should appear in Kent; but, observes Burnet, ‘his purse was more considered than his head, and was open on all occasions as the party applied to him’ (Own Time, Oxford edit. iv. 304). He refused, however, to take any share in the infamous plot against the life of William III, although he kept the secret. On the discovery of the conspiracy he was arraigned for high treason at the Old Bailey, 23 March 1696, and was denied the assistance of counsel by Chief-justice Holt. The act which allowed counsel in cases of treason came into operation two days later (25 March). Friend was convicted and sentenced to death. He could only helplessly protest that the witnesses against him ‘were papists, and not to be believed against protestants.’ His life might yet have been spared had he not manfully refused to betray his confederates to a committee of the House of Commons (Luttrell, iv. 38–9). Together with Sir William Parkyns he was executed at Tyburn 3 April 1696. They received absolution at the scaffold from three nonjuring clergymen [see under Jeremy Collier]. Friend's remains were barbarously set up at Temple Bar, ‘a dismal sight,’ says Evelyn, ‘which many pitied’ (Diary, ed. Wheatley, iii. 128). Aylmer, the bookseller, for printing Friend's trial, ‘wherein his lordship (i.e. Holt) is misrepresented,’ was arrested by order of Holt in May (Luttrell, iv. 55). Friend was twice married. According to Le Neve (l. c.), ‘Mr. Gibbon, John, write a little pamphlet called the whole life & conversation of Sr Jo. friend.’ The name is spelt indifferently ‘Freind’ or ‘Friend.’
[Will of William Freind (P. C. C. 140, Hyde); Howell's State Trials, xiii. 1–64, 133–8, 406; Burnet's Own Time (Oxford edit. 1823), iv. 304–307; Cal. State Papers, Treas. 1690–1700; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. i. 25.]
FRISELL, FRASER (1774–1846), friend of Chateaubriand and Joubert, of British, probably Scottish parentage, was educated at the university of Glasgow. He was in France, for the purpose of finishing his education, in 1793, when, in pursuance of the decree of the convention for the arrest of strangers, he was thrown into prison at Dijon, where he remained for fifteen months. There he made the acquaintance of Mme. de Guitaut, whose hospitality he accepted until his return to England, after the signature of the treaty of Amiens. He was again in France on the renewal of the war in 1803, and was again imprisoned, but not for long. Frisell now took up his residence at Paris, where he lived during the remainder of his life, spending, however, a portion of each year in travel, and in visits to Mme. de Guitaut and her husband at Epoisses. He became the intimate friend of Chateaubriand, Joubert, Fontanes, and their circle. In memory of Frisell's daughter Élisa, who died at Passy in 1832, Chateaubriand, while in prison on charge of participation in the Duchesse de Berry's attempt to overthrow the Orleanist régime, composed the touching stanzas, ‘Jeune Fille et Jeune Fleur’ (Chateaubriand, Mémoires d'Outre-tombe, x. 147–61, where the verses are given), and portions of the affectionate correspondence between Frisell and Joubert have been preserved (Pensées et Correspondance de J. Joubert, ed. Paul de Raynal, 1862, pp. 249, 265; Les Correspondants de J. Joubert, ed. by the same, 1883, p. 351). He died while on a visit to England in February 1846.
Frisell was a man of considerable accomplishments. Chateaubriand called him ‘le Gréco-Anglais,’ and Count Marcellus, while styling him fantastic, testifies to his culture and knowledge. His manner is described as reserved and his conversation sarcastic, with an affectation of indifference which annoyed his friends, particularly Mme. de Chateaubriand; but he was generally beloved. The only work that he is known to have written is an ‘Étude sur la Constitution de l'Angleterre, avec des remarques sur l'ancienne Constitution de la France,’ 1820.
[Les Correspondants de J. Joubert, mentioned above; Le Comte de Marcellus' Chateaubriand et son Temps; Athenæum, 1846, p. 175.]
FRISWELL, JAMES HAIN (1825–1878), miscellaneous writer, son of William Friswell, of 93 Wimpole Street, London, attorney-at-law, was born at Newport, Shropshire, 8 May 1825, and educated at Apsley School, near Woburn, Bedfordshire. He was intended for the legal profession, which he did not enter, but for some years was obliged to follow a business which was uncongenial to his tastes. He early showed a preference for literature, and contributed in 1852 to the 'Puppet Show,' conducted by Angus B. Reach and Albert Smith. Much of his life was devoted to the defence of Christianity. He was a frequent contributor to 'Chambers's Journal,' the 'Leader,' the 'Spectator,' the 'London Review,' the 'Saturday Review,' and the 'Pictorial World.' His first successful works were 'Houses with the Fronts off,' brought out in 1854, and 'Twelve inside and one out. Edited from the Papers of Mr. Limbertongue,' which appeared in the following year. In January 1858 he founded the Friday Knights, a social society, the name of which was changed to the Urban
