Part 38

FONBLANQUE, ALBANY WILLIAM (1793-1872), English journalist, descended from a noble French Huguenot family, the Greniers of Languedoc, was born in London in 1793. John Grenier, a banker, became naturalized in England under the name of Fonblanque; and his son John Samuel Martin Fonblanque (1760-1838), a distinguished equity lawyer, and the author of a standard legal work, a _Treatise on Equity_, was the father of Albany Fonblanque; he represented the borough of Camelford in parliament; and was one of the Whig friends of George IV. when prince of Wales. At fourteen young Fonblanque was sent to Woolwich to prepare for the Royal Engineers. His health, however, failed, and for two years his studies had to be suspended. Upon his recovery he studied for some time with a view to being called to the bar. At the age of nineteen (1812) he commenced writing for the newspapers, and very soon attracted notice both by the boldness and liberality of his opinions, and by the superiority of his style to what Macaulay, when speaking of him, justly called the "rant and twaddle of the daily and weekly press" of the time. While he was eagerly taking his share in all the political struggles of this eventful period, he was also continuing his studies, devoting no less than six hours a day to the study of classics and political philosophy. Under this severe mental training his health once more broke down. His energy, however, was not impaired. He became a regular contributor to the newspapers and reviews, realizing a fair income which, as his habits were simple and temperate, secured him against pecuniary anxieties.

From 1820 to 1830 Albany Fonblanque was successively employed upon the staff of _The Times_ and the _Morning Chronicle_, whilst he contributed to the _Examiner_, to the _London Magazine_ and to the _Westminster Review_. In 1828 the _Examiner_ newspaper, which had been purchased by the Rev. Dr Fellowes, author of the _Religion of the Universe_, &c., was given over to Fonblanque's complete control; and for a period of seventeen years (1830 to 1847) he not only sustained the high character for political independence and literary ability which the _Examiner_ had gained under the direction of Leigh Hunt and his brother, John Hunt, but even compelled his political opponents to acknowledge a certain delight in the boldness and brightness of the wit directed against themselves. When it was proposed that the admirers and supporters of the paper should facilitate a reduction in its price by the payment of their subscription ten years in advance, not only did Mr Edward Bulwer (Lord Lytton) volunteer his aid, but also Mr Disraeli, who was then coquetting with radicalism. During his connexion with the _Examiner_, Fonblanque had many advantageous offers of further literary employment; but he devoted his energies and talents almost exclusively to the service of the paper he had resolved to make a standard of literary excellence in the world of journalism. Fonblanque was offered the governorship of Nova Scotia; but although he took great interest in colonial matters, and had used every effort to advocate the more generous political system which had colonial self-government for its goal, he decided not to abandon his beloved _Examiner_ even for so sympathetic an employment. In 1847, however, domestic reasons induced him to accept the post of statistical secretary of the Board of Trade. This of course compelled him to resign the editorship of the _Examiner_, but he still continued to contribute largely to the paper, which, under the control of John Forster, continued to sustain its influential position. During the later years of his life Fonblanque took no prominent part in public affairs; and when he died at the age of seventy-nine (1872) he seemed, as his nephew, Edward Fonblanque, rightly observes, "a man who had lived and toiled in an age gone by and in a cause long since established."

The character of Albany Fonblanque's political activity may be judged of by a study of his _England under Seven Administrations_ (1837), in comparison with the course of social and political events in England from 1826 to 1837. As a journalist, he must be regarded in the light of a reformer. Journalism before his day was regarded as a somewhat discreditable profession; men of true culture were shy of entering the hot and dusty arena lest they should be confounded with the ruder combatants who fought there before the public for hire. But the fact that Fonblanque, a man not only of strong and earnest political convictions but also of exceptional literary ability, did not hesitate to choose this field as a worthy one in which both a politician and a man of letters might usefully as well as honourably put forth his best gifts, must have helped, in no small degree, to correct the old prejudice.

See the _Life and Labours of Albany Fonblanque_, edited by his nephew, Edward Barrington de Fonblanque (London, 1874); a collection of his articles with a brief biographical notice.

FOND DU LAC, a city and the county-seat of Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, U.S.A., about 60 m. N. of Milwaukee, at the S. end of Lake Winnebago, and at the mouth of the Fond du Lac river, which is navigable for only a short distance. Pop. (1890) 12,024; (1900) 15,110, of whom 2952 were foreign-born; (1910) 18,797. The city is a railway centre of some importance, and is served by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault St Marie, and the Chicago & North-Western railways, by interurban electric lines, and by steamboat lines connecting through the Fox river with vessels on the Great Lakes. At North Fond du Lac, just beyond the city limits, are car-shops of the two last-mentioned railways, and in the city are manufactories of machinery, automobiles, wagons and carriages, awnings, leather, beer, flour, refrigerators, agricultural implements, toys and furniture. The total value of the city's factory products in 1905 was $5,599,606, an increase of 95.7% since 1900. The city has a Protestant Episcopal cathedral, the Grafton Hall school for girls, and St Agnes hospital and convent, and a public library with about 25,000 volumes in 1908. The first settlers on the site of Fond du Lac arrived about 1835. Subsequently a village was laid out which was incorporated in 1847; a city charter was secured in 1852.

FONDI (anc. _Fundi_), a town of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 12 m. N.W. of Formia, and 11 m. E.N.E. of Terracina by road. Pop. (1901) 9930. It lies 25 ft. above sea-level, at the N. end of a plain surrounded by mountains, which extend to the sea. It occupies the site of the ancient Fundi, a Volscian town, belonging later to _Latium adjectum_, on the Via Appia, still represented by the modern high-road which passes through the centre of the town. It is rectangular in plan, and portions of its walls, partly in fine polygonal work and partly in _opus incertum_, are preserved. Both plan and walls date, no doubt, from the Roman period. The gate on the north-east still exists, and bears the inscription of three aediles who erected the gate, the towers and the wall. A similar inscription of three different aediles from the N.W. gate still exists, but not _in situ_. In the neighbourhood are the remains of several ancient villas, and along the Via Appia still stands an ancient wall of _opus reticulatum_, with an inscription, in large letters, of one Varronianus, the letters being at intervals of 25 ft. The engineering of the ancient Via Appia between Fondi and Formia, where it passes through the mountains near Itri, is remarkable.

The modern town is still enclosed by the ancient walls. The castle on the S.E. side has some 15th-century windows with beautiful tracery. Close by is the Gothic church of S. Pietro (formerly S. Maria), which was the cathedral until the see was suppressed in 1818 and united with that of Gaeta; it contains a fine pulpit with "cosmatesque" work and the fine tomb of Cristoforo Caetani (1439), two interesting 15th-century triptychs and an episcopal throne, which served for the coronation of the anti-pope Clement VII. in 1378. In the Dominican monastery the cell which St Thomas Aquinas sometimes occupied is shown.

The ancient city of Fundi in 338 B.C. (or 332) received (with Formiae) the _civitas sine suffragio_, because it had always secured the Romans safe passage through its territory; the people as a whole did not join Privernum in its war against Rome three years later, though Vitruvius Vacca, the leader, was a native of Fundi. It acquired the full citizenship in 188 B.C., and was partly under the control of a _praefectus_. The inscription upon some waterpipes which have been discovered shows that later it became a _municipium_. It was governed by three aediles: Horace's jest against the officious praetor (sic) is due to the exigencies of metre (Th. Mommsen in _Hermes_, xiii. p. 113). The family of Livia, the consort of Augustus, belonged to Fundi. During the Lombard invasions in 592 Fundi was temporarily abandoned, but it seems to have come under the rule of the papacy by A.D. 754 at any rate. Pope John VIII. ceded it with its territory to Docibile, duke of Gaeta, but its history is somewhat intricate after this period. Sometimes it appears as an independent countship, though held by members of the Caetani family, who about 1297 returned to it. In 1504 it was given to Prospero Colonna. In 1534 Khair-ed-Din Barbarossa tried to carry off Giulia Gonzaga, countess of Fondi, and sacked the city. After this Fondi was much neglected; in 1721 it was sold to the Di Sangro family, in which it still remains. Its position as a frontier town between the papal states and the kingdom of Naples, just in the territory of the latter--the Via Appia can easily be blocked either N.W. at the actual frontier called Portella[1] or S.E. of it--affected it a good deal during the French Revolution and the events which led up to the unification of Italy.

The Lago di Fondi, which lies in the middle of the plain, and the partially drained marshes surrounding it, compelled the ancient Via Appia, followed by the modern road, to make a considerable detour. The lake was also known in classical times ass, _lacus Amyclanu_ from the town of Amyclae or Amunclae, which was founded, according to legend, by Spartan colonists, and probably destroyed by the Oscans in the 5th century B.C. (E. Pais in _Rendiconti dei Lincei_, 1906, 611 seq.); the bay was also known as _mare Amunclanum_.

The ancient Speluncae (mod. _Sperlonga_) on the coast also belonged to the territory of Fundi. Here was the imperial villa in which Sejanus saved the life of Tiberius, who was almost crushed by a fall of rock. Considerable remains of it, and of the caves from which it took its name, still exist 1 m. S.E. of the modern village. For modern discoveries see P. di Tucci in _Notizie degli scavi_ (1880), 480; G. Patroni, _ibid._ (1898), 493. The wine of Fundi is spoken of by ancient writers, though the _ager Caecubus_, the coast plain round the Lago di Fundi, was even more renowned, and Horace frequently praises its wine; and though Pliny the Elder speaks as if its production had almost entirely ceased in his day (attributing this to neglect, but even more to the excavation works of Nero's projected canal from the lacus Avernus to Ostia), Martial mentions it often, and it is spoken of in the inscription of a wine-dealer of the time of Hadrian, together with Falernian and Setian wines (_Corpus inscript. Lat._ vi. Berlin, 1882, 9797). The plain of Fondi is the northernmost point in Italy where the cultivation of oranges and lemons is regularly carried on in modern times.

See G. Conte Colino, _Storia di Fondi_ (Naples, 1902); B. Amante and R. Bianchi, _Memorie storiche e statutarie di Fondi in Campania_ (Rome, 1903); T. Ashby, in _English Historical Review_, xix. (1904) 557 seq. (T. As.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] For the pass of Ad Lautulas see TERRACINA.

FONNI, a town of Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, 3280 ft. above sea-level, to the N.W. of Monte Gennargentu, 21 m. S. of Nuoro by road. Pop. (1901) 4323. It is the highest village in Sardinia, and situated among fine scenery with some chestnut woods. The church of the Franciscans, built in 1708, contains some curious paintings by local artists. The costumes are extremely picturesque, and are well seen on the day of St John the Baptist, the patron saint. The men's costume is similar to that worn in the district generally; the linen trousers are long and black gaiters are worn. The women wear a white chemise; over that a very small corselet, and over that a red jacket with blue and black velvet facings. The skirt is brown above and red below, with a blue band between the two colours; it is accordion-pleated. Two identical skirts are often worn, one above the other. The unmarried girls wear white kerchiefs, the married women black. A little to the N. of Fonni, by the high-road, stood the Roman station of Sorabile, mentioned in the _Antonine Itinerary_ as situated 87 m. from Carales on the road to Olbia. Excavations made in 1879 and 1880 led to the discovery of the remains of this station, arranged round three sides of a courtyard some 100 ft. square, including traces of baths and other buildings, and a massive embanking wall above them, some 150 ft. in length, to protect them from landslips (F. Vivanet, in _Notizie degli scavi_, 1879, 350; 1881, 31), while a discharge certificate (_tabula honestae missionis_) of sailors who had served in the _classis Ravennas_ was found in some ruins here or hereabouts (_id. ib._, 1882, 440; T. Mommsen, _Corp. inscr. Lat._ x. 8325). Near Fonni, too, are several "menhirs" (called _pietre celtiche_ in the district) and other prehistoric remains. (T. As.)

FONSAGRADA, a town of north-western Spain, in the province of Lugo; 25 m. E.N.E. of Lugo by road. Pop. (1900) 17,302. Fonsagrada is situated 3166 ft. above the sea, on the watershed between the rivers Rodil and Suarna. It is an important market for all kinds of agricultural produce, and manufactures linen and frieze; but its trade is mainly local, owing to the mountainous character of the neighbourhood, and the lack of a railway or navigable waterway, which prevent the development of any considerable export trade.

FONSECA, MANOEL DEODORO DA (1827-1892), first president of the united states of Brazil, was born at Alagoas on the 5th of August 1827, being the third son of Lieut.-Colonel Manoel Mendes da Fonseca (d. 1859). He was educated at the military school of Rio de Janeiro, and had attained the rank of captain in the Brazilian army when war broke out in 1864 against Montevideo, and afterwards against Solano Lopez, dictator of Paraguay. His courage gained him distinction, and before the close of the war in 1870 he reached the rank of colonel, and some years later that of general of division. After holding several military commands, he was appointed in 1886 governor of the province of Rio Grande do Sul. In this position he threw himself heartily into politics, espoused the republican opinions then becoming prevalent, and sheltered their exponents with his authority. After a fruitless remonstrance, the government at the close of the year removed him from his post, and recalled him to the capital as director of the service of army material. Finding that even in that post he still continued to encourage insubordination, the minister of war, Alfredo Chaves, dismissed him from office. On 14th of May 1887, in conjunction with the viscount de Pelotas, Fonseca issued a manifesto in defence of the military officers' political rights. From that time his influence was supreme in the army. In December 1888, when the Conservative Correa d'Oliveira became prime minister, Fonseca was appointed to command an army corps on the frontier of Matto Grosso. In June 1889 the ministry was overthrown, and on a dissolution an overwhelming Liberal majority was returned to the chamber of deputies. Fonseca returned to the capital in September. Divisions of opinion soon arose within the Liberal party on the question of provincial autonomy. The more extreme desired the inauguration of a complete federal system. Amongst the most vehement was Ruy Barbosa, the journalist and orator, and after some difficulty he persuaded Fonseca to head an armed movement against the government. The insurrection broke out on the 15th of November 1889. The government commander, Almeida Barreto, hastened to place himself under Fonseca's orders, and the soldiers and sailors made common cause with the insurgents. The affair was almost bloodless, the minister of marine, baron de Ladario, being the only person wounded. Fonseca had only intended to overturn the ministry, but he yielded to the insistency of the republican, leaders and proclaimed a republic. A provisional government was constituted by the army and navy in the name of the nation, with Fonseca at its head. The council was abolished, and both the senate and the chamber of deputies were dissolved. The emperor was requested to leave the territory of Brazil within twenty-four hours, and on the 17th of November was embarked on a cruiser for Lisbon. On the 20th of December a decree of banishment was pronounced against the imperial family. So universal was the republican sentiment that there was no attempt at armed resistance. The provisional government exercised dictatorial powers for a year, and on the 25th of February 1891 Fonseca was elected president of the republic. He was, however, no politician, and possessed indeed little ability beyond the art of acquiring popularity. His tenure of office was short. In May he became involved in an altercation with congress, and in November pronounced its dissolution, a measure beyond his constitutional power. After a few days of arbitrary rule insurrection broke out in Rio Grande do Sul, and before the close of November Fonseca, finding himself forsaken, resigned his office. From that time he lived in retirement. He died at Rio de Janeiro on the 23rd of August 1892.

FONSECA, AMAPALA or CONCHAGUA, BAY OF, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean in the volcanic region between the Central American republics of Honduras, Salvador and Nicaragua. The bay is unsurpassed in extent and security by any other harbour on the Pacific. It is upwards of 50 m. in greatest length, by about 30 m. in average width, with an entrance from the sea about 18 m. wide, between the great volcanoes of Conchagua (3800 ft.) and Coseguina (3000 ft.). The lofty islands of Conchaguita and Mianguiri, with a collection of rocks called "Los Farellones," divide the entrance into four distinct channels, each of sufficient depth for the largest vessels. A channel called "El Estero Real" extends from the extreme southern point of the bay into Nicaragua for about 50 m., reaching within 20 or 25 m. of Lake Managua. The principal islands in the bay are Sacate Grande, Tigre, Gueguensi and Esposescion belonging to Honduras, and Martin Perez, Punta Sacate, Conchaguita and Mianguiri belonging to Salvador. Of these Sacate Grande is the largest, being about 7 m. long by 4 broad. The island of Tigre from its position is the most important in the bay, being about 20 m. in circumference, and rising in a cone to the height of 2500 ft. On the southern and eastern shores of the island the lava forms black rocky barriers to the waves, varying in height from 10 to 80 ft.; but on the northward and eastward are a number of _playas_ or smooth, sandy beaches. Facing one of the most considerable of these is the port of Amapala (q.v.). Fonseca Bay was discovered in 1522 by Gil Gonzalez de Avila, and named by him after his patron, Archbishop Juan Fonseca, the implacable enemy of Columbus.

FONT (Lat. _fons_, "fountain" or "spring," Ital. _fonte_, Fr. _les fonts_), the vessel used in churches to hold the water for Christian baptism. In the apostolic period baptism was administered at rivers or natural springs (cf. Acts viii. 36), and no doubt the primitive form of the rite was by _immersion_ in the water. _Infusion_--pouring water on the head of the neophyte--was early introduced into the west and north of Europe on account of the inconvenience of immersion, as well as its occasional danger; this form has never been countenanced in the Oriental churches. _Aspersion_, or sprinkling, was also admitted as valid, but recorded early examples of its use are rare (see BAPTISM). These different modes of administering baptism have caused corresponding changes in the receptacles for the water. After the cessation of persecution, when ritual and ornament began to develop openly, special buildings were erected for administering the rite of baptism. This was obviously necessary, for a large _piscina_ (basin or tank) in which candidates could be immersed would occupy too much space of the church floor itself. These baptisteries consisted of tanks entered by steps (an ascent of three, and descent of four, to the water was the normal but not the invariable number) and covered with a domed chamber (see BAPTISTERY).

By the 9th century, however, the use of separate baptisteries had generally given place to that of fonts. The material of which these were made was stone, often decorative marble; as early as 524, however, the council of Lerida enacted that if a stone font were not procurable the presbyter was to provide a suitable vessel, to be used for the sacrament exclusively, which might be of any material. In the Eastern Church the font never became an important decorative article of church furniture: "The font, [Greek: kolumbethra] (says Neale, _Eastern Church_, i. 214), in the Eastern Church is a far less conspicuous object than it is in the West. Baptism by immersion has been retained; but the font seldom or never possesses any beauty. The material is usually either metal or wood. In Russia the _columbethra_ is movable and only brought out when wanted."

One of the most elaborate of early fonts is that described by Anastasius in the Lateran church at Rome, and said to have been presented thereto by Constantine the Great. It was of porphyry, overlaid with silver inside and out. In the middle were two porphyry pillars carrying a golden dish, on which burnt the Paschal lamp (having an asbestos wick and fed with balsam). On the rim of the bowl was a golden lamb, with silver statues of Christ and St. John the Baptist. Seven silver stags poured out water. This elaborate vessel was of course exceptional; the majority of early fonts were certainly much simpler. A fine early Byzantine stone example exists, or till recently existed, at Beer-Sheba.

Few if any fonts survive older than the 11th century. These are all of stone, except a few of lead; much less common are fonts of cast bronze (a fine example, dated 1112, exists at the Church of St Barthelemy, Liege). The most ancient are plain cylindrical bowls, with a circular--sometimes cruciform or quatrefoil--outline to the basin, either without support or with a single central pillar; occasionally there is more than one pillar. The basins are usually lined with lead to prevent absorption by the stone. The church of Efenechtyd, Denbigh, possesses an ancient font made of a single block of oak. Though the circular form is the commonest, early Romanesque fonts are not infrequently square; and sometimes an inverted truncated cone is found. Octagonal fonts are also known, though uncommon; hexagons are even less common, and pentagons very rare. There is a pentagonal font of this period at Cabourg, dept. Calvados, N. France.