Agitation in behalf of universal education continued, and organizations like the ‘Lancashire Public School Association’ of Manchester (1847) and ‘The League’ of Birmingham (1869) spread rapidly through the manufacturing centers. And when the franchise was further extended in 1868, the necessity for preparing millions of the common people for new responsibilities in public affairs led in 1870 to the passage of the epoch-making bill of William E. Forster. Under this act ‘board schools,’ or institutions in charge of a board chosen by the people of the community, were to be established wherever a deficiency in the existing accommodations required it. The ‘voluntary,’ or denominational schools, most of which belonged to the Church of England, were to continue to share in the government grants upon equal terms with the new institutions, but the latter had also the benefit of local ‘rates.’ Elementary instruction in all schools had to be open to government inspection, and the amount of the grant was partly determined by the report of the inspectors. The board schools were forbidden to allow “any religious catechism or religious formulary, which is distinctive of any particular denomination;” and religious instruction in either type of school had to be placed at the beginning or end of the school session, so that, under the ‘conscience clause’ of the act, any scholar might conveniently withdraw at that time. [Sidenote: Compulsory attendance,] [Sidenote: minimum age,] [Sidenote: free tuition,] [Sidenote: and Board of Education.] This act of 1870 was, of course, the _magna charta_ of national education, and has become the basis of much school legislation. The compromise in the bill that allowed the voluntary schools, with their sectarian instruction, to continue receiving government support, however, prevented a logical and consistent system from being established. The dual system of elementary schools continued to be developed in a variety of enactments. Compulsory attendance laws were passed (1876, 1880), the minimum age of exemption was set first at eleven years of age, and then raised to twelve (1893, 1899), and an extra grant, to take the place of tuition fees (1891), made it possible for most schools to become absolutely free. Finally (1899), there was created a central Board of Education, which assumed the functions of the Committee of Privy Council on Education and similar agencies for managing educational interests. [Sidenote: In 1902 ‘voluntary’ schools also allowed local rates,] [Sidenote: but dual system swept away,] [Sidenote: and secondary instruction supported at public expense.]