COUNT (1750-1828), French statesman and poet, was born at Saffais, Lorraine, on April 17, 175o, the son of a school-teacher. He studied at the Jesuit college of Neuf chateau in the Vosges, and at 14 published verses which were praised by Rousseau and Voltaire. Neuf chateau conferred on him its name, and he was elected member of some of the principal academies of France. From 1783 to 1789 he was procureur-general to the council of Santo Domingo. After the Revolution he was elected deputy suppleant to the National Assembly, organized the Department of the Vosges, and was elected later to the Legislative Assembly, of which he first became secretary and then president. In 1793 he was imprisoned on account of his drama Pamela ou la vertu re compensee (Theatre de la Nation, Aug. 1, 1793), but was set free a few days afterwards at the revolution of the 9th Thermidor. In 1 797 he became minister of the interior; he developed inland navigation ; inaugurated the museum of the Louvre, and was one of the promoters of the first universal exhibition of industrial products. From 1804 to 18o6 he was president of the Senate, and in 18o8 he received the dignity of count. Retiring from pub lic life in he occupied himself chiefly in the study of agri culture, until his death on Jan. so, 1828.
Francois de Neuf chateau edited the Lettres Provinciales and Pensees of Pascal (1822-26) and Gil Blas His principal poetical works are Poesies diverses (1765) ; Ode sur les parle ments (17 71) ; 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.