en obliged
to appoint in haste all proved at leisure the wisdom of
his choice; and there seemed to be every chance that
other nominees would be equally fit for their positions,
because the Quebec Act, which annulled every appointment
made before it came into force, opened the way for the
exclusion of bad officials and the inclusion of the good.

But the chance of perverting this excellent intention
was too much for Germain, who succeeded in foisting one
worthless nominee after another on the province just as
Carleton was doing his best to heal old sores. One of
the worst cases was that of Livius, a low-down,
money-grubbing German Portuguese, who ousted the future
Master of the Rolls; Sir William Grant, a man most
admirably fitted to interpret the laws of Canada with
knowledge, sympathy, and absolute impartiality. Livius
as chief justice was more than Carleton could stand in
silence. This mongrel lawyer had picked up all the Yankee
vices without acquiring any of the countervailing Yankee
virtues. He was 'greedy of power, more greedy of gain,
imperious and impetuous in his temper, but learned in
the ways and eloquence of the New England provinces, and
valuing himself particularly on his knowledge of how to
manage governors.' He had been sent by Germain 'to
administer justice to the Canadians when he understands
neither their laws, manners, customs, nor language.'
Other like nominees followed, 'characters regardless of
the public tranquility but zealous to pay court to a
powerful minister and--provided they can obtain
advantages--unconcerned should the means of obtaining
them prove ruinous to the King's service.' These
pettifoggers so turned and twisted the law about for the
sake of screwing out the maximum of fees that Carleton
pointedly refused to appoint Livius as a member of the
Legislative Council. Livius then laid his case before
the Privy Council in England. But this great court of
ultimate appeal pronounced such a damning judgment on
his gross pretensions that even Germain could not prevent
his final dismissal from all employment under the Crown.

Wounded in the house of those who should have been his
friends, thwarted in every measure of his self-sacrificing
rule, Carleton served on devotedly through six weary
months of 1778--the year in which a vindictive government
of Bourbon France became the first of the several foreign
enemies who made the new American republic an accomplished
fact by taking sides i