INTRODUCTORY
NO one will deny that we are living in a period of great social upheaval and unrest. A great thrill has passed through this country—a thrill of wonder, of mingled joy and alarm, and in some quarters perhaps of terror. The old political parties no longer face each other in the field, alone. Another is between them, who looks at each, but gives allegiance to neither. The masses have awakened, as it seems, suddenly. And it is pretty certain that they will look at every great question of human interest from a new standpoint and with a new aim.
There is no vista on which the light strikes more strangely for the newly-opened eyes than on that covered by the word Education. A little while ago there was nothing that could be called education for the masses in England. And even in recent days education has meant for the labouring man a wrangle between the sects: a quarrel for religious supremacy—and the three R's! But the morning light is even now tearing aside the shadows of ecclesiastical
vii
