The Establishment is enlightened, tolerant, even well-meaning. It has never been exclusive, rather drawing in recruits from outside, as soon as they are ready to conform to its standards and become respectable. There is nothing more agreeable in this life than to make peace with the Establishment — and nothing more corrupting.

A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]

“William Cobbett,” The New Statesman (1953-08-29)
    (Source)

Taylor is often credited with coining the term "the Establishment" (what Cobbett called "the Thing"). The article, reviewing a biography of Cobbett, was collected in Taylor's Englishmen and Others (1956).