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FRA and obtained the honour of knighthood. The state of his health made him return to Europe in 1835, and he passed the rest of his life in Dublin and the neighbourhood. Sir John had lived in intimate relations of friendship with many of the celebrated men of his country. He was one of Curran's executors; and a notice of his life was given in the obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine at the time of his death by the late William Henry Curran, Curran's son and biographer.—J. A., D.  FRANSCINI,, a distinguished Swiss statesman and writer on political economy, was born in 1796, at Bodio, and died 9th July, 1857. His parents who were in very humble circumstances, destined him for the ministry; but he escaped from the seminary of Milan to which he had been sent, and set up as a schoolmaster and writer of political pamphlets. These procured him the friendship of the leaders of the liberal party, through whose influence he obtained the directorship of the seminary of Lugano in his native canton. He then became the founder and chief editor of an anti-clerical paper, the Osservatore de Carefio, which at first involved him in lawsuits, but, at the final success of the liberal party, procured him honours and dignities in abundance. He became successively member of the Swiss senate, secretary of state, and ambassador at Naples. The chief product of his pen is a "Statistica della Svizzera," the first volume of which was published at Lugano in 1828, and which was continued in annual parts up to 1842. An offshoot of this great work is "Statistica della Svizzera Italiana," 3 vols., Lugano, 1837-39, which publication, though purely statistical, had the honour of being put in the Papal Index. Franscini also wrote "Uebersichten der Bevölkerung der Schweiz," Berne, 1851, forming the first volume of the Beiträge zur Statistik der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenchaft.—F. M.  * FRANSONI,, born at Genoa in 1790, of noble parents. He imbibed from his father the most decided aversion to every thing liberal. Brought up to the church, he was made bishop, and subsequently elected archbishop of Turin. In that capacity he strongly supported the absolute system of government adopted by King Charles Albert; and when in 1848 a constitution was granted to the people, he proved one of the most factious opponents of the new public law. His violent opposition to the reforms of the minister Siccardi, which curtailed the temporal privileges of the church in Piedmont, compelled the government to institute a criminal procedure against the archbishop in 1850; in consequence of which he was kept for three years in prison at Fenestrelles, and then, by a second judgment, condemned to perpetual exile. He has ever since been acting as one of the chiefs of the ultramontane party in France and Switzerland, and the reactionary clergy of Sardinia still acknowledge his authority.—A. S., O.  FRANSZ,, born at Amsterdam in 1645; died in 1704. Educated at Amsterdam by Junius, took the degrees of doctor in civil and canon law at Angers, in 1674 named professor of oratory and history at Amsterdam, and in 1686 professor of Greek. He published Latin poems, which had their day of praise, and also some prose orations on public occasions, in which he successfully imitated Cicero.—J. A., D.  FRANZ,, a German authoress, was born at Militsch, Silesia, March 8, 1794, and died at Breslau, May 13, 1843. She wrote a large number of tales, poems, books for children, &c., all of which are pervaded by true piety and womanly tenderness. She also took an active part in the establishment and conduct of several charity schools.—K. E.  FRANZ,, a distinguished German Hellenist, was born at Nuremberg in 1804, and died at Berlin, December 1, 1851. He first settled as a lecturer at Munich; then followed King Otho to Greece as chief interpreter, and after his return devoted himself for several years to archæological studies and literary labours at Rome. In 1840 he was appointed to a chair at Berlin. He not only published grammars of the old Greek and German languages (both written in modern Greek) under the adopted name of Phrasikles, but also several valuable contributions to classical philology, and is chiefly known by his continuation of Boeckh's Corpus Inscriptionum Græc.—K. E.  FRANZ VON SICKINGEN. See.  FRANZÉN,, a celebrated Swedish poet and bishop, was born at Uleaborg in Finland in 1772, and educated at Abo. He was the Wordsworth of Sweden, and ranks high amongst the poets of the so-called romantic school. His poems are, for the most part, contained in his "Skaldestycken" (Poetic pieces), published in six volumes, 1824-53. In 1795 and the following year he made a tour through Denmark, Germany, Holland, France, and England. During his absence he was appointed librarian of the university of Abo. He also held there the office of professor of history and morals. In 1808 he was elected member of the Swedish Academy. When Finland passed to Russia, Franzén removed to Sweden, and received the rich living of Kumla in the diocese of Örebro. In 1835 he was called to the capital as the incumbent of St. Clara, and in 1841 was made bishop of Hernösand, where he died in 1847. As historiographer of the Swedish Academy, he wrote memoirs of distinguished members, under the title of "Memorials of Honour," and amongst his prose works are Memoirs of Swedish queens, and sermons.—M. H. <section end="512H" /> <section begin="512I" />* FRASER,, professor of logic and metaphysics in the university of Edinburgh, was born at Ardchattan, Argyleshire, of which parish his father, the Rev. Hugh Fraser, was minister, on the 3d September, 1819. Mr. Fraser received his early education privately. In 1834 he entered the university of Edinburgh, and at the termination of the literary curriculum, obtained the degree of M.A. By attendance on the lectures of Sir W. Hamilton, and by the familiarity of personal intercourse with his instructor, the mind of the pupil, who was afterwards to be his successor in the chair, was quickened into an absorbing devotion to speculative study. Mr. Fraser was the first president, and during the whole of his academical course an active member of the Metaphysical Society, a voluntary association of the most distinguished of Hamilton's pupils. On the roll of associates in the work appear amongst others the names of John Cairns, John Clark, and David Masson. After the termination of his literary course, Mr. Fraser, designing to enter the ministry of the Scottish church, studied theology for four years, chiefly under Dr. Chalmers. At the close of his academical career in 1842, he gained the prize for an essay, open to the competition of all students of the university, on the subject of "Toleration." After a brief discharge of the duties of the ministerial office in connection with the Free church at Cramond, he was transferred, at the instance of Dr. Chalmers and Sir David Brewster, to the professorship of logic and metaphysics in the New College, Edinburgh, in 1846. From that period he has devoted himself almost exclusively to the study and teaching of philosophy. In 1850 he was intrusted with the editorship of the North British Review. During the seven following years in which this journal remained under his care, it maintained the reputation of a first-class quarterly, and was honourably distinguished alike by the catholicity of its basis and tone, and the high literary quality of its contributions. In 1856, on the death of Sir W. Hamilton, Mr. Fraser was nominated to the vacant chair of logic and metaphysics in the university. Into this office he has carried the ability and enthusiasm, by which his cultivation of philosophical studies has all along been characterized. While editor of the North British Review, Mr. Fraser contributed to that journal a series of articles on the chief questions of philosophy. These were collected and republished in 1856 under the title of "Essays in Philosophy." In 1858 he published a small volume entitled "Rational Philosophy in History and in System," which is designed to serve as a general outline of the philosophical course which he is embodying in his lectures. Mr. Fraser is dean of the Faculty of Arts in the university, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.—J. V. <section end="512I" /> <section begin="512Jnop" />FRASER,, diplomatist and author, was the eldest son of Edward S. Fraser, of Relig, Inverness-shire, and was born in 1783. At an early age he went to the West Indies, but after a short residence there resolved, like his brother, to seek his fortune in the East. His most important service was on a diplomatic mission to Persia, where he acquired an intimate knowledge of the country and the people. On his retirement from public life, Mr. Fraser occupied himself in the improvement of his highland estate. Mr. Fraser was an able author and an accomplished artist, especially in water-colour painting; his literary works are numerous, and have enjoyed considerable and well-merited popularity. He wrote a "Tour through the snowy range of the Himalaya mountains;" a "Narrative of a journey into Khorasan;" "Travels and adventures in the Persian provinces;" "The Kuzzilbash—a tale of Khorasan;" a "Word picture of Persian life and manners;" a "Winter journey from Constantinople to Teheran;" a "History of Persia" in the Cabinet Library; the "Highland Smugglers," and the "Memoir of Colonel Skinner." Mr. Fraser died in 1856.—J. T. <section end="512Jnop" />