[TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.1
Sin,—My letter in the Spectator of July 19th has drawn two very interesting contributions from two Eton veterans whose bodies were among the extraordinary number experimented upon by the redoubtable Dr. Keate in 1832. The version given by me of this famous incident was, as I stated, quoted verbatim et literatim from Mr. Parkin's "Life of Edward Thring." Both your correspondents impugn the accuracy of Mr. Parkin's account ; but while it is clear from Mr. Freeman's letter that the punishment was not confined to those whose names were "on the alphabetical list of the school from M onwards," the correction of the numbers seems hazy. We have now three estimates : Mr. Parkin's "more than eighty boys," " E.'s" "hardly less than one hundred and forty," and Mr. Freeman's "some sixty to eighty.' If " E.'s " estimate is accurate then the magnitude of Dr. Keate's historical feat is still more amazing.—I am,
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