Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/507

F S F O U 475 other world might sometimes in this way be vouchsafed to mortals. Apart from the singularity of his modes of thought, and the unusual forms of his spoken as well as his written style, Foster was constitutionally unfitted to excel a3 an orator, and Robert Hall testifies that " though his words might be fire within, the moment they left his lips they froze and fell down at his feet." As a writer his most characteristic quality is his searching discernment of every kind of moral falsity and weakness, the dark ani subtle windings of which he tracks with unerring and dogged sagacity, and exposes either with easy irony, or with a keen and scathing satire, whose indignation, however, is slightly qualified by a faint suggestion of sorrowful contempt. He often strangely interweaves the hackneyed and commonplace with the novel and unexpected. The substance of his thought is old and worn, but after passing through the crucible of his mind it acquires a brilliant lustre, and he places it in such uew and striking lights that his exhibition of it resembles the revelation of something hitherto unknown. He is, however, so intent on adequately representing the minutest aspects of his subject that he does not sufficiently distinguish between the important and the unimportant ; and he often employs a beautiful some times a sublime figure to illustrate either an almost self- evident proposition, or a thought otherwise much too lowly for such a splendid dress ; while, on the other hand, an elevated thought or sentiment is sometimes associated with imagery as much out of harmony with its surroundings and position as would be the rags of a beggar with the splendour and magnificence of a court. His originality consists chiefly in placing old and time-honoured beliefs in new and unexpected relations, and imparting a vividness to truths which are so generally recognized that their importance is almost forgotten. He has therefore given no new impulse to thought, and he has scarcely entered upon the threshold of the speculation and ideas of the 19th century. Though his intellectual was much wider than his moral sympathy, his literary criticisms apart from the fact that they are totally unfettered by artificial rules and maxims, and record in ingenuous language the actual impression produced upon his mind by the work he examines are chiefly of value for their keen detection of what is hollow and false in sentiment, and their sarcastic exposure of affectation and pretence. He wrote with intense mental strain and effort, and sometimes spent days in the elaboration of a single paragraph. His style has the merit of entire individuality ; as he himself says, his " language is simply and absolutely formed for the thought is adapted and flexible to it is taken out of the whole vocabulary of our tongue just on purpose for the thoughts, and moulded to their very shape, with an almost perfect independence and avoidance of all the set artificial forms of expression." With this merit however, it has the defects formerly "adverted to ; and while scarcely ever weak or ambiguous, but even in the midst of its frequent involutions surprising by terse and pointed or vivid and graphic interpolations, and pre serving throughout its winding structure a compact, nervous, and sinewy strength which occasionally assumes the form of a rhythmical and measured eloquence, it is yet on tho whole deficient in directness, freedom, ease, and grace. Besides the works already alluded to, Forster is the author of a Discourse on Missions, 1818; " Introductory Essay" to Doddridge s Rise and Progress of Religion, 1825; "Observations ou Mr Hall s Character as a Preacher," prefixed to the collected edition of Hall s Works, 1832 ; an " Introduction" to a pamphlet by Mr Marshman on the Serampore Missionaries ; several political letters to the Morning Chronicle, and contributions to the Eclectic Review, pub lished posthumously in 2 vols. , 1844. His Life and Corrcspomlencc, edited by J. E. Ryland, originally published in 1846, has passed through several editions. (T. F. H.) FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS (1826-1864), a prolific American song and ballad writer, was born at Alleghauy, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1826. He was the youngest child of a merchant who became mayor of his native city, and a member of the State legislature, and was related by marriage to President Buchanan. As a boy Stephen was delicate, and through life he was of a quiet retiring dis position in strong contrast with the spirit of many of his most popular songs. He early showed talent for music, and played upon several instruments ; he also acquired a fair knowledge of French and German. When thirteen years old he wrote a song afterwards published in his works " Sadly to Mine Heart Appealing." At sixteen he wrote the then much admired " Open thy Lattice, Love ;" at seventeen he entered his brother s business house, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained about three years, composing meanwhile such popular pieces as " Old Uncle Ned," " O Susanna !" &c. For the latter he received 100 dollars, which induced him to adopt song-writing as a vocation. His chief successes were songs written for the negro melodists or " minstrels." Besides those mentioned, the following attained great popularity, viz., " Nelly was a Lady," " Old Kentucky Home," " Old Folks at Home," "Massa s in the Cold Ground," &c. For these and other songs the composer received considerable sums, " Old Folks at Home" bringing him, it is said, 15,000 dollars. For the most of his songs Foster wrote both words and music. His reputation rests chiefly on his negro melodies, many of which have been popular on both sides of the Atlantic, and sung in many tongues. His later songs were of a more refined and somewhat higher order of musical composition, and after his mother s death were characterized by melancholy. Among these are "Old Dog Tray," "Gentle Annie," " Willie, we have missed you," &c. His "Come where my Love lies Dreaming " is considered one of the most pleasing and popular vocal quartets ever written. Composers and poets of celebrity recognized his peculiar talent, and great musicians incorporated many of his melodies into concert fantasia?. Although as a musician and composer Foster would, strictly speaking, have little claim to high rank, his song-writing made an epoch in popular music of a class which certainly possessed melody united to beauty of harmony, while to the words employed he gave fitting musical expression. He died at New York, January 13, 1864. FOTHERGILL, JOHN (1712-1780), F.R.S., an eminent physician, a member of the Society of Friends, was born at Carr End in Yorkshire, He took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh in 1736. After visiting the Continent, he in 1740 settled in London, and gained there an extensive practice ; In the epidemics of influenza in 1775 and 1776 he is said to have had sixty patients daily. In his leisure he made a study of conchology and botany ; and after his death, which took place in December 1780, his collections of shells, prints, and other objects were sold for a considerable sum, Fothergill was a licentiate of the College of Physicians of London, and a fellow of that of Edinburgh, of which he was a great benefactor. He was the patron of Sidney Parkinson, the South Sea voyager. A translation of the Bible (1764 sq.) by Anthony Purver, a Quaker, was made and printed at his expense. His pamphlet entitled Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers (1748, 2d ed. 1754), prepared with the assistance of information supplied by Dr Letherland, attracted great attention, and was translated into several languages. His works were edited by Dr John Elliot (1781), by Gilbert Thomson (1782). and by Dr Lettsom (1783). FOUCALTLT, JEAN BERNARD LEON (1819-1868), a distinguished French physicist, was the son of a well-known publisher at Paris, where he was born September 18, 1819.