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FRAttCHE-COMTl) fermentation is over, and from them is pro- duced the best brandy made in France. The centre of this manufacture is the town of Co- gnac, whence the name frequently applied to French brandies. ^ FRANCHE-COMTE (free country), an ancient province of France, now comprised in the de- partments of Jura, Doubs, and Haute-Saone. Its capital was Besancon. It is drained by the Sa6ne, Doubs, and Ain, is partly covered with forests, and contains iron and coal mines, mar- ble quarries, and salt pits. The country was originally inhabited by the Sequani, and was called Maxima Sequanorum by the Romans. In the 5th century it was occupied by the Bur- gundians, and subsequently became a part of the Frankish dominions. After the disruption of the Carlo vingian empire it passed through various changes, finally falling to the German empire. It was then governed by its own counts, although the name of Franche-Comte does not occur until near the middle of the 12th century ; the origin of this name is attributed to the freedom of the country from all taxes and imposts, save a certain sum granted annually to the sovereign under the title of a free gift. A little later it was also styled the palatine county of Burgundy. In 1384 it fell to the Valois house of Burgundy in consequence of the previous marriage of Margaret of Flanders with Philip the Bold. On the death of the last duke, Charles the Bold, it passed to the house of Austria by the marriage of his daughter Mary with the archduke Maximilian, through whose son Philip it became attached to the crown of Spain. Louis XIV. conquered it in 1674, during his war against Holland, and got definite possession of it by the treaty of Nime- guen in 1678. FRANCHI, Ansonio, an Italian philosopher, whose real name is FRANCESCO BONAVINO, born at Pegli, in the province of Genoa, in 1820. Having adopted rationalistic views, he left in 1849 the priesthood and an institution over which he presided at Genoa, and in 1852 published La jilosofia delle scuole italiane, in opposition to the doctrines of Rosmini, Gioberti, and Mamiani, and in favor of the French phi- losophers of the 18th century. His treatise Lareligione del secolo XIX. (1853), his review, La Ragione, established in 1854, and H raziona- lismo del popolo (1855), indicate his adherence to Feuerbach, Comte, and other positivists, and expound humanitarian and rationalistic views of religion and civilization ; and in his Del sentimento (1854) he makes sensation the basis of all psychological faculties. Among his more recent publications are Lezioni sulla sto- ria della filosofia moderna (1863), and Sulla teoria del giudizio (1871). He has been for some time professor of the philosophy of his- tory in the university of Pavia. FRANCIA, Francesco, a painter of the Bolo- gnese school, whose real name was FRANCESCO RAIBOLINI, born in Bologna about 1450, died in 1517, or, according to Lanzi, in 1533. He 334 VOL. vii. 27 FRANCIA 415 was originally a goldsmith, and acquired great skill in his profession, under the direction of a master named Francia, whose name he took. In 1490 Giovanni Bentivoglio invited the art- ists of neighboring cities to adorn his palace in Bologna. Francia, zealous to uphold the honor of Bolognese art, competed with the strangers, and painted some noble works for the Benti- voglio chapel, one of which, an altarpiece with portraits of the Bentivogli, is probably as fine a specimen of his style as exists. Later in life Francia attempted fresco painting, of his pro- ficiency in which he has left a notable example in the series illustrating the life of St. Cecilia, now in decay. His style partakes of the char- acteristics of Perugino and G. Bellini. FRANCIA, Jose Caspar Rodriguez (commonly called Dr. Francia), dictator of Paraguay, born in Asuncion about 1757, died there, Sept. 20, 1840. He boasted that he was of French ex- traction, but his father is supposed to have been born in Brazil, of Portuguese descent, and to have emigrated to Paraguay as an agricul- turist along with other settlers. His mother was a Creole. He was educated for the priest- hood, received the degree of doctor of divinity, was for a short time a professor of theology at Cordova de Tucuman, then applied himself to the practice of the law, and gaming a repu- tation for ability and rectitude, was appointed to several public offices. After the declaration of independence by the Paraguayans in 181J, he became the secretary of the revolutionary jun- ta, the other members of which were two as- sessors and a president, Don Fulgencio Yegros. The latter and Francia were in 1813 appoint- ed joint consuls for one year, but Francia was the moving spirit of the government. At his instigation the consulship was abolished in 1814, and he was made dictator for three years, at the end of which he contrived to secure his election as dictator for life. He combined in his own person almost all the powers of the govern- ment. He monopolized the cultivation of mate or Paraguay tea, and of other products of the country, but husbanded the national resources with great sagacity, gave a powerful impulse to the rearing of horses and cattle and to the cultivation of rice and grain, and established a standing army and guard houses along the frontiers, to protect the people against attacks from the Indians. He devised a code of laws, promoted education, checked the abuses of the clergy, improved the appearance of the capital, and, while neighboring states were in anarchy, secured for Paraguay a comparative degree of tranquillity. He peremptorily declined all inter- course with other South American states, and almost all foreign nations, and detained all for- eigners who set foot in the country. No ex- port or import trade was allowed without the dictator's license, and death awaited those who were detected in leaving the country without his special permission. Those opposed to his rule were either shot or imprisoned. The prin- cipal victims of his administration were pecu-