Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/428

 416 FRANCIA FRANCIS lating officials, corrupt priests, and persons generally who endeavored to enrich them- selves at the public expense. He was gene- rally humane toward the poor, and professed to be impelled to rigorous measures by a sense of justice. He was most unrelentingly cruel toward those who were accused of conspiracy against his life. About 1819 Gen. Ramirez of Entre Rios was supposed to contemplate an invasion of Paraguay. A letter from him to Yegros, Francia's former associate in the con- sulate, fell into the latter's hands. Yegros was charged with plotting against the country, and, with upward of 40 others, was put to death, and about 300 persons were imprisoned for 18 months, when they were only released upon the payment of a large ransom. Some of Francia's prisoners were subjected to the most cruel tortures, and the delight which he seemed to find in inflicting torment gave rise to the belief that, like some of his brothers, he was occasionally deranged. In his habits of life he was peculiar. After having been fond of gam- bling and social and sensual enjoyments, he led a life of the utmost retirement, and Paraguay was not more isolated from the rest of the world than he from the rest of mankind. He resided in the palace of the former governors of Paraguay, attended by four slaves. His barber, a mulatto, was his principal channel of communication with the public, and a half-breed named Patifios was his principal, secretary. After the death of his master the latter was implicated in a charge of conspiracy against the government, and hung himself in prison. To- ward the end of his reign Francia was in con- stant fear of assassination. He remained a bachelor until his 70th year, when he was re- ported to have married a young French woman. He was a man of remarkable physiognomy, with dark, piercing eyes, and of great mental powers, which he cultivated by study and read- ing. He was especially fond of the French literature of the 18th century, and an admirer both of Robespierre and Napoleon. The anec- dotes of his eccentricities were almost as nu- merous as the reports of his cruelties. Yet his death was deplored as a public calamity, and the people seemed to recognize in him a friend and a benefactor. His reputation as the ty- rant of Paraguay was particularly aggravated in Europe by his treatment of Bonpland the distin- guished botanist, whom he detained for nearly ten years, and by the accounts given of him by other persons whom he had interfered with. Among these were two Swiss surgeons, Reng- ger and Longchamp whom he detained from 1819 to 1825. On their return they related their observations, and expressed their dis- like of Francia, in an Essai historique sur la revolution de Paraguay et le gouvernement dic- tatorial du docteur Francia (Paris, 1827). Two young Scotchmen, J. P. and W. P. Robertson, who went to Paraguay on a commercial ven- ture, were turned out of the country by the dic- tator, and they gave appalling accounts of his administration in three works : " Letters on Paraguay" (2 vols., London, 1838), "Francia's Reign of Terror" (1839), and "Letters on South America" (3 vols., 1843). A graphic sketch of his life and character was given by Thomas Carlyle in an article in the "Foreign Quarterly Review " (1843), in which the dic- tator is greatly lauded for his eccentric and ruthless energy and justice. 0. A. Washburn, in his " History of Paraguay " (1871), paints him in the darkest colors. FRANCIS, the name of several sovereigns of France, Germany (including Austria), and the Two Sicilies. I. FEANCE. FRANCIS I., king of France, son of Charles, count of Angouleme (cousin german of Louis XII.), and Louisa of Savoy, born at Cognac, Sept. 12, 1494, died at Rambouillet, March 31, 1547. He married Claude, daughter of Louis XII., in 1514, and succeeded him as nearest heir, Jan. 1, 1515. Louis was meditating the reconquest of the Milanese, which he claimed as heir of his grandmother, Valentina Visconti, at the moment of his death ; and the youthful king, having renewed his predecessor's treaty with England, immediately crossed the Alps with an army of about 40,000, by passes previ- ously considered impracticable. The Swiss army employed by the duke of Milan to defend the foot of the Alps was driven back, but being joined by reinforcements gave him battle at Marignano (Melegnano), 10 m. S. E. of Milan, Sept. 13, 1515. It was a fierce contest, since called the battle of the giants ; and though the Swiss had only infantry to oppose to the finest cavalry in Europe, they retired only on the second day with a loss of 12,000. Francis had lost 8,000 of his best troops, but he had dis- played extraordinary generalship and valor; and his name became at once the most distin- guished in Europe. In the chivalric spirit of the age he accepted knighthood on the spot from the chevalier Bayard, whose final charge had completed the victory. After the battle Francis wisely granted the Swiss an honorable peace, and secured their constant alliance. He also made a concordat with the pope, and, master of Milan, returned in triumph to Paris. In 1517 he made a treaty of friendship and al- liance against the Turks with the emperor Maxi- milian and his grandson Charles I. of Spain, and in 1518 a treaty with England, by which Tour- nay was returned to France. He was now es- tablished firmly at home ; the power of the feu- dal nobility was gone, and his parliament was wholly subservient. Maximilian died in Jan- uary, 1519, and Francis became a competitor with Charles I., afterward Charles V. of Ger- many, for the imperial sceptre. Charles pre- vailed in the electoral council in consequence of a recommendation of Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, and Francis betrayed the passions natural to disappointed ambition. His chagrin forced from him expressions of dispar-