FRONDE 



2343 



FROST 



retary to the queen. He was at Bordeaux on 

 Twelfth Night, 1367, when Richard, the son of 

 the Black Prince, was born; and he was bidden 

 to write down the fact for his book of Chron- 

 icles. When Queen Philippa died in 1369, 

 Froissart went back to his own country of 

 Hainault, where he worked diligently on his 

 Chronicles. Not much is known of the last 

 years of his life, and the date of his death is 

 uncertain. 



FRONDE, jroNd, a French word meaning 

 sling, the name given to the period of civil 

 strife in France during the minority of Louis 

 XIV, from 1648 to 1653, and also applied to 

 the aggressive faction concerned in that strug- 

 gle. The conflict was called the "War of the 

 Fronde," or of the "Slingers," a contemptuous 

 reference to the common use of the sling 

 among the urchins of Paris. The movement 

 originated with the opposition of the Parlia- 

 ment of Paris to the tyrannous measures of 

 Mazarin, the Prime Minister (see MAZARIN). 

 In the insurrection which followed, the forces 

 of the Parliament were overruled by the Prince 

 of Conde, acting for the court party. Later 

 Conde quarreled with Mazarin, who arrested 

 him. This action aroused the nobles and led 

 to the Prime Minister's exile. Soon after when 

 Louis XIV came of age, he recalled Mazarin 

 and placed Turenne at the head of the army. 

 Conde was defeated near Paris in 1652, which 

 conquest led to the final victory of the court 

 party and of Mazarin. 



FRONTENAC, jroNtenak', COMTE Louis 

 (1620-1698), an able, energetic, farseeing gov- 

 ernor of New France, the name applied to the 

 early French possessions in North America. 

 He, together with Champlain and LaSalle, 

 formed the trio which established the French 

 power in America. It was Frontenac, more 

 than any other man, who placed it on such 

 a firm basis that it survived his death for 

 three-fourths of a century. 



When Frontenac was appointed governor of 

 New France in 1672 he was already in middle 

 life. As a mere boy he had become a soldier, 

 at twenty-three he was a colonel, and at 

 twenty-six he was a brigadier-general. He saw 

 active service in Flanders, Germany and Italy. 

 His military habits, his occasional arbitrary 

 commands and his frequent outbursts of tem- 

 per involved him in difficulties with the civil 

 authorities of the province in America after 

 he became governor. He was tactful and mas- 

 terful by turns in his dealings with the Indians, 

 and the colony as a whole prospered under his 



rule. He encouraged exploration of the West, 

 and his aid stimulated LaSalle, Joliet and 

 Marquette. Meanwhile he quarreled inces- 

 santly with the intendant, or treasurer, of the 

 province, and with the priests, until finally, in 

 1682, he was recalled to France. 



An interval of only seven years was enough 

 to prove that New France needed Frontenac's 

 iron rule, and in 1689 Louis XIV reappointed 

 him as governor. It was the ultimate aim of 

 the French to drive the English out of North 

 America, or at least to restrict them to a nar- 

 row strip along the Atlantic Ocean. Frontenac 

 at once began vigorous campaigns against the 

 Iroquois, who were being encouraged and aided 

 in their attacks on New France by the English. 

 The New York and New England frontier be- 

 came the scene of a cruel warfare. Frontenac's 

 bands of French and Algonquins burned and 

 plundered, but were unable to make perma- 

 nent conquests. In 1690 Frontenac defended ) 

 Quebec against an English fleet, and in 1696 

 he finally compelled the Iroquois Indians to 

 sue for peace. The Treaty of Ryswik (1697), 

 which put a temporary stop to the war, was 

 followed in less than a year by the death of 

 Frontenac. 



FROST, a beautiful formation of ice which 

 bestows on bare and unsightly trees magic 

 garments of sparkling crystal, and traces on 

 the windowpane patterns as lovely as the most 

 delicate filigree work. The work of "Jack 

 Frost" is described in an old-fashioned poem 

 that many a child has memorized: 



He went to the windows of those who slept, 

 And over the pane like a fairy crept ; 

 Wherever he breathed, wherever he stepped, 

 By the light of the Moon were seen 

 Most beautiful things ; there were flowers and 



trees, 



There were bevies of birds, and swarms of bees. 

 There were cities with temples and towers, and 



these 

 All pictured in silver sheen. 



Frost is the moisture always found in the 

 air, condensed on vegetation and other objects 

 when the temperature falls below the freezing 

 point, 32 F. During the daytime the earth 

 absorbs much heat from the sun's rays; this 

 heat it gives up again as soon as the sun sets. 

 On the rapidly-cooling surface of the earth, 

 the moisture in the atmosphere is chilled and 

 condensed, b.ut so long as the temperature re- 

 mains above 32 F., dew is formed instead of 

 frost. Thus, dew may be said to correspond to 

 rain and frost to snow. Practically it may be 

 said that frost is frozen dew. The frost for- 



