To finish highly, to polish; to cleanse, to puArify, to brighten, to embellish; to render or make clear, bright or brilliant, elegant or beautiful.

Upon the right hand went old Egeus,
And on that other side Duk Theseus,
With vessels in hire hond of gold ful fine,
All full of hony, milk, and blood, and wine.

Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. 2909. Margarite is ingendered by heauenly dewe, and sheweth in it self by fineness of colour, whether the engendrure were maked on morowe or on eue.-Id. Test. of Loue, b. ii.

[Gold] is assayed by the fire to thintente it may thenceforth

bee had in so muche the more price as it is the more exactly

fyned: much more will God haue your faith, wherunto so high honour of duetie belongeth, to be tried with sondry experimentes, to thintent that whan it shal glister out of these flames of sorowes and afflictions, and being farre more pure and more glittering than any golde though it be neuer so fyne, it may be precious in the sight of God, &c. Udal. 1 Peter, c. 1. For they that be clothed in fyne lynnen, and silkes, be in kynges palaces, who were commonly infected with excesse and ryot, and delicate lyuyng.-Id. Matt. c. 11.

There was a certayne ryche man, whiche was clothed in purple and fyne bysse, and fared deliciously euerye day. Bible, 1551. Matt. c. 26.

For in that poinct could be none other coloure, but to pretende that his awne mother was an auoutresse, but neuerthelesse he would that poinct should be lesse and more fynely & closely handled.-Hall. Edw. V.

By fourme is vnderstand grossenesse, fynenesse, thicknesse, or thinnesse.-Sir T. Elyot. Castel of Helth, b. ii.

To professe Christ, is not an ydle nor a delicate fine-fyngred matter, it requireth watching, attendaunce, and dylygent cōtinuance.-Udal. Timothy, c. 4.

But commonly it is held, and for certaine affirmed, that the best Spodos for the eyes, is that which commeth in the furnaces where gold is fined.-Holland. Plin. b. xxxiv. c. 13.

This legal reason is summa ratio; and therefore, if all the reason that is dispersed into so many several heads were united into one, yet could he not make such a law as the law of England is, because by many successions of ages it hath been fined and refined by an infinite number of grave and learned men.-Hobbs. Dial. on the Laws of England.

'Tis he our lambs doth reare,

Our flocks doth blesse, and from the store doth give
The warme and finer fleeces that we weare.

B. Jonson. Hymn to Pan.

Binde your fillets fast
And gird in your waste,
For more fineness, with a tawdrie lace.
Spenser. Shepheard's Calendar. April.
What they in largeness have, that bear themselves so high,
In my most perfect form, and delicacy, I

For greatness of my grain and fineness of my grass;
This isle hath scarce a vale, that Ringdale doth surpass.
Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 21.

The beech serves for various uses of the house-wife-not to omit even the very shavings for the fining of wines. Evelyn. Silva, c. 5.

Methinks I see thee, spruce and fine,
With coat embroider'd richly shine,
And dazzle all the idol faces

As through the hall thy worship paces.

Swift. Horace, b. ii. Ode 1.

Poor 1, a savage bred and born,
By you instructed every morn,
Already have improv'd so well
That I have almost learnt to spell !
The neighbours who come here to dine,
Admire to hear me speak so fine.

Id. A Panegyrick on the Dean. Here is the Majesty of the heroic finely mixed with the venom of the other; and raising the delight which otherwise would be flat and vulgar, by the sublimity of the expression.-Dryden. Origin and Progress of Satire.

Let him declaim as wittily and sharply as he pleases, yet still the nicest and most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery.-Id. Dedication to Juvenal.

The fine original of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk with the staves of Earl Marshall and Lord Treasurer, from whence the print is taken, is at Leicester-house.

Walpole. Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i. c. 4. The character of his Majesty's bluff hautiness (by Hans Holbein) is well represented, and all the heads are finely executed.-Id. Ib.

I therefore must beg of you to procure me some Irish linen to make me four dozen of shirts, much about the same fineness and price of the last which you got me.

Chesterfield. Miscell. vol. iv. Let. 69.

Savage nations being passionately fond of show and finery, and having no object but their naked bodies, on which to exercise this disposition, have in all times painted, or cut their skins, according to their ideas of ornament.

Burke. Abridgement of English History, b. i. c. 11.

Should I be thought in some places to have run on too fine-spun argumentations or in others drawn too strongcoloured figures, for any body's liking: let him be good natured enough to suppose, that were we to discourse over this subject in private, and he would let me know his taste, I should endeavour to conform myself thereto. Search. Light of Nature, vol. ii. pt. iii. c. 30. FINE, v. Lat. Finis. Spelman (after enuFINE, n. merating the various legal usages FINABLE. of the word) says, "In none of these significations was the word known to our countrymen ante seculum Normanicum." See the first quotation from Rastall; and Finis in Du Cange.

Any thing (as a sum of money) paid at the end, to make an end, termination or conclusion of a suit, of a prosecution; a mulet or penalty.

Muche robberye me dude aboute in euerych toun And bounde men & enprisonede, vorte hii fynede raunson. R. Gloucester, p. 463. The whiche precept obseruyd, and a 12 or 16 of the chief of them sent vnto Newgate, the sayd rumour was anone ceasyd; of the whiche prysoners some were after fyned, and some punysshed by longe imprysonmēt.

Fabyan. Cronycle, vol. iv. an. 1541. Which neuer asked litle, but euery thig was hawsed aboue the mesure; amercemetes turned into fines, fines into raŭsomes, smal trespas to misprisio, misprisio into treson. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 62.

For as much as fines levied in our court ought & do make an end of al sutes, and thereof are called fines, chiefly when after waging of battel, or the great assise in their cases, they holde the last and finall place for ever, &c.

Rastall. Statutes, fol. 173. Statute of Edw. V. c. 1. And if he then confesse the treueth, & al that he shall be examined of and knoweth in that behalfe: that then the same offeces of hunting by him done, be against the king but trespasse finable.—Id. Ib. fol. 170. Stat. of H. VII. c. 7.

If one bee found dead in a street or house, the master of the house, or the parish, must find out the murtherer; otherwise he himself shall be accused of it, and the whole contado shall be fined, and likewise in case of robberie.

Purchas. Pilgrimage, b. iii. c. 10. s. 1.
Make him high, let him rule,
He'll be playing the fool,

And transgress, then we'll squeeze
Him for fines, and for fees.-Brome. Royalist's Answer.

So, two years after, Tracy's heirs sued him for it, and he was turned out of his office of chancellor, and fined in four hundred pound.-Burnet. Hist. of Reformation, an. 1534.

But that also at length they unwillingly yielded unto: styling him in their submission by the title of "Protector and supreme Head of the English Church," and paying a lusty fine.-Strype. Memorials. Hen. VIII. an. 1532.

But in the case propounded by me, where it is possible in that special manner, the jury may find against the direction of the Court in matter of Law, it will not follow they are therefore finable.-State Trials. E. Bushell, an. 1670.

He ridiculed the three rights to fine the subordinate Princes that Mr. Hastings had, in his defence, laid claim to. Fox. Speeches, June 13, 1786.

Some landlords, instead of raising the rent, take a fine for the renewal of the lease. This practice is, in most cases, the expedient of a spendthrift, who for a sum of ready money sells a future revenue of much greater value. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 2.

FINE'SSE. Fr. Finesse; It. Finezza. See FINE'SSING, n. S FINE. Fine-ness or re-fine-ment,-nicety, polish, policy, to an excess; and thus, guile or wiliness, cunning, subtilty.

With no reason on earth to go out of his way,

He [Garrick] turned and he varied full ten times a day: Though secure of our hearts, yet confoundedly sick,If they were not his own by finessing and trick. Goldsmith. Retaliation

And lest the colourable reasons, offered in argument against this Parliamentary procedure, should be mistaken for the real motives of their conduct, all the advantage f privilege, all the arts and finesses of pleading, and great sums of public money were lavished, to prevent any dec sion upon those practices in the Courts of Justice. Burke. On a late State of the Nation

My word, my workes, is knit so in your bod
That as an harp obeyeth to the hond
And make it soune after his fingering,
Right so mowe ye out of mine hart bring
Such voice, right as you list, to laugh or pain.
Id. The Legend of Good Women, Prel
What should I stand vpon the rest
or other partes depaint:
As little hand with fingers long?

my wits are all to faint.-Turbervile. Praise of a Lai Or els the minstrelsye of lutes, pypes, harpes, and other that standeth by such nyce, fine minakin ángerty i farre more fitte for the womanishness of it to dwel in courte among ladyes, than for any greate thinge in it, wh should help good and sad studye to abide in the univers. among scholers.-Ascham. The Schole of Shooting.

For so should every man's house equally feele the soc and part of that benefit, and the hands of idle perso remaining at home in the town, greedie now of riff ag who would be fingring of pillage, should not pluck frem t hardie warriors their due rewards.-Holland. Litica, p. 1

That there was not a nymph to jollity inclin'd,
Or of the woody brood, or of the watʼry kind,
But at their fingers' ends, thy Ribble's song could say
Drayton. Poly-Olbica, &. I
[So] the weak child, that from the mother's wing
Is taught the lute's delicious fingering:
At ev'ry string's soft touch is mov'd with fear,
Noting his master's curious list'ning ear,
Whose trembling hand at ev'ry strain bewrays
In what doubt he his new-set lesson plays.

Id. Mrs. Shore to King Edward

A certain minstrell or musician had plaid before him on time as he sate at supper, and the King would seem to rect him in some points, yea, and begin to reason and ente into sad disputation with him about the stroke and true gering of certain instruments: now God forbid (quot he King, that you should come to so low an ebbe and hard tune as to be more skilfull in these matters then I am Holland. Plutarch, F

All the politicks of the great
Are like the cunning of a cheat,
That lets his false dice freely run,
And trusts them to themselves alone,
But never lets a true one stir
Without some fingering trick or slur.

Butler. Miscellaneous Thoug The goods and chattles of Colleges and Chantries, in siderable proportions, came into his hands for the Ki use; which, it may be presumed, he having the fingering

Strype. Memorials. Ede. IV. an. 155 Hard as it was, beginning to relent,

It seem'd the breast beneath his fingers bent;
He felt again; his fingers made a print,
'Twas flesh, but flesh so firm, it rose against the 't
Dryden. Ovid. Metam. b
Through every interval, now low, now high,
Swift o'er the stops his fingers seem'd to fly:
The youths, who heard such music with surprise,
Gaz'd on the tunefull bard with wandring eyes.
Jones Arcad

FINGLE-FANGLE, i. e. fangle-fangle. S

FAngle.

And, though we're all so near of kindred As th' outward man is to the inward, We agree in nothing, but to wrangle About the slightest fingle-fangle.-Hudibras, pt. ii. c. & FINIAL. From the Lat. Finis, an end. Suetonius it seems applied by Holland to th

FIR

ridge; in Pliny, to a bounding or terminating edge. It is now chiefly used for the Gothic ornament which finishes a pediment, pinnacle, &c.

And among the enemies spoiles, hee set up a navall coronet, and fastened it to the finial [fastigio] of his house Palatine, hard by another civick guirland, in token and memoriall of the ocean by him sailed over and subdued. Holland. Suetonius, p. 162.

His invention it was to set up gargils or antiques at the top of a gavill end, as a finiall to the crest tiles [personas tegularum extremis imbricibus] which in the beginning he called Protypa.-Id. Plinie, b. xxxv. c. 12.

Another between the same persons, for making and setting up the finyalls of the buttresses of the church.

Walpole. Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i. c. 4.

At nineteen he [Enoch Zeeman] painted his own portrait in the fnical manner of Denner, and executed the heads of an old man and woman in the same style afterwards.

Walpole. Anecdotes of Painting, vol. iv. c. 1. Nor had Gribelin any thing of greatness in his manner or capacity: his works have no more merit than finicalness, and that not in perfection, can give them.

Id. Ib. vol. v. Engravers.

FINISH. See FINE.
FIPPLE. Lat. Fibula, a clasp or fastener.
A stopper, (sc.) of a wind instrument.

Note again that some kind of wind instruments are blown at a small hole in the side, which straitneth the breath of the first entrance; the rather, in respect of their traverse, and stop above the hole, which performeth the fipple's part; as it is seen in flutes, and fifes, which will not give sound, by a blast at the end, as recorders, &c.

Bacon. Naturall Historie, s. 116.

FIR. A. S. Fuhr-wudu; Lat. Pinus, a pine trec. Somner, Skinner, and Junius, Abies; Dut. VueSkinner says, Perhaps from Fire, (Dut. Vuyr;) wood which may easily be set on fire.

ren.

But how the fire was maked up on highte,

And eke the names how the trees highte,

As oak, fir, birch, &c.-Chaucer. Knightes Tale, v. 2923.

A huge horse made, hye raised like a hill,
By the diuine science of Minerua:
Of clouen firre compacted were his ribbs.

Surrey. Virgile. Eneis, b. ii.

And there wyll I cut downe the hye cedre trees & the fayrest fyre trees.-Bible, 1551. Of Esaye, c. 38.

There is great ods betweene fir trees, in regard of diverse countres and nations, where they grow. The best are those of the Alpes and Apennine hils. Holland. Plinie, b. xvi. c. 39.

With cord and canvass, from rich Hamburgh sent,
His navy's molted wings he imps once more:

Tall Norway fir, their masts in battle spent,
And English oak, sprung leaks and planks restore.
Dryden. Annus Mirabilis.

On Lebanon the sacred cedar waves
And spiry fir-tree, where the stork conceals

Her clam'rous young.

FIRE, v.

FIRE, n.

FIRELESS.

Hart, Ps. 104.

A. S. Fir, fyr ; Dut. Vuyr,
Ger. Feuer; Gr. Пup, a

vier; Phrygian word, according to Plato. FIRER. "Consider, says Socrates, whether F:'RING, n. this name, Tup, is not of Barbaric FIERY. origin; for it is by no means FIERINESS. easy to adapt this to the Greek tongue; and it is manifest, that the Phrygians thus denominate fire, with a certain trifling deviation," (Plato, in Cratylo, by Taylor.) It is difficult to suppose that our northern progenitors had no name for the element of fire, until they borrowed it from the Greeks; it is more probable that there was some common origin for both the Greek and Saxon in the northern languages.

FIR

To ignite, to kindle, to burn; (met.) to warm, to heat, to inflame, to animate.

Fire, n. (met.) that which warms, inflames, heats, animates, inspirits; gives or causes life, vivacity, or liveliness, ardour, fervour, vigour. Fire-new,-new from the fire or forge. Fire is much used prefixed.

Seththe the luther emperour hadde in his herte joie, To thenche on fyur, that was in the bataile of Troie, Tho me barnde gret townes & courtes day & nygt, And thogte yt was mury joie, to se so fair alygt. R. Gloucester, p. 69. In which enetid [evening-tide] appered in the west ii. sterres of fuyry colour, on lite that other gret. Id. p. 484. Note. Wilde fire thei kast, the kyng to confound. R. Brunne, p. 170. And then falleth the fur. on false menne houses. Piers Plouhman, p. 43. He that seith, fool, schal be gilty unto the fire of helle. Wiclif. Matt. c. 5. But whosoeuer sayeth thou foole, shall be in daunger of hell fyre.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

And so I saygh horsis in visioun, and thei that saaten on hem hadden firi harburiouns.-Wiclif. Apocalips, c. 9.

And thus I sawe the horses in a vysyon and them that sate on them, hauyng fyry habergions.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

If both the herts love hath fired
Joy and wo they shal depart

And take euenly ech his part.-Chaucer. Rom. of the R.
She was so ful of turment and of rage,
That wilfully into the fire she sterte,
And brent hireselven with a stedfast herte.

Id. The Nonnes Preestes Tale, v. 15,373.

And with hire fire-brond in hire hond aboute
Danceth before the bride and all the rout.

Id. The Marchantes Tale, v. 9602.

Som sayd it was long on the fire-making;
Som sayd nay, it was long on the blowing.

Id. The Chanones Yemannes Tale, v. 16,390.
A sompnour was ther with us in that place,
That hadde a fire-red cherubinnes face.

Id. The Prologue, v. 626.

Besides the wasting of our fields, the driving away of booties, as well of people as cattell, the firing of vilages, the ruine and havocke they made; and in euerie place nothing but fire and sword.-Holland. Livivs, p. 269.

Tho' I've no bags, that are with child with gold,
And though my fireless chimneys catch the cold,
For want of great revenues, yet I find
I've what's as good as all, a sated mind.

Brome. Epistle to his Friend Mr. J. B
Legions of Loves with little wings did flie:
Darting their deadly arrowes fiery bright.

Spenser, son. 16. The Governor of Scotland hearing of the Protector's approach, and having no sufficient army ready to resist him, sent his heralds abroad into all parts of the realm, and commanded the fire-cross to be carried, (an ancient custom in cases of importance,) which was two fire-brands set in fashion of a cross, and pitched upon the point of a spear; and therewith proclamation to be made that all above 16 years of age, and under 60, should resort forthwith to Musselborough, and bring convenient provisions of victuals with them.-Baker. Chronicles. Edw. VI. an. 1547.

Q. M. Peace, master Marquisse, you are malapert, Your fire-new stampe of honor is scarce current.

Shakespeare. Rich. III. Act i. sc. 3.

Let me put the reader in mind, how if ever he mark'd children when they play with fire-sticks, they move and whirle them round so fast, that the motion will cosen their eyes and represent an entire circle of fire to them: and were it somewhat distant, in a dark night that one play'd so with a lighted torch, it would appear a constant wheel of fire, without any discerning of motion in it. Digby. Of Bodies, c. 9.

Said Cymon overjoyed, "Do thou propose
The means to fight, and only show the foes:
For from the first, when love had fired my mind,
Resolv'd I left the care of life behind."

Dryden. Cymon & Iphigenia.
And as on high,

Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light us here; so reason's glimmering ray
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.

Id. Religio Laici. An Epistle.

The ashes by their weight, their fieriness, and their dryness, put it past doubt that they belong to the elements of earth.-Boyle. Works, vol. i. p. 470.

The rest, so smooth, so suddenly she went,
Look'd like translation through the firmament,
Or like the fiery car on the third errand sent.

Dryden. Eleonora.

I[Maynard] think it is fitting that all Papists should resort to their own dwellings, and not depart without licences from the next justices; and another thing, that all those of that religion bring all their fire-arms in, unless for the necessary defence of their houses, to officers appointed.

Parl. Hist. an. 1688-9. Bill for Disarming Papists. But Peidloe was so impatient that he would not hear him, and then he did the fact, which was, that he put a fire-ball at the end of a long pole, and lighting it with a piece of match he put it in at a window, and staid till he saw the house in a flame.

State Trials. Chas. II. Firing of London, an. 1666. Fired at the sound, my genius spreads her wing, And flies where Britain courts the western Spring; Where lawns extend that scorn Arcadian pride, And brighter streams than fam'd Hydaspes glide.

Goldsmith. The Traveller.

Mr. Steevens truly says, that this word is so variously used by the old writers, that it is almost impossible to ascertain its precise meaning.

In the mean time I will firk your father whether you see

or no.-Chapman. All Fools, Act iii. sc. 1.

She shall have bail.

Dash. And a firking writ

Of false imprisonment, she shall be sure

Of twelve pence damage, and five and twenty pound For suits in law.-Barry. Ram Alley, Act iv. sc. 1.

Just. Tutch. On on, I say.

Throate. Justice, the law shall firk you.-Id. Ib

Musta. Stay, and stand quietly, or you shall fall else, Not to firk your belly up, flounder like, but never

To rise again.-Massinger. The Renegado, Act iii. sc. 1.

Pist. M. Fer. Ile fer him, and firk him, and ferret him: discusse the same in French vnto him.

Grace.

Shakespeare. Henry V. Act iv. sc. 4.

Out on him! These are his megrims, firks, and melancholies. Ford. The Broken Heart, Act iii. sc. 1. W. Small-sh. Sir, leave this firk of law, or by this light I'll give your throat a slit. Barry. Ram Alley, Act iii. sc. 1. FIRKIN, which Skinner writes Ferkin, and Minshew, Fircken; the latter derives it—a ferendo, quod facilè feratur. The former prefers the A. S. Feower; Ger. Wier, four, and the diminutive kin, (q.d.) feowerkin, or wierkin, that is, quadrantulus, respectu sc. majoris vasis; and in confirmation, he refers to tierce, qv. A firkin is

A vessel containing nine gallons, i. e. the fourth of a barrel, or 36 gallons.

And there were standinge there, syxe water pottes of stone after the maner of the purifiynge of the Jewes, contaynynge two or thre fyrkins a pece.-Bible, 1551. John, c. 2.

You heard of that wonder, of the lightning and thunder,
Which made the lye so much the louder :
Now list to another, that miracle's brother,
Which was done with a firkin of powder.

FIRM, v.
FIRM, n.
FIRM, adj.
FIRMAMENT.
FIRMAMENTAL.
FIRMITUDE.

FIRMITY.

Denham. A Second Western Wonder.

See AFFIRM, and CONFIRM. Fr. Fermer; It. Fermare; Sp. Firmar; Lat. Firmus, hoc est, stabilis, constans, a ferendo dictus quod constanter omnia ferat, (Perottus.) And see Martinius, and Vossius. Firmament, Fr. FirmaFIRMNESS. mente; It. Firmamento; Lat. Firmamentum, so called a naturæ suæ soliditate et firmitate, (Minshew.) The Lat. Firmamentum, applied to the heavens, (firmamentum cœleste) is so used by Tertullian.

FIRMLY.

To strengthen, to give strength or support to, to fix steadily or strongly, to secure, to assure, to establish.

Sp. Firmar, to confirm; (sc.) by writing; by signature to a writing: and firma, the signature: (sc.) of the person or persons confirming, giving validity to the instrument or document signed :applied to the name or title under which any person carries, or more persons carry on trade or business.

Myn affiaunce and my faith. is ferm [in] hus by leuye.
Piers Plouhman, p. 318.
As he wende, he bi huld toward heuene an hey,
And tho vp in the firmament an Angel he sey.
That huld a croys, and ther on y write was lo! this,
Constantyne thorg this signe thou schalt be maister
iwis."
R. Gloucester, p. 85.

46

I wist vtterly

That your humble seruant, & your knight
Were in your harte yset so fermely
As ye in mine.

Chaucer. Troilus, b. iii.

O firste moving cruel firmament,
With thy diurnal swegh that croudest ay,
And hurtlest all from est til occident,
That naturally wold hold another way.

Id. The Man of Lawes Tale, v. 4715.
-Lo now how it stood

With him, that was so negligent,
That fro the highe firmament,
For that he wold go to lowe,

He was anon downe ouerthrowe.-Gower. Con. A. b. iv.

And we will also that you George Killingworth and Richard Gray doe in the fine of April next send either of you vnto Henry Lane a whole, perfit, & iust accompt firmed with your awne hands of all the goods you haue solde and bought vntil the time, and what remaineth vnsolde.

Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. i. p. 299.

Christ putteth us in remembraunce of thys, that no man is mete to preache the Gospell, but he that hath tryed hymself, and is firme and strong agaynst all worldly desyres, agaynst excesse and her companions.-Udal. Matt. c. 4.

And God sayde: let there be a fyrmamente betwene the waters, & let it diuide the waters a sonder.

Bible, 1551. Genesis, c. 1. As touching the blessed sacrament of the altare, he sayde it is a necessary sacramêt but he helde yt after the cōsecracio, there was none other thing therein but onely the very

went.

Her stores were open'd, and this firmament
Of hell should spout her cataracts of fire?
Impendant horrors, threatning hideous fall
One day upon our heads.-Milton. Par. Lost, b. ii.
The lion's royal whelp does not at first
For blood of Basan bulls or tigers thirst,
In timorous deer he hansels his young paws,
And leaves the rugged bear for firmer claws.

Cowley. The Davideis, b. iii.

certainly these reasons which make the object seem credible, For if you speak of an acquired, rational, discursive faith, must be the cause of it, and consequently the strength and firmity of my assent must rise and fall, together with the apparent credibility of the object.

Chillingworth. Rel. of Prot. Ch. pt. i. c. 6.

It is Jehovah that is merciful; and as Jehovah signifies firmitude of being, and is therefore compared to a rock, &c., so these his mercies are lik'ned to things of longest duration, to those things which to us men are such in our account. Goodwin. Works, vol. iv. p. 31.

His breast-plate first, that was of substance pure,
Before his noble hart he firmely bound,
That mought his life from yron death assure,
And ward his gentle corps from cruel wound.
Spenser. Muiopotmos.

In pure and fruitfull water we may see
Your mind from darknesse cleare, in bounty free:
And in the steddy resting of the ground,
Your noble firmenesse to your friend is found:
For you are still the same, and where you love
No absence can your constant mind remove.
Beaumont. To the Prince.

O thou, who freest me from my doubtful state
Long lost and wilder'd in the maze of fate!
Be present still: oh Goddess! in our aid:
Proceed, and firm those omens thou hast made.
Pope. Statius. Thebaid, b. i.

Genius of Britain, spare thy fears,
For know, within, our sovereign wears
The surest guard; the best defence;
A firm untainted innocence.

Pitt. On his Majesty's Playing with a Tiger.
An hollow crystal pyramid he takes,
In firmamental waters dipt above;
Of it a broad extinguisher he makes,
And hoods the flames that to their quarry drove.
Dryden. Annus Mirabilis.

Howe'er, I gave his wise proposal way,
Nay, urg'd him to go on; the shallow fraud
Will ruin him for ever with my enemies,
And make him firmly mine, spite of his fears,
And natural inconstancy.

Rowe. The Ambitious Step-mother, Act i.
Such heavenly beauty on thy face shall bloom,
As shall almost excuse the villain's crime;
But yet that firmness, that unshaken virtue,
As still shall make the monster more detested.

Smith. Phædra & Hippolitus, Act v.

O! then be firm-in this, my friends, remain
Our dearest hopes, all other hopes are vain!
Like us the foes have but two hands to wield,
One soul to fire them, and one life to yield.

Hoole. Orlando Furioso, b. xviii.
Incessant rains had drenched the floated ground,
And clouds o'ercast the firmament around.
Fawkes. Descrip. of Winter. From G. Douglas.
These wind, by subtle sap, their secret way,
Pernicious pioneers! while those invest,
More firmly daring in the face of heaven,
And win by regular approach, the cane.

Granger. The Sugar Cane, b. ii.

First is must used prefixed.

The fyrste age & tyme was from our firste fader Adam
To Noe, & seththe tho other from Noe to Abraham.
R. Gloucester, p.1.

Uttred in his firste gere messengers he sent
For kynges & barons vntille his parlement,
In stede ther he it sette, thei wist what it ment.
R. Brunne, p. &
Hit was the furste frut. that the fader of hevene blessede.
Piers Ploukman, p. 50.
And the clennest creature. creatour ferste knowe
In kynges court and knyghtes.-Id. Ib.
And he sat and clepide the twelve, and seyde to him if
ony mon wil be the firste among you he schal be the laste f
alle, and the mynystre of all.-Wiclif. Mark, c. 9.

And he sat downe and called the twelue vnto hym, and sayde to them: yf anye man desyre to be fyrst, the same shal be laste of all, and seruaunt vnto all.-Bible, 1551. A. All the first-borne of thy sonnes thou muste nedes redeme. Id. Exodus, c. 31. The first of the first-fruites of thy lande, thou shalte brynge vnto the house of the Lord thy God.-Id. Ib.

Honoure the Lord with thy substaunce and with the firstlings of all thine encrease; so shal thy barnes bee fill with plenteousnesse and thy presses shall flowe ouer wit swete wyne.-Id. Prouerbes, c. 3.

So that in election Christ held the primacy, the Arst-ha as in dignity, so in order; that we were ordained for him. Goodwin. Works, vol. 1. Ser. 6. We are all, my lord,

The sons of Fortune, she hath sent us forth To thrive by the red sweat of our own merits: And since after the rage of many a tempest, Our fates have cast us upon Britain's bounds, We offer you the first-fruits of our wounds. Middleton. The Mayor of Quinborough, Act ii. st. 1. A shepherd next, More meek, came with the firstlings of his flock Choicest and best; then sacrificing, laid The inwards and their fat, with incence strew'd On the cleft wood, and all due rits perform'd. Milton. Paradise Lost, b. xi. And thus, readers, by the example which he hath set me. I have given ye two or three notes of him out of his title page, by which his firstlings fear not to guess boldly at his whole lump, for that guess will not fail ye.

Id. An Apology for Smectymas. All the firstling males that come to thy herd, and of thy flock, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God.

Dexteronomy, IV. 19,

When I give, (as he acknowledges) a firstness of precedency and presidency to the Pope, he tells me, he is con fident I know not how much more is allowed him by the universal consent of all Catholicks, as of divine institution, whatever I may have read in particular authors.

Hammond. Works, vol. ii. p. 16%. For joys so great we must with patience wait, "Tis the set price of happiness complete. As a first-fruit, Heaven claim'd that lovely boy The next shall live, and be the nation's joy. Waller. Loss of the Duke of Cambridge.

I did yesterday complain to Mr. Secretary St. John, that Mr. Harley had not yet got the letter from the Queen to confirm the grant of the first-fruits; that I had lost reputa tion by it; and that I took it very ill of them both; and that their excuses of Parliament business, and grief for the s in Spain, were what I would bear no longer.

Swift. Letter to Dr. King. And often have you brought the wily fox To suffer for the firstlings of the flocks; Chas'd ev'n amid the folds; and made to bleed, Like felons, where they did the murderous deed.

Dryden, Epistle 13.

in his Virgil as Sinus, a bay. Su. G. Fiaerd; Isl. Fiora-r. Some, says Jamieson, have derived it from Lat. Fretum, which itself, more probably, is from the Gothic; others from Moes. G. Far-an, navigare, as it properly denotes water that is navigable. G. Andr. refers it to Isl. Fiara, pl. ferder, litus, or maris refluxus et ejus locus.

FISC. FISCAL, n. FISCAL, adj.

}

Gr. Þokos; Lat. Fiscus; Fr. Fisque, a bag or purse. (See CONFISCATE.) As the FrenchFisque, the public purse; the public revenue or treasure; a treasury or exchequer.

Cæsar did with no lesse gratefull bountie, shew his liberalitie when he bestowed the goods of Aemilia Musa, a rich woman, falen to the fisque, vpon Aemilius Lepidus of whose house she seemed to have been.

Grenewey. Tacitus. Annales, p. 49.

Also seeing they may bee alienated, they may bee prescribed, especiallie (the kinges thus consenting whoe confirmed the same so long a time) which excludeth all right both fiscall and ecclesiasticall.

Fox. Martyrs, p. 333. The B. of Eduens Oration. War cannot be long maintained by the ordinary fiscal and receipt.-Bacon.

When they had resolved to appropriate to the fisc, a certain portion of the landed property of their conquered country, it was their business to render their bank a real fund of credit; as far as such a bank was capable of becoming so. Burke. On the French Revolution.

They certainly never have suffered and never will suffer the fixed estate of the church to be converted into a pension, to depend on the treasury, and to be delayed, withheld, or perhaps to be extinguished by fiscal difficulties.-Id. Ib.

The fiscal is of an active enterprising genius.

Swinburne. Spain, Let. 42. FIS-GIG. A kind of javelin with which sailors strike fish as they swim; from fish; Dut. Visch, and ghichten, torquere, (Skinner.)

There were some of those bonitos, which being galled by a fis-gig, did follow our shippe, coming out of Guinea 500 leagues.-Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 520.

FISH, v.

FISH, R.

FI'SHER.
Fr'SHERY.

FISHFUL.

Fr'SHIFY.

A. S. Fiscian, fisc; Dut. Vischer, visch; Ger. Fisch; Sw. Fiska, fisk. Junius (Gloss. Goth. in v. Fisk) has no doubt that this word, common to almost all European languages, is of the same origin with FISHING. the Lat. Pisc-is. But what that FI'SHY. is, he acknowledges to be very FI'SHINESS. obscure. Vossius presents three tymologies, with little confidence in any of them. To fish for any thing, (met.) is to try to find Out or discover, catch or obtain, by throwing out a bait or temptation; with a concealed design. For ge ben men beter y tagt to schouele and to spade, To cartestaf and to plowstaf, and a fischyng to wade, To hamer and to nedle, and to merchandise al so, Than with swerd or hauberk eny batail to do. R. Gloucester, p. 99. That fischid in Temse on the nyght, whan thei their nettes vp wond,

The body of Harald in a nette thei fond.-R. Brunne, p. 54. Peter fyshed for hus fode. and hus fere Andreu

Som thei solde, and som thei sode. and so thei leveden
bothe.
Piers Plouhman, p. 286.
Right as fishes in flod, whenne hem faileth water
Dyen for dreuthe.
Id. p. 83.
And whanne thei hadden do this thing thei closiden
egider a greet mulitude of fischis and her net was brokun.
Wiclif. Luk, c. 5.
And when they had so done, they inclosed a great multi-
ude of fishes. And their net brake.-Bible, 1551. Ib.
And saygh two bootis standinge bisides the pool, and the
cheris weren gon doun, and waischiden her nettis.
Wiclif. Ib.
And saw two shyppes stande by the lake syde, but the
her men were gone oute of them, and were washynge
heir nettes.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

Pipen he coude, fishe, and nettes bete,
And turnen cuppes, and wrastlen wel, and shete.
Chaucer. The Reves Tale, v. 3925.

Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 778. Most like a byrd that nere the bankes of seas his hunting keepes, Among the fishfull rocks, and low byneth on water

sweepes.

Phaer. Virgill. Eneidos, b. iv.

Fynally, the fyshyng put them in remembraunce of the

newe fyshyng, whiche serued not to take fishes with nettes, to feade the bealie, but with the nette of the Gospell to catche men drouned with worldly cares, vnto a desyre of the heauenly life.-Udal. Matthew, c. 4.

Behold, I will send for many fishers saith the Lord, and they shall fish them, and after I shall send for many hunters and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. Bible. Jeremiah, xvi. 16. Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, With frie innumerable swarme, and shoales Of fish, that with thir finnes and shining scales Glide under the greene wave, in sculles that oft Bank the mid sea. Millon. Paradise Lost, b. vii.

Yet Gwin and Nevern near, two fine and fishful brooks Do never stay their course.-Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 5. Britaine is watered with pleasant fishfull and navigable riuers, which yeeld safe havens and roads, and furnished with shipping and sailers that it may rightly be termed the Lady of the Sea.-Camden. Remaines. Britaine.

Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. Mer. Without his roe, like a dried hering. O flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified?-Shakes. Romeo & Juliet, Act ii. sc. 4. Cleopatra found it straight, yet she seemed not to see it, but wondered at his excellent fishing; but when she was alone by herself among her own people, she told them how it was, and bad them the next morning to be in the water to see the fishing. A number of people came to the haven, and got into the fisher-boats to see the fishing. North. Plutarch, p. 764. Where are the flowry fields, the fishy streames, The pasturing mountaines, and the fertile plaines, With shadowes oft, oft clad with Titan's beames As of Heaven's pleasures types, and of Hell's paines? Stirling. Doomes-day. The Third Houre. Due sustinence was a mean to virtue, and to subdue men's bodies to their soul and spirit, and was also necessary to encourage the trade of fishing, and for saving of flesh. Burnet. History of the Reformation, an. 1549.

Lie there, Lycaon: let the fish surround
Thy bloated corpse, and suck thy gory wound.

Its [Bittern Heron] flesh has much the flavour of that of a hare and nothing of the fishiness of that of the heron. Pennant. Zoology.

FISK. Sw. Fieska, from Foesa, instigare, and this from A. S. Fys-an, agere, abigere, fugare, to drive, to drive about. To fish the tail about, whiska rumpan, (Serenius.) And Cotgrave has Trotiere, a fisking huswife. In Gammer Gurton's Needle, Act i. sc. 2, the edition quoted by Mr. Todd reads, "Fisking with her tail." In the edition, 1575, reprinted in the A. B. Drama, vol. i. reads "Frysking." See To FRISK.

FISSILE. FISSI'LITY. FISSURE, v. FI'SSURE, n. FI'SSIPEDE.

Lat. Fissilis, that can or may be cleft, from findere, to cleave.

That can or may be cleft or split. Fissipede, cloven-footed.

The fissures in the seat. as also the blind and swelling piles in the fundament and all superfluous excressences of the bodie it cureth.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxi. c. 20.

It is described like fissipedes, or birds which have their feet or claws divided, whereas it is palmipedes or fin-footed like swans and geese.-Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. v. c. 2.

By which it is evident, that diamonds themselves have a grain or a flaky contexture, not unlike the fissility, as the schools call it, in wood.-Boyle. Works, vol. iii. p. 521.

By a fall or blow the scull may be fissured or fractured, and the hairy scalp whole, and this fracture or fissure may be under the contusion, or in some other parts.

Wiseman. Surgery, b. v. c. 9.

There are other subterraneous guts and channels, fissures and passages, through which many times the waters make. their way.-Derham. Physico-Theology, b. iii. c. 2. Siam's warm marish yields the fissile cane.

Be her shining locks confin'd
In a threefold braid behind;
Let an artificial flower
Set the fissure off before.

Dyer. The Fleece, b. ii.

Fawkes. Anacreon. Ode 27, Imitated. Philosophers have long endeavoured to find out the causes of these perpendicular fissures in the earth, which our own countrymen, Woodward and Ray, were the first that found to be so common and universal. Goldsmith. Animated Nature, pt. i. c. 6.

FIST, v. A. S. Fyst; Dut. Vuyst; Ger. Faust. FIST, n Wachter and Minshew FISTY-CUFF. (optime, says Skinner) from Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xxi. Fassen, capere, prehendere, constringere, i. e. to hold fast, (A. S. Fæstnian.) And from the A. S. Fast, firmus, Junius derives it; quod validissima sit manus, omnium digitorum nodis in unum pugnum veluti compactis atque arctissime complicatis.

As, from some rock that overhangs the flood,
The silent fisher casts th' insidious food,
With fraudful care he waits the finny prize,
And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies.

Id. Ib. Odyssey, b. xii. Can it be expected, that Holland will suffer us to improve our fishery, which is to them a nursery for seamen, a livelihood to many families, and an immense treasure to the public.-Parliamentary History. vol. vi. App. p. 139.

The tow ring eagles to the realms of light
By their strong pounces claim a regal right;
The swan contented with an humbler fate
Low on the fishy river rows in state.

Fenton. To Mr. Lambard.

Observe what you export thither; [Newfoundland,] a little spirits, provision, fishing lines, and fishing hooks. Burke. On a late State of the Nation.

Nature the bull with horns supplies,
The horse with hoofs she fortifies,
The fleeting foot on hares bestows,
O lions teeth, two dreadful rows!
Grants fish to swim, and birds to fly,
And on their skill bids men rely.

Philips. Anacreon, Ode 2.
Once, some few hours ere break of day,
As in their hut our fishers lay,
The one awak'd and wak'd his neighbour,
That both might ply their daily labour.

Wilkie. The Fisherman, from Theocritus.

I need not, I am sure, sir, inform the house, that the fisheries of Newfoundland have been for a century the con. stant object of rivalship between France and England. Mr. Pitt. Speech, 27th November, 1800.

Round the border,-representations in miniature of the customs, huntings, fishings, and productions of the country, all in the highest preservation, and so admirably executed, that it was believed of the pencil of Vandyck.

Walpole. Anecdotes of Painting, vol. ii. c. 1.

And those sequester'd shores,
Through which, the thirsty town to lave,
Smooth flow the watery stores
Of fishy Hipparis, profoundest stream.

West. Pindar, Olymp. 5.

To hold fast,-to gripe fast or firmly; also, to strike with the fist or hand fast closed.

He bygan gong ynou,
To cuthe wat he woulde be, that so gong hys fustes adrou.
R. Gloucester, p. 345.

For God that al by gan in gynnynge of the worlde
Ferde furst as a fust with a fynger. yfolde togederes
Til hym liked and luste. to unclose the fynger
And profrede hit forth as with the paume. to what place it
sholde.
Piers Plouhman, p. 327.

That on of hem the cut brouht in his fest,
And bad hem drawe and loke wher it wold falle,
And it fell on the youngest of hem alle.

Chaucer. The Pardoneres Tale, v. 12.736.

And for men saine vnknowe vnkiste

Hir thome she holt in hir fiste

So close within hir owne honde

That there wynneth no man londe.-Gower. Con. A. b ii.

I commaunde you not

Fortune to trust, and eke full well ye wot,

I haue of her no brydle in my fist

She renneth loose, and turneth where she list.

Sir T. More. To them that seek Fortune. Fang. If I but fist him once: if he come but within my vice.-Shakespeare. 2 Pt. Hen. IV. Act ii. sc. 1.

Blynfold he was; and in his cruel fist

A mortall bow and arrowes keen did hold, With which he shot at random when him list, Some headed with sad lead, some with pure gold. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. iii. c. 4. Sam. No man with-holds thee, nothing from thy hand Fear I incurable; bring up thy van, My heels are fetter'd, but my fist is free.

Milton. Samson Agonistes, 1. 1246. Law. O to revenge my wrongs at fisty-cuffes. Beaum & Fletch. The Little French Lawyer, Act iv. sc. 1.

This God of ours hath evermore loved those games of prize, yea and was desirous to win the victory, having strove personally himself in playing upon the harp, in singing, in flinging the coit of brasse; yea, and some say, at hurl-bats and fist-fight.-Holland. Plutarch, p. 633.

Never a suit I wore to-day, but hath been soundly basted; only this faithful country case 'scaped fist-free.

Tomkins. Albumazar, Act v. sc. 9.

With rain his robe and heavy mantle flow
And lazy mists are low'ring on his brow:
Still as he swept along, with his clinch'd fist,
He squeez'd the clouds; th' imprison'd clouds resist.
Dryden. Ovid. Metam. The Giant's War.

Q. The Lord Thanet having no stick, what assault did he make upon you?

A. With his fist, in this way, he shoved me down as I was going forward-he shoved me back.

Erskine. Speech. Trial of Earl of Thanet.

It is lucky for the women, that the seat of the fisty-cuff war is not the same with them as among men.

FISTULA.

FISTULARY.

FISTULATE. FISTULOUS.

to-

Fielding. Tom Jones, b. iv. c. 8. Lat. Fistula, quasi quơnλλa, a pura-ev, flatu distend-ere, to stretch out or distend by blowing, (Vossius.) And thus applied

A pipe of reeds, or other things having the hollowness of a pipe.

It is not the fistula, where against thou hast geuen cauterie.-Golden Boke, c. 43.

Moreover you shall not see a part of the bodie but it is subject to the fistulas, which creep inwardly and hollow as they go.-Holland. Plinie, b. xxvi. c. 14.

On th' other part; Apollo, in his friend
Form'd th' art of wisedome; to the binding end
Of his vow'd friendship; and (for further meede)
Gaue him the farr-heard fistularie reede.

Chapman. Homer. A Hymne to Hermes.

As for the flesh of the polype, it is to see to, fistulous and spongeous, like unto hony combs.-Holland. Plut. p. 827.

It [the topaze] is found beyond the farthest parts of India, among the inhabitants of the mountaine Caucasus, to wit, the Phicarians and Asdates; they grow into a very great bignesse; but the same is fistulous and full of filth. Id. Plinie, b. xxxvii. c. 8. The beginnings or first stamina in animals are their tubes, pipes or ducts, fistulated or hollowed, to circulate the blood and juices.-The Student, vol. ii. p. 379.

FIT, n. An ague coming by Fittes; febris FITFUL. per intervalla recurrens. It seems to be from the Dut. Vits, signifying swift, quick, (Junius.) Perhaps, says Skinner, so called, quasi fights, for they are conflicts and struggles of nature. It is not improbably the Fr. Fait; Lat. Factum, done. See Tooke, pt. ii. c. 2.

Dr. Percy remarks, that, "Our ancient ballads and metrical romances being divided into several parts, for the convenience of singing them at publick entertainments, were in the intervals of the feast sung by fits or intermissions." A fit is—

1. A fact, feat, or performance; and thus applied (as an act in a play) to parts or portions of a song or poem, of music or dancing. And see Steevens on Troil. & Cress. Act iii. sc. 1.

2. A fact or feat, an act, affect, or effect; and thus applied to particular acts or effects; to violent and sudden affections, to paroxysms of temperature or distemperature of mind or body.

And in those cares so colde I force myself a heate, As sicke men in their shaking fittes procure themselfe to sweate.-Surrey. The Faithful Louer declareth &c.

Sainges there be, and sawes there be

to cure thy greedie care:

To master thyne assaltynge fyttes, to purchase thy welfare.

Drant. Horace. Epistle to Mecenas.
What wold ye doe with my harpe, he sayd,
If I did sell it yee?

To play my wife and me a fitt,
When a bed together wee bee.

Percy. Reliques, vol. i. King Estmere.

He, sitting me beside in that same shade,
Provok'd me to plaie some pleasant fit;

Duncane in his graue:

After life's fitful feuer he sleepes well.

Shakespeare. Macbeth, Act iii. sc. 2. Rais'd on his knees, he now ejects the gore; Now faints anew, low sinking on the shore; By fits he breathes, half views the fleeting skies, And seals again, by fits his swimming eyes. Pope. Homer. Iliad, b. xiv. Antonius happened to be seized at that very time, with a fit of the gout, or pretended, at least to be so, that he might have no share in the destruction of an old friend [Catiline:] so that the command fell of course to a much better soldier and honester man, Petreius.

Middleton. The Life of Cicero, vol. i. s. 3. More near from out the Cæsar's palace came The owl's long cry, and interruptedly Of distant sentinels the fitful song Began and died upon the gentle wind.

FIT, v. FIT, adj. FITLY.

Byron. Manfred, Act iii. sc. 4. Kilian says,- Vitten. (Fland.) Convenire, quadrare, et accommodare; and this Junius would derive from Vits, frequens, citus, agilis. (See FIT.) Skinner, more reasonably, from the Fr. Fait, factum, q. d. factum, i.e. aptum ad hoc. And thus the Fr. Faictis is, neat, feat, comely, handsome, proper, well made, well featured, well set-together, (Cotgrave.) Will it do? Will it fit? Will it suit? are equivalent expressions.

FITMENT.
FITNESS.
FITTEDNESS.
FITTER.
FITTINGLY.

FITTINGNESS.

To make or match, to suit; to adapt, to accommodate, to adjust, to conform.

To fit out, to provide or furnish with things fit or suitable.

That done, we had then time to view our prize, which we found of great defence, and a notable strong ship, almost two hundred tun in burden, very well appointed, and in all things filled for a man of warre.

Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 200. Nothyng fayre apeared thys stones vnto thys worlde, when they that were hewen, squared, and made fyt foundation, by the manyfold persecutions of tyrauntes. Bale. Image, pt. iii.

Such are not fit for Cupid's campe,
they ought no wages win,
Which faint before the clange of trump
or battel's broyle begin.

Turbervile. Lovers ought to shunne, &c.
Hir neck of so good sise, hir plume of colour white,
Hir legs and fete so finely made, thou seldom seene in
sight.
Eche part so fitly pight as none mought chaunge his place,
Nor
any bird could lightly haue so good and braue a grace.
Id. The Complaint.

And lastly came cold February, sitting
In an old waggon, for he could not ride,
Drawn by two fishes for the season fitting,
Which through the flood before did softly slyde
And swim away.-Spenser. F. Queene. Of Mutabilitie.
Then Paridel, in whom a kindly pride

Of gracious speech and skill his words to frame
Abounded, being glad of so fitte tide,
Him to commend to her, thus spake, of al well eide.
Id. Ib. b. iii. c. 9.

To her I sing of loue, that loueth best, And best is loued of all aliue I weene; To her this song most fitly is addrest, The Queen of Loue, and Prince of Peace from heaven blest. Id. Ib. b. iv. c. 1. Let Aristotle, and others have their dues; but if we can make farther discoveries of truth and fitnesse then they, why are we envied?-Ben Jonson. Discoveries.

Post. I am, sir,

The souldier that did company these three
In poore beseeming; 'twas a fitment for
The purpose I then follow'd.

Shakespeare. Cymbeline, Act v. sc. 5. There is not an ampler testimony of Providence then the structure of man's body:-the safeness of the fabrick of the eyes their exquisite fittedness to their use, &c.

Id. Defence of the Philosophic Cabbala, c. 1. He that sees all men almost to be Christians, because they are bid to be so, need not question the fillingnesse of godfathers promising in behalf of the children for whom they answer.-Bp. Taylor. Great Exemplar, pt. i. Desc. 6.

The meaning is; not, that God will act arbitrarily and without reason; as some have absurdly understood these words: but that he, and he only, is the competent, proper, and unerring judge, upon what persons, and on what conditions, 'tis fit for him to bestow his favours.

Clark, vol. i. Ser. 21. And to whom could I more fitly apply myself than to your lordship, who have not only an inborn but an hereditary loyalty.-Dryden. All for Love, Ded.

What things soe'er are to an end referr'd,
And in their motions still that end regard,
Always the fitness of the means respect,
These as conducive choose and those reject,
Must by a judgment, foreign and unknown,
Be guided to their end or by their own.

Blackmore. Creation, b. i. Sowing the sandy gravelly land in Devonshire and Cornwall with French furze seed, they reckon a great improver of their land, and a fitter of it for corn.-Mortimer. Husb

Every year he applied for fresh Parliamentary supplies, he fitted out squadrons; and took six thousand Danes inta British pay, for the same useful purposes, which some years before, had occasioned the hiring of twelve thousand Hessians.-Chesterfield. Memoirs, s. 4.

I mean the charters (i. e. formal recognition by the sorereign power) of King John and King Henry the Third, the things secured by these instruments may, without any deceitful ambiguity, be very fitly called the chartered rights of men.-Burke. On Mr. Fox's East India Bill.

He who studies them [works of Nature] is continually delighted with new and wonderful discoveries; and yet is never perplexed by their multiplicity, because order, preportion, and fitness, prevail through the whole system.

Beattie. Moral Science, pt. i. c. 1. s. 9.
And thus I

Still on thy shores, fair Leman! may find room
And food for meditation, nor pass by
Much, that may give us pause, if ponder d fittingly.
Byron. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, c. 3.

FITCHAT. FITCHEW.

Dut. Visse, fisse, vitsche; Fr. Fissau. A fitch or fulmart, Skinner says, the fœtid ferret, perhaps from Lat Fatere or putere, to stink. Lye,—from fiest, Fr. Vessir, which Cotgrave says is to fyste, to let a fuste. It. Vessare; Dut. Viisten; Lat. Visire, which Vossius thinks may be formed from the sound, or be from the Gr. Boeσis, (ejecto ô,) from Böeer. flatum ventris silentio emittere. See To FIZZLE.

If I may descend to a lower game, what pleasure is sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the earth as namely, the fitchet, the fulimart, the ferret, the pole-rat the moldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon the face and within the bowels of the earth.-Walton. Angler, pt.i.cl Nisi videro in ma

FITCHING, i. e. Fixing.

nibus ejus fixuram clavorum. fixing.

Fr. Ficheur, 3

And he seide to hem but I se in hise hondis the fichen of the nailis, and putte my fyngir into the place of the Las and put myn hond into hise side I schal not bileue.

Wiclif. Jon, C. S FITTERS. To beat or cut into fitters (say Skinner) frustulatim, seu minutatim concidere, comminuere, from the It. Fetta, a small segment: from the verb fendere, Lat. Findere, to cleave.

If you strike or pierce a solid body, that is brittle, as glass. or sugar, it breaketh not only where the immediate force is but breaketh all about in shivers and fitters. Bacon. Naturall Historie, C. 1. s. 1 Sul. Where's the Frenchman? Ja. He's all to fitters.

Beaum. & Fletch. Custom of the Country, Act iii. sc. ? None of your pieced-companions, your pind-gallants, That flie to filters, with every flaw of weather.

Id. The Pilgrim, Act i. sc. I But so brittle withall, that if it chaunced to fall upon a thing harder than itself it would break into fitters like glass. [vitri modo fragilem.]—Holland. Plinie, b. xvi. c. 12.

Other [gallies] being taken up with certain engines fastened within, one contrary from the other, made them to in the air like a whirlegig, and so cast them upon the ruck by the town walls, and splitted them all to fitters, to the great spoil and murther of the persons that were with them.-North. Plutarch, p. 261.