Page:Imperialdictiona02eadi Brandeis.pdf/358

FAR fashion, not of taste; and the very partisans who had raved about Farinelli as indispensable to earthly happiness, in turn regarded him with indifference, and left him to exhaust his sweetness on deserted benches. He made a visit to Paris in the autumn of 1736, and returned thither after another season in London, in the following July, when he excited the same enthusiasm, though not the same extravagant manifestation of of it, as before. It would seem that he was not disgusted by the coolness into which the London frenzy had subsided; for before leaving, he signed articles to return the following year. An unexpected circumstance, however, which changed the course of his career, induced him to throw up his engagement. Philip of Spain was in a condition bordering upon imbecility, from which nothing could rouse him to the cares of the state, or even to decent attention to his own person. The queen having failed in countless attempts to revive his energies, thought, as a last resource, that these might be excited by the effect of music, to the influence of which he had always been susceptible. She accordingly invited Farinelli to Madrid, in the hope that his transcendent powers might accomplish that object. The scheme was successful. The king heard, and was enchanted, and submitted himself so implicitly to the will of the singer, who exercised his art as a spell upon him that the presence of Farinelli became indispensable, not only to the domestic happiness of the royal family, but to the well-being of the nation, he was engaged, therefore, at a salary equal to £3000 a year, with the condition that he should not sing in public, but should reserve the exercise of his talent for the exclusive gratification of the kingly ear. For ten years he sang nightly the same four songs to his patron, who repaid the pleasure these afforded him by conferring on the vocalist the order of St. Iago, placing him above every one else in his favour. It is no little honour to a man thus singularly elevated to a rank and responsibility for which he was alike unprepared by birth and education, and which laid him open to the jealousy and resentment of all those who might have supposed him a usurper of their prerogatives, that he won the unqualified respect and esteem of all classes of men, and was never envied the power he possessed, nor blamed for the use of it. This high character of him is confirmed by the fact, that on the death of Philip in 1747, his successor, Ferdinand VI., retained Farinelli in all his authority, and some years later conferred on him the order of Calatrava. It has been stated that Farinelli was appointed prime minister of Spain, which is, however, disproved; but in being this king's acknowledged adviser in all state matters, he held a power superior to that of the minister himself. For the gratification of his second royal master he instituted an Italian opera at the court, for which he engaged his friends Amiconi and Metastasio to contribute the aid of their various talents. This seems to have been the only occasion on which he met the latter, from the time of his quitting Italy till his death—a period of half a century; and yet their friendship, their interest in each other, their mutual confidence, was unshaken to the end. Ferdinand died in 1759, and was succeeded by Charles III., whose politics and whose tastes were diametrically opposite to those of the two preceding sovereigns. Farinelli now retired from a station which was never filled by any other of his profession in the whole course of history, without an aspersion on his character, without a reproach upon his good fortune. The king banished him from Spain, but continued his salary for life; this, however, under the restriction that he should never return to his native country of Naples, supposing that he might there exert some political influence, since he had always opposed the Spanish relationship with France and Naples into which Charles had entered. Farinelli went to Italy and visited the pope, who received him with great distinction. After travelling for two years, he settled at Bologna, where he built himself a princely palace, in which he spent the remaining twenty years of his life, enjoying ease and luxury and universal good opinion. He formed here the friendship of Padre Martini; but did not, as has been alleged, engage this famous musical scholar to write his history of music, since the first volume of that work was published five years before Farinelli made his acquaintance. Having ceased to sing, he amused himself by playing on the harpsichord and viol d'amore, and writing some pieces for these instruments. He collected a large number of valuable pianofortes and harpsichords, and decorated his saloon with portraits of the many princes in whose service he had been engaged, and of the many vocalists with whom he had competed during his career.—G. A. M.  FARINELLI,, a musician, supposed to have been related by the mother's side to the family of the famous singer, was born at Este in 1774; and died most likely at Turin, where he was appointed maestro di capella in 1819. He wrote a very great number of operas, which had an ephemeral success, but which were direct imitations of the style of Cimarosa.—G. A. M.  FARINGDON,, an English divine, was born at Sunning, Berkshire, in 1596. He studied at Trinity college, Oxford, of which he became a fellow in 1617. He rose to great celebrity, both as a preacher and as a tutor in the college. In 1634 he received the degree of B.D., was appointed vicar of Bray, near Maidenhead in Berks, and shortly afterwards divinity-reader in the king's chapel at Windsor. During the civil commotions he was denuded of office and plunged into deep poverty. He was afterwards appointed to the pastorate of St. Mary Magdalene in London, where he preached with great acceptance to the loyalists. He published a folio volume of sermons in 1647. He died in September, 1658. His executors published a second and third folio volume of sermons. He left a manuscript history of John Hales of Eaton, his companion in toil and tribulation, but it was never published.—J. L. A.  * FARINI, (Il Cavaliere), governor of the Æmilian provinces in 1860, was born at Russi, a small town in the Roman states, on the 22nd of October, 1822. He completed his medical studies in the university of Bologna; and in a few years he published numerous treatises on various diseases, and contributed many articles to medical periodicals that are still cited as authorities. On account of his well-deserved popularity and liberal tendencies, he became suspected by the papal government; and having been obliged to leave the Roman states to avoid persecution and imprisonment, he visited the other provinces of Italy and France, occupying himself particularly in medical pursuits. At the elevation of Pius IX. to the pontifical chair, Farini profited by the general amnesty, and accepted the professorship of pathology offered him by the city of Osimo in 1847. The papal government having been partly secularized, Farini was called to fill the place of under-secretary of state under Mamiani's administration; and some months after, he was sent as minister-extraordinary to Carlo Alberto of Piedmont. The city of Faenza elected him a member to the federal chamber, and the ill-fated Count Rossi appointed Farini director-general of public health and general-inspector of the government prisons. During the Roman republic in 1849 Farini abstained from taking any part in the government, and withdrew to Florence. Rome being occupied by the French troops, Farini presented himself to the three cardinals then intrusted with the government of the Roman states, offering his services; but he was discarded, and obliged to seek shelter and protection on the Sardinian soil, where Cavour offered him the portfolio of minister of public instruction. The important services rendered by Farini to the cause of Italy were rewarded by the king, who created him a knight, and bestowed on him many signal proofs of his royal favour. Elected a member of the Piedmontese house of commons, Farini spoke often in favour of liberal views, and contributed many excellent articles in the Piemonte—a journal which he was editing at that time. As a historian his memoirs on the events of Romagna, and the continuation of Botta's History of Italy, have secured to him an imperishable fame. As an orator no contemporary could compete with him in the art of stirring the passions of an impressionable popular audience. In 1859 Farini was sent as royal commissioner to Modena, in which city he won the admiration of all classes by his moderate and yet firm policy; and the house of deputies proclaimed him dictator of the Modenese provinces. Parma and the Romagnas soon followed the example; and now Farini has been recognized as governor of the provinces of Central Italy. Kind in disposition elegant in manners, liberal in his views, governing with firmness, yet averse to all kinds of oppressive measures, just to all, and easy of access, Farini is the idol of the people, and has proved himself well worthy of the unlimited confidence and unrestricted power with which his fellow-citizens have invested him.—A. C. M.  FARMER,, a dissenting minister, was born in 1714, in a village near Shrewsbury. He received the rudiments of his education in Llanegrin, Merionethshire, in a school founded by two of his own relations. He was afterwards placed under the care of Dr. Owen of Warrington, and in 1730 under Dr. Doddridge. On completing his academical curriculum, he became domestic chaplain to William Coward, Esq., Essex, and 