(Via/Her Tim 37 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Literac_\', never widespread, remained at a basic 
     
     level for most. Those few students who finished the 
     
     school courses were usually bound for careers as priests, 
     
     nuns or schoolteachers. Even today, social differences are 
     
     based, not on income, but on the level of education attained. 
     
     Tignish is still a visually and audio-oriented community - 
     
     much more so than a reading one. 
     
    
   
   
    
     It is likely that the adult education groups of 
     
     various kinds which began in the 18405 contributed to 
     
     the literacy rate as much or more as the schools, since 
     
     they were voluntary and their members were mature 
     
     men. (There were no secular groups for women in this 
     
     period.) Most were religious groups, and, from the 18405 
     
     on, one of them was always a temperance society, 
     
     whatever its name might have been. Off and on, there 
     
     was an agricultural society, whose members read papers 
     
     to each other and occasionally listened to a speaker from 
     
     elsewhere. At times there was a debating society. Another 
     
     occasional source of adult education was St. Mary’s Hall, 
     
     the upper floor of what had been the second church 
     
     building. It was the scene of concerts, magic lantern 
     
     shows, lectures and other events, many of them 
     
     educational. Though this may not seem an impressive 
     
     list of educational resources for adults, it was 
     
     comparable to that of any country town on the Island. 
     
     And the prestige of the Convent made Tignish an 
     
     educational centre for girls; so much so that even 
     
     Protestants would send their daughters to be taught 
     
     by the Sisters. 
     
    
   
   
    
     One astonishing institution, which contributed to 
     
     the survival of French as a written language, the 
     
     opportunities for adult education, and the independent 
     
     spirit of the community was the weekly newspaper 
     
     L’lmpm’tinl. It was founded in 1893 by Gilbert Buote, 
     
     schoolteacher, historian, and genealogist, and his son 
     
     Francois-Joseph, who had trained as a printer. The paper,