234 The French in Prince Edward Island

total population of the island, the chief settlements being at Rustico, Tignish, Egmont Bay, Palmer Road, Bloomfield, Mont-Carmel, and Miscouche, all of which are found in districts that had not been inhabited during the French régime.

At first, because of their sad experiences, their lack of education, and of an intellectual tradition, they made no contribution to the cultural life of the colony, remaining aloof from the British and concen- trating their efforts upon the mere struggle for exist- ence. Seventy years after the conquest they produced a native priest and from that date a new era dawned. In 1854 an Acadian, M. Stanilas Poirier, was elected to the Provincial Legislature, and he subsequently contested twenty-eight provincial or federal elections, sustaining only one defeat. In 1867 another, M. Joseph-Octave Arsenault, was elected and he con- tinued to represent his district in the Provincial Legislature until 1896 when he became a Senator. In 1917 his son, the Hon. Aubin E. Arsenault, be- -eame Provincial Premier, and, in 1921, a Judge of the Supreme Court. These achievements have done much to give the Acadians confidence in themselves and in the British institutions which they distrusted so long.

As their first participation in public affairs coin- cided with a movement on the part of their English speaking compatriots to provide for free general edu- cation, they also began to take a mild interest in knowledge. Today they possess forty-five Acadian schools, comprising sixty rooms ; but so far they have