and preceptor, Mr. Burke, and it terminated, on In 1792, when the French Jacobins had destroyed the monarchy, and were gaining importance by foreign conquests, the zeal of their British imitators kept exact pace with their success; and after the battle of Jemappes, a deep anxiety for the public safety was excited, by the boldness of their language, and the freedom with which they avowed their immediate expectation of a new order of things. They acted, in short, precisely as the insurgents in France at the commencement of the revolution. About this period the eyes of all men were anxiously turned on Mr. Fox: those who, to preserve the constitution, clung to the ministers of the crown, hoping that in the moment of danger he would suspend political hostility, and support their measures; and those who wished to imitate the example of France, eagerly expecting that he would throw off all reserve, and openly take his station at their head. He declared against the former, but by no means in favor of the latter. It commonly happens, however, that those who contend against the same foe are supposed to be friends and as he united with the second party in condemning the first, their agreement being public, and their difference less attended to, he was very generally involved with them in the charge of republican or revolutionary views. To obviate the effects of this charge on his constituents, he joined the Association of St. George's parish, in defence of the constitution, and pub. lished a Letter to the Westminster Electors, explaining and vindicating the part which he had acted. The composition of this letter was generally admired. On the 1st of December, ministers began to arm for the double purpose of preventing insurrection at home, and repelling aggression abroad: and on the 10th, when parliament met, Mr. Fox took the lead in condemning their conduct; but had the mortification of finding himself bereaved of his usual support. Many of his oldest friends, and almost all the new ones whom he had gained by his coalition, partaking of the general alarm, gave their concurrence to the precautionary steps adopted by the minister. In 1794 the duke of Portland, and others of Mr. Fox's former adherents, who had separated from him partially in 1792, completed their separation by the acceptance of offices. About the same period a number of his friends, considering with regret the lowness of his circumstances, made a private subscription for the purpose of providing him with a comfortable annuity. Among the chief contributors to this design were some of those who had recently quitted his party, but still retained their attachment to his person; and who thus gave the most unequivocal testimony of its constancy and warmth. It is unecessary to follow Mr. Fox through the detail of his parliamentary conduct, which cousisted in a regular condemnation of the war, and in combating the measures by which it was conducted. In the course of these discussions, he seemed uniformly to act on a conviction that the war, having originated from no call for selfdefence, but from the folly or ambition of the minister, might be terminated at his discretion; and we cannot wonder that, under this conviction, he lavished the charges of weakness, infatuation, and profligacy, against one who persisted in a criminality so desolating and destructive. We are surprised, however, that the opinion which he entertained, at the commencement of the contest, should not have been corrected by the conduct of the French during its progress; a conduct too plainly evincing that the lust of dominion, the restlessness of foreign intrigue, and the insolence of national vanity, by which they had been actuated for a century and a half, were rather increased than abated, by such a change in their institutions, as gave the popular sentiment a freer expression, and more efficient sway. In the early part of Mr. Fox's life, he appeared to think that, if these vices, so pernicious to Europe, could not be restrained by physical coercion, no other means, no expedients of policy, management, or conciliation could be of any avail: and the cause is not very apparent, why, in 1796, confidence in the justice and amity of France should have been the favorite recommendation of one, who, ten years before, made the speeches, from which the following passages are extracted. In 1786 Mr. Fox, while strenuously opposing the commercial treaty, after he had dwelt on the danger of cultivating the friendship of a power, so hostile to Britain, added, that he might possibly be misrepresented, as a man prepossessed by vulgar and illiberal prejudices. But, be that as it might, he could not easily forget, that those prejudices had been productive of no ill consequences to this country, and that the wars, in which they had engaged us, had contributed more than any other circumstance to make us great and glorious. He condemned the conduct of the present ministers as resembling that of the tory adminis tration of queen Anne, who had endeavoured to represent all apprehensions of the inordinate power of France as a bugbear.-France, he maintained, was the inveterate and unalterable enemy of Great Britain. No ties of affection or mutual interest could possibly eradicate what was so deeply rooted in her constitution. Was not her whole conduct to this country an unwearied and systematical series of measures distinguished either by their sinister intrigue, or their declared hostility? The incessant object of her ambition was universal monarchy, and it was from us she feared to be traversed in her pursuit. From us alone did the other powers of Europe hope for protection, to maintain that balance of power, which could preserve their respective liberties from her incroachments.—He would acquit the first minister from the charge he was now going to make: but he believed there were men in this country, so lost to the memory of its former greatness, so sunk in their own base de spondency, as to think it right for us, diminished as our splendor was, to seize the earliest opportunity of making terms with our rising neighbour, of forming an intimate connexion with her, and by that means artfully securing her favor and protection.' When we read these sentences, we seem to be looking at a picture in a mirror, where the sides change places. We can scarcely help believing them to be some of those pronounced by Pitt, and indignantly rebuked by Fox, during the war of 1793: and the consistency of their author can be maintained, only by proving, that the principles, the policy, and the practices of the French were by that time reversed; a task which in the face of facts, we dare not attempt. We are far, however, from admitting, that this inconsistency, of which we believe Mr. Fox to have been wholly unconscious, proceeded from any unworthy motive, or that he ever uttered, what he did not, at the moment, think. The eagerness of his party attachments and aversions, operating on his sensibility and imagination, often impeded the movements of his comprehensive and philosophical mind. It made him see things, as he wished to see them, in order that he might draw from them topics of accusation. Disgusted at length with a tiresome and unavailing opposition, Mr. Fox, in 1797, took the resolution of discontinuing his attendance; and the loss of popularity which he incurred by this proceeeding was increased, during the mutiny of the fleet, in 1797, by his forcing a parliamentary discussion of the subject (for be had at this time renewed his attendance) and by seizing an opportunity to impute the evil to his antagonists, at the risk of exasperating and prolonging it to the country. Mr. Fox, during his secession, and in the recesses of parliament when he attended, resided much at St. Ann's Hill, a pleasing retreat near Chertsey, where he indulged himself in pursuits of rural or classical elegance. Devoting part of the day to study, as we have been informed was his custom through life, he about this time began a reperusal of the best Greek writers. About this time, also, he projected a history of the early part of the reign of James II., which he did not live to complete. In 1798 Mr. Fox having at a numerous meeting of the Whig club, proposed for a toast The sovereignty of the people of England,' a certain disrespect which this seemed to imply towards the actual sovereign made the latter strike his name from the list of his Privy Counsellors. We are too little versed in the rules of ministerial discipline, to judge of the propriety of this punishment. It was probably not much felt; for the consequence which Fox enjoyed was of a species not to be impaired by the frowns of a court; and he would, as usually happens, become more wedded to tenets, which had exposed him to what he would term ministerial persecution, and to associates who, having applauded the fault, would think him honored by the censure. But it was perhaps the only VOL. IX. method by which the royal displeasure could be signified. In March 1801, Mr. Addington having become minister, preliminaries of peace with France were signed in September, and a definitive treaty, in March 1802. During a debate on this event, Mr. Fox gave offence to some, by letting exultation in his foresight of the issue of the war hurry him into a declaration, that he rejoiced in the peace, because its terms were glorious to France.' If he thought the object of the war unjust, a high-strained and stoical morality might lead him to triumph in its failure, though this country was the sufferer. But, since few can keep pace with a sentiment so exalted, it would certainly have been more congenial to the general feeling, had this romantic sense of political justice been subdued by the infirmity of filial partiality, even for a mistaken or misguided country. About this time Mr. Fox lost a valued friend and powerful supporter, in Francis duke of Bedford, and on the next meeting of parliament, pronounced a Eulogy on his virtues, which, for eloquence and pathos, might have done honor to Pericles. No sooner had access to France been facilitated by peace, than Fox repaired to Paris, and was honored with the public and particular notice of Buonaparte. Soon after his return, the offensive measures of France, and particularly her insisting on our instant performance of a contract, of which her own stipulations were to remain unperformed, occasioned a renewal of the war. This Mr. Fox resisted, and his opposition can be imputed to no sinister motive; when we consider that his great opponent was no longer minister, and that the power of Mr. Addington was likely to be more precarious in war than in peace. Mr. Addington remained in office for a year after the commencement of the war, but Mr. Pitt at length in May, 1804, concurred with our statesman in censuring the feebleness of administration. Encouraged by this unusual agreement, a number of their friends, who had no other object than to secure to the country, at an hour of unexampled danger, the union and exertion of all the ability it possessed, strongly urged the formation of a cabinet including both of these favorite statesmen, and they are said to have signified their willingness to act together. Mr. Pitt accordingly proposed this plan to the king, but finding his majesty averse from employing Mr. Fox, and feeling himself under no engagement, on account of this aversion, to forego his own pretensions to serve his country, he yielded to the royal pleasure, and again accepted of his former offices. Soon after this great minister found himself again established in power, he bent all his endeavours to form a third coalition of the continental powers against France, a measure which Mr. Fox condemned, from the despair which he entertained of its success. His predictions, in the present case, unfortunately received almost instant completion; for the war, which began on the 8th October 1805, was terminated, in less than two months, by the total discomfiture of the 2 L He allies. The health of Mr. Pitt was at this time declining, and the force of his disease was probably augmented by disappointment and chagrin at the immediate failure of a scheme, from which he had formed considerable expectations. died on the 23rd January 1806; and, like Aristides, who had been treasurer of confederated Greece during the lavishment of a long and expensive war, did not leave money sufficient to pay his debts, or the expenses of his funeral. Immediately after this event, Mr. Fox and lord Grenville, with their respective friends, were called into office, the former again holding the seals of foreign secretary, and much was expected by their friends from an administration supported by such a weight of senatorial talents, and family influence. As Mr. Fox had strongly and uniformly recommended peace, it was natural that he should lose no time in accomplishing his favorite object. He accordingly seized a singular occasion, suspected by some to have been thrown in his way by the subtlety and shrewdness of Talleyrand, to engage in a private correspondence with that minister, which gradually terminated in a public negociation. The abolition of the slave trade was another object for which he had strenuously contended, and to this he enjoyed the pleasure of obtaining the full and final consent of parliament. So far was he, however, from succeeding in his pacific measures, that, within a few weeks after his accession to office, he found himself constrained to extend hostilities to Prussia, who had taken forcible possession of Hanover; and, in the course of the negociation at Paris, he had the mortification to discover that France was not actuated by that desire of peace, and that readiness to treat on fair and equal terms, for which he had always given her credit. But, though he saw the negociation assume a hopeless aspect, he was not destined to outlive its actual rupture. In the middle of June he made his last appearance in parliament, being immediately after confined by a dropsical complaint, the progress of which was too rapid for medical aid to resist. Towards the end of August he was with difficulty removed to the villa of the duke of Devonshire, at Chiswick, where, undergoing repeated operations, he breathed his last on the 13th September, having lived exactly fifty-seven years and eight months. His last words, addressed to his nephew and others, who were around him, are reported to have been, I die happy, but I pity you.' He was buried on the 10th October, with a magnificent attendance of illustrious mourners, in a vault of Westminster Abbey, adjoining to that, where the ashes of his celebrated rival repose. We conclude our memoir, with a character of its subject, from the able and elegant pen of Sir James Mackintosh. 'Mr. Fox united, in a most remarkable degree, the seemingly repugnant characters of the mildest of men, and the most vehement of orators. In private life he was gentle, modest, placable, kind, of simple manners, and so averse from parade and dogmatism, as to be not only unostentatious, but even somewhat inactive, in conversation. His superiority was never felt but in the instruction which he imparted, or in the attention which his generous preference usually directed to the more obscure members of the company. The simplicity of his manners was far from excluding that perfect urbanity and amenity which flowed still more from the mildness of his nature than from similar intercourse with the most polished society in Europe. His conversation, where it was not repressed by modesty or indolence, was delightful. The pleasantry perhaps of no man of wit had so unlabored an appearance. It seemed rather to escape from his mind than to be produced by it. He had lived in the most intimate terms with all his contemporaries, distinguished by wit, politeness, or philosophy, or learning, or the talents of public life. In the course of thirty years he had known almost every man in Europe whose intercourse could strengthen or enlighten or polish the mind. His own literature was various and elegant. In classical erudition, which by the custom of England is more particularly called learning, he was inferior to few professed scholars. Like all men of genius, he delighted to take refuge in poetry, from the vulgarity and irritation of business. His own verses were easy and pleasing, and might have claimed no low place among those which the French call vers de societé. The poetical character of his mind was displayed in his extraordinary partiality for the poetry of the two most poetical nations, or at least languages, of the West, those of the Greeks and of the Italians. He disliked political conversation, and never willingly took any part in it. To speak of him justly, as an orator, would require a long essay. Every where natural, he carried into public something of that simple and negligent exterior which belonged to him in private.-When he began to speak, a common observer would have thought him awkward: and even a consummate judge could only have been struck with the exquisite justness of his ideas, and the transparent simplicity of his manners. But no sooner had he spoken for some time, than he was changed into another being. He forgot himself and every thing around him. He thought only of his subject. His genius warmed and kindled, as he went on. He darted fire ato his audience. Torrents of impetuous and irresistible eloquence swept along their feelings and conviction.-He certainly possessed above all moderns that union of reason, simplicity, and vehemence, which formed the Prince of Orators. He was the most Demosthenean speaker since Demosthenes. I knew him,' says Mr. Burke, in a pamphlet written after their unhappy difference, when he was nineteen; since which time he has risen by slow degrees to be the most brilliant and accomplished debater that the world ever saw.' The quiet dignity of a mind roused only by great objects, the absence of petty bustle, the contempt of show, the abhorrence of intrigue, the plainness and downrightness, and the thorough good nature which distinguished Mr. Fox, seem to render him no very unfit representative of that old English national character, which, if it ever changed, we should be sanguine indeed to expect to see succeeded by a better. The simplicity of his character inspired confidence, the ardor of his eloquence roused enthusiasm, and the gentleness of his manners invited friendship. 'I admire,' says Mr. Gibbon, the powers of a superior man, as they are blended,-his attractive character, with all the softness and simplicity of a child: no human being was ever more free from any taint of malignity, vanity, or falsehood.' "Perhaps nothing can more strongly prove the deep impression made by this part of Mr. Fox's character, than the words of Mr. Burke, who, in January, 1797, six years after all intercourse between them had ceased, speaking to a person honored with some degree of Mr. Fox's friendship, said, 'To be sure he is a man made to be loved!' and these emphatical words were uttered with a fervour of manner which left no doubt of their sincerity.' Mr. Fox is said to have written a few numbers of a paper entitled The Englishman, but published nothing separate during his life-time except a Letter to the Electors of Westminster 1793. Lord Holland gave to the world his posthumous publication entitled, The History of the early part of the Reign of James II. with an introductory chapter, which was intended to form a commencement of the History of the Revolution of 1688. There have also been published since his death some elegant and able letters of this statesman, on Greek Literature, addressed to the late Gilbert Wakefield. Fox (George), the founder of the society of Friends or Quakers, was a native of Leicestershire, and born at Drayton some time in 1624. His father was a weaver, and apprenticed him to a grazier, by whom he was much employed in the keeping of sheep. At the age of nineteen he affirmed that he had received a divine command to forsake every thing else, and devote himself to a religious mission. He accordingly forsook his relations, equipped himself in a leathern doublet, and wandered from place to place. Being discovered in the metropolis, his friends for a time induced him to return home; but he quickly resumed a life of itinerancy, in which he fasted much, walked abroad in retired places, studying the Bible, and sometimes sat in a tree for a day together. He began in 1648 to proparate his opinions publicly at Manchester, and in the neighbouring counties, where he preached to the people in the market-places. At Derby the followers of Fox were first denominated quakers, in consequence of their trembling mode of delivery, and calls on the magistracy to tremble before the Lord. See FRIENDS. In 1635 he was sent a prisoner to Cromwell, who, however, set him at liberty, and from time to time protected him from the country magistracy. He would often interrupt the church services; and on occasion of a fast appointed on account of the persecution of the protestants abroad, he addressed a paper to the heads of the nation, in which he forcibly describes the inconsistency of similar practices at home. In 1666 he was liberated from prison by Charles II. and im mediately set about forming the people who had followed his doctrines into a society. In 1669 he married the widow of judge Fell, and soon after went to America, where he remained two years. On his return he was thrown for a short time into Worcester gaol, after which he went to Holland. In 1684 he again visited the continent, where he did not long remain; and, his health becoming impaired, he lived more retired until his death in 1690. The writings of Fox are collected into 3 vols. folio; the first of which contains his Journal; the second his Epistles; and the third his Doctrinal Pieces. Penn speaks in high terms of his humility, meekness, and temperance. Fox (John), the martyrologist, was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1517. At sixteen he was entered a student of Brazen-nose College, Oxford; and in 1543 he proceeded M. A., and was chosen fellow of Magdalen College. He discovered an early genius for poetry, and wrote several Latin comedies, on scriptural subjects. He now applied himself with uncommon assiduity to theology and church history; and, discovering a preference for the doctrines of the Reformation, was expelled the college as a heretic. His distress on this occasion was very great; but he soon found an asylum in the house of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Warwickshire, who employed him as a tutor to his children. Here he married the daughter of a citizen of Coventry. He next came to London, where, finding no immediate means of subsistence, he was reduced to the utmost degree of want; but was at length taken into the family of the duchess of Richmond, as tutor to the earl of Surrey's children. In this family he lived, at Ryegate in Surrey, during the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII. the entire reign of Edward VI. and part of that of queen Mary I.: but at length, persecuted by bishop Gardiner, he was obliged to seek refuge abroad. Basil, in Switzerland, was the place of his retreat, where he subsisted by correcting the press. On the death of Mary he returned to England; where he was graciously received by his former pupil, the duke of Norfolk, who retained him in his family as long as he lived, and bequeathed him a pension at his death. Cecil also obtained for him the rectory of Shipton near Salisbury; and he might have had considerable preferment, had he been willing to subscribe to the canons. He died in 1587, aged seventy; and was buried in the chancel of St. Giles's, Cripplegate. He was a man of great industry and considerable learning; a zealous, but not a violent nonconformist. He left two sons; one of whom was bred a divine, the other a physician. He wrote many pieces: but his principal work is, the Acts and Monuments of the Church, &c., commonly called Fox's Book of Martyrs. Fox (Richard), an English prelate, born about the end of the reign of Henry VI. at Grantham, was a student at Magdalen College, Oxford, whence he removed on account of the plague to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He afterwards travelled about, and we find him at Paris with Dr. Morton, bishop of Ely, who introduced him to Henry VII., then earl of Richmond. Dr. Fox soon acquired the favor of the latter, and was admitted into his most secret councils. 1485, when, by the victory of Bosworth field, Henry became king of England, he appointed him a privy counsellor, and in 1486 and 1487 he was created bishop of Exeter, keeper of the In privy-seal, and principal secretary of state. of Cape Rosieres. 2. A river of North Ameile was subsequently employed on various rica, which runs through lake Winnebago, and embassies, and translated in 1492 to the falls into Green Bay in lake Michigan. Long. bishopric of Bath and Wells, whence in 1494 of the mouth 87° 53′ W., lat. 43° 48′ N. 3. he was again removed to that of Durham. In A river of the western territory of America, 1508 he was finally removed to the see of Win- which runs into the Theakiki. Long. 87° 58′ W., chester, where he passed the rest of his life. In lat. 41° 28' N. 4. A river of the western terthe reign of Henry VIII. his influence greatly ritory of America, which runs into the Wabash. declined. Howard, earl of Surrey, by accommo- Long. 88° 31′ W., lat. 38° N. dating himself to the passions of his master, became the favorite; and Wolsey, whom Fox introduced to counteract his influence, grew more powerful than either. He was the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and of the free-schools of Taunton and Grantham: and is said to have been a generous patron of literature, though he never published any thing himself. He died in 1528. Fox (Stephen), a distinguished statesman, was born at Farley in Wiltshire in 1627, and entered first into the service of the earl of Northumberland, who was abroad with Charles II. At the Restoration he was made clerk of the green cloth, paymaster of the forces, &c. In the next reign he was dismissed, but was restored after the Revolution. By opposing the bill for a standing army, he lost the favor of William III., but on the reign of Anne was replaced. He built a new church at Farley, founded several almshouses, and first projected Chelsea College. He died at Farley in 1716. Sir Stephen Fox married twice; the second time when near eighty, and had issue by both wives, being father, by his first wife to the first earl of Ilchester, and by his second, to the first lord Holland. FO'XCASE, n. s. Fox and case. A fox's FO'XSHIP, n. s. From fox. The character or qualities of a fox; cunning; mischievous Had'st thou forship art. To banish him that struck more blows for Rome, FO'XTAIL, n. s. snare to catch foxes. Shakspeare. Coriolanus. Faerie Queene, FOYLE, LOUGH, a large bay of Ireland, at the mouth of a river of the same name, four miles below Londonderry. It is twelve miles long and seven broad, and is well sheltered by land on all sides; the entrance not exceeding half a mile wide, having only one deep channel in the middle between sands and shallows. FRACASTOR (Jerome), an eminent Italian poet and physician, born at Verona in 1482. He was eminently skilled in the belles lettres, and in the arts and sciences. Pope Paul III. made use of his authority to remove the council of Trent to Boulogne, under the pretext of a contagious distemper, which, as Fracastor deposed, made it no longer safe to continue at Trent. He was intimately acquainted with cardinal Bembo, Julius Scaliger, and others of the great men of his time. He died of an apoplexy at Casi near Verona, in 1553, and in 1559 the town of Verona erected a statue in honor of him. All that remains of his works are three books of Siphilis, or of the French disease; a book of Miscellaneous Poems; and two books of a poem, entitled, Joseph, which he began towards the end of his life, but did not live to finish. His medical pieces are, De Sympathiâ et Antipathiâ; De Contagione et Contagiosis Morbis; De Causis Criticorum Dierum; De Vini Temperaturâ, &c. His works, which are all in Latin, have been printed separately, and collectively. The best edition is that of Padua, 1735, in 2 vols. 4to. FRACHES, in the glass trade, are the flat iron pans into which the glass vessels already formed are put when in the tower over the working furnace, but by means of which they are drawn out through the leers, that they may be taken gradually from the fire, and cool by degrees. FRACT, v. a. Latin frango, to break, applied to the breaking of hard substances, or the fracture of a bone. Fractional is applied to numbers that are imperfect or broken. A fraction is a |