FLYING DUTCHMAN, a Dutch captain, fated for his sins to scour the sea and never reach port, who appeared from time to time to sea-captains as on a black spectral ship, and from the very terror he inspired made them change their course; there are many versions of this fable in the German mythology.

FO, the name in China for Buddha.

FO-HI, or FUH-HE, the mythical founder of the Chinese dynasty, is said to have introduced cattle-rearing, instituted marriage, and invented letters.

FOIX, GASTON DE, illustrious French captain, nephew of Louis XII., was from his daring exploits called the Thunderbolt of Italy; he beat the Swiss, routed the Papal troops, captured Brescia from the Venetians, and gained the battle of Ravenna against the Spaniards, but was slain when pursuing the fugitives (1489-1512).

FOIX, GASTON III.  DE, French captain, surnamed Phoebus on account of his beauty and handsome presence; distinguished in the wars against the English and in the Jacquerie revolt, in which he rescued the dauphin at Meaux (1331-1391).

FOLEY, JOHN HENRY, an eminent sculptor, born in Dublin; his first success was achieved in a series of classical figures, including some Shakespearian subjects; statues of Hampden, Burke, J. S. Mill, Goldsmith, &c., brought him further fame, and he was commissioned by the Queen to execute the figure of Prince Albert in the Albert Memorial; his vigour and genius were further revealed in the noble equestrian statues of Hardinge and Outram (1818-1874).

FOLKESTONE (24), a seaport and watering-place on the coast of Kent, 7 m.  SW. of Dover; has a fine harbour and esplanade; is much engaged in the herring and mackerel fisheries, and is steam-packet station for Boulogne; a fine railway viaduct spans the valley in which the old town lies.

FONBLANQUE, ALBANY WILLIAM, journalistic editor, after serving on the staff of the Times and the Morning Chronicle became editor of the Examiner, which he conducted successfully from 1830 to 1847; Carlyle was introduced to him on his visit to London in 1831, and describes him as “a tall, loose, lank-haired, wrinkly, wintry, vehement-looking flail of a man,” but “the best of the Fourth Estate” then extant; “I rather like the man,” he adds, “has the air of a true-hearted Radical” (1793-1872).

FONTAINEBLEAU, a town on the left bank of the Seine, 35 m.  SE. of Paris, and famous for a chateau or palace of the kings of France, and the forest that surrounds it.  This chateau, founded towards the end of the 10th century, was enlarged and embellished by successive kings, beginning with Francis I., and was the place where Napoleon signed his abdication in 1814.

FONTANES, LOUIS, MARQUIS DE, poet and man of letters, born at Niort, Poitou; came to Paris and achieved some celebrity by his poems and translations from Pope and Gray; changing from the Royalist side, he, during the Revolution, edited two journals in the Republican interest, and held the post of professor of Literature at the College of the Four Nations; was for some time a refugee in England, but afterwards returned and became a zealous supporter of Napoleon, on the downfall of whom he embraced the Bourbon cause, and was raised to the peerage (1757-1821).