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kct el Kerun. It was anciently called Arsinoe , and inttoecledby oemL, cut by the ancient Egyptians between the river andthe Lake of Moeris ; but though formerly very wealthy andfertile, it is greatly declined, through tin: oppressions of the Ma-melukes ,
Fayoim, the capital of the above province, is seated on Jo-seph’s Canal, which runs through it, and surrounded by gardens;49 miles b. S. W. of Cairo .
Fit, FO, or FO-11I. See Font.
IV., Santa. See Santa Ff..
FEAL Dikes, a cheap sort of fence common in Scotland ;built with feul or sod dug up by the spade, from the surface ofgrass ground, consisting of the upper mould rendered tough andcoherent by the malted roots of grass thickly interwovenwith it.
FEALTY, in law, an oath taken on the admittance of any te-nant, to be true to the lord ot whom lie holds his land: by thisoath the tenant hold., in the freest manner, on account that all whohave fee hold per fidem et fiduciam, that is, by fealty at least.This fealty at the first creation of it, bound the tenant to fidelity,the breacli of whicli was the loss of his tee. It has been dividedinto general and special: general, that which is to be performedby every subject- to bis prince ; and special, required only cf suclias, in respect of their fee, are tied by oath to their lords. To alltenures, except tenancy at will and frank almoign, fealty is inci-dent, though it chielly belongs to copyhold estates held in feeand for life. The form of this oath bv slut. 17 Ed. II. is to runas follows. “ I A. B. will be to you my lord D. true and faith-ful, and bear to you faith for the lands and tenements which 1bold of you, and 1 will truly do and perform the customs and ser-vices that I ought to do to you. So help me God .”
FEAR , \_fearan, Sax. to fear; vaer, Dut . feakle, Erse,] inscripture, is used in various senses. The tear of God is citherfilial or servile. Filial fear is a gracious habit in the soul, where-by it is inclined to obey all God ’s commands, and to hate andavoid evil. Slavish or servile fear is the consequence of guilt; itis an alarm within that disturbs the rest of a sinner; though it of-ten proves preparative to faith and repentance.
Fear, in the mythology. See Pavor.
Fear, in scripture is also frequently taken for a painful ap-prehension of danger; a dejection of niu.d ; anxious concern forsome object; that which causes fear; and the person or tilingw hich is feared. The fear of God is used in three senses. 1. Fora terror which arises from a consciousness ot guilt and of the jus-tice ot God in punishing sin : this fear is removed by acceptingthe reconciliation made by Jesus Christ the Redeemer, and itpreserves us from every other dependence. 2. For tliat awe, orreverential dread, which arise'/, from the consideration, that God alone possesses all power to communicate happiness or to inflictmisery, as seemc-th right to him. Thus, Jer. x. 7. “ Who
would not fear thee, O king of nations? for to thee doth it apper-tain.” This fear directs us to avoid whatever God has forbidden,and to attend with care to his commandments. 3. For that con-cern and solicitude, to keep at the utmost distance from sin,which arises from a detestation of any breach of God ’s law, and aconsciousness of the weakness and insufficiency of human nature,and of the danger of being led astray without the greatest careand watchfulness. This fear is sided the beginning of wisdom,tl'.at is, one of the principal points of sound wisdom ; it makes uscircumspect and diligent, and directs us to place an entire depen-dence on God .
Fear, one of the passions of the human mind. It is defined,an apprehension of impending evil, attended with a desire of avoid-ing it. Fear in the extreme is called fright, or terror. SeeDrawtng and Fright.
FEAST, or FES 1'IVAL, [I.at. Jestnm,] is derived by somefrom feriitri, to keep holiday ; by otiu rs from tVinu, to feast orentertain; by others, particularly M. Iluet, from jistinare, whichis used by Origen in the same sense, in his Comment on Mattliew.Social or civil, masts were also expressed by tire words convivium,compotaiio, or conctrimtio. Cicero observes that co mux nun means .“ people assembled at table,” which is more significant than theGreek words kuto,-, or tru^iwio;; the Latin term expressing theunion of body and mind, which ought to take place at an enter-tainment: the Greek denoting only what relates to the body. M e
learn from Herodotus , that the an< cuts had neither cups nor
» .
bowls, at their feasts, but they drank out of little horns tipt withi silver or gold. The Greeks and Romans kept a domestic for thei purpose of reading during their meals and feasts. Sometimes thechief of the family himself performed the office of reader; and his-tory informs us, that, the Emperor Severus often read while hislamily ate. The time of reading was generally at supper ; andguests were invited to a reading as they are now a-days to playcards. The Greeks, in their nourishing limes, did not profane,(according to their own expression,) the holiness of the tabia ; butrather adorned it with ingenious and elegant conversation : they; proposed moral topics, of which Plutarch has preserved acollec-: tion. 1Jernes rarely assembled convivially without bringing af-fairs of consequence into discourse, or deliberating upon those thatregarded either present events or future contingencies. The Scy-thians , while at meat, used to make the strings of their bows re-sound, lest their warlike virtues might be enfeebled or lost in theseason of pleasure. People oi rank among the Rhodians , by a fun-damental law of the state, were obliged to dine daily with thosewho had the management of affairs, in order to deliberate withthem concerning such things as were necessary or useful for thecountry; and ou this account the principal ministers of the king-dom were obliged to keep open table for all who could be of useto tiie state. '1 lie Persians also generally deliberated on business attable, but never determined, or put their determinations in execu-tion, except ill the morning before having eaten. Among the Ro-mans, the place where they supped was generally the vestibule,that a more retired part of the house might not encourage licen-tiousness and disorder. There were several laws that restrictedtheir meals to these vestibules. When luxury reigned in Rome ,they had superb halls for their entertainments. Liieullus had many,each of which bore the name of some deity ; and this name was amark which indicated to the servants the expence of the enter-tainment. 'File expence of a supper in Luculhis’s hall of Apolloamounted to 50,000 drachmas. Singers, dancers, musicians, stage-players, jesters, and buffoons, were brought into these halls toamuse the guests. Plutarch informs us, that Caisar, after histriumphs, treated the Roman people at 22,000 tables ; and by cal-culation it would seem, that there were at these tables upwards of200,000 persons. Feasting seems to have been the chief delight ofthe Britons, Germans, Gauls , and aR the other Celtic nations; inwhich they indulged themselves, to the utmost, as often as theyhad opportunity. “ Among Vnese nations (says M. Pelloucier, iiihis Hist. Celt. 1. 2. c. 12 p. 4fi3,) there is no public assembly,either for civil or religious purposes, duly held ; no birth-day, mar-riage, or funeral, properly celebrated; no treaty of peace or al-liance rightly cemented, without a great feast.” When the Ger-mans, says Tacitus , wanted te reconcile enemies, to make al-liances, to name chiefs, or to treat of war and peace ; it was dur-ing the repast, that they took counsel ; a time in which the mindis movt open to the impressions of simple truths, or most easilyanimated to great attempts. These artless people during the con-viviality of tiie feast spoke without disguise. Next day theyweighed tiie counsels of the former evening: they deliberated at atime when they were not disposed to feign, and took their resolu-tion when they were least liable to be deceived. It was by fre-quent entertainments of this kind that the great men or chieftains,gained the affections and rewarded the services of their followers,and those who made the greatest feasts were sure to be most po-pular, and to lave the greatest retinue. These feasts (in whichplenty was more regarded than elegance (lasted commonly severaldays, and the guests seldom retired until they had consumed allthe provisions. Atheimis describes an entertainment that wasgiven by Arcamnes, a very wealthy prince in Gaul , which con-tinued a whole year without interruption, and at whicli all thepeople of Gaul , and even all strangers who passed through thatcountry, were made welcome.
Feasts, or Festivals, in a religious sense, are ceremonies offeasting by wav of thanksgiving. Such feasts have made part ofthe religion of almost all nations and sects ; witness those of theGreeks, Roman '') Hebrews, Christians , and Mohammedans.
. Feasts, Ancient Grecian. The first feasls-among the Greekswere celebrated in solemn assemblies of the whole nation, on oc-casion oi their p,ames, as the Olympic, the Pythian, the Isthmian,.andNemaian : In process of time they had many others, the prin-cipal of which are enumerated in the course of this work.