of a much later date. There are three in the year, each lasting twenty days, and free for ever. They begin on Easter Monday, the 26th of July, and the 1st of December. 8. Fair of Guibray, a suburb of Falaise, said to have been established by William the Conqueror, who was born at Falaise. It commences on the 16th of August; and holds fifteen days free by charter, and longer by custom. 9. Fair of Beaucaire, held partly in the city of that name, and partly in the open country, under tents, &c. It commences on the 22d of July, and only holds for three days; yet it is the greatest and most celebrated of all the fairs in that part of Europe, both for the concourse of strangers from all parts of the world, and for the traffic of all kinds of goods: the money returned in these three days amounting sometimes to about 6,000,000 of livres.

FAIR HEAD, or Benmore, i. e. the Great Head, as it is generally and more properly called, is said, by Dr. Hamilton, to be the Rhobogdium of Ptolemy. It is not, however, the most northern point of Ireland, which was what Ptolemy meant to designate by this name. Mr. Wright therefore considers that geographer to apply this denomination to Malin Head, or Inishowen Head.

This splendid promontory, whose highest point is 535 feet above the ocean's level, is, according to the latter writer, composed of a body of columnar green-stone, of such dimensions, that its articulations are not at first very obvious; but, upon surveying attentively one of the gigantic columns, the joints and separatrices are distinctly marked. The whole structure of the promontory consists of two parts; the one, at the sea side, is an inclined plane, strewn with enormous masses of the same stone, in the wildest and most terrific chaos; above this rises the mural precipice of columnar green-stone, 250 feet in height. The scene of ruin at the base of these Titanian pillars is probably not exceeded in Europe. Here the sea heaves in a solemn majestic swell, and in every retreat discloses the ap

parently endless continuation of convulsive ruin, covered by the waters beneath the promontory. Upon this region of desolation, on the shore, enormous debris, either assuming the character of rude columnisation, or in a perfectly shapeless mass, whose weight is calculated at from 4000 to 5000 tons, are thrown together in all the savage sublimity of which we can conceive the wildest scenes in nature capable.

The scene just now described is discovered below the feet of the traveller, as he cautiously paces along the brink of the precipice. The surface upon which he treads, upon examination, will be found to consist of a regular pavement, formed of the extremities of enormous prismatic masses, composing the precipice, perfectly denuded and completely level. These prisms vary in form; some are quadrilateral, and appear to be composed of a congeries of smaller prisms, aggregated in such a way as to suggest very obviously the clustered assemblage of shafts, which occur in the formation of a Gothic column. In tracing the summit of this bold head, several natural curiosities are pointed out; the first, to the west, is a fissure in the face of the precipice, called Fhir Leith, or the Gray Man's Path: the entrance to the pass, at the top, is extremely narrow; and formerly, a joint of green-stone, which had fallen across it, formed a sort of natural gate, through which the bold enquirer descended; entering, next, a gradually expanding passage, which leads to the chaotic heaps, at the base of the great colonnade. The natural architrave has lately fallen down, and quite choked up the passage. There are one or two similar chasms along the summit, which have frequently proved fatal to the cattle left pasturing upon the headland. There are several places, along the brink of the precipice, where the guide directs his followers to lie flat upon the ground, and cast the eye down perpendicularly to the foot of the column, a depth of 250 feet; this can be done in many places without the least danger. Some of the columns are magnetical.

Near the highest point of Fair Head is an extraordinary cave, said to be artificial, and called a Pict's house. Not far hence are two small lakes, at an elevation exceeding 400 feet above the sea, called Lough Caolin and Lough-naCressa; one of these discharges its overflowing waters into the sea, through the whyndyke, called Carrick Mawr, or the Great Crag.

FAIR ISLE, or FARO, as Buchanan calls it, a small island lying between Orkney and Shetland, thirty miles E. N. E. from the former, and twentyfour south-west from the latter. It is above three miles long, and nearly two broad, very craggy, with three very high promontories (one of them called Sheep Craig, 480 feet high), which are visible both from Orkney and Shetland. Buchanan says, it is 'encompassed with lofty rocks; and is every where inaccessible, unless upon the south-east, where, lowering a little, it affords a safe station for small vessels.' There is great plenty of sea and water fowl, and all kinds of fish upon the coast. There is a small harbour at the south end, which is full of rocks, where only small boats can lie, and another at the north-east end, larger and safer in summer so that it serves

commodiously enough for their fishery. The duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the famous Spanish armada, in 1588, was wrecked on the east coast of this island. The ship broke to pieces, but the duke and 200 men made their escape. They lived here so long, that both they and the inhabitants were almost famished. At 'ength the duke, and the poor remains of his people, were carried over to the main land of Shetland, and thence to Dunkirk, by one Andrew Humphrey, for which Andrew was rewarded with 3000 merks.

FAIRFAX (Sir Thomas), general of the parliamentary forces in the civil wars, was the eldest son of Ferdinando lord Fairfax, and born at Denton, the family seat, in Yorkshire, in 1611. He commenced his military career in the army under lord Vere in Holland; and, when the differences broke out into hostility between the king and parliament, took a decided part in the favor of the latter, being, as well as his father, a zealous presbyterian. He had a principal command in the north, where he and his father were defeated in several engagements, particularly at Adderton Moor, in June 1643. Sir Thomas was, however, more successful in some subsequent actions, and he distinguished himself so greatly, at the battle of Marston Moor, that, when the army was new modelled, he was appointed general in the room of the earl of Essex. In June, 1645, he defeated the king's forces at Naseby, after which he marched to the west, where he obliged a number of places to submit. Upon the death of his father, in 1648, he succeeded to his title, and the same year took Colchester, after a brave resistance by Sir George Lisle and Sir Charles Lucas, whom his lordship, after the surrender, basely caused to be shot. He pretended to be against putting the king to death, but took no steps to prevent it; and, at the time of the execution, was engaged in prayer with major Harrison. He declined commanding the army against the presbyterians, who afterwards appeared in favor of Charles II., and lived in retirement till measures were adopted for bringing back the king. He was at the head of the committee appointed by the house of commons to attend king Charles II. at the Hague, and, having assisted in his restoration, returned again to his seat in the country; where he lived in a private manner till his death, which took place in 1671 in the sixtieth year of his age. He wrote, says Mr. Walpole, Memorials of Thomas Lord Fairfax, printed in 1699; and was not only an historian but a poet. In Mr. Thoresby's museum were preserved, in MS., the following pieces :-The Psalms of David, the Canticles, the Song of Moses, and other parts of Scripture, versified; a poem on Solitude; Notes of Sermons; and a Treatise on the Shortness of Life. But the most remarkable of lord Fairfax's works, says Walpole, were the verses he wrote on the horse on which Charles II. rode to his coronation. He gave a collection of MSS. to the

Bodleian library.
FAIRFAX (Edward), natural son of Sir Thomas
Fairfax, was an English poet who lived in the
reigns of Elizabeth and James I. He was an
accomplished scholar. Dryden classes him with
Spenser, as a leading writer of the times; and

even seems to give him the preference for har mony, when he observes that Waller owned himself indebted for the harmony of his numbers to Fairfax's Godfrey of Boulogne. He died about 1632, at his house, called Newnall, between Denton and Knaresborough.

FAIRFAX, a county of Virginia, on the west bank of the Potomac, twenty-five miles long and eighteen broad. The chief town is Alexandria.

FAIRFAX, a township of Vermont, in Franklin county, east of Georgia, on the bank of the Moille; nine miles from Lake Champlain.

It

FAIRFIELD, a populous maritime county of Connecticut, forty-six miles long and thirty-five broad, bordering on the state of New York. is divided into thirteen townships. Danbury and Fairfield are the chief towns.

FAIRFIELD, the capital of the above county, called Unquowa by the Indians, is seated on the Mill-run, a little above its influx into Long Island Sound. It was burnt in 1777, by a party of British and loyalists; by which it incurred a loss of above £40,109. It has been since rebuilt, and is now flourishing. It carries on a considerable trade to the West Indies. It is twenty-two miles south-west by west of New Haven, sixtyfour north-east of New York, and 161 of Philadelphia.

FAIRFIELD, a county of South Carolina, in Camden district, forty miles square; seated between the Wateree and Broad River. Winusborough is the capital.

FAIRFORD, a town in Gloucestershire, remarkable for its church, which has curious painted glass windows. They are said to have been taken in a ship by John Tame, esq., towards the end o. the fifteenth century, who built a church for their sake. They are preserved entire, and the figures are extremely well drawn and colored. They represent the most remarkable histories in the Old and New Testament. The painter was Albert Durer. In the church are also a number of monuments, particularly a curious one to the memory of the founder, who died in the year 1500; with his effigy in white marble. Near it is a handsome free schoo!, endowed for sixty boys; besides which this town has many other charitable institutions: it has also two neat bridges over the river Colne. It is twenty-two miles E. S. E. of Gloucester, and seventy-nine and a half west by north of London.

FAIR WEATHER MOUNT, a mountain on the north-east coast of North America, about 14,900 feet above the level of the sea, and about twelve miles north-east of Fair Weather Cape. It is one of the principal summits of the Cordillera of New Norfolk; its base being formed by the summits of various surrounding mountains. It is covered with perpetual snow. Long. 222° 47′ E., lat. 58° 57' N.

FAIRY, n. s. & adj. Old Fr. faerie, a specFAIRYLIKE. Stre, fee, a nymph; Sax. penho. Ab pa terra, fit et répa Macedonum dialecto; unde Evepo Evrɛpoi, et Romanis inferi, qui Scoto-Saxonibus dicuntur feries nostratibusque; vulgo corruptius fairies, Karax0ovor daipovec, sive dii manes.'-Baxter's Glossary. The French have also an old verb faer, to enchant. Fairy and fay are indiscriminately used