Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/203

 F I N F I N 193 soberer tints. 1 Another species of true Fringilla is the Brambling (F. moiitifringilla), which has its home in the birch forests of northern Europe and Asia, whence it yearly proceeds, often in flocks of thousands, to pass the winter in more southern countries. This bird is still more beautifully coloured than the Chaffinch especially in summer, when, the brown edges of the feathers being shed, it presents a rich combination of black, white, and orange. Even in winter, however, its diversified plumage is sufficiently striking. With the exception of the single species of Bullfinch already noticed as occurring in Alaska, all the forms of Finches on which we have dwelt are peculiar to the Palajarctic Region. Consideration of some of the remain ing forms which have been incidentally named is de ferred. (A. N.) FINCH, DANIEL and HENEAGE. Seo NOTTINGHAM, EARLS OF. FINCK, HEINRICII, a celebrated German musical com poser, of whose life little more is known than that he was of Saxon origin, and that between 1492 and 150G lie was chapelmaster to two successive kings of Poland, at whose court in Warsaw he resided. After this he seems to have retired to Wittenberg in Saxony, where he died. The year of his death, like that of his birth, is uncertain. His works, mostly part songs and other vocal compositions, show great musical knowledge, and amongst the early masters of the German school ho holds a high position. They are found scattered amongst ancient and modern collections of songs and other musical pieces. The library of Zwickau possesses a work containing a collection of fifty-five songs by Finck, printed about the middle of the IGth century. FINCK, HERMANN, the nephew of the subject of last notice, has frequently been mistaken for him. The date of his birth (at Pirna in Saxony) also is uncertain, but it has recently been discovered that in 150G he succeeded his uncle in the position of royal chapelmaster to the king of Poland. After 1553 he lived at Wittenberg, and there, in 1555, was published his collection of &quot; wedding songs.&quot; His most celebrated work is entitled Practica nmsica, exempla variorum siynorum, proportionum, et canonum, judicium de tonis ac qucedam de arte suaviter et artijiciose cantandi cotitinens (Wittenberg, 1557). It is of great historic value, but very rare. The Paris library, the Vienna court library, and the Prague library possess a copy each, and there are three or four copies in the royal library at Berlin. FINDEN, WILLIAM (1787-1852), English line engraver, was born in 1787. He served his apprenticeship to one James Mitan, but appears to have owed far more to the influence of James Heath, whose works he privately and earnestly studied. His first employment on his own account was engraving illustrations for books, and among the most noteworthy of these early plates were Smirke s illustrations to Don Quixote. His neat style and smooth finish made his pictures very attractive and popular, and although he executed several large plates, his chief work throughout his life was book illustration. His younger brother, Edward Finden, worked in conjunction with him, and so much demand arose for their productions that ultimately a company of assistants was engaged, and plates were produced in increasing numbers, their quality as works of art declining as their quantity rose. The largest plato executed by William Fiuden was the portrait of King George IV. seated on a sofa, after the painting by Sir 1 This is especially the case with F. teydea of the Canary Islands, which from its dark colouring and large size forms a kind of parallel to the Azorean Pyrrhula murina. Thomas Lawrence. For this work he received two thousand guineas, a sum larger than had ever before been paid for an engraved portrait. The demand for this print was for a time so great that proofs were advertised at a price largely in advance of the publication price. But the reputation of the subject, of the painter, and of the engraver have alike declined. Finden s next works on a large scale were the Highlander s Return and the Village Festival, after Wilkie s well-known works, the latter now forming part of the national collection. These are esteemed as Findeu s happiest works. Later in life lie undertook, in co-operation with his brother, aided by their numerous staff, the publication as well as the production of various galleries of engravings. The first of these, a series of landscape and portrait illustrations to the life and works of Byron, appeared in 1833 and following years, and was a very successful venture. Other attempts of a like kind were less so; and by the last, the most costly, and by far the most deserving of success, both for its subjects and the quality of its workmanship, the Gallery of British Art, he lost the fruits of all his former success. Of this Gallery fifteen parts were published between 1838 and 1840. Finden s last undertaking was an engraving on a largo scale of Hilton s Crucifixion, which was completed just before his death. The plate was bought by the Art Union for .1470. A few days before his death this industrious engraver joined with a few of his brothers in art in a petition to the queen for the admission of engravers to the honours of the Royal Academy. He died in London, unmarried, September 20, 1852. FINE, in law, is a pecuniary penalty inflicted for the less serious offences. Fines are necessarily discretionary as to amount; but a maximum is generally fixed when the penalty is imposed by statute. And it is an old constitu tional maxim that fines must not be unreasonable. In Magua Charta, c. Ill, it is ordained &quot; Liber homo non amercietur pro parvo delicto nisi secimdum modum ipsius delicti, et pro magno delicto secundum magniiudinem delicti. &quot; The term is also applied to payments made to the lord of a manor on the alienation of land held according to the custom of the manor, to payments made on the renewal of leases granted by ecclesiastical and other corporations, and to other similar payments. Fine also denotes a fictitious suit at law, which played the part of a conveyance of landed property. &quot;A fine,&quot; says Blackstonc, &quot; may be described to be an amicable composi tion or agreement of a suit, either actual or fictitious, by leave of the king or his justices, whereby the lands in question become or are acknowledged to be the right of one of the parties. In its original it was founded on an actual suit commenced at law for the recovery of the pos session of land or other hereditaments ; and the possession thus gained by such composition was found to be so sure and effectual that fictitious actions were and continue to bo every day commenced for the sake of obtaining the same security.&quot; Freehold estates could thus be transferred from one person to another without the formal delivery of pos session which was generally necessary to a feoffment. This is one of the oldest devices of the law. A statute of 18 Edward I. describes it as the most solemn and satis factory of securities, and gives a reason for its name &quot; Qui quidem finis sic vocatur, eo quod finis et consummatio omnium placitorum esse debet, et hac de causa provi- debatur.&quot; The action was supposed to be founded on a breach of covenant : the defendant, owning himself in the wrong, 2 makes overtures of compromise, which are author- - Hence culled cogni cocjnizee. izor; the other r ar ty, the purchaser, is the IX. 25