ON CAPE BEETON. 275 



children who commence their education at the same time.' Of course the well-to-do 

 people, of whom there are only a very insignificant number in Cape Breton, may send 

 their children to special institutions where they can pursue their studies with every 

 facility ; but the reference here is entirely to the public schools, to which the French 

 Acadians as a class can alone have access. The character of the French spoken by the 

 Acadians depends, in a large measure, upon the locality and their surroundings. "Where 

 they are left to themselves they naturally speak better French, that is to say with less 

 admixture of the English than where they are in constant intercourse with other nation- 

 alities who use Gaelic or English. They speak it " ungrammatically of course, but still it 

 is pure French, and not a mere patois, though some of the words in use amongst them are 

 now obsolete in France as well as in the province of Quebec." As a rule they have no 

 knowledge of grammar, and J ' avous, J 'allons, J 'irons. Je serons, and the like are familiar 

 expressions on all sides. Still they perfectly understand their language in its gramma- 

 tical forms and phrases. One gentleman who has had a good deal of experience among 

 them " has no hesitation in saying that the uneducated Acadian speaks French just as 

 well as the uneducated French Canadian habitant." "Where these people live among the 

 English, as in the town of Arichat, they mix common English words wath their ordinary 

 conversation. For instance, I have heard an Acadian lady say in my hearing while on a 

 visit to Arichat : " Quand j'étais à l'exposition à Halifax j'étais ' on the go' tout le temps, de 

 sorte que quand je suis revenue j'étais complètement ' done out.' " The better classes have 

 in Arichat and "West Arichat or Acadiaville, convents managed by the Sœurs of the Con- 

 gregation de Notre-Dame whose mother-house is in Montreal." The sisters in both these 

 institutions are accomplished French, or French Canadian women, and the young Acadian 

 girls have consequently an excellent opportunity of acquiring a correct knowledge of the 

 language of their origin. A number of young Acadian women, graduates of these con- 

 vents, teach in different school sections of the country, and are in a position to impart a 

 fairly correct knowledge of their own language to their pupils. But it must be admitted 

 that, though the Arichat convent was founded some thirty-five years ago, and that at "West 

 Arichat nine years later, little improvement can be noticed in the speaking of French, 

 owing mainly to the fact that when the girls go back to their homes, after having gone 

 through their course of studies, they return, in the majority of cases, to the ordinary 

 phraseology or vocabulary of their youth. The boys, however, have no special educational 



' I quote the remaining portion of the remarks of my correspondent on this subject as it opens up an important 

 question. " Admitting, therefore, tliat our Acadian children occupy a position of inferiority in our public schools, 

 it is just such a position as our English-.speaking children would be forced into if tlie case were reversed. Let us 

 suppose, by way of illustration, that no .separate school system existed in the province of tjuebec, that French was 

 the only language recognised in its public schools, and that the children of the English-speaking minority could 

 pursue their studies only through the medium of that language, what position would they occupy ? How would 

 they stand in relation to the French Canadians ? Precisely, I would answer, as the Acadians now stand in Cape 

 Breton. Yet this would be no proof, in my opinion, that the English children were really inferior from an intel- 

 lectual point of view, but rather go to show tï e effect of an unjust system which would place the two nationalities 

 in the schools on unequal terms. If then the Acadians are not always found up to the mark in the public schools, 

 the fault lies not altogether with them but largely with our system of education, and I venture to say that could 

 they but pursue their studies in their mother tongue, they would soon give a far lietter account of their mental 

 capacity." 



- See sec. III. 



