Did the educated class really speak so well in the 19th century?

[Eva Elisabeth]

One point is that language became simpler and shorter. I think modern media and also such as advertising strategies have added to this. The message is to come over directly. Short is concise and aggressive, thus more effective. Plus people today are more concerned about time efficiency, and convenience. LOL.

It's the same in German. And in arts. Compare a Constable painting to a Miro, a Verdi opera to a pop song. And in clothing - hoop skirts are gorgeous and make beautiful ladies, but quite inconvenient in modern everyday life.
       
Another point is that each generation (of youth) wants to speak their own language to distinct from the parents. Some of this makes its way into the adult language of this generation. Maybe one generation will re-discover the "oldfashioned, forgotten" language. And the opera partly revives in movie sound tracks.

Still IMO quite a lot of people are capable of expressing themselves beautifully, and I have enjoyed several examples on the forum.