Francois de Neufchateau had very multifarious accomplishments, and interested himself in a great variety of subjects, but his fame rests chiefly on what he did as a statesman for the encouragement and development of the industries of France. His maturer poetical productions did not fulfil the promise of those of his early years, for though some of his verses have a superficial elegance, his poetry generally lacks force and originality. He had considerable qualifications as a grammarian and critic, as is witnessed by his editions of the _Provinciales_ and _Pensees_ of Pascal (Paris, 1822 and 1826) and _Gil Blas_ (Paris, 1820). His principal poetical works are _Poesies diverses_ (1765); _Ode sur les parlements_ (1771); _Nouveaux Contes moraux_ (1781); _Les Vosges_ (1796); _Fables et contes_ (1814); and _Les Tropes, ou les figures de mots_ (1817). He was also the author of a large number of works on agriculture. See _Recueil des lettres, circulaires, discours et autres actes publics emanes du Cte. Francois pendant ses deux exercices du ministere de l'interieur_ (Paris, An. vii.-viii., 2 vols.); _Notice biographique sur M. le comte Francois de Neufchateau_ (1828), by A. F. de Sillery; H. Bonnelier, _Memoires sur Francois de Neufchateau_ (Paris, 1829); J. Lamoureux, _Notice historique et litteraire sur la vie et les ecrits de Francois de Neufchateau_ (Paris, 1843); E. Meaume, _Etude historique et biographique sur les Lorrains revolutionnaires: Palissot, Gregoire, Francois de Neufchateau_ (Nancy, 1882); Ch. Simian, _Francois de Neufchateau et les expositions_ (Paris, 1889). FRANCONIA (Ger. _Franken_), the name of one of the stem-duchies of medieval Germany. It stretched along the valley of the Main from the Rhine to Bohemia, and was bounded on the north by Saxony and Thuringia, and on the south by Swabia and Bavaria. It also included a district around Mainz, Spires and Worms, on the left bank of the Rhine. The word _Franconia_, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words _France_, _Francia_ and _Franken_, to a portion of the land occupied by the Franks.