FI'NITE, adj. Lat. finitus, participle FINITELESS, of finio. See FINISH. LiFINITELY, adv. mited; bounded; having FINITENESS, n. s. an end: finiteless is boundFINITUDE. less, a word hardly worth perpetuating while we have the far better one nfinite to express the same sense: finiteness and finitude, mean limitation; state of being finite; confinement within boundaries. Servius conceives no more thereby than a finite number for indefinite. Browne's Vulgar Errours. It is ridiculous unto reason, and finiteless as their desires. Id. They are creatures still, and that sets them at an infinite distance from God; whereas all their excellencies can make them but finitely distant from us. Stillingfleet. Finite of any magnitude holds not any proportion to infinite. Locke. I ought now to unbay the current of my passion, and love without other boundary than what is set by the finiteness of my natural powers. Norris. That supposed infinite duration will, by the very supposition, be limited at two extremes, though never so remote asunder, and consequently must needs be finite. Bentley. Finitude, applied to natural or created things, imports the proportions of the several degrees of affections, or properties of these things to one another; infinitude, the unboundedness of these degrees of affections, or properties. Cheyne. 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 Bothnia 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, their national characteristic." without prepositions, complete the picture of '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. In 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 extraordinary, poverty extreme, herbs their food, skins their covering, and the ground their couch: regardless of man and of gods, they attained to a very difficult thing, not to have a single wish to form.' FINNINGIA, or FENNINGIA, in ancient geography, the proper reading for Eningia in Pliny, which he makes an island, but is more truly a peninsula: now called Finland. FI'NOCHIO, n. s. A species of fennel; a plant. FIONDA, or PHIONDA, anciently Phaselis, a decayed city of Asia Minor, on the west coast of the Gulf of Satalia. It is called Tekrova by the Turks, and is still the see of a Greek bishop. It is situated on a small peninsula, at the foot of the mountain Yakhtalu. Here are still three ports and a lake, as described by Strabo (though the last is now a mere swamp), together with the ruins of a theatre, 150 feet in diameter, which has had twenty-one rows of seats. Some large sarcophagi, of the finest marble, stand on the beach. Two bear a human figure, in low relief, on the lid, and are sculptured with various subjects; but the sea is making rapid and destructive encroachments here. Twenty-six miles south of Adalia. FIORENZO (St.), a sea-port on the northern coast of the island of Corsica, with 1500 inhabitants; it is fortified, but the air is unwholesome from the vicinity of marshes. In 1783 the town was set on fire by lightning, and in great part consumed. It is six miles west of Bastia. Long. 9° 17′ 43′′ E., lat. 42° 41′ 2′′ N. FI'PPLE, n. s. Lat. fibula. A stopper. You must know, that in recorders, which go with a gentle breath, the concave of the pipe, were it not for the fipple that staiteneth the air, much more than the simple concave, would yield no sound. Bacon. FIR, Sax. Finh; Swed. fur; Dan. FIR-TREE. Sfyr; Welsh fyur; all perhaps from fire, from its inflammable nature; or from Goth. thar; Sax. tær, a drop, as Mr. Thomson conjectures, 'which also signifies gum or tar.' A species of pinus. The spiring fir and stately box. Pope. FIR, in botany. See ABIES and PINUS. FIR PLANTATIONS. It has been stated by the author of the Essays on Rural Affairs that, in the vicinity of plantations of the fir kind, houses can be raised at so little expense, and the roofs are so much straighter and better than the ordinary ones, that settlers in such situations are induced to make their houses much neater and more commodious than in other places; and, besides, rails and other kinds of materials for dead fences, can be so easily procured, that the poor people are first enabled to have good well fenced gardens, and then commodious enclosures of larger extent; the branches likewise afford fuel to them, which adds greatly to the comforts of their situation. The cutting and manufacturing of the wood into various kinds of utensils furnish employment for a great many persons; population is thereby increased; and, with an augmentation of population, its necessary conse quences, the desire for land to procure the necessaries of life, and of course an increase of rent to the proprietor. These new settlers in the desert wastes of Scotland, like those in America, cultivate and improve the soil in proportion as the trees are removed from it. At this moment, it is added, Mr. G. Dempster, who will be long respected by his countrymen, sees fields on his estate rapidly converting, in this way, into cultivated ground, and yielding him ten or twelve shillings per acre in rent, not only without any expense to himself, but after having derived a considerable profit from the sale of woods of his own planting, which grew upon land that twentyfive years ago was not worth to him above twopence the acre, and which might have remained in that state perhaps for ages to come, had it not been planted at all. It is contended by the same writer, that it is by a judicious management of this sort, that men of large landed estates, by a little fore-sight, find themselves enabled to provide both employment and subsistence, with much profit, to a numerous people, who must otherwise have either remained in a destitute condition, or have abandoned a country, which did not properly provide for their accommodation. It may be remarked likewise that a plantation of Scotch firs may be made at much less expense than of any other sort of trees in those northern parts of the kingdom, as the young plants can be afforded at a lower price than any others. In Aberdeenshire, where planting is so general as to have become a sort of occupation, fir plants of two years growth, above which age no experienced planter will ever buy them, sometimes will be sold at the very low rate of fourpence the 1000, which consists of 1200 plants; and they formerly seldom exceeded eightpence; on the average about sixpence, or one halfpenny the 100; but they have lately been considerably higher. There are men who make a business of forming plantations, who will undertake to complete the whole, enclosing and planting, at the distance of one yard each way, and uphold them that may take place, at the rate of from ten to for five years, that is, supply any deficiencies fifteen or thirty shillings the Scotch acre, which is nearly equal to one and a quarter English, according to the size of the enclosure, and the nature of the fence. In all cases of this kind, it is supposed that the plantations are of the extent of thirty or forty acres or upwards; for, where the enclosures are smaller, the expense of enclosing is proportionably augmented. The charge is thus not only rendered moderate, but the whole of the expense that is to be incurred ascertained before the plantation is begun, by which the being involved in unforeseen difficulties is fully obviated. Experience has fully shown that there is scarcely any soil so bad, or any exposure so bleak, that the fir-tree will not live in, if the plantation be of sufficient extent, and not upon the very summits of high peaked hills. They do not indeed bear the sea air very well, where they are much exposed to the severity of its four feet in a season, and equal, if not surpass the abele in growth. In his plantations, though chiefly confined to chalky banks, in a north-west exposure, the trees evince, that, when once rooted, few obstacles will prevent their profitable progress. From observing the mistakes of others in endeavouring to ornament their naked downs too suddenly, he has learnt the necessity of planting firs when only a foot in height, and by opening the ground some time before, inverting the turf at the bottoms of the holes, and throwing the mould upon it in hillocks to meliorate, his plantations succeeded well: for though the soil is scarcely six inches in depth, the firs set in 1766 are now thirty feet in height, and from two feet six inches to two feet in circumference, at four feet from the ground; some few planted at the same time in a deeper soil, and warmer situation, are now about three feet round. And spruce firs, planted in 1776, like blasts; nor is the wood ever of so good a quality, or the tree long-lived, upon soils of the clayey kind. It has been found that in the Jouthern parts of the kingdom, the pineaster Dears the sea blast much better than any other of the fir tribe. This is a discovery of great importance, and which deserves the attention of improvers in the way of planting. The spruce fir will however bear a still more exposed situation than the Scotch fir; and after a few years from the time of planting it shoots up with still greater luxuriance. This is the case probably only in particular situations. But the cones are not to be had in equal abundance; and the plants being more difficult in the rearing, they are sold at a much higher price, usually at about six shillings the 1000, fit for being planted out. It is a native of Sweden and Norway. In a good soil the silver fir also prospers well, and is a beautiful tree on account of the depth of its shade. A silver fir at Panmuc measured in Sep-wise in a tolerably good soil, are now forty feet tember 1810, at the surface of the earth, eight feet four inches; at four feet high, seven feet one inch; length of the stem to the fork, fortyone feet; total height, eighty feet. Several others in the same place are nearly as large. In the Ray Wood at Castle-Howard, there was at the same time a silver fir, in girth, at four feet high, eleven feet six inches, with a stem eighty feet high; total height, by estimate, 100 feet, and some others in the same wood nearly as large. The grand silver fir, as it is called, at Woburn, is in girth, at the same height, nine feet ten inches, with a stem of seventy-five feet; total height, by estimate, 110 feet. Both these trees were measured in the summer of 1810. But the price of the plants is too great to admit of large plantations of silver fir being made with advantage. Wherever the situation is bleak, and much exposed to strong blasts of wind, the plantation, however, must not only be of considerable extent, if the trees be expected to thrive, but they must be planted very close together, so that each plant may stand at the distance of from two to three feet at most from each other. The more exposed the situation is, the closer they should be planted; as it may be observed that until the branches begin to intermix, and give a mutual support to each other, the trees never begin to advance with vigor. Where the plantations are thus thick, there is a necessity for beginning to thin them out at a pretty early period, so that after the tenth to the fifteenth year from the time of planting, persons must be constantly employed in thinning them: and there are very few situations, indeed, in which the thinnings cannot be disposed of to advantage, or in which such sorts of plantations cannot be made. It has been remarked, by a writer in the transactions of the Bath Agricultural Society, that though he does not think that the Scotch fir can, in this country, ever equal the yellow deal from the Baltic, yet it may be worth propagating, as being useful in ordinary buildings. The drier the soil is on which this sort of timber grows, the slower is its progress; but the closer its pores, the more superior its quality. When planted in rich land these trees will shoot three or in height, and from two feet ten inches and a FIRE-BRAND, FIRE-BREATHING, adj. Sax. Fyn; Icel. and Swed. fyr; Belg. foir; Teut. feuer; Fr. feu; Ital. fuoco, fuogo; Span. huego, fuego; Portug. fogo. Vox antiquissima Scytho-Phrygica.' Serenius. Minsheu says, a Gr. πυρ; from Heb. 8, fire. Mr. Thomson conjectures that to this word, or the Coptic or, or Pers. ur, may have been prefixed the Coptic article pi or ph. Ignition; a supposed igneous element; any thing that burns, or the state of burning; hence flame; light; lustre; and, figuratively, that which provokes or inflames the temper; enlivens the fancy or imagination; the passion of love: to fire is to kindle; set on fire, or a-fire (see letter A); inflame (figuratively), animate; it is also used by Shakspeare for to drive away by fire: as a neuter verb it signifies to take fire; be kindled or inflamed; to discharge fire-arms: a fire-cross was once a Scottish or rather Highland signal to take arms, consisting of a wooden cross, having the ends burnt black, and in some parts smeared with blood, carried from one place to another. Upon refusal to send it forward, or to rise, the person who brought it would frequently shoot the other dead : firedrake is a fiery serpent: I suppose the prester, says Dr. Johnson: fireman, an incendiary; a person of fiery temper: firenew, new from the Id. forge, or the melting-house: firer, an incendiary: firestick, a lighted stick or brand: fireworks, shows of fire; pyrotechnical performances: firing, fuel the other compounds do not seem to require explanation. And now an axe is sett to the roote of the tre, and therefore every tre that makith not good fruyt schal be ki. doun, and schal be cast into the fier. Wiclif. Luk. iii. His firepans, and all the vessels thereof, thou shalt make of brass. Exodus xxvii. 3. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Isaiah xxxiii. His eyes red sparcling as the fire glow His nose frounced full kirked stood He came criand as he were wood. Chaucer. Romaunt of the Rose, fol. 130. Is this the battaile which thou vauntst to fight With that fire-mouthed dragon, horrible and bright? Spenser's Faerie Queene. Hermosilla courageously set upon the horsemen, and set fire also upon the stables where the Turks horses stood. Knolles. Love no more is made By the fireside, but in the cooler shade. Happy are those that are from under the terrors of that law, which was given in fire, and in fire shall be required. Bp. Hall's Contemplations. Now see I fire-flakes sparkle from his eyes, Like to a comets tayle in the angrie skies. Bp. Hall's Satires. Children, when they play with firesticks, move and whirl them round so fast, that the motion will cozen their eyes, and represent an entire circle of fire to Digby on Bodies. does shed them. Nor can the snow that age But all that youth can be thou art. Cowley. He that set a fire on a plane-tree to spite his neighbour, and the plane-tree set fire on his neighbour's house, is bound to pay all the loss, because it did all arise from his own ill intention. Ammunition to supply their new firearms. Taylor. In fireworks give him leave to vent his spite: Those are the only serpents he can write. Dryden. I have eased my father-in-law of a firebrand, to set my own house in a flame. L'Estrange. They burn the cakes, firing being there scarce. The fainting Dutch remotely fire, Smith. Their fireworks are made up in paper. Judge of those insolvent boasts of conscience, which, like so many fireballs, or mouth grenadoes, are thrown at our church. South. Upon the wedding day, I put myself, according to custom, in another suit firenew, with silver buttons to Addison. it. |