On the left of the Intendant sat his Secretary, De Pean, crafty
and unscrupulous, a parasite, too, who flattered his master and
ministered to his pleasures. De Pean was a military man, and not a
bad soldier in the field; but he loved gain better than glory, and
amassed an enormous fortune out of the impoverishment of his
country.
Le Mercier, too, was there, Commandant of Artillery, a brave
officer, but a bad man; Varin, a proud, arrogant libertine,
Commissary of Montreal, who outdid Bigot in rapine and Cadet in
coarseness; De Breard, Comptroller of the Marine, a worthy associate
of Penisault, whose pinched features and cunning leer were in
keeping with his important office of chief manager of the Friponne.
Perrault, D'Estebe, Morin, and Vergor, all creatures of the
Intendant, swelled the roll of infamy, as partners of the Grand
Company of Associates trading in New France, as their charter named
them--the "Grand Company of Thieves," as the people in their plain
Norman called them who robbed them in the King's name and, under
pretence of maintaining the war, passed the most arbitrary decrees,
the only object of which was to enrich themselves and their higher
patrons at the Court of Versailles.
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