the papers were filled with letters and articles. 'What shall we
do with our boys?' was the heading that one saw every day, somewhere
or other. What, indeed! No one ventured to say that they had better go
back to their trade; no one ventured to point out that a man might be
a good cabinet-maker although he knew the Integral Calculus. If one
timidly asked what good purpose was gained by making so many scholars,
that man was called Philistine, first; obstructive, next; and other
stronger names afterward. And yet no one ventured to point out that
all the Professions--and not science only, through the
Universities--might be thrown open.

Sooner or later this suggestion was certain to be made. It appeared,
first of all, in an unsigned letter addressed to one of the evening
papers. The writer of the letter was almost certainly one of the
suffering class. He began by setting forth the situation, as I have
described it above, quite simply and truly. He showed, as I have
shown, that the Professions and the Services were closed to those who
had no money. And he advanced for the first time the audacious
proposal that they should be thrown open to all on the simple
condition of passing an examination. 'This examination,' he said, 'may
be made as severe as can be desired or devised. There is no
examination so severe that the students of our Polytechnics cannot
face and pass it triumphantly. Let the examination, if you will, be
intended to admit none but those who have taken or can take
first-class Honours. The Poly students need not fear to face a
standard even so high as this. Why should the higher walks of life be
reserved for those who have money to begin with? Why should money
stand in the way of honour? Among the thousands of young men who have
profited by the opportunities offered to them there must be some who
are born to be lawyers; some who are born to be doctors; some who are
born to be preachers; some who are born to be administrators.' And so
on, at length. It was not, however, by a letter in a paper, or by the
leading articles and the correspondence which followed that the
suggested change was effected. But the idea was started. It was talked
about; it grew as the pressure increased it grew more and more.
Meetings were held at which violent speeches were delivered: the
question of opening the Professions was declared of national
importance; at the General Election which followed some months after
the appearance of the