Chapter Fastolfe to Fatherless of F by Brewer's Readers Handbook

and her husband resolve to murder the owner, and secure the contents of the casket. Scarcely have they committed the fatal deed, when Charlotte enters, and tells them it is their own son whom they have killed, whereupon old Wilmot first stabs his wife and then himself. Thus was the “curiosity” of Agnes fatal to her husband, herself, and her son (1736).

For a parallel case, see Notes and Queries (January 14, 1882, p. 21).

Fatal Dowry (The), a tragedy by Philip Massinger (1632). Rowe has borrowed much of his Fair Penitent from this drama.

Fatal Marriage (The), a tragedy by Thomas Southerne (1692). Isabella a nun m arries Biron eldest son of count Baldwin. The count disinherits his son for this marriage, and Biron, ent ering the army, is sent to the siege of Candy, where he is seen to fall, and is reported dead. Isabe lla, reduced to the utmost poverty, after seven years of “widowhood,” prays count Baldwin to help her and do something for her child, but he turns her out of doors. Villeroy proposes marriage to her, and her acceptance of him was “the fatal marriage,” for the very next day Biron returns, and is set upon by ruffians in the pay of his brother Carlos, who assassinate him. Carlos accuses Villeroy of the murder, but one of the ruffians impeaches, and Carlos is apprehended. As for Isabella, she stabs herself and dies.

Fates. The Three Fatal Sisters were Clotho, Lachesis [Lak-e-sis], and Atropos. They dwelt in the deep abyss of Demogorgon, “with unwearied fingers drawing out the threads of life.” Clotho held the spindle or distaff; Lachesis drew out the thread; and Atropos cut it off.

Sad Clotho held the rock, the whiles the thread
By grisly Lachesis was spun with pain,
That cruel Atropos eftsoon undid,
With cursëd knife cutting the twist in twain.
   —Spenser: Faërie Queene, iv. 2 (1596).

Father—Son. It is a common observation that a father above the common rate of men has usually a son below it. Witness king John son of Henry II.; Edward II. son of Edward I.; Richard II. son of the Black Prince; Henry VI. son of Henry V.; Lord Chesterfield’s son, etc. So in French history: Louis VIII. was the son of Philippe Auguste; Charles the Idiot was the son of Charles le Sage; Henri II. of François I. Again, in German history: Heinrich VI. was the son of Barbarossa; Albrecht I. of Rudolf; and so on, in all directions. Heroum filii noxæ is a Latin proverb.

My trust,
Like a good parent, did beget of him
A falsehood, in its contrary as great
As my trust was.
Shakespeare: The Tempest, act. i. sc. 2 (1609).

Yet have we the proverb, “Like father, like son,” which holds good in common life.

Father Suckled by His own Daughter. Euphrasia, called “the Grecian Daughter,” thus preserved the life of her father Evander in prison. (See Euphrasia, p. 344.)

Xantippê thus preserved the life of her father Cimonos in prison.

Father of Angling (The), Isaac Walton, author of The Compleat Angler (1593–1683).

Father of English Prose (The), Roger Ascham, instructor of queen Eliza beth (1515–1568).

Father of Jests (The), Joe Miller (1684–1738).

Father Prout. (See Prout.)

Father of His Country. Cicero, who broke up the Catiline conspiracy (B.C. 106–43).

The Romans offered the s ame title to Marius after his annihilation of the Teutonês and Cimbri, but he would not accept it.