Nicolas Armand Carrel, a French journalist, born at Rouen, May 8, 1800, died at St. Mande, near Paris, July 24, 1836. The son of a merchant, he was educated at St. Cyr, and entered the army as sub-lieutenant. He secretly participated in the Belfort conspiracy in 1821, but eluded suspicion. His political opinions became known on the occasion of the outbreak of the Spanish revolution. A letter he had written to the cortes came into the hands of his colonel, when he resigned his commission, and entered the foreign legion in Spain. When the French army invaded the peninsula, Carrel was made prisoner, and was three times tried before a court martial, but escaped punishment. He was then engaged for a few months as an amanuensis to the historian Augustin Thierry; subsequently he wrote two essays on the history of Scotland and of modern Greece, and a biographical notice of Paul Louis Courier, the French pamphleteer; he was also editor of the Revue Americaine, a short-lived monthly, and an occasional contributor to several leading opposition papers, such as the Constitu-tionnel and the Globe. But he did not gain much literary reputation until the appearance of his Histoire de la contre-revolution en An-gleterre. At the commencement of 1830, with Thiers and Mignet, he founded the National as an organ of their political views.

Thiers, being the oldest and best known of the three, was the leading editor, while Carrel wrote chiefly for the literary department of the paper. The National had much influence in bringing about the revolution of 1830. When it was accomplished, Carrel was sent on a mission into the western departments, where his wise measures and personal influence contributed to maintain tranquillity. During his absence he had been nominated prefect of the department of Cantal; he declined the appointment, and went back to the National, of which he now assumed the chief editorship. Under his control, and chiefly by his contributions, the National became a most vigorous and eloquent journal, and gave to the republican party a standing which it never had before. The boldness of his course drew on him the anger of the government, but the measures taken against him could not damp his ardor. He was the first to vindicate the memory of Marshal Ney before the court of peers; and his temerity would have been severely punished if he had not been supported by Gen. Excel-mans. His quickness of temper involved him in several duels. His last encounter was with Smile de Girardin, who had challenged him. Girardin was slightly wounded in the thigh, and Carrel received a ball in the abdomen.

He was taken to the house of one of his friends at St. Mande, and died two days after. His collected works have been published (5 vols., Paris, 1858).