girdle, comprehends a great many de- hard. Among other errors inculcated in votees. Italy, Spain, and Portugal, are this book, it is pretended that St. Franthe countries where are seen the great-cis was the angel mentioned in Rev. xiv. est number of these fraternities, some of which assume the name of arch-fraternity. Pope Clement VII. instituted the arch-fraternity of charity, which distributes bread every Sunday among the poor, and gives portions to forty poor girls on the feast of St. Jerome, their patron. The fraternity of death buries such dead as are abandoned by their relations, and causes masses to be celebrated for them. 6, and had promulgated to the world the true and everlasting Gospel; that the Gospel of Christ was to be abrogated in 1260, and to give place to this new and everlasting Gospel, which was to be substituted in its room; and that the ministers of this great reformation were to be humble and barefooted friars, destitute of all worldly employments. Some say, they even elected a pope of their church; at least they appointed a general with superiors, and built monasteries, &c. Besides the opinions of Oliva, they held that the sacraments of the church were invalid, be no longer any power or jurisdiction. They were condemned again by pope John XXII. in consequence of whose cruelty they regarded him as the true antichrist; but several of them, return FRATRICELLI, an enthusiastic sect of Franciscans, which arose in Italy, and particularly in the marquisate of Ancona, about the year 1294. The word is an Italian diminutive, signifying frater-cause those who administered them had culi, or "little brothers," and was here used as a term of derision, as they were most of them apostate monks, whom the Italians call fratelli or fratricelli. For this reason, the term fratricelli, as a nick-name, was given to many othering into Germany, were sheltered by sects, as the Catharists, the Waldenses, &c. however different in their opinions and their conduct. But this denomination, applied to the austere part of the Franciscans, was considered as honourable. See FRANCISCANS. Lewis, duke of Bavaria, the emperor. There are authentic records, from which it appears, that no less than 2000 persons were burnt by the inquisition, from the year 1318 to the time of Innocent VI. for their inflexible attachment to the order of St. Francis. The severities against them were again revived, towards the close of the fifteenth century, by pope Nicholas V. and his successors. However, all the persecutions which this sect endured were not sufficient to extinguish it; for it subsisted until the times of the reformation in Germany, when its remaining votaries adopted the cause and embraced the doctrine and discipline of Luther. FRAUDS, PIOUS. See PIOUS FRAUDS. The founders of this sect were P. Maurato and P. de Fossombroni, who, having obtained of Pope Celestin V. a permission to live in solitude after the manner of hermits, and to observe the rule of St. Francis in all its rigoar, several idle vagabond monks joined them, who, living after their own fancies, and making all perfection to consist in poverty, were soon condemned by pope Boniface VIII. and his successor, and the inquisitors ordered to proceed against them as heretics: which commission they executed with their usual FREE AGENCY is the power of barbarity. Upon this, retiring into Si- following one's inclination, or whatever cily, Peter John Oliva de Serignan had the soul does, with the full bent of preno sooner published his comment on the ference and desire. Many and long have Apocalypse, than they adopted his te- been the disputes on this subject; not nets. They held the Romish church to that man has been denied to be a free be Babylon, and proposed to establish agent; but the dispute has been in what another far more perfect one: they it consists. See articles LIBERTY and maintained that the rule of St. Francis WILL. A distinction is made by wriwas the evangelical rule observed by ters between free agency, and what is Jesus Christ and his apostles. They called the Arminian notion of free will. foretold the reformation of the church, The one consists merely in the power of and the restoration of the true Gospel following our prevailing inclination; the of Christ, by the genuine followers of other in a supposed power of acting St. Francis; and declared their assent contrary to it, or at least of changing it. to almost all the doctrines which were The one predicates freedom of the published under the name of the abbot man; the other, of a faculty in man; Joachim, in the "Introduction to the which Mr. Locke, though an anti-neEverlasting Gospel," a book published cessarian, explodes as an absurdity. in 1250, and explained by one of the The one goes merely to render us acspiritual friars, whose name was Ger-countable beings; the other arrogantly they said at these times was heard and received with reverence and awe. In the year 1706, three or four of these prophets came over into England, and brought their prophetic spirit along with them, which discovered itself in the same ways and manners, by ecsta claims a part, yea, the very turning point of salvation. According to the latter, we need only certain helps or assistances, granted to men in common, to enable us to choose the path of life; but, according to the former, our hearts being by nature wholly depraved, we need an almighty and in-cies, and agitations, and inspirations unvincible Power to renew them. See NECESSITY. FREE THINKER, an appellation given to those persons who deny revelation or the Christian religion. One of the most admirable and pointed addresses to free thinkers, any where to be met with, may be found in the dedication to Warburton's Divine Legation of Moses. See also an admirable paper in the Guardian, No. 70; and article DEISTS. FRENCH CHURCH. See CHURCH GALLICAN. der them, as it had done in France; and they propagated the like spirit to others, so that before the year was out there were two or three hundred of these prophets in and about London, of both sexes, of all ages; men, women, and children: and they had delivered under inspiration four or five hundred prophetic warnings. kingdom of the Messiah, the marriage of the Lamb, the first resurrection, or the new Jerusalem descending from above, were now even at the door; that this great operation was to be wrought on the part of man by spiritual arms only, proceeding from the mouths of those who should by inspiration, or the mighty gift of the Spirit, be sent forth in great numbers to labour in the vineyard; that this mission of his servants should be witnessed to by signs and wonders from heaven, by a deluge of judgments on the wicked universally throughout the world, as famine, pestilence, earthquakes, &c. that the exterminating angels shall root out the tares, and there shall remain upon earth only good corn; and the works of men being thrown down, there shall be but one Lord, one faith, one heart, one voice among mankind. They declared that all the great things they spoke of would be manifest over the whole earth with The great things they pretended by their spirit was, to give warning of the near approach of the kingdom of God, the happy times of the church, the millennium state. Their message was (and FRENCH PROPHETS. They first they were to proclaim it as heralds to appeared in Dauphiny and Vivarais. In the Jews, and every nation under hea the year 1688, five or six hundred Pro- ven, beginning at England,) that the testants of both sexes gave themselves grand jubilee, the acceptable year of out to be prophets, and inspired of the the Lord, the accomplishment of those Holy Ghost. They soon became so nu- numerous Scriptures concerning the merous, that there were many thou-new heaven and the new earth, the sands of them inspired. They were people of all ages and sexes without distinction, though the greatest part of them were boys and girls from six or seven to twenty-five years of age. They had strange fits, which came upon them with tremblings and faintings as in a swoon, which made them stretch out their arms and legs, and stagger several times before they dropped down. They struck themselves with their hands, they fell on their backs, shut their eyes, and heaved with their breasts. They remained a while in trances, and, coming out of them with twitchings, uttered all which came in their mouths. They said they saw the heavens open, the angels, paradise, and hell. Those who were just on the point of receiving the spirit of prophecy, dropped down not only in the assemblies, crying out mercy, but in the fields, and in their own houses. The least of their assemblies made up four or five hundred, and some of them amounted to even three or four thou-in the term of three years. sand persons. When the prophets had for a while been under agitations of body, they began to prophesy. The burden of their prophecies was, Amend your lives; repent ye: the end of all things draws nigh! The hills rebounded with their loud cries for mercy, and imprecations against the priests, the church, the pope, and against the antichristian dominion, with predictions of the approaching fall of popery. All These prophets also pretended to the gift of languages, of discerning the secrets of the heart, the gift of ministra tion of the same spirit to others by the laying on of the hands, and the gift of healing. To prove they were really inspired by the Holy Ghost, they alleged the complete joy and satisfaction they experienced, the spirit of prayer which was poured forth upon them, and the answer of their prayer by God. FRIAR (brother,) a term common to the monks of all orders. In a more peculiar sense, it is restrained to such monks as are not priests: for those in orders are usually dignified with the appellation of father. FRIENDSHIP, a mutual attachment subsisting between two persons, and arising not merely from the general principle of benevolence, from emotions of gratitude for favours received, from views of interest, nor from instinctive affection or animal passion; but from an opinion entertained by each of them that the other is adorned with some amiable or respectable qualities. Various have been the opinions respecting friendship. Some have asserted that there is no such thing in the world; others have excluded it from the list of Christian virtues; while others, believing the possibility of its existence, suppose that it is very rare. To the two former remarks we may reply, that there is every reason to believe that there has been, and is such a thing as friendship. The Scriptures present us both with examples of, and precepts concerning it. David and Jonathan, Paul and Timothy, our Lord and Lazarus, as well as John, are striking instances of friendship. Solomon exhorts us in language so energetic, as at once shews it to be our duty to cultivate it. "Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not.' "Make sure of thy friend, for faithful are the wounds of a friend," &c. The genius and injunctions of the Christian religion seem also to inculcate this virtue; for it not only commands universal benevolence to men, but promotes the strongest love and friendship between those whose minds are enlightened by divine grace, and who behold in each other the image of their Divine Master. As friendship, however, is not enjoyed by every one, and as the want of it rises often from ourselves, we shall here subjoin, from an eminent writer, a few remarks by way of advice respecting it. 1. We must not expect perfection in any with whom we contract fellowship.-2. We must not be hurt by differences of opinion arising in intercourse with our friends.-3. It is material to the preservation of friendship, that openness of temper and obliging manners on both hands be cultivated.--4. We must not listen rashly to evil reports against our friends.-5. We must not desert our friends in danger or distress. Blair's Ser. ser. 17. vol. iv. Bp. Porteus's Ser. vol. i. ser. 15. W. Melmoth's Translation of Cicero's Lælius, in a Note. FRIENDS, Society of. See QUAKERS. FRUGALITY, is the keeping due bounds in expenses; it is the happy mean between parsimony on the one hand, and prodigality on the other. The example of Christ, John vi. 12. the injunctions of God's word, Luke xv. 1. Prov. xviii. 9. the evil effects of inattention to it, Luke xi. 1. 13. the peace and comfort which arise from it, together with the good which it enables us to do to others, should operate as motives to excite us to the practice of it. Wood's Ser. on Frugality, 1795; Robinson's Mor. Ex. ex. 3. Ridgley's Body of Div. 546, 3d edition. FUNERAL RITES, ceremonies accompanying the interment or burial of any person. The first people who seemed to have paid any attention to their dead were the Egyptians. They took great care in embalming their bodies, and building proper repositories for them. This gave birth to those wonders of the world, the Egyptian pyramids. On the death of any person among them, the parents and friends put on mournful habits, and abstained from all banquets and entertainments. This mourning lasted from forty to seventy days, during which time they embalmed the body. Before the dead were allowed to be deposited in the tomb, they underwent a solemn judgment. If any one stepped forth, accused them, and proved that the deceased had led an evil life, the judges pronounced sentence, and the body was precluded from burial. Even their sovereigns underwent this judicature; and Diodorus Siculus asserts, that many kings had been deprived of the honours of burial, and that the terrors of such a fate had a salutary influence on the virtue of their kings. The funeral rites among the Hebrews were solemn and magnificent. The relations and friends rent their clothes; and it was usual to bend the dead person's thumb into the hand, and fasten it in that posture with a string, because the thumb then having the figure of the name of God, they thought the devil would not approach it. They made a funeral oration at the grave, after which they prayed; then turning the face of the deceased towards heaven, they said, "Go in peace." The Greeks used to put a piece of money in the mouth of the deceased, which was thought to be the fare over the infernal river: they abstained from banquets; tore, cut, or shaved their hair; sometimes throwing themselves Bb on the ground, and rolling in the dust; || of the Latin. It needs only to be ob beating their breasts, and even tearing served, that, after the funeral service, their flesh with their nails. they kiss the crucifix, and salute the mouth and forehead of the deceased; after which, each of the company eats a bit of bread, and drinks a glass of wine in the church, wishing the soul a good repose, and the afflicted family all consolations. Bingham's Antiqu. b. 2. Enc. Brit.; Buxtorf's Synag. p. 502. The funeral rites among the Romans were very numerous.-They kept the deceased seven days, and washed him every day with hot water, and sometimes with oil, if possibly he might be revived, in case he were only in a slumber; and every now and then his friends, meeting, made a horrible shout with the same view: but if they found he did not revive, he was dressed and embalmed with a performance of a variety of singular ceremonies, and at last brought to the funeral pile, and burnt: after which his ashes were gathered, inclosed in an urn, and deposited in the sepulchre or tomb. The ancient Christians testified their abhorrence of the pagan custom of burning their dead, and always deposited the body entire in the ground; and it was usual to bestow the honour of embalming upon the martyrs, at least, if not upon others. They prepared the body for burial by washing it with water, and dressing it in a funeral attire. This was performed by near relations, or persons of such dignity as the circumstances of the deceased required. Psalmody, or singing of psalms, was the great ceremony used in all funeral processions among the ancient Christians. In the Romish church, when a person is dead, they wash the body, and put a crucifix in his hand. At the feet stands a vessel of holy water, and a sprinkler, that they who come in may sprinkle both themselves and the deceased. In the mean time some priest stands by the corpse, and prays for the deceased till it is laid in the earth. In the funeral procession the exorcist walks first, carrying the holy water; next the cross bearer; afterwards the rest of the clergy; and, last of all, the officiating priest. They all sing the miserere, and some other psalms; and at the end of each psalm a requiem. It is said, that the faces of deceased laymen must be turned towards the altar when they are placed in the church, and those of the clergy towards the people. The corpse is placed in the church, surrounded with lighted tapers. After the office for the dead, mass is said; then the officiating priest sprinkles the corpse thrice with holy water, and as often throws incense on it. The body being laid in the grave, the friends and the relations of the deceased sprinkle the grave with holy water. The funeral ceremonies of the Greek church are much the same with those FUTURE STATE, a term made use of in relation to the existence of the soul after death. That there is such a state of existence, we have every reason to believe; "for if we suppose," says a good writer, "the events of this life to have no reference to another, the whole state of man becomes not only inexplicable, but contradictory and inconsistent. The powers of the inferior animals are perfectly suited to their station. They know nothing higher than their present condition. In gratifying their appetites, they fulfil their destiny, and pass away.-Man, alone, comes forth to act a part which carries no meaning, and tends to no end. Endowed with capacities which extend far beyond his present sphere, fitted by his rational nature for running the race of immortality, he is stopped short in the very entrance of his course. He squanders his activity on pursuits which he discerns to be vain. He languishes for knowledge which is placed beyond his reach. He thirsts after a happiness which he is doomed never to enjoy. He sees and laments the disasters of his state, and yet, upon this supposition, can find nothing to remedy them. Has the eternal God any pleasure in sporting himself with such a scene of misery and folly as this life (if it had no connection with another) must exhibit to his eye? Did he call into existence this magnifi cent universe, adorn it with so much beauty and splendour, and surround it with those glorious luminaries' which we behold in the heavens, only that some generations of mortal men might arise to behold these wonders, and then disappear for ever? How unsuitable in this case were the habitation to the wretched inhabitant! How inconsistent the commencement of his being, and the mighty preparation of his powers and faculties, with his despicable end! How contradictory, in fine, were every thing which concerns the state of man, to the wisdom and perfections of his Maker!" But that there is such a state is clear from many passages of the New Testament, John v. 24. Acts vii. 9. Rom. viii. 10, 11. 2 Cor. v. 1, 2. Phil. i. 21. 1 Thess. iv. 14. 1 Thess. v. 10. Luke general apostasy, their virtue was most xvi. 22, &c. But, though these texts conspicuous; such good men, in such a prove the point, yet some have doubted state, would have vast additional reawhether there be any where in the Old sons for expecting future rewards, beTestament any reference to a future yond what could arise from principles state at all. The case, it is said, appears common to the rest of mankind; so that to be this: the Mosaic covenant contain- we cannot wonder that we find in the ed no promises directly relating to a writings of the prophets many strong future state; probably, as Dr. Warbur- expressions of such an expectation, ton asserts, and argues at large, because particularly Gen. xlix. 18. Ps. xvi. 9 to Moses was secure of an equal provi-11. Ps. xvii. last ver. Ps. Ixxiii. 17, 27. dence, and therefore needed not subsi- Eccl. iii. 15, 16, &c. Eccl. vii. 12, 15. diary sanctions taken from a future Is. iii. 10, 11. Ezek. xviii. 19, 21. Job state, without the belief of which the xix. 23, 37. Dan. xii. 2. Is. xxxv. 8. doctrine of an universal providence can- Is. xxvi. 19. The same thing may also not ordinarily be vindicated, nor the be inferred from the particular promises general sanctions of religion secured. made to Daniel, Dan. xii. 13. to ZerubBut, in opposition to this sentiment, as babel, Hag. ii. 23. and to Joshua, the Doddridge observes, "it is evident that high priest, Zech. iii. 7. as well as from good men, even before Moses, were those historical facts recorded in the animated by views of a future state, Old Testament of the murder of Abel, Heb. xi. 13, 16, as he himself plainly the translation of Enoch and Elijah, the was, 24 to 26 verse; and that the pro- death of Moses, and the story of the mises of heavenly felicity were contain-witch of Endor, and from what is said ed even in the covenant made with of the appearance of angels to, and their Abraham, which the Mosaic could not converse with good men." See articles disannul. Succeeding providences also INTERMEDIATE STATE, RESURREC confirmed the natural arguments in its TION, and SouL; also Doddridge's Lecfavour, as every remarkable interposi- tures, lect. 216; Warburton's Divine tion would do; and when general pro- Legation of Moses, vol. ii. p. 553-568; mises were made to the obedient, and Dr. Addington's Dissertations on the an equal providence relating to the na- Religious Knowledge of the ancient tion established on national conformity Jews and Patriarchs, containing an ento the Mosaic institution, and not merely || quiry into the evidences of their belief to the general precepts of virtue; as and expectation of a future state; such an equal providence would neces- Blair's Sermons, ser. 15, vol. i.; Robinsarily involve many of the best men in son's Claude, vol. i. p. 132; W. Jones's national ruin, at a time when, by pre- Works, vol. vi. ser. 12; Logan's Serserving their integrity in the midst of mons, vol. ii. p. 413. G. GAIANITÆ, a denomination which || pray for infidel princes, they separated derived its name from Gaian, a bishop of Alexandria, in the sixth century, who denied that Jesus Christ, after the hypostatical union, was subject to any of the infirmities of human nature. themselves from the rest of the Jews, and performed their sacrifices apart. As our Saviour and his apostles were of Galilee, they were suspected to be of the sect of the Galileans; and it was on this principle, as St. Jerome observes, that the Pharisees laid a snare for him, asking, Whether it were lawful to give tribute to Cæsar? that in case he denied it, they might have an occasion of accusing him. GALILEANS, a sect of the Jews which arose in Judea some years after the birth of our Saviour. They sprang from one Judas, a native of Gaulam, in upper Galilee, upon the occasion of Augustus appointing the people to be mustered, which they looked upon as an GAZARES, a denomination which instance of servitude which all true Is- appeared about 1197 at Gazare, a town raelites ought to oppose. They pre- of Dalmatia. They held almost the tended that God alone should be owned same opinions with the Albigenses; but as master and lord, and in other re- their distinguishing tenet was, that no spects were of the opinion of the Phari-human power had a right to sentence sees; but as they judged it unlawful to men to death for any crime whatever. |