finance generally) did not exist at so early a period; and, indeed, in the London Directory for 1799 we only find the names of eleven so-called "Accomptants," although this date is two generations later than that to which we at first referred. In 1809 the number had risen to twenty-four, and in 1822 there were seventy-three Accountants, or firms of Accountants, in practice in London.

It was not, however, until the middle of the nineteenth century that any real vitality existed in Accountancy as a profession, but a great impetus was given about this time by the application of the then recent discovery of steam as a motive power to railways, and during the railway mania (1841-1857) there arose a considerable demand for persons skilled in accounts, which gave a great fillip to the profession. At the close of the railway mania, in 1857-8, a reaction would doubtless have set in with considerable force, but for the fact that in the year 1855 the principle of limited liability as applied to joint-stock companies was for the first time introduced, while the Companies Act, 1862, which gave additional facilities for the formation of limited liability companies, afforded a further field for Accountants' operations, which ever since has been continually increasing. A further scope for the operations of Accountants was afforded by the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, and from this time forward the continuance of the profession was assured.

It is a matter for regret that the looseness of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act 1869 encouraged many persons to become Accountants who not only had no qualifications whatever for the duties which devolved upon them, but further were so devoid of moral principle that their misconduct naturally reflected upon the profession as a whole; and it is no exaggeration to say that accountants are still suffering from the misdoings of the adventurers of a generation since. Be this as it may, however, from the middle of the last century the profession has continually increased both in numbers and in importance, and it now occupies a position which,

while in some respects perhaps second to the legal profession, is undoubtedly in its own way a far greater power for good and evil.

The presence of black sheep in the midst of this body naturally resulted in the more respectable Accountants forming various Associations for mutual protection, and for the purpose of affording to the public some sort of guarantee as to the standing of those whose services they employed. The earliest of these Associations was the Incorporated Society of Liverpool Accountants, established in 1870, while in the same year the Institute of Accountants of London was also incorporated; in 1871 the Accountants of Manchester followed suit by forming the Manchester Institute of Accountants; in 1873 the Society of Accountants in England was formed, having its head-quarters in London; in 1877 the Sheffield Institute of Accountants came into existence; and in 1879 an Association of Accountants of Manchester was added to the list of Accountants' Societies.

Before this latter date, however, the need had been generally felt for some central organisation which would embrace the whole of these Societies and place them upon one uniform footing of qualification, and with this end in view the leading Accountants of London and the provinces met together for the purpose of considering the possibility of applying for a Royal Charter for incorporating an Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales. As may be readily supposed, there were numerous initial difficulties to be overcome; but eventually, thanks to the energy and tact of the original promoters, these were set at rest and application for a Charter was made and shortly afterwards granted on the 11th May 1880.

The Incorporation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales marks the commencement of a new epoch in the history of Accountancy in England; by its incorporation was achieved what had become a most urgent need, no less in the interests of the general public than in those of Accountants themselves. From that date the public had, at least, the guarantee

that men described by the titles conferred upon them by the Institute's Charter would be competent to perform the duties and worthy to fulfil the trusts imposed upon them in the exercise of the numerous positions in which they found themselves.

The Institute's regulations conferred upon the Council for the time being the power of admitting as Fellows or Associates of the Institute all persons who, at the date of the Charter, were Fellows or Associates of any one of the Societies already mentioned; as Fellows all who had been continuously practising for five years before that date; and as Associates all persons who for three years before the date of the Charter had been continuously in practice as practice as Public Accountants, or who for five years before the date of the Charter had been either partly in practice as Public Accountants and partly in the service of Public Accountants as a clerk, or during the whole of that time had been in the service of a Public Accountant as a clerk. It was further provided that all other persons who might seek to gain admission should either pass such examination, as a test of their proficiency, as the Council for the time being might deem expedient, or (after a considerable time had expired) should be required to pass such examinations as might be prescribed by the Council, and, further, to serve a term of articles with a member of the Institute in practice as a Public Accountant.

At the present time the service of articles under a Chartered Accountant in practice is a sine quâ non for the entrance of newcomers into the profession, and the object of the present work is to afford information to those who may thus seek admission to the membership of the Institute.

The Executive of the Institute consists of a Council of not less than 45 Fellows of the Institute. The original Council was nominated by the petitioners for the Charter of Incorporation, but it is provided that nine members shall retire in rotation each year, and that the vacancies so caused shall be filled up by the Institute in general meeting, the retiring members being eligible for re-election.

As a matter of fact, such retiring members have hitherto invariably been unanimously re-elected. Casual vacancies upon the Council, caused by death or by resignation, are, in accordance with the regulations of the Institute, filled up by a vote of the Council.

Members of the Institute are divided into two classes, styled respectively "Fellows" and "Associates." Those who are entitled to be admitted as Fellows have already been mentioned, and it only remains to add that Associates are entitled to apply to the Council that they may be elected as Fellows after they have been in practice for not less than five years.

Fellows are entitled to write after their names the letters "F.C.A.," signifying "Fellow of the Chartered Accountants," and Associates are entitled to the "initials, "A.C.A.," signifying "Associate of the Chartered Accountants."

As indicating the enormous growth of the Institute during the past 26 years, the following table is appended showing the number of Chartered Accountants in each of the leading towns in January 1881, on the 7th April 1891, on the 5th June 1901, and on the 5th June 1907, the date of the last return:

This preliminary sketch of the history of the profession would be incomplete without some short account of the various Associations which have been formed since the incorporation of the English Institute. Foremost among these Societies of "outside" Accountants must be placed the Society of Accountants and Auditors, an Association which was incorporated under the Companies Acts in 1885 for the purpose of affording the benefits of co-operation to those who were ineligible for admission to the ranks of the Institute. In its earlier days the Society of Accountants and Auditors expressly disclaimed all attempts at rivalry with the English Institute, and was admittedly an association of Accountants' clerks, but it speedily became more ambitious in its designs, and now seeks to claim an equal position with the Institute of Chartered Accountants, although all impartial persons must be prepared to admit that its claim to hold such a position is by no means generally acknowledged. Nevertheless, the Society's regulations as to admission, &c., are at the present time closely allied to those of the Institute, although an essential difference between the two is that service under articles is not a sine quâ non with the Society, nor is it even necessary that the applicant should be carrying on, or should be desirous of carrying on, the business of a Public Accountant.

Yet, on the other hand, it is but fair to admit that the Society includes among its members many competent Accountants of good repute, and the question has been more than once raised, both within the Institute and outside, as to whether it is not desirable that these two great bodies should arrive at some modus vivendi, and establish a uniform qualification by which the public might know whether or not an Accountant is really qualified to fulfil the duties appertaining to his profession. In the meanwhile, however, it may be pointed out that, inasmuch as the profession of Accountancy is one of extreme complexity and difficulty, the five years' probation imposed by the regulations of the Institute is none too long a period for the acquiring of the necessary knowledge and