/ 
F E L •, 
obtained a reputation for his proficiency in polite litera¬ 
ture. He was appointed fecretary to the marquis de Fon- 
tenay-Mareuil on Ills embatfy to Rome, and in that capi¬ 
tal contracted an intimacy with the celebrated Pouffin, 
who infpired him with that love for the fine arts by which 
lie became diftinguithed. Upon his return, his pen was 
employed, fir.fi: by the minifter Fouquet, and afterwards 
by Colbert. He wrote a work On the Origin of Painting, 
in 1660, which made him known as a man of tafte in that 
art ; and he followed it with a defeription of the tri¬ 
umphal arch for the entry of the queen, and with deferip- 
tions of fevcral pictures of le Brun. In t 666, he was 
made hiftoriographer of the royal buildings; in 1671, 
fecretary to the academy of architecture ; and in 1673, 
keeper of the antiques. He was the fir ft who, in the in- 
l'criptions of the Hotel de Ville, gave Louis XIV. the 
title of the Great, in which he was eagerly followed by the 
French nation: but the epithet was never generally re¬ 
ceived, and is now become obfolete. He began in 1666, 
to publilh the work by which he is beft known, his En- 
tretiens fur les Vies S 3 les Ouvragcs des plus exccllcns Peintres, 
which was completed in 1688, in five parts, quarto. He 
wrote alfo The Principles of Architedture, Painting, and 
Sculpture, 1690, quarto; and Conferences of the Royal 
Academy of Painting, quarto. He publifiied fome tranfla- 
tions from the Italian, a defeription of la Trapp.e, and 
fome pieces of piety. He was of a grave and eftimable 
charadter in private life, and much refpedted by the aca¬ 
demy of belles-lettres, of which he was a member. He 
died in 1695, at the age of feventy-fix. 
FELIBI'EN (John-Francis), fon of the preceding, fuc- 
ceeded his father in his places, and likewife in Iris attach¬ 
ment to the fine arts. He publifiied Recueil lliflorique de 
la Vie & les Ouvrages desplus celebres Architecles , 1687, 4to. 
alfo, A Defeription of Verfailles, old and new ; and A 
Defeription of the Church of the Invalids. Fie publifiied 
the plans and defigns of the two villas of Pliny the 
younger, defcri.bed in his Epiftles. He died in 1773. 
FELIBI'EN (Michael), another Ion of Andrew, born 
in 1665, entered into the benedidtine congregation of St. 
Maur. Befides fome works of piety, he wrote The Hif- 
tory of the Abbey of St. Denis, folio, 1706, adorned with 
figures, and illuftrated by various learned dilfertations. 
The reputation he acquired by this performance, caufed 
him to be cliofen by the magiflrates of Paris to write the 
hiftory of that Capital . He printed in the Jour/ial des Savans 
for 1713 his profpedtus of this work, and proceeded to 
the execution ; but Iris labours were cut off by death in 
3739. The work was afterwards completed by Dom. 
Lobineau, in 5 vols. folio, 1725. 
FELIBI'EN (James), brother of Andrew, a catholic 
divine, born at Chartres, in 1636. After diftinguifhing 
liimfelf by diligence of application, and the proficiency 
which he made in biblical knowledge, he was promoted, 
in 1695, to the archdeaconry of Vendome, in which "city 
he died in 1716, at-the age of eighty years. He was the 
author of feveral devo.tional pieces; among which were 
Moral Inftrudtions, in the Form of a Catechifm on the 
Commandments, 121110. 1693; and The Apoftles’ Creed 
explained and illuftrated, 121110. 1696. But his principal 
work was Pentaleuchus Hiftoricus, Jive quihque Libri hiftorici 
Jofue, Judiccs, Ruth, primus S 3 Jecurulus Regum, cum Commen- 
tariis ex Fontc llebraico, Vcrfione 70 Interpretum, S 3 variis Auc- 
foribus colleElis, a r to. 1703. This work is part of a defign 
which the author formed of publifhing a continuation of 
the Latin commentary on the Old Teftament of the cele¬ 
brated Janfertius, bifhop of Ypres. The copies of it are 
icarce, and objects of eonfiderable curiofity. 
FELI'CITAS, the pagan goddefs of Happinefs. I.u- 
cullus built a temple to her ; and fhe had another ereCted 
by Le.pidus. The Greeks paid divine worfliip to Macaria, 
the fame with Felicitas. She is often pictured upon medals 
with a cornucopia in one hand, and a caduceus in the other. 
To FELI'CITATE, v, a. [ feliciter, Fr. felicit0, Lut.] 
To make happy.—What a, glorious entertainment and 
V E L QQl 
pleafure would fill and felicitate his fpirit, if he could grafp 
all in a fingle furvey ! Watts. —To congratulate.—They 
mighr'prooeed unto forms of fpeeches , felicitating the good, 
or depreciating the evil to follow. Brown. 
FELICITA'TION, f. [Freitch, fcotfSftfelicitate.'] Con¬ 
gratulation. 
FELI'CITATIVE, adj. Congratulatory. Scott. 
FELI'CITOUS, '-$%/' (fclix, Lat.J Happy. 
FELl'ClTOUSLY, adv. Happily. 
FELI'CITOUSNESS,y. -Happinefs; the ftate of being 
happy. Scott. 1 
FELI'CITY,/. [ felicitas, Lat .fclicite, Fr.] Happinefs; 
profperity ; bjjfsfulnefs ; blelfednefs.—How great, bow 
glorious a felicity, how adequate to the defires of a reafon- 
able nature, is revealed to our hopes in the gofpcl ? Rogers. 
The joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin, 
And grant that we, for whom thou dideft die, 
Being with thy dear bicod clean walk’d from fin. 
May live for ever in felicity. Spenfcr. 
FELICU'DI, one of the Lipari ifiands, in the Medi¬ 
terranean : twenty-eight miles weft of Lipari. Lat. 39. 
32. N. Ion. 32. 21. E. Ferro. 
FE'IJNE, adj. [fe/inus, Lat.] Like a cat; pertaining 
to a cat.—Even as in the beaver ; from which lie differs 
principally in his teeth, which are canine, and in his tail, 
which is feline, or long and taper. Grew. 
FE'LINES-DE-TERMENES, a town of France, in 
the department of the Aude, and chief place of a canton, 
in the difiriCt of La Grade : two leagues foutli of La 
Graffe, and three and three quarters north-eaft of St. Paul- 
de-Fenouilhet. 
FE'LIS, f. ZqtJme't, Gr. a robber.] In zoology, a 
genus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of ferae'; in¬ 
cluding all the animals of the cat kind ; the characters of 
which are thefe : fore-teeth equal: molares or grinders 
with three points: tongue furnifhed with fharp prickles 
pointing backwards : claws, retractile. The tribe is tem¬ 
perate in its habits ; ealily climbs trees; fwift; fees beft 
by night; when falling from a height alights on the feet; 
the glans-penis lubricate backwards ; fuddenly fprings on 
its prey, fucks the blood, and then devours it; waves the 
tail when in fight of the prey; except from r.eceftity re- 
fufes vegetables; females bring many young; teats eight; 
four pectoral, and -four abdominal. There are twenty- 
two fpecies, befides many varieties; and are divided into 
two daffies; one with long, the other with fhert, tails. 
I. Tails long, cars plain. 
1. Felis leo, the lion. Head large, rounded ; forehead 
fquare ; eyes very large; lips pendulous; heart large; 
male a fourth part larger than the female, fometimes eight 
feet long ; cheft ftiaggv ; Tides of the head and neck with 
a yellowifh-brown mane about two feet long ; tail bufhy 
at the extremity. The hide of both male and female is 
of a yellowifh tan colour, and wliitifh on the belly. This 
colour is conftatitly the fame wherever the lion is found, 
notwithftanding poets and painters have feigned him to 
be red, black, brown, and fpotted. They are found to 
differ in fize in different climates. Thofe nourifhed under 
the fcorching fun of Africa, or the Indies, are the rnoft 
ftrong, fierce, and terrible. Thofe of mount Atlas, whole 
top is wiiitened with fnow, are neither fo ftrong nor fo 
ferocious as thpfe of Biledulgerid, whofe plains are co¬ 
vered with burning fund. It is in thefe hot and barren 
deferts, that the lion is the dread of travellers, and the 
fcourge of the neighbouring provinces. But it is a happy 
circumftance that the fpecies is not very numerous. The 
Romans are laid to have carried more lions out of Lybia for 
their public fticws, than are now to be found in that coun¬ 
try. It is likewife remarkable, that the lions in Turkey, 
Perfia, and the Indies, are lefs numerous than formerly. 
A few are ft ill met with between Bagdat and Bafforah, on 
the banks of the Euphrates. Niebuhr alfo places them 
among the animals of Arabia; but their proper country 
is Africa,, in the vaft defert of Sahara, and. thofe meri¬ 
dional 
