FANTUCCI FARINELLI. 



143 



invasions of the Ashantees. Population estimated 

 at 40,000. The soil is fertile, producing fruits, 

 maize, and palm-wine. The European nations trade 

 here for gold and slaves. The Fantees are bold, 

 cunning, and deceitful. Their government is aristo- 

 cratic. Their chief is a supreme judge or governor, 

 .attended by a council of old men. Each town has 

 a chief. The small towns are very numerous, and 

 they reckon about 4000 fishermen on the coast. The 

 capital is of the same name, and is situated about 

 twelve miles up the country. Lat. 5 10 7 N. 



FANTUCCI, COUNT, an Italian author, and the 

 first magistrate of Ravenna, was born there in 1745, 

 of one of the most respectable families. The me- 

 mory of the former splendour of his native place, and 

 the sight of its decay, excited his attention to the 

 causes of such a change, and he addressed a memo- 

 rial on the subject to pope Clement XIV., which 

 was afterwards printed. Ravenna owes to him also 

 the completion of a navigable canal. He invented 

 also, in 1780, a hydraulic machine, from which the 

 country people about Ravenna have derived the 

 greatest benefit. An epidemic, which prevailed in 

 tne neighbourhood of Ravenna, afforded an opportu- 

 nity for the display of his sagacity and his benevo- 

 lence to the fullest extent. After he had done every- 

 thing in his power to mitigate the sufferings of his 

 fellow citizens, he demonstrated, in an excellent 

 work, the necessity of draining the marshes, here 

 exposed to a southern sun. Among his writings 

 should be mentioned his Monumenti Ravennati. 

 After his death appeared at Venice, in 1804, some 

 interesting memoirs, which he had left. We are 

 also indebted to him for a fine edition of the diploma- 

 tic papers of the abbe Gaetano Marini. 



FARCE (from the French) ; a dramatic piece of 

 low comic character. Many nations have a stand- 

 ing character for their farces, which is always, there- 

 fore, very characteristic ; the Spaniards have the 

 gracioso, gullego ; the Italians the arlecchino, scar- 

 amitccio, &c. ; the Germans their Hanswurst, Kas- 

 perle, &c. Tiie French fared is derived from the 

 Italian farsa, this from the Latin farsum, stuffed, 

 signifying, therefore, a mixture of different things. 

 Adelung says, that, in the middle ages, farce signi- 

 fied, in German, certain songs, which were sung be- 

 tween the prayers on occasions of religious worship ; 

 so that farce, in respect to comedy, would origin- 

 ally signify an interlude (intermezzo). According to 

 the abbe Paolo Bernard!, a Provengal, it is derived 

 irom farsum, a Provengal dish. 



FARIA Y SOUSA, MANUEL ; a Castilian histo- 

 rian and lyric poet, born 1590, at Suto, in Portugal, 

 of an ancient and illustrious family. In his ninth 

 year, he was sent to the university at Braga, where 

 he made great progress in the languages and in phi- 

 losophy. In his fourteenth year, he entered the ser- 

 vice of the bishop of Oporto, and under his direction 

 made further improvement in the sciences. A 

 passion for a beautiful girl first awakened his poeti- 

 cal genius. He celebrated her under the name of 

 Albania in his sonnets, married her in 1613, and 

 went to Madrid. But he did not succeed there, and 

 returned to Portugal. He also visited Rome, and 

 gained the notice of Urban VIII., and the learned 

 men at his court, by his extensive knowledge. He 

 returned again to Madrid, and devoted himself en- 

 tirely to literature, with such ardour as to hasten his 

 end. He died at the age of fifty-nine. Of his writ- 

 ings the best are Discitrsos morales y politicos 

 (Madrid, 162,3 2G, 2 vols.) ; Comentarios sobre la 

 Lusiada (Madrid, 1639, 2 vols. fol.) ; Epitome de 

 las Historias Portuguesas ; and afterwards El Asia, 

 El Europa, El Africa and El America Portuguesn, 

 each a separate work, the last never printed. We 



have also a collection of his poems called Fountain of 

 Aganippe (Fuente de Aganipe, Rimas varias, 1644 

 46). His style was pure and strong, and his descrip- 

 tions full of vigour. 



FARINA. ' See Starch. 



FARINELLI, one of the greatest singers of the 

 last century, was bom at Naples, in 1705. His true 

 name was Carlo Broschi. He received his first in- 

 structions in music from his father, and afterwards 

 studied under Porpora, whom he accompanied on 

 several journeys. At the age of seventeen years, 

 he went to Rome, and displayed his clear and full- 

 toned voice in a contest with a celebrated performer 

 on the trumpet, whom he overcame by his strength 

 and perseverance. From thence he went to Bo- 

 logna, to hear Bernacchi, then the first singer 

 in Italy, and to enjoy the advantage of his in- 

 structions. In 1728, he went to Vienna, where the 

 emperor, Charles VI., loaded him with rich presents. 

 That emperor, after hearing him sing, said to him, 

 that he excited astonishment indeed by the compass 

 and beauty of his tones, but that it was not less in 

 his power to affect and charm, if he would study 

 nature. Farinelli took this hint, and delighted his 

 hearers as much as he had before astonished them. 

 In 1734, he came to London, and by the magic of 

 his singing, so delighted the public, that, according 

 to Laborde, Handel, who was at the head of another 

 company, was obliged to dismiss it, in spite of all 

 his powers. Senesino and Farinelli were both in 

 England at the same time; but, as they sang on the 

 same nights at different theatres, they had no oppor- 

 tunity of hearing each other. Accident once brought 

 them together : Senesino performed the part of a 

 bloody tyrant ; Farinelli, that of a hero languishing 

 in chains. Farinelli's first air melted the hard heart 

 of the cruel tyrant. Senesino, forgetting his charac- 

 ter, ran up to his prisoner, and affectionately em- 

 braced him. 



In 1737, Farinelli went to Paris, where he sung 

 before the king, who rewarded him richly ; and 

 after a short residence in France, he went to Madrid. 

 For ten years, he sang every evening before Philip 

 V. and his queen, Elizabeth. This prince, having 

 sunk into a profound melancholy, and neglected 

 public affairs, the queen had recourse to the power 

 of music to restore him. She contrived that there 

 should be a concert in a room adjoining the apart- 

 ment of the king, and Farinelli sang one of his most 

 beautiful airs. The king was at first surprised, then 

 deeply moved. At the conclusion of the second air, 

 the king sent for the performer, loaded him with 

 caresses, asked him how he could reward him, and 

 assured him that he would refuse him nothing. Fari- 

 nelli begged the king to suffer himself to be shaved, 

 and to appear in the council. From this moment 

 the disease of the king yielded to medicine, and 

 Farinelli had all the honour of his cure. This was 

 the foundation of his unlimited favour. He became 

 first minister, and was created knight of the order 

 of Calatrava; but he never forgot that he was a 

 singer. He never used his influence over the king 

 except to do good. Hence it happened that three 

 kings of Spain Philip V., Ferdinand VI., and Charles 

 III. successively honoured him with their favour. 

 After enjoying the highest honours in Spain for 

 twenty years, he was obliged to return to Italy. 

 He built a country house in the neighbourhood of 

 Bologna, with the inscription Amphion Thebas, ego 

 domum. Here he collected the most extensive musi- 

 cal library ever yet seen, and induced P. Martini to 

 undertake his History of Music. He died 1782, 

 having enjoyed, in a happy old age, the love of his 

 fellow citizens, and received many marks of respect 

 from foreign connoisseurs. " He possessed," says 



