I.; after the death of his first wife, a daughter of
Victor Emmanuel I., he married the Austrian princess Maria-Theresa, and
fell under the influence of Austria during the rest of his reign; in 1848
he was compelled to grant constitutional rights to his people, but was
distrusted, and an insurrection broke out in Sicily; with merciless
severity he crushed the revolt, and by his savage bombardment of the
cities won him the epithet "Bomba"; a reign of terror ensued, and in 1851
Europe was startled by the revelations of cruel injustice contained in
Mr. Gladstone's famous Neapolitan letters (1810-1859).

FERDINAND III., Grand-duke of Tuscany and Archduke of Austria, born
at Florence; succeeded to the government of Tuscany in 1790; introduced
many wise measures of reform, which brought peace and prosperity to his
State; reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in 1793, but two
years later entered into friendly relations with France, and in 1797, in
order to save his States being merged in the Cisalpine Republic,
undertook to make payment of an annual subsidy; later he formed an
alliance with Austria, and was by Napoleon driven from his possessions,
which were, however, restored to him in 1814 by the Peace of Paris
(1769-1824).

FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN, son of Charles IV. of Spain; too weak to
steer his way through the intrigues of the court, he appealed to Napoleon
in 1807 to support the king, his father, and himself; but his letter was
discovered, and his accomplices exiled; the following year the French
entered Spain, and Charles abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand; but
soon after, under Napoleon's influence, the crown was surrendered to the
French, and Joseph Bonaparte became king; in 1813 Ferdinand was
reinstated, but found himself immediately met by a demand of his people
for a more liberal representative government; the remaining years of his
reign were spent in an internecine struggle against these claims, in
which he had French support under Louis XVIII. (1784-1833).

FERDUSI. See FIRDAUSI.

FERETRUM, the shrine containing the sacred effigies and relics of a
saint.

FERGUS, the name of three Scottish kings: F. I., _d_. 356; F.
II., king from 411 to 427; and F. III., king from 764 to 767.

FERGUSON, ADAM, a Scotch philosopher and historian, born at
Logierait, Perthshire; after passing through the universities of St.
Andrews and Edinburgh, he in 1745 was appointed Gaelic chaplain to the