Epilogue 235

been able to provide only forty Acadian teachers, most of whom are immature. They have no colleges or high schools although somewhat advanced instruc- tion is carried on in the convents at Tignish, Mis- couche, and Rustico.

This fundamental lack of an educational tradi- tion, as contrasted with their Scottish fellow coun- trymen, also accounts for the limited number of Acadians who are represented in the liberal profes- sions. There is only one Acadian in the medical pro- fession, although two practice medicine outside the province; and there are only two practicing law; but their parishes are served by their own clergy and they have given several to the Magdalen Islands as well as to other parts of Canada and to the United States. In the business world they have not yet mani- fested much skill nor are they well represented in the Civil Service. In journalism, they have not succeeded in maintaining a local paper, but have pooled their resources with L’ Evangeline, the national Acadian journal, published outside the province.

But the leaders of Acadian thought in the prov- ince are now engaged in educational propaganda with a view to developing self-respect and race con- sciousness. T'o this end the Society of St. Thomas Aquinas has been founded by the clergy at Bloom- field, to create a foundation for the education of the Acadian youth. “With the moral support and pecu-

1 The facts given above are quoted from a lecture by Professor Henri Blanchard, Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, de-

hoe before a convention of Acadian teachers held at Miscouche 920,