92 THEISLAND ACADIANS

were studying Grammar, seven of the latter were studying French Grammar. The inspector did not indicate the number who were taking Arithmetic but he did note that their knowledge in this field was praiseworthy. Last of all, he wrote that this French school was becoming more and more useful as it was gradually being turned into an English school'**. Usefulness, in this case, probably meant adopting the cur- riculum taught in English schools.

The clergy exercised a strong influence in the Acadian schools both with regard to the subjects taught and the choice of teachers. In Tignish, for example, the parish priest, Father Peter McIntyre, kept a close eye on the operation of the French-language schools. Since he wanted the Acadian schools to be classified eventually as district or first class schools, he gradually introduced more English'*>.

The content of the textbooks used in the Acadian schools was generally of a religious nature. The books ordered by the priests through the archdiocese of Quebec give an indication of the subjects taught during this period. In 1845, Father Sylvain-Ephrem Poirier asked Monseigneur Charles-Félix Cazeau, the archbishop’s secretary, for copies of the Alphabets Francais and Abrégés de l’histoire sainte (compendium of Bible history)'*°. Several years later, the bishop of Charlottetown (residing in Rustico) Monseigneur Bernard-Donald MacDonald, also ordered textbooks from Monseigneur Cazeau for the Acadian schools. He asked for several copies of the Syllabaire, one copy of the Nouveau Traité des devoirs du Chrétien being used by the Christian Brothers, one dozen short French Grammar books, and two dozen short Geography books'*’.

There were not many schoolbooks at this time and it was not uncommon for a school to have only one copy. Father Poirier referred to this shortage of books when he wrote to Monseigneur Cazeau in 1846:

I was about to write you concerning my books, eagerly awaited since the arrival of spring. | was very pleased to know that they were on their way to the Island, and | will be even more so when they arrive, considering how badly our schools need them. (TR)'%®