Such, then, are the people generally; but their characteristics are modified by circumstances of locality, intercourse, and education. There are the people of the large cities, those of small towns, and the people in rural districts. There are also the people who work, and those who are always looking for work and never find it; with whom the true people are often confounded.
The People in large Cities.
The people in large cities possess, in a high degree, all the merits and defects which we are about to notice.
They are fickle, vain, braggart, improvident, mad after pleasures, and not very moral.
The ease with which they may be duped is astounding. They are readily excited, they clamor, are carried away, strike for nothing whatever, and then they reflect. They live from hand to mouth. When work is plentiful, they squander; when it is scarce, they fast and suffer.
They love money for the pleasures which it procures; and in their estimation a debauch is one of the greatest enjoyments of life.
This latter tendency they have borrowed from the present age; which is somewhat sensual, not to say gluttonous—that term would not be parliamentary—as it would have been called in former times. Nowadays a good dinner is not a matter of indifference to others besides men of high standing. A person of exalted rank was once told that his cook had the talent of adding considerably to his own wages. "I know it," was the reply; "but I hold that we cannot pay a man too handsomely for making us happy twice a day." In fact, in these times, one who can thus serve you out two rations of happiness per diem is regarded as a treasure.
Despite the vices, however, which exist in large cities, there are many virtues also to be found among the resident people. They are sincere, generous, disinterested, amiable, and withal extremely witty. In the midst of their hardships, or when exposed to danger, they will often utter sparkling sallies, or laugh good-naturedly at their miseries. They are not rich; but what matters that? They are ever ready to help those who are poorer than themselves. In case of an accident, they will run, work, expose themselves to save others at the risk of their own lives. They are ready to sacrifice themselves for whatever they deem just and right. Unfortunately, in their opinion, the authorities are always in the wrong, and they are never backward to take part against the law.