When he had lectured at the school before, every child had seemed a model of behavior. That behavior, he concluded, was the result of a chastening caning now & then. So Eric Wildman, who manufactures whipping canes and recently organized Britain's Society for the Retention of Corporal Punishment, had felt very much at home at Horsley Hall.
Last week, the school invited him back, even had reporters there to cover his lecture. Wildman, who likes publicity, readily accepted and brought samples of his best canes with him. "Aren't they beautiful?" he asked, and thereupon launched happily into his lecture about his canes ("My canes are antiseptic"), and how they should be used. "You may think me an ogre," he said. "But corporal punishment is a common-sense doctrine. Boys & girls are not always angelic."
The assembly listened ever so politely. So did bearded Headmaster Robert Copping, who is only 28. "Tell me, Mr. Wildman," he asked, "what is the most suitable cane for a boy 15 years old or over?" Wildman brandished his prized 30-inch Dragon Smoky Malacca, "a very pliant and punishing cane." "And how many strokes do you advise?" Headmaster Copping asked. Smiling, Wildman suggested "Six of the best, in the place that seems to have been provided by nature for the purpose." At that point, Headmaster Copping gave a signal.
Immediately, 20 boys rushed Mr. Wildman. One grabbed his 30-inch Dragon Smoky Malacca. Others held him in position. Wildman winced, whooped and hollered. But the cane whistled and fell, whistled and fell again.
When Wildman managed to struggle free, he demanded to know the meaning of this outrage. He would see his lawyers, he said. That was all right with Headmaster Copping. He and the students had planned the incident to give Wildman some of his own medicine. Copping had even trapped Wildman by persuading him that Horsley Hall (a progressive school) tolerated corporal punishment. "I hope he does sue," said Copping. "We only did what he advised as suitable for children."
That afternoon, Eric Wildman stopped off at the nearest hospital. "I've nine visible weals on my buttocks," he reported. "I've never suffered such indignity in my life."