educational history of those years appear to have been directly due to the neglect of the historical aspect of National Education. The repetition of errors is inevitable if the record of the past is neglected. England is still suffering from the neglect of the warnings and lessons of the political history of Education. To the student of the history of English Education one fact stands out against the background of the past with painful clearness. Had it not been for the limited historical knowledge, the uncertain policy, the political jealousies of those into whose hands was committed the up-bringing of the people, England at the present moment would have possessed a matchless educational system naturally graduated by the intellectual capacity of youth. But statesmen of the first rank throughout the nineteenth century either refused to regard, or were unable to present, National Education as a national problem of the first order. From Mr Whitbread's Bill of 1807 to Mr Forster's Act of 1870 is a far cry, and it is not too much to suppose, had the essential importance of National Education been recognised by the great leaders of the country, that at any intermediate date a national scheme would have been forthcoming, and that the country would not have had to wait until 1870 for the adoption of a scheme which, originally proposed in 1816, in 1816 would have answered its purpose. But, after all, the fault of wasted opportunities lies ultimately with the electorate. The subject of Education has never really interested the voting class, and it will never interest them until they realize that Education is a national matter of vast importance, apart altogether from the question of taxes and rates. The British citizen is, by habit of mind, unable to regard with concern local politics or parochial expenditure. The members of local governing bodies are the representatives of political organizations, and are not elected by any considerable number of voters. The voting class regard local bodies as the machine for rate-collecting and dismiss Education as the name of one among many rates, as an aspect of an inevitable and uninteresting burden that is ever with them. If once it is realized that Education is an Imperial question and one that will vitally affect the near future of the Empire, it will rank in interest with those problems of foreign affairs which so vividly occupy the average Englishman. He will, however, never grasp the Imperial character of the Education question until the history of Education in the British Empire is brought home to him; until he appreciates the part that Education has played in the making of the Empire, and so realizes the personal importance of the subject to him and to his children. Within the last few years a new school of thought on the subject of National Education has arisen, and the work of reconstruction and organization has been taken up in earnest by statesmen and specialists. The scientific treatment of this complex and intricate economic question is now assured, and among its manifold aspects that are receiving consideration history is included. We may, therefore, confidently believe that in the near future an exhaustive history of English Education will be produced, and that the subject will take its due place in the minds of men. This volume is but a foot-note, as it were, to that great subject. The aim of the author has been the aggregation in a convenient shape of facts hitherto widely scattered and in some cases only contained in books and documents that are difficult of access. To many students it will be helpful to possess in compact form the early statutes and law cases dealing with Education. The limitations of the subject-matter are the limitations of convenience. Moreover the relationship of the State to Education, always important, is now likely to become vital to our national welfare. On the grounds, therefore, of importance and convenience this book purports to deal solely with that relationship. It has not, however, been possible to carry out this scheme in its integrity. Material belonging to the general history of Education, and having little connexion with State Education, has been employed from place to place in order to secure something like historical continuity in the narrative. On the other hand, material strictly belonging to the history of State Education has been deliberately excluded from the volume. The chief instance of such exclusion is the legislation dealing with particular schools. The private local Acts of Parliament which founded, or modified the foundations of, particular schools are of great interest and deserve prolonged and close attention. The intervention of the Legislature by such means constitutes an important aspect of the subject, and one that might well be dealt with at large. Schools founded by Inclosure Acts would in such a survey receive especial notice. It has not been found possible, however, to deal at all with this question in the present volume. A further aspect of intervention has only been suggested, though from the historical point of view the matter requires full and careful investigation. The extent to which vestries and other local bodies, in pursuance of Common and Statute Law, carried on education in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries can only be ascertained by a prolonged search in local records. Such an investigation would be a profitable and interesting undertaking, but it has not been found possible to pursue it for the purposes of this work. Again, the question of the local government of endowed schools and of grammar-schools might well have been dealt with here. No history of English Education would be complete without lengthy chapters on this subject and on the internal government of the Universities. The relationship of such quasi-public government, in the case of both schools and Universities, to the Crown acting through the King's Courts is a matter of high historical importance. With this question, as with others, the author has not felt it desirable to deal here. He has, in fact, been sufficiently daring in his endeavours to explore, in pioneer fashion, a somewhat unknown country, and considers it wiser to leave these difficult regions to those who can and will scientifically survey the whole historical area of English Education. The work actually undertaken in this book has not, however, been accomplished without very considerable expenditure of time and labour; and the author ventures to refer to this fact in order that he may secure the opportunity of thanking all those who have so kindly helped him in his efforts to produce a volume that might be of some practical use to all who are interested in National Education. In particular the author must express his obligation to Professor W. H. Woodward for his valuable suggestions and his helpful reading of the proof-sheets; and to Mr C. E. A. Bedwell, |