ts_, and in 1844 he took Deacon's orders. The connection
with Newman was, however, short-lived; and the publication in 1848 of
_The Nemesis of Faith_ showed that in the severe mental and spiritual
conflict through which he had passed, the writer had not only escaped
from all Tractarian influences, but was in revolt against many of the
fundamental doctrines of Christianity. One result of the book was his
resignation of his Fellowship at Oxf.: another was his loss of an
appointment as Head Master of the Grammar School of Hobart Town,
Tasmania. In the same year began his friendship with Carlyle, and about
the same time he became a contributor to the _Westminster Review_ and to
_Fraser's Magazine_, of which he was ed. from 1860-74. These papers were
afterwards _coll._ and _pub._ in the 4 vols. of _Short Studies on Great
Subjects_. In 1856 he _pub._ the first 2 vols. of the great work of his
life, _The History of England from the Fall of Cardinal Wolsey to the
Spanish Armada_, which extended to 12 vols., the last of which appeared
in 1870. As literature this work has a place among the greatest
productions of the century; but in its treatment it is much more
dramatic, ethical, and polemical than historical in the strict sense; and
indeed the inaccuracy in matters of fact to which F. was liable, combined
with his tendency to idealise and to colour with his own prejudices the
characters who figure in his narrative, are serious deductions from the
value of his work considered as history. _The English in Ireland in the
Eighteenth Century_ appeared in 1872-4. On the death of Carlyle in 1881,
F. found himself in the position of his sole literary executor, and in
that capacity _pub._ successively the _Reminiscences_ (1881), _History of
the First Forty Years of Carlyle's Life_ (1882), _Letters and Memorials
of Jane Welsh Carlyle_ (1883), _History of Carlyle's Life in London_
(1884). The opinion is held by many that in the discharge of the duties
entrusted to him by his old friend and master he showed neither
discretion nor loyalty; and his indiscreet revelations and gross
inaccuracies evoked a storm of controversy and protest. F. did not
confine his labours to purely literary effort. In 1874-5 he travelled as
a Government Commissioner in South Africa with the view of fostering a
movement in favour of federating the various colonies there; in 1876 he
served on the Scottish Univ. Commission; in 1884-5 he visited Australia,
and gave the f