Amable Berthelot

Amable Berthelot (February 10, 1777 – November 24, 1847) was a Canadian lawyer, author and political figure. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and later to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Trained as a lawyer, he was an avid book-collector, at one point having a personal library of some fifteen hundred volumes. He did not support those who took up arms during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. He never married, but adopted two children, a boy and a girl. His daughter married Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, later co-premier of the Province of Canada. He was a literary mentor to François-Xavier Garneau.

Early life and family Upper and Lower Quebec, seen from the River St. Lawrence, around 1791

Berthelot was born in Quebec City in 1777, the son of Michel-Amable Berthelot Dartigny and Marie-Angélique Bazin. The Berthelots were a well-off family. Amable's grandfather, Charles Berthelot, was the son of a merchant grocer in Paris. Charles Berthelot emigrated to Quebec City in 1726 and went into business. Within a few years he was wealthy enough to buy the fief of Villeray, just outside the Porte-St-Louis. His son, Michel-Amable, went into the legal profession as a notary and lawyer, as well as inheriting Charles's estate. Michel-Amable was the representative for Quebec County in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, elected by acclamation in a by-election in 1793.

Amable was the third of Michel-Amable's seven children, three of whom died in infancy. He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, then articled in law with Jean-Antoine Panet, a prominent lawyer and the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. During his education Berthelot acquired a strong literary taste and began to build up a library. Admitted to the bar in 1799, he set up a practice at Trois-Rivières.

Berthelot developed a lucrative practice in Trois-Rivières. During the War of 1812, he served as a captain in the 1st Battalion of the Trois-Rivières militia. He was rewarded with land grants for his services to the Crown during the war. In 1814, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for the district, along with Charles Richard Ogden in the two member constituency. Ogden went on to hold the seat until 1833, with one short gap, and eventually was a co-premier of the Province of Canada, still representing Trois-Rivières.

In Parliament, Berthelot supported the Parti canadien but not Louis-Joseph Papineau, a fiery nationalist. Instead Berthelot supported Jean-Thomas Taschereau in the election for Speaker of the Assembly, but Papineau won the election. Berthelot only served one term at that time, and did not stand in the general election of 1816. Continuing his law practice, by 1820 he had amassed a substantial estate, and he closed his law practice in Trois-Rivières. Retiring for a time from public life, in 1831 he again left for France. It was at this time that he sold his private library by auction. The auction catalogue has not survived, but it is known from other records at the time that the collection numbered approximately fifteen hundred books, "rare and valuable books on religion, law, government, literature, and history." There was, however, one account by an informer who stated that in the summer of 1837, Berthelot attended a meeting of a revolutionary committee at Deux-Montagnes, where he called the Governor a robber and urged the local citizens to join in a revolt.

In one debate in the Assembly, he stated his political views as Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re ("Be steadfast in principle, conciliatory in action"). His main interest in the Assembly was in education, not surprising in one of his literary background.

In the first general election, Berthelot stood for election to the new Legislative Assembly in the constituency of Kamouraska, campaigning against the union of the Canadas. He was elected by acclamation.

In Parliament, Bertholot was opposed to the union, and was a consistent opponent of the policies of Governor-General Lord Sydenham. He was a member of the French-Canadian Group. He also voted in favour of the reform measures proposed by his son-in-law, LaFontaine, and the principles of responsible government.

He was re-elected in the general election of 1844 and remained in office until his death at Quebec City in 1847.

Intellectual interests

Berthelot's main interests appear to have been intellectual in nature. He was a member of the Société littéraire et historique de Québec, and corresponded with intellectuals on the historical origins of New France. He published essays on French grammar, which attracted some attention, and a number of essays on the subject of historical archaeology. In his father's papers, he discovered an account of the American siege of Fort St. Jean during the American invasion of 1775, and ensured the document's preservation. Garneau argued that the Canadiens had to struggle constantly against British attempts to assimilate them.

Death

Berthelot died in office in November, 1847. The Quebec bar formally went into mourning in his honour. Garneau referred to him in an article as "a studious man, rather than a man of action and change."

Works

Essai de grammaire française suivant les principes de l'abbé Girard (Quebec, 1840) Essai d'analyses grammaticales [...] (Quebec, 1843) Discours [...] sur le vaisseau [...] que l'on prétend être la "Petite-Hermine" [...] (Quebec, 1844)