In 1831 Brougham had defined The People as 'the middle classes, the ...

In 1831 Brougham had defined The People as 'the middle classes, the wealth and intelligence of the country, the glory of the British name'. In 1848 a pamphlet appeared under the title A Plea for the Middle Classes. It was concerned with their education.

The Barbarians and the Populace were provided for. Strenuous work, and what seemed to economists a formidable expenditure, were giving popular education in England a dead lift to a level not much below Prussia, on paper, and, on paper, well above France and Holland, the three countries from which much of the inspiration had come.

It was the education vote, indeed, which opened the eyes of the public to the cost of the social services, and there was a growing doubt, which the Newcastle Commission of '8-'60 confirmed, of the value received for the money spent.