212 



FL1BUSTIER FLOETZ. 



ministry. From that time, from liis seventy-third to 

 liis ninetietli year, he administered the affairs of his 

 country with great success. The war which he 

 began, in 1733, against Charles VI. and the German 

 empire, on account of the election to the crown of 

 Poland, he ended with glory. By the peace ot 1736, 

 he added Lorraine to France. On the other hand, 

 the war of the Austrian succession was unfortunate 

 for the French. Fleury died before its termination, 

 at Issy, near Paris, January 29, 1743. The object 

 of his politics was the maintenance of peace. During 

 his ministry, France mediated between the emperor 

 and Spain, between the Porte, Austria, and Russia, 

 and attempted, several times, a reconciliation between 

 England and Spain. Thus Fleury directed, with 

 wisdom and discretion, the affairs of Europe, until 

 1740. The war which then broke out is the only 

 stain upon his name. The two brothers Belle-Isle 

 abused their own influence and his advanced age, 

 persuading him, that, by a moderate effort, he might 

 crush the power of Austria a hope which was dis- 

 appointed by the heroic courage of Maria Theresa. 

 When Fleury was placed at the head of the state, 

 France was in a miserable condition. The finances 

 were ruined, commerce had declined, credit was lost, 

 the court despised, the church hi confusion, the cor- 

 ruption of manners universal, the nation impoverished 

 and weakened, and threatened by foreign enemies. 

 Fleury, less proud than Richelieu, and less artful 

 than Mazarin, healed the wounds of his country, and, 

 without bloodshed or cruelty, established and in- 

 creased the internal happiness of France and its na- 

 tional glory. 



FLIBUSTIER. See Buccaneer. 



FLINT ; a mineral which occurs of all colours, 

 but generally yellowish and dark gray, commonly in 

 a compact amorphous body, rarely crystallized. It is 

 widely spread throughout the earth, in primitive, 

 secondary, and alluvial formations, but especially in 

 limestone. This mineral consists of 98 silica, 0.50 

 lime, 0.25 alumina, 0.25 oxide of iron, and 1.0 loss. 

 Its principal use is for gun-flints, and it is also re- 

 duced to a powder, and used in the manufacture of 

 porcelain and glass. The manufacture of gun-flints 

 is exceedingly simple, and a good workman will 

 make 1000 flints a-day. The whole art consists in 

 striking the stone repeatedly with a kind of mallet, 

 and bringing off, at each stroke, a splinter sharp at 

 one end, and thicker at the other. The splinters are 

 afterwards shaped at pleasure, by laying the line at 

 which it is wished they should break, upon a sharp 

 instrument, and then giving it small blows with a 

 mallet. (See Quartz. ) Large manufactures of gun- 

 flints exist at Muesnes in Berry, hi Galicia, and at 

 Avio in the Tyrol. 



FLINTSHIRE, a small county of North Wales, 

 consisting of a narrow tract of land about twenty- 

 eight miles in length, and in no place more than ten 

 miles in breadth. It is bounded on the north and 

 east partly by the Irish sea and the estuary of the 

 Dee ; on the west and south by Denbighshire ; and 

 on the remaining part of the east by Cheshire. The 

 sea-side all along is fertile and sheltered : a moun- 

 tain range, parallel to the Dee, and extending 

 throughout the county, rises to an average height of 

 five hundred feet. Of this range, one mountain, 

 Mael-y-Gaer, attains an elevation of 1020 feet above 

 sea level, and Pentre Halkill 992. The residue of 

 the county is comparatively flat. The chief rivers 

 which water the comity are the Clwyd, famous for 

 the beauty of the vale to which it lends its name ; 

 the Allen, which passes through Mold ; the Prestatyn 

 and Fallacre, less important ; and the Dee, the only 

 one which is navigable. The soil and surface are much 

 diversified ; the hills generally fell into gentle slopes, 



descending into fertile and well-watered vales, and 

 the land is argillaceous and abundantly productive of 

 corn and grass. 



The county is rich in minerals. Mr Pennant, who 

 was a native, divides the mineralogical district of 

 Flint into two parts, the Highland and Lowland. 

 The former commences at Dyserth, and, taking a 

 southerly direction, crosses the pass of Bodfari, and 

 appears near Mold, Northross, and Halkin. The 

 second division is separated from the first by a 

 depression of the elevated line commencing in the 

 vicinity of Rhos-Esmor. The coal strata extend to 

 the river Dee, and pass thence into the hundred of 

 Wirral in Cheshire. Limestone is found both on the 

 sea-side and in various places, and at great depths. 

 In this mineralogical region are raised lead-ores of 

 various qualities and species. Lapis calaminaris, 

 and another species of zinc, pseudogalena, called by 

 the miners Black Jack, a substitute for calamine. 

 One lead-mine at Pont-y-Pwlldur, yielded the enor- 

 mous return of one million sterling in thirty years. 

 The hundreds of Coleshill and Rhuddlan abound with 

 coal and lead, and were granted to Sir Richard Gros- 

 venor, in the reign of Charles I. The coal district 

 is considered to commence at Llanasa, and to pass 

 through the parishes of Whiteford, Holywell, Flint, 

 and Northross, terminating at Hawarden. The col- 

 lieries of Mostyn and Bychton have been worked 

 since the time of Edward I. Petrosilex accompanies 

 the limestone strata in immense masses ; it is valu- 

 able in the manufacture of porcelain. Among the 

 curiosities of the mineral kingdom of this place may 

 be mentioned the beautiful double-reflecting spar, the 

 rock-oil, or fairies'-butter, and various fossils in the 

 limestone of secondary formation. There are iron 

 works at Hawarden ; brass, iron, lead-works, &c. at 

 Holywell ; and lead works at Flint. A considerable 

 export of coal is made annually from the coal-works 

 on the shores of the estuary of the Dee. A constant 

 reciprocal trade exists between Liverpool and Holy- 

 well, and steam-packets sail from Rhyl, now a 

 fashionable bathing-place, and from Bagitt to Liver- 

 pool, and to Chester. The famous Well of Saint 

 Winifred at Holywell, though visited by hundreds 

 who enjoy the superstitious ceremony of bathing 

 there, does not possess any mineral property. 



Flintshire is divided into five hundreds, called 

 Coleshill, Maclor, Mold, Prestatyn, and Rhuddlan. 

 The chief towns are Holywell ; Flint, the county 

 town, situated near the estuary of the Dee ; Rhud- 

 dlan, famous for its ancient castle, the oldest English 

 edifice in Wales ; St Asaph's, the residence of the 

 bishop of that see ; and Mold, a busy town, engaged 

 in mining transactions wholly. Population in 1831, 

 60,012. 



FLOATING BREAKWATER. This marine 

 contrivance may consist of a series of square frames 

 of timber, connected by mooring chains, or cables 

 attached to anchors, or blocks of marble. The frame- 

 works may be made of logs of yellow pine, from 

 thirty to fifty feet long, and from eighteen to twenty 

 inches square, bolted together very firmly, and in- 

 creased in height as the situation may be boisterous, 

 in order to break the violence of the agitated waves, 

 and allow the vessel riding within these quadrangu- 

 lar basins more safety ana protection Such break- 

 waters are admirably adapted to bathing-places and 

 swimming stations, since they will always produce 

 smooth water, and protect the machines. 



FLODDEN, a village hi Northumberland, about 

 twelve miles south of Berwick, near which was 

 fought the celebrated battle of Flodden-field, in 1513. 

 See Scotland, (History of). 



FLOETZ, FLOETZ FORMATIONS. See 

 Geology, and Geognosy. 



