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for, the evidence of things not «een, Heb. 11. 1. And this it isbecause it realizes spiritual things to the mind. Faith is the gift ofGod , and St. James, denoting it by the very significant appellationKimlom, says,»“ if any of you lack wisdom, let iiim a->kof God , thatgiveth to ail men liberally, and upbruideth not; and it shall begiven to him.” Jam. 1. 5. We earnestly entreat our readersabove all tilings to secure this wisdom ; it is this which diffuses thesoul of happiness throughout the whole compass of our pursuitsand actions.

1AKEXIIAM, a town of Norfolk , 6 miles from the sea-coast,and 20 N. \V. of Norwich.

FAKIRS , Indian monks or friars. They outdo the severityand mortification of the ancient Anchorets. Some of them makea vow of continuing all their lifetime in one posture, and keep itelleclually. Others never lie down ; but continue in a standingposture all their lives, supported only by a stick, or rope undertheir arm-pits. Some mangle their bodies with scourges andknives. They pretend to have conquered every passion, andtriumphed over the world; and accordingly scruple not, as if ina state of innocence, to appear entirely naked in public. Thepeople of East India are persuaded of the virtue of the fakirs; not-withstanding which, they are accused of committing the most enor-mous crimes in private. There is also another kind of fakirs, whodo not practise snch severities ; these Hock together, and go fromvillage to village, prophesying, and telling fortunes. They arewicked villains, and it is dangerous to meet them in a solitaryplace ; nevertheless the Indian idolaters have them in the utmostveneration.

1ALAISE, a town of France, in the department of Calvados ,and late province of Normandy , with a castle, one of the finesttowers in France ; famous for being the birth-place of William theConqueror. It is 20 miles S. E. of Caen .

FALASIIA, a people of Abyssinia, of Jewish origin, describedby Mr. Bruce, who was at great pains to acquaint himself withtheir history, by cultivating the friendship of the most learned per-sons among them. They say, that the first book of Scripturethey ever received was that of Enoch ; and they place that ofJob immediately after it, supposing that patriarch to have livedsoon after the Hood. They have no copy of the Old Testament inthe Falasha language, what they make use of being in that of Geez .This is sold to them by the Abyssinian Christians, who are theonly scribes in that country. No dillercnce takes place aboutcorruptions of the text; nor do the Falasha know any thing of theJewish Talmud, Targuin, or Cabala .

FALCADE , in the manege* the motion of a horse when liethrows himself upon his haunches two or three times, as in veryquirk corvets; which is done in forming a stop and half stop.

FALCATED, something in the form of a sickle: thus, themoon is said to be falcated when she appears horned.

FALCO, in ornithology, a genus ot birds, of the order Acci-ptires. The characters are these : bill hocked at the end, coveredat its base with a cere, or naked membranous skin ; head coveredwith leathers, which lie close on each other: tongue often cleft.Thb is a rapacious carnivorous race of animals, feeding almost en-tirely on anim.il food ; they are very quit k-siahted, generally flyhigh, and bniid their nests in lofty places. They are not grega-rious ; and the females are generally larger thin tiie 018103.“ Thelegs and feet are scaly ; the claws large, strong, very sharp, andmuch hooked. There are about 100 species, with several varie-ties. Dr. Gmeliii divides this genus into lour sub-genera, or lesserdivisions; which Mr. Kerr has reduced to three, by including theGvpstus iserpvntariiis, in his 2d subgenus, because it has some re-lation to the vultures. These three subgenera are, 1. Gy parti,Bastard Eagles; 2. Aquila:, Flagles; and 3. Falconer, Falcons andHawks.

F. Aquila ChrvS/Etos, the Golden Eagle , weighs about121b. and is about three feet lone, the w ings when extended mea-suring seven feet 4 indies. The sight and sense of smelling arevery acme: the head and neck are clothed with narrow, sharp-pointed feathers, of a deep brown colour bordered with tawncy ;the- hind part of the head is of a bright ru-4 colour. These birdsare very destructive to fawns, lambs, kids, and all kinds of game ;p ii'tirularly in the breeding season, when they bring a vast quan-tity of prey to their young. Sin.th, in his IlLtory "of Kerry, re-lates, that a poor mail in that country got a comfortable subsistence,

for his family, during a summer of famine, out of an eagle’s nest,by robbing the eaglets’ of the food the old ones brought; whoseattendance protracted beyond the natural time, by clipping thewings and retarding the flight of the former. It is very unsafe toleave infants in places where eagles frequent; there being instancesin Scotland of two being carried off by them; but, fortunately,the thefts were discovered in lime, and the children were restoredunhurt out of the eagles nests. In order to extirpate these perni-cious birds, there is a law. in the Orkney isles , which entitles everyperson that kills an eagle to a lien out of every house in the parishwhere it was killed. Eagles seem to give the preference to thecarcases of dogs and cats. People who make it their business tokill those birds, lay one of these carcases by way of bait; andthen conceal themselves within gun-shot. They lire the instantthe eagle alights; for she, that moment, looks about before shebegins to prey. Yet, quick as her sight maybe, her sense ofhearing seems still more exquisite. It hooded crows or ravenshappen to be nearer the carrion, and resort to il first, and give asingle croak, the eagle instantly repairs to the spot. These eaglesare remarkable for their longevity, and for sustaining a long absti-nence from food. Mr. Keyster relates, that an eagle (Tied atVienna after a confinement ot 104 years. This pre-eminent lengthof days is alluded to bv the Psalmist, “ Thy youth is renewed liketiie eagle’s.” One ot this species, which was nine years in thepossession of Owen Holland, Esq. of Conway, lived 32 yearswith the gentleman who made him a present of it ; but what itsage was, when the latter received it from Ireland , is unknown.'1 he same bird also furnishes us with a proof of tiie truth of tiieother remark ; having once, through the neglect of servants, en-dured hunger for 21 days without anv sustenance whatever. SeePlate LV1I i.

F. IIalizetus, or tiie Osprey, is to be found in almost all partsof Europe , on tiie borders of lakes and rivers, which it frequentsfor the sake of the fish contained in them, which constitute itsprincipal subsistence, and on which it darts with unerring accuracy;it builds on the ground among reeds, and is tiie most numerous ofthe larger birds of prey.

E. Buteo, or tiie Common Buzzard , is abundantly providedwith means of defence, as well as attack; but is sluggish andcowardly with all its strength, and will sulTer itself to be brought totiie ground by a sparrow-hawk, without at all employing thosemeans, which, if fully exerted, would uniformly and inevitablyprove fatal to the assailant. The length of the common buzzardis about 20 inches; its food consists, of birds, vermin, reptiles,and insects.

F. Aquila Milvus, the Kite, is a native of Europe, Asia , andAfrica. This species generally breeds in large forests or woodymountainous countries, its nest is composed of sticks, lined withseveral odd materials, such as rags, bits of flannel, ropes, and pa-per. They are white, spotted with dirty yellow. Its motion in

! tiie air disthiguishes it from all other birds, being so smoothawl even that it is scarce perceptible. Sometimes it will re-main quite motionless fora considerable space ; at others glidethrough the sky without the least apparent action of its wings;from thence deriving the old name of Giedc, from the Saxon glida.They inhabit the N. of Europe , as higli as Jurlsberg, in the S. ofNorway ; but do not extend farther. They are observed in vastnumbers about Cairo , where they are extremely tame, and feedeven on dates, probably for want of other food. They appear inGreece in the spring, in Britain they are found the whole year.Lord Bacon observes, that when kites fly high, it portends fair anddry weather. Mr. Kerr enumerates three varieties of this species,viz. tiie Siberian, Russian , awl Jaic Kites.

F. Ossifkagus, the Osprey, or Sea-Eagle, frequents tiiesea-shore, and subsists principally upon fish ; it is nearly of the sizeof the golden eagle, and is found in many countries both of Eu-rope and America ; its sight is stated to be equally clear by nightand by slay. Mr- Barlow relates, that he saw a bird of this spe-I cies engaged once in a violent conflict in the air with a cat whichhe had lifted in his talons, whose efforts, however, were finally toopowerful for him, and brought him again to the ground. Martin,

! speaking of tiie great eagles of tiie Western Isles , says, that they! fasten their talons in the buck of the fish, commonly salmon, which! are often above the water, or very near the surface. Those of| Greenland will even take a young seal out of the water. It alsoi | preys