FOSSOMBRONE 



3272 



FOUCHt 



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R. E. Foster, 

 English cricketer 



Fossombrone. City of Italy, 

 in the prov. of Pesaro e Urbino. 

 The ancient Forum Sempronii, it 

 stands on the Metauro, here 

 spanned by a handsome modern 

 bridge, 10 m. E.N.E. of Urbino. 

 It has a castle and a cathedral 

 rebuilt in the 18th century. There 

 are silk factories and mineral 

 springs. Ruins of the Roman 

 city, destroyed by the Goths and 

 Lombards, lie about 2 m. N.E. of 

 the town, which had a bishop in 

 the 6th century. Pop. 9,701. 



Foster. Famous family of Eng- 

 lish cricketers. The sons of the 

 Rev. Henry Foster, a master at 

 Malvern College 

 until his retire- 

 ment in 1915, 

 they were there 

 educated. Their 

 names are as 

 follow : H. K. 

 Foster, Capt. 

 W. L. Foster, 

 D.S.O., who 

 won this honour 

 in Somaliland, 

 R. E. Foster, 

 B. S. Foster, G. N. Foster, and M. 

 J. A. Foster. All played for Mal- 

 vern and Worcestershire, which 

 was sometimes called on this ac- 

 count Fostershire. H. K., R. E., 

 and G. N. Foster gained their blues 

 at Oxford. R. E. Foster, who died 

 in 1914, was the finest batsman and 

 fielder of the brothers. At Lord's in 

 1900 he scored a century in each 

 innings for the gentlemen against 

 the players, and at Sydney in 

 Dec., 1903, he scored 287 against 

 Australia, a record for a test match. 

 He was a great fielder at slip. 



Foster, SIR GEORGE EULAS (b. 

 1847). Canadian statesman. Born 

 in New Brunswick, Sept. 3, 1847, 

 he was educat- 

 ed at the uni- 

 versity there, 

 and afterwards 

 at Edinburgh 

 and Heidel- 

 berg. From 

 1872-79 he was 

 professor of 

 classics at New 

 Sir George E. Foster, Brunswick. In 

 Canadian statesman 1882 he entered 

 Russeii parliament for 



Kings, New Brunswick. In 1885 

 he was minister of marine and fish- 

 eries under Sir John Macdonald. 

 He became minister of finance in 

 1888, and remained in the cabinet 

 until 1896. 



In 1911 he took office as minister 

 of trade and commerce under Sir, 

 Robert Borden, and acted as 

 premier during his chiefs absence 

 from Canada on imperial business. 

 He was made a G.C.M.G. in 1918, 

 was one of Canada's representa- 



tives at the Peace Conference in 

 Paris, 1919, and was head of the 

 Canadian delegation to the As- 

 sembly of the League of Nations 

 at Geneva in 1920. 



Foster, JOHN (1770-1843). Bri 

 tish essayist. Born near Halifax, 

 Yorkshire, Sept. 17, 1770, the son 

 of a yeoman 

 weaver, he 

 spent some of 

 his early years 

 at the loom. At 

 the age of 17 he 

 joined the Bap- 

 tists, and, after 

 study at Brier- 

 ly Hall and the 

 BaptistCollege John Foster, 



at Bristol, he Britisb essayist 

 was inducted into his first charge at 

 Newcastle- on-Tyne, 1792. After 

 filling pastorates in Dublin, Cork, 

 Chichester, Downend, and Frome, 

 he resigned in 1806 owing to 

 throat trouble. 



In 1805 appeared his Essays, by 

 which he is chiefly remembered, 

 and in the same year he became 

 one of the principal contributors 

 to The Eclectic Review. He died 

 at Stapleton, near Bristol, Oct. 15, 

 1843. A friend of Robert Hall, 

 and a man of remarkable force of 

 mind, Foster achieved success 

 neither as preacher nor lecturer, 

 but as a writer he was one of the 

 masters of modern English prose. 

 His Essays, particularly that On 

 Decision of Character, are distin- 

 guished by imagination, depth, 

 eloquence, and sincerity. See Life 

 and Correspondence, J. E. Ryland, 

 1852 ; Historical and Biogra- 

 phical Essays, 1859. 



Foster, MYLES BIRKET (1825- 

 99). British artist. Born at N. 

 Shields, Feb. 4, 1825, of Quaker 

 parentage, h e 

 studied under 

 Ebenezer Lan- 

 dells, wood en- 

 graver, for 

 whom he drew 

 many illustra- 

 tions on the 

 blocks. Starting 

 on his own ac- 

 count in 1846, 

 h e illustrated 

 in black and white many poetical 

 publications, and in 1859 turned 

 to water-colour, painting especially 

 idyllic landscapes in Surrey and 

 other home counties. He became 

 associate of the Royal Water 

 Colour Society in 1860 and mem- 

 ber in 1861. He died at Wey- 

 bridge, March 27, 1899. 



Fosterage. Term used for the 

 nursing and bringing-up of children 

 by others than their parents. The 

 custom prevailed in ancient Ireland, 

 where the ties of fosterage were 



M. Birket Foster, 

 British artist 



almost as close as those of blood 

 relationship. Fosterage was under- 

 taken either for payment or from 

 affection, and lasted until the age 

 of 13 for girls and 17 for boys. 

 Apparently the mother paid for 

 the fosterage of the boys and the 

 father for that of the girls. A 

 child was obliged to provide for the 

 foster-parent in old age. See 

 Family; Kinship. 



Fotheringhay. Parish and 

 village of Northamptonshire, Eng- 

 land. It stands on the Nene, 4 m. 

 N.E. of Oundle. Few traces re- 

 main of its llth century castle, 

 famous as the scene of the im- 

 prisonment, trial, and execution of 

 Mary Queen of Scots in 1587, and 

 as the birthplace of Richard III 

 in 1452. Pop. 200. 



Foucault, LEON (1819-68). 

 French physicist. Born Sept. 18, 

 1819, and educated privately, he 

 became physicist to the Paris 

 Observatory, where he constructed 

 various instruments, of which the 

 gyroscope and the polariser which 

 bear his name were the most 

 notable. He determined the rela- 

 tive velocities of light in air, in 

 water, and in a vacuum ; but is best 

 remembered by " Foucault's pen- 

 dulum." From the roof of the 

 Pantheon in Paris he hung a 

 pendulum 200 ft. long, free to 

 oscillate in any direction. The 

 pendulum never retraced its path, 

 but always deviated to the right, 

 showing that the floor was moving 

 and the earth rotating. Foucault 

 died at Paris, Feb. 11, 1868. 



Foucault Currents. Currents 

 induced in solid iron cores by 

 alternating current passing through 

 coils wound thereon, and by ro- 

 tation in a magnetic field. See 

 Electricity ; Magnetism. 



Fouche, JOSEPH (1759-1820). 

 French politician. Born near 

 Nantes, May 21, 1759, he was 



educated by the ( _ 



Oratorians i n 

 Paris. Ordained 

 priest,he became 

 a teacher, and 

 rose to be prin- 

 cipal of Nantes 

 College in 1790. 

 Throwing in his 

 lot with the Re- 

 volution, he sat 

 in the National 

 Convention (1792), became a Ja- 

 cobin, and vehemently advocated 

 the execution of Louis XVI. Hav- 

 ing renounced his orders, he was the 

 moving spirit in the mummeries 

 of the worship of reason and the 

 spoliation of the churches. 



Instrumental in the fall of 

 Robespierre, Fouche occupied 

 various positions in the succeeding 

 government, becoming minister of 



Joseph Fouche, 

 French politician 



