F I L 
To FILE, v. n. To inarch in a file, not abreafl, but one 
behind another.—All ran down without order or cere¬ 
mony, ’till we drew up in good order and filed off. Taller. 
FILE-CUT'TER, fi A maker of files.—Gad-fteel is a 
tough fort of fteel : file-cutters ufe it to make their chifels, 
with which they cut their files. Moxon. 
FILE-LEAD'ER,/. The firft man of every file, which 
compofe the front of a battalion. 
FILEL'FO, or Philelfhus (Francis), diftinguifhed 
among the reftorers of letters, born at Tolentino, in the 
marclie of Ancona, in 1398. He ftudied at Padua, where 
he made fitch a proficiency in polite literature, that he 
was invited to open a fchool of eloquence at Venice in his 
twentieth year. His bitter enemy, Poggio, the Floren¬ 
tine, has reprefented him as ftained in his youth with the 
moft infamous vices, in confequence of which he was ex¬ 
pelled from Padua ; but befides his own denial, the honour 
of citizenlhip which he received at Venice, together with 
the title of chancellor conferred upon him to decorate his 
refidence at Conftantinople, appear to prove thefe charges 
to have been calumnious. In 1420, he paffed to the Gre¬ 
cian capital, where, under the direction of John Chryfo- 
lorus, fon of Manuel, he afiiduoufiy purfued the (ludy of 
the Greek language. He married Theodora the daugh¬ 
ter of Chry foloras ; and rendered himfelf fo acceptable to 
the emperors Manuel and John Pulaeologus, that, in 1423, 
be was fent ambaffador to fultan Anmrath II. and alio to 
the emperor Sigifmond. In this lad embaffy he received 
an invitation from Ladifiaus IV. king of Poland, to aflift 
at his nuptials, and on that occafion he recited an oration 
at Cracow, in the prefence of the emperor and feveral 
princes. Returning to Conflantinople, he occupied him¬ 
felf in literary concerns, and in 1427 he revifited Venice, 
on the invitation of many of the nobles. He brought 
back with him a treafure of Greek manuferipts, which 
were the foundation of many of his works. His reputa¬ 
tion was now fo high, that he was fought at the fame 
time by the pope, the Greek emperor, the duke of Milan, 
and the univerfities of Perugia and Bologna. It is, how¬ 
ever, fufpedted that lie took pains to procure fotne of 
thefe invitations. Proceeding to Capua, he was treated 
with extraordinary refpett by Alphonfo king of Naples, 
who knighted him, gave him the privilege of ufing the 
royal arms, and placed on his head the poetical crown 
of laurel. Upon his return to Milan, he learnt that his 
mother-in-law, the widow of Chryfoloras, and her two 
daughters, were made (laves in the capture of Conftanti- 
nople by the Turks; and it is to the credit of all con¬ 
cerned, that at the indance of Filelfo the duke difpatched 
two tnefiengers to Condantinople, with a letter and an 
ode addreffed to Mahomet II. by which that ferocious 
conqueror was induced to redore thofe female captives 
without ranfom. In 1469, he prefented pope Paul II. 
with his trandafion of the Cyropaedia, for w hich he re¬ 
ceived a donation of four hundred ducats. Fie went to 
Rome to return thanks, and on his road was very honour¬ 
ably treated at Florence by Peter and Lorenzo de Medici. 
He continued to refide at Milan till 1474, when he ob¬ 
tained leave to accept the invitation of pope Sixtus IV. 
to Rome, in order to occupy the chair of moral philofo- 
phy. Fie explained the Tufculan Queftions of Cicero to 
a great number of auditors, among whom was the cele¬ 
brated Alexander ab Alexandro. But dill aftuated by 
his fickle temper, he made three more removals between 
Rome and Milan ; and at length, in the eighty-third year 
of his age, accepted an invitation from Lorenzo de Me¬ 
dici to a Greek profedorlhip at Florence. He died in 
1481, a fhort time after his arrival at that city. The 
moral character of Filelfo requires no farther elucidation. 
As a man of letters he is more to be admired for his in- 
dudry, and the great compafs of his attainments, than for 
peculiar excellence in any one branch. He was, however, 
intimately acquainted with the hiltory, mythology, and 
philofophy, of the ancients, and happily applied his 
knowledge in the explanation of the cladics. He wrote 
Vql.VII. No. 433. 
F i L s'6g 
a great number of works, which confid of orations, moral 
treadles, difeourfes, poems, &c. and of thirty-feven books 
of familiar epidles, which afford much curious anecdote 
relative to the times. Thefe were printed at Venice, in 
1 502, folio, and a new edition was undertaken in Florence, 
in 1743, but proceeeded no farther than the four firft 
books. His elded fon, Giammaria (Marius Philelphus), 
was a fcholar of fome note, and refembled his father in 
the variety of his acquifitions. He wrote Latin verfes 
with prodigious facility, but of little value. He died at 
Mantua, in 1480. 
IT'LEMOT, fi. [corrupted from feuille morte, a dead 
leaf, Fr.] A brown or yellow-brown colour.—The colours 
you ought to widi for are blue or filemot, turned up with, 
red. Swift. 
FILEN'TA, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na. 
pies, and province of Calabria Ultra : feven miles north 
of Girace. 
FI'LER, f. One who files; one who ufes the file in 
cutting metals. 
FIL'ESAC (John), a learned French ecclefiadic, born 
at Paris, and educated at the univerfity in that city. 
Having entered into orders, he was prefented to the cure 
of St. John en Greve; and, in 1590, received the bonnet 
of doftor from the faculty of the Sorbonne. For a long 
time he was one of the mod diining ornaments of that 
celebrated faculty, and preiident of its affemblies many 
years, as dean, or fenior profeffor of the fociety. He 
died in 1C38, at a very advanced age, when he filled the 
honourable odice of dean of the faculty of theology of 
Paris, and is highly fpoken of for his integrity, his know¬ 
ledge, and his piety. He was the author of a variety of 
publications in ecclefiadical and profane literature, the 
greater part of which was collected together, and pub- 
lifhed by himfelf at Paris, in 1621, in 3 vols. qto. 
FIL'IAL, adj. [fihal-lc, Fr. filius, Lat.] Pertaining to 
a fon ; befitting a fon : 
He griev’d, he wept, the fight an image brought 
Of his own filial love, a fadly pleafing thought. Dryden. 
Bearing the character or relation of a fon : 
Where tils old myrtle her good influence flteds, 
Sprigs of like leaf eredt their filial heads ; 
And when the parent rofe decays and dies, 
With a refembling face the daughter buds arife. Prior . 
Filial love is the affectionate attachment of children to 
their parents; including in it reverence, obedience, and 
relief, whenever needful. Thefe are duties prompted 
equally by nature and by gratitude, independent of the 
injunctions of religion. For where (hall we find the per- 
fon who hath received from any one benefits fo great or 
fo many, as children from their parents? And it may be 
truly faid, that if perfons are undutiful to their parents, 
they feldom prove good, in any poflible acceptation of the 
word. Profane as well as feripture hiflory, furnifh many 
fine examples of this amiable virtue; but none of them 
feem calculated to make a deeper impreflion on the hu¬ 
man mind, than the affectionate and noble conduCt of the 
fon of Quintus, the brother of Cicero. Among thofe 
who were proferibed under the fecond triumvirate of 
Rome, were thefe two celebrated brothers. The fate of 
the orator is related under the article Cicero, vol.iv. 
p. 590. His brother Quintus found means to conceal him¬ 
felf fo effectually, that the foldiers could not find him. 
Enraged at their difappointment, they feized his fon, and 
put him to the torture, in order to make him difeover the 
place of his father’s concealment; but filial affeCtion was 
proof againff the moft exquifite torments. An involun¬ 
tary figh, and fometimes a deep groan, was all that could 
be extorted from the intrepid youth. Flis agonies were 
increafed ; but with amazing fortitude he (fill perlifted in 
his refolution of not betraying his parent. Quintus was 
not far off; and it may be imagined better than it can be 
expreffed, how his heart mult have been affeCted’ with 
