13, a superintendent.
FLEA
592
FLEETWOOD
waiter quality. After it is made into ram, it is pol- ished bj- striking it frequently on a hard stone, moist- ened with water ; and when woven into cloth it is again beaten with clubs, being always improved in propor- tion as it is beaten" {IJist.Xat. xix, 1). The various processes emidoy ed in preparing the flax for manufac- ture into cloth are indicated in Scripture. 1. The dry- ing process (see above). 2. The peeling of the stalks and separation of the fibres (the name of flax itself be- ing derivable either, as Parkhurst, from X^'O^jpashat', to stripj peel, or as Gesenius, from TIJ'JS, pashasli , to separate into parts). 3. The hackling (Isa. xix, 9; Sept. Xi'j'02^ TO axiryTov ; see Gesenius, Lex. s.v. P"^"^'^, and for the comhs used in the process, comp. Wilkin- son, Anc. E(jypt. iii, 140). The flax, however, was not always dressed before weaving (see Ecclus. xl, 4, where io[i(tKivov is mentioned as a species of clothing worn by the poor). That the use of the coarser fibres was known to the Hebrews may be inferred from the mention of tow (n"1"3) in Judg. xvl, 9 ; Isa. i, 31. That flax Avas anciently one of the most important crops in Palestine appears from Hos. ii, 5, 9 ; that it continued to be grown and manufactured into linen in N. Palestine down to the Middle Ages we have the testimony of numerous Talmudists and Rabbins. At present it does not seem to be so much cultivated there as the co^^o?«-plant. For the flax of ancient Eg3'pt, see Herodot. ii, 37, 105 ; Cels. ii, p. 285 sq. ; Heeren, Ideen, ii, 2, p. 368 sq. For that of modern Egypt, see Hasselquist, Journey, p. 500 ; Olivier, Voyage, iii, 297 ; Girard's Observations in Descript. de VEyypte, xvii, 98 ; Paul Lucas, Voyages, ii, 47. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. ; Fairbairn, s. v. See Linen.
Plea ('i:J""lS, ;;aros/i', from its leaping; a name found in the Arab, equivalent : see Bochart, iii, 474, cd. Rosenm.) occurs only 1 Sam. xxiv, 14 [15] ; xxvi, 20, where David thus addresses his persecutor Saul at the cave of Adullam : "After whom is the king of Israel come out ? after whom dost thou pursue .' — after a flea ;" " The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea !" In both these passages our translation omits the force of the word 'inx, which is found in the Hebrew of each: thus, "to pursue after, to seek one or a single flea" (Sept. \//i)XXoc Hc,\\\\g. j^ulex unus). David's allusion to the flea displays great address. It is an ap- peal founded upon the immense disparity between Saul, as the king of Israel, and himself as the poor contemp- tible object of the monarch's laborious pursuit. Hinit- ing a flea is a comparison in other ancient writings (Homer, //. x, 378 ; Aristoph. Nub. i, 2 ; iii, 1) for much labor expended to secure a worthless result. This in- sect, in the East, is often used as a popular emblem for insignificance (Roberts, Onental Illvstrations, p. 178). An Aral)ian author thus describes this troublesome in- sect: "A black, nimble, extenuated, hunch-backed animal, which, being sensible when an}' one looks on it, junqts incessant!}', now on one side, now on the other, till it gets out of sight." The flea belongs to the Lin- n.-ean order apt era (Latreille, siphonap- tern ; Kirl)y, aphamiptera'). For a description of itself and congeners, see the Penny Cyclopwdia, s. v. Pulex. Owing to the habits of the lower orders, fleas abound i*> profusely in Syria (see Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 94), especially during the spring, in the streets and dusty bazaars, that persons of condition always change their long dresses on returning home. There is a pop- ular saying in Palestine that "the king' of the fleas keojis his court at Tiberias," though many other places in that region might dispute the distinction
Common Flea {Pulex Irritans), magnified.
with that town (Kitto, Physical History of Palestine, p 421).
Flechier, Espkit, a celebrated French orator and prelate, was born June 10, 1632, at Pernes, near Avig- non. After studying in the college of the "Fathers of the Christian Doctrine," he went to Paris, and soon became known by a Latin poem on the famous carou- sal given by Louis XIV in 1G62. His sermons and funeral orations soon raised him to such a pitch of reputation that the duke of Montausier recommended him to fill the office of reader to the dauphin. In 1673 he was chosen a member of the Academy, and in 1G82 he was appointed almoner to the dauphiness. In 1685 he obtained the bishopric of Lavaur. When the mon- arch gave it to him, he said, "Do not be surprised that I have been so tardy in rewarding your merit ; I was loth to be deprived of the pleasure of hearing you preach." In 1687 he was removed to the bishopric of Nismes. The Protestants of his neighborhood suffer- ed greatly from the revocation of the Edict of Kantes, but Flechier administered his office so mildly and ten- derly that he gained the love of even the Protestants. He died in February, 1710 ; and when Fenelon heard of his death, he cried out, " We have lost our master !" His panegyric en Turenne is considered his masterpiece of eloquence. Among his writings are, Les Panecy- riques des Saints (Paris, 1697, 2 vols. 12mo) : — Oraisons Fun'ebres (4to) -.^Histoire de V Empereur Theodoce le Grand (Paris, 1679, 4to, and often 12mo) : — Vie du Card. Ximenes (2 vols. 12mo). They may all be found in the collection of his works, (Euvres completes, revues siir les manuscrils de Vauteur, etc. (Nismes, 1782, 10 vols. 8vo).^Biog. Universelle, xv, S5.