whom the senior draws up reports for the senate, and has the control of the military, while the junior presides over police and corporate proceedings. The lower or legislative chamber is composed of 57 members, and the highest court of appeal is the supreme tribunal at Lübeck. F., in conjunction with the other free cities, occupies the 17th place in the limited council of the Diet, but enjoys an independent vote in the full council. It furnishes a contingent of 783 and a reserve of 336 men to the army of the Confederation. The Constituent Assembly elected in 1848 to frame a constitution for Germany, held its sittings at F., which was for some years the scene of violent political excitement; but as the greater German powers refused to accede to the decisions of the assembly, no permanent result tending to the union of Germany was secured by these deliberations.

FRANKFURT-ON-THE-ODER, the capital of an extensive Prussian circle of the same name in the province of Brandenburg, is a place of considerable trade, on the railway line between Berlin and Breslau, and about 50 miles east of the former city. F. lies in lat. 52° 22′ N., and long. 14° 20′ E. Pop. in 1860, 32,800. It is a fortified, well-built town, and has three suburbs, one of which lies on the right bank of the Oder, and is connected with the remainder of the town by a wooden bridge. Of the six Protestant churches, St Mary's, founded in the 13th c., is the most worthy of notice, for its large organ, richly gilt wood-carvings, and fine stained windows. The university, founded in 1506, was incorporated in 1811 with that of Breslau, but F. still has its distinct gymnasium, with its branchschools. Three great fairs are still annually held at F., but although they are still attended, as of old, by many Poles and Silesians, sales are less brisk than in former times. F. has manufactures of silk, leather, gloves, tobacco, sugar, and porcelain ware; it has considerable distilleries, and is noted for its mustard. Its situation on a navigable river, connected by canals with the Vistula and the Elbe, affords great commercial and social advantages, which have rendered it a place of importance from a very early period. It was a flourishing member of the Hanseatic League, and during the middle ages it suffered frequently at the hands of marauding enemies. It was besieged in 1430 by the Hussites, in 1450 by the Poles, and in 1477 by the Duke of Sagan. In the Thirty Years' War, it was frequently taken by both parties, and at the beginning of the present century it suffered severely at the hands of the French. F. is the seat of the administrative government, judicial tribunal, council of nobility, and boards of taxation for its circle. The village of Kunersdorf, 44 miles from F., was the scene of a great battle, fought August 12, 1759, between Frederick the Great and the Russo-Austrian forces, in which the former, after a sanguinary engagement, was compelled to retreat with great loss.

FRANKINCENSE (thus), a name employed to designate various fragrant resinous substances which diffuse a strong fragrance in burning, and are on that account used in certain religious services. There is good reason to believe that the frankincense of the Jews, and also of the ancient Greeks and Romans, was chiefly or entirely the substance now known as Olibanum (q. v.), the produce of an Indian tree, Boswellia serrata or thurifera. See BoswELLIA. It was formerly supposed to have been obtained from the Juniperus Lycia, which is now believed not to yield any such product, and is a native of the south of Europe, whilst the prized frankincense of the ancients was brought from the East.-Several trees, however, of different natural orders, yield substances

used as frankincense instead of olibanum, in different parts of the world, as several species of Icica and of Croton in America; and the silver fir (see FIR) in Europe, the resinous product of which is the COMMON FRANKINCENSE of the pharmacopoeias, although in the shops, concrete American turpentine is very often sold under this name. It is used in the composition of stimulating plasters, &c. Burgundy pitch is made from it. It is a spontaneous exudation from the tree, hardening by exposure to the air, and generally of a whitish or pinkish colour, with a rather agreeable odour and a balsamic taste.

FRANKLIN. The franklin, or, according to the

old spelling, the frankelein, was the English freeholder of former times, who held his lands of the crown, free (frank) from any feudal servitude to a subject-superior. Chaucer's Franklin's Tale, and still more his description of the franklin in the prologue to his immortal Pilgrimage, have rendered him a classical character. In the whole circle of our literature there is probably no more perfect picture of the person, habits, and surroundings of a jovial old country gentleman. His beard was white as a daisy, his complexion sanguine, he loved a 'sop in wine,' and woe to his cook if his sauce were not poignant and sharp; in a word, he was Epicurus' owen son.' But the franklin's luxuries were not intended for his own enjoyment alone, for a householder, and that a great, was he.' His table stood in his hall alway,'' ready covered all the longe day;' and

Withouten baked meat never was his house,
Of fish and flesh, and that so plenteous,
It snowed in his house of meat and drink.

Nor was it only in dispensing good cheer that the franklin fulfilled the functions of the country gentleman of his day. At sessions, he was lord and sire,' and full often time he had been knight of the shire.' He had been sheriff too, and a countour and vavasour; though what these latter offices were, is a subject of controversy amongst the commentators. The dress of the franklin, according to the Duke of Sutherland's MS.,' says Mr Saunders, in his excellent little book called Cabinet Pictures of English Life (p. 204), was a surcoat of red lined with blue, with bars or stripes of fringe or lace over it. He wore a small blue hat turned up, and black boots.' Chaucer adds to his attire a knife or dagger called an 'anelace,' and a 'gipciere' or silk purse, white as morrow [morning] milk,' at his girdle. Mr Saunders mentions (ut sup.) that in the Metrical Chronicle of Robert de Brune, the franklin of an earlier period (13th c.) is ranked immediately after earls, barons, and lords, and was evidently a person of great consideration. Such, as we have seen, was very much his position in Chaucer's time, but he seems to have fallen in dignity, and we find him in much lower company in Shakspeare's day. In The Winter's Tale the clown is made to say (Act v. scene 2):

Not swear it, now I am a gentleman

Let boors and franklins say it, I'll swear it. From other passages it would seem that his position had come to correspond to that of the well-to-do yeoman. In 1 Henry IV., Act ii. scene 1, we hear of a franklin in the wold of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold;' and Cymbe line says (Act iii. scene 2), 'Provide me presently a riding suit, no costlier than is fit a franklin's housewife.' There seems no reason to think, however, that Dr Johnson's remark that franklin is 'not improperly Englished a gentleman servant,' is warranted by his position at any period, and it certainly

A spacious court they see, &c.,

Where them does meet a franklin fair and free. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, an eminent American philosopher and statesman, born at Boston, in Massachusetts, the 17th of January 1706. He was the youngest son and fifteenth child out of a family of seventeen children. His father, Josiah Franklin, emigrated from England to America in 1682: he followed the business of tallow-chandler and soapboiler. Benjamin, when only ten years old, was employed in his father's shop in cutting wicks, going errands, &c.; but becoming soon disgusted with the monotonous routine of his duties, he conceived a strong desire to go to sea. To prevent this, his father bound him apprentice to his brother James, who was a printer. Young F. had now free access to books, for which he had evinced a fondness even from infancy. He himself says he could not remember the time when he did not know how to read. To gratify his thirst for reading, he would often sit up the greater part of the night. He did not, however, neglect his duties as printer, and he became in a few years well skilled in his trade. But the two brothers could not agree. The elder appears to have been of a severe and passionate temper, which the younger, as he himself intimates, may have sometimes provoked by his impertinence. At length, when seventeen years of age, young F. left Boston without the knowledge of his relations, embarking in a vessel bound for New York, whence he proceeded, partly by water, and partly on foot, to Philadelphia. Here he obtained employment as a journeyman printer. In the following year, encouraged by the promise of assistance from a gentleman in Philadelphia, he resolved to set up business for himself. With this view, he went to England, in order to purchase type and other materials necessary for carrying on his trade. But failing to receive the aid which he had expected from his pretended friend, he was obliged to work as a journeyman in London, where he remained more than a year. He returned in 1726 to Philadelphia, and in 1729, with the assistance of some friends, established himself in business. The next year he married Miss Deborah Read, with whom he had become acquainted in Philadelphia before he went to England. In 1729, F. had become the proprietor and editor of a newspaper (The Pennsylvania Gazette), which his talent for writing soon rendered very popular and very profitable. In 1732, he commenced the publication of an almanac, purporting to be by Richard Saunders. He sought to make his almanac, like his paper, the vehicle of useful information for the people, especially inculcating the virtues of frugality, industry, &c. It was commonly called Poor Richard's Almanac, under which name it acquired a wide celebrity.

By his talents, prudence, and integrity, F. continued to rise in the estimation of the community in which he lived, until he was deemed worthy of the highest honours which his country could bestow. He was made successively clerk of the Assembly of Pennsylvania (1736), Postmaster of Philadelphia (1737), and Deputy Postmaster-general for the British Colonies (1753). A dispute having arisen between the Assembly and the proprietary governors, in consequence of the latter claiming exemption from taxation, F. was sent in 1757 to England to plead the cause of the people before the privy council. His representations and arguments prevailed, and it was decided that the estates of the proprietaries should bear their due proportion of the public burdens. On his return in 1762, he received

fulfilment of his mission.

F. had already become distinguished in the scientific world by his successful experiments on the nature of electricity. In 1752, he had made the important and brilliant discovery of the identity of lightning with the electric fluid. Soon after, the Royal Society of London, even without waiting for any application to be made on his behalf-which had been the general usage-chose him a member of their body, and bestowed upon him the Copley gold medal. Alluding to F.'s account of his electrical experiments, Sir Humphry Davy observes: A singular felicity of induction guided all his researches, and by very small means he established very grand truths. The style and manner of his publication are almost as worthy of admiration as the doctrines it contains. He has written equally for the uninitiated and for the philosopher.' In 1764, F. was again sent by the Assembly as agent to England. The policy of taxing the colonies had already been agitated, and he was instructed by the Assembly to use his efforts against such a measure. But the ministry had formed their plans, and the Stamp Act was passed early in 1765. It caused a great excitement, and met with the most determined opposition in America. At the beginning of 1766, a new ministry having come into power, the subject was again brought to the attention of parliament. F. was examined before the House of Commons, on which occasion his talents, his varied information, and his presence of mind, were shewn to great advantage, and the repeal of the obnoxious Stamp Act was the result. But other laws deemed equally objectionable remained in force. In the dispute between the American colonies and the mother-country, F. had sought sincerely and earnestly to prevent a disruption; when, however, he became convinced that a separation was inevitable, he returned home, and took an active part in promoting the cause of independence. He arrived at Philadelphia on the 5th of May 1775, after an absence of rather more than ten years. The day after his arrival, he was unanimously elected by the Assembly of Pennsylvania a delegate to the Second Continental Congress then about to assemble. He was one of the committee of five chosen by congress to prepare the celebrated 'Declaration of Independence,' which, having been unanimously agreed to on the 4th of July 1776, he afterwards signed with the other leading patriots. Towards the close of the same year, he was sent as ambassador to the French court. To him is due the principal, if not the sole, credit of effecting between France and the United States the Treaty of Alliance, the stipulations of which were so eminently favourable to the latter country. This treaty, signed at Paris the 6th of February 1778, may be said to have secured the independence of the American colonies. remained in Europe some time after the establishment of peace. In 1785, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died on the 17th of April 1790, aged 84 years.

F.

In person, F. was of a medium stature, well formed, and strongly built, with a light complexion, and gray eyes. His manners were affable and engaging. He was remarkable for simplicity of character, and practical common sense. He deemed nothing which concerned the interest or happiness of mankind unworthy of his attention, and rarely if ever bestowed his attention on any subject with out obtaining permanently useful results.

He left among his numerous works an extremely interesting and instructive autobiography of the earlier portion of his life, extending to his fiftysecond year. A complete collection of his works,

reparation. Should the offender abscond, the tything, if unable to clear themselves from participation in the crime, were compelled to make good the penalty. This law has been ascribed to Alfred the Great; but it would appear to have been in existence at a much earlier period. Mr Hallam, Middle Ages, ii. p. 80 (edit. 1841), observes: The peculiar system of frank-pledges seems to have passed through the following very gradual stages. At first, an accused person was bound to find bail for standing his trial. At a subsequent period, his relations were called upon to become securities for payment of the compensation and other fines to which he was liable; they were even subject to be imprisoned until payment was made, and this imprisonment was commutable for a certain sum in money. The next usage was to make people already convicted, or of suspicious repute, give securities for their good-behaviour. It is not till the reign of Edgar that we find the first general law, which places every man in the condition of the guilty or suspected, and compels him to find a surety who shall be responsible for his appearance when judicially summoned. This is perpetually repeated and enforced in later statutes during his reign and that of Ethelred. Finally, the laws of Canute declare the necessity of belonging to some hundred and tything, as well as of providing sureties.'

The Court of Frank-pledge, or Court-leet, is a court of record held once in the year, and not oftener, within a particular hundred, lordship, or manor, before the steward of the leet: being the king's court granted by charter to the lords of those hundreds or manors. All freeholders resident in

the jurisdiction are bound to attend this court; but persons under twelve and over sixty years of age are excused, and by the statute of Marlbridge, 52 Hen. III. c. 10, all prelates, peers, and clergymen, and women are discharged from attendance. It was also the custom to summon all the king's subjects to this court, on attaining years of discretion, to take the oath of allegiance. The business of this court was to present by jury all crimes committed within their jurisdiction, and to punish all trivial misdemeanours. This court has practically fallen into desuetude, and the business is discharged by the justices of the peace at general and petty sessions. See Blackstone's Commentaries. Originally, the business of the court of frank-pledge was confined to the taking securities or free pledges for every person within the jurisdiction; but this practice having fallen into disuse, the court gradually acquired a criminal jurisdiction, concurrent with that of the sheriff's tourn. Magna Charta distinguishes between the tourns or leets of sheriffs and the view of frank-pledge; limiting the former to twice a year, and the latter to once. In the more ordinary sense, frank-pledge and leet are synonymous, as appears from the style of tourns and other leets, which in court-rolls are usually denominated curice or visus franci plegii. But when free pledge is used, as in Magna Charta, it should be understood in a strict and particular sense.'-Co. Litt. by Hargrave, 115 a, note 10.

FRANKS (i. e., freemen) was the name assumed by a confederation of German tribes that appeared on the Lower Rhine in the 3d c., and afterwards overthrew the Roman dominion in Gaul. It was only the name, however, that was new; the individual tribes composing the confederation had been known on the Rhine as early as the time of Augustus. The most important of these were the Sigambri, Chamavi, Ampsivarii, Chatti, Chattuarii, and Brueteri of the time of the first emperors. In the 3d and 4th centuries, hordes of them began to pour through the Low Countries into Gaul, until

at last the country became their prey. After the middle of the 4th c., they appear divided into two groups, the Salians-either from the old Ger. Sal, or the river Sala (Yssel)—and the Ripuarians (ripa, the bank), the first inhabiting Holland and the Low Countries, the last on both sides of the Rhine as far up as the Main. Each group had its own laws, afterwards committed to writing (Lex Salica and Lex Ripuariorum). Like the two peoples, these laws differ little even in detail. The F. were a mobile, well-endowed race, forming in language and art the transition from the Low Germans to the High; and they compose to this day the ground of the population of the west of Germany as far as the Neckar, Main, Murg, and Lower Alsace, as well as the chief Germanic element of the popu lation of Northern France. For the later history of the Franks, see articles CLOVIS, CARLOVINGIANS, CHARLEMAGNE, FRANCE, MEROVINGIANS, &c.

FRA'NZENSBRUNN, or FRANZENSBAD, a small village and well-known bathing-place in Austria, on the north-western frontier of Bohemia, three miles north-west of Eger, is situated amid low bare hills, and consists of four rectangular streets lined with trees. It has four cold mineral springs, chiefly of alkalo-saline chalybeate water, deemed highly efficacious in the cure of scrofulous complaints and diseases of the skin, and used principally for drinking, but also for bathing purposes, in which case the water is heated to a temperature of 90° to 98° F. Nearly 200,000 bottles of these waters are exported annually. F. has also mud and gas baths.

FRASCATI, a beautiful town about eight miles east-south-east of Rome, with a population of 5000. Hills, not far from the site of ancient Tusculum, It stands on the lower heights of the Alban which was built on a higher range of hills. Tusculum (q. v.), a town of much more ancient date than Rome, was burned and ruined by the Romans in 1191 A. D., to avenge a former victory gained by the Tusculans in 1167. Those of the inhabitants who escaped the fury of the conquerors, sought refuge small huts out of the underwood or frasche, and on the slope of the hill towards Rome, constructing hence the modern name Frascati. The chief attrac

tions of F. are its lovely villas and salubrious air,

noble and foreign residents, and render this resort in the Alban Hills the most fashionable villeggiatura in the vicinity of the Eternal City. The most Aldobrandini, also known as Il Belvedere, from its splendid of these summer residences are the villas

which attract from Rome in the hot season all its

commanding and noble prospect; those of Mondragon and Taverna of the Borghese family; the villas Pallavicini and Piccolomini.

The cathedral contains a tablet to the Cardinal

of York, for many years bishop of this diocese, and another to his brother, Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, who died here in 1788.

FRASER, SIMON. See LoVAT, LORD.

FRASER RIVER, the principal stream of British Columbia, comprises in its basin the far greater part of the colony. The F. R. proper has its origin in the union of two branches, the more important of which receives its waters from a series of lakes that lie in lat. 54-55° N., long. about 124° 50′ W., flows in a general south-east direction for 260 miles, and then unites with the other branch, which has its source near Mount Brown, in the Rocky Mountains, lat. 53° N., long. 118° 40′ W., flows north-west, and is 200 miles in length. The point of confluence is near Fort George, in lat. about 53° 25′ N., and in long. about 122° 40′ W., and hence the F. R. flows in a generally southern direction through nearly the