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twenty…one years penal servitude。 Indeed it is worse； for the convict may
have learnt before his conviction how to live in freedom and may
remember how to set about it； however lamed his powers of freedom may
have become through disuse； but the child knows no other way of life but
the slave's way。 Born free； as Rousseau says； he has been laid hands on by
slaves from the moment of his birth and brought up as a slave。 How is he；
when he is at last set free； to be anything else than the slave he actually is；
clamoring for war； for the lash； for police； prisons； and scaffolds in a wild
panic of delusion that without these things he is lost。 The grown…up
Englishman is to the end of his days a badly brought…up child； beyond
belief quarrelsome； petulant； selfish； destructive； and cowardly： afraid
that the Germans will come and enslave him； that the burglar will come
and rob him； that the bicycle or motor car will run over him； that the
smallpox will attack him； and that the devil will run away with him and
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empty him out like a sack of coals on a blazing fire unless his nurse or his
parents or his schoolmaster or his bishop or his judge or his army or his
navy will do something to frighten these bad things away。 And this
Englishman； without the moral courage of a louse； will risk his neck for
fun fifty times every winter in the hunting field； and at Badajos sieges and
the like will ram his head into a hole bristling with sword blades rather
than be beaten in the one department in which he has been brought up to
consult his own honor。 As a Sportsman （and war is fundamentally the
sport of hunting and fighting the most dangerous of the beasts of prey） he
feels free。 He will tell you himself that the true sportsman is never a
snob； a coward； a duffer； a cheat； a thief； or a liar。 Curious； is it not； that he
has not the same confidence in other sorts of man？
And even sport is losing its freedom。 Soon everybody will be
schooled； mentally and physically； from the cradle to the end of the term
of adult compulsory military service； and finally of compulsory civil
service lasting until the age of superannuation。 Always more schooling；
more compulsion。 We are to be cured by an excess of the dose that has
poisoned us。 Satan is to cast out Satan。
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Under the Whip
Clearly this will not do。 We must reconcile education with liberty。
We must find out some means of making men workers and； if need be；
warriors； without making them slaves。 We must cultivate the noble
virtues that have their root in pride。 Now no schoolmaster will teach
these any more than a prison governor will teach his prisoners how to
mutiny and escape。 Self…preservation forces him to break the spirit that
revolts against him； and to inculcate submission； even to obscene assault；
as a duty。 A bishop once had the hardihood to say that he would rather
see England free than England sober。 Nobody has yet dared to say that
he would rather see an England of ignoramuses than an England of
cowards and slaves。 And if anyone did； it would be necessary to point
out that the antithesis is not a practical one； as we have got at present an
England of ignoramuses who are also cowards and slaves； and extremely
proud of it at that； because in school they are taught to submit； with what
they ridiculously call Oriental fatalism （as if any Oriental has ever
submitted more helplessly and sheepishly to robbery and oppression than
we Occidentals do）； to be driven day after day into compounds and set to
the tasks they loathe by the men they hate and fear； as if this were the
inevitable destiny of mankind。 And naturally； when they grow up； they
helplessly exchange the prison of the school for the prison of the mine or
the workshop or the office； and drudge along stupidly and miserably； with
just enough gregarious instinct to turn furiously on any intelligent person
who proposes a change。 It would be quite easy to make England a
paradise； according to our present ideas； in a few years。 There is no
mystery about it： the way has been pointed out over and over again。
The difficulty is not the way but the will。 And we have no will because
the first thing done with us in childhood was to break our will。 Can
anything be more disgusting than the spectacle of a nation reading the
biography of Gladstone and gloating over the account of how he was
flogged at Eton； two of his schoolfellows being compelled to hold him
down whilst he was flogged。 Not long ago a public body in England had
to deal with the case of a schoolmaster who； conceiving himself insulted
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by the smoking of a cigaret against his orders by a pupil eighteen years old；
proposed to flog him publicly as a satisfaction to what he called his honor
and authority。 I had intended to give the particulars of this ease； but find
the drudgery of repeating such stuff too sickening； and the effect unjust to
a man who was doing only what others all over the country were doing as
part of the established routine of what is called education。 The astounding
part of it was the manner in which the person to whom this outrage on
decency seemed quite proper and natural claimed to be a functionary of
high character； and had his claim allowed。 In Japan he would hardly
have been allowed the privilege of committing suicide。 What is to be said
of a profession in which such obscenities are made points of honor； or of
institutions in which they are an accepted part of the daily routine？
Wholesome people would not argue about the taste of such nastinesses：
they would spit them out； but we are tainted with flagellomania from our
childhood。 When will we realize that the fact that we can become
accustomed to anything； however disgusting at first； makes it necessary
for us to examine carefully everything we have become accustomed to？
Before motor cars became common； necessity had accustomed us to a
foulness in our streets which would have horrified us had the street been
our drawing…room carpet。 Before long we shall be as particular about our
streets as we now are about our carpets； and their condition in the
nineteenth century will become as forgotten and incredible as the
condition of the corridors of palaces and the courts of castles was as late as
the eighteenth century。 This foulness； we can plead； was imposed on us
as a necessity by the use of horses and of huge retinues； but flogging has
never been so imposed： it has always been a vice； craved for on any
pretext by those depraved by it。 Boys were flogged when criminals were
hanged； to impress the awful warning on them。 Boys were flogged at
boundaries； to impress the boundaries on their memory。 Other methods
and other punishments were always available： the choice of this one
betrayed the sensual impulse which makes the practice an abomination。
But when its viciousness made it customary； it was practised and tolerated
on all hands by people who were innocent of anything worse than
stupidity； ill temper； and inability to discover other methods of
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maintaining order than those they had always seen practised and approved
of。 From children and animals it extended to