“the disappointments are more than can be steadily met; and men give up in despair, become reckless, and after a life of poverty, end their days prematurely in misery.” He went on to talk about the distinctive way such misfortune hits “the better sort of persons . . . who have set their hearts on bettering their condition,” reflecting on how “disappointment preys on them . . . hope leaves them . . . their hearts sink as toil becomes useless.” Place then noted the overlay of class on all this, writing “it is not the habit of men to care for others beneath them in rank.”
