Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/164

 156 FERSEN FESCH transport persons or things. Such a franchise can exist in England only by grant from the king, or by a prescription which supposes a grant; and being granted and accepted, the grantee is indictable if he have not suitable means of transport. In the United States, fer- ries are created as well as regulated generally by statutes, although there may be ancient fer- ries resting on usage and prescription. The ter- mini of the ferry are at the water's edge, and shift with that if it varies ; but the owner has a right of way to and from the ferry. Ferrymen are common carriers, and have the rights and come under the obligations of common carriers. Thus, they may determine (within reasonable limits) when and how often, and upon what terms, their boats shall cross the water, and what they will transport ; but all these things they must do by general rules, without favor- itism or arbitrary exception. They are liable for all loss of or injury to property in their possession, unless it be caused by the act of God or of the public enemy. This liability does not attach when persons or things are coming toward or going from their boats, but begins as soon as they are on the boat, or on the slip or flat, and continues while they are there. One who owns a ferry, and employs persons to do all the labor and the actual trans- port, is in law the ferryman, and liable ac- cordingly. But if he leases the* ferry, reserving only his rent, the lessee in possession, and not the owner, is the responsible ferryman; and this is true even if the rent reserved be a cer- tain proportion of the receipts. FERSEN, Axel, count, a Swedish soldier, born in Stockholm about 1750, killed June 20, 1810. He was educated at the military academy of Turin, and entered the Swedish army, but afterward went to Versailles, and was made colonel of the royal regiment of Swedes, the body guard of Louis XVI. He served in the American revolutionary war with distinction, and was aide-de-camp of Rochambeau at York- town. Upon his return to France he became a devoted adherent of the Bourbons, and Marie Antoinette especially distinguished him. In the flight to Varennes Fersen was the disguised coachman of the royal fugitives. After their capture he escaped, and was employed by Gus- tavus III. in furthering the project of reinstating the Bourbon dynasty in France. Toward the end of his life he became the favorite of Charles XIII., and his sister enjoyed in an equal degree the favor of the queen ; but both were unpop- ular with the people. Fersen was made grand marshal of the kingdom ; but the sudden death of the crown prince, Christian Augustus of Augustenb'urg, gave rise to suspicion that Fer- sen had poisoned him. A tumult occurred at the funeral, and while the troops looked on with indifference, the mob killed Fersen with sticks and stones in the great square of the Riddarhus in Stockholm. His sister escaped in disguise. It is now universally acknowl- edged that Fersen was guiltless. FESCA. I. Friedrich Ernst, a German com- poser and musician, born in Magdeburg, Feb. 15, 1789, died May 24, 1826. His father held a minor municipal office in Magdeburg, and devoted much of his time to the practice of the violoncello and piano, and his mother had been a professional vocalist in early life. When he was but four years of age he could perform pieces of moderate difficulty upon the piano, and began the violin. He studied harmony and counterpoint under the instruction of Mtil- ler at Leipsic. In 1805 he made his first public appearance as a violinist, playing a concerto of his own in E minor. He soon after became attached to the chapel royal at Cassel, where he remained till 1813. After the dissolution of the kingdom of Westphalia he went to Vienna, and thence to Carlsruhe, where he be- came attached to the court of the grand duke ' of Baden. Here he remained 11 years and composed the majority of his works, including quartets and quintets for stringed instruments, overtures, symphonies, two operas, and settings of several of the psalms for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra. He was a man of noble disposi- tion, kindly heart, and much devotional feel- ing. His works, formed on the best models, display a refined and elevated taste and a delicate fancy. II. Alexander Ernst, a German composer and musician, son of the preceding, born in Carlsruhe, May 22, 1820, died in Bruns- wick, Feb. 22, 1849. He studied the piano under Taubert and composition under Rungen- hagen and Wilhelm Bach. At the age of 18 he brought out at Carlsruhe a comic opera entitled Mariette. His compositions evinced a fine original and progressive talent, especially his chamber music and songs, many of which have been republished in this country. FESCENNINE VERSES, licentious poems sung at the private festivals of the ancient Romans, particularly at nuptial celebrations. They de- rived their name and origin from Fescennium, an Etruscan city, where they seem to have been a rude dramatic entertainment improvised in the intoxication of rustic festivals. They were composed with the most unbounded li- cense, accompanied with uncouth posturing and dances, and gave delight to the yet savage and untaught Romans. The later satire and comedy took their origin from them, and Catul- lus introduced them into his epithalamia ; but in attaining a better literary character these verses hardly improved their morals. FESCH, Joseph, cardinal, and archbishop of Lyons, born in Ajaccio, Corsica, Jan. 3, 1763, died in Rome, May 13, 1839. He was the son of a Swiss officer in the Genoese service, and half brother of Letizia Ramolino, the mother of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was archdeacon of the chapter of Ajaccio when the chapters were suppressed by the revolution of 1789. In 1793 he was exiled with the Bonapartes, and being without resources laid aside his priesthood and was appointed commissary of war to the army of Italy, of which subsequently his nephew