Welsh people
This work defended the Welsh people and language against the 1847 "Blue Books" - official reports of a government commission's enquiry into the state of education in Wales. Authors Lingen, Symons and Johnson said the Welsh were dirty, lazy, ignorant, superstitious, deceitful, promiscuous and immoral, and advocated eradication of the Welsh language and the encouragement of the English language. Fluent in Welsh, Phillips exposed the lies of the "Blue Books", defended the Welsh people and their language, and proposed way to improve education in Wales; a biographer described his work: