FOX, WILLIAM J. 



FRANCE. 



381 



words, and wrote and composed such pieces as 

 "Willie, we have Missed You," " Ellen Bayne," 

 " Maggie bymy Side," " Come where my Love 

 lies Dreaming," "Little Ella," "Jennie with 

 the Light Brown Hair," "Willie, my Brave," 

 " Farewell, my Lillie Dear," " Oh, Comrades, 

 fill no Glass for Me," " Old Dog Tray," "Mol- 

 lie, do You love Me?" "Summer Breath," 

 " Ah ! may the Red Rose live Alway," " Come 

 with Thy sweet Voice again," " I see Her still 

 in my Dreams," " Suffer little Children to 

 come unto Me," "Ella is an Angel," "I will 

 be true to Thee," and over a hundred others. 



His ballads have been translated into most 

 of the European and some of the Asiatic lan- 

 guages, and published with his music. His 

 later works exhibit greater grace and tender- 

 ness than the earlier ones, and in these par- 

 ticulars he continued to improve until the close 

 of his life. His best compositions have been 

 collected in a volume since his death. 



FOX, WILLIAM JOHXSOX, an English preacher, 

 author and politician,born in Wrentham, Suffolk, 

 in 1786, died June 3, 1864. He was the son of 

 a Norwich weaver, and being designed for a 

 dissenting minister, was educated in the Hom- 

 erton Independent College at London, an in- 

 stitution under the direction of the Orthodox 

 Nonconformists. He soon broke loose from this 

 connection, however, and became a Unitarian 

 of a somewhat advanced type, passing rapidly 

 " from Orthodox dissent through the various 

 stages of a kindly and philanthropic but ex- 

 ternal Unitarianism, to the position of adeistical 

 heresiarch, who preached more on politics than 

 either on ethics or the religion called natural." 

 For a number of years he preached in a chapel 

 at Finsbury, London, where his remarkable 

 eloquence and the unique character of the ser- 

 vices drew large congregations; but finding 

 politics and journalism a more congenial field 

 of employment he gradually withdrew from 

 the ministry, and became connected with va- 

 rious periodicals. For several years he edited 

 the " Monthly Repository," and he was one of 

 the chief writers for the " Weekly Dispatch," 

 while that paper was at the height of its repu- 

 tation and influence. He Avas connected with 

 the " Westminster Review " from its foundation, 

 having written the first article for the first 

 number, and was also a regular contributor to 

 the "Retrospective Review," and other period- 

 icals. His pen was uniformly employed in be- 

 half of the extreme liberal party, and as a 

 speaker before popular bodies he was inferior to 

 no political agitator of his day. His eloquence 

 was of the rhetorical order, nervous and culti- 

 vated, abounding in fine phrases and humorous 

 illusions, nicely adjusted to the comprehension 

 of his hearers, and characterized by telling 

 hits. These qualities commended him to the 

 Anti-Corn Law League as an opponent of the 

 protective system. He entered heartily into 

 the cause, addressed meetings in all parts of 

 the kingdom, and contributed powerfully to the 

 success of the movement. The reputation he 



thus acquired carried him into Parliament in the 

 general election of 1847, as member for Old- 

 ham, formerly represented by William Cobbett. 

 He was returned again for the same borough 

 in 1852 and 1857, and held his seat until 1862, 

 when falling health, combined with impaired 

 eyesight, amounting almost to blindness, im- 

 pelled him to resign. He spoke on comparatively 

 few occasions in Parliament, his peculiar style 

 of eloquence being less suited to a deliberative 

 body than to a miscellaneous audience, and 

 during the latter part of his legislative career 

 he lapsed into almost complete silence, his 

 spirit seeming to become singularly softened 

 and cleared by old age. He was a man of fine 

 literary tastes, possessed no mean acquaintance 

 with old English authors and the ancient clas- 

 sics, and throughout his life was thoroughly 

 honest and earnest, being described as one 

 "who loved the people without feeling any 

 passion for the aristocracy, though he made 

 them food for his rhetoric. " His publications, 

 apart from his numerous contributions to the 

 periodicals, comprise, "Letters of a Norwich 

 Weaver-Boy," " Lectures to the Working 

 Classes," a philosophical work on " Religious 

 Ideas," &c., &c. 



FRANCE, an empire in Europe. Emperor, 

 Napoleon III., Louis Napoleon, born April 20th, 

 1808, the third son of Louis Napoleon, formerly 

 King of Holland, and of Queen Hortense ; elect- 

 ed President of the French Republic for four 

 years by 5,562,834 votes; November 10th, 1848, 

 dissolved the National Assembly by a coup 

 d'etat, December 2d, 1851 ; elected President 

 of the Republic for ten years by 7,439,216 votes, 

 December 20-21, 1851 ; chosen hereditary em- 

 peror by a "plebiscite" of 7,864,189 votes 

 against 231, 145 votes, November 21st, 22d, 1852 ; 

 accepted the imperial dignity and assumed the 

 title of Napoleon III., Emperor of the French, 

 December 1st, 1852. Son : Napoleon Eugene 

 Louis John Joseph, born March 16th, 1856. 



According to a decree of the Senate of Nov. 

 7th, 1852, the imperial dignity is hereditary in 

 the male and legitimate line of descendants of 

 the present emperor, in the order of primo- 

 geniture. Napoleon III. also reserved the 

 right, in case he should leave no male children, 

 to nominate as his successor a member of the 

 family of Napoleon I., and he accordingly nomi- 

 nated his uncle Jerome, ex-king of Westphalia, 

 and his male descendants, from his marriage 

 with Catherine, Princess of Wurtemberg. The 

 same right of nominating a successor does not, 

 however, belong to any of the successors of 

 Louis Napoleon. If this imperial line should 

 become extinct, the members of the council of 

 state, together with the presidents of the senate 

 and the legislative chamber "will elect an em- 

 peror, whose election must be ratified by the 

 popular vote. 



The present French constitution bears date 

 of January 14th, 1852, and has subsequently 

 been modified by Senate decrees of November 

 7th, 1852, February 2d, 1861, and December 



