A system of communism devised by Charles Fourier, the French Socialist, in 1832. The proposal was to form communities of 1,800 persons each, known as _phalanges_, to be united under a central government. The gains of each _phalange_ were to be held in common. An attempt to establish the system near Versailles was completely unsuccessful. Fourth Party. A small but active body of free-lances of the Conservative party, which was formed under Lord Randolph Churchill during the session of 1880. Though various Conservative members acted with it from time to time, the party is generally considered to have consisted of four persons. Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Gorst, Sir H. Drummond Wolff and Mr. Arthur Balfour. Francfief. A tax on commoners who became possessed of fiefs, to compensate for their inability to render military service. It was imposed by Louis IX of France in 1260, and abolished by his successor, Philip III. Franchise Act. An Act passed in 1884, assimilating the county to the borough franchise, and giving the vote to residents in a house who are neither occupiers nor lodgers (known as the Service Franchise) under certain restrictions. In the House of Lords, Lord Cairns carried an amendment that the Act should not become operative until a Redistribution Bill had been passed. Franciscans. An order of mendicant friars, founded by St. Francis d’Assisi, and authorized by Innocent II in 1215. They were not confined to monasteries, like the earlier orders, but worked amongst the poor, and took themselves a vow of poverty in addition to the ordinary monastic vows. Franco-American Treaty, 1778. A treaty by which France recognized the independence of the United States. Both parties agreed to give each other most-favoured-nation treatment in tariff matters, while America accepted the French interpretation of the treaties of Utrecht and Paris with respect to the Newfoundland fishery question, thus admitting the right of France not only to the fishing, but to the use of one half of the shore for drying stations. France further agreed to recognize any conquests made by the United States from England in the course of the war. Franco-Annamese Treaty, 1874. A treaty between France and Annam, by which Annam recognized the French sovereignty of Lower Cochin China, and granted free navigation of the Red River. Franco-Siamese Treaty, 1893. By this instrument Siam ceded to France all her territory on the east of the Mekong, and agreed to keep no fortified place within fifteen miles of the river on the west bank. France was to occupy Chantaboon until the conditions were fulfilled. Franco-Siamese Treaty, 1902.