generic name for members of the mendicant religious orders. Formerly it
was the title given to individual members of these orders, as Friar
Laurence (in _Romeo and Juliet_), but this is not now common. In England
the chief orders of friars were distinguished by the colour of their
habit: thus the Franciscans or Minors were the Grey Friars; the
Dominicans or Preachers were the Black Friars (from their black mantle
over a white habit), and the Carmelites were the White Friars (from
their white mantle over a brown habit): these, together with the Austin
Friars or Hermits, formed the four great mendicant orders--Chaucer's
"alle the ordres foure." Besides the four great orders of friars, the
Trinitarians (q.v.), though really canons, were in England called
Trinity Friars or Red Friars; the Crutched or Crossed Friars were often
identified with them, but were really a distinct order; there were also
a number of lesser orders of friars, many of which were suppressed by
the second council of Lyons in 1274. Detailed information on these
orders and on their position in England is given in separate articles.
The difference between friars and monks is explained in article
MONASTICISM. Though the usage is not accurate, friars, and also canons
regular, are often spoken of as monks and included among the monastic
orders.
See Fr. Cuthbert, _The Friars and how they came to England_, pp. 11-32
(1903); also F. A. Gasquet, _English Monastic Life_, pp. 234-249
(1904), where special information on all the English friars is
conveniently brought together. (E. C. B.)
FRIBOURG [Ger. _Freiburg_], one of the Swiss Cantons, in the western
portion of the country, and taking its name from the town around which
the various districts that compose it gradually gathered. Its area is
646.3 sq. m., of which 568 sq. m. are classed as "productive" (forests
covering 119 sq. m. and vineyards .8 sq. m.); it boasts of no glaciers
or eternal snow. It is a hilly, not mountainous, region, the highest
summits (of which the Vanil Noir, 7858 ft., is the loftiest) rising in
the Gruyere district at its south-eastern extremity, the best known
being probably the Moleson (6582 ft.) and the Berra (5653 ft.). But it
is the heart of pastoral Switzerland, is famed for its cheese and
cattle, and is the original home of the "_Ranz des Vaches_," the melody
by which the herdsmen call their cattle home at milking time. It is
watered by the Sarine or Saane river (with its tributaries the Singine
or Sense and the Glane) that flows through the canton from north to
south, and traverses its capital town. The upper course of the Broye
(like the Sarine, a tributary of the Aar) and that of the Veveyse
(flowing to the Lake of Geneva) are in the southern portion of the
canton. A small share of the lakes of Neuchatel and of Morat belongs to
the canton, wherein the largest sheet of water is the Lac Noir or
Schwarzsee. A sulphur spring rises near the last-named lake, and there
are other such springs in the canton at Montbarry and at Bonn, near the
capital. There are about 150 m. of railways in the canton, the main line
from Lausanne to Bern past Fribourg running through it; there are also
lines from Fribourg to Morat and to Estavayer, while from Romont (on the
main line) a line runs to Bulle, and in 1904 was extended to Gessenay or
Saanen near the head of the Sarine or Saane valley. The population of
the canton amounted in 1900 to 127,951 souls, of whom 108,440 were
Romanists, 19,305 Protestants, and 167 Jews. The canton is on the
linguistic frontier in Switzerland, the line of division running nearly
due north and south through it, and even right through its capital. In
1900 there were 78,353 French-speaking inhabitants, and 38,738
German-speaking, the latter being found chiefly in the north-western
(Morat region) and north-eastern (Singine valley) portions, as well as
in the upper valley of the Jogne or Jaun in the south-east. Besides the
capital, Fribourg (q.v.), the only towns of any importance are Bulle
(3330 inhabitants), Chatel St Denis (2509 inhabitants), Morat (q.v.) or
Murten (2263 inhabitants), Romont (2110 inhabitants), and Estavayer le
Lac or Staffis am See (1636 inhabitants).
The canton is pre-eminently a pastoral and agricultural region, tobacco,
cheese and timber being its chief products. Its industries are
comparatively few: straw-plaiting, watch-making (Semsales), paper-making
(Marly), lime-kilns, and, above all, the huge Cailler chocolate factory
at Broc. It forms part of the diocese of Lausanne and Geneva, the bishop
living since 1663 at Fribourg. It is a stronghold of the Romanists, and
still contains many monasteries and nunneries, such as the Carthusian
monks at Valsainte, and the Cistercian nuns at La Fille Dieu and at
Maigrauge. The canton is divided into 7 administrative districts, and
contains 283 communes. It sends 2 members (named by the cantonal
legislature) to the Federal _Standerath_, and 6 members to the Federal
_Nationalrath_. The cantonal constitution has scarcely been altered
since 1857, and is remarkable as containing none of the modern devices
(referendum, initiative, proportional representation) save the right of
"initiative" enjoyed by 6000 citizens to claim the revision of the
cantonal constitution. The executive council of 7 members is named for 5
years by the cantonal legislature, which consists of members (holding
office for 5 years) elected in the proportion of one to every 1200 (or
fraction over 800) of the population. (W. A. B. C.)
FRIBOURG [Ger. _Freiburg_], the capital of the Swiss canton of that
name. It is built almost entirely on the left bank of the Sarine, the
oldest bit (the Bourg) of the town being just above the river bank,
flanked by the Neuveville and Auge quarters, these last (with the
Planche quarter on the right bank of the river) forming the _Ville
Basse_. On the steeply rising ground to the west of the Bourg is the
Quartier des Places, beyond which, to the west and south-west, is the
still newer Perolles quarter, where are the railway station and the new
University; all these (with the Bourg) constituting the _Ville Haute_.
In 1900 the population of the town was 15,794, of whom 13,270 were
Romanists and 109 Jews, while 9701 were French-speaking, and 5595
German-speaking, these last being mainly in the Ville Basse. Its
linguistic history is curious. Founded as a German town, the French
tongue became the official language during the greater part of the 14th
and 15th centuries, but when it joined the Swiss Confederation in 1481
the German influence came to the fore, and German was the official
language from 1483 to 1798, becoming thus associated with the rule of
the patricians. From 1798 to 1814, and again from 1830 onwards, French
prevailed, as at present, though the new University is a centre of
German influence.
Fribourg is on the main line of railway from Bern (20 m.) to Lausanne
(41 m.). The principal building in the town is the collegiate church of
St Nicholas, of which the nave dates from the 13th-14th centuries, while
the choir was rebuilt in the 17th century. It is a fine building,
remarkable in itself, as well as for its lofty, late 15th century,
bell-tower (249 ft. high), with a fine peal of bells; its famous organ
was built between 1824 and 1834 by Aloys Mooser (a native of the town),
has 7800 pipes, and is played daily in summer for the edification of
tourists. The numerous monasteries in and around the town, its
old-fashioned aspect, its steep and narrow streets, give it a most
striking appearance. One of the most conspicuous buildings in the town
is the college of St Michael, while in front of the 16th century town
hall is an ancient lime tree stated (but this is very doubtful) to have
been planted on the day of the victory of Morat (June 22, 1476). In the
Lycee is the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts, wherein, besides many
interesting objects, is the collection of paintings and statuary
bequeathed to the town in 1879 by Duchess Adela Colonna (a member of the
d'Affry family of Fribourg), by whom many were executed under the name
of "Marcello." The deep ravine of the Sarine is crossed by a very fine
suspension bridge, constructed 1832-1834 by M. Chaley, of Lyons, which
is 167 ft. above the Sarine, has a span of 808 ft., and consists of 6
huge cables composed of 3294 strands. A loftier suspension bridge is
thrown over the Gotteron stream just before it joins the Sarine: it is
590 ft. long and 246 ft. in height, and was built in 1840. About 3 m.
north of the town is the great railway viaduct or girder bridge of
Grandfey, constructed in 1862 (1092 ft. in length, 249 ft. high) at a
cost of 2-3/4 million francs. Immediately above the town a vast dam (591
ft. long) was constructed across the Sarine by the engineer Ritter in
1870-1872, the fall thus obtained yielding a water-power of 2600 to 4000
horse-power, and forming a sheet of water known as the Lac de Perolles.
A motive force of 600 horse-power, secured by turbines in the stream, is
conveyed to the plateau of Perolles by "telodynamic" cables of 2510 ft.
in length, for whose passage a tunnel has been pierced in the rock. On
the Perolles plateau is the International Catholic University founded in
1889.
_History._--In 1178 the foundation of the town (meant to hold in check
the turbulent nobles of the neighbourhood) was completed by Berchthold
IV., duke of Zahringen, whose father Conrad had founded Freiburg in
Breisgau in 1120, and whose son, Berchthold V., was to found Bern in
1191. The spot was chosen for purposes of military defence, and was
situated in the _Uechtland_ or waste land between Alamannian and
Burgundian territory. He granted it many privileges, modelled on the
charters of Cologne and of Freiburg in Breisgau, though the oldest
existing charter of the town dates from 1249. On the extinction of the
male line of the Zahringen dynasty, in 1218, their lands passed to Anna,
the sister of the last duke and wife of Count Ulrich of Kyburg. That
house kept Fribourg till it too became extinct, in 1264, in the male
line. Anna, the heiress, married about 1273 Eberhard, count of
Habsburg-Laufenburg, who sold Fribourg in 1277 for 3000 marks to his
cousin Rudolf, the head of the house of Habsburg as well as emperor. The
town had to fight many a hard battle for its existence against Bern and
the count of Savoy, especially between 1448 and 1452. Abandoned by the
Habsburgs, and desirous of escaping from the increasing power of Bern,
Fribourg in 1452 finally submitted to the count of Savoy, to whom it had
become indebted for vast sums of money. Yet, despite all its
difficulties, it was in the first half of the 15th century that Fribourg
exported much leather and cloth to France, Italy and Venice, as many as
10,000 to 20,000 bales of cloth being stamped with the seal of the town.
When Yolande, dowager duchess of Savoy, entered into an alliance with
Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, Fribourg joined Bern, and helped to
gain the victories of Grandson and of Morat (1476).
In 1477 the town was finally freed from the rule of Savoy, while in 1481
(with Soleure) it became a member of the Swiss Confederation, largely,
it is said, through the influence of the holy man, Bruder Klaus (Niklaus
von der Flue). In 1475 the town had taken Illens and Arconciel from
Savoy, and in 1536 won from Vaud much territory, including Romont, Rue,
Chatel St Denis, Estavayer, St Aubin (by these two conquests its
dominion reached the Lake of Neuchatel), as well as Vuissens and
Surpierre, which still form outlying portions (physically within the
canton of Vaud) of its territory, while in 1537 it took Bulle from the
bishop of Lausanne. In 1502-1504 the lordship of Bellegarde or Jaun was
bought, while in 1555 it acquired (jointly with Bern) the lands of the
last count of the Gruyere, and thus obtained the rich district of that
name. From 1475 it ruled (with Bern) the bailiwicks of Morat, Grandson,
Orbe and Echallens, just taken from Savoy, but in 1798 Morat was
incorporated with (finally annexed in 1814) the canton of Fribourg, the
other bailiwicks being then given to the canton of Leman (later of
Vaud). In the 16th century the original democratic government gradually
gave place to the oligarchy of the patrician families. Though this
government caused much discontent it continued till it was overthrown on
the French occupation of 1798.
From 1803 (Act of Mediation) to 1814, Fribourg was one of the six
cantons of the Swiss Confederation. But, on the fall of the new regime,
in 1814, the old patrician rule was partly restored, as 108 of the 144
seats in the cantonal legislature were assigned to members of the
patrician families. In 1831 the Radicals gained the power and secured
the adoption of a more liberal constitution. In 1846 Fribourg (where the
Conservatives had regained power in 1837) joined the _Sonderbund_ and,
in 1847, saw the Federal troops before its walls, and had to surrender
to them. The Radicals now came back to power, and again revised the
cantonal constitution in a liberal sense. The Catholic and Conservative
party made several attempts to recover their supremacy, but their chiefs
were driven into exile. In 1856 the Conservatives regained the upper
hand at the general cantonal election, secured the adoption in 1857 of a
new cantonal constitution, and have ever since maintained their rule,
which some dub "clerical," while others describe it as "anti-radical."
AUTHORITIES.--_Archives de la Societe d'histoire du Canton de F._,
from 1850; F. Buomberger, _Bevolkerungs- u. Vermogensstatistik in d.
Stadt u. Landschaft F. um die Mitte d. 15ten Jahrhunderts_ (Bern,
1900); A. Daguet, _Histoire de la ville et de la seigneurie de F._, to
1481 (Fribourg, 1889); A. Dellion, _Dictionnaire historique et
statistique des paroisses catholiques du C. de F._ (12 vols.,
Fribourg, 1884-1903); _Freiburger Geschichtsblatter_, from 1894;
_Fribourg artistique_ (fine plates), from 1890; E. Heyck, _Geschichte
der Herzoge von Zahringen_ (Freiburg i. Br., 1891); F. Kuenlin, _Der
K. Freiburg_ (St Gall and Bern, 1834); _Memorial de F._ (6 vols.,
1854-1859); _Recueil diplomatique du Cant. de F._ (original documents)
(8 vols., Fribourg, 1839-1877); F. E. Welti, _Beitrage zur Geschichte
des alteren Stadtrechtes von Freiburg im Uechtland_ (Bern, 1908); J.
Zemp, _L'Art de la ville de Fribourg au moyen age_ (Fribourg, 1905);
J. Zimmerli, _Die deutsch-franzosische Sprachgrenze in d. Schweiz_
(Basel and Geneva, 1895), vol. ii., pp. 72 seq.; _Les Alpes
fribourgeoises_ (Lausanne, 1908). (W. A. B. C.)
FRICTION (from Lat. _fricare_, to rub), in physical and mechanical
science, the term given to the resistance which every material surface
presents to the sliding of any other such surface upon it. This
resistance is due to the roughness of the surfaces; the minute
projections upon each enter more or less into the minute depressions on
the other, and when motion occurs these roughnesses must either be worn
off, or continually lifted out of the hollows into which they have
fallen, or both, the resistance to motion being in either case quite
perceptible and measurable.
Friction is preferably spoken of as "resistance" rather than "force,"
for a reason exactly the same as that which induces us to treat stress
rather as molecular resistance (to change of form) than as force, and
which may be stated thus: although friction can be utilized as a moving
force at will, and is continually so used, yet it cannot be a primary
moving force; it can transmit or modify motion already existing, but
cannot in the first instance cause it. For this some external force, not
friction, is required. The analogy with stress appears complete; the
motion of the "driving link" of a machine is communicated to all the
other parts, modified or unchanged as the case may be, by the stresses
in those parts; but the actual setting in motion of the driving link
itself cannot come about by stress, but must have for its production
force obtained directly from the expenditure of some form of energy. It
is important, however, that the use of the term "resistance" should not
be allowed to mislead. Friction resists the motion of one surface upon
another, but it may and frequently does confer the motion of the one
upon the other, and in this way causes, instead of resists, the motion
of the latter. This may be made more clear, perhaps, by an illustration.
Suppose we have a leather strap A passing over a fixed cylindrical drum
B, and let a pulling force or effort be applied to the strap. The force
applied to A can act on B only at the surfaces of contact between them.
There it becomes an effort tending either to move A upon B, or to move
the body B itself, according to the frictional conditions. In the
absence of friction it would simply cause A to slide on B, so that we
may call it an effort tending to make A slide on B. The friction is the
resistance offered by the surface of B to any such motion. But the value
of this resistance is not in any way a function of the effort
itself,--it depends chiefly upon the pressure normal to the surfaces and
the nature of the surfaces. It may therefore be either less or greater
than the effort. If less, A slides over B, the rate of motion being
determined by the excess of the effort over the resistance (friction).
But if the latter be greater no sliding can occur, i.e. A cannot, under
the action of the supposed force, move upon B. The effort between the
surfaces exists, however, exactly as before,--and it must now tend to
cause the motion of B. But the body B is fixed,--or, in other words, we
suppose its resistance to motion greater than any effort which can tend
to move it,--hence no motion takes place. It must be specially noticed,
however, that it is not the friction between A and B that has prevented
motion, this only prevented A moving on B,--it is the force which keeps
B stationary, whatever that may be, which has finally prevented any
motion taking place. This can be easily seen. Suppose B not to be fixed,
but to be capable of moving against some third body C (which might,
e.g., contain cylindrical bearings, if B were a drum with its shaft),
itself fixed,--and further, suppose the frictional resistance between B
and C to be the only resistance to B's motion. Then if this be less than
the effort of A upon B, as it of course may be, this effort will cause
the motion of B. Thus friction causes motion, for had there been no
frictional resistance between the surfaces of A and of B, the latter
body would have remained stationary, and A only would have moved. In the
case supposed, therefore, the friction between A and B is a necessary
condition of B receiving any motion from the external force applied to
A.
Without entering here on the mathematical treatment of the subject of
friction, some general conclusions may be pointed out which have been
arrived at as the results of experiment. The "laws" first enunciated by
C. A. Coulomb (1781), and afterwards confirmed by A. J. Morin
(1830-1834), have been found to hold good within very wide limits. These
are: (1) that the friction is proportional to the normal pressure
between the surfaces of contact, and therefore independent of the area
of those surfaces, and (2) that it is independent of the velocity with
which the surfaces slide one on the other. For many practical purposes
these statements are sufficiently accurate, and they do in fact sensibly
represent the results of experiment for the pressures and at the
velocities most commonly occurring. Assuming the correctness of these,
friction is generally measured in terms simply of the total pressure
between the surfaces, by multiplying it by a "coefficient of friction"
depending on the material of the surfaces and their state as to
smoothness and lubrication. But beyond certain limits the "laws" stated
are certainly incorrect, and are to be regarded as mere practical rules,
of extensive application certainly, but without any pretension to be
looked at as really general laws. Both at very high and very low
pressures the coefficient of friction is affected by the intensity of
pressure, and, just as with velocity, it can only be regarded as
independent of the intensity and proportional simply to the total load
within more or less definite limits.
Coulomb pointed out long ago that the resistance of a body to be set in
motion was in many cases much greater than the resistance which it
offered to continued motion; and since his time writers have always
distinguished the "friction of rest," or static friction, from the
"friction of motion," or kinetic friction. He showed also that the value
of the former depended often both upon the intensity of the pressure and
upon the length of time during which contact had lasted, both of which
facts quite agree with what we should expect from our knowledge of the
physical nature, already mentioned, of the causes of friction. It seems
not unreasonable to expect that the influence of time upon friction
should show itself in a comparison of very slow with very rapid motion,
as well as in a comparison of starting (i.e. motion after a long time of
rest) with continued motion. That the friction at the higher velocities
occurring in engineering practice is much less than at common velocities
has been shown by several modern experiments, such as those of Sir
Douglas Galton (see _Report Brit. Assoc._, 1878, and _Proc. Inst. Mech.
Eng._, 1878, 1879) on the friction between brake-blocks and wheels, and
between wheels and rails. But no increase in the coefficient of friction
had been detected at slow speeds, until the experiments of Prof.
Fleeming Jenkin (_Phil. Trans._, 1877, pt. 2) showed conclusively that
at extremely low velocities (the lowest measured was about .0002 ft. per
second) there is a sensible increase of frictional resistance in many
cases, most notably in those in which there is the most marked
difference between the friction of rest and that of motion. These
experiments distinctly point to the conclusion, although without
absolutely proving it, that in such cases the coefficient of kinetic
friction gradually increases as the velocity becomes extremely small,
and passes without discontinuity into that of static friction.
(A. B. W. K.; W. E. D.)
FRIDAY (A.S. _frige-daeg_, fr. _frige_, gen. of _frigu_, love, or the
goddess of love--the Norse Frigg,--the _daeg_, day; cf. Icelandic
_frjadagr_, O.H. Ger. _friatag_, _frigatag_, mod. Ger. _Freitag_), the
sixth day of the week, corresponding to the Roman _Dies Veneris_, the
French _Vendredi_ and Italian _Venerdi_. The ill-luck associated with
the day undoubtedly arose from its connexion with the Crucifixion; for
the ancient Scandinavian peoples regarded it as the luckiest day of the
week. By the Western and Eastern Churches the Fridays throughout the
year, except when Christmas falls on that day, have ever been observed
as days of fast in memory of the Passion. The special day on which the
Passion of Christ is annually commemorated is known as Good Friday
(q.v.). According to Mahommedan tradition, Friday, which is the Moslem
Sabbath, was the day on which Adam was created, entered Paradise and was
expelled, and it was the day of his repentance, the day of his death,
and will be the Day of Resurrection.
FRIEDBERG, the name of two towns in Germany.
1. A small town in Upper Bavaria, with an old castle, known mainly as
the scene of Moreau's victory of the 24th of August 1796 over the
Austrians.
2. FRIEDBERG IN DER WETTERAU, in the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on
an eminence above the Usa, 14 m. N. of Frankfort-on-Main, on the railway
to Cassel and at the junction of a line to Hanau. Pop. (1905) 7702. It
is a picturesque town, still surrounded by old walls and towers, and
contains many medieval buildings, of which the beautiful Gothic town
church (Evangelical) and the old castle are especially noteworthy. The
grand-ducal palace has a beautiful garden. The schools include technical
and agricultural academies and a teachers' seminary. It has manufactures
of sugar, gloves and leather, and breweries. Friedberg is of Roman
origin, but is first mentioned as a town in the 11th century. In 1211 it
became a free imperial city, but in 1349 was pledged to the counts of
Schwarzburg, and subsequently often changed hands, eventually in 1802
passing to Hesse-Darmstadt.
See Dieffenbach, _Geschichte der Stadt und Burg Friedberg_ (Darms.,
1857).
FRIEDEL, CHARLES (1832-1899), French chemist and mineralogist, was born
at Strassburg on the 12th of March 1832. After graduating at Strassburg
University he spent a year in the counting-house of his father, a banker
and merchant, and then in 1851 went to live in Paris with his maternal
grandfather, Georges Louis Duvernoy (1777-1855), professor of natural
history and, from 1850, of comparative anatomy, at the College de
France. In 1854 he entered C. A. Wurtz's laboratory, and in 1856, at the
instance of H. H. de Senarmont (1808-1862), was appointed conservator of
the mineralogical collections at the Ecole des Mines. In 1871 he began
to lecture in place of A. L. O. L. Des Cloizeaux (1817-1897) at the
Ecole Normale, and in 1876 he became professor of mineralogy at the
Sorbonne, but on the death of Wurtz in 1884 he exchanged that position
for the chair of organic chemistry. He died at Montauban on the 20th of
April 1899. Friedel achieved distinction both in mineralogy and organic
chemistry. In the former he was one of the leading workers, in
collaboration from 1879 to 1887 with Emile Edmond Sarasin (1843-1890),
at the formation of minerals by artificial means, particularly in the
wet way with the aid of heat and pressure, and he succeeded in
reproducing a large number of the natural compounds. In 1893, as the
result of an attempt to make diamond by the action of sulphur on highly
carburetted cast iron at 450 deg.-500 deg. C. he obtained a black powder
too small in quantity to be analysed but hard enough to scratch
corundum. He also devoted much attention to the pyroelectric phenomena
of crystals, which served as the theme of one of the two memoirs he
presented for the degree of D.Sc. in 1869, and to the determination of
crystallographic constants. In organic chemistry, his study of the
ketones and aldehydes, begun in 1857, provided him with the subject of
his other doctoral thesis. In 1862 he prepared secondary propyl alcohol,
and in 1863, with James Mason Crafts (b. 1839), for many years a
professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, he
obtained various organometallic compounds of silicon. A few years later
further work, with Albert Ladenburg, on the same element yielded
silicochloroform and led to a demonstration of the close analogy
existing between the behaviour in combination of silicon and carbon. In
1871, with R. D. da Silva (b. 1837) he synthesized glycerin, starting
from propylene. In 1877, with Crafts, he made the first publication of
the fruitful and widely used method for synthesizing benzene homologues
now generally known as the "Friedel and Crafts reaction." It was based
on an accidental observation of the action of metallic aluminium on amyl
chloride, and consists in bringing together a hydrocarbon and an organic
chloride in presence of aluminium chloride, when the residues of the two
compounds unite to form a more complex body. Friedel was associated with
Wurtz in editing the latter's _Dictionnaire de chimie_, and undertook
the supervision of the supplements issued after 1884. He was the chief
founder of the _Revue generale de chimie_ in 1899. His publications
include a _Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Wurtz_ (1885), _Cours de
chimie organique_ (1887) and _Cours de mineralogie_ (1893). He acted as
president of the International Congress held at Geneva in 1892 for
revising the nomenclature of the fatty acid series.
See a memorial lecture by J. M. Crafts, printed in the _Journal of the
London Chemical Society_ for 1900.
FRIEDLAND, a town of Bohemia, Austria, 103 m. N.E. of Prague by rail.
Pop. (1900) 6229. Besides the old town, which is still surrounded by
walls, it contains three suburbs. The principal industry is the
manufacture of woollen and linen cloth. Friedland is chiefly remarkable
for its old castle, which occupies an imposing situation on a small hill
commanding the town. A round watch-tower is said to have been built on
its site as early as 1014; and the present castle dates from the 13th
century. It was several times besieged in the Thirty Years' and Seven
Years' Wars. In 1622 it was purchased by Wallenstein, who took from it
his title of duke of Friedland. After his death it was given to Count
Mathias Gallas by Ferdinand II., and since 1757 it has belonged to the
Count Clam Gallas. It was magnificently restored in 1868-1869.
FRIEDLAND, the name of seven towns in Germany. The most important now is
that in the grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, on the Muhlenteich, 35
m. N.E. of Strelitz by the railway to Neu-Brandenburg. Pop. 7000. It
possesses a fine Gothic church and a gymnasium, and has manufactures of
woollen and linen cloth, leather and tobacco. Friedland was founded in
1244 by the margraves John and Otto III. of Brandenburg.
FRIEDLAND, a town of Prussia, on the Alle, 27 m. S.E. of Konigsberg
(pop. 3000), famous as the scene of the battle fought between the French
under Napoleon and the Russians commanded by General Bennigsen, on the
14th of June 1807 (see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS). The Russians had on the
13th driven the French cavalry outposts from Friedland to the westward,
and Bennigsen's main body began to occupy the town in the night. The
army of Napoleon was set in motion for Friedland, but it was still
dispersed on its various march routes, and the first stage of the
engagement was thus, as usual, a pure "encounter-battle." The corps of
Marshal Lannes as "general advanced guard" was first engaged, in the
Sortlack Wood and in front of Posthenen (2.30-3 A.M. on the 14th). Both
sides now used their cavalry freely to cover the formation of lines of
battle, and a race between the rival squadrons for the possession of
Heinrichsdorf resulted in favour of the French under Grouchy. Lannes in
the meantime was fighting hard to hold Bennigsen, for Napoleon feared
that the Russians meant to evade him again. Actually, by 6 A.M.
Bennigsen had nearly 50,000 men across the river and forming up west of
Friedland. His infantry, in two lines, with artillery, extended between
the Heinrichsdorf-Friedland road and the upper bends of the river.
Beyond the right of the infantry, cavalry and Cossacks extended the line
to the wood N.E. of Heinrichsdorf, and small bodies of Cossacks
penetrated even to Schwonau. The left wing also had some cavalry and,
beyond the Alle, batteries were brought into action to cover it. A heavy
and indecisive fire-fight raged in the Sortlack Wood between the Russian
skirmishers and some of Lannes's troops. The head of Mortier's (French
and Polish) corps appeared at Heinrichsdorf and the Cossacks were driven
out of Schwonau. Lannes held his own, and by noon, when Napoleon
arrived, 40,000 French troops were on the scene of action. His orders
were brief: Ney's corps was to take the line between Posthenen and the
Sortlack Wood, Lannes closing on his left, to form the centre, Mortier
at Heinrichsdorf the left wing. Victor and the Guard were placed in
reserve behind Posthenen. Cavalry masses were collected at
Heinrichsdorf. The main attack was to be delivered against the Russian
left, which Napoleon saw at once to be cramped in the narrow tongue of
land between the river and the Posthenen mill-stream. Three cavalry
divisions were added to the general reserve. The course of the previous
operations had been such that both armies had still large detachments
out towards Konigsberg. The afternoon was spent by the emperor in
forming up the newly arrived masses, the deployment being covered by an
artillery bombardment. At 5 o'clock all was ready, and Ney, preceded by
a heavy artillery fire, rapidly carried the Sortlack Wood. The attack
was pushed on toward the Alle. One of Ney's divisions (Marchand) drove
part of the Russian left into the river at Sortlack. A furious charge of
cavalry against Marchand's left was repulsed by the dragoon division of
Latour-Maubourg. Soon the Russians were huddled together in the bends of
the Alle, an easy target for the guns of Ney and of the reserve. Ney's
attack indeed came eventually to a standstill; Bennigsen's reserve
cavalry charged with great effect and drove him back in disorder. As at
Eylau, the approach of night seemed to preclude a decisive success, but
in June and on firm ground the old mobility of the French reasserted its
value. The infantry division of Dupont advanced rapidly from Posthenen,
the cavalry divisions drove back the Russian squadrons into the now
congested masses of foot on the river bank, and finally the artillery
general Senarmont advanced a mass of guns to case-shot range. It was the
first example of the terrible artillery preparations of modern warfare,
and the Russian defence collapsed in a few minutes. Ney's exhausted
infantry were able to pursue the broken regiments of Bennigsen's left
into the streets of Friedland. Lannes and Mortier had all this time held
the Russian centre and right on its ground, and their artillery had
inflicted severe losses. When Friedland itself was seen to be on fire,
the two marshals launched their infantry attack. Fresh French troops
approached the battlefield. Dupont distinguished himself for the second
time by fording the mill-stream and assailing the left flank of the
Russian centre. This offered a stubborn resistance, but the French
steadily forced the line backwards, and the battle was soon over. The
losses incurred by the Russians in retreating over the river at
Friedland were very heavy, many soldiers being drowned. Farther north
the still unbroken troops of the right wing drew off by the Allenburg
road; the French cavalry of the left wing, though ordered to pursue,
remaining, for some reason, inactive. The losses of the victors were
reckoned at 12,100 out of 86,000, or 14%, those of the Russians at
10,000 out of 46,000, or 21% (Berndt, _Zahl im Kriege_).
[Illustration: Map.]
FRIEDMANN, MEIR (1831-1908), Hungarian Jewish scholar. His editions of
the Midrash are the standard texts. His chief editions were the _Sifre_
(1864), the _Mekhilta_ (1870), _Pesiqla Rabbathi_ (1880). At the time of
his death he was editing the _Sifra_. Friedmann, while inspired with
regard for tradition, dealt with the Rabbinic texts on modern scientific
methods, and rendered conspicuous service to the critical investigation
of the Midrash and to the history of early homilies. (I. A.)
FRIEDRICH, JOHANN (1836- ), German theologian, was born at Poxdorf in
Upper Franconia on the 5th of May 1836, and was educated at Bamberg and
at Munich, where in 1865 he was appointed professor extraordinary of
theology. In 1869 he went to the Vatican Council as secretary to
Cardinal Hohenlohe, and took an active part in opposing the dogma of
papal infallibility, notably by supplying the opposition bishops with
historical and theological material. He left Rome before the council
closed. "No German ecclesiastic of his age appears to have won for
himself so unusual a repute as a theologian and to have held so
important a position, as the trusted counsellor of the leading German
cardinal at the Vatican Council. The path was fairly open before him to
the highest advancement in the Church of Rome, yet he deliberately
sacrificed all such hopes and placed himself in the van of a hard and
doubtful struggle" (_The Guardian_, 1872, p. 1004). Sentence of
excommunication was passed on Friedrich in April 1871, but he refused to
acknowledge it and was upheld by the Bavarian government. He continued
to perform ecclesiastical functions and maintained his academic
position, becoming ordinary professor in 1872. In 1882 he was
transferred to the philosophical faculty as professor of history. By
this time he had to some extent withdrawn from the advanced position
which he at first occupied in organizing the Old Catholic Church, for he
was not in agreement with its abolition of enforced celibacy.
Friedrich was a prolific writer; among his chief works are: _Johann
Wessel_ (1862); _Die Lehre des Johann Hus_ (1862); _Kirchengeschichte
Deutschlands_ (1867-1869); _Tagebuch wahrend des Vatikan. Concils
gefuhrt_ (1871); _Zur Verteidigung meines Tagebuchs_ (1872); _Beitrage
zur Kirchengeschichte des 18ten Jahrh._ (1876); _Geschichte des
Vatikan. Konzils_ (1877-1886); _Beitrage zur Gesch. des
Jesuitenordens_ (1881); _Das Papsttum_ (1892); _I. v. Dollinger_
(1899-1901).
FRIEDRICHRODA, a summer resort in the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,
Germany, at the north foot of the Thuringian Forest, 13 m. by rail S.W.
from Gotha. Pop. 4500. It is surrounded by fir-clad hills and possesses
numerous handsome villa residences, a _Kurhaus_, sanatorium, &c. In the
immediate neighbourhood is the beautiful ducal hunting seat of
Reinhardsbrunn, built out of the ruins of the famous Benedictine
monastery founded in 1085.
FRIEDRICHSDORF, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of
Hesse-Nassau, on the southern slope of the Taunus range, 3 m. N.E. from
Homburg. Pop. 1300. It has a French Reformed church, a modern school,
dyeworks, weaving mills, tanneries and tobacco manufactures.
Friedrichsdorf was founded in 1687 by Huguenot refugees and the
inhabitants still speak French. There is a monument to Philipp Reis
(1834-1874), who in 1860 first constructed the telephone while a science
master at the school.
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Wurttemberg, on
the east shore of the Lake of Constance, at the junction of railways to
Bretten and Lindau. Pop. 4600. It consists of the former imperial town
of Buchhorn and the monastery and village of Hofen. The principal
building is the palace, formerly the residence of the provosts of Hofen,
and now the summer residence of the royal family. To the palace is
attached the Evangelical parish church. The town has a hydropathic
establishment and is a favourite tourist resort. Here are also the
natural history and antiquarian collections of the Lake Constance
Association. Buchhorn is mentioned (as Buachihorn or Puchihorn) in
documents of 837 and was the seat of a powerful countship. The line of
counts died out in 1089, and the place fell first to the Welfs and in
1191 to the Hohenstaufen. In 1275 it was made a free imperial city by
King Rudolph I. In 1802 it lost this status and was assigned to Bavaria,
and in 1810 to Wurttemberg. The monastery of Hofen was founded in 1050
as a convent of Benedictine nuns, but was changed in 1420 into a
provostship of monks. It was suppressed in 1802 and in 1805 came to
Wurttemberg. King Frederick I., who caused the harbour to be made,
amalgamated Buchhorn and Hofen under the new name of Friedrichshafen.
FRIEDRICHSRUH, a village in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein,
15 m. S.E. of Hamburg, with a station on the main line of railway to
Berlin. It gives its name to the famous country seat of the Bismarck
family. The house is a plain unpretentious structure, but the park and
estate, forming a portion of the famous Sachsenwald, are attractive.
Close by, on a knoll, the Schneckenberg, stands the mausoleum in which
the remains of Prince Otto von Bismarck were entombed on the 16th of
March 1899.
FRIENDLY[1] SOCIETIES. These organizations, according to the
comprehensive definition of the Friendly Societies Act 1896, which
regulates such societies in Great Britain and Ireland, are "societies
for the purpose of providing by voluntary subscriptions of the members
thereof, with or without the aid of donations, for the relief or
maintenance of the members, their husbands, wives, children, fathers,
mothers, brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, or wards being orphans,
during sickness or other infirmity, whether bodily or mental, in old
age, or in widowhood, or for the relief or maintenance of the orphan
children of members during minority; for insuring money to be paid on
the birth of a member's child, or on the death of a member, or for the
funeral expenses of the husband, wife, or child of a member, or of the
widow of a deceased member, or, as respects persons of the Jewish
persuasion, for the payment of a sum of money during the period of
confined mourning; for the relief or maintenance of the members when on
travel in search of employment or when in distressed circumstances, or
in case of shipwreck, or loss or damage of or to boats or nets; for the
endowment of members or nominees of members at any age; for the
insurance against fire to any amount not exceeding L15 of the tools or
implements of the trade or calling of the members"--and are limited in
their contracts for assurance of annuities to L52 (previous to the
Friendly Societies Act 1908 the sum was L50), and for insurance of a
gross sum to L300 (previous to the act of 1908 the sum was L200). They
may be described in a more popular and condensed form of words as the
mutual insurance societies of the poorer classes, by which they seek to
aid each other in the emergencies arising from sickness and death and
other causes of distress. A phrase in the first act for the
encouragement and relief of friendly societies, passed in 1793,
designating them "societies of good fellowship," indicates another
useful phase of their operations.
The origin of the friendly society is, probably in all countries, the
burial club. It has been the policy of every religion, if indeed it is
not a common instinct of humanity, to surround the disposal of a dead
body with circumstances of pomp and expenditure, often beyond the means
of the surviving relatives. The appeal for help to friends and
neighbours which necessarily follows is soon organized into a system of
mutual aid, that falls in naturally with the religious ceremonies by
which honour is done to the dead. Thus in China there are burial
societies, termed "long-life loan companies," in almost all the towns
and villages. Among the Greeks the [Greek: eranoi] combined the
religious with the provident element (see CHARITY AND CHARITIES). From
the Greeks the Romans derived their fraternities of a similar kind. The
Teutons in like manner had their gilds. Whether the English friendly
society owes its origin in the higher degree to the Roman or the
Teutonic influence can hardly be determined. The utility of providing by
combination for the ritual expenditure upon burial having been
ascertained, the next step--to render mutual assistance in circumstances
of distress generally--was an easy one, and we find it taken by the
Greek [Greek: eranoi] and by the English gilds. Another
modification--that the societies should consist not so much of
neighbours as of persons having the same occupation--soon arises; and
this is the germ of our trade unions and our city companies in their
original constitution. The interest, however, that these inquiries
possess is mainly antiquarian. The legal definition of a friendly
society quoted above points to an organization more complex than those
of the ancient fraternities and gilds, and proceeding upon different
principles. It may be that the one has grown out of the other. The
common element of a provision for a contingent event by a joint
contribution is in both; but the friendly society alone has attempted to
define with precision what is the risk against which it intends to
provide, and what should be the contributions of the members to meet
that risk.
_United Kingdom._--It would be curious to endeavour to trace how, after
the suppression of the religious gilds in the 16th century, and the
substitution of an organized system of relief by the poor law of
Elizabeth for the more voluntary and casual means of relief that
previously existed, the modern system of friendly societies grew up. The
modern friendly society, particularly in rural districts, clings with
fondness to its annual feast and procession to church, its procession of
all the brethren on the occasion of the funeral of one of them, and
other incidents which are almost obviously survivals of the customs of
medieval gilds. The last recorded gild was in existence in 1628, and
there are records of friendly societies as early as 1634 and 1639. The
connecting links, however, cannot be traced. With the exception of a
society in the port of Borrowstounness on the Firth of Forth, no
existing friendly society is known to be able to trace back its history
beyond a date late in the 17th century, and no records remain of any
that might have existed in the latter half of the 16th century or the
greater part of the 17th. One founded in 1666 was extant in 1850, but it
has since ceased to exist. This is not so surprising as it might appear.
Documents which exist in manuscript only are much less likely to have
been preserved since the invention of printing than they were before;
and such would be the simple rules and records of any society that might
have existed during this interval--if, indeed, many of them kept records
at all. On the whole, it seems probable therefore that the friendly
society is a lineal descendant of the ancient gild--the idea never
having wholly died out, but having been kept up from generation to
generation in a succession of small and scattered societies.
At the same time, it seems probable that the friendly society of the
present day owes its revival to a great extent to the Protestant
refugees of Spitalfields, one of whose societies was founded in 1703,
and has continued among descendants of the same families, whose names
proclaim their Norman origin. This society has distinguished itself by
the intelligence with which it has adapted its machinery to the
successive modifications of the law, and it completely reconstructed its
rules under the provisions of the Friendly Societies Acts 1875 and 1876.
Another is the society of Lintot, founded in London in 1708, in which
the office of secretary was for more than half a century filled by
persons of the name of Levesque, one of whom published a translation of
its original rules. No one was to be received into the society who was
not a member, or the descendant of a member, of the church of Lintot, of
recognized probity, a good Protestant, and well-intentioned towards the
queen [Anne] and faithful to the government of the country. No one was
to be admitted below the age of eighteen, or who had not been received
at holy communion and become member of a church. A member should not
have a claim to relief during his first year's membership, but if he
fell sick within the year a collection should be made for him among the
members. The foreign names still borne by a large proportion of the
members show that the connexion with descendants of the refugees is
maintained.
The example of providence given by these societies was so largely
followed that Rose's Act in 1793 recognized the existence of numerous
societies, and provided encouragement for them in various ways, as well
as relief from taxation to an extent which in those days must have been
of great pecuniary value, and exemption from removal under the poor law.
The benefits offered by this statute were readily accepted by the
societies, and the vast number of societies which speedily became
enrolled shows that Rose's Act met with a real public want. In the
county of Middlesex alone nearly a thousand societies were enrolled
within a very few years after the passing of the act, and the number in
some other counties was almost as great. The societies then formed were
nearly all of a like kind--small clubs, in which the feature of good
fellowship was in the ascendant, and that of provident assurance for
sickness and death merely accessory. This is indicated by one provision
which occurs in many of the early enrolled rules, viz. that the number
of members shall be limited to 61, 81 or 101, as the case may be. The
odd 1 which occurs in these numbers probably stands for the president or
secretary, or is a contrivance to ensure a clear majority. Several of
these old societies are still in existence, and can point to a
prosperous career based rather upon good luck than upon scientific
calculation. Founded among small tradesmen or persons in the way to
thrive, the claims for sickness were only made in cases where the
sickness was accompanied by distress, and even the funeral allowance was
not always demanded.
The societies generally not being established upon any scientific
principle, those which met with this prosperity were the exception to
the rule; and accordingly the cry that friendly societies were failing
in all quarters was as great in 1819 as in 1869. A writer of that time
speaks of the instability of friendly societies as "universal"; and the
general conviction that this was so resulted in the passing of the act
of 1819. It recites that "the habitual reliance of poor persons upon
parochial relief, rather than upon their own industry, tends to the
moral deterioration of the people and to the accumulation of heavy
burthens upon parishes; and it is desirable, with a view as well to the
reduction of the assessment made for the relief of the poor as to the
improvement of the habits of the people, that encouragement should be
afforded to persons desirous of making provision for themselves or their
families out of the fruits of their own industry. By the contributions
of the savings of many persons to one common fund the most effectual
provision may be made for the casualties affecting all the contributors;
and it is therefore desirable to afford further facilities and
additional security to persons who may be willing to unite in
appropriating small sums from time to time to a common fund for the
purposes aforesaid, and it is desirable to protect such persons from the
effects of fraud or miscalculation." This preamble went on to recite
that the provisions of preceding acts had been found insufficient for
these purposes, and great abuses had prevailed in many societies
established under their authority. By this statute a friendly society
was defined as "an institution, whereby it is intended to provide, by
contribution, on the principle of mutual insurance, for the maintenance
or assistance of the contributors thereto, their wives or children, in
sickness, infancy, advanced age, widowhood or any other natural state or
contingency, whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way
of average." It will be seen that this act dealt exclusively with the
scientific aspect of the societies, and had nothing to say to the
element of good fellowship. Rules and tables were to be submitted by the
persons intending to form a society to the justices, who, before
confirming them, were to satisfy themselves that the contingencies which
the society was to provide against were within the meaning of the act,
and that the formation of the society would be useful and beneficial,
regard being had to the existence of other societies in the same
district. No tables or rules connected with calculation were to be
confirmed by the justices until they had been approved by two persons at
least, known to be professional actuaries or persons skilled in
calculation, as fit and proper, according to the most correct
calculation of which the nature of the case would admit. The justices in
quarter sessions were also by this act authorized to publish general
rules for the formation and government of friendly societies within
their county. The practical effect of this statute in requiring that the
societies formed under it should be established on sound principles does
not appear to have been as great as might have been expected. The
justices frequently accepted as "persons skilled in calculation" local
schoolmasters and others who had no real knowledge of the technical
difficulties of the subject, while the restrictions upon registry served
only to increase the number of societies established without becoming
registered.
In 1829 the law relating to friendly societies was entirely
reconstructed by an act of that year, and a barrister was appointed
under that act to examine the rules of societies, and ascertain that
they were in conformity to law and to the provisions of the act. The
barrister so appointed was John Tidd Pratt (1797-1870); and no account
of friendly societies would be complete that did not do justice to the
remarkable public service rendered by this gentleman. For forty years,
though he had by statute really very slight authority over the
societies, his name exercised the widest influence, and the numerous
reports and publications by which he endeavoured to impress upon the
public mind sound principles of management of friendly societies, and to
expose those which were managed upon unsound principles, made him a
terror to evil-doers. On the other hand, he lent with readiness the aid
of his legal knowledge and great mental activity to assisting
well-intentioned societies in coming within the provisions of the acts,
and thus gave many excellent schemes a legal organization.
By the act of 1829, in lieu of the discretion as to whether the
formation of the proposed society would be useful and beneficial, and
the requirement of the actuarial certificate to the tables, it was
enacted that the justices were to satisfy themselves that the tables
proposed to be used might be adopted with safety to all parties
concerned. This provision, of course, became a dead letter and was
repealed in 1834. Thenceforth, societies were free to establish
themselves upon what conditions and with what rates they chose, provided
only they satisfied the barrister that the rules were "calculated to
carry into effect the intention of the parties framing them," and were
"in conformity to law."
By an act of 1846 the barrister certifying the rules was constituted
"Registrar of Friendly Societies," and the rules of all societies were
brought together under his custody. An actuarial certificate was to be
obtained before any society could be registered "for the purpose of
securing any benefit dependent on the laws of sickness and mortality."
In 1850 the acts were again repealed and consolidated with amendments.
Societies were divided into two classes, "certified" and "registered."
The certified societies were such as obtained a certificate to their
tables by an actuary possessing a given qualification, who was required
to set forth the data of sickness and mortality upon which he proceeded,
and the rate of interest assumed in the calculations. All other
societies were to be simply registered. Very few societies were
constituted of the "certified" class. The distinction of classes was
repealed and the acts were again consolidated in 1855. Under this act,
which admitted of all possible latitude to the framers of rules of
societies, 21,875 societies were registered, a large number of them
being lodges or courts of affiliated orders, and the act continued in
force till the end of 1875.
The Friendly Societies Act 1875 and the several acts amending it are
still, in effect, the law by which these societies are regulated, though
in form they have been replaced by two consolidating acts, viz. the
Friendly Societies Act 1896 and the Collecting Societies and Industrial
Assurance Companies Act 1896. This legislation still bears the
permissive and elastic character which marked the more successful of the
previous acts, but it provides ampler means to members of ascertaining
and remedying defects of management and of restraining fraud. The
business of registry is under the control of a chief registrar, who has
an assistant registrar in each of the three countries, with an actuary.
An appeal to the chief registrar in the case of the refusal of an
assistant registrar to register a society or an amendment of rules, and
in the case of suspension or cancelling of registry, is interposed
before appeal is to be made to the High Court. Registry under a
particular name may be refused if in the opinion of the registrar the
name is likely to deceive the members or the public as to the nature of
the society or as to its identity. It is the duty of the chief
registrar, among other things, to require from every society a return in
proper form each year of its receipts and expenditure, funds and
effects; and also once every five years a valuation of its assets and
liabilities. Upon the application of a certain proportion of the
members, varying according to the magnitude of the society, the chief
registrar may appoint an inspector to examine into its affairs, or may
call a general meeting of the members to consider and determine any
matter affecting its interests. These are powers which have been used
with excellent effect. Cases have occurred in which fraud has been
detected and punished by this means that could not probably have been
otherwise brought to light. In others a system of mismanagement has been
exposed and effectually checked. The power of calling special meetings
has enabled societies to remedy defects in their rules, to remove
officers guilty of misconduct, &c., where the procedure prescribed by
the rules was for some reason or other inapplicable. Upon an application
of a like proportion of members the chief registrar may, if he finds
that the funds of a society are insufficient to meet the existing claims
thereon, or that the rates of contribution are insufficient to cover the
benefits assured (upon which he consults his actuary), order the society
to be dissolved, and direct how its funds are to be applied. Authority
is given to the chief registrar to direct the expense (preliminary,
incidental, &c.) of an inspection or special meeting to be defrayed by
the members or officers, or former members or officers, of a society, if
he does not think they should be defrayed either by the applicants or
out of the society's funds. He is also empowered, with the approval of
the treasury, to exempt any friendly society from the provisions of the
Collecting Societies Act if he considers it to be one to which those
provisions ought not to apply. Every society registered after 1895, to
which these provisions do apply, is to use the words "Collecting
Society" as the last words of its name.
The law as to the membership of infants has been altered three times.
The act of 1875 allowed existing societies to continue any rule or
practice of admitting children as members that was in force at its
passing, and prohibited membership under sixteen years of age in any
other case, except the case of a juvenile society composed wholly of
members under that age. The treasury made special regulations for the
registry of such juvenile societies. In 1887 the maximum age of their
members was extended to twenty-one. In 1895 it was enacted that no
society should have any members under one year of age, whether
authorized by an existing rule or not; and that every society should be
entitled to make a rule admitting members at any age over one year, but
by the Friendly Societies Act 1908 membership was permitted to minors
under the age of one year. The Treasury, upon the enactment of 1895
coming into operation, rescinded its regulations for the registry of
juvenile societies; and though it is still the practice to submit for
registry societies wholly composed of persons under twenty-one, these
societies in no way differ from other societies, except in the
circumstances that they are obliged to seek officers and a committee of
management from outside, as no member of the committee of any society
can be under twenty-one years of age. In order to promote the
discontinuance of this anomalous proceeding of creating societies under
the Friendly Societies Act, which, by the conditions of their existence,
are unable to be self-governing, the act provides an easy method of
amalgamating juvenile societies and ordinary societies or branches, or
of distributing the members and the funds of a juvenile society among a
number of branches. The liability of schoolboys and young working lads
to sickness is small, and these societies frequently accumulate funds,
which, as their membership is temporary, remain unclaimed and are
sometimes misapplied.
The legislation of 1875 and 1876 was the result of the labours of a
royal commission of high authority, presided over by Sir Stafford
Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh), which sat from 1870 to 1874,
and prosecuted an exhaustive inquiry into the organization and
condition of the various classes of friendly societies. Their reports
occupy more than a dozen large bluebooks. They divided registered
friendly societies into 13 classes.
The first class included the affiliated societies or "orders," such as
the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, the Ancient Order of Foresters,
the Rechabites, Druids, &c. These societies have a central body,
either situated in some large town, as in the case of the Manchester
Unity, or moving from place to place, as in that of the Foresters.
Under this central body, the country is (in most cases) parcelled out
into districts, and these districts again consist each of a number of
independent branches, called "lodges," "courts," "tents," or
"divisions," having a separate fund administered by themselves, but
contributing also to a fund under the control of the central body.
Besides these great orders, there were smaller affiliated bodies, each
having more than 1000 members; and the affiliated form of society
appears to have great attraction. Indeed, in the colony of Victoria,
Australia, all the existing friendly societies are of this class. The
orders have their "secrets," but these, it may safely be said, are of
a very innocent character, and merely serve the purpose of identifying
a member of a distant branch by his knowledge of the "grip," and of
the current password, &c. Indeed they are now so far from being
"secret societies" that their meetings are attended by reporters and
the debates published in the newspapers, and the Order of Foresters
has passed a wise resolution expunging from its publications all
affectation of mystery.
Most of the lodges existing before 1875 have converted themselves into
registered branches. The requirement that for that purpose a vote of
three-fourths should be necessary was altered in 1895 to a bare
majority vote. The provisions as to settlement of disputes were
extended in 1885 to every description of dispute between branches and
the central body, and in 1895 it was provided that the forty days
after which a member may apply to the court to settle a dispute where
the society fails to do so, shall not begin to run until application
has been made in succession to all the tribunals created by the order
for the purpose. In 1887 it was enacted that no body which had been a
registered branch should be registered as a separate society except
upon production of a certificate from the order that it had seceded or
been expelled; and in 1895 it was further enacted that no such body
should, after secession or expulsion, use any name or number implying
that it is still a branch of the order. The orders generally,
especially the greater ones, have carefully supervised the valuations
of their branches, and have urged and, as far as circumstances have
rendered it practicable, have enforced upon the branches measures for
diminishing the deficiencies which the valuations have disclosed. They
have organized plans by which branches disposed to make an effort to
help themselves in this matter may be assisted out of a central fund.
The second class was made up of "general societies," principally
existing in London, of which the commissioners enumerated 8 with
nearly 60,000 members, and funds amounting to a quarter of a million.
The third class included the "county societies." These societies have
been but feebly supported by those for whose benefit they are
instituted, having all exacted high rates of contribution, in order to
secure financial soundness.
Class 4, "local town societies," is a very numerous one. Among some of
the larger societies may be mentioned the "Chelmsford Provident," the
"Brighton and Sussex Mutual," the "Cannon Street, Birmingham," the
"Birmingham General Provident." In this group might also be included
the interesting societies which are established among the Jewish
community. They differ from ordinary friendly societies partly in the
nature of the benefits granted upon death, which are intended to
compensate for loss of employment during the time of ceremonial
seclusion enjoined by the Jewish law, which is called "sitting shiva."
They also provide a cab for the mourners and rabbi, and a tombstone
for the departed, and the same benefits as an ordinary friendly
society during sickness. Some also provide a place of worship. Of
these the "Pursuers of Peace" (enrolled in December 1797), the "Bikhur
Cholim, or Visitors of the Sick" (April 1798), the "Hozier Holim"
(1804), may be mentioned.
Class 5 was "local village and country societies," including the small
public-house clubs which abound in the villages and rural districts, a
large proportion of which are unregistered.