guished than himself in the annals of his country:-" Mount Vernon, September 25, 1785. -DEAR SIR,-Amid the public gratulations on your safe return to America after a long ab sence, and the many eminent services you had rendered it,--for which, as a benefited person, I feel the obligation,-permit an individual to join the public voice in expressing his sense of them, and to assure you that, as no one enter. tains more respect for your character, so none can salute you with more sincerity or with greater pleasure than I do on the occasion.GEORGE WASHINGTON." From 1785 to 1788, he sat with Washington and Hamilton in the federal Convention which framed the con stitution of the United States. B. in Boston, January 6, 1706; D. April 17, 1790. His death was sincerely mourned both in Europe and America. Besides his political, miscel laneous, and philosophical pieces, published in 4to and 8vo, he contributed several papers to the "American Transactions," and published two volumes of essays, with his life prefixed, written by himself.

FRANKLIN, Sir John, a distinguished English navigator, who, in 1800, entered the royal navy as a midshipman. In 1806 he was present at the battle of Trafalgar, in 1814 at that of New Orleans, and in 1819 was appointed to head an overland expedition from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean. After suffering many hard ships, and being frequently on the verge of death from hunger and fatigue, he reached home in 1822, when, in the following year, he married a Miss Porden, the daughter of an architect, and the authoress of several poetical effusions. In 1825 he submitted to Lord Bathurst a plan "for an expedition overland to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and thence by sea to the N.W. extremity of America, with the combined object also of surveying the coast be tween the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers." This proposition was accepted, and, six days after he left Liverpool; in the same year, his wife died. In 1827 Captain Franklin arrived at Liverpool, where he was married a second time, and in 1829 had the honour of knighthood con

elder brother, who was a printer in Boston, but with whom he disagreed. He then removed to New York, whence he went to Philadelphia, where, after serving as a journeyman some time, he attracted the notice of Sir William Keith, the governor, who persuaded him to commence business on his own account. With this view he proceeded, in 1725, to England, to procure printing materials; but on his arrival he found that the governor had deceived him by false promises; on which he worked as a journeyman in London. He now produced his "Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain," which was the means of introducing him to Mandeville, the author of "The Fable of the Bees." In 1726 he returned to America, and entered into partnership with a person named Meredith in the printing trade, which he afterwards conducted alone in the city of Philadelphia. In 1730 he was united to a lady, whom he had courted before going to England; and, about the same time, contributed to the forming of the public library at Philadelphia, and subsequently established an insurance office and other useful institutions in the same town. In 1732 he published his "Poor Richard's Almanac," which became noted for the pithiness of its proverbs, and wherein were inserted those maxims so generally known by the title of " The Way to Wealth." In 1736 he was appointed clerk to the General Assembly at Pennsylvania, and, in the year following, postmaster of Philadelphia. Ile was now a prominent member of the community. In 1742 he established the first public library in Philadelphia, and, two years later, proposed and carried into effect a plan of association for the defence of Pennsylvania. About this time he commenced his electrical experiments, of which he published an account, and had the honour of making several discoveries in this branch of philosophy, the principal of which was the identity of lightning with the electric fluid. Hence he invented the lightning-conductor. In 1747 he was chosen a representative in the General Assembly, in which he distinguished himself by several acts of public utility. By his means a militia bill was passed, and he was elected colo-ferred upon him. In 1815 Sir John set out on nel of the Philadelphia regiment, but the honour of this appointment he declined. In 1757 he was sent to England as agent for Pennsylvania. Whilst in that country he was chosen fellow of the Royal Society, and honoured with the degree of doctor of laws by the universities of St. Andrews, Edinburgh, and Oxford. In 1762 he returned to America, but two years afterwards revisited England in his former capacity, when he underwent his examination at the bar of the House of Commons concerning the Stamp Act. In 1775 he returned to America, and was elected a delegate to the Congress. In the contest between Great Britain and her transatlantic colonies, he took an active part in the declaration of independence. In 1778 he arrived in France as minister plenipotentiary from America, and signed a treaty offensive and defensive with that power, and which produced a war between France and England. In 1783 he signed the definitive treaty of peace recognising the independence of the United States, and in 1785 returned to America, where he was triumphantly received, and chosen president of the supreme council. It was on this occasion that he received the following tribute of admiration from an American even still more distin

a third expedition with two ships, called the Erebus and Terror, and spent his first winter in a cove between Cape Riley and Beechy Island. After that period many expeditions were des patched, both from England and America, in search of Sir John, of whom there were no tidings, and not until 1854 did the intelligence reach England that the brave navigator and his heroic companions had, in all probability, perished in the winter of 1850-51. This intelli gence, however, wanted confirmation, and Lady Franklin, who deserves all praise for the intelli gent persistency of her efforts, resolved to have the mystery cleared up as to whether her gallant husband had really met the fate which it was generally believed he had done. Accordingly, a last expedition was fitted out, and the me lancholy news was, in 1857, at length confirmed by the return of Captain McClintock, in the yacht Fox, after a persevering search for the lost adventurers. This officer brought with him in disputable proofs of the death of Sir John and the loss of his crew. Several articles belonging to the unfortunate explorers were found at Ross Cairn and Point Victory. At the latter place record was discovered, wherein it was stated that Sir John Franklin had died on the 11th of June,

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1817. Other traces were found on the west coast of King William's Island, as the various survivors of the expedition had strayed from each other, perhaps in search of food, or the means of escaping from their dreary and desolate situation. To Sir John Franklin, however, belongs the merit of having discovered the north-west passage, the first expedition in quest of which was sent out in 1553, the last being said to have terminated only with the discovery of his remains. B. at Spilsbury, Lincolnshire, 1786.

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opposition to Otho. In 1220 he was crowned by Pope Honorius III. at Rome. He afterwards went to the Holy Land, and concluded a truce with the sultan of Babylon, which so provoked Pope Gregory IX., that he anathematized him. In the city of Jerusalem he put the crown on his own head, because no priest would even say the mass. On this Frederick returned to Europe and laid siege to Rome, which originated the famous parties of the Guelphs and the Ghibel lines, the former being on the side of the pope, and the latter on that of the emperor. Grigory was obliged to make peace, but, in 1236, he again excommunicated Frederick, and the war was renewed, which proved unsuccessful to the emperor, whose German subjects revolted against him. He lost Parma by an insurrection, and was defeated before it; but he afterwards was victorious in Lombardy. B. 1191; D. at Fiorin tino, 1250.

took prisoner Frederick at Muhldorf, in 1322. The latter then renounced his claim, and D. 1330. Some historians do not reckon Frederick as one of the emperors, but others set him down as the third Frederick.

FRASER. (See LoVAT, Simon Fraser, Lord.) FRAUNCE, Abraham, frauns, an English poet, educated at Cambridge, at the expense of Sir Philip Sidney, afterwards studied law at Gray's Inn, London, and was called to the bar of the Court of Marches in Wales. He is better known, however, as an author than as a lawyer. His principal writings are "Lamentations of Amintas for the Death of Phillis," "The Countess of Pembroke's Ivy Church and Emanuel," and a FREDERICK III., called Le Beau, son of Altranslation of Heliodorus's "Ethiopics." The bert I., duke of Austria, was chosen emperor in dates of his birth and death are unascertained. 1314 by some of the electors, but the majority FRAUNHOFER, Joseph, froun'-ho-fer, an emi-elected Louis of Bavaria, who defeated and nent Bavarian optician, who, in his 20th year, was received into the great manufactory for the construction of mathematical and philosophical instruments, near Munich. Here he distinguished himself by making many experiments on light, and, by his reputation, increased the resources of the establishment, which ultimately became his property. He was a member of several learned societies, and had conferred upon him by the king of Bavaria the order of Civil Merit, and, by the king of Denmark, that of the Dannebrog. B. at Straubing, 1787; D. 1826. FREDEGONDA, fred-e-gon'-d1, a peasant girl in the service of Andowera, the queen of Chilperic I., who fell in love with her and eventually married her in 565. Chilperic had previously divorced Andowera, and married Galowintha, whom, it is said, Fredegonda poisoned to attain her end. D. 597.

FREDERICK, fred-e-rik, the name borne by a vast number of sovereigns and rulers of different countries, the most eminent of whom were

EMPERORS OF GERMANY. FREDERICK I., surnamed Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, the son of Frederick, duke of Suabia, succeeded to the imperial throne on the demise of his uncle, Conrad III., in 1152. He was an energetic and warlike prince, and, in the second year of his reign, settled the disputes between Canute and Sweyn, competitors for the Danish crown, the former of whom he held as his vassal. He next marched into Italy to settle the tumults which distracted that country, and was crowned at Rome by Adrian IV., who, dying in 1159, no less than three antipopes were chosen, who were all opposed by the emperor. The Milanese, profiting by these divisions, eadeavoured to shake off the imperial yoke, on which Frederick again entered Italy, took Milan, and entering Rome, set Calixtus on the papal throne instead of Alexander. The Venetians, however, maintained the cause of the latter with so much vigour, that Frederick was obliged to make his subinission to Alexander. He next embarked against the infidels, obtained some victories, took Iconium, and penetrated into Syria, where he was drowned in 1130. B. 1121.

FREDERICK II., the grandson of the preceding, and son of Henry VI., was elected king of the Romans in 1196, and emperor in 1210, in

FREDERICK, IV., called "the Pacific," ascended the throne in 1410, and was crowned at Rome in 1452. His reign was passed in forming plans for the pacification of the empire. He is said to have died of a surfeit of melons, or in conse quence of an amputation of his leg. He left it to his son Maximilian to carry out the device inscribed upon his palaces and books, A, E, I,O, U'; which characters are generally supposed to represent the motto, Austria est Imperare Orbi Universo. B. at Innspruck, 1415; D. 1493.

KINGS OF DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND POLAND.

FREDERICK I., king of Denmark and Norway, succeeded his nephew Christiern, or Christian II., on the deposition of the latter, in 1523, and entered into an alliance with Gustavus I., king of Sweden. After taking Copenhagen, he gained over all the nobility, and introduced Lutheranism into his dominions. B. 1471; D. 1533.

FREDERICK II., the son and successor of Christiern or Christian III., was a great friend of learning, and the patron of Tycho Brahe, and other men of science. He waged a long war with Sweden, which ended in 1570, and received the order of the Garter from Elizabeth, queen of England, and gave his daughter in marriage to James VI. of Scotland and I. of England. B. 1534; D. 1588.

FREDERICK III. succeeded his father Christiern IV., in 1619. The most remarkable event of his reign was his changing the constitution from an elective to an hereditary monarchy. B. 1609; D. 1670.

FREDERICK IV, ascended the throne on the death of Christiern V., in 1699. He leagued against Charles XII. of Sweden, who forced him to make peace; but when Charles fled to Tur key, Frederick drove the Swedes out of Norway, and concluded a favourable peace, retaining possession of the duchy of Schleswig. B. 1671; D. 1730.

FREDERICK V., grandson of the preceding, came to the throne in 1746. The character of his reign may be inferred from the following remark, which, on his deathbed, he made to his

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successor, Christiern VII.: "It is a great consolation to me, my son, that I have not injured any person, and that my hands are not stained with one drop of blood." He was twice married: first to Louisa, daughter of George II. of England, and then to Juliana, daughter of the duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. B. 1723; D. 1766.

FREDERICK VI., king of Denmark, ascended the throne in 1828, although, from 1784, he was associated in the government with his father, who had lost his reason. On his accession, he had to repair the damages done by the English in their bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, and to wage a war with the Swedes, who attempted to possess themselves of Norway. He succeeded in defeating them, and peace was signed at Jonköping, in 1809. Allying himself with Napoleon, Norway was, in 1814, given to Sweden, under Bernadotte; Pomerania and the isle of Rugen falling to Denmark. B. 1768;

D. 1839.

FREDERICK VII., king of Denmark, succeeded Christian VIII. in 1818. In his reign an unsuc cessful attempt was made, in 1819, to wrest the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. B. 1808; D. 1863.

FREDERICK, king of Sweden, was the eldest son of Charles, landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. He married the sister of Charles XII., on whose death in 1718, the states of Sweden elected her queen, and, in the year 1720, consented to her resigning the crown to her husband. He had a long and unsuccessful war with Russia, which ended in a peace disadvantageous to Sweden. D. without issue, 1751.

FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I. (See AUGUSTUS FREDERICK I., king of Poland.

FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II. (See AUGUSTUS FREDERICK II.)

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Hague to the camp of the prince of Orange, then at Breda. The Dutch prince was surprised at this signal instance of self-command, and received him with these words: "Cousin, your flight is a greater proof of heroism than would be the taking of Breda. He who so early knows how to command himself, will always succeed in great deeds." These words remained for ever deeply impressed on Frederick's mind.

FREDERICK I., king of Prussia after 1701, but as elector of Brandenburg Frederick III., suc ceeded to his father's dominions in 1688. The great object of his ambition was to be recognised as king of Prussia, and in 1701 he attained his object. On that occasion he put the crown on his own head, and on that of his royal consort, He also founded the order of the Black Eagle, and augmented his dominions partly by pur chase, and partly by negociations with various powers. B. 1657; D. 1713. This prince founded the University of Halle, the Royal Society of Berlin, and the Academy of Painting. His second queen, Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, was the sister of George I., and a woman possessed of a fine understanding.

FREDERICK WILLIAM I., son of the above, and father of Frederick the Great, commenced his reign in 1713, after having married a daughter of the elector of Hanover, afterwards George I. of England. In 1715 he declared war against Charles XII. of Sweden, and in conjunction with Denmark took Stralsund; but on the death of Charles, in 1718, he made peace. B. 1688; p. 1740. The habits of this sovereign were entirely military, and he laboured unweariedly to promote the discipline of his troops. One of his strongest peculiarities was an extraordinary love for tall soldiers; and in order to procure these sons of Anak, he had agents employed in all parts of Europe. He held science and litera ture in profound contempt; but money he worshipped, and men of a military character after his own ideal, he respected and encouraged. The consequence was, that he left an abundant treasury and a well-appointed army of 65,000 men.

SOVEREIGNS OF PRUSSIA. FREDERICK WILLIAM, generally called the "Great Elector" of Brandenburg, succeeded his father, the elector George William, in 1640, and, in 1612, freed Prussia from feudal subjection to the king of Poland. He is considered as the FREDERICK II., king of Prussia, commonly founder of the Prussian power, and from his called "The Great,' was the son of the example much of the military spirit which preceding, and received but an indifferent characterizes that nation is believed to have education, owing to his father's contempt of sprung. In 1643 he made peace with Sweden, letters and predilection for military discipline. and subsequently entered into a league with On attaining the years of manhood, he evinced that power in 1655 against Poland. In so strong an inclination for literature and music, 1672 he joined the imperialists in opposition to that he incurred the displeasure of his parent, Louis XIV.; but, in 1673, he made a separate whose treatment induced him, in 1730, to make treaty with France, and, in the following year, the attempt of escaping from Prussia. The again joined the allies; on which the French scheme, however, being discovered, he was con prevailed upon the Swedes to attack his domi- fined in the castle of Custrin, his younger nions. Frederick, however, defeated the in- companion, Katte, being executed before his vaders, drove them out of Prussia, and took face. After a confinement of several months, several places from them, which, however, by he obtained his pardon, although it seems well the treaty of St. Germain, in 1679, he was authenticated that his father had resolved to obliged to restore. He now turned his attention take away his life, which was only saved by the to the improvement of his states, and, by afford- intercession of Charles VI., emperor of Germany. ing protection to the French Protestant refu- In 1733 he married the princess Elizabeth gees, added to the industrial power of his of Brunswick, in obedience to his father's dominions 20,000 manufacturers, and laboured command, when he employed himself in liteto extend the agricultural arts in every direction. rary pursuits, and also with the study of music, He founded the library at Berlin, and a univer- until his accession to the throne. In 1740 he sity at Duisburg; and, at his death, bequeathed succeeded to the crown, and taking advantage to his son not only a country enlarged beyond of the defenceless state of Maria Theresa, queen the boundaries in which he found it, but a of Hungary, he marched into Silesia, which was treasury well supplied. B. 1620; D. 1688. In added to his dominions by the treaty of Breslau. order to avoid the possibility of being entrapped In 1744 the war was renewed against the queen by an immoral society, this prince fled from the of Hungary, and the same year Frederick took