SIR--Ta per quotes with approval the epigram of Mr. Leslie Hale,
'The vice anglais is not buggery but fiumbuggery: But in point of fact, the vice anglais in French slang is flagellation, the desire to hurt or humiliate other people. The reports of the debate on the Wolfenden Committee's report show at least as much addiction to this vice as to humbuggery; the one Point on which nearly every speaker seemed agreed 'was that people should be more severely punished, though, as is common with sado-masochists, there was some disagreement as to the sex and other quali- fications of the victims who were to receive this extra Pain or penalty. Even those who showed some sym- nathy with parts of the humanitarian approach which had informed the Wolfenden Committee proved their staunch anglicisme by demanding stronger pen- alties elsewhere.—Yours faithfully,
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