ABSTRACT
The 1870s have been called the beginning of the modern era not so much because of the Commune as because of Mr Forster. Education was then made compulsory in Britain, patronage at last abolished in the civil service and competitive entry made the rule. Until the civil service reforms the greater part of society was governed by nepotism. In the agricultural world which predominated until well on in the nineteenth century, status was not achievable by merit, but ascribed by birth. Aristocratic influence would never have lasted so long, even in England, without the support of the family: feudalism and family go together. The family is always the pillar of inheritance. For hundreds of years society has been a battleground between two great principles - the principle of selection by family and the principle of selection by merit. Historical analysis indicates the inevitability of family opposition to progress; also the necessity of the meritocracy.
