FELTHAM

feltham, or felltham, owen (d. 1668), english moralist, was the son of thomas feltham or felltham of mutford in suffolk. the date of his birth is given variously as 1602 and 1609. he is famous chiefly as the author of a volume entitled _resolves, divine, moral and political_, containing one hundred short and pithy essays. to later issues of the _resolves_ feltham appended _lusoria_, a collection of forty poems. hardly anything is known of his life except that t. randolph, the adopted "son" of ben jonson, addressed a poem of compliment to him, and became his friend, and that feltham attacked ben jonson in an ode shortly before the aged poet's death, but contributed a flattering elegy to the _jonsonus virbius_ in 1638. early in life feltham visited flanders, and published observations in 1652 under the title of _a brief character of the low countries_. he was a strict high-churchman and a royalist; he even described charles i. as "christ the second." hallam stigmatized feltham as one of our worst writers. he has not, indeed, the elegance of bacon, whom he emulated, and he is often obscure and affected; but his copious imagery and genuine penetration give his reflections a certain charm. to the middle classes of the 17th century he seemed a heaven-sent philosopher and guide, and was only less popular than francis quarles the poet. eleven editions of the _resolves_ appeared before 1700. later. editions by james cumming (london, 1806; much garbled; has account of feltham's life and writings), and o. smeaton in "temple classics" series (london, 1904).