SOCIETY. 363 
and downs of life, and seen much of foreign lands and strange 
peoples. 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. 
