The tide of luxury has swept all the inhabitants from the open country – The poorest squire, as well as the richest peer, must have his house in town . . . The plough-boys, cow-herds, and lower hinds . . . swarm up to London, in hopes of getting into service, where they can live luxuriously and wear fine clothes, without being obliged to work; for idleness is natural to man.

Tobias Smollett (1721-1771), The Expedition of Humphry Clinker