Words of galling truth are
addressed to Bigot before his painted courtezans and his other
depraved attendants, whose hearts are too hard and whose consciences
are too seared to be tortured by either misery or reproof, and the
ruffian varlets eject both father and daughter to the furies of the
midnight blast. The ball ended, Bigot leads Madame de Pean to her
vehicle, when she tumbles over an object which, when torches are
brought, was found to be the corpse of the suppliant rebuker of a few
hours previous, alongside of which lay the unconscious form of his
daughter, half buried in the drifting snow. 'Mon Dieu,' exclaimed
Madame de Pean, 'Il ne dormira pas de la nuit, c'est bien sur.' This
tragic event is narrated with thrilling effect, in the author's best
style." P. B.
In a paper read by us before the Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec, 3rd December, 1879, we alluded in the following terms to the
history of the "Friponne" and the infamous entourage of Intendant Bigot in
the second part of our lecture: the first part related to Kalm's ramble
round the city in 1749.
Prepare, now for other - dark - far less pleasant scenes. The bright sky
of old Stadacona will rapidly lower; leaden clouds, pregnant with
storms are hovering over head. The simplicity of early days is getting
obsolete. Vice, gilded vice, flaunts in the palace. Gaunt famine is
preying on the vitals of the people. 'Tis so at Versailles; 'tis so at
Quebec. Lust - selfishness - rapine - public plunder everywhere - except
among the small party of the Honnetes Gens: [120] a carnival of
pleasure, to be followed by the voice of wailing and by the roll of
the muffled drum.
In 1748, the evil genius of New France, "La Pompadour's
protege" Francois Bigot, thirteenth and last Intendant, had landed
at Quebec.
Born in Guienne, of a family distinguished at the bar, Bigot, prior to
coming to Canada had occupied the high post of Intendant in Louisiana.
In stature, he was small - but well formed; - active - full of pluck -
fond of display and pleasure - an inveterate gambler. Had he confined
his operations merely to trading, his commercial ventures would have
excited little blame, trading having been a practice indulged in by
several other high colonial officials. His salary was totally
inadequate to the importance of his office, and quite insufficient to
meet the expenditure his exalted position led him into. His
speculations, his venality, the extortions practised on the community
by his heartless minions: this is what has surrounded his memory with
eternal infamy and made his name a by-word for scorn.
There existed, at Quebec, a ring composed of the Intendant's
secretary, Deschenaux, of the Commissary General of Supplies, Cadet,
of the Town-Major, Hugues Pean; of the Treasurer-General, Imbert. Pean
was the Chief and Bigot the Great Chief of this nefarious association.
Between Bigot and Pean, another link existed. Pean's favour at Court
lay in the charms of his wife. Madame Pean, nee Angelique De
Meloises, was young, pretty, witty and charming; a fluent and
agreeable speaker - in fact so captivating that Francois Bigot was
entirely ruled by her during all his stay at Quebec. At her house in
St. Louis street he spent his evenings; there, he was sought and found
in May, 1759, by Col. de Bougainville returning from Paris, the bearer
of the dispatches, announcing the coming struggle.
Would you like some of the pen-photographs which a clever French
contemporary [121] has left of the corrupt entourage of the
magnificent intendant, here are a few:
"Brassard Deschenaux, the son of a poor cobbler, was born at Quebec. A
notary who boarded with Deschenaux, senior, had taught his son to
read. Naturally quick and intelligent, young Deschenaux made rapid
progress and soon found something to do in the office of Intendant
Hocquart where Bigot found him and succeeded in having him appointed
clerk in the Colonial Office at Quebec. Industrious, but at heart a
sycophant, by dint of cringing he won the good graces of Bigot, who
soon put unlimited trust in him, to that degree as to do nothing
without Deschenaux's aid, but Deschenaux was vain, ambitious, haughty
and overbearing and of such inordinate greed, that he was in the habit
of boasting 'that to get rich he would even rob a church.'
"Cadet was the son of a butcher. In his youth he was employed to mind
the cattle of a Charlesbourg peasant; he next set up as a butcher and
made money. His savings, he invested in trade; his intriguing spirit
brought him to the notice of the Intendant Hocquart, who gave him
contracts to supply meat for the army. Deschenaux soon discovered that
Cadet could be useful to him; he made him his friend and lost no
opportunity to recommend him to the Intendant. He was accordingly
often employed to buy the supplies for the subsistence of the troops.
In verity, there were few men more active, more industrious, more
competent to drive a bargain. The King required his services and
secured them, by having Cadet named Commissary General. He had his
redeeming points - was open-handed in his dealings - of a kindly nature
and lavish even to excess."
The worthy Commissary General, like Pean, was blessed with a charming
wife, whom Panet's Diary styles "La Belle Amazone Aventuriere."
Probably like her worthy spouse, - of low extraction; "elle n'etait pas
sortie de la cuisse de Jupiter," to use a familiar French saw.
She certainly was not, like Caesar's wife "above suspicion." Madame
Cadet, later on, transferred her allegiance from the rich butcher
Cadet, to one "Sieur Joseph Ruffio";... but let us draw the veil of
oblivion over the short comings of another age.
