Original Anecdites.— 
baffador, is much celebrated. 
When the French were defeated by 
Marechal de Clairfait on the right bank 
of the Rhine, during the’ autumn or 
1795, 1 Merlin accufed Carnot, as the cri- 
ginal caufe of that difafter, the latter 
Fhaving iffued orders in exprefs oppoftien 
to the general opinion of rhe committee, 
that Pichegru thould pafs that river, 
without calculating the dangers he might 
.be expofed to from the want of provi- 
fions. He had alfoa difpu ite with Boifly 
a’ Auglas, another member of the farpe 
committec, on his oppofition to the usion 
of Be ere with the French Republic. 
On the organization of the new coniti- 
tution, Merlin was eleéte ed Minifier of 
Juttice ; on this, the royalifs gave him 
the nickname af. le chancelier & Agueffeau. 
Beieg placed foon after “: another de- 
partment, they obferved, ‘* that the au- 
thor of the law againft fulpected perfons, 
was alone worthy of being entruited with 
the police of the republic!” in mo 
every thing done by him is termed, 
derition, by the rovalifts, a Mer/imade i: 
_ Onthe 8th of the current month (Sep- 
tember) he was chofena Direétor, in the 
room of Barthelemy, who is banifhed. 
Merlin is of a fhort fa ature, and dark 
complexion. His drefs is plain, and his 
exterior befpeaks much modefty. He 1s 
about 45 years of age. 
ss ‘RAN cols DE NEUFCHATEAU. 
The fucceffor of Carnot in the Direc- 
tory, was born’at Neufchateau, a {mall 
town of Lorrain, near Nancy. He was 
educated for ie bar, but his predomi- 
nant paflion° was for poetry and. the 
belles-iettres. In the early part of his 
life he was an advocate in the fovercign 
court of Nancy, and wrote at that time 
the Hiftory of the Common Law of Lor- 
riin, a work which reflected much ho- 
nour upon his talents, and which has 
ranked him amongft the moft learned 
civilians of the, age. Being, however, 
too much attacned to polite literature, to 
confine him su with advantage to foren- 
fiz exertions, he fought for fome other 
employment, more fuicable to his inclina- 
fons. He accordingly went to Paris, and 
purchafed the office of Procurexr dy Roiin 
the ifland of “St. Domingo. In this co- 
ony he actually patiea feveral years, and 
publifhed is it fome pamphlets upon 
Canonand Ecclefiaftical Law. At length, 
However, the climate not being favour- 
able to his conftitution, | ae fold his office, 
and converting the produce into an an- 
nuity for life, fettled in Paris. 
a 
F, de Neufchdteau,..1Port-falio. [Sept 
on introducing Quirini, the Venetian am-’ 
He obtained the protection of the houfe 
of Orleans, and efpecially of the tu- 
torefs of the duke’s children, Madame 
de Genlis, to whom he was introduced, 
for the purpofe of reading Pame/a, and 
other fentimental novels, to her pupils. 
In the earlieft periods of the revolution, 
he wrote feveral. patriotic pieces for the- 
ftags, among which, the tragedy of Spar- 
facus met with the highef approbation. 
He was afterwards appointed a deputy 
in the fecond affemply. As a legifla- 
tor, however, he made no very brilliant 
figure. It is only recorded, that when, 
on the 27th of Auguft, 1792, a. report 
was made to the affembly, that fevera]. 
members had applied for pafiports to 
leave Paris, on the approach of the Pruf- 
fian arty, Francois de Neufchateau pro- 
" pofed that all the deputies -fhould {wear 
not to leave their pofts till they were re- 
placed by thofe appointed to the National 
Convention. 
Although an. acknowledged patriot, he 
did not eleape the perfecutions of the in- 
difcriminating tyrant Robefpierre. We 
are informed by the report of Grégoire, 
= the 9th WVendemiaire, third .year, 
hat he had been confined upwards of 
riche mouths, and was delivered at the 
opening of the prifons Arter the 9th of 
"Therimidor-iee 7 
When the prefent government was 
conitituted, Frangois - de Neutchateau 
was appointed commiffioner of the Exe- 
cutive Direétory in the deparcment of — 
Vofges. He filled that place with much 
intelligence and integrity, but was cen- 
fured as a fevere perfecutor of prieft- 
‘craft and fanaticifm.. From that ufeful 
fiation he was appointed minifter of the 
home department, inftead of M. de Be- 
nezech who had been difmified. Two 
months afterwards, he fucceeded as a di- 
rector, in the place of the profcribed 
Carnot. 
Francois de Neutchateau is between 
forty and fifty years of age, and is fre- 
quently afflicted with the gout. 
a = 
FROM MY PORT-FOLIO. No. III. 
HASTY RECOLLECTIONS OF 
UNFORTUNATE GENIUS. 
EpHOst whofe perception can pierce 
to the core of Genius, folded and 
concealed in its obfcureft coverings, whofe 
feelings are kindred to the fympathies of 
tafte, “and whofe heart can refpond to. 
the forrows of a cultivated mind, will 
have fometimes to mourn over fome, who 
‘¢ Have felt theinfluence ef malignant fiar, 
And wag’d with Fortune aa eternal war.— 
whe 

