described the horrors of slavery in the French colo- nies, lie also published a copy of the reports he had made in his official capacity, in which he vig- orously denounced slavery. France was the object of daily ovations by the negroes, who had begun to show signs of discontent. The governor of the colony, becoming alarmed, arrested the colonel and sent him to France, where he was tried and sus- pended from his duties. On his return to Mar- tinique he found himself in straitened circum- stances, and a subscription was raised among the colored class to aid him. When the revolution of 1848 emancipated the slaves, he was chosen their delegate to the legislative assembly. He returned to Martinique in 1852, and until his death was a member of the general council of the colony. Prom 1800 till 1863 he was chief clerk of the administra- tion, and from 1862 till 1868 private counsellor to the governor. France is the author of " Histoire de la Guadeloupe" (4 vols., Paris, 1855); " Les cor- saires franQais dans les Antilles " (1857) ; " Histoire de la flibuste " (1860) : " Questions coloniales "' (1860) ; and " Statistique physique et politique de la Martinique" (1861).
FRANCHÈRE, Gabriel, explorer, b. in
Montreal, 3 Nov., 1786; d. in St. Paul, Minn., in 1856.
He was educated in Montreal, and trained to
commercial pursuits by his father. In 1810 he bound
himself for five years to the Pacific fur company,
formed by John Jacob Astor, and was a member
of the expedition sent to develop the fur-trade
beyond the Rocky mountains. He returned to
New York with several of his companions in less
than two months, and in September, 1810, sailed
on the “Tonquin” for the Columbia river, where
the expedition arrived in March, 1811, after suffering
many hardships. Franchère was one of the
witnesses to the transfer of Astoria to the Northwest
company, after the breaking out of hostilities
between the United States and England, and
remained for some time in the service of that
company, but finally resolved to return to Canada. In
order to reach Montreal he travelled a distance of
5,000 miles by the overland route in canoes or on
foot. Franchere removed to Sault Ste. Marie in
1834, and engaged in the fur-trade. He afterward
established the commercial house of Franchère and
Company in New York city. A large number of
French Canadians having emigrated to the United
States after the rebellion of 1837, he established
the Société St. Jean-Baptiste with the object of
preserving the religion, language, and nationality
of his compatriots. He was the last survivor of
the Astor expedition. He published “Relation
d'un voyage à la Côte du Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique
septentrionale dans les années 1810-'14” (1820;
English translation, edited by J. V. Huntington,
New York, 1854). This was the first history of the
Astor expeditions, and the first work containing
detailed accounts of the interior of Oregon. It
forms the basis of Washington Irving's “Astoria,”
and supplied Thomas H. Benton with materials
for his great speech on the Oregon question.
FRANCIA, José Gaspar Rodriguez (fran'-
the-a), dictator of Paraguay, b. in Asuncion in
1757 or 1758 ; d. there, 20 Sept., 1840. He boasted
that he was of French extraction, but his father
is supposed to have been born in Brazil, and to
have emigrated to Paraguay. His mother was a
Spanish Creole. He studied for the priesthood at
the seminary of his native city, and afterward in
the University of Cordova, where he received the
degree of D. D., and was for a short time professor
of theology. He then practised law, and was ap-
pointed to several public offices. When the inde-
pendence of Paraguay was declared Francia was
elected secretary of the revolutionary junta, who
were scarcely able to read and write. In October,
1813, the junta was abolished, and Yegros and
Francia appointed joint consuls for a year ; but
Francia was the moving spirit of the government,
and in 1814 he was made dictator for three years,
at the end of which time he contrived to secure a
re-election for life. Pie ruled the state with a des-
potic sway, but husbanded the national resources
with great sagacity. No export or import trade
was allowed without the dictator's license, and an
exorbitant duty and death awaited those who were
detected leaving the country without his permis-
sion. The opponents of his rule were either shot
or imprisoned. Some of Francia's prisoners were
subjected to the most cruel tortures, and his ap-
parent delight in torture gave rise to the belief
that, like some of his brothers, he was occasionally
deranged. On the other hand, he was generally
humane toward the poor. He had once been fond
of gambling and social and sensual enjoyments,
but now he resided in the palace of the former
Spanish governors in complete seclusion, attended
only by four servants. His barber, a mulatto, was
the principal channel of his communication with
the outer world. He had great mental powers,
which he cultivated by study and reading. He was
especially fond of the French literature of the 18th
century, and an admirer both of Robespierre and
Napoleon. The anecdotes of his eccentricities were
almost as numerous as the reports of his cruelties.
Two Swiss surgeons, Renger and Longchamp,
whom he detained from 1819 to 1825, published an
" Essai Historique sur la Revolution de Pai-aguay et
le Gouvernement Dictatorial du Docteur Francia "
(Paris, 1827). Two young Scotchmen, J. P. and
W. P. Robertson, who went to Paraguay on a
commercial venture and were expelled by the dic-
tator, gave appalling accounts of his administra-
tion in "Letters on Pai'aguay " (2 vols., London,
1838) ; " Francia's Reign of Terror " (1839) ; and
" Letters on South America " (3 vols., 1843).
FRANCIS, Convers, clergyman, b. in West
Cambridge, Mass., 9 Nov., 1795 ; d. in Cambridge, 7
April, 1863. He studied at Medford academy, and
was graduated at Harvard in 1815. Afterward he
studied theology in the Cambridge divinity-school,
and on 23 June, 1819, was ordained pastor of the
Unitarian church in Watertown, Mass., where he
remained twenty-three years. In 1842 he was ap-
pointed professor of pulpit eloquence and the pas-
toral care in Harvard, which chair he continued to
hold to the end of his life. He was a brother of
Lydia Maria Child, the philanthropist and au-
thor. Harvard gave him the degree of D. D. in
1837. He contributed to religious periodicals, and
published " Errors of Education," a discourse at
the anniversary of the Derby academy in Hing-
ham (1828) ; " Historical Sketch of Watertown "
(1830) ; " Dudlean Lecture at Cambridge " (1833) ;
" Life of Rev. John Eliot, the Apostle to the In-
dians," in the fifth volume of Sparks's " American
Biography " (1836) ; memoirs of Rev. John Allvn,
D. D., of Duxbury (1836), Dr. Gamaliel Bradford
(1846), and Judge Davis (1849): and " Life of Se-
bastian Rale " (Boston, 1848). See William New-
ell's " Memoirs of Con vers Francis " (" Massachu-
setts Historical Society's Proceedings, 1864-'5 "),
and John Weiss's " Discourse on the Death of Con-
vers Francis" (Boston, 1863).
FRANCIS, James Bicheuo, civil engineer, b. in Southleigh, England, 18 May, 1815 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 18 Sept., 1892. He was educated at Radley Hall, Berkshire, and, after gaining a practical
