266 FLECHIER FLEETWOOD naked receptacle, and a rough pappus, consist- ing of a single row of capillary bristles with minuter ones intermixed, or with a distinct outer pappus of small bristles or scales. The solitary or corymbed heads are many-flower- ed, radiate, flat or hemispherical ; disk yellow, rays white or purple ; leaves entire or toothed, and generally sessile. Formerly the plants were supposed to have the power when suspended in a room of driving away fleas ; hence the name. The daisy fleabanes, E. annuum and E. Phila- delphicum, are found in various parts of the United States. They have a bitterish taste and a feebly aromatic odor, due to a small amount of volatile oil. Fleabane is diuretic, and has been used in nephritic diseases and dropsy. It is most conveniently given in infusion or de- coction. E. Canadense, or Canada fleabane, possesses similar properties. It is also called horseweed and butterweed, and is common throughout the country. The volatile oil, of which it contains a larger proportion than the two species first mentioned, is officinal, and may be used in the dose of from five to ten drops. It has been recommended by some practitioners in the treatment of uterine haamorrhage, but does not possess much control over that diffi- culty. Occasionally when the stomach is irri- table it will be retained while other diuretics are rejected. It may often be added with ad- vantage to other agents similar in effect. FLECHIER, Esprit, a French pulpit orator, born at Pernes, June 10, 1632, died in Montpellier, Feb. 16, 1710. He was educated at Avignon, in the college of the " Fathers of the Christian Doctrine," gave special attention to the culture of eloquence, was noted for the elegance of his language, taught rhetoric at Narbonne, and in 1661 went to Paris, where without fortune or friends he became catechist in a parish. A Latin poem which he wrote, describing the fa- mous tournament celebrated by Louis XIV. in 1662, was much admired, and he soon after be- came preceptor in the house of Caumartin, a councillor of state, and was admitted into the society of the hotel de Rambouillet. Many of his sermons were highly esteemed, but his funeral oration on the duchess of Montausier in 1672 was his first great triumph. His funeral ora- tion on Turenne, delivered in Paris in 1676, was a masterpiece of art, and placed him, in the opinion of many of his contemporaries, by the side of Bossuet. Among his other funeral orations, those on the first president Lamoi- gnon, on Queen Marie Therese, and on the chan- cellor Letellier, were most admired. Louis XIV. bestowed upon him first the abbey of St. Severin, then the position of reader to the dauphin, the bishopric of Lavaur in 1685, and that of Nimes in 1687. The edict of Nantes having been revoked shortly before the ap- pointment of Flechier to his last diocese, which contained numerous Protestants, he found great difficulty in the ecclesiastical government of it. His conduct, however, made him equally dear to the Catholics and Protestants of Languedoc, who united in mourning his death. Besides his funeral orations, he left Panegyriques des saints (3 vols.), Vie de Theodose le Grand, and ISHistoire du cardinal Ximenes. Fle"chier's charity and amiability appear especially in his letters. A complete edition of his works was published at Nimes in 1782 (8 vols. 8vo). FLECKftOE, Richard, a British poet, contem- porary with Dryden, died about 1678. Little is known of his life, and he is remembered only because his name furnished Dryden the title of his satirical poem against Shadwell, " MacFlecknoe." He is believed to have been an Irish Catholic priest, and wrote several comic plays, among which are " Demoiselles a" la Mode," "Love's Dominion," "The Marriage of Oceanus and Britannia," and "Ermina, or the Chaste Lady." He wrote also a volume of " Epigrams and Enigmatic Characters." His poems are of little value, though some of them have been praised by Southey. FLEETWOOD, Charles, an English republican, son of Sir William Fleetwood, died in 1692. At the commencement of the civil war he en- listed as a trooper in the parliamentary army, and in 1645 was made colonel, and governor of Bristol. In the same year he was returned to parliament for Buckinghamshire, and in 1647 he was one of the commissioners to treat with the king. After the establishment of the commonwealth he became lieutenant general, distinguished himself at the battle of Worces- ter, and in consequence of his great influence with the army, after the death of his first wife Cromwell gave him his eldest daughter Bridget, the widow of Ireton, in marriage. In 1652 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland, and afterward lord deputy ; but his opposition to the ambitious projects of his father-in-law soon caused his recall. He was appointed one of the fourteen major generals to whom the internal government was com- mitted during the latter days of the protector- ate. On the death of the protector he endeav- ored by his influence with the troops to sup- plant Richard Cromwell, but in the midst of his intrigues the Stuarts were restored, and he narrowly escaped execution as a rebel. He retired to Stoke-Newington, and passed the rest of his life in obscurity. He was cunning, timid, and irresolute, with but little military skill; and his influence and promotion in Cromwell's army were mainly due to his pow- er in praying and extemporaneous preaching. FLEETWOOD, William, an English prelate and author, born in London in January, 1656, died at Tottenham, Aug. 4, 1723. He graduated fa Cambridge, and became chaplain of William III., bishop of St. Asaph in 1707, and bishop of Ely in 1714. He was an eminent pulpit orator, and probably the best preacher of his time. Among his numerous works are: "Es- say on Miracles " (1701) ; Chronicum Preciosum (1707); and "Free Sermons" (1712), the pre- face of which was condemned by the house of commons to be burned because it advocated
