In the Middle Ages the rich were sanctified by the poor; in the eighteenth century they were maintained by them: Without the lower orders, the suffering sections of society, the rich would be neither lodged, dressed nor fed; it is for the rich that artisans risk their lives climbing frail ladders and raise enormous weights to the pinacles of our buildings; it is for the rich that farmers go out in all weathers, braving the endless fatigues of farming, and it is for the rich that crowds of unfortunates go down to their deaths in mines, dye factories and mineral extraction plants.