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F lhe sixth letter of the alphabet, and fourth consonant, is by I> some reckoned a mule, and by others a semi-vowel: it hasmuch the same sound with the Greet or ph, in English words,ami is only written in words ol Latin origin, ph being used insteadof it in those derived from the Greek. Suetonius tells us, that theemperor Claudius invented thejj and two other letters; and that jit had the force of v consonant, and was wrote inverted q. I. F, in imusic, is the fourth note in rising, in this order of the.gamut, ut,re, mi, fa. It likewise denotes one of the Greek keys in music,destined for the bass. II. As an abbreviation, F, in physical pre- ;scriptions, stands for flat, i. e. let it be done, or made up. r \ bus !f. s. a. signifies fiat secundum art cm. F, in the civil law, doubled tthus, ff, signifies the pandects. See Pandects . F, in the crimi- imil law, was a stigma put upon felons with a hot iron, on their be- ;ing admitted to the benefit of clergy; by slat. 4 lien. 7. c. 13. !III. F, as a numeral, anciently signified 40, and when a dash was Iadded at top, (tlnisTy) it stood for 40,000.

FA, in music, the fourth note of the gamut. See F. Musi- jcians distinguish two fa’s, via. the flat, marked with a 0, or b: jand the sharp, or natural, marked thus t;, and called also biquadro. jFAABORG, a sea-port town of Denmark , on the S. coast of 1the isle of Funen, 17 miles S. of Oldensee. Lon. 10. 16. It. Lat . I55. 12. N. ^ j

FABA, in botany’. See Vicia. j

FABER, a fish of the zeus kind, called in English doree, or jjohn doree. See Zeus.

FAB1ANE, a river of N. America, in . Louisiana , which runsS. E. and falls into the Mississippi , in Lat. 39. 30. N.

FABLUS, the surname of a powerful patrician family at Rome ,who derived their name from faba, a bean, because some of theirancestors cultivated this pulse. They were once so numerous thatthey took upon themselves to wage a war against theVeientes.They came to a general engagement near the Cremera, in whichall the family, consisting of 306 men, were slain, A. U. C. 277.There only remained one boy, whose tender age had detained himat Rome, and from him descended the noble Fabii of the follow-ing ages.

Fabius Maximus , Quintus, a celebrated Roman, who froma dull and inactive childhood was raised to the highest offices of'!the state. In his first consulship he obtained a victory over Ligu-ria , and the fatal battle of Thrasymenus occasioned his election tothe dictatorship. In this important office he began to opposeHannibal , not by r fighting him in the open field, like bis predeces-sors, but by continually harassing his army by countermarches and jambuscade’s, from which he received the surname of Cunctator , or ;jthe Delayor. Hannibal sent him word, that “ if he was as great acaptain as he would be thought, he ought to come into the plainand give him battle.” But Fabius coldly replied, “ that if lie wasas great a captain as he would be thought, lie would do well toforce him to fight.” Such operations for the commander of theRoman armies gave offence to some: and Fabius was even accus-ed of cowardice. He, however, continued firm in his resolution;and patiently bore to see his master of horse raised to share the dic-tatorial dignity with himself, by his enemies at home. When hehad laid down his office of dictator, his successors, fora while, fol-lowed his plan; but the rashness of Yarro, and his contempt forthe operations of Fabius, occasioned the fatal battle of Canine .Tarentum was obliged to surrender to him after the battle of Cau-sa;; and on that occasion the Carthaginians observed, that Fabius was the Hannibal of Rome . When lie had made an agreementwith Hannibal for the ransom of the captives, which was totallydisapproved by the Roman senate, he sold all his estates to pay themoney, rather than forfeit his word to the enemy. The bold pro-posals of young Scipio to carry the war from Italy to Africa, wasrejected by Fabius as chimerical and dangerous. He did not,however, live to see the success of the Roman arms under Scipio ,and the conquest of Carthage by measures which he treated withcontempt, and heard with indignation. He died in the 100th yearof his age, after he bad been five limes consul, and twice honoured

J with g triumph. The Romans were so sensible of his great meritand services, that the expences of his funeral were defrayed fromthe public treasury 7 .

Fabius Maximus, Quintus, son of the preceding, shewedhimself worthy of his father’s virtues. During his consulship hereceived a visit from his father on horseback in the camp. Theson ordered the father to dismount; and the old man cheerfullyobeyed, embracing his son, and saying, “ I wished to know whe-ther you know what it is to be consul.” He died before his fa-ther, who with tiie moderation of a philosopher, delivered a fune-ral oration over his son’s body.

Fabius Maximus Rui.i.ianus was the first of the Fabii whoobtained the surname of Maximus, for lessening the power of the! populace at elections. He was master of horse, and his victoryover the Samnites in that capacity nearly cost him his life, becauselie engaged lht enemy without the command of the dictator. liewas live times consul, twice dictator, and once censor. He tri-umphed over seven different nations, and rendered himself illus-trious by his patriotism.

Fabius Pictor, a Roman general and historian. He first in-troduced painting at Rome ; and having caused the walls of thetemple of Health to be painted, some authors have erroneouslyreckoned him a painter. He died about B. C. 216.

FABLE, [ fabuki , Lat.] a tale or feigned narration, designedeither to instruct or divert, disguised under the allegory of anaction, &c. Fables were the first pieces of wit that made theirappearance in the world, and have been still highly valued, notonly in times of the greatest simplicity, but among the most politeages of the world. Jotham’s fable ol the trees is the oldest that isextant, and as beautiful as any that have been made since. Na-than’s fable of the poor man is next in antiquity, and had so goodan effect as to convey instruction to the ear of a king. We find/Esop, in the most distant ages of Greece ; and in the early days ofthe Roman commonwealth, we read of a mutiny appeased by thefable of the belly aud the members. As fables had their rise inthe very infancy of learning, they never flourished more thanwhen learning was at its greatest height; witness Horace, Boileau,and Fontaine.

Fable is also used for the plot of an epic or dramatic poem, andis, according to Aristotle , the principal part, and, as it were, thesoul of a poem. See Poetry.

FABRETTI, Raphael, LL.D. a learned Italian author andantiquary, born at Urbino, in 1619. He studied at Cagli , andtook his degree at Urbino , in his 18th year. Cardinal Imperialisent him into Spain , where lie continued thirteen years, and wasfor some time auditor general of the Nunciature. On his returnto Rome , he was appointed judge of appeals, and afterwards in-spector of reliques. Pope Alexander V III . appointed him Secre-tary of memorials, and Innocent XII . made him keeper of the ar-chives of St Angelo. In the midst of all this business lie foundtime to cultivate his favourite study of antiquities, and upon whichlie wrote several tracts in Latin , particularly, 1. De Aquis & AquaeDuctibus Yeteris Romas: 2. De ColumnaTrajana : 3. Inscriptio-num Antiquanmi Explicatio, &c. He was admitted a memberof tiie academy of Assorditi at Urbino, and of the Arcadi at Rome ,and died Jan. 7, 1700.

FABRIANO, a town of Italy , in the marquisate of Ancona, atthe foot of the Apennines , 16 miles N. ol Nocera.

FABRIC-LANDS, those formerly given towards rebuildingor repairing cathedrals and other churches; for anciently almostevery body gave more or less, by his will, to the fabric ol the pa-rish-church where he dwelt.

FABRICIA, in botany, a genus of the icosandria nionogynia. class and order. ’ Calyx live-elelt, half superior; iNe petals, with-out claws; stigma capitate; capsule many-cellcd; seeds winged.It has two species: viz. the myvtifolia, and the laivigata, natives ofNew Holland.

! FABltlCIUS, Caius, a celebrated Roman, who in his firstj consulship, A. U. C. 470, obtained several victories over the Sam-i 5 mns