The personation of "that hopping little fellow" (Faulkner had lost a leg), in the character of Peter Paragraph, was so admirable that it conduced mainly to the success of the piece. Encouraged by his success, Foote determined to produce the piece in Dublin, and accordingly played it at the Smock Alley theatre in that city—the imitation being so perfect that even Faulkner's people, who had been sent to hiss the performance, received the mimic with enthusiasm, believing they were applauding their master. Faulkner's conduct was characteristic—he sold the play in his shop, and brought an action against Foote, in which he recovered damages; his counsel comparing the playwright to Aristophanes, and the printer to Socrates. Foote compromised the damages, and on his return to London indemnified his feelings and replenished his purse by producing at the Haymarket in 1763 a piece—"The Trial of Samuel Foote, Esq., for a libel on Peter Paragraph," in which he burlesqued the judge and the counsel on both sides. A singular retribution for his mimicking the lameness of the wooden-legged printer soon overtook Foote; he was thrown from his horse in 1766, and so injured his leg that amputation was necessary. Foote seems to have felt this as a retribution—"Now," said he, "I shall take off old Faulkner indeed to the life." The duke of York, who witnessed the accident, humanely procured for him a patent to open a theatre in Westminster, whereupon Foote purchased the house which he had previously rented, and continued to act with a cork leg. He was, however, still reckless and improvident. In 1768 he set out for Dublin, but stopping on his way at Bath, he lost all his money in gambling. Foote's health now began to decline, and his disease was aggravated by the shock his mind received from a charge of a grossly criminal nature brought against him, though without foundation. He disposed of his theatre to Colman, and after several attacks of paralysis he died at Dover on his way to Paris, on the 21st of October, 1777, and was buried in Westminster abbey. Of the numerous pieces composed by Foote few, if any, have now a place on the manager's stock-list. "The Mayor of Garratt" and "The Liar" held their ground the longest. Indeed from the nature of the compositions they could not be permanent—depending mainly for their popularity upon allusions to persons and events of the day, and having no dramatic excellence to sustain them. It needed Foote to act what Foote wrote; when the actor passed away the author had little to commit to posterity. Foote was a mimic and a jester, rather than an actor or a wit. As a humorist his readiness, repartee, and power were unrivalled, and in this sense Garrick's observations are not too strong—"Mr. Foote," he says, "was a man of wonderful abilities, and the most entertaining companion I have ever known." Johnson's estimate of him was on the whole correct. Foote was, it must be confessed, one whose memory has no hold on our affection or our respect. He was neither an amiable nor a high-principled man. Regardless of the feelings of others, he neglected a gentle wife; he ridiculed his intimate acquaintances; and he made a butt of every human being whose peculiarities could enable him to gain money to spend on fashionable follies, or squander in gambling-houses.—J. F. W.
FOPPA, Vincenzo, born at Brescia about 1410, is considered the founder of the early Lombard school of painting at Milan, where he was an established master about 1445. He probably returned to Brescia on the appearance of Da Vinci at Milan. He was a good fresco painter, and paid much attention to perspective and foreshortening; but was absurdly ranked by his contemporaries with John Bellini and Andrea Mantegna. The Brera at Milan possesses a fresco by him, of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, and there are several of his works still preserved in the churches of Brescia, where he died in 1492.—(Brognoli, Guida di Brescia, p. 245.)—R. N. W.
FOPPENS, Jean-François, born at Brussels in 1689; died at Malines in 1761. His father, grandfather, and brothers were printers at Brussels. He was educated by the jesuits at Louvaine, took orders, and became professor of theology at Bruges. He was one of the canons of the metropolitan church of Malines, and had the office of censor of books. He published several books, chiefly on the antiquities of his country and bibliography. Several still remain in manuscript.—J. A., D.
FORABOSCO, Girolamo, a painter of Padua, where he was still living in 1660. He painted chiefly heads and portraits, in a delicate and effective manner, and with a reality of representation amounting almost to illusion. He is sometimes claimed by Venice; according to Oretti he was a scholar of Albano.—(Moschini, Guida per Padova, 1817.)—R. N. W.
FORBES, Alexander, fourth Lord Pitsligo, was born in 1678, and succeeded his father in his titles and estates in 1691. He was a staunch Jacobite, and took part in the rebellion of 1715, but escaped attainder on its suppression, though he found it necessary to retire to the continent. When Prince Charles landed in Scotland in 1745, the venerable nobleman, in spite of his age and infirmities, repaired to the jacobite standard at the head of a mounted squadron of north country gentlemen, who were mainly induced to take part in the rebellion by their confidence in Lord Pitsligo's sagacity and integrity. After the battle of Culloden he remained for some time in hiding on his own estate, and made many hair-breadth escapes from the soldiers who were in search of him. He at last succeeded in reaching Bergen in Norway, but ultimately returned to his own country, where he died in 1762, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He was the author of several moral and philosophical essays. Lord Pitsligo was the prototype of the Baron Bradwardine in Sir Walter Scott's Waverley.—J. T.
FORBES, Duncan, of Culloden, one of the most sagacious and public-spirited patriots Scotland has produced, was born in 1686, and was descended from the ancient and noble family of Forbes. He entered the university of Edinburgh in 1704, and in the following year removed to Leyden, where he prosecuted his studies for two years with great diligence, and made rapid progress, not only in the science of law, but in the Hebrew and other oriental languages. He was admitted to the bar in 1709, and soon acquired a high reputation for soundness of judgment and persuasive eloquence. The Highlands were at this time in an exceedingly unsettled state, and the Munros, Grants, Forbeses, and other loyal clans, were very obnoxious to the adherents of the exiled dynasty. During the rebellion of 1715, Culloden house was attacked by the insurgents, but was bravely defended by Forbes, who not only beat off the assailants, but with the assistance of the Frasers and Grants captured the town of Inverness, and finally triumphed over the jacobites in that quarter. After the suppression of the rebellion he earnestly recommended a clement policy, and remonstrated, but without effect, against the impolitic and barbarous severities inflicted on the rebels. In 1717 he was appointed solicitor-general for Scotland; in 1722 he was elected member for the Inverness burghs, and three years later was elevated to the important office of lord-advocate. In 1737 he was appointed lord-president of the court of session. He was not only the head of the law, but took a prominent part in all the public affairs relating to Scotland. He clearly perceived the danger to which the peace of the country was exposed by the unsatisfactory state of the Highlands, and, as early as 1738, he brought forward a scheme for detaching the clansmen from the cause of the Stewarts, and securing their services in behalf of the government, by raising four or five regiments of Highlanders, and sending them abroad to fight their country's battles in France and Spain. This well-considered plan was warmly recommended by Sir Robert Walpole, but it was rejected by his colleagues, in order to please the king, who wished to employ Hanoverians and Hessians rather than Highlanders. If it had been adopted, there can be little doubt that the last jacobite rebellion would never have taken place. When Prince Charles landed in Scotland, the government was completely taken by surprise; but the lord-president, who received early notice of the prince's landing, though his reiterated warnings and counsels had been treated with neglect, did not on that account relax his efforts for the safety of the country. It was mainly through his instrumentality that the powerful chieftains of Skye, Sir Alexander Macdonald and the laird of M'Leod, were kept firm in their allegiance to the house of Hanover. Altogether his exertions are believed to have prevented ten thousand men from joining the insurrection. He set himself with a resolution and energy, which presented a striking contrast to the supineness of the ministry, to break up the insurgent party, to strengthen the royalists, and to bring the insurrection to a speedy termination. Trusting to the written promise of the government, that they would defray whatever expenses he incurred in the defence of the country, he expended in the public service large sums of money, which were never repaid him. On the final suppression of the rebellion, the lord-president remonstrated with the duke of Cumberland against the shocking cruelties perpetrated upon the simple and misguided clansmen, and
