Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/554

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526
FRANCO
FRANKLIN

and his troops. Franco defended himself as well as he could, but, lacking the means necessary to continue the defence, he retired on board a man- of-war. He had belonged to the Conservative party, but on account of its corruption went over to the other. He was a member of all the legisla- tures, and was one of the most eloquent orators of South America. From 31 May till 29 Sept. he was minister of foreign relations. On July 5, 1855, the emperor appointed him senator for Para, and on 4 May, 1857, he became secretary of the treasury, and in 1864 counsellor of state. In 1866 Franco was appointed president of the province of Rio Janeiro, which had been impoverished by the war with Paraguay, but soon improved. In 1865 he re- signed the presidency of Rio Janeiro, as this office was incompatible with his duties as counsellor of state. On 28 Sept.. 1871, emancipation, for which Franco and other distinguished Brazilians had labored so hard, was decreed. In 1872 he was made Viscount Franco by the emperor.


FRANCO, Francisco de Mello, Brazilian phy- sician, b. in Paracatu, 7 Sept., 1757; d. in Ubatuba, 22 July, 1823. He studied medicine at the Uni- versity of Coimbra, Portugal, where also he culti- vated poetry and published " Reino da Estupidez " (1778), which was condemned by the Inquisition, and the author was imprisoned in 1779. In 1785, after his release, he was graduated as doctor, and settled in Lisbon, where in 1795, he became Court physician. He was one of the founders of the Geo- graphical academy. In 1817 he accompanied to Brazil the Archduchess Mary Leopoldine, affianced bride of the prince-royal Dom Pedro. When, in 1820, the constitutional struggle in Portugal be- gan, Franco by his writings encouraged the Lib- eral party, and he also declared for the demo- cratic ideas when the same movement occurred in Brazil in 1821. The king immediately dismissed Franco from service at the palace, and he was reduced to comparative poverty. He published "Flora portugueza e brazileira" (12 vols.); " Tra- tado de educagao physica dos raeninos para uso da nagao portugueza " ; " Ensaio sobre as febres, com observagoes aeerca da topographica e cJima do Rio Janeiro " ; " Elementos de Hygiene " ; and a vol- ume of poems (1777).,


FRANCO DE SA, Joaquim (fran'-co-da-sah'), Brazilian magistrate, b. in Alcantara, Brazil, 25 Dec, 1807; d. in Rio Janeiro, 10 Nov., 1851. He studied in Portugal, but in 1828 returned to Brazil, and was graduated in law at the Academy of Olinda in 1832. In 1833 he became public prose- cutor at Maranhao, next year judge of the dis- trict court for Sao Luiz, and afterward held many places of public trust. In 1841 he was elected a deputy in the national parliament, and in 1844 was appointed president of the province of Para- hyba, where he introduced reforms. When his na- tive province, Maranhao, became a prey to hostile parties. Franco was called to the presidency, 27 Oct., 1846. He formed the " Liga-liberal-maranheuse " of the best elements of the opposing parties, and this society soon became his firm supporter in the preservation of public order, which in a few months was fully restored. Franco gave a great impulse to public instruction, establishing many schools, and xinder his administration the first newspaper, " Progreso," was published in the province. In less than two years he made the province one of the most prosperous and flourishing of the empire. He resigned the presidency, 1 Oct., 1848, and re- tired to private life.


FRANKLAND, Sir Charles Henry, bart., col- lector of the port of Boston, b. in Bengal, India, 10 May, 1716; d. in Bath, England, 11 Jan., 1768. He was a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, and his father was governor of the East India com- pany's factory in Bengal. The intellectual attain- ments of the son won him such friends as Horace Walpole, Henry Fielding, and Lord Chesterfield, whom he was said to resemble both in manners and appearance. On the death of his father in Bengal in 1738, he inherited a large fortune, and was of- fered the governorship of Massachusetts and the coUectorship of the port of Boston. He accepted the latter office, and in 1741 came to Boston with Sir William Shirley, who was given the former. Frankland identified himself with King's Chapel under Roger Price, and contributed toward its support. While visiting Marblehead, which was authorized to erect a fortification for the defence of its harbor, Frankland became interested in a girl of about sixteen who was scrubbing the tavern floor. Although meanly clad, Agnes Surriage pos- sessed great beauty and wit, and Frankland sought permission of her parents to have her educated. On the death of his uncle. Sir Thomas Frankland, in 1746, he succeeded to the baronetcy. In 1751 he bought a large estate in Hopkinton, Mass., where he built a fine mansion, and furnished it in costly style. The grounds were embellished with walks, fruit-trees, rare shrubbery, and hedges of box, which in 1862 had attained a height of ten feet. In 1752 he retired to this estate with Agnes Surri- age, and lived in great luxury, following the chase and indulging in various sports. The will of his uncle being contested, he returned to England in 1754, where he attempted to introduce Agnes Sur- riage to his relatives, one of whom had married the Earl of Ciiichester. She was treated with disdain, and as soon as his affairs were settled, Frankland left England for a continental tour. For some time he resided in Lisbon. On the morning of the great earthquake, 1 Nov., 1755, he attended high mass, and was buried under the ruius of the house of Francesco do Ribeiro, which fell as he rode past. He was rescued by Agnes Surriage, whom he shortly afterward married. He then returned to England, where, as Lady Frankland, Agnes was cordially received by his relatives. In 1756 he returned to Boston, where Lady Frankland was received into the best society of that city. Frank- land bouglit the Clarke mansion in Garden court, but in 1757 resigned his office and obtained an appointment as consul-general in Portugal. In 1763 he visited Boston, and, after spending some time in his house at Hopkinton, went to Bath, England, where he resided till his death. The story of Lady Frankland has been versified by Oliver W. Holmes, and she is the heroine of " Agnes Sur- riage," a novel, by Edwin L. Bynner (Boston, 1887). See a " Memoir" by Elias Nason (Albany, 1865).


FRANKLIN, Benjamin, statesman and philosopher, b. in Boston, Mass., 17 Jan., 1706 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 April, 1790. (See representation of birthplace on page 531.) His family had lived for at least three centuries in the parish of Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, on a free- hold of about thirty acres. For several generations the head of the faniily seems to have been the village blacksmith, the eldest son being always bred to that business. Benjamin's grandfather, Thomas, born in 1598, removed late in life to Banbury, in Oxfordshire, while his eldest son, Thomas, remained on the estate at Ecton. This Thomas received a good education, and became a scrivener. He came to be one of the most prominent men in his county, and formed a friendship with the Earl of Halifax. In mental characteristics he is said