The petition or memorial
was referred to the Judiciary Committee and it fell to me to prepare
the bill. This I did with the aid, and largely under the direction, of
Shattuck and Jarvis. Then for the first time I had practical use for
the small stock of knowledge that I had acquired of the French
language. Previous to my election to the Legislature I had purchased a
series of books on the French language, known as "French Without a
Teacher." My study of the language had been limited to fragments of
time that I could command while engaged in the business of the store.
Upon my election to the Legislature I made the acquaintance of Count
La Porte who had been a professor of the French language at Cambridge.
I took lessons from him during the sessions of 1842 and 1843.
In the year 1844 I received from the Democratic Party the nomination
for a seat in Congress. It was a barren honor. The district was in
the hands of the Whig Party by a respectable majority. In the canvass
of 1842 the Whigs had nominated John P. Robinson. He was not an
acceptable candidate, and the candidate of the Abolitionists received
a large vote. The Democratic candidate was Joseph W. Mansur of
Lowell. In the first contest he was near an election by a majority.
At the second trial his friends had high hopes of success. At the
close of the contest it was found that he had lost votes.
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