guage, which he rendered the foundation of a work to which he was indebted for the principal part of his literary reputation. This was, "An Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare," first, published in 1766. A controversy had long prevailed concerning the extent of booklearning possessed by our great dramatist, with a reference to the farther question of the originality of his genius. It was easy to shew from many parts of his works that he was not unacquainted with the mythology and history of the ancients, but the sources whence he derived this acquaintance were a matter of dispute. Mr. Farmer was able, from his knowledge of books, to shew that in the time of Shakspeare English translations existed of most of the classical writers; and by tracing even the individual expressions and mistakes of the translators in those passages of his plays which allude to the subjects treated by these writers, he irrefragably proved that the untutored bard had read the translations instead of the originals. His essay, which went through three edititions, and was also printed in the edition of Shakspeare by Stevens and Reed, in 1793, was admired as a piece of sprightly composition, and was generally considered as decisive of the point. The notice Mr. Farmer acquired by his performance was favourable to his professional advancement. On the presentation of his friend bishop Hurd, he obtained the chancellorship and a prebendal stall in the cathedral of Lichfield. In 1775 he was chosen master of Emanuel-college, on which occasion he took the degree of D.D. He afterwards obtained the place of principal librarian to the university, and served in his turn the office of vice-chancellor. As a member of that learned body, he was a zealous supporter of things as they were in church and state, and of course was an object of ministerial retribution. Lord North conferred upon him a prebend of Canterbury. He had twice the offer of a bishopric from Mr. Pitt; but the solemnity and constraint of the episcopal character was not suitable to his temper; and he gladly accepted instead, a residentiaryship of St. Paul's, which he exchanged for his prebend. This preferment was agreeable to him, not only from the handsome addition it made to his income, but from its obligation of a three-months' residence in the metropolis. He passed that time very pleasantly in the society of men of letters and conviviality; and as his company included persons of various opinions, he acquired a liberality of sentiment which perhaps would not have accompanied him if confined to his college. He was, however, na turally good-humoured and obliging, and seemed pleased with occasions of overlooking party difference in the performance of kind actions. Though he warmly opposed certain academical reforms, yet he was the principal promoter of improvements in the police of Cambridge, particularly those of paving and lighting the streets. It was also in great measure owing to his exertions, that the cathedral of St. Paul's was permitted to receive those decorations of monumental sculpture, which, while they afford a suitable display of the national gratitude, will gradually clothe the nakedness of the edifice. Dr. Farmer appeared as an author only in the essay above mentioned. While still young in literature, in 1765, he issued proposals for a history of the town and antiquities of Leicester, the expence of publishing which was to be defrayed by subscription. But his increasing occupations, or rather, perhaps, his indolence, fostered by easy circumstances, induced him to resign the undertaking. The few materials he had collected, with some plates, were put into the hands of Mr. John Nichols, for the use of his elaborate history of Leicestershire, and the subscription-money was repaid. After a long and painful illness, Dr. Farmer died in September, 1797, at Emanuel-college, and an epitaph to his memory by the classical pen of Dr. Parr was inscribed upon his tomb in the cloisters. In this he is called, "Vir facetus & dulcis festique sermonis, Græce & Latine doctus, in explicanda veterum Anglorum poësi subtilis & elegans." He had made a large collection of books of all kinds, many of them picked up at the stalls of London, which sold after his death for much more than their cost. Necrology.-A. FARNABY, THOMAS, an eminent schoolmaster and critic, was the son of a carpenter in London, where he was born about 1575. His family is said to have been originally Italian. He was admitted a servitor of Mertoncollege, Oxford, in 1590; but he abruptly quitted that university, and went to Spain, where for some time he studied in a college of the Jesuits. The severity of this institution, however, disgusted him, and he found means to return, and entered on board the fleet of Drake and Hawkins in their expedition of 1595.He is said afterwards to have served as a soldier in the Low-countries; but the result of this, unsettled course of life was, that he landed in Cornwall in such indigent circumstances, that he was obliged to teach children the horn-book for a subsistence. He gradually rose to a higher station, and for some time taught a granımarschool at Martock in Somersetshire. Thence The removed to London, and opened a seminary near Cripplegate, in which part of the town at that time were good houses with large gardens, fit for the accommodation of persons of the best fashion. Here he rose to such reputation, that he is said at one time to have had more than three hundred scholars, many of them of rank and fortune. He made himself known to the learned world by the publication of critical works, and obtained the degree of M.A. at Cambridge, in 1616, in which he was afterwards incorporated at Oxford. Wearied at length with living in London, he removed to Seven-oaks in Kent, where he continued to take boarders. He grew wealthy, and purchased estates both in that county and in Sussex. At the commencement of the civil wars, he manifested disaffection to the cause of the parliament; and upon a suspicion of being concerned in an insurrection in favour of the king about Tunbridge, in 1643, he was imprisoned in Newgate, and a motion was made for his banishment to America. This, however, was rejected, and he was removed to a milder confinement at Ely-house, where he remained a considerable time. He died, probably at Sevenoaks, in 1647, at the age of seventy-two. Farnaby published editions, with explanatory notes, of "Juvenal and Persius;" "Seneca's Tragedies;" "Martial's select Epigrams;" and "Lucan's Pharsalia:" also, notes to Virgil, Ovid, and Terence. He likewise published an "Index Rhetoricus & Poëticus;" "Florilegium Epigrammatum Græcorum;" and Systema Grammaticum;" which last was composed by order of king Charles, who meant to substitute a new Latin grammar to that hitherto taught by authority. He drew up other small pieces for the use of schools; and upon the whole may be considered as a great benefactor to early classical education, in which respect his merits have been acknowledged by several eminent foreign scholars. Biog. Britan.-A. FARNESE, ALEXANDER, duke of Parma and Placentia, one of the greatest captains of his time, was son of Octavio Farnese, duke of Parma, and of Margaret of Austria, natural daughter of the emperor Charles V. He was born in 1546; and after being educated in the court of king Philip II., he early embraced the profession of arms, and was present in his eighteenth year at the battle of Lepanto. In 1566 he married Mary, a princess of the royal blood of Portugal. When his kinsman, don John of Austria, governor of the Low-countries, resolved to act hostilely against the revolters, he joined him at the king's request, and imme diately applied himself with great assiduity to military duties. Laying aside (says Bentivoglio) the prerogative of his birth, he interested himself in every thing that concerned the army. He transformed himself into every nation; spoke almost all their languages; was among the first to undertake every fatigue, and among the last to relinquish it; rejected all indulgences of sleep and food; and was clad more like a soldier than like a prince. To these qualities were added a vigour of body not inferior to that of his mind, and a martial aspect which promised victory. Grotius subjoins to this picture, a closeness of disposition, and the Italian art of dissimulation, with skill to act upon men's minds by the alternations of severity and clemency. He distinguished himself during the short remainder of don John's administration, and upon the death of that governor, in 1578, was appointed to succeed him. He immediately set on foot a negociation for the recovery of the Walloon provinces, and at the same time undertook the siege of Maestricht, which he obliged to surrender. Proceeding in a career of success, he recovered most of the towns in Brabant and Flanders, and at length laid siege to Antwerp. He encountered prodigious difficulties in his operations against this important place, which was capable of receiving constant supplies by water, till he shut up the Scheld by a vast bridge or mound. This enterprise occupied nearly a year, during which, however, he took Brussels, Ghent, and other places. He made his triumphant entry into Antwerp in 1585, having first been decorated with the order of the golden fleece for his reward. He granted favourable terms to the town, and completed his conquest of those provinces of the Low-countries which have since remained under the Spanish or Austrian sovereignty. Extending his views to farther successes, he resolved to attack the confederacy of the seven Dutch provinces, now openly aided by queen Elizabeth, who sent an army to their succour under the earl of Leicester. Nimeguen had already fallen, and the prince took Grave, Venlo, and Sluys: Deventer was delivered to him by treachery. Leicester was recalled, and was succeeded by an abler general, prince Maurice of Nassau. The prince of Parma (now become duke by his father's death) was appointed, in 1588, to command the army destined to the conquest of England, and he marched to Nieuport in order to embark as soon as the armada should have cleared the seas. But the disasters of the Spanish fleet rendered the design abort ive, to the great happiness of England, which might have been reduced to extreme danger, had such a general with a veteran army been landed near the capital. The duke afterwards made an attempt upon Bergen-op-Zoom, but was foiled, and about this time the symptoms of a dropsy began to appear in him, brought on by his incessant toils of war in an unhealthy climate. In 1590 he was against his inclination obliged to march into France in succour of the league, which Philip II. was determined to support in its resistance to Henry IV. The duke performed the object of his mission, which was to raise the siege of Paris; in which he displayed great military skill, together with much prudence in avoiding a battle, which was not to his purpose. When Henry, with the ardour of his character, sent a herald to challenge him to a pitched fight, the duke sensibly returned for answer, that he was accustomed to fight at his own pleasure, and not at that of his adversary, and that he should not shun an engagement when he found such a measure expedient. When Paris was relieved, he returned to his proper scene of action, Flanders, having first, at the urgent request of the league, assisted in taking Corbeil. He found the Spanish interest much declined in consequence of his absence. Maurice had recovered several places, and the duke was unable to prevent his regaining the important town of Nimeguen. He was again, in 1592, ordered to march into France, where the affairs of the league became daily more unprosperous. He joined the catholic army, and marched to the relief of Rouen, then besieged by Henry. In consequence of various masterly movements he obliged the king to raise the siege, and then, with the duke of Mayenne, he entered and succoured the place. He then proceeded to the siege of Caudebec, before which, as he was reconnoitring, he received a gun-shot wound in his arm. Caudebec was taken by the confederates; but the king, having greatly augmented his army, now pressed closely upon the duke, and reduced him to great straits for want of provision. Henry thought of nothing less than compelling the whole army to surrender, when the duke of Parma, by unexpectedly crossing the Seine in his rear, escaped the difficulty, and led back his troops safely to Flanders. This retreat was the admiration of all military men, and sealed the reputation of its conductor. He arrived greatly debilitated, and finding the dropsy daily gaining ground upon him, he solicited king Philip to send him a successor. His unfeeling master, however, VOL. IV. resolving that he should again march into France, gave him orders to make new levies and prepare for his departure. He repaired, in consequence, to Arras, where he died in December, 1592, at the age of forty-six. He was buried, according to his request, in the convent of Capuchins at Parma, invested with the habit of that religious order. A statue of bronse was erected in his honour at Rome. Bentivoglio, Guerr. di Fiandra. Grotii Annal. Belg. Moreri.-A. At FARQUHAR, GEORGE, a popular writer of comedy, was the son of a clergyman in the north of Ireland, and was born at Londonderry about 1678. He is said very early to have dis-covered a genius for poetry; his residence, however, at Trinity-college, Dublin, does not seem to have been distinguished by any proof of abilities, and there is reason to believe that his conduct at that seminary caused his expulsion. His fondness for dramatic exhibitions induced him to try his fortune as an actor upon the Dublin stage; but his powers of voice were inadequate; and the accident of wounding a brother player in a tragedy-scene, through the neglect of exchanging his sword for a foil, at once terminated his attempts in that profession. About the year 1696, he accompanied his friend Wilks the player to London. what period it was that a lieutenant's commission was conferred upon him by the earl of Orrery, is not certain; but there is no doubt that for a considerable time he sustained the military character. He first appeared as a dramatic writer in 1698, when his play of "Love and a Bottle" was brought upon the stage at Drury-lane, with great success. This was followed, in 1700, by "The Constant Couple, or a Trip to the Jubilee;" a piece which proved extremely popular, and greatly raised his reputation as a writer of comedy. The character of sir Harry Wildair was regarded as the true model of the easy libertine of fashion. It became a favourite part of the comedian Wilks, and has ever since afforded a display of the powers of actors in sprightly and genteel comedy, both male and (strange as it may seem) female. Farquhar was in Holland towards the end of this year, probably upon military duty; and some of his letters contain humourous descriptions of the manners and customs of that country. He seems, in London, to have lived much with the players, and it is said that he first brought the celebrated actress Mrs. Oldfield upon the stage. In 1701 appeared his "Sir Harry Wildair," a sequel of the former comedy, but, like most second parts, less successful. F He others, are equally calculated to promote libertinism. Biogr. Britan.-A. FAUCHET, CLAUDE, a writer of French history and antiquities, was born at Paris about 1529. He obtained the post of president of the Cour des Monnoies, but he appears to have been in indifferent circumstances, as his place was sold to pay his debts. Henry IV. gave him a pension, with the title of historiographer. He died in 1601. His principal works were, parts; the first bringing down the history of Gaul to the arrival of the Franks; the second, from Pharamond to Hugh Capet. "A Treatise on the Liberties of the Gallican Church." " A Treatise on the Origin of Knights, Coats of Arms, and Heralds." "Origin of the Dignities and Magistrates of France." In all these works are many curious particulars not to be readily found elsewhere, but related in a rude and barbarous style, and without any skill of composition. It is said that Fauchet's History of France gave Lewis XIII. a disgust to reading. The author was, in language and manners, a sample of the antiquity of which he treated. All his works were printed together at Paris in 1610, in 4to. Bayle. Moreri.-A. published in the next year a volume of "Miscellanies," consisting of Poems, Letters, Essays, &c., some serious, others sportive, and in general lively and amusive. His comedy of "The Inconstant, or the Way to win him," was acted in 1703. It was well received, though in great part borrowed from one of the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. He married, about this time, a lady who is said to have been violently in love with him, and for that reason to have ventured upon the stratagem of passing" Antiquités Gauloises & Françoises," in two herself off for a great fortune. It is to the credit of his temper, that when he discovered the deception, he forgave it from its motive. Perhaps he was too genuine a votary of comedy to be seriously offended with a comic incident. This connection, however, brought upon him an addition of care, which perhaps contributed to shorten his days. A farce entitled "The Stage Coach," in which he was a partner with Motteux, and his fifth comedy, "The Twin Rivals," were produced at an uncertain date, but in some of these years. His official employment in raising recruits, which he for some time carried on in Shropshire, is supposed to have suggested the subject of his next comedy, "The Recruiting Officer," acted in 1706. This has proved one of his most popular plays; FAUCHEUR, MICHAEL LE, an eminent the humour of serjeant Kite, with the inci- French protestant minister in the seventeenth dents of the captain in country quarters, being century. He particularly excelled as a preacher; level to all auditors. It is accordingly one of in which capacity he first distinguished himself those acted most frequently in provincial thea-, at Montpellier, whence his increasing reputa tres. He closed his career with "The Beaux Stratagem;" which, though composed, it is said, in six weeks, and under the depression of a rooted illness, is usually reckoned the author's master-piece. His necessities obliged him to part with his commission; and, under the painful reflection of leaving two unprovided daughters, he died in April, 1707, before he had. completed his 30th year, and during the successful run of his last performance. If Farquhar does not rank among our first dramatic, geniuses, yet to have produced in so short a life several pieces which have kept their place on the stage, and at the distance of a century still never fail to give entertainment, must be regarded as a proof of considerable talents. His comedies do not add much to the delinea tion of real character; nor can they compare in wit to those of Congreve; but they are sprightly, pleasant, and natural; interesting, though not always probable, in their plots, and easy in their dialogue. They are deeply tainted with the licentiousness which characterised almost all the English comedies of that period; and though less gross in the language than some . tion occasioned his being invited to the church and by order of the national synod. His other works were, several volumes of "Sermons on different Texts of Scripture," 8vo.; "Christian Prayers and Meditations," 8vo.; and "A Treatise on the Action of an Orator," 12mo. which was falsely attributed to Mr. Conrart. Mr. Faucheur died at Paris in 1657, having maintained a high character for integrity as well as abilities, and equally regretted by Catholics and Protestants. Bayle. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-M. FAVORINUS, a celebrated Platonic philosopher and rhetorician, who flourished under the reigns of the emperors Trajan and Adrian, was a native of Arles in Gaul, and studied under the instructions of Dio Chrysostom and Epictetus. Suidas speaks in high terms of the extent of his literary acquirements, and pronounces him profoundly skilled in philosophy; but adds, that he chiefly applied himself to the rhetorical art. He says also, that he emulated the labours of Plutarch of Charonea, in numerous books which he wrote on philosophical and historical subjects; none of which are now extant. According to some writers, he was an hermaphrodite; but, according to others, an eunuch. He taught with great reputation at Athens, and afterwards at Rome. The emperor Adrian respected him for his learning and eloquence, and, in his usual manner, would frequently enter into disputes with him on literary and philosophical subjects. In our life of that prince we have taken notice of the preeminence which he was so weak as to affect, in learning and science, as well as power, and the petty jealousy which he shewed of men eminent for their abilities and reputation, which made it unsafe for them to contradict, or surpass him. To many, who were inclined to do justice to their own talents, and who were not sufficiently courtly to yield to the potency of his imperial reasoning, such disputes proved injurious, and to some even fatal. Favorinus, however, as he was aware of the emperor's foible, prudently managed his debates in such a manner, that the pride and vanity of Adrian were not offended. Upon being once reproached by a friend, for having tamely given up the point in a debate concerning the meaning of a certain word, when he knew that his sense of it was supported by the best authorities, he replied, "Are you surprised then, that I submit to the superior learning of one who is master of thirty legions?" Favorinus is said to have expressed his wonder at three things: that being a Gaul, he could speak Greek so well; that being an eunuch, he should have been accused of adultery; and that being a subject of envy and jealousy to the emperor, he should be permitted to live. Suidas. Fabricii Bibl. Grac. vol. II. lib. iii. cap. 3. Moreri. Enfield's Hist. Phil. vol. II. book iii. chap. 2.-M. FAVORINUS, VARINUS, a learned Italian divine and lexicographer, who flourished in the sixteenth century, was born at the castle of Favera, near Camerino, a ducal town of Umbria. His family name was Guarino, which he latinised into Varinus, and took his surname, by which he is chiefly known, from the place of his birth. He studied under Angelo Politian, and John Lascaris at Florence, and was patronised by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Having determined to embrace the ecclesiastical life, he became a benedictine monk of the Sylvestrine congregation, which is a branch of that of Vallombrosa, and was appointed preceptor to John de Medici, who was afterwards pope Leo X. In the year 1512 he was appointed keeper of the Medicean library at Florence; and in the year 1514 his former pupil, who had now ascended the papal throne, nominated him bishop of Nocera. In that capacity he assisted at the Lateran council, held in 1516, and was greatly respected and esteemed by the people of his diocese until his death, which took place in 1537, when he had arrived at a very advanced age. In the year 1523 he published, at Rome, a very copious Greek lexicon, entitled "Magnum Dictionarium, seu Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ," &c. folio, dedicated to Julio de Medici, who was then a cardinal, and afterwards pope under the name of Clement VII. It is drawn up wholly in Greek, and furnishes scholars with the various explications of words which are to be found in the lexicons of Suidas, Phrynicus, Hesychius, Harpocration, the Etymologicum Magnum, and other lexicons, and in the notes of Eustathius, and the ancient scholiasts. Fabricius presents us with the names of several illustrious literary characters, who have bestowed high praise upon it as a very laborious and valuable work, notwithstanding that it is chiefly a compilation; but subsequent publications have in a considerable degree superseded its use in modern times. It has gone through various editions, of which the most correct, and also beautiful, is that printed by Anthony Bartoli, at Venice, 1712, folio. Favorinus also sustained a leading part in forming the judicious collection of grammatical precepts by ancient Greek authors, which was published by Aldus Manutius in 1496, folio, under the title of " Cornu Copiæ & Horti Adonidis," &c.; and he published a Latin translation of the apophthegms, collected by Stobæus from various |