28 
F R E 
Tlioiigh if they are fevered from tlie freeliold, whether 
by the owner or a thief, if he fevered them at one time, 
and took them away at another, it was larceny to take 
tliem. i Hawk. P.C. But now, by 4Geo. II. c. 32, to 
fteal lead on hoiifes, &c. is made felony. 
The ftanue of Magna Charta, c. 29, ordains, “tliat no 
perfon (hall be dilfeifed of his freehold but by judgment 
of his peers, or according to the law of th.e land which 
does not only relate to common difTeifins, but the king 
may not othecwife feize into his hands the freehold of 
the fubjeft. Wood’s Inji. 614. None fliall dillrain any 
freeholders to anfwer for their freeholds, or any thing 
touching the fame, without the king’s writ. III. 
c. 22. Nor diall any perfon be compelled to anfwer for 
his freehold, be'ore any lord of a manor. i^Rkh. II. c. 12. 
—For the freehold qualifications neceffary in certain cafes, 
fee the article P.\Rr,tAMENT ; and for the definition and 
defcription of freehold eftates, fee the article Estates, 
vo!. vii. p. 25. 
FREE'HOLD, a town of the American. States, in 
Monmouth county, New Jerfey, fifteen miles weft of 
Shrewfbury, and twenty fouth-eaft by fouth of New 
Brunfwick. In this town was fought the obftinate battle 
called the Monmouth battle, on the 28th of June, 1778, 
between the American army under general Walhington, 
and the Englifti under the command of general fir Henry 
Clinton, who was retreating from Philadelphia. This 
town contains 3785 inhabitants. 
FREE'HOLD, a toivnftiip of the American States, in 
Albany county. New York, containing 1822 inhabitants, 
of w hom 562 are qualified to be electors. 
FREEHOLDER, f. One who has a freehold.—As 
extortion did banifti the old Englifti freeholder, who could 
not live but under the law; fo the law did banifti the 
irifti lord, wlm could not live but by extortion. Davies. 
FREE'LY, At liberty; without vaftalage ; with¬ 
out flavery ; without dependence. Without reltraint; 
heartily ; wdth full guft.—If my fon were my hufband, 
I would yree/fer rejoice in that abfence wherein he won 
honour, than in the embracements of his bed, where he 
would fliew moft: love. Skakefj>eare. —Plentifully ; lavilhiy : 
T pledge your grace ; and if you knew what pains 
I liave beftow’d to breed this prefent peace. 
You would drink freely. S'lahefpeare. 
Without fcruple ; without referve : 
Let fuch teach others who themfelves excel. 
And cenfure freely w ho have written well. Pope. 
Without impediment.—To follow rather the Goths in 
rhyming than the Greeks in true verlifying, were even to 
eat acorns with fwine, when we miy freely eat w heat- 
bread among men. Afckain. 
The path to peace is virtue: what I ftiow, 
Thyfelf may freely on thyfelf beftow : 
Fortune was never worftiipp’d by the wife ; 
But fet aloft by fools, ufurps the Ikies. Drydcn. 
Without neceftity ; without predetermination.—He leaves 
us to chufe with the liberty of reafonable beings: they 
who comply with his grace, comply with it freely ; and 
they who rejedl it, do alfo freely reject it. Rogers .— 
Frankly ; liberally ; without coft.—By nature all things 
have an equally uncommon ufe : nature freely and indif¬ 
ferently opens the bofomsof the univerfe to alPinankind. 
South. —Spontaneoully ; of its own accord. 
FREE'MAN,y". One not a flave ; not a valLd.—If to 
break loofe from the conduct of reafon, and to want that 
reftraint of examination and judgment which keeps us 
from chilling or doing the worft, be liberty, true liberty, 
madmen and fools are the only freemen. Locke .—One par- 
t iking of rights, privileges, or immunities: 
He made us Jreeinen of the continent, 
Wiiat nature did like captives treat before. Dryden. 
What this union was is exprelTed in the preceding verfe, 
F R E 
by their both having been made freemen on the lame day, 
Addifon. 
In the diftinflion of a freeman from a vaftT.d under the 
feudal policy, liber homo was commonly oppofed to vajfus 
or vajfalus-, the former, denoting an allodial proprietor ; 
tile latter, one who held of a fuperior. See the article 
T ENURE. 
FREEMIND'ED, adj. Unperplexed ; without load 
of care. — To be freeminded, and cheerfully difpofed, at 
hours of meat, deep, and exercife, is one of the bed pre¬ 
cepts of long lading. Bacon. 
FREEMO'NT, a cape on the north coaft: of the ifland 
of Jerfey ': five miles north of St. Helier. 
FREE'NESS, y. The date or quality of being free. 
Opennefs; unrefcrvednels; ingenuoufnefs ; candour.— 
The reader may pardon it, if he pleafe, for the fremefs of 
the confcllion. Dryden. —Generofity ; liberality. — I hope 
it w ill never be faid that the laity, who by the clergy.are 
taught to be charitable, Ihallin theircorporationsexceed 
the clergy itfelf, and their Ions, in freenefs of giving. 
Spratt. 
FREE'PORT, a townftiip of the American States, in 
Cumberland county, diftrict of Maine, firuated at the 
head of Cafco-bay ; adjoining to Durham on the nortli. 
eaft and to North Yarmouth on the fouth-weft : about 
ten miles north-eaft of Portland, and 140 north by eaft of 
Bofton. It was incorporated in 1789, and contains 1330 
inhabitants. 
FREE'SCHOOL, y. A fchool in w hich learning is 
given without pay.—To give a civil education to the 
youth of this land in the time to come, provifion was 
made by another law, that there Ihould be one freefchool 
at lead: eredled in every diocefe. Davies. 
FREE'SPOKEN, adj. Accuftomcd to fpeak without 
referve. 
FREE'STONE, f. Stone commonly ufed in building, 
as fand-ftone, Portland-done, &c.—Freeftone is fo named 
from its being of fuch a conftitution as to be w roughtand 
cut freely in any direction. Woodward .— The ftreets are 
generally paved with brick or freefone, and always kept 
very neat. Addifon on Italy. 
FREE'THINKER, 7. A libertine; a contemner of 
religion.—Of what ufe is freedom of thought, if it will 
not produce freedom of adtion, which is the foie end, 
how remote foever in appearance, of ali objedtions againft 
Chriftianity ? And therefore the freethinkers conifer \i 
as an edifice, wherein all tiie parts have fuch a mutual 
dependance on each otlier, that if you pull out one fingle 
nail, the whole fabric mud: fall to the ground. Swift. 
FREEWILL', f. The power of diredling our own 
aflions without reftraint by neceftity or fate.—Vv'e have 
a power to fufpend tiie profecution of this or that defire : 
this feems to me the fource of all liberty ; in this feems 
to conlift that which is improperly called freewill. Locke. 
Voluntarinefs ; fpontaneity.—I make a decree, that all 
they of the people of Ifrael in my realm, which are 
minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerufalem, go 
with thee. Ezra, vii. 13. 
FREE''VVII.L-ISLAND,an iftand in theEaftern Indian 
Ocean. Lat. o. 50. N. Ion. 137. 51. E. Greenwich. 
FREE'WOMAN, f. A woman not enflaved. — All her 
ornaments are taken away ; of a freewoman (he is become 
a bondftave. i Mac. ii. ii. 
To FREEZE, v.n. prcier. froze-, \vriefen, Dut.] To 
be congealed with cold. See the articles Freezing, 
Frost, and Ice.— The aqueous humour of the eye will 
not freeze, which is very admirable, feeing it hath the 
perfpicuity and fluidity of common water. Ray .— To be 
of that degree of cold by which water is congealed.—• 
Thou art all ice, thy kiiidnefsyreeza. Shakefpeare. 
Fleav’nyroze above fevere, the clouds congeal, 
And thro’ the cryftal vault appear’d the ftanding hail. 
Dryden. 
To FREEZE, v. a. pret./rozej jstxrX. frozen or froze. 
To 
