Education
He studied at the college of Nicolet and was ordained 1828.
He studied at the college of Nicolet and was ordained 1828.
He ministered to country parishes until 1841, when he was made director of studies in the college of Nicolet. He became its superior in 1848. From his college days he had devoted himself to the study of Canadian history.
The numerous notes which he collected had made him one of the most learned men of the country.
lieutenant was not, however, until he had reached the age of forty that he thought of writing a history of Canada. In 1853 he published his Observations sur l" histoire ecclésiastique du Canada, a refutation and criticism of the work of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourburg.
lieutenant was reprinted in France in 1854. In the latter year he published Notes sur les régistres de Notre Dame de Québec, a second edition of which, revised and augmented appeared in the Foyer Canadien for 1863.
In 1855 he was appointed professor of Canadian history at the Université Laval (Sainte-Foy, Quebec), and went at once to France to collect new documents to perfect him in his work.
He returned in 1857, bringing with him valuable notes. The public courses which he delivered from 1858 to 1862 attracted large audiences.
Being named a member of the council of the Bishop of Quebec, he took up his residence in that city, where he was also chaplain to the English garrison.