ches them that, although they do not habitually require the
assistance of others, a time almost always comes when they cannot do
without it. We constantly see in Europe that men of the same profession
are ever ready to assist each other; they are all exposed to the same
ills, and that is enough to teach them to seek mutual preservatives,
however hard-hearted and selfish they may otherwise be. When one of
them falls into danger, from which the others may save him by a slight
transient sacrifice or a sudden effort, they do not fail to make the
attempt. Not that they are deeply interested in his fate; for if, by
chance, their exertions are unavailing, they immediately forget the
object of them, and return to their own business; but a sort of tacit
and almost involuntary agreement has been passed between them, by which
each one owes to the others a temporary support which he may claim for
himself in turn. Extend to a people the remark here applied to a class,
and you will understand my meaning. A similar covenant exists in fact
between all the citizens of a democracy: they all feel themselves
subject to the same weakness and the same dangers; and their interest,
as well as their sympathy, makes it a rule with them to lend each
other mutual assistance when required. The more equal social conditions
become, the more do men display this reciprocal disposition to oblige
each other. In democracies no great benefits are conferred, but good
offices are constantly rendered: a man seldom displays self-devotion,
but all men are ready to be of service to one another.

Chapter V: How Democracy Affects the Relation Of Masters And Servants

An American who had travelled for a long time in Europe once said to me,
"The English treat their servants with a stiffness and imperiousness
of manner which surprise us; but on the other hand the French sometimes
treat their attendants with a degree of familiarity or of politeness
which we cannot conceive. It looks as if they were afraid to give
orders: the posture of the superior and the inferior is ill-maintained."
The remark was a just one, and I have often made it myself. I have
always considered England as the country in the world where, in our
time, the bond of domestic service is drawn most tightly, and France as
the country where it is most relaxed. Nowhere have I seen masters stand
so high or so low as in these two countries. Between these two extremes
the Americans are to be placed. S