ABSTRACT
In 1902 Lord Salisbury had retired, Edward VII had been crowned and the Treaty of Vereeniging had been signed. The Labour Representation Committee had been formed at Farringdon Street in 1900 and in 1902 had already won two seats at by-elections. 1902 was also the year of the Balfour Education Act and of the Anglo-Japanese alliance. All these circumstances justify taking this particular year as a starting-point. In political history the retirement of Salisbury was as much the end of an era as had been the retirement of Gladstone or the death of Palmerston. Salisbury was the last Prime Minister to sit in the Lords. The death of Queen Victoria and the accession of Edward VII were naturally taken then, and have been so considered since, as marking the end of an era. It is possible perhaps at this date to underestimate the effects on the national mind.
