[1] Keimer and his sister had come the year before from London, where
he had learned his trade; both were ardent members of the fanatic
band of "French prophets." He proposed founding a new sect with the
help of Franklin, who after leaving his shop ridiculed him for his
long square beard and for keeping the seventh day. Keimer settled in
the Barbadoes about 1730; and in 1731 began to publish at Bridgetown
the semi-weekly _Barbadoes Gazette_. Selections from it called
_Caribbeana_ (1741) and _A Brand Plucked from the Burning,
Exemplified in the Unparalleled Case of Samuel Keimer_ (1718) are
from his pen. He died about 1738.
[2] The meeting between Franklin, the type of the shrewd, cool
provincial, and Braddock, a blustering, blundering, drinking British
soldier, is dramatically portrayed by Thackeray in the 9th chapter of
_The Virginians_.
[3] Many questions (about 20 of the first 25) were put by his friends
to draw out what he wished to be known.
[4] The house is familiar from the drawing of it by Victor Hugo.
[5] Many of these portraits bore inscriptions, the most famous of
which was Turgot's line, "Eripuit fulmen coelo sceptrumque tyrannis."
[6] Notably in a pamphlet comparing the Jews and the
Anti-Federalists.
[7] William Franklin served on the Canadian frontier with
Pennsylvania troops, becoming captain in 1750; was in the post-office
in 1754-1756; went to England with his father in 1758; was admitted
to legal practice in 1758; in 1763, recommended by Lord Fairfax,
became governor of New Jersey; he left the Whig for the Tory party;
and in the War of Independence was a faithful loyalist, much to the
pain and regret of his father, who, however, was reconciled to him in
part in 1784. He was held as a prisoner from 1776 until exchanged in
1778; and lived four years in New York, and during the remainder of
his life in England with an annual pension of L800 from the crown.
[8] For the prevention of counterfeiting continental paper money
Franklin long afterwards suggested the use on the different
denominations of different leaves, having noted the infinite variety
of leaf venation.
[9] "Seventy-five editions of it have been printed in English,
fifty-six in French, eleven in German and nine in Italian. It has
been translated into Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Welsh, Polish, Gaelic,
Russian, Bohemian, Dutch, Catalan, Chinese, modern Greek and phonetic
writing. It has been printed at least four hundred times, and is
to-day as popular as ever."--P. L. Ford, in _The Many-Sided Franklin_
(1899).
[10] Both Swift and Franklin made sport of the typical astrologer
almanack-maker.
[11] Another hoax was Franklin's parable against religious
persecution thrown into Scriptural form and quoted by him as the
fifty-first chapter of Genesis. In a paper on a "Proposed New Version
of the Bible" he paraphrased a few verses of the first chapter of
Job, making them a satiric attack on royal government; but the
version may well rank with these hoaxes, and even modern writers have
been taken in by it, regarding it as a serious proposal for a
"modernized" version and decrying it as poor taste. Matthew Arnold,
for example, declared this an instance in which Franklin was lacking
in his "imperturbable common sense"; and J. B. McMaster, though
devoting several pages to its discussion, very ingenuously declares
it "beneath criticism."
[12] Malthus quoted Franklin in his first edition, but it was not
until the second that he introduced the theory of the "preventive
check." Franklin noted the phenomenon with disapproval in his
advocacy of increased population; Malthus with approval in his search
for means to decrease population.
[13] The title of philosopher as used in Franklin's lifetime referred
neither in England nor in France to him as author of moral maxims,
but to him as a scientist--a "natural philosopher."
FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN (1786-1847), English rear-admiral and explorer, was
born at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, on the 16th of April 1786. His family was
descended from a line of free-holders or "franklins" from whom some
centuries earlier they had derived their surname; but the small family
estate was sold by his father, who went into business. John, who was the
fifth and youngest son and ninth child, was destined for the church. At
the age of ten he was sent to school at St Ives, and soon afterwards was
transferred to Louth grammar school, which he attended for two years.
About this time his imagination was deeply impressed by a holiday walk
of 12 m. which he made with a companion to look at the sea, and he
determined to be a sailor. In the hope of dispelling this fancy his
father sent him on a trial voyage to Lisbon in a merchantman; but it
being found on his return that his wishes were unchanged he was entered
as a midshipman on board the "Polyphemus," and shortly afterwards took
part in her in the hard-fought battle of Copenhagen (2nd of April 1801).
Two months later he joined the "Investigator," a discovery-ship
commanded by his cousin Captain Matthew Flinders, and under the training
of that able scientific officer was employed in the exploration and
mapping of the coasts of Australia, where he acquired a correctness of
astronomical observation and a skill in surveying which proved of
eminent utility in his future career. He was on board the "Porpoise"
when that ship and the "Cato" were wrecked (18th of August 1803) on a
coral reef off the coast of Australia, and after this misfortune
proceeded to China. Thence he obtained a passage to England in the "Earl
Camden," East Indiaman, commanded by Captain (afterwards Sir) Nathaniel
Dance, and performed the duty of signal midshipman in the famous action
of the 15th of February 1804 when Captain Dance repulsed a strong French
squadron led by the redoubtable Admiral Linois. On reaching England he
joined the "Bellerophon," 74, and was in charge of the signals on board
that ship during the battle of Trafalgar. Two years later he joined the
"Bedford," attaining the rank of lieutenant the year after, and served
in her on the Brazil station (whither the "Bedford" went as part of the
convoy which escorted the royal family of Portugal to Rio de Janeiro in
1808), in the blockade of Flushing, and finally in the disastrous
expedition against New Orleans (1814), in which campaign he displayed
such zeal and intelligence as to merit special mention in despatches.
On peace being established, Franklin turned his attention once more to
the scientific branch of his profession, and sedulously extended his
knowledge of surveying. In 1818 the discovery of a North-West Passage to
the Pacific became again, after a long interval, an object of national
interest, and Lieutenant Franklin was given the command of the "Trent"
in the Arctic expedition, under the orders of Captain Buchan in the
"Dorothea". During a heavy storm the "Dorothea" was so much damaged by
the pack-ice that her reaching England became doubtful, and, much to the
chagrin of young Franklin, the "Trent" was compelled to convoy her home
instead of being allowed to prosecute the voyage alone. This voyage,
however, had brought Franklin into personal intercourse with the leading
scientific men of London, and they were not slow in ascertaining his
peculiar fitness for the command of such an enterprise. To calmness in
danger, promptness and fertility of resource, and excellent seamanship,
he added an ardent desire to promote science for its own sake, together
with a love of truth that led him to do full justice to the merits of
his subordinate officers, without wishing to claim their discoveries as
a captain's right. Furthermore, he possessed a cheerful buoyancy of
mind, sustained by deep religious principle, which was not depressed in
the most gloomy times. It was therefore with full confidence in his
ability and exertions that, in 1819, he was placed in command of an
expedition appointed to proceed overland from the Hudson Bay to the
shores of the Arctic Sea, and to determine the trendings of that coast
eastward of the Coppermine river. At this period the northern coast of
the American continent was known at two isolated points only,--this, the
mouth of the Coppermine river (which, as Franklin discovered, was
erroneously placed four degrees of latitude too much to the north), and
the mouth of the Mackenzie far to the west of it. Lieutenant Franklin
and his party, consisting of Dr Richardson, Midshipmen George Back and
Richard Hood, and a few ordinary boatmen, arrived at the depot of the
Hudson's Bay Company at the end of August 1819, and making an autumnal
journey of 700 m. spent the first winter on the Saskatchewan. Owing to
the supplies which had been promised by the North-West and Hudson's Bay
Companies not being forthcoming the following year, it was not until the
summer of 1821 that the Coppermine was ascended to its mouth, and a
considerable extent of sea-coast to the eastward surveyed. The return
journey led over the region known as the Barren Ground, and was marked
by the most terrible sufferings and privations and the tragic death of
Lieutenant Hood. The survivors of the expedition reached York Factory in
the month of June 1822, having accomplished altogether 5550 m. of
travel. While engaged on this service Franklin was promoted to the rank
of commander (1st of January 1821), and upon his return to England at
the end of 1822 he obtained the post rank of captain and was elected a
fellow of the Royal Society. The narrative of this expedition was
published in the following year and became at once a classic of travel,
and soon after he married Eleanor, the youngest daughter of William
Porden, an eminent architect.
Early in 1825 he was entrusted with the command of a second overland
expedition, and upon the earnest entreaty of his dying wife, who
encouraged him to place his duty to his country before his love for her,
he set sail without waiting to witness her end. Accompanied as before by
Dr (afterwards Sir) John Richardson and Lieutenant (afterwards Sir)
George Back, he descended the Mackenzie river in the season of 1826 and
traced the North American coast as far as 149 deg. 37' W. long., whilst
Richardson at the head of a separate party connected the mouths of the
Coppermine and Mackenzie rivers. Thus between the years 1819 and 1827 he
had added 1200 m. of coast-line to the American continent, or one-third
of the whole distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific. These exertions
were fully appreciated at home and abroad. He was knighted in 1829,
received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university of Oxford,
was awarded the gold medal of the Geographical Society of Paris, and was
elected corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. The
results of these expeditions are described by Franklin and Dr Richardson
in two magnificent works published in 1824-1829. In 1828 he married his
second wife, Jane, second daughter of John Griffin. His next official
employment was on the Mediterranean station, in command of the
"Rainbow," and his ship soon became proverbial in the squadron for the
happiness and comfort of her officers and crew. As an acknowledgment of
the essential service which he rendered off Patras in the Greek War of
Independence, he received the cross of the Redeemer of Greece from King
Otto, and after his return to England he was created knight commander of
the Guelphic order of Hanover.
In 1836 he accepted the lieutenant-governorship of Van Diemen's Land (now
Tasmania), and held that post till the end of 1843. His government was
marked by several events of much interest, one of his most popular
measures being the opening of the doors of the legislative council to the
public. He also founded a college, endowing it largely from his private
funds, and in 1838 established a scientific society at Hobart Town (now
called the Royal Society of Tasmania), the meetings of which were held in
Government House and its papers printed at his expense. In his time also
the colony of Victoria was founded by settlers from Tasmania; and towards
its close, transportation to New South Wales having been abolished, the
convicts from every part of the British empire were sent to Tasmania. On
an increase of the lieutenant-governor's salary being voted by the
colonial legislature, Sir John declined to derive any advantage from it
personally, while he secured the augmentation to his successors. He
welcomed eagerly the various expeditions for exploration and surveying
which visited Hobart Town, conspicuous among these, and of especial
interest to himself, being the French and English Antarctic expeditions
of Dumont d'Urville and Sir James C. Ross--the latter commanding the
"Erebus" and "Terror," with which Franklin's own name was afterwards to
be so pathetically connected. A magnetic observatory fixed at Hobart
Town, as a dependency of the central establishment under Colonel Sabine,
was also an object of deep interest up to the moment of his leaving the
colony. That his unflinching efforts for the social and political
advancement of the colony were appreciated was abundantly proved by the
affection and respect shown him by every section of the community on his
departure; and several years afterwards the colonists showed their
remembrance of his virtues and services by sending Lady Franklin a
subscription of L1700 in aid of her efforts for the search and relief of
her husband, and later still by a unanimous vote of the legislature for
the erection of a statue in honour of him at Hobart Town.
Sir John found on reaching England that there was about to be a renewal
of polar research, and that the confidence of the admiralty in him was
undiminished, as was shown by his being offered the command of an
expedition for the discovery of a North-West Passage to the Pacific.
This offer he accepted. The prestige of Arctic service and of his former
experiences attracted a crowd of volunteers of all classes, from whom
were selected a body of officers conspicuous for talent and energy.
Captain Crozier, who was second in command, had been three voyages with
Sir Edward Parry, and had commanded the "Terror" in Ross's Antarctic
expedition. Captain Fitzjames, who was commander on board the "Erebus,"
had been five times gazetted for brilliant conduct in the operations of
the first China war, and in a letter which he wrote from Greenland has
bequeathed some good-natured but masterly sketches of his brother
officers and messmates on this expedition. Thus supported, with crews
carefully chosen (some of whom had been engaged in the whaling service),
victualled for three years, and furnished with every appliance then
known, Franklin's expedition, consisting of the "Erebus" and "Terror"
(129 officers and men), with a transport ship to convey additional
stores as far as Disco in Greenland, sailed from Greenhithe on the 19th
of May 1845. The letters which Franklin despatched from Greenland were
couched in language of cheerful anticipation of success, while those
received from his officers expressed their glowing hope, their
admiration of the seamanlike qualities of their commander, and the
happiness they had in serving under him. The ships were last seen by a
whaler near the entrance of Lancaster Sound, on the 26th of July, and
the deep gloom which settled down upon their subsequent movements was
not finally raised till fourteen years later.
Franklin's instructions were framed in conjunction with Sir John Barrow
and upon his own suggestions. The experience of Parry had established
the navigability of Lancaster Sound (leading westwards out of Baffin
Bay), whilst Franklin's own surveys had long before satisfied him that a
navigable passage existed along the north coast of America from the Fish
river to Bering Strait. He was therefore directed to push through
Lancaster Sound and its continuation, Barrow Strait, without loss of
time, until he reached the portion of land on which Cape Walker is
situated, or about long. 98 deg. W., and from that point to pursue a course
southward towards the American coast. An explicit prohibition was given
against a westerly course beyond the longitude of 98 deg. W., but he was
allowed the single alternative of previously examining Wellington
Channel (which leads out of Barrow Strait) for a northward route, if the
navigation here were open.
In 1847, though there was no real public anxiety as to the fate of the
expedition, preparations began to be made for the possible necessity of
sending relief. As time passed, however, and no tidings reached England,
the search began in earnest, and from 1848 onwards expedition after
expedition was despatched in quest of the missing explorers. The work of
these expeditions forms a story of achievement which has no parallel in
maritime annals, and resulted in the discovery and exploration of
thousands of miles of new land within the grim Arctic regions, the
development of the system of sledge travelling, and the discovery of a
second North-West Passage in 1850 (see Polar Regions). Here it is only
necessary to mention the results so far as the search for Franklin was
concerned. In this great national undertaking Lady Franklin's exertions
were unwearied, and she exhausted her private funds in sending out
auxiliary vessels to quarters not comprised in the public search, and by
her pathetic appeals roused the sympathy of the whole civilized world.
The first traces of the missing ships, consisting of a few scattered
articles, besides three graves, were discovered at Franklin's winter
quarters (1845-1846) on Beechey Island, by Captain (afterwards Sir)
Erasmus Ommanney of the "Assistance," in August 1851, and were brought
home by the "Prince Albert," which had been fitted out by Lady Franklin.
No further tidings were obtained until the spring of 1854, when Dr John
Rae, then conducting a sledging expedition of the Hudson's Bay Company
from Repulse Bay, was told by the Eskimo that (as was inferred) in 1850
white men, to the number of about forty, had been seen dragging a boat
southward along the west shore of King William's Island, and that later
in the same season the bodies of the whole party were found by the
natives at a point a short distance to the north-west of Back's Great
Fish river, where they had perished from the united effects of cold and
famine. The latter statement was afterwards disproved by the discovery
of skeletons upon the presumed line of route; but indisputable proof was
given that the Eskimo had communicated with members of the missing
expedition, by the various articles obtained from them and brought home
by Dr Rae. In consequence of the information obtained by Dr Rae, a party
in canoes, under Messrs Anderson and Stewart, was sent by government
down the Great Fish river in 1855, and succeeded in obtaining from the
Eskimo at the mouth of the river a considerable number of articles which
had evidently belonged to the Franklin expedition; while others were
picked up on Montreal Island a day's march to the northward. It was
clear, therefore, that a party from the "Erebus" and "Terror" had
endeavoured to reach the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company by the
Fish river route, and that in making a southerly course it had been
arrested within the channel into which the Great Fish river empties
itself. The admiralty now decided to take no further steps to determine
the exact fate of the expedition, and granted to Dr Rae the reward of
L10,000 which had been offered in 1849 to whosoever should first succeed
in obtaining authentic news of the missing men. It was therefore
reserved for the latest effort of Lady Franklin to develop, not only the
fate of her husband's expedition but also the steps of its progress up
to the very verge of success, mingled indeed with almost unprecedented
disaster. With all her available means, and aided, as she had been
before, by the subscriptions of sympathizing friends, she purchased and
fitted out the little yacht "Fox," which sailed from Aberdeen in July
1857. The command was accepted by Captain (afterwards Sir) Leopold
M'Clintock, whose high reputation had been won in three of the
government expeditions sent out in search of Franklin. Having been
compelled to pass the first winter in Baffin Bay, it was not till the
autumn of 1858 that the "Fox" passed down Prince Regent's Inlet, and put
into winter quarters at Port Kennedy at the eastern end of Bellot
Strait, between North Somerset and Boothia Felix. In the spring of 1859
three sledging parties went out, Captain (afterwards Sir) Allen Young to
examine Prince of Wales Island, Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Hobson
the north and west coasts of King William's Island, and M'Clintock the
east and south coasts of the latter, the west coast of Boothia, and the
region about the mouth of Great Fish river. This splendid and exhaustive
search added 800 m. of new coast-line to the knowledge of the Arctic
regions, and brought to light the course and fate of the expedition.
From the Eskimo in Boothia many relics were obtained, and reports as to
the fate of the ships and men; and on the west and south coast of King
William's Island were discovered skeletons and remains of articles that
told a terrible tale of disaster. Above all, in a cairn at Point Victory
a precious record was discovered by Lieutenant Hobson that briefly told
the history of the expedition up to April 25, 1848, three years after it
set out full of hope. In 1845-1846 the "Erebus" and "Terror" wintered at
Beechey Island on the S.W. coast of North Devon, in lat. 74 deg. 43' 28"
N., long. 91 deg. 39' 15" W., after having ascended Wellington Channel to
lat. 77 deg. and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. This
statement was signed by Graham Gore, lieutenant, and Charles F. des
Voeux, mate, and bore date May 28, 1847. These two officers and six men,
it was further told, left the ships on May 24, 1847 (no doubt for an
exploring journey), at which time all was well.
Such an amount of successful work has seldom been accomplished by an
Arctic expedition within any one season. The alternative course
permitted Franklin by his instructions had been attempted but not
pursued, and in the autumn of 1846 he had followed that route which was
specially commended to him. But after successfully navigating Peel and
Franklin Straits on his way southward, his progress had been suddenly
and finally arrested by the obstruction of heavy ("palaeocrystic") ice,
which presses down from the north-west through M'Clintock Channel (not
then known to exist) upon King William's Island. It must be remembered
that in the chart which Franklin carried King William's Island was laid
down as a part of the mainland of Boothia, and he therefore could pursue
his way _only_ down its western coast. Upon the margin of the printed
admiralty form on which this brief record was written was an addendum
dated the 25th of April 1848, which extinguished all further hopes of a
successful termination of this grand enterprise. The facts are best
conveyed in the terse and expressive words in which they were written,
and are therefore given _verbatim_: "April 25th, 1848. H.M. Ships
'Terror' and 'Erebus' were deserted on 22nd April, five leagues N.N.W.
of this, having been beset since 12th September 1846. The officers and
crews, consisting of 105 souls under the command of Captain F. R. M.
Crozier, landed in lat. 69 deg. 37' 42" N., long. 98 deg. 41' W. This paper was
found by Lieut. Irving ... where it had been deposited by the late
Commander Gore in June 1847. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June
1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this
date 9 officers and 15 men." The handwriting is that of Captain
Fitzjames, to whose signature is appended that of Captain Crozier, who
also adds the words of chief importance, namely, that they would "start
on to-morrow 26th April 1848 for Back's Fish river." A briefer record
has never been told of so tragic a story.
All the party had without doubt been greatly reduced through want of
sufficient food, and the injurious effects of three winters in these
regions. They had attempted to drag with them two boats, besides heavily
laden sledges, and doubtless had soon been compelled to abandon much of
their burden, and leave one boat on the shore of King William's Island,
where it was found by M'Clintock, near the middle of the west coast,
containing two skeletons. The route adopted was the shortest possible,
but their strength and supplies had failed, and at that season of the
year the snow-covered land afforded no subsistence. An old Eskimo woman
stated that these heroic men "fell down and died as they walked," and,
as Sir John Richardson has well said, they "forged the last link of the
North-West Passage with their lives." From all that can be gathered, one
of the ships must have been crushed in the ice and sunk in deep water,
and the other, stranded on the shore of King William's Island, lay there
for years, forming a mine of wealth for the neighbouring Eskimo.
This is all we know of the fate of Franklin and his brave men. His
memory is cherished as one of the most conspicuous of the naval heroes
of Britain, and as one of the most successful and daring of her
explorers. He is certainly entitled to the honour of being the first
discoverer of the North-West Passage; the point reached by the ships
having brought him to within a few miles of the known waters of America,
and on the monument erected to him by his country, in Waterloo Place,
London, this honour is justly awarded to him and his companions,--a fact
which was also affirmed by the president of the Royal Geographical
Society, when presenting their gold medal to Lady Franklin in 1860. On
the 26th of October 1852 Franklin had been promoted to the rank of
rear-admiral. He left an only daughter by his first marriage. Lady
Franklin died in 1875 at the age of eighty-three, and a fortnight after
her death a fine monument was unveiled in Westminster Abbey,
commemorating the heroic deeds and fate of Sir John Franklin, and the
inseparable connexion of Lady Franklin's name with the fame of her
husband. Most of the relics brought home by M'Clintock were presented by
Lady Franklin to the United Service Museum, while those given by Dr Rae
to the admiralty are deposited in Greenwich hospital. In 1864-1869 the
American explorer Captain Hall made two journeys in endeavouring to
trace the remnant of Franklin's party, bringing back a number of
additional relics and some information confirmatory of that given by
M'Clintock, and in 1878 Lieutenant F. Schwatka of the United States army
and a companion made a final land search, but although accomplishing a
remarkable record of travel discovered nothing which threw any fresh
light on the history of the expedition.
See H. D. Traill, _Life of Sir John Franklin_ (1896).
FRANKLIN, WILLIAM BUEL (1823-1903), Federal general in the American
Civil War, was born at York, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of February 1823.
He graduated at West Point, at the head of his class, in 1843, was
commissioned in the Engineer Corps, U.S.A., and served with distinction
in the Mexican War, receiving the brevet of first lieutenant for his
good conduct at Buena Vista, in which action he was on the staff of
General Taylor. After the war he was engaged in miscellaneous
engineering work, becoming a first lieutenant in 1853 and a captain in
1857. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 he was made
colonel of a regular infantry regiment, and a few days later
brigadier-general of volunteers. He led a brigade in the first battle of
Bull Run, and on the organization by McClellan of the Army of the
Potomac he received a divisional command. He commanded first a division
and then the VI. Corps in the operations before Richmond in 1862,
earning the brevet of brigadier-general in the U.S. Army; was promoted
major-general, U.S.V., in July 1862; commanded the VI. corps at South
Mountain and Antietam; and at Fredericksburg commanded the "Left Grand
Division" of two corps (I. and VI.). His part in the last battle led to
charges of disobedience and negligence being preferred against him by
the commanding general, General A. E. Burnside, on which the
congressional committee on the conduct of the war reported unfavourably
to Franklin, largely, it seems, because Burnside's orders to Franklin
were not put in evidence. Burnside had issued on the 23rd of January
1863 an order relieving Franklin from duty, and Franklin's only other
service in the war was as commander of the XIX. corps in the abortive
Red River Expedition of 1864. In this expedition he received a severe
wound at the action of Sabine Cross Roads (April 8, 1864), in
consequence of which he took no further active part in the war. He
served for a time on the retiring board, and was captured by the
Confederates on the 11th of July 1864, but escaped the same night. In
1865 he was brevetted major-general in the regular army, and in 1866 he
was retired. After the war General Franklin was vice-president of the
Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, was president of the
commission to lay out Long Island City, N.Y. (1871-1872), of the
commission on the building of the Connecticut state house (1872-1873),
and, from 1880 to 1899, of the board of managers of the national home
for disabled volunteer soldiers; as a commissioner of the United States
to the Paris Exposition of 1889 he was made a grand officer of the
Legion of Honour; and he was for a time a director of the Panama
railway. He died at Hartford, Connecticut, on the 8th of March 1903. He
wrote a pamphlet, _The Gatling Gun for Service Ashore and Afloat_
(1874).
See _A Reply of Major-General William B. Franklin to the Report of the
Joint Committee of Congress on the Conduct of the War_ (New York,
1863; 2nd ed., 1867), and Jacob L. Greene, _Gen. W. B. Franklin and
the Operations of the Left Wing at the Battle of Fredericksburg_
(Hartford, 1900).
FRANKLIN, an organized district of Canada, extending from the Arctic
Circle to the North Pole. It was formed by order-in-council on the 2nd
of October 1895, and includes numerous islands and peninsulas, such as
Banks, Prince Albert, Victoria, Wollaston, King Edward and Baffin Land,
Melville, Bathurst, Prince of Wales and Cockburn Islands. Of these,
Baffin Land alone extends south of the Arctic Circle. The area is
estimated at 500,000 sq. m., but the inhabitants consist of a few
Indians, Eskimo and fur-traders. Musk-oxen, polar bears, foxes and other
valuable fur-bearing animals are found in large numbers. The district is
named after Sir John Franklin.
FRANKLIN, a township of Norfolk county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., with an
area of 29 sq. m. of rolling surface. Pop. (1900) 5017, of whom 1250
were foreign-born; (1905, state census) 5244; (1910 census) 5641. The
principal village, also named Franklin, is about 27 m. S.W. of Boston,
and is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway. Franklin
has a public library (housed in the Ray memorial building and containing
7700 volumes in 1910) and is the seat of Dean Academy (Universalist;
founded in 1865), a secondary school for boys and girls. Straw goods,
felt, cotton and woollen goods, pianos and printing presses are
manufactured here. The township was incorporated in 1778, previous to
which it was a part of Wrentham (1673). It was the first of the many
places in the United States named in honour of Benjamin Franklin (who
later contributed books for the public library). Horace Mann was born
here.
FRANKLIN, a city of Merrimack county, New Hampshire, U.S.A., at the
confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnepesaukee rivers to form the
Merrimac; about 95 m. N.N.W. of Boston. Pop. (1890) 4085; (1900) 5846
(1323 foreign-born); (1910) 6132; area, about 14.4 sq. m. Franklin is
served by the Concord Division of the Boston & Maine railway, with a
branch to Bristol (13 m. N.W.) and another connecting at Tilton (about 5
m. E.) with the White Mountains Division. It contains the villages of
Franklin, Franklin Falls, Webster Place and Lake City, the last a summer
resort. The rivers furnish good water power, which is used in the
manufacture of a variety of commodities, including foundry products,
paper and pulp, woollen goods, hosiery, saws, needles and knitting
machines. The water-works are owned and operated by the municipality.
Here, in what was then a part of the town of Salisbury, Daniel Webster
was born, and on the Webster farm is the New Hampshire orphans' home,
established in 1871. The town of Franklin was formed in 1828 by the
union of portions of Salisbury, Sanbornton, Andover and Northfield. The
earliest settlement within its limits was made in 1748 in the portion
taken from Salisbury. Franklin was incorporated as a city in 1895.
FRANKLIN, a city and the county-seat of Venango county, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A., at the confluence of French Creek and Allegheny river, about 55
m. S. by E. of Erie, in the N.W. part of the state. Pop. (1890) 6221;
(1900) 7317 (489 being foreign-born); (1910) 9767. Franklin is served by
the Erie, the Pennsylvania, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the
Franklin & Clearfield railways. Its streets are broad and well paved and
shaded, and there are two public parks, a public library and many
handsome residences. Franklin is the centre of the chief oil region of
the state, and from it great quantities of refined oil are shipped.
Natural gas also abounds. The city's manufacture include oil-well
supplies, boilers, engines, steel castings, iron goods, lumber, bricks,
asbestos goods, manifolding paper and flour. On the site of the present
city the French built in 1754 a fortification, Fort Machault, which
after the capture of Fort Duquesne by the English was a rallying place
for Indians allied with the French. In 1759 the French abandoned and
completely destroyed the fort; and in the following year the English
built in the vicinity Fort Venango, which was captured by the Indians in
1763 during the Conspiracy of Pontiac, the whole garrison being
massacred. In 1787 the United States built Fort Franklin (about 1 m.
above the mouth of French Creek) as a protection against the Indians; in
1796 the troops were removed to a strongly built and well-fortified
wooden building, known as "Old Garrison," at the mouth of French Creek,
and in 1803 they were permanently withdrawn from the neighbourhood.
Franklin was laid out as a town in 1795, was incorporated as a borough
in 1828, and was chartered as a city in 1868. Most of its growth dates
from the discovery of oil in 1860.
FRANKLIN, a town and the county-seat of Williamson county, Tennessee,
U.S.A., in the central part of the state, on the Harpeth river, and
about 20 m. S.W. of Nashville. Pop. (1900) 2180; (1910) 2924. Franklin
is served by the Louisville & Nashville railway. It is the seat of the
Tennessee Female College and the Battle Ground Academy, and its chief
objects of interest are the battle-ground, the Confederate cemetery and
the Confederate monument. During the Civil War Franklin was the scene of
a minor engagement on the 10th of April 1863, and of a battle,
celebrated as one of the most desperately fought of the war, which took
place on the 30th of November 1864. The Union general Schofield, who was
slowly withdrawing to Nashville before the advance of General J. B.
Hood's army, which he was ordered to hold in check in order to give
Thomas time to prepare for battle (see AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, Sec. 32), was
unable immediately to cross the Harpeth river and was compelled to
entrench his forces south of the town until his wagon trains and
artillery could be sent over the stream by means of two small bridges.
In the afternoon Schofield's outposts and advanced lines were attacked
by the Confederates in full strength, and instead of withdrawing as
ordered they made a determined stand. Thus the assailants, carrying the
advanced works by storm, rushed upon the main defences on the heels of
the broken advanced guard, and a general engagement was brought on which
lasted from 3.30 until nine o'clock in the evening. Against, it is said,
thirteen separate assaults, all delivered with exceptional fury,
Schofield managed to hold his position, and shortly before midnight he
withdrew across the river in good order. The engagement was indecisive
in its results, but the Union commander's purpose, to hold Hood
momentarily in check, was gained, and Hood's effort to crush Schofield
was unavailing. The losses were very heavy; Hood's effective forces in
the engagement numbered about 27,000, Schofield's about 28,000; the
Confederate losses (excluding cavalry) were about 6500, excluding the
slightly wounded; six general officers were killed (including
Major-General P. R. Cleburne, a brave Irishman who had been a corporal
in the British army), six wounded, and one captured; the Union losses
(excluding cavalry) were 2326. In two of the Confederate brigades all
the general and field officers were killed or wounded.
See J. D. Cox, _The Battle of Franklin_ (New York, 1897).
FRANKLIN, a word derived from the Late Lat. _francus_, free, and meaning
primarily a freeman. Subsequently it was used in England to denote a
land-holder who was of free but not of noble birth. Some of the older
English writers occasionally use it to mean a liberal host. The Latin
form of the word is _franchilanus_.
FRANKLINITE, a member of the spinel group of minerals, consisting of
oxides of iron, manganese and zinc in varying proportions, (Fe, Zn,
Mn)"(Fe, Mn)2"'O4. It occurs as large octahedral crystals often with
rounded edges, and as granular masses. The colour is iron-black and the
lustre metallic; hardness 6, specific gravity 5.2. It thus resembles
magnetite in external characters, but is readily distinguished from this
by the fact that it is only slightly magnetic. It is found in
considerable amount, associated with zinc minerals (zincite and
willemite) in crystalline limestone, at Franklin Furnace, New Jersey,
where it is mined as an ore of zinc (containing 5 to 20% of the metal);
after the extraction of the zinc, the residue is used in the manufacture
of spiegeleisen (the mineral containing 15 to 20% of manganese oxides).
Associated with franklinite at Franklin Furnace, and found also at some
other localities, is another member of the spinel group, namely, gahnite
or zinc-spinel, which is a zinc aluminate, ZnAl2O4, with a little of the
zinc replaced by iron and manganese.
FRANK-MARRIAGE (_liberum maritagium_), in real property law, a species
of estate tail, now obsolete. When a man was seized of land in fee
simple, and gave it to a daughter on marriage, the daughter and her
husband were termed the donees in frank-marriage, because they held the
land granted to them and the heirs of their two bodies free from all
manner of service, except fealty, to the donor or his heirs until the
fourth degree of consanguinity from the donor was passed. This right of
a freeholder so to give away his land at will was first recognized in
the reign of Henry II., and became up to the reign of Elizabeth the most
usual kind of settlement.
FRANKPLEDGE (Lat. _francum plegium_), an early English institution,
consisting (as defined by Stubbs) of an association for mutual security
whose members, according to Hallam, "were perpetual bail for each
other." The custom whereby the Inhabitants of a district were
responsible for any crime or injury committed by one of their number is
old and widespread; it prevailed in England before the Norman Conquest,
and is an outcome of the earlier principle whereby this responsibility
rested on kinship. Thus a law of Edgar (d. 975) says "and let every man
so order that he have a _borh_ (or surety), and let the borh then bring
and hold him to every justice; and if any one then do wrong and run
away, let the borh bear that which he ought to bear"; and a law of
Canute about 1030 says "and that every one be brought into a hundred and
in borh, and let the borh hold and lead him to every plea." About this
time these societies, each having its headman, were called _frithborhs_,
or peace-borhs, and the Normans translated the Anglo-Saxon word by
frankpledge. But the history of the frankpledge proper begins not
earlier than the time of the Norman Conquest. The laws, which although
called the laws of Edward the Confessor were not drawn up until about
1130, contain a clause about frithborhs which decrees that in every
place societies of ten men shall be formed for mutual security and
reparation. And before this date William the Conqueror had ordered that
"every one who wishes to be regarded as free must be in a pledge, and
that the pledge must hold and bring him to justice if he commits any
offence"; and the laws of Henry I. ordered every person of substance
over twelve years of age to be enrolled in a frankpledge. This
association of ten, or as it often was at a later date of twelve men,
was also called a _tithing_, or _decima_, and in the north of England
was known as _tenmanne_ tale.
The view of frankpledge (_visus franciplegii_), or the duty of
ascertaining that the law with regard to frankpledges was complied with,
was in the hands of the sheriffs, who held an itinerant court called the
"sheriff's tourn" for this and other purposes. This court was held twice
a year, but in 1217 it was ordered that the view of frankpledge should
only be taken once--at Michaelmas. Introduced at or before the time of
Henry I., the view was regulated by the Assize of Clarendon of 1166 and
by Magna Carta as reissued in 1217. Although the former of these lays
stress upon the fact that the sheriff's supervisory powers are universal
many men did not attend his tourn. Some lords of manors and of hundreds
held a court of their own for view of frankpledge, and in the 13th
century it may be fairly said "of all the franchises, the royal rights
in private hands, view of frankpledge is perhaps the commonest." At the
end of the same century the court for the view of frankpledge was
generally known as the court leet, and was usually a manorial court in
private hands. However, the principle of the frankpledge was still
enforced. Thus Bracton says "every male of the age of twelve years, be
he free be he serf, ought to be in frankpledge," but he allows for
certain exceptions.
As the word frankpledge denotes, these societies were originally
concerned only with freemen; but the unfree were afterwards admitted,
and during the 13th century the frankpledges were composed chiefly of
villains. From petitions presented to parliament in 1376 it seems that
the view of frankpledge was in active operation at this time, but it
soon began to fall into disuse, and its complete decay coincides with
the new ideas of government introduced by the Tudors. In a formal
fashion courts leet for the view of frankpledge were held in the time of
the jurist Selden, and a few of these have survived until the present
day. Sir F. Palgrave has asserted that the view of frankpledge was
unknown in that part of the country which had been included in the
kingdom of Northumbria. This statement is open to question, but it is
highly probable that the system was not so deeply rooted in this part of
England as elsewhere. The machinery of the frankpledge was probably used
by Henry II. when he introduced the jury of presentment; and commenting
on this connexion F. W. Maitland says "the duty of producing one's
neighbour to answer accusations (the duty of the frankpledges) could
well be converted into the duty of telling tales against him." The
system of frankpledge prevailed in some English boroughs. Sometimes a
court for view of frankpledge, called in some places a _mickleton_,
whereat the mayor or the bailiffs presided, was held for the whole
borough; in other cases the borough was divided into wards, or into
_leets_, each of which had its separate court.
See Pollock and Maitland, _History of English Law_ (1895); G. Waitz,
_Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte_, Band i. (1880); and W. Stubbs,
_Constitutional History_, vol. i. (1897).
FRANKS, SIR AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON (1826-1897), English antiquary, was born
on the 20th of March 1826, and was educated at Eton and at Trinity
College, Cambridge. He early showed inclination for antiquarian
pursuits, and in 1851 was appointed assistant in the Antiquities
Department of the British Museum. Here, and as director of the Society
of Antiquaries, an appointment he received in 1858, he made himself the
first authority in England upon medieval antiquities of all
descriptions, upon porcelain, glass, the manufactures of savage nations,
and in general upon all Oriental curiosities and works of art later than
the Classical period. In 1866 the British and medieval antiquities, with
the ethnographical collections, were formed into a distinct department
under his superintendence; and the Christy collection of ethnography in
Victoria Street, London, prior to its amalgamation with the British
Museum collections, was also under his care. He became vice-president
and ultimately president of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1878
declined the principal librarianship of the museum. He retired on his
seventieth birthday, 1896, and died on the 21st of May 1897. His ample
fortune was largely devoted to the collection of ceramics and precious
objects of medieval art, most of which became the property of the
nation, either by donation in his lifetime or by bequest at his death.
Although chiefly a medieval antiquary, Franks was also an authority on
classical art, especially Roman remains in Britain: he was also greatly
interested in book-marks and playing-cards, of both of which he formed
important collections. He edited Kemble's _Horae Ferales_, and wrote
numerous memoirs on archaeological subjects. Perhaps his most important
work of this class is the catalogue of his own collection of porcelain.
FRANKS. The name Franks seems to have been given in the 4th century to a
group of Germanic peoples dwelling north of the Main and reaching as far
as the shores of the North Sea; south of the Main was the home of the
Alamanni. The names of some of these tribes have come down to us. On the
_Tabula Peutingeriana_ appear the "Chamavi qui et _Pranci_," which
should doubtless read "qui et _Franci_"; these Chamavi apparently dwelt
between the Yssel and the Ems. Later, we find them a little farther
south, on the banks of the Rhine, in the district called Hamalant, and
it is their customs which were brought together in the 9th century in
the document known as the _Lex Francorum Chamavorum_. After the Chamavi
we may mention the Attuarii or Chattuarii, who are referred to by
Ammianus Marcellinus (xx. 10, 2): "Rheno exinde transmisso, regionem
pervasit (Julianus) Francorum quos Atthuarios vocant." Later, the _pagus
Attuariorum_ corresponds to the district of Emmerich and Xanten. It
should be noted that this name occurs again in the middle ages in
Burgundy, not far from Dijon; in all probability a detachment of this
people had settled in that spot in the 5th or 6th century. The Bructeri,
Ampsivarii and Chatti may also be classed among the Frankish tribes.
They are mentioned in a celebrated passage of Sulpicius Alexander, which
is cited by Gregory of Tours (_Historia Francorum_, ii. 9). Sulpicius
shows the general Arbogast, a barbarian in the service of Rome, seeking
to take vengeance on the Franks (392): "Collecto exercitu, transgressus
Rhenum, Bricteros ripae proximos, pagum etiam quem Chamavi incolunt
depopulatus est, nullo unquam occursante, nisi quod pauci ex Ampsivariis
et Catthis Marcomere duce in ulterioribus collium jugis apparuere." It
is evidently this Marcomeres, the chief of these tribes, who is regarded
by later historians as the father of the legendary Faramund (Pharamund)
although in fact Marcomeres has nothing to do with the Salian Franks.
The earliest mention in history of the name Franks is the entry on the
_Tabula Peutingeriana_, at least if we assume that the term "et Franci"
is not a later emendation. The earliest occurrence of the name in any
author is in the _Vita Aureliani_ of Vopiscus (ch. vii.). When, in 241,
Aurelian, who was then only a tribune, had just defeated some Franks in
the neighbourhood of Mainz and was marching against the Persians, his
troops sang the following refrain:
Mille Sarmatas, mille _Francos_, semel et semel occidimus;
Mille Persas, quaerimus.
All these Germanic tribes, which were known from the 3rd century onwards
by the generic name of Franks, doubtless spoke a similar dialect and
were governed by customs which must scarcely have differed from one
another; but this was all they had in common. Each tribe was politically
independent; they formed no confederations. Sometimes two or three
tribes joined forces to wage a war; but, the struggle over, the bond was
broken, and each tribe resumed its isolated life. Waitz holds with some
show of probability that the Franks represent the ancient Istaevones of
Tacitus, the Alamanni and the Saxons representing the Herminones and the
Ingaevones.
Of all these Frankish tribes one especially was to become prominent, the
tribe of the Salians. They are mentioned for the first time in 358, by
Ammianus Marcellinus (xvii. 8, 3), who says that the Caesar Julian
"petit primos omnium Francos, videlicet eos quos consuetudo Salios
appellavit." As to the origin of the name, it was long held to be
derived from the river Yssel or Saal. It is more probable, however, that
it arose from the fact that the Salians for a long period occupied the
shores of the salt sea.[1] The Salians inhabited the sea-coast, whereas
the Ripuarians dwelt on the banks of the river Rhine.
The Salians, at the time when they are mentioned by Ammianus, occupied
Toxandria, i.e. the region south of the Meuse, between that river and
the Scheldt. Julian defeated them completely, but allowed them to remain
in Toxandria, not, as of old, as conquerors, but as _foederati_ of the
Romans. They perhaps paid tribute, and they certainly furnished Rome
with soldiers; _Salii seniores_ and _Salii juniores_ are mentioned in
the _Notitia dignitatum_, and Salii appear among the _auxilia palatina_.
At the end of the 4th century and at the beginning of the 5th, when the
Roman legions withdrew from the banks of the Rhine, the Salians
installed themselves in the district as an independent people. The
place-names became entirely Germanic; the Latin language disappeared;
and the Christian religion suffered a check, for the Franks were to a
man pagans. The Salians were subdivided into a certain number of tribes,
each tribe placing at its head a king, distinguished by his long hair
and chosen from the most noble family (_Historia Francorum_, ii. 9).
The most ancient of these kings, reigning over the principal tribe, who
is known to us is Chlodio.[2] According to Gregory of Tours Chlodio
dwelt at a place called Dispargum, which it is impossible to identify.
Towards 431 he crossed the great Roman road from Bavay to Cologne, which
was protected by numerous forts and had long arrested the invasions of
the barbarians. He then invaded the territory of Arras, but was severely
defeated at Hesdin-le-Vieux by Aetius, the commander of the Roman army
in Gaul. Chlodio, however, soon took his revenge. He explored the region
of Cambrai, seized that town, and occupied all the country as far as the
Somme. At this time Tournai became the capital of the Salian Franks.
After Chlodio a certain Meroveus (Merowech) was king of the Salian
Franks. We do not know if he was the son of Chlodio; Gregory of Tours
simply says that he belonged to Chlodio's stock--"de hujus stirpe quidam
Merovechum regem fuisse adserunt,"--and then only gives the fact at
second hand. Perhaps the remarks of the Byzantine historian Priscus may
refer to Meroveus. A king of the Franks having died, his two sons
disputed the power. The elder journeyed into Pannonia to obtain support
from Attila; the younger betook himself to the imperial court at Rome.
"I have seen him," writes Priscus; "he was still very young, and we all
remarked his fair hair which fell upon his shoulders." Aetius welcomed
him warmly and sent him back a friend and _foederatus_. In any case,
eventually, Franks fought (451) in the Roman ranks at the great battle
of Mauriac (the Catalaunian Fields), which arrested the progress of
Attila into Gaul; and in the _Vita Lupi_, which, though undoubtedly of
later date, is a recension of an earlier document, the name of Meroveus
appears among the combatants. Towards 457 Meroveus was succeeded by his
son Childeric. At first Childeric was a faithful _foederatus_ of the
Romans, fighting for them against the Visigoths and the Saxons south of
the Loire; but he soon sought to make himself independent and to extend
his conquests. He died in 481 and was succeeded by his son Clovis, who
conquered the whole of Gaul with the exception of the kingdom of
Burgundy and Provence. Clovis made his authority recognized over the
other Salian tribes (whose kings dwelt at Cambrai and other cities), and
put an end to the domination of the Ripuarian Franks.
These Ripuarians must have comprised a certain number of Frankish
tribes, such as the Ampsivarii and the Bructeri. They settled in the 5th
century in compact masses on the left bank of the Rhine, but their
progress was slow. It was not until the Christian writer Salvian (who
was born about 400) had already reached a fairly advanced age that they
were able to seize Cologne. The town, however, was recaptured and was
not definitely in their possession until 463. The Ripuarians
subsequently occupied all the country from Cologne to Trier.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Bonn and Zuelpich were their principal centres, and they
even advanced southward as far as Metz, which appears to have resisted
their attacks. The Roman civilization and the Latin language disappeared
from the countries which they occupied; indeed it seems that the actual
boundaries of the German and French languages nearly coincide with those
of their dominion. In their southward progress the Ripuarians
encountered the Alamanni, who, already masters of Alsace, were
endeavouring to extend their conquests in all directions. There were
numerous battles between the Ripuarians and the Alamanni; and the memory
of one fought at Zuelpich has come down to us. In this battle Sigebert,
the king of the Ripuarians, was wounded in the knee and limped during
the remainder of his life--hence his surname Claudus (the Lame). The
Ripuarians long remained allies of Clovis, Sigebert's son Chloderic
fighting under the king of the Salian Franks at Vouille in 507. Clovis,
however, persuaded Chloderic to assassinate his father, and then posed
as Sigebert's avenger, with the result that Chloderic was himself
assassinated and the Ripuarians raised Clovis on the shield and chose
him as king. Thus the Salian Franks united under their rule all the
Franks on the left bank of the Rhine. During the reigns of Clovis's sons
they again turned their eyes on Germany, and imposed their suzerainty
upon the Franks on the right bank. This country, north of the Main and
the first residence of the Franks, then received the name of _Francia
Orientalis_, and became the origin of one of the duchies into which
Germany was divided in the 10th century--the duchy of Franconia
(Franken).
The Franks were redoubtable warriors, and were generally of great
stature. Their fair or red hair was brought forward from the crown of
the head towards the forehead, leaving the nape of the neck uncovered;
they shaved the face except the upper lip. They wore fairly close
breeches reaching to the knee and a tunic fastened by brooches. Round
the waist over the tunic was worn a leathern girdle having a broad iron
buckle damascened with silver. From the girdle hung the single-edged
missile axe or _francisca_, the _scramasax_ or short knife, a poniard
and such articles of toilet as scissors, a comb (of wood or bone), &c.
The Franks also used a weapon called the _framea_ (an iron lance set
firmly in a wooden shaft), and bows and arrows. They protected
themselves in battle with a large wooden or wicker shield, the centre of
which was ornamented with an iron boss (_umbo_). Frankish arms and
armour have been found in the cemeteries which abound throughout
northern France, the warriors being buried fully armed.
See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthuemer_ (Goettingen, 1828); K.
Muellenhoff, _Deutsche Altertumskunde_ (Berlin, 1883-1900); E. von
Wietersheim, _Geschichte der Voelkerwanderung_, 2nd ed., ed. by F. Dahn
(Leipzig, 1880-1881); G. Waitz, _Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte_, vol.
i. (4th ed. revised by Zeumer); R. Schroeder, "Die Ausbreitung der
salischen Franken," in _Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte_, vol.
xix.; K. Lamprecht, _Fraenkische Wanderungen und Ansiedelungen_
(Aix-la-Chapelle, 1882); W. Schultz, _Deutsche Geschichte von der
Urzeit bis zu den Karolingern_, vol. ii. (Stuttgart, 1896); Fustel de
Coulanges, _Histoire des institutions politiques de l'ancienne
France--l'invasion germanique_ (Paris, 1891). Also the articles SALIC
LAW and GERMANIC LAWS, EARLY. (C. Pf.)