SOCIETY. 363 



and downs of life, and seen much of foreign lands and strange 

 jDeoples. In their own state they meet and are thrown into 

 familiar intercourse with intelligent representatives of all climes 

 and continents. The consequence is, that there is no popula- 

 tion more cosmopolitan than the Californians. They have no 

 provincial stiffness ; there is nothing of the little village about 

 them. 



In no place is society more free and cordial, and ready to 

 give a friendly reception to a stranger than in California. The 

 new-comer is looked upon with favor ; nobody cares whether 

 he belongs to a distinguished family, has moved in a fashion- 

 able circle, or possesses wealthy or influential friends or rela- 

 tives. The great question is, "Is he or she well educated, 

 polished, and entertaining?" Of course Californians are not 

 entirely above such considerations as govern society elsewhere, 

 but they are influenced by them far less than people in other 

 states. The course of business is such that no profession has 

 all the wealth. There are rich men of all occupations, and 

 some of the mechanical trades are now as profitable, on the 

 average to those engaged in them, as are the learned profes- 

 sions. Those who were rich in the older states, and received 

 a thorough education and a polished training, may here be 

 poor, while those who came hither poor and ignorant may now 

 be rich. Besides, the changes are so rapid that our neighbor 

 who is poor to-day may be rich to-morrow, and the neighbor 

 who is rich to-day may be poor to-morrow. Again, California 

 is pre-eminently a country of business. People came here to 

 make money, and everybody tries to make it ; and in a state 

 where wages are high, and profits large, a man's business de- 

 pends to a considerable extent on the multitude of his friends, 

 so everybody wishes to make a friend of everybody else. The 

 millionaire in Europe may treat his tenant as an inferior ; in 

 California the wealthiest land-owner is expected to treat his 

 tenant as an equal. All these things have their influence in 

 preventing the separation of our society into those classes 

 which prevail elsewhere. 



