FREEHOLD 



3331 



FREEMAN'S JOURNAL 



the freedom of the seas in the 

 treaty of Versailles or the covenant 

 of the League of Nations. 



Such a doctrine, if generally 

 accepted, would deprive sea powers 

 of a right which they have almost 

 without exception asserted in past 

 wars, and would confer an enor- 

 mous advantage on land powers. 

 Armies on land can seize hostile 

 property and interfere in any way 

 they like with neutral trade. 

 Fleets at sea would be forbidden 

 to exercise similar authority. 

 Germany, during the war, declared 

 her acceptance of the new doctrine 

 precisely as she had accepted 

 and guaranteed before the war the 

 neutrality of Belgium ; but what 

 the German government meant by 

 it was thus stated by Count Re- 

 ventlow in March, 1917 : " that 

 Germany should possess such 

 maritime territories and such naval 

 bases that, on the outbreak of war, 

 she would be able with her navy 

 reasonably to guarantee herself 

 the command of the seas." By 

 indiscriminately sowing mines, 

 without any warning, outside terri- 

 torial waters on Aug. 25-26, 1914, 

 in the North Sea, and on the main 

 ^. Atlantic trade route in Oct., 

 1914, at the very outset of the war 

 the German navy showed its 

 complete disregard of the doctrine 

 which the German government 

 professed to uphold. See Sea Power. 



H. W. Wilson 



Freehold. Term used in English 

 law for land which is free from 

 all charges save those to the state. 

 The essence of it is that it cannot 

 be held for a definite term of 

 years, however long ; it must be 

 indefinite. It is the best kind of 

 tenure known to English law, being 

 superior to both copyhold and 

 leasehold. It began as land held by 

 a freeman on a free tenure, and is 

 now the most common form of 

 landholding. What is called a 

 customary freehold is a kind of 

 copyhold. See Land Laws. 



Freelance (Ger. freier Lands 

 kneckt, free land trooper). Term 

 originally applied in Germany, and 

 afterwards in other countries, to 

 one who sold his military service 

 to whom he pleased. This usually 

 meant to the highest bidder, with- 

 out regard to more than inclina- 

 tion or pay. In the later Middle 

 Ages, and for some time after- 

 wards, freelances were very numer- 

 ous in Italy and France, and spread 

 over the rest of Europe. Some- 

 times called a soldier of fortune, 

 sometimes a mercenary, he wan- 

 dered from place to place,- if a 

 noble, with a following of men-at- 

 arms, or in company with a 

 number of others like himself. 

 Captain Dugald Dalgetty, in Scott's 



Legend of Montrose, was a soldier of 

 this type. The English form free- 

 lance comes from confusion with 

 Lanzknecht (lance trooper). See Con- 

 dottieri ; Frano-tireur ; Mercenary. 

 In a modern sense the term is 

 applied to anyone who in politics, 

 or any form of contest, preserves 

 his independence of party or asso- 

 ciation. In journalism a freelance 

 is a writer who earns a livelihood 

 by contributing to newspapers and 

 periodicals without being attached 

 to the regular staff of any one of 

 them. The Free-Lance was a 

 London weekly paper started by 

 Clement Scott (q.v. ) in 1900. 



Freeman. One who is free, 

 i.e. one who is not a slave. The 

 distinction between the two classes, 

 bond and free, is an old one. It 

 was found among the Greeks and 

 earlier. In Rome there were two 

 classes of freemen, those who were 

 born free and those who were freed. 

 Among the Teutonic tribes of 

 Europe, including the Anglo- 

 Saxons, the freeman was the one 

 who enjoyed political power and 

 other privileges, who fought, held 

 land, and, in general, formed the 

 dominant class. 



The freeman of to-day is one who 

 possesses the freedom of a city or 

 borough, e.g. London, this being in 

 former days the right to share in 

 its government and to enjoy cer- 

 tain material privileges. In Eng- 

 land this freedom is now regulated 

 under the Acts of 1835 and 1882. 

 By these acts freemen by purchase 

 or gift were abolished, the right 

 being confined to birth, servitude, 

 and marriage. Honorary freedom 

 of a city or borough is a privilege 

 granted to persons of distinction. 

 Freemen of the City of London 

 play an important part in the 

 election of the sheriffs. See City 

 Companies : Slavery. 



Freeman, EDWARD AUGUSTUS 

 (1823-92). British historian. Born 

 at Harborne, Aug. 2, 1823, he was 

 educated a t 

 private 

 schools. As 

 a boy he 

 showed mark- 

 ed ability, 

 and in 1841 

 entered Trin- 

 ity College, 

 Oxford, as a 

 scholar. Four 

 years later he 

 was elected a 

 fellow of Trinity. Having married, 

 he settled down in the country to 

 the career of a writer, making his 

 home from 1860 at Somerleaze, near 

 Wells. His first book was A His- 

 tory of Architecture, 1849. He 

 also wrote a great deal for the re- 

 views, especially The Saturday 



Edward A. Freeman, 

 British Historian 



Elliott & Fry 



Review, and travelled much abroad. 

 Freeman's historical works place 

 him in the front rank of British 

 historians, and are based upon an 

 exhaustive study of original author- 

 ities. The first was an unfinished 

 History of Federal Government, 

 1863, followed by the History of 

 the Norman Conquest,6 vols.,1867- 

 99, which remains the chief author- 

 ity for the period, although later 

 scholarship has declared against 

 some of its theories. 



In 1884 Freeman was appointed 

 regius professor of modern history 

 at Oxford, a post he had desired in 

 1858, but his best work was already 

 done. He delivered the statutory 

 lectures, but his health was bad, 

 and he died at Alicante, Spain, 

 March 16, 1892. A man of strong 

 and outspoken views, he attained 

 some eminence as a Liberal politi- 

 cian, but failed to enter Parliament. 

 He denounced the iniquities of the 

 Turks, and showed warm sym- 

 pathy for the Greeks. His minor 

 works include Historical Essays, 

 1871-92 ; The Reign of Rufus and 

 Accession of Henry I, 1882 ; His- 

 tory of Sicily, 1891-4 (completed by 

 A. J. Evans). See Life and Letters, 

 W. R. W. Stephens, 1895. 



Freeman, MARY ELEANOR WIL- 

 KENS (b. 1862). American novelist. 

 Born at Randolph, Mass., and edu- 

 cated at Mount Holyoke seminary, 

 she contributed short stories to the 

 leading periodicals, and published 

 her book, The Adventures of Ann, 

 in 1886. In 1887 she won wide 

 popularity with A Humble Ro- 

 mance. She gained valuable liter- 

 ary experience by her long work 

 as secretary to Oliver Wendell 

 Holmes. Her work shows sympa- 

 thy and quiet humour in presenting 

 country types of the New England 

 villages. Later works included 

 A New England Nun, 1891 ; Jane 

 Field, 1892; Madelon, 1896 

 Silence, 1898 ; Jamesons, 1899 ; 

 The Shoulders of Atlas, 1908 ; The 

 Copy-Cat, 1914. 



Freeman's Journal, THE. Dub- 

 lin daily newspaper. Started as 

 The Public Register, or Freeman's 

 Journal, a bi-weekly sheet, Sept. 

 10, 1763, it dropped its first title 

 in July, 1807. In the opening part 

 of the 19th century it became 

 the organ of the Irish Nationalists. 

 From 1879 to 1902 it was the 

 official organ of Dublin Castle. 

 Henry Grattan is said to have 

 written first for The Freeman's 

 Journal his character of Lord 

 Chatham. The paper was tempor- 

 arily suspended in Dec., 1918, by 

 the military authority because of 

 alleged publications calculated to 

 create disaffection ; and, on a 

 similar charge, was the subject 

 of two courts-martial in 1920. N. V. 



