proclamation abolishing all the fees and perquisites
attached to his position and explained his action to the
home authorities in the following words: 'There is a
certain appearance of dirt, a sort of meanness, in exacting
fees on every occasion. I think it necessary for the
King's service that his representative should be thought
unsullied.' Murray, who had accepted the fees, at first
took umbrage. But Carleton soon put matters straight with
him. The fact was that fees, and even certain perquisites,
were no dishonour to receive, as they nearly always formed
a recognized part, and often the whole, of a perfectly
legal salary. But fees and perquisites could be abused;
and they did lead to misunderstandings, even when they
were not abused; while fixed salaries were free from both
objections. So Carleton, surrounded by shamelessly
rapacious magistrates and the whole vile camp-following
gang, as well as by French Canadians who had suffered
from the robberies of Bigot and his like, decided to
sacrifice everything but his indispensable fixed salary
in order that even the most malicious critics could not
bring any accusation, however false, against the man who
represented Britain and her king.

An interesting personal interlude, which was not without
considerable effect on Canadian history, took place in
the middle of Carleton's four years' stay in England. He
was forty-eight and still a bachelor. Tradition whispers
that these long years of single life were the result of
a disappointing love affair with Jane Carleton, a pretty
cousin, when both he and she were young. However that