4_d_. for imaginary honours? Such things did not, and
could not, exist in mediaeval times, in the days when every one had his
place from the noble to the vassal, when every man's name was known and
his title to property, if he had any, clearly defined. A 'title' in
those days meant a title to land, and an acceptance of its
responsibilities. How many "titled" people in these days possess the
one, or accept the other?
It would seem reserved for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to
create a state of society when the question 'Who is he?' has to be
perpetually asked and not always easily answered; in a word, to foster
and increase to its present almost overwhelming dimensions a great
middle-class of society without a name or a title, or even a home to
call its own.
It was assuredly a good time when men's lives and actions were handed
down, so to speak, from father to son, and the poor man had his '_locum
tenens_' as well as the rich; and how he loved his own dwelling, how he
decked it with ornament according to his taste or his means, how he
watched over it and preserved it from decay; how, in short, his pride
was in his own hearth and home--these old buildings tell us.
The conservative influence of all this on his character (which, although
we are in France, we must call 'home-feeling'), its tendency to
contentment and self-respect, are subjects suggestive enough, but on
which we must not dwell.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40