FIRENZUOLA-FIRE-PROOF SAFES AND REPOSITORIES. William III. and his Dutch auxiliaries. Their first invention is, however, involved in obscurity. The weapon was superseded before 1830 by the percussion musket; which, in its turn, has now yielded to the rifle (q. v.). silicate of soda (see FIRE-PROOFING). Instead of wooden joists to support the floors of each story, arched stone or brickwork should be used, and this should be put together with sufficient care to be independent of the mortar. The roof should be constructed in like manner, wooden rafters The doors should be of FIRENZUOLA, ANGELO, an author distinguished for the Attic choiceness of his language, was born at being entirely excluded. Florence in 1493. Having completed at Perugia iron, and the security would be much increased the studies which he commenced in Florence, he if the doors between any two apartments conproceeded to Rome in anticipation of a brilliant taining combustible materials were double, with a legal career, but shortly abandoned the eternal city, space between them equal to the thickness of the disappointed in hope and shattered in health. It walls. Of course, it is not practicable to carry out seems well authenticated, that he finally enrolled all these precautions in a dwelling-house, but the himself among the monkish brotherhood of Vallom- danger from fire may be considerably diminished Wooden staircases brosa, and rose to considerable influence, in spite by attending to some of them. The most important of the extreme licence of morals, and licentiousness are especially dangerous. of writing for which he was noted. The date of conditions for a warehouse are, that each apartment his death is doubtful, but it is generally placed shall be separated from the next by stout walls between 1542 and 1544. His chief works are a of non-conducting materials, and more especially, spirited paraphrase of the Golden Ass of Apuleius that each shall be as nearly as possible air-tight; in which he is generally considered by his coun- ventilation is required, it should be obtained by and whenever, from the nature of the goods, trymen to have far excelled the original in nerve and beauty of language; I Discorsi degli Animali periodically opening the doors and windows. If -containing some sound lessons of just legislation this latter condition is fulfilled, any fire would to the ruling powers, the censure being skilfully extinguish itself, unless there be along with the veiled by means of his animal orators; I Ragionamenti, a work in close imitation of the Decameron both as regards the impurity of sentiment, and classic purity of language; Il Trattato della bellezza delle donne, an eulogistic discussion concerning the charms of the gentle sex, to whom he was inordinately devoted. His works were published in Florence after his death. The best edition is that of Florence (1763, 3 vols.). FIRE-POLICY. See INSURANCE. FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. The problem of constructing warehouses, dwelling-houses, &c., that shall be proof against all risk of conflagration, has not yet been solved. The liability to conflagration may be greatly diminished by the construction of a building, but cannot be entirely averted; and therefore, in all fire-proof' buildings containing furniture or other combustible materials of any kind, the ordinary precautions against fire should be strictly observed. It is well to state this at the outset, as, unless it be understood, a so-called fireproof building may be more dangerous than an ordinary one, especially in warehouses, &c., intrusted to the care of watchmen and others, who, relying upon the supposed immunity the name expresses, are liable to neglect many precautions they would not fail to observe in a building believed to be dangerous. The most destructive fire that has occurred in London since 1666 was the recent one at Cotton's Wharf, the warehouses of which were what is called 'fire-proof.' The great fury of this conflagration depended on the nature of the goods that were stored. It is scarcely possible to believe that such combustibles as tallow, turpentine, &c., could have been stored in the vicinity of saltpetre, unless there had existed some faith in their practical isolation from each other by the fire-proof divisions of the building, as it is so well understood that saltpetre, though incombustible of itself, intensifies to an immense extent the combustibility of all combustibles, by supplying them with undiluted oxygen when heated in contact or within a moderate distance of them. The nearest approximation to fire-proof construction may be obtained as follows: the walls should be of stone or brick, and any ties, lintels, &c., required in the construction should be of iron. The staircases should be of iron or stone, and the floors or landings of tiles, concrete, or stone. Wherever wood is inevitably used, it should be prepared with combustible goods some oxygen-giving substance, such as saltpetre, chlorate of potass, or other nitrates or chlorates. In the first At first sight, it may appear that a warehouse built entirely of iron, would be effectually fire-proof, but this is far from being the case. place, iron conducts heat more readily than any other material used in building; secondly, cast-iron is liable to crack and split when suddenly heated or cooled. Iron supports may, under some circum. stances, be even more objectionable than wood, for if the water from a fire-engine were to play upon a heated cast-iron girder, it would probably give way immediately, while a stout wooden beam might be extinguished before being burned through. When buildings supported by iron girders are burning, they are far more dangerous to firemen than those with wood, as the experienced fireman can form a pretty accurate judgment of the time that burning wooden beams will stand, and may move about in their vicinity to direct the stream of water to where it is most needed, but iron girders split and fall without visible notice. It is on this account that floors of arched masonry are recommended above. In great fires, the heat is sufficient to fuse iron. Without going to the expense of making warehouses and manufactories absolutely fire-proof, certain precautions not of a costly nature might be usefully adopted, for the purpose of merely checking the progress of conflagration until the arrival of fire-engines. Among these simple measures, may be included iron doors hinged on stone between different departments; a sufficient deafening not easily destructible between the ceiling of one story and the floor of that above; and stone stairs. For rendering timber difficult of combustion, see FIRE-PROOFING. FIRE-PROOF SAFES AND REPO'SITORIES are used as receptacles for deeds, paper-money, account-books, and other valuables. They are now regular articles of commerce, and are to be found in almost every counting-house, lawyer's office, jeweller's or watchmaker's shop or warehouse, and are indispensable to banking and such-like establish ments. Our forefathers used oaken chests secured with iron straps and studs for similar purposes That which formerly contained the crown-jews of Scotland, and is still exhibited in Edinburgh Castle, is a good example. Subsequently, iron chests made simply of stout cast or wrought iron we used FIRE-PROOFING-FIRE-RAISING. The modern safe has double walls and doors of stout iron plates, and the space between the plates is filled with some substance that shall resist the transmission of the heat which would be readily conducted through solid iron. The materials used for these linings are very various-sand, dried clay, charcoal, ashes, bone-dust, alum, gypsum, &c. The safes of Messrs S. Mordan & Co., which are largely used by bankers, are lined with a mixture of equal parts of saw-dust and alum. Some makers include small vessels containing liquids, the vessels burst when heated, and the liquids exert some cooling effect. Alum acts in nearly the same manner. It contains 24 equivalents of water, or nearly half its weight. At 212', ten equivalents are driven off in vapour; at 248°, ten more; and at 392, the four remaining equivalents are volatilised. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that any of these linings can render such a safe really fire-proof; and this is admitted by the more scrupulous manufacturers, who carefully abstain from using the designation of fire-proof,' but apply that of fire-resisting,' which honestly describes all that they are capable of doing, as they may resist the action of fire for a considerable time; but whether or not their contents may be ultimately preserved from a fire, is simply a question of the duration and intensity of the heat to which they are exposed. Their great weight in some cases assists in preserving them, especially when on an upper floor, as such a safe would be the first thing to break through the burning joists and descend to the lower part of the building, where the fire is usually the most smothered. These safes are sometimes let into recesses of stout masonry, built on purpose, and protected by an additional double iron door. This, of course, adds greatly to their security. All such safes should of course be secured by the best locks that can be made, protected by every possible precaution against picking, blowing up by gunpowder, or other violence. See Locks. Milk of lime, alum, sal ammoniac, sulphate of ammonia, chloride and sulphate of zinc, sulphuret of lime and baryta, &c., have been used, and its inflammability, but not its combustibility, is destroyed. Like the fabrics, when similarly treated, wood smoulders slowly. The most efficient protection to wood is silicate of soda. If planks of moderate thickness be brushed three or four times over, on each side with a strong solution, they are rendered almost incombustible; they will only burn when very intensely heated. The silicate fuses and forms a glass which envelopes the surface, and even the internal fibres of the wood, if it be sufficiently saturated, and thus seals it from the oxygen of the air. FIRE-RAISING, in the law of Scotland, is the equivalent term for Arson (q. v.) in England. If any part of a tenement, however small, has been set fire to wilfully, this crime has been committed. It is quite indifferent where the fire has commenced, and the offence is frequently perpetrated by setting fire to furniture, or to other objects either within or without a house; but it is not regarded as completed, and is punished as a separate crime, of which we shall speak afterwards, unless the fire has communicated itself to some part of a building. If the fire originated in carelessness, however gross, it is not wilful fire-raising, but a minor offence, punishable with fine and imprisonment. But if the intention was to injure the proprietor of a tenement by burning, not his house, but an object in its neighbourhood-e. g., a haystackand the fire was accidentally communicated to the house, the offence is the same as if the fire had been applied to the house directly. The infliction of capital punishment for the offence of fire-raising is now in desuetude. Where a man burns his own house without endangering the life of any one, he has not committed the crime of fire-raising, but he may be punished criminally, if the act was done for the purpose of defrauding the insurers. Till recently, it was the rule in Scotland, that where fire was the result of inevitable accident, it freed a carrier or innkeeper from responsibility for any goods that were destroyed in his custody, unless where fraud or collusion could be shewn; but the law in this respect has been altered by the Mercantile Law Amendment Act, 19 and 20 Vict. c. 60, which provides, s. 17, that after the passing of the act (1856), ' All carriers for hire, of goods within Scotland, shall be liable to make good to the owner of such goods all losses arising from accidental fire while such goods were in the possession or custody of such carriers'thus equalising the law of Scotland with that of England. FIRE-PROOFING. Attempts have continually been made to render cotton, linen, and other textile fabrics, timber, &c., incombustible; but at present they have been but partially successful. There are many means by which fabrics may be prevented from flaming, their combustion being reduced to a slow smouldering; and the many recent cases of fatal results from the present extravagant dimensions of ladies' dresses have rendered the adoption of some such protection against fire very desirable. By moistening the fabric with a solution of any saline substance, which, upon drying will leave minute crystals deposited in or between the fibres, its inflammability will be greatly diminished, but the salt imparts a degree of harshness to the fabric, and in many cases weakens the fibres. Alum, sulphate of zinc, and sulphate of soda have been used, and are effectual to prevent flaming, but they weaken the fibre. Common salt does the same. Phosphate and sulphate of ammonia are less objectionable on this account, but the former decomposes by contact with the hot iron in ironing. Tungstate of soda has been proposed, and is said to have no injurious effect on the fibre. Sulphate of ammonia, chloride of ammonium (sal ammoniac), and borax, are among the best fitted for domestic use, though they are not unobjectionable. For made-up clothing, borax is, perhaps, the best, as it is most effectual in its action, and is the least injurious to the appearance of the article, though it is stated to have some weakening effect on the fibre; this, however, is only In Scotland, an attempt to commit wilful fireperceptible in case of a tearing strain, and will not raising (q. v.) is an offence at common law. It is perceptibly damage such articles as ladies' under- not necessary to constitute this offence that the fire clothing, or anything else only subject to ordinary should have consumed any part of the building, Wood has been treated in a similar manner. &c. Furniture-as a mattress-partly consumed, wear. Attempting to set fire to houses, crops, &c., is a distinct crime from Arson (q. v.), or the actual destruction of property by fire. By 9 and 10 Vict. c. 5, it is enacted, that if any one shall attempt to set fire to a house, &c., with such intent that the offence, if committed, would be felony, and liable to be transported for life, he may be transported for fifteen years (now penal servitude), or imprisoned for two years. The attempt to burn growing crops of corn, &c., is a felony by 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 30, and punishable by transportation for seven years, or by imprisonment. These offences are also misdemeanours at common law. By 24 and 25 Vict. c. 97, s. 8, the attempt to set buildings on fire is punishable by penal servitude for fourteen years, or imprisonment for two years; if a male under sixteen, to be whipped. FIRE-SHIP-FIRMAMENT. a lighted at thrust under a stack without igniting Sea. At a very early age, he went with his father it, are sufficient to warrant a conviction. Inciting (Gholam Ali Hindu Shah) to India, where we find others to commit fire-raising is an indictable offence; him, when twelve years old, at Ahmednuggur, in and, in some old cases, persons have been punished for the mere threats to commit the offence, without being guilty of any overt act. The English Act 9 and 10 Vict. c. 25, declares that whoever shall maliciously, by the explosion of gunpowder or other explosive substance, destroy or damage any dwelling-house in which there is any person at the time, is guilty of felony, and shall be ubjected to transportation for life, or not less than fifteen years, or to an imprisonment not exceeding three years. Blowing up a building with intent to murder, and thereby endangering life, or casting upon any person any explosive or corrosive fluid whereby grievous bodily harm is occasioned him, and similar offences, are declared subject to the same punishment. Attempting any of these offences subjects the perpetrator to a minor punishment. The manufacturing or having in possession any explosive substance, or dangerous or noxious thing, or any machine or instrument for the purpose of committing any of the above offences, is a misdemeanour, liable to imprisonment not exceeding two years. Male offenders under eighteen years of age, convicted under the act, may be whipped. FIRE-SHIP, a vessel, usually an old one, filled with combustibles, sent in among a hostile squadron, and there fired, in the hope of destroying some of the ships, or at least of producing great confusion. Livy mentions the use of such by the Rhodians, B. c. 190; but among the first occasions in modern times when they are known to have been employed, were by the Dutch in the Scheldt during the War of Independence in the Netherlands, and, shortly after, by the English in 1588, against the Spanish Armada. The Chinese tried them against the British fleet before Canton in 1857, but unsuccessfully. The service of navigating one of these ships into the midst of an enemy, there firing it, and then attempting to escape, is always fraught with great risk of failure and disaster. FIREWORKS. See PYROTECHNY. FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. See GUEBERS. FIRISHTA, MOHAMMAD KASIM HINDU SHAH, a celebrated Persian historian, born towards the end of the 16th c. (1570?), at Astrabad, on the Caspian the Deccan, sharing the instruction which the latter gave to Prince Miran Hussein Nizam Shah. He afterwards became captain in the body-guard of Murteza Nizam Shah; and when this king was deposed by his own son, F.'s former fellow-student who, in his own turn, was deposed and murdered in less than a twelvemonth afterwards-F. went to Bijapore (998 H., 1589 A.D.), where Ibrahim Adil Shah II., the reigning monarch, received him with great honour. He also appears to have conferred a military rank upon him, as, soon after his arrival, F. is mentioned as taking part in an action against Jumal Khan, in which he was wounded and taken prisoner, but ere long he made his escape. His death is supposed to have taken place shortly after the year 1612. His great work is the Tarikhi Firishta, or History of the Mohammedan Power in India, which he finished in 1018 H. (1609 A.D.). Twenty years were spent in its preparation, and the number of books used for, and partly embodied in it-special histories of certain periods and provinces-amounts, according to F. himself (Introduction), to thirty-five; but twenty others besides these are quoted in the course of the work. It consists-besides a preamble or in India, and a final treatise on the geography introduction on the Progress of Mohammedanism and the climate of India-of 12 divisions, treating of the kings of Ghizni and Lahore, Delhi, the Deccan, Guzerat, Malwah, Candeish, Bengal and Behar, Mooltan, Sinde, Cashmere, Malabar, and of the saints of India. Written with an impartiality, simplicity, and clearness rare in an Eastern work, this history has become a standard work on the subject, into which it was the first to enter at length. Single portions of it have been translated by Dow, Scott, Stewart, Anderson, &c.; but the whole work, edited first by J. Briggs (Bombay, 1831, fol. 2 vols.), was also translated by him (London, 1832, 8vo, 4 vols.). A fuller account of F.'s life and writings, by the same, will be found in the second volume of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society. FIRKIN (dim. from four, the fourth part of a barrel), an old measure of capacity containing nine gallons (old ale and beer measure). But previous to the year 1803 it had two values, being estimated at eight gallons in old ale measure, and at nine in old beer measure. The firkin is equivalent to 94 imperial gallons. See GALLON. FI'RLOT (according to Jamieson, from Ang.Sax. feorth and lot, the fourth part), an old Scotch dry measure, of which there were four in a Boll (q. v.). Though differing in value for different substances and places, its relation to the boll remained invariable. See PECK. FIRMAMENT, a word in use of old to signify the vault of heaven. The term found its way into English from the Vulgate, which renders the Septuagint Stereoma, and the Hebrew Rakia, by the Latin Firmamentum (Gen. i. 6). Rakia (from the verb raka, to beat or strike out) signifies whatever is expanded or stretched out, and was specially employed by the Hebrews to denote the hemisphere above the earth, compared (Exod. xxiv. 10) to a splendid and pellucid sapphire. Els where (Ez. i. 22-26) it is spoken of as the 'floor' on which the throne of the Most High is placed. Hence it follows that the notions of solidity and expansion were both contained in the Hebrew conception of the FIRMAN-FIRST-FRUITS. firmament. The blue ethereal sky was regarded as a solid crystal sphere, to which the stars were fixed (compare the cœlo affica sidera of Pliny, ii. 39 and xviii. 57), and which was constantly revolving, carrying them with it. This sphere or firmament divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament;' and the theory of the phenomena of rain, &c., was, that there were windows in heaven' i.e., in the firmament, through which, when opened, the waters that were above the firmament descended. The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened,' Gen. vii. 11. The view entertained by the Greeks, and other early nations, was essentially the game. In the progress of astronomical observations, it was found that many of the heavenly bodies had independent motions, inconsistent with the notion of their being fixed to one sphere or firmament. Then the number of crystalline spheres were indefinitely increased, each body that was clearly independent of the rest having one assigned to it, till a complex system was introduced, capable of being fully understood only by the philosophers who formed it. See PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM. It was long before men formed the idea of the possibility of a body being maintained in motion in space without a fixed support, and considering the number of phenomena of which the hypothesis of a crystalline firmament offered an apparent explanation, we must regard it as having been in its day a curious and ingenious speculation. FI'RMAN, a word of Persian origin, signifies an order, and is used by the Turks to denote any official decree emanating from the Ottoman Porte. The right of signing any firman relating to affairs connected with his special department is exercised by every minister and member of the divan, but the office of placing at the head of the firman the thograi-a cipher containing the name of the sultan in interlaced letters, and which alone gives effect to the decree-is committed to the hands of a special minister, who is called nichandji-effendi. The name applied to such decrees as have been signed by the sultan himself is hatti-sherif. The name firman may also signify a more formal kind of Turkish passport, which can only be granted by the sultan or by a pasha.-A written permission to trade is called in India a firman. was equally regarded as devoted to God. The first. born of clean animals, if free from blemish, was to be delivered to the priests within twelve months after birth, to be sacrificed to the Lord (Deut. xv. 21: nor was it permitted to any but the priests to partake of the flesh of such victims (Num. xviii. 18). If the animal were blemished, it was not to be sacrificed, but to be eaten at home (Deut. xv. 22). The first-born of unclean animals, not being a fit subject for sacritice, was either to be put to death, or to be redeemed with the addition of one-fifth of its value (Lev. xxvii. 27; Num. xviii. 15). If not redeemed, it was to be sold, and the price given to the priests. 2. Primogeniture, both by the patriarchal and by the Mosaic law, had certain privileges attached to it, the chief of which were the headship of the family, and a double portion of the inheritance. Before the time of Moses, however, it was in the power of the father to decide which among all his sons should be considered the first-born. Moses ordained that the right should invariably belong to the first-born in point of time. Among other nations, considerable variety existed as to the succession of children to the inheritance of their parent. The Greeks, especially the Athenians, excluded the females of a family so rigorously from the inheritance, that in the event of a father dying intestate and without heirs-male of his body, the nearest male kinsman succeeded to the estate. The later Romans, on the contrary, placed daughters on the same footing with sons as to the division of intestate property. The Mohammedans gave the daughters a certain share of the father's estate, but only one-half of that assigned to the sons. All the nations of Germanic descent restricted the succession, especially in land, to heirs-male. But the Visigoths in Spain admitted females, except in certain contingencies. &c. law are noticed under SUCCESSION, PRIMOGENITURE, The rights of the first-born in English and Scotch the Revolution, in common with many other relics In France, the law of primogeniture fell at of the feudal system. How far the results of the change have been beneficial, is still a moot-question among political economists. In the state of Virginia, also, after the American revolution, a similar change took place; and that the change has been in accordance with public opinion in that state may be inferred from the fact, that a parent now commonly makes, by will, the same disposition of his property as that which would be provided by the law itself in the case of his dying intestate. FIRST-BORN (Heb. Bekor, Gr. prototokos, Lat. primogenitus), in scriptural use, signifies the first male offspring, whether of man or of other animals. By a principle of the Mosaic law, and indeed of the FIRST-FRUITS (Heb. reshith, Gr. protogennecommon law of nature, it was established that the mata and aparchai, Lat. primitia), that portion of firstlings of all the produce of creatures, whether the fruits of the earth and other natural produce, animate or inanimate, were in some sense due to which, by the usage of the Jews and other ancient the Creator as a recognition of His supreme nations, was offered to God, as an acknowledg dominion. See FIRST-FRUITS. Under the title ment of His supreme dominion, and a thanksgiving arising from this recognition are to be classed many for His bounty. Among the Jews, the institution observances regarding the first-born of animate of first-fruits comprised both public and private beings, whether rational or irrational, which pre-offerings. vailed among eastern nations generally, or which are specially established by the Mosaic law: 1. The first-born male, whether of men or of animals, was devoted from the time of birth to God. In the case of first-born maie children, the law required that, within one month after birth, they should be redeemed by an offering not exceeding in value five shekels of silver (Exod. xiii. 13). If the child died before the expiration of thirty days, the obligation of redemption ceased; but if that term were completed, the obligation was not extinguished by the subsequent death of the infant. This redemption took place according to a fixed ceremonial. The firstborn male of animals also, whether clean or unclean, Of the former class, there were three principal offerings: the first was at the opening of the cornharvest. On the day after the Passover Sabbath, the 16th of the month Nisan, a sheaf of new corn, which was cut and gathered with much solemnity, was carried to the Holy Place, and there waved before the altar (Lev. xxiii. 5 and foll.); nor was it permitted to commence the harvest-work till after this solemn acknowledgment of the gift of fruitfulness. Again, at the Feast of Pentecost, two loaves of leavened bread, made from the flour of the new harvest, were waved, with a similar form of worship, before the altar (Ex. xxxiv. 22). Thirdly, at the Feast of Tabernacles, in the 7th month, was held FIRTH-FISCHART. the great feast of the gathered-in harvest, the final acknowledgment of the bounty of God in the fruits of the year (xxiii. 16). similar change was introduced in Ireland by the Besides these public offerings of first-fruits on the part of the entire people, individual Jews were bound to private offerings, each upon his own behalf. 1. A cake of the first dough of the year was to be offered to the Lord (Num. xv. 21). 2. The first of all the fruits' were to be placed in a basket, and carried to the appointed place, where the basket was to be offered with a prescribed form of words, commemorative of the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, and of his deliverance by the strong hand (Deut. xxvi. 2 and foll.). All these offerings were divided into two classes-the first, which were called Bicurim, comprised the various kinds of raw produce, of which, although the law seems to contemplate all fruits, seven sorts only were considered by the Jewish doctors to fall under the obligation of firstfruit offering-viz., wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pome-reading in all the departments of human knowledge. granates, olives, and dates. The law lays down no rule as to the quantity of the first-fruit offering; and it would be tedious to enter into the many questions regarding it which have been raised by the commentators. It was customary for the offerers to make their oblations in companies of twenty-four, and with a singularly striking and effective ceremonial. The second class of first-fruit offerings were called Terumoth, and comprised the produce of the year in the various forms in which it is prepared for human use, as wine, wool, bread, oil, date-honey, dried onions, and cucumbers. As to the quantity of these offerings, and the persons on whom the obligation fell, there are many discussions, for which we must refer to the biblical authorities. Under the kings, and again after the captivity, much laxity crept into the observance of this practice, which Nehemiah laboured to revive in its primitive exactness. Offerings analogous to the Jewish first-fruits became usual very early in the Christian Church, as is clear from a passage in Irenæus (Adv. Hær., b. iv. c. 17 and 34); but the extent to which it prevailed, and the amount and general character of the oblation, are exceedingly uncertain. It appears to have been merged in the legal provision established by the emperors. The medieval ecclesiastical impost known under the name of primitiæ, or first-fruits, and sometimes of annates or annalia, was entirely different. By the word, in its medieval and modern sense, is meant a tax imposed by the popes on persons presented directly by the pope to those benefices which, by the canonical rules, or in virtue of privileges claimed by them, fall within the papal patronage. Persons so presented were required to contribute to the Roman see the first-fruits (that is, the income of the first year) of their benefice. During the residence of the popes at Avignon, when the papal necessities compelled the use of every means for eking out a precarious revenue, the impost was sought to be extended to every benefice and this claim was the subject of many contests, especially in Germany and in England, where the claim, so far as regarded direct papal presentation, had existed from the reign of King John. Henry VIII., by two successive statutes (25 Henry VIII. c. 20, and 26 Henry VIII. c. 3), withdrew the right of first-fruits from the pope, in order to transfer it to the king; and he established a special court for the administration of first-fruits, which, however, was soon disused. .n the reign of Anne, the revenues arising from this impost in England were vested in a Board, to pe applied for the purpose of supplementing the incomes of small benefices (2 Anne, c. 11). A FISCHART, JOHN, a very extraordinary German author, was born either at Mainz or Strasburg, probably about the year 1545. Regarding his life, we know very little. He was by profession a jurist, but his writings exhibit an immense learning and About 1570, he made a journey to England. Towards 1580, he was living at Strasburg in terms of close friendship with the eminent book-printer, Bernhard Jobin. During 1581 and 1582, he was advocate to the Imperial Chamber at Speier, and in 1585 became bailiff of Forbach, where he probably died about 1590. Of the very numerous writings which appeared 1570-1590, partly under his own, and partly under various fictitious names, about fifty have been proved to be on the whole genuine, though disfigured by interpolations. In respect to others, however, the authorship is doubtful. The original editions of almost all F.'s works are extremely rare, but new ones have recently been published. His most celebrated works are based on foreign models, particularly Rabelais, but there is no servile imitation manifested: a free creative genius works plastically on the materials. To this class belong his Aller Praktik Grossmutter (1573), Assentheurlich Naupengehörliche Geschichtklitterung von U. S. W. (1575), Podagrammisch Trostbüchlein (1577), Binenkorb des Heyl. Römischen Imenschwarms (1579), and Der Heilig Brotkorb (1580). These writings are wholly satirical. With the most inexhaustible humour, he lashes, now the corruptions of the clergy, now the astrological fancies, the dull pedantry, or other follies, public and private, of the time. Next to these stands the outrageously comic work of F.'s quite original in its conception-entitled Flöhatz, Weibertratz (1574). Essentially different in its homely and simple tone is his Das glückhaft Schiff von Zürich, written in verse, and published in 1576 (new edition by Halling, 1829). Similar in point of style are his Psalmen und Geistliche Lieder (1576; new edit. Berlin, 1849). The rest of F.'s numerous writings, partly in prose, partly in verse, are of unequal merit, singularly varied in style and contents; the prose works being in general more complete than the poetic. What gives so high a value to F.'s satirical humour, is the warm and genuine feeling which he exhibits for the moral foundations of all public and private life-viz., religion, fatherland,' and the family, a feeling which betrays itself in his wildest mirth. His works are, moreover, one of the richest sources from whence to draw information with regard to the manners of his time. But perhaps the most extraordinary thing about F. is his treatment of the language. No German author can be compared with him, not even Jean Paul Richter himself. He coins new words and turns of expression, without any regard to analogy, but nevertheless displays the greatest fancy, wit, and erudition in his most arbitrary formations. The fullest collection or his writings is in the Royal Library at Berlin. For a critical account of the investigations concering |