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plified not less in the happy constitution of the
people, than in the advanced age at which the
majority of those persons die in France, whom
it is an object to record, from the abilities of the
ind vidual, or the rank which he may have held
in society. “ He was only 56 or 60,” is a com-
mon formula of French biography. The Cardin-
al de Fleuri died at 90; the President d’Henanlt
at 96 ; Crebillon, the son, at 70 ; Condamine at
74 ; Voltaire at 84 ; the Marquis du Deffand at
84. Men of 70 and 80 have usually as much
life and playfulness in France, as their grand-chil-
dren.
France, Isle of, a late province of France, so
called, because it was bounded by the rivers
Seine, Marne, Oise, Aisne, and Ourque. It now
forms the four departments of Oise; Seine ; and
Oise ; Seine and Marne ; Seine, and Paris.
France, Isle of, or Mauritius, an island in the
Indian ocean, 400 m. E. of Madagascar. It was
discovered by the Portuguese ; but the first who
settled here were the Duteh, in 1598. They call-
ed it Mauritius, in honor of the prince Maurice,
their stadthoider; but, on their acquisition of the
Cape of Good Hope, they deserted it; and it
continued unsettled till the French landed here
in 1720, and gave it the name of one of the finest
provinces in France. It is 150 m. in circumfer-
rence. The climate is healthy; but the soil not
very fertile. There are many mountains, some
of which are so high, that their tops are covered
with snow; they produce the best ebony in the
world. The valleys are well watered with rivers,
and are made very productive by cultivation, of
which sugar is the principal object. The town
and harbour, called Port Louis, are strongly for-
tified ; but in the hurricane months the harbour
cannot afford shelter for more than eight vessels.
Here are large store-houses, and every thing nec-
essary for the equipment of fieets. This island
was taken by the British in 1801, and confirmed
to them by the treaty of Paris, in 1814. In 1819
the pestilential cholera was introduced into this
island from India and carried off 7,000 of the
inhabitants. According to an account presented
by the colonial department to the British parlia-
ment, in the session of 1825, the island was divi-
aed into 8 districts, containing a pop. of 87,503,
in the proportion of 65,769 slaves, 13,475 free
blacks, and 10,359 whites, exclusive of 1,310
troops. Port Louis on the N. AV. coast of the
island, is in lat. 20.10. N. and 57. 29 of E. long.
See Bourbon.
Francestown, p.t. Hillsborough Co. N. H., 60
m. from Boston. Pop. 1,540.
Franche Comte, a late province of France,
bounded on the N. bv Lorraine, E. by Alsace and
Switzerland, W. by Burgundy, and S. by Bresse.
It is 125 m. long and 80 broad, and abounds in
corn, wine, cattle, horses, mines of iron, copper,
and lead. It now forms the three departments
of Doubs, Jura, and Upper Saone.
Franchemont, a town of the Netherlands, in the
territory of Liege, 12 m. S. E. of Liege.
Fra tie Lade. See Denis, St.
Francis, avillage of St. Genevieve Co. Missouri.
Francis, St., a tributary stream ofthe great riv-
er Mississippi, rising in the state of Missouri, in
the lat. of 37. 45. N., running parallel with the
Mississippi on the A A’., at the distance of about 40
m. and enters it after a coarse of about 220 m., 45
m. aoove the entrance of the Arkansas. |
Francis, St., a river of Lower Canada, rising in
the lake Memphramagog, which spreads into the
state of Vermont. The St. Francis, after a course
of about 200 m. falls into St. Lawrence, about mid-
way between Montreal and Quebec, and will
probably some future day, be united by a canal
with the Connecticut.
Francis, St., a river of Brazil, which rises VV.
of the Brazilian Andes, in the province of Minas
Geraes, in the lat. of 20. S., runs N. through the
province of Bahia, to the frontier of Pernambuco,,
when it takes a course E. by S., dividing that
province from Bahia, and after a course of neai
1,000 m. falls into the Atlantic ocean, in the lat
of 11. 20. S. It has a number of towns and set
tlements, chiefiy on its head waters.
Francisco, St., a seaport of New Albion, ^.ai ital
of a jurisdiction of its name, with a citadel, uosg.
122. 8. W., lat. 28. 18. N.
%* There are a number of other rivers, bays,
towns, and settlements, in different parts of Amer.
ica, named after St. Francis by the Spaniards, Por-
tuguese, and French.
Frangois, a village of Wayne Co. Missouri.
Frangois, Cape, now called Cape Haytien, the
principal seaport and city of what was formerly
the French part of St. Domingo. It is seated on
the N. coast of the island, in the lat. of 19. 46. N.
and 72. 15. of W. long. Before the sanguinary
revolt of the negroes in 1793, it contained 8 to 900
houses of stone or brick, and 8,000 free inhabitants,
exclusive of about 12,000 slaves : but in 1793, the
whole of the white inhabitants, who could not ef-
fect their escape, were massacred by the blacks.
It was named Cape Henry by Christophe in 1811,
and during his reign it was deemed the principal
port of the island, though inferior to Port au
Prince in commercial importance. Its quota of
the contribution towards the 30 millions of dol-
lars be paid to France in ten years, from the 1st
of January, 1827, as an indemnity for the sacri-
fice of their plantations by the revolt in 1793, is
208,451 dollars annually. It is 64 m. due N. of
Port au Prince, and 134 AAr., 30 degrees N. of the
city of St. Domingo. The harbour is secure and
commodious, and the environs rich in tropical
productions.
Franconia, one of the ten circles into which the
German Empire was formerly divided, lying be-
tween the lat. of 48. 45. and 50. 55. N. It is
bounded on the N. by* Upper Saxony, E. by Bo-
hemia and the palatinate of Ba varia, S. by Suabia
and W. by the circles of the Rhine. The middle
is fertile in corn, wine, and fruits; but the bor
ders are full of woods and barren mountains.
The Franks, who conquered France, in the early
part ofthe 15th century, came from this province,
and gave their name to that country7. It compri-
ses about 11,000 sq. m. and was formerly divided
into 2 principalities, 3 bishoprics, 7 counties, and
3 lordships ; but at the general partitioning of
this part of Europe, after the peace of Paris in
1814, the greater part of Franconia was assigned
to Bavaria, and the remainder to VVurtemberg,
Baden, Hesse, and Saxe Coburg. The river
Mayn, which falls into the Rhine, intersects it
from E. to W., the Rednitz from S. to N., falling
into the Mayne, and the Altmuhl, falling into
the Danube, intersects the S. E. Nuremburg
was considered the capital.
Franeker, a town of Holland, in Friesland, with
a castle and a university. The public buildings
and palaces are magnificent, and it has 2 naviga-
ble canals, communicating with the Zuyder Zee
and Leewarden, it is 5 m. E. of Harlingen. Pop
about 4,000. |
