Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-03-12
English Ladies' boarding Hehools-
Corporal Puntshmont- Marriage.
able Indies Birched, Etc.

The Queen, a London Gladys newspa-
per-" has lately contained a number Of
letters from various correspondents, rela-
tive to corporal punishment in schools,
the contents Of which have completely
disguised the community at large, and
made parents particularly anxious respect
ing their children at school. It appears
from these letters that in most of the FASH
ionable ladies' boarding schools the system
Of corporal punishment is in vogue, and
tina, manageable young ladies sre stripped,
laid across a /" horse" and then receive a
castigation which is usually awarded to
only the naughtiest Of children. Besides
the stripes Of a birch, there are several
other formalities to be gone through, very
humbling to the pupil, and which one
correspondent describes as follows: "For
the first offense the delinquent is prepared
for punishment, but generally pardoncd
for the second, she is whipped privately ;
for all subsequent delinquencies the pun
ishment takes place in the schoolroom, on
the . horse and in addition to tho pain it
inficts it costs in money about Is. in fees.
This is the system: First, she proceeds
to the h~ousekeeper, to procure the rod
she pays I'd. for the use Of it; secondly,
she has to be partly undressed by the
maid, and this costs 3D.; thirdly, she has
then to walk barefooted to another part OF
the house, to be robed for punishment-a
peculiar dressing to aid to the disgrace.
It is a long linen blouse, short cotton socks,
and slippers. The young lady, thus
dressed, now proceeds to the drawing
room to be exhibited to the lady superin-
tendent. Having been approved, she is
then conducted to the second room, when
she has to pay Cd. to the governess who
inficts the punishment. A wooden horse,
covered with soft leather, is the medium OF
castigation. The delinquent then thanks
the governess, kisses the rod, and retires
to her own room to appear no more until
the next morning" One of the writers,
an freshman, says he has under his care a
niece, eighteen years old. Last Summer,
the young lady having finished her educa-
ton. they went to live in q pheasant vii
lagc neal the Thames" In the village"
was a very large ladies' school, and the
young lady in question being particularly
fond Of study, made arrangements to at
tend twice a week, in order to add to her
store of knowledge, ifpossible. One after
noon it appears she contradic,ed, or rather
corrected a teacher who had mis-quoted q
line of poetry. To her surprise, when
about to leave after her lesson, she was
ordered into the schoolroom. To her
amazement and Indignation, she was told
that she was to be birched for impudence
to a teacher" Sheprotes.ed and implored
but in vain. Her resistance was useless
force /; she was held across a desk,
the clothing was completely removed from
the lower part Of her person, and the lady
principal gave her twelve sharp cuts with
a birch. The young lady went homo,
distracted in mind, and related the circum-
stances to her uncle. He was, Of course,
indignant, but he concluded to say
nothing about it until the young lady had
completed the term Of her tuition. That
time having arrived, he sent an invitation
to the lady principal, asking her to lunch
o. his home and receive the amount Of
money due her. The principal accepted,
and on her arrival she was rather surprised
at the warmth Of the reception, which was
as follows: Thee lady acquaintance had
been invited to act as a committee OF re-
ception, with a "birch," "horse," &c.,
along with them. On the appearance Of
the principal the gentleman lectured her as
to her conduct to her niece, and told her
to avoid exposure by legal proceedings he
had concluded. with the aid of the ladies
present, to punish her as she had done his
niece. There being no other alternative
she consented, and was accordingly strip
ped by the ladies. drawn across the
"horse," and the gentleman himself laid
on the birch. He gave her twenty stroke:
the severity Of which the principals flushed
countenance attested to. She then depar-
ted. There are a number Of other letters
al Of which contain accounts similar to
The above.