Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/48

38 W. B. Mnnro that "the intendant was quite apt to be a rare rascal "/ because one man in a hne of a dozen proved himself so conspicuously unworthy of the trust imposed in him by his sovereign at a critical time. Bigot's picturesque depravity has served too well to draw the at- tention of the casual student away from the faithful plodding of his honest predecessors in office. The post of colonial intendant was almost unique in the scope of powers committed to it, and in the heavy demands constantly made alike upon the firmness, impartiality, tact, and integrity of its occu- pants. The more one studies both the office and the men, the more will one be impressed by the large and effective part played by the intendants in the drama of the old regime. W. B. MUNRO. 1 Thwaites, France in America (New York, 1905), 134.