FABIAN SOCIETY 84 FABBE 111 churches in New York and Michigan. He was consecrated coadjutor-bishop of the Diocese of Montana in 1914, and be- came bishop in 1916. He wrote "The Church for the Times" (1891) ; "Henry VIII. and the Reformation in Relation to the Church of England" (1897) ; and ^vas a frequent contributor to maga- zines on religious subjects. FABIAN SOCIETY, an organization in England, with headquarters in Lon- don, whose members are interested in the reorganization of society on a social- istic basis. In 1883 an American, Thomas Davidson, who was temporarily residing in London, made a practice of confer- ences, at which questions of social re- form were discussed. From these in- formal meetings sprang the Fabian Society, so named after the Roman Gen- eral Fabius, who by his tactics of delay saved Rome from invasion and capture. By this name it was indicated that the members of the society were in favor of evolutionary means to accomplish their ends, rather than revolutionary, or violent means. The leading figures in the activities of the Fabian Society have been the two Webbs; Mr. and Mrs. Sid- ney Webb, two brilliant writers on eco- nomics, who have done more than any others to shape the politics of the Fabian Society. Other prominent members have been Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and Mrs. Annie Besant. The Fabian Society has stood for state socialism, and has published a number of volumes of essays by its members, advocating the gradual extension of government functions in public utilities and industry. Since the war, however, this principle of reform has grown into disfavor, especially among the labor organizations, which have had a tendency toward syndicalism, or modifications of that theory, which implies the management of industry by labor organizations. The Fabian Society, also, has shown a broader interest in other plans for collectivist reorganiza- tion, especially in the direction of con- sumers* co-operation. FABIUS, the name of one of the oldest and most famous families of Rome, every member of which was massacred at Cremera, 478 B. c, except QuiNTUS Fa- Bius ViBULANUS, who became one of the decemvirate. After him are mentioned Fabius Ambustus, dictator, 3.50 b. c Fabius Rullianus, to whose name Maxi- MUS was added, twi^e dictator, conqueror of the Samnites and Etruscans, 323-280 B. c. Fabius Gurges, son of the preced- ing, consul of Rome. Fabius Pictor, the first writer of Roman history, 3d cen- tury, b. c. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, considered the greatest of his family, surmamed "Cunctator," "the Delayer," on account of his system of warfare. He died in 203 B. c. Fabius Maximus QuiNTUS, son and next in office to the preceding, afterward consul. Fabius Maximus ^milianus, distinguished in the war of Persia and in Spain, consul 147 b. c. Fabius Maximus Servilianus, pro-consul for Spain, censor 126 B. c. Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, consul 122 E. c. FABLE, any fictitious narrative ; more particularly a kind of literary con - position, either prose or verse, in which a short fictitious story is made to convey practical rules of prudence or wisdom. The fable consists properly of two parts — the symbolical representation, and the application of the moral of the tale. Among the most celebrated fables of the East, where this species of composition seems to have originated, are the Indian fables of Pilpay, or Bilpai, and the more eager Arabic collection of Lokman, who is said to have lived in the time of King David, Among the Greeks, the fables of .^sop were well known, but many of those that were current in Greece under his name are identical . with those of the East. In Latin, Phaedrus has left about 90 fables of considerable merit in imita- tion of .^sop; but the well-known fable of "the town-mouse and the country- mouse," related by Horace, is the best in that language. During the Middle Ages the fable was not entirely neglected; "Reynard the Fox," a famous mediasval epic, may be considered as a sort of ex- tended satirical fable. Among the most distinguished of the later fable-writers are Gellert, Gleim, and Lessing of Ger- many, and Gay of England, but pre-emi- nent among all the modern fabulists, for his delicate sarcasm and his lively wit, is the French La Fontaine. FABB,E, JEAN HENRI, a French en- tomologist and writer; born at Saint- Leons, Avignon, in 1823. For several years he taught in the Lycee of Avignon and afterward served as Professor of Physics at the College of Ajaccio. He retired from teaching, however, to devote himself entirely to the study of entomol- ogy and from 1879 to 1907 he devoted himself to writing the great work in ten volumes, entitled "Souvenirs entomolo- giques." This was crowned by the Insti- tute. The greater part has been trans- lated into English. He wrote "The Life of the Insects" (1910) and many other v.'^orks. He was a corresponding member of the Institute and Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Among his works translated into English are "Insect Life" (1901) ; "The Life and Love of the In^
