IN tracing the history of any movement, the rate of development at different periods varies strikingly. There may be no growth for a long time; occasionally the tide of progress may appear even to flow back; the spirit of a great reform dies out, and the customs and traditions which have grown up around that reform become a dead weight to hamper progress. Then faint signs of life are to be seen by those who are on the watch, halfhearted protests against traditions, here and there revolts quickly quelled, and some discontent. These are promises of future life and vigour. Suddenly the scene is changed, or rather, it appears to be sudden to the casual observer; it is but the ending of a series of events to those who have watched carefully. We have an outburst of Utopian schemes, many brave beginnings, and many failures. All seems chaos for the time being; currents cross and re-cross; the eternal struggle between the conservative element and the progressive element in humanity is intensified. Gradually out of disorder comes order and rest. But the world is not as it was: the trend of progress is altered; new forces have probably come into operation.

What is true of other aspects of history, is true also of the educational aspect. The latter half of this

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century has seen great changes, some of them revolutionary, in the education of the British people. It has also seen the beginning of still greater changes. Fifty years ago there was much stagnation. To-day there is much life, some bewilderment, and what appears to many to be an ever-increasing chaos. A large number of educational problems are being formulated, and many of them must, from the necessity of the case, be solved quickly, either badly, indifferently, or well. Time will possibly provide a solution for some of them without our actual interference; but the majority require careful thought and conscious effort, if they are to be solved satisfactorily. A wide knowledge of the educational state of the country, together with some knowledge of that which preceded the present state of affairs, will be of great use in such a momentous period as the present. Miss Bremner has given us a valuable contribution towards such knowledge, for which she deserves the gratitude of all those whose responsible duty it will be to mould the future of our educational development. Only those who have for some special purpose attempted to collect information on the state of education in Great Britain can appreciate the time, care, and patience which the writing of such a book as this entails.

Change has been visible in every sphere of education; it has been most strongly marked in the Secondary Education of girls and women. In Elementary Education, both in the immediate past and in the present, there has been no considerable difference between the education of girls and that of boys, nor between the education of men and women teachers. In Secondary Education, the difference in both spheres has been very