Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/314

 302 F L E F L E sermons of Fle chier increased his reputation, which was afterwards raised to the highest pitch by his funeral orations. Having been chosen to pronounce that of Madame de Montausier (1672), he displayed so great ability on the occasion that in the following year he was made a member of the French Academy, along with Racine. The funeral oration of the Duchesse d Aiguillon (1675), and, above all, that of Turenno (1676), are, with that of Madame de Montausier, his masterpieces in that branch of literature. The favours of the court now poured in upon Fl6chicr. The king gave him successively the abbacy of St Leverin, in the diocese of Poitiers, the office of almoner to the dauphiness, and in 1685 the bishopric of Lavaur, from which he was in 1687 promoted to that of Nismes. Here Flechier had occasion for the daily exercise of his great qualities, gentleness and moderation. The edict of Nantes had been repealed two years before ; but the Calvin- ists were still very numerous at Nismes, and the sincerity of the conversion of such as had made abjuration was at best but doubtful. Fle chier, by his prudent conduct, in which zeal was tempered with charity, succeeded in bring ing over some of them to his views, and made himself esteemed and beloved even by those who declined to change their faith. During the troubles in the C&amp;lt;vennes, he softened to the utmost of his power the rigour of the edicts, and showed himself so sensible of the evils of persecution, and so indulgent even to what he regarded as error, that his memory was long held in veneration amongst the Protestants of that district. In the famine which succeeded the winter of 1709, he did much to alleviate the prevalent distress, by assisting the poor in his diocese without regard to their religious tenets, declaring that all alike were his children. He died at Montpellier on the 16th February 1710, at the advanced age of seventy-eight. Pulpit eloquence is the branch of belles lettres in which Fle chier excelled. He is indeed far below Bossuet, whose robust and sublime genius had no rival in that age; he does not equal Bourdaloue in earnestness of thought and vigour of expression ; nor can he rival the philosophical depth or the insinuating and impressive eloquence of Massillon. But he is always ingenious, often witty, and nobody has carried further than he the harmony of diction,- a quality which is sometimes marred, it must be confessed, by an affecta tion of symmetry and a love of antithesis at variance with the principles of good taste. His two historical works, the histories of Theodosius and of Ximenes, are more re markable for elegance of style than for the accuracy and comprehensive insight which are the chief requisites of a historian. The following is a list of Flechier s Avorks, in the order of pub lication: 1. La Vie du Cardinal Commendon, Paris, 1671, 4to (also published in Latin, 1699, 12mo) ; 2. Histoire de Theodosc-lc- Grand, Paris, 1679, 4to ; 3. DC Casibus J irorum Illustrium autorc Antonio Maria Gratia.no, opera et studio ftp. Flcchcrii, Paris, 1680, 4to ; 4. Oraisons funebres, Paris, 1681, 4to and 12mo ; 5. Pane- gyriqucs des Saints, Paris, 1690, 4to ; 6. Histoire du Cardinal Ximcncs, Paris, 1694, 4to ; 7. Sermons de morale prccMs devant le lioi, avcc des Discours synodaux et Ics Sermons prchs par Flechier aux Etats de Languedoc et dans sa cathedralc, 3 vols. 12mo ; 8. (Em-res posthumcs, contcnant scs Harangues, Compliments, Discours, Poesies Latincs, Fo6sics francaises, Paris, 1712, 12mo ; 9. Mande- menls ct Lettres pastorales, Paris, 1712, 12mo ; 10. Lettres choisics sur divers sujcts, Paris, 1715, 2 vols. 12mo. The most complete collection of his works is that of the .Abbe Ducrenx, canon of Auxerre, Nismes, 1782, 10 vols. 8vo. Another edition, with a notice of his life by A. V. Fabre of Narbonne, Paris, 1825--28, 10 vols. 8vo, is very defective. His MAmoires sur les Grands Jours d Auvcrgne were published in 1844 (2d edit., with a Notice by Sainte-Beuve and an appendix by M. Chemel, Paris, 1862). A MS. in the French National Library (Suppl. fr., No. 1016, fol.) contains a few compositions by Flechier, both in prose and in verse, which are as yet unpublished. For Flechier s biography, see L. Juillard du Jarry, Oraison funebre d E. Flechier, Ivfque de Nimcs, Paris, 1710, 4 to ; Ch. F. Trinquclague, Elogc d E. Flechier, eveque de Nimcs, Nismes and Paris, 1777, 8vo, FLECKNOE, RICHARD, a poet and dramatic writer in the reign of Charles II. He was an Irishman by birth, and was originally a priest of the order of Jesus. Like many of the small wits and minor poets of that day, Fiecknoe owes the rescue of his name from oblivion to the satirical genius of Dryden. That satirist availed himself of Flecknoe s name as a stalking horse from behind which to assail the poetaster Shadwell, who had been appointed to replace him in the laureateship. The opening lines of this satire may be quoted as a specimen of the whole : &quot; All human things are subject to decay ; And when fate summons, monarchs must obey. This Fiecknoe found, who, like Augustus, young Was called to empire, and had governed long ; In prose and verse was owned without dispute Throughout the realms of nonsense absolute.&quot; It is but fair, however, to remark, that clever and effect ive as this poem is, it is in its application to Fiecknoe utterly unjust. Fiecknoe was the author of several plays, only one of which, Love s Dominion, printed in 1654, was acted. This piece was republished in 167-4, as Love s Kingdom, a Pastoral Tratje-Comedy. This was not the play as acted, but as re-written and corrected. His minor pieces, though possessing no great merit in the matter of versification, nevertheless contain many happy turns of thought and felicities of expression. His Damoise/les a IK Mode, printed in 1677, and addressed to the duke and duchess of Newcastle, and Sir W. DavtnanCs Voyage to the Other World, are a witty exposure of the literary and dramatic foibles of the day. The characters of the first named, he says in his preface, are &quot; like so many precious stones I have brought out of France, and as a lapidary set in one jewel to adorn our English stage.&quot; They are adaptations from Moliere. His unpopularity among the players, and the satire of Dryden, upon whom, nevertheless, Fiecknoe composed a witty and graceful epigram, must have been in a great measure owing to his attacks on the immorality and general worthlessness of the English stage. An interesting but almost unknown production of Flecknoe s is The Idea of His Highness Oliver late Lord Protector, &amp;lt;fec., London, 1659, an appreciative estimate of Cromwell s character, as evidenced in his parliamentary career and his achievements as soldier and statesman. Fiecknoe died in 1678. His principal remaining works xt&Ermina, or the Chaxte Lady ; The Marriage of Occanus and Britannia; Epigrams and Enigmatical Characters, 1670, in 8vo ; Miscellanea, or poems of all torts, with divers other pieces, 1653, in 12mo ; Diarium, or the Journal, divided into twelve Jornadas, in burlesque verse, London, 1656, in 12mo. See also his Discourse of the English Stage, first published in the volume for 1869 of the Roxburgh Library, edited by Mr W. C. Hazlitt. FLEETWOOD, or FLEETWOOD-ON-WYRK, a market- town, watering-place, -and seaport of Lancashire, England, 22 miles by rail from Preston. It dates its rise from 1836, and takes its name from Sir P. H. Fleetwood, by whom it was laid out. The principal buildings are St Peter s church, the Roman Catholic church, the Whitworth institute, and the Euston barracks, which have quarters for 300 men and 60 officers. The harbour is -safe and ex tensive, and the shipping accommodation was increased in 1877 by the completion of a new dock, with an area of 10 acres and a maximum depth of 34 feet. Steamers ply regularly from Fleetwood to Belfast and the Isle of Man. The value of the imports in!87Gwas 162,984 aud^of the exports of British produce 507. Population in 1871, 4428. FLEETWOOD, CHARLES, lord-deputy of Ireland under the Commonwealth, and son-in-law of Cromwell, was born most probably in 1620. Entering the ranks of the parlia mentary forces, he rose in 1644 to the rank of colonel of horse, and in 1645 was appointed governor of Bristol. At