308 
as if defirous to linger in fo charming a 
neighbourhood. The building was ereét- 
ed by one of the moft celebrated archi- 
tects of that day; the marble bufts and 
bas-reliefs, were cut by the chiffel of 
Coufton ; the ftatues, by Adam and Fal- 
conet ; the paintings are by Vanloo; and 
as to the gardens, they were laid out by 
M. de Life, the Capadility Brown of France. 
It was here that Pompadour, revelling 
in the wealth of plundered provinces, pre- 
fided over the revels of Comus, and en- 
deavoured to vary the pleafures, and dif- 
fipate the fatiety of her royal lover. At 
one time, fhe would furprife him with a 
theatrical exhibition, in which fhe ap- 
peared -as Venus, while he was the fa- 
voured Adonis of the drama: at another, 
by a kind of candle-light entertainment, 
on the recovery of his fon, in which an 
illuminated dolphin, by a happy pun, re- 
prefented the heir apparent of the mo- 
narchy; certain fiery monfters, his late 
difeafe ; and an Apollo, with a torch in 
his hand, the god of phyfic, by whofe 
intervention he was recovered. - 
On the acceffion of Louis XVI, the 
daughters of the former monarch ‘were 
allowed to occupy this enchanting fpot, 
formerly the refidence of a father’s mif- 
trefs, and the fcene of their expenfive 
gallantries. Unlike that father, in every 
thing but in good-nature, they were con- 
ftantly at the feet of their confeflor, or 
their crucifix, and the {pot which had fo 
often blufhed with the debauchery of its 
former, now edified the pious, by the de- 
votion of the prefent, owners. 
At the approach of the ftorm, they 
repaired to the centre of catholicifin for 
fhelter, and now fhare at Rome the be- 
nedictions of the pope, the prayers of 
the Abbé Maruy, lately made a bifhop, 
by Pius VI, and the palace of cardinal Ber- 
nis, heretofore ambaffador from France 
to*the Holy, See. 
Good, charitable, pious, perhaps to 
excefs, they, in charaéter, exhibit a clofe 
affinity to their amiable mother, the 
daughter of the unfortunate Staniflaus, 
King of Poland :—there is a family like- 
nefs, even in their misfortunes ! 
THE DUKE DE TRESMES. 
This nobleman was exceedingly de- 
formed ; but fortune refolving to indem- 
nify him for the injuries of nature, ele- 
vated him to the dignity of dxf0on to the 
miftrefs. of the grand monarque. He was 
fo con‘cious of this honour, that calling 
one day, and not finding the favourite at 
home, he. wroteupon her door, “ the 
Original Anecdotes——Due de Trefmes ... Carnot. 
[May 
marmozet of the countefs de Barré is. 
come to pay his homage to her, and to ~ 
make her laugh.’’ Gentle reader, this 
nobleman was an hereditary duc & pair 
of France! Ex uno dice omnes. 
THe Drrector Carnot. 
On the refignation of the Abbé Sieyes, 
who, on that occafion, gave an unequi- 
vocal teftimony of his difintereftednefs, 
Carnot was eleéted, almoft unanimoufly, 
to a feat in the direétory. ; 
He was, originally, an officer ; and hav- 
ing enjoyed a good education, and being 
attached to mathematical purfuits, he en- 
tered intothe corps of engineers, in which 
however, he never attained any high 
rank. 
The Revolution, by fubftituting genius 
in the room of birth and intrigue, gave 
full {cope to the talents of Carnot ; and 
he has effentially ferved his country, un- 
der all the forms of government, and all 
the ebullitions of party, to which it has 
been fubjeéted ; in this inftance, perhaps, 
following the opinion of a great Englif 
admiral, who aéted both under Crom; 
well and the commonwealth, and was 
accuftomed to fay, that it was the chief 
bufinefs of a good citizen, ‘ to keep fo- 
reigners from fooling us.”’ : 
~ On the execution of Robefpierre, and 
the profcription of his party, when the 
convention, after giving orders to arreft 
feveral of its members, who were Jaco- 
bins, came to him, they all exclaimed, 
‘“‘ He has organized viétory, let him per- 
fevere in his exertions in favour of his 
native country!’’ This, at fuch a mo- 
ment, was. the greateft of ali poffible 
compliments. _ - 
To the exertions of this individual, 
the conqueft of Holland and Auftrian 
Flanders, the victories in Spain, and the 
almoft uninterrupted feries of fucceffes 
in Italy, have been attributed. The late 
brilliant, but deftructive paflage of the 
Rhine, occurred at a period when he 
was out of favour; on refuming his 
power and popularity, he repaired the 
mifcarriages of lefs enterprifing men; and 
fuch feem to have been either his powers, 
or his good fortune, that he has, in a man- 
ner, chained victory to the chariot wheel 
of France. 
Under him, Pichegru and Jourdain - 
were little better than mereagents. They, 
indeed, executed vaft plans, but they 
were firft conceived by Carnot; who, 
fitting in a committee at Paris, with the 
elder Rochambeau and a few more able 
men, dircéted the movements in the Pa- 
latinaet, 
