Throughout  the  whole  of  our  public  ele
mentary  education,  indeed,  it  is  already  an
established  rule  that  no  one  should  take  part
in  it  who  has  not  received  some  training  as  a
teacher  ;  and  further  development  of  the  same
principle  may  be  looked  for.  But  the  great
special  feature  of  modern  English  education
is  the  increased  use  of  examination,  and
especially  of  competitive  examination,  as  an
educational  instrument.  This  is  no  new
thing  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.  It
has  been  the  custom  here  for  generations  to
offer  places  and  prizes,  such  as  could  not  but


358  Social  Questions.
be  eagerly  coveted,  to  those  who  have  been
most  successful  in  examinations.  But  even
here  the  system  has  been  in  recent  years
greatly  extended  ;  and  it  is  scarcely  possible
for  an  intelligent  boy,  about  to  enter  the
University,  to  separate  the  thought  of  anxious
competition  from  any  part  or  any  term  of  his
academical  life.  The  student  in  these  days
from  childhood  upwards  is  always  being  ex
amined,  and  always  with  something  to  gain
by  success  in  his  examinations.
