1803 the secularizations carried out by order of the First Consul put an end to the temporal ambitions of its prelates. Febronianism indeed, survived. Karl Theodor von Dalberg, prince primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, upheld its principles throughout the Napoleonic epoch and hoped to establish them in the new Germany to be created by the congress of Vienna. He sent to this assembly, as representative of the German Church, Bishop von Wessenberg, who in his diocese of Constance had not hesitated to apply Febronian principles in reforming, on his own authority, the services and discipline of the Church. But the times were not favourable for such experiments. The tide of reaction after the Revolutionary turmoil was setting strongly in the direction of traditional authority, in religion as in politics; and that ultramontane movement which, before the century was ended, was to dominate the Church, was already showing signs of vigorous life. Moreover, the great national German Church of which Dalberg had a vision—with himself as primate—did not appeal to the German princes, tenacious of their newly acquired status as European powers. One by one these entered into concordats with Rome, and Febronianism from an aggressive policy subsided into a speculative opinion. As such it survived strongly, especially in the universities (Bonn especially had been, from its foundation in 1774, very Febronian), and it reasserted itself vigorously in the attitude of many of the most learned German prelates and professors towards the question of the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility in 1870. It was, in fact, against the Febronian position that the decrees of the Vatican Council were deliberately directed, and their promulgation marked the triumph of the ultramontane view (see Vatican Council, Ultramontanism, Papacy). In Germany, indeed, the struggle against the papal monarchy was carried on for a while by the governments on the so-called Kulturkampf, the Old Catholics representing militant Febronianism. The latter, however, since Bismarck “went to Canossa,” have sunk into a respectable but comparatively obscure sect, and Febronianism, though it still has some hold on opinion within the Church in the chapters and universities of the Rhine provinces, is practically extinct in Germany. Its revival under the guise of so-called Modernism drew from Pope Pius X. in 1908 the scathing condemnation embodied in the encyclical Pascendi gregis.
Authorities.—See Justinus Febronius, De statu ecclesiae et legitima potestae Romani pontificis (Bullioni, 1765), second and enlarged edition, with new prefaces addressed to Pope Clement XIII., to Christian kings and princes, to the bishops of the Catholic Church, and to doctors of theology and canon law; three additional volumes, published in 1770, 1772 and 1774 at Frankfort, are devoted to vindications of the original work against the critics. In the Revue des deux mondes for July 1903 (tome xvi. p. 266) is an interesting article under the title of “L’Allemagne Catholique,” from the papal point of view, by Georges Goyau. For the congress of Ems see Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie (Leipzig, 1898), s.v. “Emser Kongress.” Further references are given in the article on Hontheim (q.v.). (W. A. P.)
FEBRUARY, the second month of the modern calendar.
In ordinary years it contains 28 days; but in bissextile or leap
year, by the addition of the intercalary day, it consists of 29 days.
This month was not in the Romulian calendar. In the reign of
Numa two months were added to the year, namely, January
at the beginning, and February at the end; and this arrangement
was continued until 452 B.C., when the decemvirs placed
February after January. The ancient name of Februarius was
derived from februare, to purify, or from Februa, the Roman
festival of general expiation and lustration, which was celebrated
during the latter part of this month. In February also the
Lupercalia were held, and women were purified by the priests
of Pan Lyceus at that festival. The Anglo-Saxons called this
month Sprout-Kale from the sprouting of the cabbage at this
season. Later it was known as Solmonath, because of the return
of the sun from the low latitudes. The most generally noted days
of February are the following:—the 2nd, Candlemas day, one
of the fixed quarter days used in Scotland; the 14th, St Valentine’s
day; and the 24th, St Matthias. The church festival of
St Matthias was formerly observed on the 25th of February in
bissextile years, but it is now invariably celebrated on the 24th.
FEBVRE, ALEXANDRE FRÉDÉRIC (1835– ), French
actor, was born in Paris, and after the usual apprenticeship in
the provinces and in several Parisian theatres in small parts,
was called to the Comédie Française in 1866, where he made his
début as Philip II. in Don Juan d’Autriche. He soon became
the most popular leading man in Paris, not only in the classical
répertoire, but in contemporary novelties. In 1894 he toured
the principal cities of Europe, and, in 1895, of America. He
was also a composer of light music for the piano, and published
several books of varying merit. He married Mdlle Harville,
daughter of one of his predecessors at the Comédie Française,
herself a well-known actress.
FÉCAMP, a seaport and bathing resort of northern France,
in the department of Seine-Inférieure, 28 m. N.N.E. of Havre
on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 15,872. The town, which
is situated on the English Channel at the mouth of the small
river Fécamp, consists almost entirely of one street upwards of
2 m. in length. It occupies the bottom and sides of a narrow
valley opening out towards the sea between high cliffs. The most
important building is the abbey church of La Trinité, dating
for the most part from 1175 to 1225. The central tower and
the south portal (13th century) are the chief features of its
simple exterior; in the interior, the decorative work, notably
the chapel-screens and some fine stained glass, is remarkable.
The hotel-de-ville with a municipal museum and library occupy
the remains of the abbey buildings (18th century). The church
of St Étienne (16th century) and the Benedictine liqueur
distillery,[1] a modern building which also contains a museum, are
of some interest. A tribunal and chamber of commerce, a board
of trade-arbitrators and a nautical school, are among the public
institutions. The port consists of an entrance channel nearly
400 yds. long leading to a tidal harbour and docks capable of
receiving ships drawing 26 ft. at spring-tide, 19 ft. at neap-tide.
Fishing for herring and mackerel is carried on and the town
equips a large fleet for the codbanks of Newfoundland and
Iceland. The chief exports are oil-cake, flint, cod and Benedictine
liqueur. Imports include coal, timber, tar and hemp. Steam
sawing, metal-founding, fish-salting, shipbuilding and repairing,
and the manufacture of ship’s-biscuits and fishing-nets are among
the industries.
The town of Fécamp grew up round the nunnery founded in 658 to guard the relic of the True Blood which, according to the legend, was found in the trunk of a fig-tree drifted from Palestine to this spot, and which still remains the most precious treasure of the church. The original convent was destroyed by the Northmen, but was re-established by Duke William Longsword as a house of canons regular, which shortly afterwards was converted into a Benedictine monastery. King Richard I. greatly enlarged this, and rebuilt the church. The town achieved some prosperity under the dukes of Normandy, who improved its harbour, but after the annexation of Normandy to France it was overshadowed by the rising port of Havre.
FECHNER, GUSTAV THEODOR (1801–1887), German experimental
psychologist, was born on the 19th of April 1801 at
Gross-Särchen, near Muskau, in Lower Lusatia, where his father
was pastor. He was educated at Sorau and Dresden and at the
university of Leipzig, in which city he spent the rest of his life.
In 1834 he was appointed professor of physics, but in 1839
contracted an affection of the eyes while studying the phenomena
of colour and vision, and, after much suffering, resigned. Subsequently
recovering, he turned to the study of mind and the
relations between body and mind, giving public lectures on the
subjects of which his books treat. He died at Leipzig on the 18th
of November 1887. Among his works may be mentioned:
Das Büchlein vom Leben nach dem Tode (1836, 5th ed., 1903),
which has been translated into English; Nanna, oder über das
Seelenleben der Pflanzen (1848, 3rd ed., 1903); Zendavesta, oder
- ↑ The liqueur is said to have been manufactured by the Benedictine monks of the abbey as far back as 1510; since the Revolution it has been produced commercially by a secular company. The familiar legend D.O.M. (Deo Optimo Maximo) on the bottles preserves the memory of its original makers.
