by our older writers. See FAY. Both, perhaps, came into our language from the French. An imaginary being, or spirit, supposed to appear in a diminutive human form, and generally of the female sex: as an adjective, fairy means given by, or belonging to fairies.

To this great fairy I'll commend thy acts, Make her thanks bless thee.

Shakspeare. Antony and Cleopatra. Nan Page, my daughter, and my little son, And three or four more of their growth, we'll dress Like urchins, ouphes, and fairies, green and white. Shakspeare.

Then let them all encircle him about, And fairy like to pinch the unclean knight: And ask him, why, that hour of fairy revel, In their so sacred paths he dares to tread In shape prophane. Id. Merry Wives of Windsor. This is the fairy land: oh, spight of spights, We talk with goblins, owls, and elvish sprights. Shakspeare.

Be secret and discrete; these fairy favours Are lost when not concealed.

Dryden's Spanish Fryar. Such borrowed wealth, like fairy money, though it were gold in the hand from which he received it, will be but leaves and dust when it comes to use. Locke. By the idea any one has of fairies, or centaurs, he cannot know that things, answering those ideas exist.

Fays, faries, genii, elves, and demons, hear.

Id.

Pope.

the nymphs of the woods, mountains, rivers, and springs; and an ancient scholiast on Theocritus says, "The nymphs are demons which appear on the mountains in the figure of women." The Arabs and other orientals have also their ginn and peri, of whom they entertain the like notions. Fairies have been likewise described as of both sexes, and generally as of minute stature, though capable of assuming various forms and dimensions. The most elegant representation of these children of romantic fancy is to be found in the Midsummer Night's Dream of Shakspeare. Spenser's Fairy Queen is ar epic poem, under the characters of fairies. The belief of fairies subsists in many parts of our own country. The 'Swart fairy of the mine,' is scarcely yet believed to have quitted our subterraneous works. And, in the Highlands of Scotland, new-born children are watched till the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed by some of these imaginary beings.

FAIRY CIRCLE, or RING, a phenomenon pretty frequent in the fields, &c. long supposed to be traced by the fairies in their dances. There are two kinds of it; one of about seven yards in diameter, containing a round bare path, a foot broad, with green grass in the middle of it. The other is of a different size, encompassed with a circumference of grass. Some suppose these circles to be made by ants, which are often found in great numbers in them. Messrs. Jessop and Walker, in the Philosophical Transactions, ascribe them to lightning; which is thought to be confirmed by their being most frequently produced after a storm of that kind, as well as by the color and brittleness of the grass roots when first observed. Lightning, like all other fires, moves round, and burns more in the extremity than in the middle; the second circle arises from the first, the grass burnt up growing very plentifully afterwards. Mr. Cavallo, however, in his valuable Treatise on Electricity, does not think that lightning is concerned in the formation of them: 'They are not,' says he, 'always of a circular figure; and, as I am informed, they seem to be rather beds of mushrooms than the effects of lightning.' Other philosophers, who have examined these circles, believe they are produced by a kind of fungus breaking and pulverising the soil.

Dr. Wollaston has examined this subject with his usual ingenuity. He observed that the fungi or mushrooms, first noticed by Withering, were found solely at the exterior margin of the dark ring of grass. The breadth of the ring, in that instance, measured from them towards the centre, was about twelve or fourteen inches, while the exterior ring, occupied by the mushrooms, was only about four or five inches broad. Dr. Wollaston conjectured, from the position of the mushrooms, that the rings were formed after the manner described by Dr. Hutton, by a progressive increase from a centre, and this opinion was strengthened by finding that a second species of fungus presented a similar arrangement, with respect to the relative position of the ring and fungi, the fungi being always upon the external margin of a dark ring of grass. I thought it not improbable,' says he, 'that the soil which

had once contributed to the support of fungi might be so exhausted of some peculiar pabulum necessary for their production, as to be rendered incapable of producing a second crop of that singular class of vegetables. The second year's crop would consequently appear in a small ring surrounding the original centre of vegetation, and, at every succeeding year, the defect of nutriment on one side, would necessarily cause the new roots to extend themselves solely in the opposite direction, and would occasion the circles of fungi continually to proceed by annual enlargement from the centre outwards. An appearance of luxuriance of the grass would follow as a natural consequence, as the soil of an interior circle would always be enriched by the decayed roots of fungi of the preceding year's growth.'

Dr. Wollaston often observed undecayed spawn, even below the most luxuriant grass. During the growth of the fungi, they so entirely absorb all nutriment from the soil beneath, that the herbage is for a while destroyed, and a ring appears, bare of grass, surrounding the dark ring. If a transverse section be made of the soil beneath the ring, at this time, the part beneath the fungi appears paler than the soil on either side of it, but that which is beneath the interior circle of dark grass, is found, on the contrary, to be considerably darker than the general surrounding soil. But, in the course of a few weeks after the fungi have ceased to appear, the soil where they stood grows darker, and the grass soon vegetates again with peculiar vigor, so that I have seen the surface covered with dark grass, although the darkened soil has not exceeded half an inch in thickness, while that beneath has continued white with spawn, for about two inches in depth. The section of the space occupied by the white spawn, has in general, nearly the same form, and may be compared to that of a wave, proceeding from the centre outwards, as its boundary on the inner side ascends obliquely towards the surface, while its exterior termination is nearly in a vertical position. The extent occupied by the spawn varies considerably, according to the season of the year, being greatest after the fungi have come to perfection, and is reduced to its smallest dimensions, and may, in some cases, not be discernible before the next year's crop begins to make its appearance.

one circums ance that may frequently be observed respecting these circles, which can satisfactorily be accounted for, according to the preceding hypothesis of the cause of their increase, and may be considered as a confirmation of its truth. Whenever two adjacent circles are found to interfere, they not only do not cross each other, but both circles are invariably obliterated between the points of contact; at least, in more than twenty cases, I have seen no one instance to the contrary. The exhaustion occasioned by each, obstructs the progress of the other, and both are starved.

I think it also not unworthy of observation, that different species of fungi appear to require the same nutriment; for in a case of interference, between the one circle of puff-balls and another of mushrooms, they did not intersect; but I cannot say positively that I have seen more than one instance. I once found that a tree had interrupted the regular progress of a circle; but this appeared to be only a temporary impediment, as the extension had proceeded at the usual rate; and, by passing obliquely from each side into the soil beyond the tree, had given the ring the form of a kidney, so that another year or two would probably reunite the two extremities into one curve surrounding the tree. Being desirous of ascertaining in what length of time a soil might again recover the power of producing a fresh crop of fungi, I cut a groove, in one or two instances, along the diameter of a mushroom ring, and inserted a quantity of spawn taken from its circumference, with the hope of seeing it vegetate for some distance near the centre; but the experiment failed altogether, as I shortly after quitted my residence in the country.'

Another modern writer, Mr. Wilson, ascribes fairy rings to the action of grubs, concealed under the ring among the roots of the herbage; and supposes, that the fungi give a preference to these rings, on account of the abundance of dead vegetable matter to be found in them.

FAIRY OF THE MINE, an imaginary inhabitant of mines. The Germans believe in two species; one fierce and malevolent; the other a gentle race, appearing like little old men, dressed like the miners, and not much above two feet high. These wander about the drifts and chambers of the works; seem perpetually employed, yet do nothing; some seem to cut the ore, or sling what is cut into vessels, or turn the windlass; but never do any harm to the miners, unless provoked, as Agricola relates in his book De Animantibus Subterraneis.

revealed truth: and hence the truth believed tenets held by man; a promise given by man or God: also, confidence, or trust, in a thing or

And, therefore, I have often wondered to hear men of several churches so heartily exclaim against the implicit faith of the church of Rome; when the same implicit faith is as much practised and required in their own, though not so openly professed, and ingenuously owned there. Locke.

The band that knits together and supports all.compacts, is truth and faithfulness. South.

They suppose the nature of things to be truly and faithfully signified by their names, and thereupon believe as they hear, and practise as they believe. Id. Sermons.

Then faith shall fail, and holy hope shall die; One lost in certainty, and one in joy.

Prior.

We may meet with frauds and faithless dealings from men; but after all, our own hearts are the greatest cheats; and there are none we are in greater danger from.

Mason.

Burns

From every joy and pleasure torn, Life's weary vale I'll wander through; And hopeless, comfortless, I'll mourn A faithless woman's broken vow. To praise him is to serve him, and fulfil Doing and suffering his unquestioned will; 'Tis to believe what men inspired of old, Faithful and faithfully informed, unfold; Candid and just, with no false aim in view, To take for truth what cannot but be true. Cowper

A nation famed for song, and beauty's charms, Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms; Inflexible in faith; invincible in arms!

Beattie.

FAITH, in philosophy and theology, is that assent which we give to a proposition advanced by another, the truth of which we do not immediately perceive from our own reason or experience; or it is that judgment or assent of the mind, the motive whereof is not any intrinsic evidence, but the authority and testimony of some other who reveals or relates it. Hence, as there are two kinds of authorities and tes

timonies, the one of God, and the other of man, faith becomes distinguished into divine and hu

man:

1. FAITH, DIVINE, is that founded on the authority of God; or that assent we give to what is revealed by God. The objects of this faith, therefore, are matters of Revelation. See REVELATION and THEOLOGY.

2 FAITH, HUMAN, is that whereby we believe what is told us by men; and the object of it is See matter of human testimony and evidence. METAPHYSICS.

FAITHORN (William), an ingenious artist, a native of London, was the disciple of Peak the painter, and worked with him three or four years. At the breaking out of the civil war Peak espoused the royal cause, and Faithorn, who accompanied him, was taken prisoner, sent to London, and confined in Aldersgate. In this uncomfortable situation he exercised his graver; and executed a small head of the first Villars

duke of Buckingham, in the style of Melan. Being permitted to retire to the continent, he found protection from the abbé de Marolles, in France; where he formed an acquaintance with Nanteuil. About 1650 he returned to England, and soon after married the sister of a captain Cround. By her he had two sons: Henry, who was a bookseller, and William an engraver in mezzotinto. He painted portraits from the life in crayons. He also painted in miniature; and his performances were much esteemed. His spirits were broken by the dissipation of his son William; and a lingering consumption put an end to his life in 1691. He wrote a work on Drawing, Graving, and Etching.

FAITOUR, n. s. Fr. faitard; or, as Minsheu thinks, a corruption of faiseur, i. e. a factor, or doer; but the Norman Fr. has faitour regularly. A scoundrel; a rascal; a poltroon. Obsolete. To Philemon, false faitour, Philemon, I cast to pay, that I so dearly bought.

FAKIRS, or FAQUIRS, oriental monks or friars. The word is Arabic and signifies a poor or needy person. D'Herbelot regards it as synonymous with dervise and certainly in some Mahommedan countries the religious are called fakirs, in others dervises.

These oriental monks are said to outvie the severity and mortification of the ancient Ancho

rets.

Some of them make a vow of continuing all their lifetime in one posture, and keep it effectually. Others never lie down; but continue in a standing posture for long periods of their lives, supported only by a stick, or rope under their arm-pits. Some mangle their bodies with scourges and knives. They pretend to have conquered every passion, and triumphed over the world; and accordingly scruple not, as if in a state of innocence, to appear sometimes entirely naked. The people of the east are persuaded of the virtue of the fakirs; notwithstanding which, they are accused of committing the most enormous crimes in private.

One set or sect of fakirs, who do not practise such severities, travel together, from village to village, prophesying, and telling fortunes. They make use of drums, trumpets, and other musical instruments, to rouse themselves and their auditors to an artificial ecstasy and their votaries are said to consult them in the most indecent attitudes. They are so indulgent towards every living creature, that they suffer themselves to be over-run with vermin, or stung by insects, without the least reluctancy or complaint: but it is more than probable, that they lull their senses by opiates in order to render themselves insensible to the excessive torments they undergo. The garment of the chief fakirs distinguishes them from the rest. Some persons of considerable rank in India have become fakirs: and D'Herbelot estimates the number at about 2,000,000.

FALAISE, a town of France, in Lower Normandy, having still, in the ruins of its castle, one of the finest towers in France; famous for

being the birth place of William the Conqueror. It has a good trade in serges, linens, and lace: with a famous fair held in Guibray, one of its suburbs, which begins 28th Thermidor (Aug. 16th) and lasts a week. It is fifteen miles south by east of Caen. Population 14,000.

FALASHA, a people of Abyssinia, of Jewish origin, described by Mr. Bruce, who was at great pains to acquaint himself with their history. According to the accounts he received, they are the descendants of those Jews who came from Palestine into Ethiopia, as attendants of Menilek, or David I., the son of the queen of Sheba by Solomon. They agree in the relations given by the Abyssinians of that princess (See ETHIOPIA); but deny that the posterity of those who came with Menilek ever embraced Christianity, as the Abyssinians say they did. They state that at the decline of the Jewish commerce, when the ports of the Red Sea fell into the hands of other nations, and no intercourse took place betwixt them and Jerusalem, the Jewish inhabitants quitted the sea coasts and retired into the province of Dembea. Here they carried the art of pottery to a great degree of perfection, multiplied exceedingly, and became very numerous and powerful, about the time the Abyssinians were converted to Christianity. As this event was accounted by them an apostasy from the true religion, they now separated themselves from the Abyssinians, and declared one Phineas, of the line of Solomon, their king. Thus they say, they have still a prince of the house of Judah for their sovereign. About A. D. 960 Judith, queen of this people, after extirpating the Abyssinian princes on Damo, assumed the sovereignty of the whole empire, which the Falasha retained for some time; but, their power being by degrees reduced, they were obliged to take up their residence among the rugged mountains of Samen ; one of which they chose for their capital, and which has ever since been called the Jews' Rock. About A.D. 1600 they were almost entirely ruined by an overthrow from the Abyssinians, in which both their king and queen were slain; since which time they have been in subjection to the emperors of that country, but are still governed by their own princes.

When Mr. Bruce was in Abyssinia the Falasha were supposed to amount to about 100,000 effective men. Gideon and Judith were the names of the king and queen at that time. The language of this people is very different from the Hebrew, Samaritan, or any other which the Jews ever spoke in their own country. On being interrogated concerning it, by Mr. Bruce, they said, that it was probably one of those spoken by the nations on the Red Sea, among whom they had settled at their first coming. They arrived in Abyssinia it is said speaking Hebrew, and with the advantage of having books in that language; but had now forgot it, and were entirely ignorant of the art of writing. At the time of their leaving Judea they were in possession both of the Hebrew and Samaritan copies of the law; but when their fleet was destroyed in the time of Rehoboam, and no farther communication with Jerusalem took place, they were obliged to use translations of the Scriptures, or those copies

which were in the possession of the shepherds, who, they say, were all Jews, before the time of SoloInon. On being asked, however, where the shepherds got their copy, and being told, that, notwithstanding the invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, there was still a communication with Jerusalem, by means of the Ishmaelite Arabs through Arabia, they frankly acknowledged that they could not tell; neither had they any memorials of the history either of their own or any other country; all that they believed in this case being derived from mere tradition, their histories, if any existed, having been destroyed by the famous Moorish captain, Gragné. (See EтHIOPIA). They say, that the first book of Scripture they ever received was that of Enoch; and they place that of Job immediately after it, supposing that patriarch to have lived soon after the flood. They have no copy of the Old Testament in the Falasha language, what they make use of being in that of Geez. This is sold to them by the Abyssinian Christians, who are the only scribes in that country. No difference takes place about corruptions of the text; nor do the Falasha know any thing of the Jewish Talmud, Targum, or Cabala. FALCA'DE, n. s. Lat. falr, falcis. A FALCATED, adj. sickle: a crooked motion FALCATION, n. s. or bend: hooked; bent like a reaping-hook or scythe crookedness. The locusts have antennæ, or long horns before, with a long falcation or forcipated tail behind. Browne. The enlightened part of the moon appears in the form of a sickle, or reaping-hook, which is while she is moving from the conjunction to the opposition, or from the new moon to the full; but, from full to a new again, the enlightened part appears gibbous, and the dark falcated. Harris.

A horse is said to make falcades when he throws himself upon his haunches two or three times, as in very quick curvets; therefore a falcade is that action of the haunches and of the legs, which bend very low, when you make a stop and half a stop.

Farrier's Dictionary.

FA'LCHION, n. s. Fr. fauchon; Lat. falr:

A short crooked sword; a scimitar.

I've seen the day, with my good biting falchion, I would have made them skip : I am old now. Shakspeare. Old falchions are new tempered in the fires; The sounding trumpet every soul inspires. Dryden's Æneid.

What sighs and tears

Hath Eugene caused! how many widows curse His cleaving falchion.

Philips. Have moments, hours, and days, so unprepared, That you might brain them with their lady's fan;' And sometimes ladies hit exceeding hard, And fans turn into falchions in fair bands, And why and wherefore no one understands. Byron. FALCO, in ornithology, a genus of birds, belonging to the order of accipitres. The characters are these: The bill is hooked at the end, and covered at its base with a cere, or naked membranous skin; the head is covered with feathers, which lie close on each other; the tongue is often cleft. This is a rapacious carnivorous race of animals, feeding almost entirely on animal food; they are very quick-sighted; generally fly high, and build their nests in lofty places. They

are not gregarious; and the females are larger than the males. The legs and feet are scaly; the claws large, strong, very sharp, and much hooked. Gmelin divides this genus into four sub-genera, or less divisions; which Kerr has reduced to three, by including the G. serpentarius in the second subgenus, because it has some relation to the vultures. These three sub-genera are, 1. Gypæti, bastard eagles; 2. Aquilæ, Eagles; and 3. Falcones, falcons and hawks. 1. The Gypæti comprehend nine species and two varieties which have the bill-hooked only towards the point, and its base garnished with a beard of longish extended bristles. This sub-genus holds a middle rank between the vultures and eagles; the head is not so naked as in the former, and the bill not so much hooked as in the latter; like eagles they prey on living animals, but like vultures they also devour dead carrion. Hence they have been hitherto ranked by some authors with the one genus, and by others with the other. 2. The Aquila comprehend forty-one species and seven varieties, which are larger in size than those of the third sub-genus, and have their legs for the most part rough. They differ from the gypæti in preying on living animals, while the latter prefer dead carcases. They can abstain long from food, though very voracious. Thei gastric juice is very acrid, yet they are killed by eating bread. 3. The Falcones are less in size than the aquila, and their legs are universally naked. But in other respects, the limits between the falcons and hawks, and the eagles, are by no means well ascertained. This sub-genus comprehends eighty-six species, and thirty-two varieties making in all no fewer than 136 species, and forty-one varieties, in the whole genus. Of these (as our room permits us not to enumerate the whole) we shall describe a few of the

most remarkable:

1. F. æruginosus, the moor buzzard, greenish cere, a grayish body, the top of the head, nape of the neck, and legs, yellowish; is a native of heaths; it never soars like other hawks; but Europe, and frequents moors, marshy places, and commonly sits on the ground or on small bushes. It makes its nest in the midst of a tuft of grass or rushes. It is a very fierce and voracious bird; and is a great destroyer of rabbits, young wild ducks, and other water fowl. It also preys on fish.

2. F. apivorus, the honey buzzard of Ray, has black cere, yellow legs half naked, the head of an ash color, and having an ash-colored stripe on the tail, which is white at the end. It had its name from the combs of bees being found in its nest. It is a native of Europe, and feeds on mice, lizards, frogs, bees, &c. It runs very swiftly.

3. F. aquila chrysaetes, the golden eagle, weighs about twelve pounds, and is about three feet long, the wings when extended measuring seven feet four inches. The sight and sense of smelling are very acute: the head and neck are clothed with narrow, sharp-pointed feathers, of a deep brown color bordered with tawny; the hind part of the head is of bright rust color. These birds are destructive to fawns, lambs, kids, and all kinds of game; particularly in the breed