Between them and the habitants there was no great gulf
fixed, no social impasse such as existed between the two
classes in France. The seigneur often lived and worked
like a habitant; his home was not a great deal better
than theirs; his daily fare was much the same. The
habitant, on the other hand, might himself become a
seigneur by saving a little money, and this is what
frequently happened. By becoming a seigneur, however, he
did not change his mode of life, but continued to work
as he had done before. There were some, of course, who
took their social rank with great seriousness, and proved
ready to pay out good money for letters-patent giving
them minor titles of nobility. Thus Jacques Le Ber, a
bourgeois of Montreal who made a comfortable fortune out
of the fur trade, bought a seigneury and then acquired
the rank of gentilhomme by paying six thousand livres
for it. But the possession of an empty title, acquired
by purchase or through the influence of official friends
at Quebec, did not make much impression on the masses of
the people. The first citizens in the hearts of the
community were the men of personal courage, talent, and
worldly virtues.
Sur cette terre encor sauvage
Les vieux titres sont inconnus;
La noblesse est dans le courage,
Dans les talents, dans les vertus.
Nevertheless, to be a seigneur was always an honour, for
the manor-house was the recognized social centre of every
neighbourhood.
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