Maitland Expresses Lack of Confidence in the Character and Good Sense of the Common People. Those who are not influenced by selfish considerations are not numerous.
Good people are rare.
For the rabble, nourished on blood and robbery, has its liberty for sale and envies the liberty of others. Now I pass over those to whom the name of an evil king is sacred. You know how great a multitude this is. A great many of the common people are such as you describe, to be sure, but not the majority. For while the injuries inflicted by tyrants affect a great many people, their favors are extended to a few only.