The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-16
FLOGGING.
REVIPIL or CORPORAL PUNISH.
MENT IN ENGLAND
Aud Germany--Lord salisbury's Many
Birchings-Russln's Retention of tho
Knout Due TO it's Popularity.

Ku0ut Due TO It's Popularity.
ms order to appreciate the humor of
Lord salisbury's remark during the
discussion on the Youthful Offenders
bill, to the effect that if the record of the
members of the House of Lords were
investigated 1t would be found that they
had repeatedly subjected as boys to cor
poral punishment, 1t Is necessary to ex-
plain that the present prime minister,
when he left Elton, enjoyed the reputa-
tion of having been birched more fire.
quently than any other of the seven
hundred or eight hundred lads of that
ancient and historic school He was,
therefore, in a position to speak both
with authority and from experience
when he declared that juvenile floggings
left no traces of contamination And
then he wound up his speech in behalf
of the substitution of birchings for I'M
prisonment in the case of boys convlc-
ted for offenses against the avs Of the
land with an expression of the hope
that there should be no difference made
In the punishment of the rich and of the
poor, and that 'you will fog the young
evil-doer as freely and with as little
scrupe among the classes of the poor
as you have for centuries among the
classes of the rich"
Flogging in Europe has been abol-
ished by law in the educational estab-
lishments frequented by the children of
the middle and lower classes, as we'll as
those of national, municipal and char
liable character. The aristocracy and
upper classes in England, however, have
always refused to take advantage of
this legal emancipation of their sons
from the rod Their attitude on the
subject is mainly attributable to the
conservative instincts which are in
grained In every Englishman Of, good
birth, whether Wing or Tory, and which
render him adverse to new forms or
changes of non political character 1t
is due also to desire on the part of the
lads themselves. who are, of course, the
principal parties concerned, to avoid be-
ing associated in any way with the COM
mon herd of boys, even when this asso-
citation would involve the exemption
from f1ogging, They would be the first
to rebel against the abolition of the lat
ter, and regard the scars left by the
birch as sort of retrospective evidence
of their breeding
At Elton, Harrow, Rugby Winchester
and indeed, at all of the great schools
~ o,,lr xx,lo,
land is taught little else but Latin and
Greek verses, as we'll as boating, creek
ct and other outdoor games. at cost
of from fifteen hundred to two thou
sand dollars year, corporal punish
ment is still in full force. Some of
them use the birch and others prefer the
cane. and. while in most colleges the |
culprit takes his punishment kneeling, |
there are quite a number where the Of
fender is ''horsed" by being mounted on
the back Of some big boy. In that posi- |
ton the victim Is more helpless than in |
any other. At Elton the whipping block
is one of the famous institutions of the
place. 1t resembles the kind of block
which we see portrayed in old prints as
having been used In medieval times for
decapitating prisoners, and the number
of famous men who have knelt before 1t |
Is great.
Lord Salisbury was f1ogged while |
against it no less than eighteen
times by the Rev. DR. Hawtrey, on one |
through an error, owing to the |
headmaster having mistaken the list of |
thirty candida tes for confirmation for
the punishment bill which was sent UP
10 him every day. He would listen to
no protests or remonstrances, but went
,onscientiously through the whole lot
Gladstone left Elton without ever hav-
ng been logged, although on one occa-
sion he was sent up for punishment
He had omitted as praeposter from the
list of boys who had missed lessons the
lin to prepare himself for the ordeal,
Dr.. Keat, who was then headmaster,
vas foolish enough to give his reasons,
Ind charged him with breach of trust.
Zoung Gladstone instantly replied that
e was not guilty of breach Of trust, be-
ause the office had been forced upon
im This somehow or another seemed
0 appeal to the head, for he let the
'oung casuist off, but made up for this.
or him, although unusual act of lenien-
y by some time afterward flogging no
ever than eighty boys in single night,
With the object of suppressing a suspec-
ed mutiny, having them brought to him
ut of their beds by twos and threes, 50
hat they had no opportunity of taking
punsel together. Another headmaster
f Elton, think it was the late Dr.
is on record as having been
0 good natured as to attend in the fog
ing room at half-past ten o'clock one
unday evening at the end of the term,
0 as to meet the convenience of the
oys who wished to get away to their
ONES for the holidays early on Monday
lornine.
The block now used at Elton is COM
aratively modern affair But among
ne relics preserved in the museum of !
le institution is the old whipping block |
hich came into use in 1773, the year of l
lie Indian mutiny. when the one in use
as destroyed. 1t bears several distin=
uished names, including thosl Of
Iellesley, Milman and Lonsdale, and 8
as lost for number of years, having 6
zen recovered somewhere in Wales !
lly about decade ago. Another [
hipping block was carried off in 1886 /
Y the. Marquis of Waterford to serve I
a trophy to the Elton Block club, a I
ub of Etonians who had all been {
)ggad three times. IL is salu that this Z
,rtic1llar block is preserved among the | =