Frauds, Pious, " artifices and falsehoods made use of in propagating what is believed to be useful to the cause of religion. The}' are the offspring of sinceri- ty and insincerity ; of religious zeal combined with a defective morality ; of conscientiousness in respect of the end, and unscrupulous dishonesty as to the means : without the one of these ingredients, there could be no fraud ; without the other, it could in no sense be term- ed a pious fraud. These frauds have been more par- ticularly practised in the Church of Kome. But Prot- estants, in their abhorrence of the frauds that have been so often employed in support of that corrupt sys- tem, are prone to forget, or at least not sufliciently to consider, that it is not the corruptness of the system that makes the frauds detestable, and that their sep- aration from the Church of Rome does not place them in a situation which exempts tiiem from all danger of falling into corruptions ; among the rest, into the jus- tification of pious frauds, substantially similar to those with which that Church is so justly reproached. See Whatcly, Errors of liomnnism." — Eden, Church Dic- tionary, s. V. See Casuistry ; Probabilism.
Frayssiuous, Denis, Count of, an eminent prel- ate of the (iallican Churcli, bishop of Hermopolis, peer of France, commander of the order of th'e Holy Ghost, etc., was born May 9, 1765, at Curieres, in Gascony. His father designed him for the law, \iut he preferred
the Church, and in 1788 he attached himself to the community of Laon, directed by the priests of St. Sul- pice, in Paris. The society was broken up by the Revolution, l>ut after the adoption of Napoleon's con- cordat in 1801 it was reunited, and Frayssinous be- came lecturer on dogmatic theology. In 1803 he com- menced a series of "catechetical conferences" in St. Sulpice, which had great success. Xjipoleon threat- ened to break up these conferences unless Frayssinous would make certain political recommendations to his hearers ; but he would not consent, nor was he further disturbed. These meetings were suspended by the Church authorities from 1809 to 1814, then continued till 1822 ; and his lectures at them were printed under the title Defense du Christianisme (Paris, 1823, 3 vols. 8vo), containing a resume of previous books on the evidences, with additional scientific arguments. It was translated into English, Defense of Christianity, in a Series of Lectures, etc. (London, 1836, 2 vols. 8vo). After the restoration (1814) he became very popular at court, and was made first almoner of Louis XVIII. He refused to accept the bishopric of Nismes, but in 1822 was made bishop of Hermopolis inpartibus infde- liitm. In the same year he was made grand master of the University and a member of the Academy, and one of his first acts was to put an end to Guizot's lectures on history "as of dangerous tendency." In 1824 he became peer of France and minister of public instruc- tion and worship. He was also minister of worship un- der Charles X, but soon retired ; and gave his advice, in retirement, against the famous Ordonnances which led to the Revolution of 1830. He followed the fortunes of Charles X, who died in his arms at Goritz. Frays- sinous died at St. Geniez Dec. 12, 1841. His life was written by Henrion (2 vols. 8vo). Besides the work mentioned above, he wrote Les Vrais Principes de VEylise Gallicane sur la jmissance ecclesiastiqiie, la pa- paute, etc. (1817, 8vo), a work said by the Ultramon- tanists to " look towards Jansenism, or something worse." According to it, the pope is infallible only when in harmony with the voice of the entire Church, — Iloefer, Nouv. Biog. Geniralc, xviii, 619.
Fredegise or Fridiigise, a medieval monkish writer, was of English origin, and flourished in the 9th century. He was a pupil of Alcuin, who took him to France, where he obtained emplo}'ment at the court of Charlemagne. He succeeded iUcuin in the abbey of St. Martin, and had also conferred on him those of St. Berlin and Cormery, and was cliancellor to Louis le Debonnaire. His Epistola de Nihilo et tenehris (pre- served in the Miscellanea of Baluze, toni. i) is divided into two parts, and the author attempts to show in the first part that the nihilum is something real, and in the second that the tenebraj are a corporeal substance. His work against Agobard is lost, but the description of Cormery in the poems of Alcuin is generally attrib- uted to him. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gaiirale, xviii, 626, (J.W. M.)
Frederiks,WiLLEM, was an enlightened Roman Catholic ])riest, who contributed much to prepare the way for tlic Reformation in Holland. In earlier life he enjoyed the friendship of John Wessel and R, Agricola, and in later years that of Erasmus. He was a man of learning, and also skilled in medicine. He was pastor of St. INIartin's church in Groningen, He also frequently served the city in a political ca- pacity. He acquired great influence, and was highly esteemed. Erasmus regarded him not only as an en- lightened man, but as a model priest. He belonged to a circle in which the spirit of Wessel continued to live. Associated with such men as Evcrard Jarghcs, Herman Abring, Nikolaas Lesdorp, Johannes Tim- mermans, and Gerard Pistoris, he diffused liberal ideas more in harmony with the views of the Reform- ers than with those of the Roman hierarchy. The Do- minicans attempted to counteract these liberal views