BIGOT.
His Life and Character ? Canadian Society ? Official Festivities ? A Party of Pleasure ? Hospitalities of Bigot ? Desperate Gambling1 ? Chateau2 Bigot ? Canadian Ladies ? Cadet ? La Friponne ? Official Rascality3 ? Methods of Peculation4 ? Cruel Frauds on the Acadians ? Military Corruption5 ? Péan ? Love and Knavery6 ? Varin and his Partners ? Vaudreuil and the Peculators ? He defends Bigot; praises Cadet and Péan ? Canadian Finances ? Peril7 of Bigot ? Threats of the Minister ? Evidence of Montcalm ? Impending8 Ruin of the Confederates.
At this stormy epoch9 of Canadian history the sinister10 figure of the Intendant Bigot moves conspicuous11 on the scene. Not that he was answerable for all the manifold corruption that infected the colony, for much of it was rife12 before his time, and had a vitality13 of its own; but his office and character made him the centre of it, and, more than any other man, he marshalled and organized the forces of knavery.
In the dual14 government of Canada the Governor represented the King and commanded the troops; while the Intendant was charged with trade, finance, justice, and all other departments of civil administration. [544] In former times the two 18
V2 functionaries15 usually quarrelled; but between Vaudreuil and Bigot there was perfect harmony.
[544] See Old Régime in Canada.
Fran?ois Bigot, in the words of his biographer, was "born in the bosom16 of the magistracy," both his father and his grandfather having held honorable positions in the parliament of Bordeaux. [545] In appearance he was not prepossessing, though his ugly, pimpled17 face was joined with easy and agreeable manners. In spite of indifferent health, he was untiring both in pleasure and in work, a skilful18 man of business, of great official experience, energetic, good-natured, free-handed, ready to oblige his friends and aid them in their needs at the expense of the King, his master; fond of social enjoyments19, lavish20 in hospitality.
[545] Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour Messire Fran?ois Bigot, accusé, contre Monsieur le Procureur-Général du Roi, accusateur.
A year or two before the war began, the engineer Franquet was sent from France to strengthen Louisbourg and inspect the defences of Canada. He kept a copious22 journal, full of curious observation, and affording bright glimpses not only of the social life of the Intendant, but of Canadian society in the upper or official class. Thus, among various matters of the kind, he gives us the following. Bigot, who was in Quebec, had occasion to go to Montreal to meet the Governor; and this official journey was turned into a pleasure excursion, of which the King paid all the costs. Those favored with invitations, a privilege highly prized, were Franquet, with seven or eight military officers and a corresponding number of ladies, including the 19
V2 wife of Major Péan, of whom Bigot was enamoured. A chief steward23, cooks, servants, and other attendants, followed the party. The guests had been requested to send their portmanteaus to the Intendant's Palace six days before, that they might be sent forward on sledges24 along with bedding, table service, cooking utensils25, and numberless articles of comfort and luxury. Orders were given to the inhabitants along the way, on pain of imprisonment26, to level the snowdrifts and beat the road smooth with ox-teams, as also to provide relays of horses. It is true that they were well paid for this last service; so well that the hire of a horse to Montreal and back again would cost the King the entire value of the animal. On the eighth of February the party met at the palace; and after a grand dinner set out upon their journey in twenty or more sleighs, some with two guests and a driver, and the rest with servants and attendants. The procession passed at full trot27 along St. Vallier street amid the shouts of an admiring crowd, stopped towards night at Pointe-aux-Trembles, where each looked for lodging28; and then they all met and supped with the Intendant. The militia29 captain of the place was ordered to have fresh horses ready at seven in the morning, when Bigot regaled his friends with tea, coffee, and chocolate, after which they set out again, drove to Cap-Santé, and stopped two hours at the house of the militia captain to breakfast and warm themselves. In the afternoon they reached Ste. Anne-de-la-Pérade, when Bigot gave them a supper at the house in 20
The next morning brought them to Three Rivers, where Madame Marin, Franquet's travelling companion, wanted to stop to see her sister, the wife of Rigaud, who was then governor of the place. Madame de Rigaud, being ill, received her visitors in bed, and ordered an ample dinner to be provided for them; after which they returned to her chamber31 for coffee and conversation. Then they all set out again, saluted32 by the cannon33 of the fort.
Their next stopping-place was Isle-au-Castor, where, being seated at cards before supper, they were agreeably surprised by the appearance of the Governor, who had come down from Montreal to meet them with four officers, Duchesnaye, Marin, Le Mercier, and Péan. Many were the embraces and compliments; and in the morning they all journeyed on together, stopping towards night at the largest house they could find, where their servants took away the partitions to make room, and they sat down to a supper, followed by the inevitable34 game of cards. On the next night they reached Montreal and were lodged at the intendency, the official residence of the hospitable35 Bigot. The succeeding day was spent in visiting persons of eminence36 and consideration, among whom are to be noted37 the names, soon to become notorious, of Varin, naval38 commissary, Martel, King's storekeeper, Antoine Penisseault, and Fran?ois Maurin. A succession of festivities followed, including the 21
V2 benediction39 of three flags for a band of militia on their way to the Ohio. All persons of quality in Montreal were invited on this occasion, and the Governor gave them a dinner and a supper. Bigot, however, outdid him in the plenitude of his hospitality, since, in the week before Lent, forty guests supped every evening at his table, and dances, masquerades, and cards consumed the night. [546]
[546] Franquet, Journal.
His chief abode40 was at Quebec, in the capacious but somewhat ugly building known as the Intendant's Palace. Here it was his custom during the war to entertain twenty persons at dinner every day; and there was also a hall for dancing, with a gallery to which the citizens were admitted as spectators. [547] The bounteous41 Intendant provided a separate dancing-hall for the populace; and, though at the same time he plundered43 and ruined them, his gracious demeanor44 long kept him a place in their hearts. Gambling was the chief feature of his entertainments, and the stakes grew deeper as the war went on. He played desperately45 himself, and early in 1758 lost two hundred and four thousand francs,—a loss which he well knew how to repair. Besides his official residence on the banks of the St. Charles, he had a country house about five miles distant, a massive old stone building in the woods at the foot of the mountain of Charlebourg; its ruins are now known as Chateau Bigot. In its day it was called the Hermitage; 22
V2 though the uses to which it was applied46 savored47 nothing of asceticism48. Tradition connects it and its owner with a romantic, but more than doubtful, story of love, jealousy49, and murder.
[547] De Gaspé, Mémoires, 119.
The chief Canadian families were so social in their habits and so connected by intermarriage that, along with the French civil and military officers of the colonial establishment, they formed a society whose members all knew each other, like the corresponding class in Virginia. There was among them a social facility and ease rare in democratic communities; and in the ladies of Quebec and Montreal were often seen graces which visitors from France were astonished to find at the edge of a wilderness50. Yet this small though lively society had anomalies which grew more obtrusive51 towards the close of the war. Knavery makes strange companions; and at the tables of high civil officials and colony officers of rank sat guests as boorish52 in manners as they were worthless in character.
Foremost among these was Joseph Cadet, son of a butcher at Quebec, who at thirteen went to sea as a pilot's boy, then kept the cows of an inhabitant of Charlebourg, and at last took up his father's trade and prospered53 in it. [548] In 1756 Bigot got him appointed commissary-general, and made a contract with him which flung wide open the doors of peculation. In the next two years Cadet and his associates, Péan, Maurin, Corpron, and 23
V2 Penisseault, sold to the King, for about twenty-three million francs, provisions which cost them eleven millions, leaving a net profit of about twelve millions. It was not legally proved that the Intendant shared Cadet's gains; but there is no reasonable doubt that he did so. Bigot's chief profits rose, however, from other sources. It was his business to see that the King's storehouses for the supply of troops, militia, and Indians were kept well stocked. To this end he and Bréard, naval comptroller at Quebec, made a partnership54 with the commercial house of Gradis and Son at Bordeaux. He next told the Colonial Minister that there were stores enough already in Canada to last three years, and that it would be more to the advantage of the King to buy them in the colony than to take the risk of sending them from France. [549] Gradis and Son then shipped them to Canada in large quantities, while Bréard or his agent declared at the custom-house that they belonged to the King, and so escaped the payment of duties. They were then, as occasion rose, sold to the King at a huge profit, always under fictitious55 names. Often they were sold to some favored merchant or speculator, who sold them in turn to Bigot's confederate, the King's storekeeper; and sometimes they passed through several successive hands, till the price rose to double or triple the first cost, the Intendant and his partners sharing the gains with friends and allies. They would let nobody else sell to the King; and thus a grinding 24
V2 monopoly was established, to the great profit of those who held it. [550]
[548] Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour Messire Fran?ois Bigot. Compare Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
[549] Bigot au Ministre, 8 Oct. 1749.
[550] Procés de Bigot, Cadet, et autres. Mémoire sur les Fraudes commises dans la Colonie. Compare Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
Under the name of a trader named Claverie, Bigot, some time before the war, set up a warehouse56 on land belonging to the King and not far from his own palace. Here the goods shipped from Bordeaux were collected, to be sold in retail57 to the citizens, and in wholesale58 to favored merchants and the King. This establishment was popularly known as La Friponne, or The Cheat. There was another Friponne at Montreal, which was leagued with that of Quebec, and received goods from it.
Bigot and his accomplices59 invented many other profitable frauds. Thus he was charged with the disposal of the large quantity of furs belonging to his master, which it was his duty to sell at public auction60, after due notice, to the highest bidder61. Instead of this, he sold them privately62 at a low price to his own confederates. It was also his duty to provide transportation for troops, artillery63, provisions, and stores, in which he made good profit by letting to the King, at high prices, boats or vessels64 which he had himself bought or hired for the purpose. [551]
[551] Jugement rendu souverainement dans l'Affaire du Canada.
Yet these and other illicit65 gains still left him but the second place as public plunderer66. Cadet, the commissary-general, reaped an ampler harvest, and became the richest man in the colony. One of the 25
V2 operations of this scoundrel, accomplished68 with the help of Bigot, consisted in buying for six hundred thousand francs a quantity of stores belonging to the King, and then selling them back to him for one million four hundred thousand. [552] It was further shown on his trial that in 1759 he received 1,614,354 francs for stores furnished at the post of Miramichi, while the value of those actually furnished was but 889,544 francs; thus giving him a fraudulent profit of more than seven hundred and twenty-four thousand. [553] Cadet's chief resource was the falsification of accounts. The service of the King in Canada was fenced about by rigid69 formalities. When supplies were wanted at any of the military posts, the commandant made a requisition specifying70 their nature and quantity, while, before pay could be drawn71 for them, the King's storekeeper, the local commissary, and the inspector72 must set their names as vouchers73 to the list, and finally Bigot must sign it. [554] But precautions were useless where all were leagued to rob the King. It appeared on Cadet's trial that by gifts of wine, brandy, or money he had bribed74 the officers, both civil and military, at all the principal forts to attest75 the truth of accounts in which the supplies furnished by him were set at more than twice their true amount. Of the many frauds charged against him there was one peculiarly 26
V2 odious76. Large numbers of refugee Acadians were to be supplied with rations67 to keep them alive. Instead of wholesome77 food, mouldered78 and unsalable salt cod79 was sent them, and paid for by the King at inordinate80 prices. [555] It was but one of many heartless outrages81 practised by Canadian officials on this unhappy people.
[552] Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Requête du Procureur-Général, 19 Dec. 1761.
[553] Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour Messire Fran?ois Bigot.
[554] Mémoire sur le Canada (Archives Nationales).
[555] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
Cadet told the Intendant that the inhabitants were hoarding82 their grain, and got an order from him requiring them to sell it at a low fixed83 price, on pain of having it seized. Thus nearly the whole fell into his hands. Famine ensued; and he then sold it at a great profit, partly to the King, and partly to its first owners. Another of his devices was to sell provisions to the King which, being sent to the outlying forts, were falsely reported as consumed; on which he sold them to the King a second time. Not without reason does a writer of the time exclaim: "This is the land of abuses, ignorance, prejudice, and all that is monstrous84 in government. Peculation, monopoly, and plunder42 have become a bottomless abyss." [556]
[556] Considérations sur l'état présent du Canada.
The command of a fort brought such opportunities of making money that, according to Bougainville, the mere85 prospect86 of appointment to it for the usual term of three years was thought enough for a young man to marry upon. It was a favor in the gift of the Governor, who was accused of sharing the profits. These came partly 27
V2 from the fur-trade, and still more from frauds of various kinds. For example, a requisition was made for supplies as gifts to the Indians in order to keep them friendly or send them on the war-path; and their number was put many times above the truth in order to get more goods, which the commandant and his confederates then bartered87 for furs on their own account, instead of giving them as presents. "And," says a contemporary, addressing the Colonial Minister, "those who treat the savages88 so basely are officers of the King, depositaries of his authority, ministers of that Great Onontio whom they call their father." [557] At the post of Green Bay, the partisan89 officer Marin, and Rigaud, the Governor's brother, made in a short time a profit of three hundred and twelve thousand francs. [558] "Why is it," asks Bougainville, "that of all which the King sends to the Indians two thirds are stolen, and the rest sold to them instead of being given?" [559]
[557] Considérations sur l'état présent du Canada.
[558] Mémoire sur les Fraudes commises dans la Colonie. Bougainville, Mémoire sur l'état de la Nouvelle France.
[559] Bougainville, Journal.
The transportation of military stores gave another opportunity of plunder. The contractor90 would procure21 from the Governor or the local commandant an order requiring the inhabitants to serve him as boatmen, drivers, or porters, under a promise of exemption91 that year from duty as soldiers. This saved him his chief item of expense, and the profits of his contract rose in proportion.
28
V2 A contagion92 of knavery ran through the official life of the colony; and to resist it demanded no common share of moral robustness93. The officers of the troops of the line were not much within its influence; but those of the militia and colony regulars, whether of French or Canadian birth, shared the corruption of the civil service. Seventeen of them, including six chevaliers of St. Louis and eight commandants of forts, were afterwards arraigned94 for fraud and malversation, though some of the number were acquitted95. Bougainville gives the names of four other Canadian officers as honorable exceptions to the general demoralization,—Beno?t, Repentigny, Lainé, and Le Borgne; "not enough," he observes, "to save Sodom."
Conspicuous among these military thieves was Major Péan, whose qualities as a soldier have been questioned, but who nevertheless had shown almost as much vigor96 in serving the King during the Ohio campaign of 1753 as he afterwards displayed effrontery97 in cheating him. "Le petit Péan" had married a young wife, Mademoiselle Desméloizes, Canadian like himself, well born, and famed for beauty, vivacity98, and wit. Bigot, who was near sixty, became her accepted lover; and the fortune of Péan was made. His first success seems to have taken him by surprise. He had bought as a speculation99 a large quantity of grain, with money of the King lent him by the Intendant. Bigot, officially omnipotent100, then issued an order raising the commodity to a price far above that paid by Péan, who thus made a profit of fifty 29
V2 thousand crowns. [560] A few years later his wealth was estimated at from two to four million francs. Madame Péan became a power in Canada, the dispenser of favors and offices; and all who sought opportunity to rob the King hastened to pay her their court. Péan, jilted by his own wife, made prosperous love to the wife of his partner, Penisseault; who, though the daughter of a Montreal tradesman, had the air of a woman of rank, and presided with dignity and grace at a hospitable board where were gathered the clerks of Cadet and other lesser102 lights of the administrative103 hierarchy104. It was often honored by the presence of the Chevalier de Lévis, who, captivated by the charms of the hostess, condescended105 to a society which his friends condemned106 as unworthy of his station. He succeeded Péan in the graces of Madame Penisseault, and after the war took her with him to France; while the aggrieved107 husband found consolation108 in the wives of the small functionaries under his orders. [561]
[560] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760. Mémoire sur les Fraudes, etc. Compare Pouchot, I. 8.
[561] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
Another prominent name on the roll of knavery was that of Varin, commissary of marine109, and Bigot's deputy at Montreal, a Frenchman of low degree, small in stature110, sharp witted, indefatigable111, conceited112, arrogant113, headstrong, capricious, and dissolute. Worthless as he was, he found a place in the Court circle of the Governor, and aspired114 to supplant115 Bigot in the intendancy. To 30
V2 this end, as well as to save himself from justice, he had the fatuity116 to turn informer and lay bare the sins of his confederates, though forced at the same time to betray his own. Among his comrades and allies may be mentioned Deschenaux, son of a shoemaker at Quebec, and secretary to the Intendant; Martel, King's storekeeper at Montreal; the humpback Maurin, who is not to be confounded with the partisan officer Marin; and Corpron, a clerk whom several tradesmen had dismissed for rascality, but who was now in the confidence of Cadet, to whom he made himself useful, and in whose service he grew rich.
Canada was the prey117 of official jackals,—true lion's providers, since they helped to prepare a way for the imperial beast, who, roused at last from his lethargy, was gathering118 his strength to seize her for his own. Honesty could not be expected from a body of men clothed with arbitrary and ill-defined powers, ruling with absolute sway an unfortunate people who had no voice in their own destinies, and answerable only to an apathetic119 master three thousand miles away. Nor did the Canadian Church, though supreme120, check the corruptions121 that sprang up and flourished under its eye. The Governor himself was charged with sharing the plunder; and though he was acquitted on his trial, it is certain that Bigot had him well in hand, that he was intimate with the chief robbers, and that they found help in his weak compliances and wilful122 blindness. He put his stepson, Le Verrier, in command at 31
V2 Michillimackinac, where, by fraud and the connivance123 of his stepfather, the young man made a fortune. [562] When the Colonial Minister berated124 the Intendant for maladministration, Vaudreuil became his advocate, and wrote thus in his defence: "I cannot conceal125 from you, Monseigneur, how deeply M. Bigot feels the suspicions expressed in your letters to him. He does not deserve them, I am sure. He is full of zeal126 for the service of the King; but as he is rich, or passes as such, and as he has merit, the ill-disposed are jealous, and insinuate127 that he has prospered at the expense of His Majesty128. I am certain that it is not true, and that nobody is a better citizen than he, or has the King's interest more at heart." [563] For Cadet, the butcher's son, the Governor asked a patent of nobility as a reward for his services. [564] When Péan went to France in 1758, Vaudreuil wrote to the Colonial Minister: "I have great confidence in him. He knows the colony and its needs. You can trust all he says. He will explain everything in the best manner. I shall be extremely sensible to any kindness you may show him, and hope that when you know him you will like him as much as I do." [565]
[562] Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.
[563] Vaudreuil au Ministre, 15 Oct. 1759.
[564] Ibid., 7 Nov. 1759.
[565] Ibid., 6 Ao?t, 1758.
Administrative corruption was not the only bane of Canada. Her financial condition was desperate. The ordinary circulating medium consisted of what was known as card money, and amounted to only 32
V2 a million of francs. This being insufficient129, Bigot, like his predecessor130 Hocquart, issued promissory notes on his own authority, and made them legal tender. They were for sums from one franc to a hundred, and were called ordonnances. Their issue was blamed at Versailles as an encroachment131 on the royal prerogative132, though they were recognized by the Ministry133 in view of the necessity of the case. Every autumn those who held them to any considerable amount might bring them to the colonial treasurer134, who gave in return bills of exchange on the royal treasury135 in France. At first these bills were promptly136 paid; then delays took place, and the notes depreciated137; till in 1759 the Ministry, aghast at the amount, refused payment, and the utmost dismay and confusion followed. [566]
[566] Réflexions sommaires sur le Commerce qui s'est fait en Canada. état présent du Canada. Compare Stevenson, Card Money of Canada, in Transactions of the Historical Society of Quebec, 1873-1875.
The vast jarring, discordant138 mechanism139 of corruption grew incontrollable; it seized upon Bigot, and dragged him, despite himself, into perils140 which his prudence141 would have shunned142. He was becoming a victim to the rapacity143 of his own confederates, whom he dared not offend by refusing his connivance and his signature of frauds which became more and more recklessly audacious. He asked leave to retire from office, in the hope that his successor would bear the brunt of the ministerial displeasure. Péan had withdrawn144 already, and with the fruits of his plunder bought land in 33
V2 France, where he thought himself safe. But though the Intendant had long been an object of distrust, and had often been warned to mend his ways, [567] yet such was his energy, his executive power, and his fertility of resource, that in the crisis of the war it was hard to dispense101 with him. Neither his abilities, however, nor his strong connections in France, nor an ally whom he had secured in the bureau of the Colonial Minister himself, could avail him much longer; and the letters from Versailles became appalling145 in rebuke146 and menace.
[567] Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, 1751-1758.
"The ship 'Britannia,'" wrote the Minister, Berryer, "laden147 with goods such as are wanted in the colony, was captured by a privateer from St.-Malo, and brought into Quebec. You sold the whole cargo148 for eight hundred thousand francs. The purchasers made a profit of two millions. You bought back a part for the King at one million, or two hundred thousand more than the price for which you sold the whole. With conduct like this it is no wonder that the expenses of the colony become insupportable. The amount of your drafts on the treasury is frightful149. The fortunes of your subordinates throw suspicion on your administration." And in another letter on the same day: "How could it happen that the small-pox among the Indians cost the King a million francs? What does this expense mean? Who is answerable for it? Is it the officers who command the posts, or is it the storekeepers? 34
V2 You give me no particulars. What has become of the immense quantity of provisions sent to Canada last year? I am forced to conclude that the King's stores are set down as consumed from the moment they arrive, and then sold to His Majesty at exorbitant150 prices. Thus the King buys stores in France, and then buys them again in Canada. I no longer wonder at the immense fortunes made in the colony." [568] Some months later the Minister writes: "You pay bills without examination, and then find an error in your accounts of three million six hundred thousand francs. In the letters from Canada I see nothing but incessant151 speculation in provisions and goods, which are sold to the King for ten times more than they cost in France. For the last time, I exhort152 you to give these things your serious attention, for they will not escape from mine." [569]
[568] Le Ministre à Bigot, 19 Jan. 1759.
[569] Ibid., 29 Ao?t, 1759.
"I write, Monsieur, to answer your last two letters, in which you tell me that instead of sixteen millions, your drafts on the treasury for 1758 will reach twenty-four millions, and that this year they will rise to from thirty-one to thirty-three millions. It seems, then, that there are no bounds to the expenses of Canada. They double almost every year, while you seem to give yourself no concern except to get them paid. Do you suppose that I can advise the King to approve such an administration? or do you think that you can take the immense sum of thirty-three millions out 35
V2 of the royal treasury by merely assuring me that you have signed drafts for it? This, too, for expenses incurred153 irregularly, often needlessly, always wastefully154; which make the fortune of everybody who has the least hand in them, and about which you know so little that after reporting them at sixteen millions, you find two months after that they will reach twenty-four. You are accused of having given the furnishing of provisions to one man, who, under the name of commissary-general, has set what prices he pleased; of buying for the King at second or third hand what you might have got from the producer at half the price; of having in this and other ways made the fortunes of persons connected with you; and of living in splendor155 in the midst of a public misery156, which all the letters from the colony agree in ascribing to bad administration, and in charging M. de Vaudreuil with weakness in not preventing." [570]
[570] Le Ministre à Bigot?, 29 Ao?t, 1759 (second letter of this date).
These drastic utterances157 seem to have been partly due to a letter written by Montcalm in cipher158 to the Maréchal de Belleisle, then minister of war. It painted the deplorable condition of Canada, and exposed without reserve the peculations and robberies of those intrusted with its interests. "It seems," said the General, "as if they were all hastening to make their fortunes before the loss of the colony; which many of them perhaps desire as a veil to their conduct." He gives among other cases that of Le Mercier, chief of Canadian artillery, who had come to 36
V2 Canada as a private soldier twenty years before, and had so prospered on fraudulent contracts that he would soon be worth nearly a million. "I have often," continues Montcalm, "spoken of these expenditures159 to M. de Vaudreuil and M. Bigot; and each throws the blame on the other." [571] And yet at the same time Vaudreuil was assuring the Minister that Bigot was without blame.
[571] Montcalm au Ministre de la Guerre, Lettre confidentielle, 12 Avril, 1759.
Some two months before Montcalm wrote this letter, the Minister, Berryer, sent a despatch160 to the Governor and Intendant which filled them with ire and mortification161. It ordered them to do nothing without consulting the general of the French regulars, not only in matters of war, but in all matters of administration touching162 the defence and preservation163 of the colony. A plainer proof of confidence on one hand and distrust on the other could not have been given. [572]
[572] Le Ministre à Vaudreuil et Bigot, 20 Fév. 1759.
One Querdisien-Tremais was sent from Bordeaux as an agent of Government to make investigation164. He played the part of detective, wormed himself into the secrets of the confederates, and after six months of patient inquisition traced out four distinct combinations for public plunder. Explicit165 orders were now given to Bigot, who, seeing no other escape, broke with Cadet, and made him disgorge two millions of stolen money. The Commissary-General and his partners became so terrified that they afterwards gave up nearly seven 37
V2 millions more. [573] Stormy events followed, and the culprits found shelter for a time amid the tumults166 of war. Peculation did not cease, but a day of reckoning was at hand.
[573] Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour Fran?ois Bigot, 3me partie.
Note.—The printed documents of the trial of Bigot and the other peculators include the defence of Bigot, of which the first part occupies 303 quarto pages, and the second part 764. Among the other papers are the arguments for Péan, Varin, Saint-Blin, Boishébert, Martel, Joncaire-Chabert and several more, along with the elaborate Jugement rendu, the Requêtes du Procureur-Général, the Réponse aux Mémoires de M. Bigot et du Sieur Péan, etc., forming together five quarto volumes, all of which I have carefully examined. These are in the Library of Harvard University. There is another set, also of five volumes, in the Library of the Historical Society of Quebec, containing most of the papers just mentioned, and, bound with them, various others in manuscript, among which are documents in defence of Vaudreuil (printed in part), Estèbe, Corpron, Penisseault, Maurin, and Bréard. I have examined this collection also. The manuscript Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, 1751-1760, as well as the letters of Vaudreuil, Bougainville, Daine, Doreil, and Montcalm throw much light on the maladministration of the time; as do many contemporary documents, notably167 those entitled Mémoire sur les Fraudes commises dans la Colonie, état présent du Canada, and Mémoire sur le Canada (Archives Nationales). The remarkable168 anonymous169 work printed by the Historical Society of Quebec under the title Mémoires sur le Canada depuis 1749 jusqu'à 1760, is full of curious matter concerning Bigot and his associates which squares well with other evidence. This is the source from which Smith, in his History of Canada (Quebec, 1815), drew most of his information on the subject. A manuscript which seems to be the original draft of this valuable document was preserved at the Bastile, and, with other papers, was thrown into the street when that castle was destroyed. They were gathered up, and afterwards bought by a Russian named Dubrowski, who carried them to St. Petersburg. Lord Dufferin, when minister there, procured170 a copy of the manuscript in question, which is now in the keeping of Abbé H. Verreau at Montreal, to whose kindness I owe the opportunity of examining it. In substance it differs little from the printed work, though the language and the arrangement often vary from it. The author, whoever he may have been, was deeply versed171 in Canadian affairs of the time, and though often caustic172, is generally trustworthy.
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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chateau
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rascality
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4
peculation
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| n.侵吞公款[公物] | |
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5
corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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6
knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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7
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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8
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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9
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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10
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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11
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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12
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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13
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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14
dual
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| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
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15
functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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16
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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17
pimpled
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| adj.有丘疹的，多粉刺的 | |
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18
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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19
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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20
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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21
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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22
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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23
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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24
sledges
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| n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载 | |
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25
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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26
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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27
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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28
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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29
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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30
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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31
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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32
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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33
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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34
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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35
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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36
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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37
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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38
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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39
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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40
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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41
bounteous
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| adj.丰富的 | |
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42
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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43
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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45
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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46
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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47
savored
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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48
asceticism
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| n.禁欲主义 | |
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49
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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50
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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51
obtrusive
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| adj.显眼的；冒失的 | |
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52
boorish
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| adj.粗野的，乡巴佬的 | |
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53
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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55
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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56
warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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57
retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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58
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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59
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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60
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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61
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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62
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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63
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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64
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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65
illicit
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| adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的 | |
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66
plunderer
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| 掠夺者 | |
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67
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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68
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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69
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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70
specifying
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| v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
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71
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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72
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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73
vouchers
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| n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据 | |
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74
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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75
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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76
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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77
wholesome
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|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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78
mouldered
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| v.腐朽( moulder的过去式和过去分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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79
cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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80
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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81
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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82
hoarding
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| n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 ) | |
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83
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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84
monstrous
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|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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85
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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86
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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87
bartered
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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89
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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90
contractor
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| n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌 | |
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91
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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92
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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93
robustness
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| 坚固性，健壮性；鲁棒性 | |
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94
arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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95
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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96
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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97
effrontery
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| n.厚颜无耻 | |
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98
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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99
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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100
omnipotent
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| adj.全能的，万能的 | |
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101
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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102
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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103
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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104
hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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105
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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106
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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107
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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108
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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109
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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110
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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111
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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112
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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113
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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114
aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
supplant
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| vt.排挤；取代 | |
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116
fatuity
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| n.愚蠢，愚昧 | |
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117
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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118
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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119
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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120
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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121
corruptions
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| n.堕落( corruption的名词复数 )；腐化；腐败；贿赂 | |
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122
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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123
connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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124
berated
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| v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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126
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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127
insinuate
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| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
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128
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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129
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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130
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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131
encroachment
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| n.侵入，蚕食 | |
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132
prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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133
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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134
treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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135
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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137
depreciated
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| v.贬值，跌价，减价( depreciate的过去式和过去分词 )；贬低，蔑视，轻视 | |
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138
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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139
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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140
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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141
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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142
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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143
rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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144
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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145
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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146
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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149
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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150
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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151
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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152
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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153
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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154
wastefully
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| 浪费地，挥霍地，耗费地 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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157
utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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159
expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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161
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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162
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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163
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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166
tumults
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| 吵闹( tumult的名词复数 )； 喧哗； 激动的吵闹声； 心烦意乱 | |
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167
notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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168
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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169
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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170
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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