John Hookham Frere, 

 British diplomatist 



After J. Boppner 



FREQUENCY 



Frequency OR PERIODICITY. 

 The number of complete double 

 reversals per second of an alternat- 

 ing electric current. It ranges from 

 10 to 100,000 or more in differ- 

 ent kinds of apparatus. See Gen- 

 erator ; Induction Coil ; Wireless 

 Telegraphy. 



Frere, JOHN HOOKHAM (1769- 

 1846). British diplomatist and 

 translator Born in London, May 21, 

 1769, eldest 

 son of John 

 Frere (1740- 

 1807), the an- 

 tiquary, he 

 was educated 

 at Eton, where 

 he began his 

 friendship and 

 literary colla- 

 boration with 

 George C a n - 

 ning, and at 

 his father's college (Caius) at Cam- 

 bridge, of which he was fellow 1793- 

 1816. He entered the foreign office, 

 and in 1796-1802 represented West 

 Looe in the House of Commons. He 

 was foreign under-secretary, 1799 ; 

 envoy to Lisbon, 1800-2 ; minister 

 at Madrid, 1802-4 ; privy coun- 

 cillor, 1805 ; and minister to Spain 

 again, 1808-9, being recalled after 

 the retreat of Moore to Corunna. He 

 settled in 1818 at Malta, where he 

 died, Jan. 7, 1846, being buried in the 

 English cemetery beside his wife. 

 Frere, who twice refused a peer- 

 age, as a writer sought more the 

 critical approval of the few than 

 the applause of the public for his 

 work. While at Eton he joined 

 Canning and others in promoting 

 The Microcosm, 1786-87 ; and dis- 

 played a remarkable power of 

 writing in the style of the ancient 

 ballads. He was one of the found- 

 ers of The Quarterly Review. His 

 pungent wit and metrical facility 

 show to advantage in his render- 

 ings of The Acharnians, Knights, 

 Birds, and Frogs, of Aristophanes, 

 1840. Byron was indebted to him 

 for the ottava rima of Beppo. 

 See Works, with memoir by W. E. 

 and Sir Bartle Frere, 1872; the 

 Translations of Aristophanes, with 

 intro. by W. W. Merry, 1907. 



Frere, SIR HENRY BARTLE 

 EDWARD (1815-84). British ad- 

 ministrator. Born at Clydach, 

 Brecknock- 

 shire, March 

 29, 1815, and 

 educated a t 

 Bath Gram- 

 mar School 

 and Hailey 

 bury, he en- 

 t^red the 

 Bombay civil 



Sir Bartle Frere service in 

 British administrator 1834. For his 



3346 



FRESHFIELD 



services during 

 the Mutiny he re- 

 ceived the thank? 

 o f both Houses 

 o f Parliament, 

 and was created 

 K.C.B. He was 

 governor of Bom- 

 bay from 1862-67, 

 and after accom- 

 panying the 

 Prince of Wales to 

 India, received a 

 baronetcy in 1876. 

 In 1877, he was 

 appointed gover- 



m 



Fresco. The Crucifixion, and, above, 



Christ received by two Dominican 



monks, painted in fresco by Fra 



Angelico in S. Mark's, Florence 



nor of the Cape, and high com- 

 missioner for the settlement of 

 native affairs in S. Africa, with 

 a view to the confederation of the 

 S. Africa colonies. His action in 

 relation to the Zulu War was cen- 

 sured by the Government, his con- 

 duct of affairs in India and Africa 

 was violently assailed by Gladstone 

 in the Midlothian campaign, and 

 he was recalled in 1880. The justi- 

 fication of his action is contained 

 in his Correspondence relating to 

 the Recall of Sir Bartle Frere, 1880, 

 and in Afghanistan and South 

 Africa : a Letter to the Right Hon. 

 W. E. Gladstone, 1881. He died, 

 May 29, 1884, and was buried in 

 S. Paul's. A monument to him, 

 on the Thames Embankment, was 

 unveiled by the Prince of Wales 

 in 1888, and a " house " at Hailey- 

 bury College was named "Bartle 

 Frere" in his honour. See Life 

 and Correspondence, John Mar- 

 tineau, 1895. 



Frere-Orban, HUBERT JOSEPH 

 WALTER (1812-96). Belgian states- 

 man. Born at Liege, April 24, 

 1812, he adopted the legal profes- 

 sion, and in!847 was elected deputy 

 for his native city. Minister of 



I 



K nance, 1848-52, he introduced 

 various reforms, reduced postal 

 rates and advocated free trade. He 

 was prime minister, 1868-70, and 

 was again in power from 1878-84, 

 carrying through many educational 

 reforms. Leader of the opposition 

 until 1894, he died, Jan. 2, 1896. 



Frere Town. Settlement of 

 Kenya Colony. It stands on the 

 mainland, opposite Mombasa, and 

 was named after Sir Bartle Frere. 

 Here is a station of the Church 

 Missionary Society, founded in 

 1874, with schools and hospital. 



Fresco (Ital., fresh). Method of 

 painting in water colour upon fresh 

 mortar. It was the favourite pro- 

 cess of mural decoration before the 

 introduction of oil painting. The 

 plaster must be fresh in order to 

 absorb the colour, and since it dries 

 rapidly, the artist must work with 

 great dexterity, decision, and speed. 

 The wall must be free of saltpetre, 

 and only such colours can be em- 

 ployed as are not affected by lime 

 a limitation which excludes 

 certain of the most brilliant greens, 

 reds, and yellows. 



The artist first of all drew a 

 cartoon (q.v.), and then transferred 

 it piecemeal to as much fresh 

 plaster as he could cover " at a 

 sitting." The palette was dis- 

 pensed with because it could not 

 hold enough colours, and pots of 

 different colours were used instead. 

 Though regarded as a process of 

 water-colour painting without 

 agglutinantSj size, or white or yolk 

 of egg was required to fix certain 

 colours. Theoretically,fresco should 

 last as long as the wall which it 

 adorns, but meteorological con- 

 ditions are vital, a damp climate 

 being fatal. See Painting. 



Freshfield. Cape or promontory 

 on the coast of King George V 

 Land (q.v. ), Antarctica. It is in lat. 

 68-69 S., and long. 151 E., and 

 separates Cook Bay from Deakin 

 Bay. Discovered by the Mawson 

 Expedition of 1911-14, it was 

 named after the English explorer 

 and mountaineer, D. W. Freshfield. 



