1829.] - 
time made very free with the conjugal cha- 
racter of our hero. He is said to have been 
seduced by the personal charms and meretri- 
cious wiles of Mrs. Wilson, an actress, who 
was as much detested for her vices as a wo- 
man, as she was admired for her professional 
talent. The laudable emulation of Mrs. 
Johnstone was thus checked ; her health de- 
clined, and, within a brief period, she died 
of a broken heart. Poetical justice speedily 
overtook the worthless woman, to whose 
artifices she had fallen a victim; and she, 
too, died soon afterwards, at Shrewsbury, 
friendless, in poverty, and in misery. John- 
stone, at first, a very general lover, at length, 
consoled himself in the society of a lady 
upon whom a handsome annuity had been 
settled by a member of the Society of 
Friends. With her he lived for several 
years. The beautiful Miss Bolton, daughter 
of a wine merchant in Bond-street, took a 
strong fancy to the gay and dashing Irish- 
man; and, obeying the impulse of passion, 
rather than the dictates of prudence, she 
eloped, accompanied by one of her sisters, 
and they both resided some time with Mr. 
Johnstone, in his own lodgings. The affair 
of course got wind, and only one measure 
remained open by which to save the lady’s 
reputation. That step Johnstone honour- 
ably and generously took ; he married hera 
few wecks after her elopement ; and, by the 
mediation of friends, a general family re- 
conciliation was effected. This was about 
the year 1791. 
After remaining several seasons at Covent 
Garden Theatre, in the vocal line, he was 
induced to attempt Irish’ characters, of 
which there was, at that time, no adequate 
- fepresentative. In these, his rich, genuine, 
and characteristic humour, sécured for him 
Such eminent success, that he ever after- 
wards retained their sole and undisputed 
possession. Indeed, all who remember him, 
even down to the very close of his career, 
must allow that his place as yet remains ut- 
terly vacant. Johnstone was one of the 
performers who remonstrated with the pro- 
prietors of Covent Garden Theatre, in the 
year 1600, respecting certain new regula- 
tions unfavourable to the interests of the 
dramatic corps. Notwithstanding this, his 
engagement was renewed. In 1803, he 
quitted Covent Garden, and joined the 
Drury Lane Company. It was at Covent 
Garden, howeyer, that he took his final leave 
_ of the stage, in the part of Dennis Brul- 
gruddery, in 1820. The performance was 
or his benefit, towards which his present 
Majesty, who, while Prince of Wales, had 
been much attached to his society, contri- 
buted 1001. Mr. Johnstone retired upon 
a handsome competence, accumulated by 
industry, economy, and judicious appropria- 
tion of money. 
Johnstone’s person was manly and hand- 
some, with the exception of his legs, which 
Were remarkably large and clumsy. In 
early life he was a bon vivant; but we are 
not aware that he ever forgot his duty upon 
Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 
437 
the stage. Until within a few months of 
his decease (which occurred at his residence, 
Tavistock-row, Covent-Garden, on the 27th 
of December) his appearance was that of a 
hale hearty man, not more than sixty years 
of age. On the 3d of January, his remains 
were interred in one of the vaults, beneath 
the church of St. Paul, Coyent-garden ; the 
body having been deposited in a hearse, 
drawn by six horses, and followed by six 
mourning coaches, in which were Messrs. 
Kemble, Price, Fawcett, Bannister, Ellis- 
ton, Matthews, Munden, Pope, Powell, 
Harley, T. Cooke, Power, Cooper, Keeley, 
Blanchard, &c. About ten days afterwards, 
his will was proved in Doctors’ Commons, 
and probate granted under 12,0001. personal 
property. Rumour had given him credit 
for being worth four or five times as much, 
He left a gold snuff-box and ring to each 
of his executors, Mr. George Robins, and 
Mr. O’Rielly; a ring to his friend, Mr. 
Joblin, of the Adelphi; and a ring to Mr. 
Dunn, the treasurer of Drury Lane Theatre ; 
and, as Mr. D. is one of the angle, John- 
stone also left him all his fishing tackle. 
To a female servant, who had nursed him 
during the last eight or ten years of his life, 
he bequeathed an annuity of 501. The re- 
mainder of his property, with the exception 
of a legacy of 5001. to Mrs. Vining, is left 
to the children of his favourite daughter, 
Mrs. Wallack, so closely tied up, however; 
that the interest only can be touched during 
that lady’s life. 
THE COUNT DE BARRAS. 
Paul Francis John Nicholas, Count de 
Barras, a name of note in the French Revo- 
lution, was born in the year 1756 or 1757. 
He was the descendant of a family of whom 
it was proverbially said—“ as ancient and as 
noble as the Barras, who are as old as the 
rocks of Provence.” 
Barras commenced his career in the army. 
In 1775 he served in the Isle of France 
with the regiment of Pondicherry. He had 
nearly perished on the coast of Coromandel : 
overtaken by a storm, the ship in which he 
was sailing struck on a rock; the crew 
abandoned her in despair ; but Barras roused 
them from their stupor, stimulated them to 
exertion, constructed a raft, and succeeded 
in reaching an island inhabited by savages. 
In about a month afterwards, he and his 
companions found means to reach Pondi- 
cherry. 
Barras returned to France with the rank 
of Captain ; but his dissipated habits, his 
addiction to gaming and to women, ruined 
his fame and his fortune, and qualified him 
for any desperate enterprize that might offer. 
It is not therefore to be wondered at, that 
he embraced the cause of the revolutionists. 
He distinguished himself in the National As- 
sembly of 1789. On the 14th of July heassist- 
ed in the attack on the Bastile ; and, on the 
10th of August, 1792, in that against the 
Tuileries. In September he was returned 
