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À TRADUIRE
LeavingTerminant collegele withcollège itsavec highestles honorsplus athautes thehonneurs ageà ofl'âge seventeende dix-sept ans, heil commenceddébuta thel'étude studydu ofdroit lawdans inle thecabinet officede of hisson cousin, D. -B. Viger, wherelà theoù samela intensitymême ofdétermination purposed'un ofesprit aclairvoyant mindet singularlyfort clearpour andquelqu'un strongde forsi onejeune, soil young,acquit rapidlyrapidement acquiredla mastershipmaîtrise ofde thela jurisprudence ofde thela province; and he wasIl admittedfût atadmis theau barbarreau ''as a brilliant light '', only to pass a short time, meteor-like, through the legal precincts; for his country had already claimed him for higher purposes. While a law student, he was elected member of the Provincial Parliament by the county of Kent - now Chambly - and took his seat in 1810, entering at once the great political arena, prominent in debates, resolutions, and every bold movement, to stand shoulder to shoulder with its stoutest gladiators, then battling with the Governor, Sir James Craig, in a contest so warm that members were consigned by him to prison, while the office of their newspaper organ was destroyed by his soldiery. Such was our Government then! ▼His school days were passed in the seminary of Quebec, where his name had preceded him as a boy of remarkable aptitude and promise, which was fully maintained during his scholastic term; for, as if thus early impressed with the destinies of a glorious future, and already feeling its responsibilities, he studied deep in the accumulation of knowledge as the foundation of after acquirements. Not content with devotion to the usual hours of study, he sacrificed to books those hours of recreation or rest that the frivolity of youth claims as prerequisite.
▲Leaving college with its highest honors at the age of seventeen, he commenced the study of law in the office of his cousin, D. B. Viger, where the same intensity of purpose of a mind singularly clear and strong for one so young, rapidly acquired mastership of the jurisprudence of the province; and he was admitted at the bar as a brilliant light, only to pass a short time, meteor-like, through the legal precincts; for his country had already claimed him for higher purposes. While a law student, he was elected member of the Provincial Parliament by the county of Kent - now Chambly - and took his seat in 1810, entering at once the great political arena, prominent in debates, resolutions, and every bold movement, to stand shoulder to shoulder with its stoutest gladiators, then battling with the Governor, Sir James Craig, in a contest so warm that members were consigned by him to prison, while the office of their newspaper organ was destroyed by his soldiery. Such was our Government then!
In 1815, he was elected for the West Ward of Montreal, and continued by re-elections to represent that constituency till 1837.
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