and both before and after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 welcomed large numbers of Huguenots, who added greatly to the welfare of the country. Education was not neglected; and if in this direction some of his plans were abortive, it was from lack of means and opportunity rather than effort and inclination. It is difficult to overestimate the services of the great elector to Brandenburg and Prussia. They can only be properly appreciated by those who compare the condition of his country in 1640 with its condition in 1688. Both actually and relatively its importance had increased enormously; poverty had given place to comparative wealth, and anarchy to a system of government which afterwards made Prussia the most centralized state in Europe. He had scant sympathy with local privileges, and in fighting them his conduct was doubtless despotic. His aim was to make himself an absolute ruler, as he regarded this as the best guarantee for the internal and external welfare of the state.
The great elector died at Potsdam from dropsy on the 9th of May 1688, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Frederick. His personal appearance was imposing, and although he was absolutely without scruples when working for the interests of Brandenburg, he did not lack a sense of justice and generosity. At all events he deserves the eulogy passed upon him by Frederick the Great, “Messieurs; celui-ci a fait de grandes choses.” His second wife, whom he married in 1668, was Dorothea (d. 1689), daughter of Philip, duke of Holstein-Glücksburg, and widow of Christian Louis, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg; she bore him four sons and three daughters. His concluding years were troubled by differences between his wife and her step-son, Frederick; and influenced by Dorothea he bequeathed portions of Brandenburg to her four sons, a bequest which was annulled under his successor.
See S. de Pufendorf, De rebus gestis Friderici Wilhelmi Magni (Leipzig and Berlin, 1733); L. von Orlich, Friedrich Wilhelm der grosse Kurfürst (Berlin, 1836); K. H. S. Rödenbeck, Zur Geschichte Friedrich Wilhelms des grossen Kurfürsten (Berlin, 1851); B. Erdmannsdörffer, Der grosse Kurfürst (Leipzig, 1879); J. G. Droysen, Geschichte der preussischen Politik (Berlin, 1855–1886); M. Philippson, Der grosse Kurfürst (Berlin, 1897–1903); E. Heyck, Der grosse Kurfürst (Bielefeld, 1902); Spahn, Der grosse Kurfürst (Mainz, 1902); H. Landwehr, Die Kirchenpolitik des grossen Kurfürsten (Berlin, 1894); H. Prutz, Aus des grossen Kurfürsten letzten Jahren (Berlin, 1897). Also Urkunden und Aktenstücke zur Geschichte des Kurfürsten Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg (Berlin, 1864–1902); T. Carlyle, History of Frederick the Great, vol. i. (London, 1858); and A. Waddington, Le Grand Électeur et Louis XIV (Paris, 1905).
FRÉDÉRICK-LEMAÎTRE, ANTOINE LOUIS PROSPER (1800–1876)
French actor, the son of an architect, was born at Havre
on the 28th of July 1800. He spent two years at the Conservatoire,
and made his first appearance at a variety performance
in one of the basement restaurants at the Palais Royal. At
the Ambigu on the 12th of July 1823 he played the part of Robert
Macaire in L’Auberge des Adréts. The melodrama was played
seriously on the first night and was received with little favour,
but it was changed on the second night to burlesque, and thanks
to him had a great success. All Paris came to see it, and from
that day he was famous. He created a number of parts that
added to his popularity, especially Cardillac, Cagliostro and
Cartouche. His success in the last led to an engagement at the
Porte St Martin, where in 1827 he produced Trente ans, ou la
vie d’un joueur, in which his vivid acting made a profound
impression. Afterwards at the Odéon and other theatres he
passed from one success to another, until he put the final touch
to his reputation as an artist by creating the part of Ruy Blas
in Victor Hugo’s play. On his return to the Porte St Martin he
created the title-rôle in Balzac’s Vautrin, which was forbidden
a second presentation, on account, it is said, of the resemblance
of the actor’s wig to the well-known toupet worn by Louis
Philippe. His last appearance was at this theatre in 1873 as the
old Jew in Marie Tudor, and he died at Paris on the 26th of
January 1876.
FREDERICKSBURG, a city of Spottsylvania county, Virginia, U.S.A., on the Rappahannock river, at the head of tide-water navigation, about 60 m. N. of Richmond and about 55 m. S.S.W. of Washington. Pop. (1890) 4528; (1900) 5068 (1621 negroes); (1910) 5874. It is served by the Potomac, Fredericksburg & Piedmont, and the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac railways, and by several coasting steamship lines. The city is built on a series of terraces between the river and hills of considerable height. The river is here spanned by iron bridges, and just above the city is a dam 900 ft. long and 18 ft. high. By means of this dam and a canal good water-power is furnished, and the city’s manufactures include flour, leather, shoes, woollens, silks, wagons, agricultural implements and excelsior (fine wood-shavings for packing or stuffing). The water-works, gas and electric-lighting plants are owned and operated by the municipality. At Fredericksburg are Fredericksburg College (founded in 1893; co-educational), which includes the Kenmore school for girls and the Saunders memorial school for boys (both preparatory); a Confederate and a National cemetery (the latter on Marye’s Heights), a monument (erected in 1906) to General Hugh Mercer (c. 1720–1777), whose home for several years was here and who fell in the battle of Princeton; and a monument to the memory of Washington’s mother, who died here in 1789 and whose home is still standing. Other buildings of interest are the old Rising Sun Hotel, a popular resort during Washington’s time, and “Kenmore,” the home of Colonel Fielding Lewis, who married a sister of Washington. The city was named in honour of Frederick, father of George III., and was incorporated in 1727, long after its first settlement; in 1871 it was re-chartered by act of the General Assembly of Virginia.
The battle of Fredericksburg in the American Civil War was fought on the 13th of December 1862 between the Union forces (Army of the Potomac) under Major-General A. E. Burnside and the Confederates (Army of Northern Virginia) under General R. E. Lee. In the middle of November, Burnside, newly appointed to command the Army of the Potomac, had manœuvred from the neighbourhood of Warrenton with a view to beginning an offensive move from Fredericksburg and, as a preliminary, to seizing a foothold beyond the Rappahannock at or near that place. On arriving near Falmouth, however, he found that the means of crossing that he had asked for had not been forwarded from Washington, and he sat down to wait for them, while, on the other side, the Confederate army gradually assembled south of the Rappahannock in a strong position with the left on the river above Fredericksburg and the right near Hamilton’s Crossing on the Richmond railway. On the 10th of December Burnside, having by now received his pontoons, prepared to cross the river and to attack the Confederate entrenched position on the heights beyond the town. The respective forces were Union 122,000, Confederate 79,000. Major-General E. V. Sumner, commanding the Federal right wing (II. and IX. corps), was to cross at Fredericksburg, Major-General W. B. Franklin with the left (I. and VI. corps) some miles below, while the centre (III. and V. corps) under Major-General Joseph Hooker was to connect the two attacks and to reinforce either at need. The Union artillery took position along the heights of the north bank to cover the crossing, and no opposition was encountered opposite Franklin’s command, which formed up on the other side during the 11th and 12th. Opposite Sumner, however, the Confederate riflemen, hidden in the gardens and houses of Fredericksburg, caused much trouble and considerable losses to the Union pioneers, and a forlorn hope of volunteers from the infantry had to be rowed across under fire before the enemy’s skirmishers could be dislodged. Sumner’s two corps crossed on the 12th. The battle took place next morning.
Controversy has raged round Burnside’s plan of action and in particular round his orders to Franklin, as to which it can only be said that whatever chance of success there was in so formidable an undertaking as attacking the well-posted enemy was thrown away through misunderstandings, and that nothing but misunderstandings could be expected from the vague and bewildering orders issued by the general in command. The actual battle can be described in a few words. Jackson held the right of Lee’s line, Longstreet the left, both entrenched. Franklin, tied by
