FLETCHER. 724 FLEUR D'EPINE. was appointed Governor of New York by William and .Mary. In 1693-94 lie also acted as Governor of Pennsylvania, William Penn having been tem- porarily deprived of his proprietary rights. He was strongly opposed in New York by the Leisler faction, and by the Independents in religion, by whom he was accused of accepting bribes, inter- fering with elections, and encouraging piracy; and in 1698 he was replaced by Bellomont. For an account of his administration, consult Wil- son. Memorial Histon/ of the City of Xeir York, vol. i. (New York, 1892). FLETCHER, Giles and Phineas. English poets, cousins of John Fletcher, the dramatist, and sons of Giles Fletcher, Queen Elizabeth's Ambassador to the Court of Russia. Giles (c.15S8-1623) , the younger of the two brothers, v/as educated at Cambridge, and died at his living at Alderton, Suffolk. His chief poetical work is a sacred poem, entitled Christ's Victory niid Triumph, written and published at Cam- bridge (1610). It contains scattered passages of great splendor. — Phineas (1582-1650) was edu- cated at Eton and Cambridge, and became rector of Hilgay, in Norfolk, in 1621, where he died. His most important poem is the Purple Island: or, the Isle of Man (1633). It contains an elaborate description of the human body and mind, the former being given with great anatom- ical minuteness. The mind is represented as being beleaguered by the vices, and likely to be subdued, when an angel comes to its aid. Al- though the poem is formal and pedantic in design, the thought and movement are at times majestic. The Fletchers are known as SpenseTians, because they imitated to an extent the stanza and the theme of the Faerie Queene. On the other hand, they look forward to Milton, who read them care- fully. Their works were edited by A. B. Grosart for the Fuller Worthies Library (1868). FLETCHER, John. See under Beaumont, Francis. FLETCHER, or DE LA FLECHERE, John William (1729-85). An English clergyman. He was born in Switzerland, and was educated at Geneva. He was intended to be a clergyman, but so disliked extreme Calvinistic doctrines that he entered the army of Portugal, and afterwards obtained a commission in Holland. Without hav- ing actually been in the Dutch service, however, he went to England, where he became a tutor. He joined the Methodist Society, and in 1757 took orders. In 1760 he was appointed Vicar of Madeley, where he continued an exceedingly ac tive and successful ministry. From 1768 to 1771 he was superintendent of the theological college founded by the Countess of Huntingdon at Trevecca, Wales. He took sides with the Ar- minians in the Calvinistic controversy, was a supporter of John Wesley, after whose methods he conducted many of the religious exercises in Ins parish, and wrote his most important volume, (hecks to Antinomianixiii I 1771 I, in justification of the minutes adopted by the We-lcyau Con- ference in 1770. He wrote also An Wssay on Truth (1773). Consult his lit',, by Tyerman (New York, 1882) ; J. Manat (London. 1902). FLETCHER, Jii.ia CONSTANCE (1858—). An American author, whose pseudonym was rge Fleming.' She was born in Brazil in 1858. where her father, tin' Rev. James Cooley Fletcher, was stationed first as missionary, and after being educated in the United Slates and abroad, made her home in Rome. One of her plays appeared at the Empire Theatre, New York, in 1897 — A Man and His Wife. Among her other writings are: The Head of Medusa (1880); Vestigia (1884) ; and Andromeda (1885). FLETCHER, Richard (c.1543-96). An Eng- lish bishop, a courtier of Elizabeth. He was educated at Corpus Christi College. Cambridge; was Prebend of Islington in 1572; married Eliza- beth Holland in the following year, and in 1574 was minister at Bye and was presented to Elizabeth by Archbishop Parker. He was a good preacher, and did so well in his attempts to please the Queen that he was made Vicar of Bradenham (1575), Court Chaplain (1581), Dean of Peterborough (1583), and Prebendary of Stow Longa at Lincoln Cathedral, and Rector of Barnack and of Algakirk (1586). He preached before Mary Stuart's judges, and distinguished himself as chaplain at her execution by his bid for Elizabeth's favor. In 1589 he was made Bishop of Windsor, but lived most of his time at Court. In 1592 his wife died. In the same jear he was made Bishop of Worcester, and two years afterwards became Bishop-elect of London. But the Calvinism of the Lambeth Articles, which he helped frame, and still more his second marriage with a widow of small reputation, an- gered the Queen; he was forbidden to come to Court, and was suspended from office (1595). A year later he died. He left eight children, one the famous dramatist, John Fletcher. FLETCHER, Robert (1823—). An Ameri- can surgeon and anthropologist, born in Bristol, England. He graduated at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1841, became surgeon of the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and subsequently was appointed principal assistant librarian in the library of the Surgeon-General's office. United States Army, Washington, D. C. He also served as professor of medical juris- prudence in the Columbian University, and as president of the Anthropological Society of Wash- ington. His writings include: Paul Broca and the French School of Anthropology (1882) ; Hu- man Proportion in Art and Anthropometry (1883); The Veto School of Criminal Anthro- pology (1891) ; and Scopelism (1897; read before the Anthropological Society of Washington). FLEUR-DE-LIS, fler' dele' (Fr„ flower of the lily). A conventionalized form of the iris- plant. As a motive in ornament, it goes back to the days of the Etruscans, or earlier. It. be- came the emblem of the kings of France after 1280. Many fanciful explanations are given to account for its adoption, but none has any authority. In 1376 Charles V. fixed the form of the French king's coat of arms definitely. Azure, () trots fleurs-de-lis d'or, i.e. three golden fleurs- de-lis on a blue field. Sec Iris. FLEUR D'EPINE, fler da'pen', Histoire de (Fr.. History of Thorn -flower) . A 'conte,' or highly romantic talc, written by Anthony Hamil- ton in the early part of the eighteenth century. It is a burlesque ">i the numerous imitations of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, then in vogue. An edition appeared in France in 1749, and an English translation of all the author's 'conies.' in London, in 1760.
