In either case, though serfs in the eye of the law, they enjoyed practically a very large amount of liberty.

By paying a small sum for a passport they could leave their villages for an indefinite period, and as long as they sent home regularly the money required for taxes and dues, they were in little danger of being molested.

Many of them, though officially inscribed as domiciled in their native communes, lived permanently in the towns, and not a few succeeded in amassing large fortunes.

The effect of this comparative freedom is apparent even at the present day.

These peasants of the north are more energetic, more intelligent, more independent, and consequently less docile and pliable than those of the fertile central provinces.
They have, too, more education.