SIR,—In the Daily Mail of November 19, Paul Tan- field
remarks on the interesting light which the archives of Eton cast upon current notables. He finds particular satisfaction in the record that Mr. Robert Turton, MP for Thirsk and Malton, once gave Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, the Attorney- General, eight of the best for bullying small boys. I wish to draw no conclusion from this individual incident; in general, however, it suggests a possibly fruitful area for research. Might there not be an interesting correlation between the present mentality of the Tory extremists which baffled your leader- writer a fortnight ago and an early tendency to be subjected to this antique educational procedure? You suggest that they imagine flogging can be administered in as gracious circumstances as a caning. Perhaps the truth is that they were frustrated in the ambition to wield the cane in their turn, and thus compensate vicariously for missed prefectships by continuing to parade what they have been taught to regard as the customary symbol of authority.—Yours faithfully.
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