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 manof-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 legislatures, 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 Pará, 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 resigned 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 physician, b. in Paracatu, 7 Sept., 1757; d. in Ubatuba, 22 July, 1823. He studied medicine at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, where also he cultivated 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 Geographical 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 began, Franco by his writings encouraged the Liberal party, and he also declared for the democratic 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 é brazileira" (12 vols.); "Tratado de educação physica dos meninos para uso da nação portugueza"; "Ensaio sobre as febres, com observações acerca da topographica é clima do Rio Janeiro"; "Elementos de Hygiene "; and a volume of poems (1777).,

FRANCO DE SÁ, 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 becaine public prosecutor at Maranhão, next year judge of the district court for São 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 Parahyba, where he introduced reforms. When his native province, Maranhão, 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 under his administration the first newspaper, "O 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 retired to private life.

FRANKLAND, Sir Charles Henry, bart., collector 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 company's factory in Bengal. The intellectual attainments 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 offered the governorship of Massachusetts and the collectorship 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 possessed 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 Surriage, 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 Surriage to his relatives, one of whom had married the Earl of Chichester. 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 ruins of the house of Francesco de 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. Frankland bought 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 Surriage," 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 freehold of about thirty acres. For several generations the head of the family 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

to have borne a strong likeness to his immortal | ton, and the fourth in America. For this paper nephew. The second son, John, was a dyer of Benjamin wrote anonymous articles, and conwoollens, and lived in Banbury. The third son, trived to smuggle them into its columns withBenjamin, for some time a silk-dyer in London, out his brother's knowledge of their authorship; emigrated to Boston at an advanced age, and left some of them attracted attention, and were attribdescendants there. He took a great interest in uted to various men of eminence in the colony. politics, was fond of writing verses, and invented The newspaper was quite independent in its tone, a system of short-hand. The fourth son, Josiah, and for a political article that gave offence to the born in 1655, served an apprenticeship with his colonial legislature James Franklin was put into brother John, at Banbury, but removed to New jail for a month, while Benjamin was duly admonEngland in 1682. From the beginning of the ished and threatened. Finding himself somewhat Reformation the family had been zealous Protes- unpopular in Boston, and being harshly treated by tants, and in Mary's reign had incurred considera- his brother, whose violent temper he confesses to ble danger on that account. Their inclination have sometimes provoked by his sauciness, Benjaseems to have been toward Puritanism, but they min at length made up his mind to run away from remained in the Church of England until late in home and seek his fortune. He raised a little the reign of Charles II., when so many clergymen money by selling some of his books, and in Octowere dispossessed of their holdings for non-con- ber, 1723, set sail in a sloop for New York. Unformity, and proceeded to carry on religious ser- able to find employment there as a printer, he set vices in conventicles forbidden by law. Among out for Philadelphia, crossing to Amboy in a small these dispossessed clergymen in Northamptonshire vessel, which was driven upon the coast of Long were friends of Benjamin and Josiah, who became Island in a heavy gale. Narrowly escaping shiptheir warm adherents and attended their conventi- wreck, he at length reached Amboy in the crazy cles. The persecution of these non-conformists little craft, after thirty hours without food or led to a small Puritan migration to New England, drink, except a drop from a flask of what he called in which Josiah took part. He settled in Boston, "filthy rum." From Amboy he made his way on where he followed the business of soap-boiler and foot across New Jersey to Burlington, whence he tallow-chandler. He was twice married, the second was taken in a row-boat to Philadelphia, landing time to the daughter of Peter Folger, one of the there on a Sunday morning, cold, bedraggled, and earliest settlers of New England, a man of some friendless, with one Dutch dollar in his pocket. learning, a writer of political verses, and a zealous But he soon found employment in a printing-office, opponent of the persecution of the Quakers. By earned a little money, made a few friends, and took his first wife Josiah Franklin had seven children; comfortable lodgings in the house of a Mr. Read, by his second, ten, of whom the illustrious Benja- with whose daughter Deborah he proceeded to fall min was the youngest son. For five generations in love. It was not long before his excellent trainhis direct ancestors had been youngest sons of ing and rare good sense attracted the favorable youngest sons. As a child he showed such pre- notice of Sir William Keith, governor of Pennsylcocity that his father at first thought of sending vania. The Philadelphia printers being ignorant him to Harvard and educating him for the minis- and unskilful, Keith wished to secure Franklin's try; but the wants of his large family were so nu- services, and offered to help set him up in business merous that presently he felt that he could not for himself and give him the government printafford the expense of this. At the age of ten, after ing, such as it was. Franklin had now been seven little more than a year at the grammar-school, months in Philadelphia, and, his family having at Benjamin was set to work in his father's shop, cut- length heard news of him, it was thought best that ting wicks and filling moulds for candles. This he should return to Boston and solicit aid from his was so irksome to him that he began to show father in setting up a press in Philadelphia. On symptoms of a desire to run away and go to sea. reaching Boston he found his brother sullen and To turn his mind from this, his father at length de- resentful, but his father received him kindly. He cided to make him a printer. He was an insatia- refused the desired assistance, on the ground that ble reader, and the few shillings that found their a boy of eighteen was not fit to manage a business, way into his hands were all laid out in books. but he commended his industry and perseverance, His elder brother, James, had learned the printer's and made no objection to his returning to Philatrade, and in 1717 returned from England with a delphia, warning him to restrain his inclination to press, and established himself in business in Bos- write lampoons and satires, and holding out hopes ton. In the following year Benjamin was appren- of aid in case he should behave industriously and ticed to his elder brother, and, becoming interested frugally until twenty-one years of age. and proficient in the work, soon made himself very useful. He indulged his taste for reading, which often kept him up late into the night. Like so many other youthful readers, he counted Defoe and Bunyan among his favorites, but presently we find him studying Locke's "Essay on the Human Understanding," and the Port Royal logic. While practising himself in arithmetic and the elements of geometry, he was also striving to acquire a prose style like that of Addison. He wrote little ballads and songs of the chap-book sort, and hawked them about the streets, sometimes with profit to his pocket. At the same time an inborn tendency toward free-thinking was strengthened by reading Shaftesbury and Collins, until some worthy people began to look askance at him and call him an infidel. In 1721 James Franklin began printing and publishing the "New England Courant," the third newspaper that appeared in Bos

On Franklin's return to Philadelphia, the governor promised to furnish the money needful for establishing him in business, and encouraged him to go over to London, in order to buy a press and type and gather useful information. But Sir William was one of those social nuisances that are lavish in promises but scanty in performance. It was with the assurance that the ship's mail-bag carried letters of introduction and the necessary letter of credit that young Franklin crossed the ocean. On reaching England, he found that Keith had deceived him. Having neither money nor credit wherewith to accomplish the purpose of his journey or return to America, he sought and soon found a place as journeyman in a London printinghouse. Before leaving home he had been betrothed to Miss Read. He now wrote to her that it would be long before he should return to America. His ability and diligence enabled him to earn money

French led several of the royal governors to cali for a congress of all the colonies, to be held at Albany. The primary purpose of the meeting was to make sure of the friendship of the Six Nations, and to organize a general scheme of operations against the French. The secondary purpose was to prepare some plan of confederation which all the colonies might be persuaded to adopt. Only the four New England colonies, with New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, sent commissioners to this congress. The people seem to have felt very little interest in the movement. Among the newspapers none seem to have favored it warmly except the "Pennsylvice and the motto "Unite or Die!" At the Albany congress Franklin brought forward the first coherent scheme ever propounded for securing a permanent Federal union of the thirteen colonies.

quickly, but for a while he was carried away by the fascinations of a great city, and spent his money as fast as he earned it. In the course of his eighteen months in London he gained much knowledge of the world, and became acquainted with some distinguished persons, among others Dr. Mandeville and Sir Hans Sloane; and he speaks of his "extreme desire" to meet Sir Isaac Newton, in which he was not gratified. In the autumn of 1726 he made his way back to Philadelphia, and after some further vicissitudes was at length (in 1729) established in business as a printer. He now became editor and proprietor of the "Pennsylvania Gazette," and soon made it so popular by his ably-vania Gazette," which appeared with a union dewritten articles that it yielded him a comfortable income. During his absence in England, Miss Read, hearing nothing from him after his first letter, had supposed that he had grown tired of her. In her chagrin she married a worthless knave, who treated her cruelly, and soon ran away to the West Indies, where he died. Franklin found her overwhelmed with distress and mortification, for which he felt himself to be partly responsible. Their old affection speedily revived, and on 1 Sept., 1730, they were married. They lived most happily together until her death, 19 Dec., 1774.

As Franklin grew to maturity he became noted for his public spirit and an interest at once wide and keen in human affairs. Soon after his return from England he established a debating society, called the "Junto," for the discussion of questions in morals, politics, and natural philosophy. Among the earliest members may be observed the name of the eminent mathematician, Thomas Godfrey, who soon afterward invented a quadrant similar to Hadley's. For many years Franklin was the life of this club, which in 1743 was developed into the American philosophical society. In 1732 he began publishing an almanac for the diffusion of useful information among the people. Published under the pen-name of "Richard Saunders," this entertaining collection of wit and wisdom, couched in quaint and pithy language, had an immense sale, and became famous throughout the world as " Poor Richard's Almanac." In 1731 Franklin founded the Philadelphia library. In 1743 he projected the university that a few years later was developed into the University of Pennsylvania, and was for a long time considered one of the foremost institutions of learning in this country.

From early youth Franklin was interested in scientific studies, and his name by and by became associated with a very useful domestic invention, and also with one of the most remarkable scientific discoveries of the 18th century. In 1749 he invented the "open stove, for the better warming of rooms," an invention that has not yet entirely fallen into disuse. Ten years later, by wonderfully simple experiments with a kite, he showed that lightning is a discharge of electricity; and in 1753 he received the Copley medal from the Royal society for this most brilliant and pregnant discovery.

A man so public-spirited as Franklin, and editor of a prominent newspaper besides, could not long remain outside of active political life. In 1736 he was made clerk of the assembly of Pennsylvania, and in 1737 postmaster of Philadelphia. Under his skilful management this town became the center of the whole postal system of the colonies, and in 1753 he was made deputy postinaster-general for the continent. Besides vastly increasing the efficiency of the postal service, he succeeded at the same time in making it profitable. In 1754 Franklin becomes a conspicuous figure in Continental politics. In that year the prospect of war with the

The plan contemplated the union of all the colonies under a single central government, under which each colony might preserve its local independence. The legislative assembly of each colony was to choose, once in three years, representatives to attend a Federal grand council, which was to meet every year at Philadelphia, as the city most convenient of access from north and south alike. This grand council was to choose its own speaker, and could neither be dissolved nor prorogued except by its own consent, or by especial order of the crown. The grand council was to make treaties with the Indians, and regulate trade with them; and it was to have sole power of legislation on all matters concerning the colonies as a whole. To these ends it could lay taxes, enlist soldiers, build forts, and nominate civil officers. Its laws were to be submitted to the king for approval; and the royal veto, in order to be effective, must be exercised within three years. To this grand council each colony was to send a number of representatives, proportioned to its contributions to the continental military service, the minimum number being two, the maximum seven. With the exception of such matters of general concern as were to be managed by the grand council, each colony was to retain its powers of legislation intact. In an emergency any colony might singly defend itself against foreign attack, and the Federal government was prohibited from impressing soldiers or seamen without the consent of the local legislature. The supreme executive power was to be vested in a president or governor-general, appointed and paid by the crown. He was to have a veto on all the acts of the grand council, and was to nominate all military officers, subject to its approval. No money could be issued save by joint order of the governor-general and council. "This plan," said Franklin, "is not altogether to my mind; but it is as I could get it." To the credit of its great author, it should be observed that this scheme-long afterward known as the "Albany plan "-contemplated the formation of a self-sustaining Federal