FLAXMAN FLEECE. 



209 



becomes dry, when the seeds are separated, either 

 by beating on a cloth, or by passing the stems 

 through an iron comb. The stems, after being 

 placed even at the base, are again tied together in 

 bundles for rotting a process which is necessary to 

 facilitate the separation of the fibres, and which is 

 accomplished in three different manners : 1st, on the 

 earth, which requires a month or six weeks ; 2d, in 

 stagnant water, which is the most expeditious man- 

 ner, as only ten days are necessary ; but the fibres 

 are of inferior quality ; 3d, in running water, for 

 which about a month is necessary. The finest fibres 

 are produced by this latter mode, and certain rivers 

 are considered as possessing advantages over others. 

 Whatever method be made use of, it is necessary to 

 turn it every three or four days. After this process, 

 it is taken out, dried, and is ready for obtaining the 

 fibres. For this purpose, a handful is taken in one 

 hand, laid upon a table, and beaten with a wooden 

 instrument, afterwards drawn forcibly over the angle 

 of the table with both hands, in order to free it from 

 fragments of the stem. Another method is by 

 machinery. It is afterwards heckled or combed with 

 a sort of iron comb, beginning with the coarser and 

 ending with the finer, and is now ready for spin- 

 ning. 



Flax, New Zealand (formium tenax). The fibres 

 of this plant are used, by the inhabitants of New 

 Zealand, for cords and clothing, instead of hemp and 

 flax, to which they are much superior. They are, 

 in fact, stronger than any other known vegetable 

 fibres, hardly yielding, in this respect, to silk. The 

 stem of this plant grows six feet high and upwards, 

 is straight, very firm, and is branched or paniculate 

 above, and sheathed at base by the leaves ; the 

 leaves are five or six feet long, ensiform, very much 

 compressed at base, where they are disposed on two 

 opposite sides of the stem, and somewhat resemble 

 those of the common cat-tail ; the flowers have six 

 petals, six stamens, and one style. In its native 

 country, it grows on both wet and dry places, and is 

 apparently adapted to every kind of soil, but seems 

 to prefer marshy places. The fibres are very long, 

 of a snowy whiteness, and possess the lustre of silk. 

 French enterprise has been awakened to the import- 

 ance of introducing the culture of. this plant. It 

 bears the climate of the south of France, and has 

 remained in the open air throughout the year. It has 

 succeeded perfectly in Normandy, producing seeds 

 which have been sown, and proved fertile. Every 

 year, as the inner leaves shoot upward, it loses the 

 outer and, consequently, the outer leaves should 

 be pulled off when they have acquired their full 

 growth, while the stock may remain in the ground 

 for years. It may be multiplied by off-sets which 

 are separated in the spring. The method by which 

 the New Zealanders obtain the fibres is very tedious ; 

 accordingly, the French chemists have devised other 

 modes, which promise success. 



FLAXMAN, JOHN, an eminent English sculptor, 

 was born at York, in 1755. His earliest notions of 

 art were derived from casts, in the shop of his father, 

 who sold plaster figures, from many of which he 

 made models in clay. In 1770, he was admitted a 

 student of the royal academy, where he prosecuted 

 his studies with great diligence. In 1787, he went 

 to Italy, where he remained seven years, and left 

 many memorials of his genius, which have been 

 much admired. While in Rome, he executed those 

 fine illustrations of Homer, Dante, and jEschylus, 

 which at once made him known in Europe. The 

 illustrations of Homer and ^Eschylus were published 

 Bt Rome in 1793 ; and the former were republished, 

 with additions, in London, 1805. Those of Dante 

 were also published in London in 1806. When he 



commenced his designs from the Greek poets, he 

 confined himself almost entirely to copies of subjects 

 on the Greek vases. In 1794, he returned to Eng- 

 land, where he was diligently occupied with his pro- 

 fessional pursuits, until his death, in 1826. He had 

 been elected an associate of the royal academy, in 

 1797, royal academician, 1800, and, in 1810, was 

 appointed professor of sculpture to that institution. 

 His lectures have been published since his death 

 (8vo, London, 1829, 52 plates). His monument of 

 lord Mansfield, in Westminster abbey, is considered 

 the finest public monument in England. His monu- 

 ments to Collins, at Chichester, to earl Howe, in 

 St Paul's, and to Sir Joshua Reynolds, are among his 

 best works in sculpture, which are, however, accused 

 of being somewhat deficient in softness, finish, and 

 grace. He also executed statues of Washington, Sir 

 W. Jones, Mr Pitt, lord Nelson, &c., and some co- 

 lossal groups. The basso-relievos in front of Covent 

 Garden theatre, and the exterior ornaments of the 

 new palace, were designed by him. His illustra- 

 tions of Homer, yEschylus, and Dante, have been 

 republished in Germany, and in Paris by Nitot Du- 

 fresne, year XI. 



FLECHIER, ESPRIT ; a French divine of the Ca- 

 tholic church, highly celebrated as a pulpit orator ; 

 born of obscure parents, in the county of Avignon, 

 in 1632. The care of his education was undertaken 

 by his uncle, father Audiffret, superior of the con- 

 gregation of the Christian doctrine, of which young 

 Flechier became a member. He made great profi- 

 ciency in literature, and was appointed professor of 

 rhetoric in the college of his order at Narbonne. 

 While in this situation, he delivered a funeral oration 

 for the archbishop of Narbonne, which was greatly 

 admired. On the death of his uncle, he quitted the 

 congregation, owing to a difference with the new 

 superior, and went to Paris. He devoted his talents 

 to the study of eloquence, in which he became so 

 eminent as to be reckoned the rival of the celebrated 

 Bossuet. In 1673, Flechier was elected a member 

 of the French academy. In 1679, he published his 

 History of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, which 

 was followed by his Life of Cardinal Ximenes. Louis 

 XIV., in 1685, raised him to the bishopric of La- 

 vaur, on which occasion that prince said to him 

 " I have made you wait some time for a place which 

 you have long deserved, but I was unwilling sooner 

 to deprive myself of the pleasure of hearing you 

 preach." He was translated from the diocese of 

 Lavaur to that of Nismes in 1687. The latter 

 bishopric abounded in Protestants, and, the edict of 

 Nantes having just been revoked, the talents of 

 Flechier were successfully employed in converting 

 them to the established faith. It is to his credit 

 that he acted with great moderation in the discharge 

 of his pastoral duty, endeavouring to recall the peo- 

 ple from what he conceived to be the path of error, 

 by reasoning and eloquence, rather than by force and 

 terror. He died in February, 1710. Of his funeral 

 orations, the finest was that which he delivered on the 

 death of marshal Turenne. 



FLECKNOE, RICHARD; an English poet and 

 dramatic writer, contemporary with Dryden, and 

 chiefly memorable for having had his name gibbeted 

 jy that satirist, in the title of his invective against 

 Shadwell. His works are far from being contemp- 

 tible. 



FLEECE, GOLDEN. See Argonauts, and Jason. 



FLEECE, ORDER OF THE GOLDEN, one of the 

 oldest and most honourable orders in Europe, was 

 stablished by Philip III. of Burgundy, surnamed 

 the Good, January 10, 1430, at Bruges, on the occa- 

 sion of his marriage with his third wife, Isabella, 

 daughter of king John I. of Portugal. In the begiu- 



