,transcribed from the #ahed ,john       
,murray edition by ,david ,price        
,a                                      
,,letter                                
,,to ,,the                              
,,viscount ,,palmerston1 ,m4,p4         
c4 c4 c4                         ,,on   
,,the ,,monitorial ,,system ,,of        
,,harrow ,,school4                      
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,by                          ,,charles 
,,john ,,vaughan1 ,d4,d4                
,,head ,,master4                        
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,london3                        ,,john 
,,murray1 ,,albemarle ,,street3         
,,crossley ,,and ,,clarke1 ,,harrow3    
,,mdcccliv4                             
99 99 99 99 99      ,this ,letter1 when 
first printed1 was designed only for    
private    circulation amongst those    
personally or officially interested in  
its    subject4  ,circumstances have    
since arisen1 which appeared to render  
its    publication expedient4           

,a ,,letter1  c4 c4 c4      ,,my ,,lord1
    ,i have the honour to acknowledge   
the receipt of your ,lordship's letter  
of  the #aath instant2 to which your    
great abilities and varied experience1  
as  well as your affectionate attachment
 to ,harrow as the place of your own    
education1 give peculiar value and      
interest4    ,i am grateful for the     
opportunity which it affords me of      
briefly stating  the principles of the  
,monitorial system as at present        
established at  ,harrow4    ,i do not1  
,i think1 misapprehend the precise point
 to which your  observations are        
directed4  ,it is not upon the          
,monitorial system  itself--upon the    
commission of a recognized authority to 
the hands of the  ,upper ,boys--but upon
 a particular method of enforcing it1   
that you comment  in terms of anxiety4  
,the principle is coeval with the       
,school--established by the ,founder4   
,it is the universal rule of ,public    
,schools3--until lately1 when the       

experience of its salutary effects has  
led to a wider extension of it1 it was  
the one distinguishing feature of  a    
,public as contrasted with a ,private   
,school4    ,but the ,monitorial system 
might exist without this particular     
method of  enforcing it--the power of   
inflicting corporal punishment4  ,and   
this is  the question to which your     
,lordship has been good enough to call  
my  attention4    ,those who are        
acquainted with ,dr4 ,arnold's ,life--a 
book regarded by many  as one of        
authority upon such a subject--are aware
 that the right of his  ,sixth ,form to 
the use of the cane was one for which he
 contended with the  greatest           
earnestness1 as indispensable to the    
efficient working of that  ,monitorial  
system to which he considered that      
,rugby owed so much of its  well-being  
under his ,head-,mastership4 #e  ,and   
although many ,masters  might shrink    
from avowing so boldly their approbation
 of a power liable  to so much abuse and

 to so much misconstruction1 yet ,i have
 never heard  it questioned that the    
same power is exercised1 whether by     
permission or  by acquiescence1 in most 
of the great ,public ,schools of        
,england1 as ,i  know that it existed at
 ,harrow1 actually if not avowedly1 for 
very many  years before ,i became       
,master4    ,but ,i have no wish to     
plead authority or prescription in      
defence of a  practice which1 if bad1   
can at any time be abolished1 and for   
the  toleration of which ,i do not deny 
that the ,master under whom it exists   
may fairly be held responsible4         
,there can be no doubt that a ,master   
who consulted merely his own ease and   
present popularity would at once abolish
 the power in dispute4  ,the tide  of   
public feeling is setting strongly in   
that direction4  ,it would be  easy to  
aggravate that feeling4  ,corporal      
punishment of any kind1 by  whomsoever  
administered1 is inconsistent with      
modern notions of personal  dignity1 #g 

and modern habits of precocious         
manliness2 it needs nothing  but a few  
cases of exceptional excess in the      
infliction of such  punishment to direct
 against it a storm too violent to be   
resisted4    ,if1 in the face of this   
feeling1 and amidst so many temptations 
to yield  to it1 a ,master still        
ventures to maintain that1 liable as it 
is to  abuse1 open to misrepresentation1
 and difficult of explanation1 the power
  of corporal punishment by the         
,monitors of a ,public ,school is one   
not  lightly to be abolished1 because   
capable of great good and impossible to 
replace by any efficacious substitute2  
he may fail to convince--it is  probable
 that he will fail to convince--those   
who judge of the system from  without1  
and with no opportunity of calmly       
balancing its evil against its  good2   
but at least he may be believed to speak
 honestly1 and listened to  as a        
disinterested witness4    ,there are in 
every ,public ,school certain minor     

offences1 against manners  rather than  
against morals--faults of turbulence1   
rudeness1 offensive  language1 annoyance
 of others1 petty oppression and        
tyranny1 c4--which1  as ,public ,schools
 are at present constituted1 lie        
ordinarily out of the  cognizance of the
 ,masters1 and might1 so far as they are
 concerned1 be  committed with impunity4
 #h  ,even some graver faults might1    
with due  precautions against discovery1
 long escape the eye of a really        
vigilant  ,master4    ,to meet such     
cases1 there is no doubt a choice of    
measures4    ,you may adopt what might  
with equal propriety be called the      
foreign  ,school1 or the ,private       
,school1 system4  ,you may create a body
 of ,ushers2  ,masters of a lower order1
 whose business it shall be to follow   
,boys into  their hours of recreation   
and rest1 avowedly as spies1 coercing   
freedom  of speech and action1 or       
reporting to their superior what such   
observation has gleaned4  ,this is      

consistent and intelligible4  ,ruinous  
to that which has been regarded as the  
great glory of an ,english ,public      
,school--its free developement of       
character1 its social expansiveness1 in 
short its liberty3 but yet1 in itself1  
intelligible enough1 and in  theory     
perhaps preferable to the other4    ,if 
not this1 then the alternative must be  
some form or other of the  ,monitorial  
principle4  ,ten1 or twenty1 or thirty1 
of those ,boys who are  7generally      
speaking7 the elder1 at all events the  
abler1 the more  diligent1 the more     
meritorious1--selected by no favour1    
exempted from none  of the rules and    
restraints of ,school1 but yet brought  
by their position  into a more intimate 
intercourse with their ,master1 and     
largely  influenced 7if he be what a    
,master ought to be7 by his principles  
of  judgment and discipline1--are       
empowered to exercise over their juniors
 a  legalized and carefully regulated   
authority1 while at the same time they  

are left to mix with them on terms of   
perfect freedom at times and in  places 
to which no ,master's inspection could  
by possibility extend4    ,but this     
system is capable of at least two       
modifications4    ,the ,monitors may be 
desired to act as the ,master's         
deputies2 to observe  for him1 and to   
report to him4  ,they may be charged to 
see nothing wrong  done1 to hear nothing
 wrong said1 without hastening to his   
presence and  invoking his              
interposition4  ,they may be taught to  
regard themselves as  the ,master's     
spies1 informers1 and creatures4  ,such 
has been made1  sometimes1 the theory of
 their office4  ,they have been solemnly
 warned of  the responsibility attaching
 to their office1 as the ,master's eyes 
and  the ,master's ears4  ,no real power
 was entrusted to them4  ,the terms of  
their commission were large1 its tone   
was solemn3 but the power to  enforce   
obedience either did not exist1 or      
existed only on sufferance and  by      

stealth4    ,now it appears to me that a
 ,monitorial system of this nature is   
either  nugatory1 or worse4  ,if the    
,monitors thus commissioned have the    
ordinary  feelings of the sons of       
,gentlemen1 they will virtually         
repudiate such an  office4  ,they will  
say1 ,i was not sent here to be an      
,usher--a ,master's  spy1 a ,master's   
informer4  ,they have too much          
self-respect1 too nice a  sense of      
honour1 to live amongst their           
,schoolfellows on terms of  unguarded   
equality1 and then use the knowledge    
thus gained as a means of  drawing down 
upon them the arm of authority and of   
punishment4  ,the  result will be1 as it
 always has been wherever such a view   
has been taken  of ,monitorial duty1    
that the ,monitors will not act for the 
purposes for  which they were           
commissioned1 but only for the          
maintenance of a selfish  dignity which 
looks for its support to other means    
than those recognized  by the system4   

,it astonishes me that those who regard 
submission to a corporal  punishment as 
a degradation inconsistent with honour  
and self-respect1  should look with     
toleration upon that antagonist system  
under which  their sons might be called 
upon1 as the reward of ability and      
diligence1  to assume the office of a   
delegated spy4    ,the alternative--as  
,i believe1 the only alternative--is    
that form of  ,monitorial discipline    
which it has been my endeavour to carry 
into  vigorous operation at ,harrow     
during the last nine years4    ,i have  
taught the ,monitors to regard their    
authority as emanating indeed  from     
mine1 and responsible to mine1 but yet  
7with the limitation  naturally arising 
from these two considerations7          
independent and free in  its ordinary   
exercise4  ,they are charged with the   
enforcement of an  internal discipline1 
the object of which is the good order1  
the  honourable conduct1 the            
gentlemanlike tone1 of the ,houses and  

of the  ,school4  ,in these matters ,i  
desire that they should act for         
themselves2  knowing well how doubly1   
how tenfold1 valuable is that discipline
 which  springs from within the body1 in
 comparison with that which is imposed  
upon it from above4  ,it is only on the 
discovery of grave and moral  offences1 
such as would be poisonous to the whole 
society1 and such as  they may          
reasonably be expected to regard as     
discreditable and  disgraceful even more
 than they are illegal1 that ,i expect  
them to  communicate to me officially   
the faults of which they may take       
notice4  ,in certain cases1 it may be   
optional whether an offence should be   
regarded as one against manners or      
against morals2 and in these instances  
it will depend upon the accident of the 
prior discovery1 whether it be  taken up
 by the ,monitors or by myself4    ,it  
follows as a matter of necessity that   
the ,monitors should possess some  means
 of exercising and asserting their      

authority4    ,hence arises the old     
custom of fagging4  ,it is a memento of 
,monitorial  authority2 a standing      
memorial of the subjection of the       
younger to the  elder for higher        
purposes than any merely personal       
distinction4  ,it is  the daily         
assertion1 in a form which makes it     
palpable and felt1 of a  power which has
 been instituted for the good not of the
 superior but of  the inferior in the   
relation4    ,this is the ordinary      
assertion of ,monitorial power4  ,but   
there must  also be some method of      
punishing disobedience1 insubordination1
  turbulence1 or other transgression4   
,to give the ,monitors no executive     
power beyond that of reporting and      
complaining1 would be to leave them     
practically defenceless4  ,such a power 
would possess no influence with a       
community of ,boys4  ,it would be       
trifled with and trampled upon4  ,great 
and long must be the provocation which  
would overcome the natural  repugnance  

of an honourable ,boy to lodging a      
complaint with a ,master  against a     
,schoolfellow3 and what would be the    
redress when it came8  ,such  a remedy  
would be1 in the popular feeling of a   
,public ,school1 far worse  than none4  
,shall the power entrusted to the       
,monitors be that of 8setting           
punishments0 7as it is technically      
called7--that is1 of imposing tasks of  
writing8  ,such has been the prerogative
 formally conferred upon the  ,monitors 
of ,harrow3 but it is easy to see how   
speedily such a right1 if  widely       
exercised1 would come into collision    
with ordinary ,school duties2  how      
impossible it would be for it to coexist
 with the similar power of  the         
,masters1 or even with the performance  
of the regular work and  exercises of   
the several ,forms4    ,or shall the    
right of punishing be made to depend    
upon the physical power  of the         
individual ,monitor8  ,shall an older   
and stronger ,monitor be at  liberty to 

enforce his authority by blows1 while a 
weaker and younger is  left defenceless8
  ,such a rule would be1 in effect1 an  
awkward and  inconsistent return to a   
state of things which it is the one     
object of  the ,monitorial government to
 counteract--a system of brute force4   
,under  any constitution of a ,school1  
the stronger can protect himself against
  the aggression of the weaker3 it is   
the object of the ,public ,school       
system to substitute for the brute force
 of the stronger the legalized  power of
 the better and the abler4  ,unless     
therefore the power entrusted  to the   
,monitor be something different in kind 
from that of physical  strength1 the    
whole system falls to the ground by     
losing its essential  characteristic4   
,and it appears to me that1 as soon as  
the power of the ,monitors is           
transferred from the ground of strength 
to that of right2 as soon as it  is     
made1 in its place1 as the power of the 
,masters in theirs1 a  recognized and   

constitutional principle2 at that moment
 all feeling of  degradation in         
submitting to it is done away3 there is 
degradation1  because there is          
cowardice1 in submitting tamely to the  
kicks or cuffs of  an equal or an       
inferior1 but there is none in rendering
 to a ,master--nor  need there be in    
rendering to a constituted authority of 
a lower  rank--that submission even to  
personal correction which may be one of 
the  conditions of the society in which 
you are placed4    ,by a custom1        
existing certainly long before my own   
acquaintance with  ,harrow1 traceable   
for many years into the past history of 
the ,school1 the  common method of      
enforcing ,monitorial authority has been
 the use of the  cane4  ,a power not    
formally committed to the ,monitors1 not
 7in the  strictest sense7 delegated by 
the ,master1 but still exercised without
  interference or censure within the    
limits prescribed by humanity or by  the
 fear of penal consequences in case of  

its excess4    ,this custom1 ,i repeat1 
,i found established2 ignored1 it may   
be1 by  previous ,masters1 but not      
unknown4  ,the question with me was1 ,is
 this  custom1 which ,i find in force1  
injurious in its use1 or only in its    
abuse8  ,if the former1 it must be1 not 
disavowed only1 but destroyed4  ,if  the
 latter1 it must be1 not only connived  
at1 but turned to account4  ,it  must be
 made conducive to the real welfare of  
the ,school4  ,and a ,monitor  who      
avails himself of this prescriptive     
right1 in support of good order  and    
good discipline1 must feel that he is   
safe in doing so1 provided he  stops    
short of inflicting injury4  ,he must   
feel that he can depend upon  the       
,master to stand by him1 before the     
,school and before the ,public1 so  long
 as no wanton or tyrannical use of this 
power can be proved against  him4    ,it
 is urged indeed that this ,monitorial  
power is illegal in a higher than  any  
,school sense of that term1--that it    

contradicts the law of the land4        
8,delegatus non potest delegare40   ,the
 ,parent delegates his power to  the    
,master3 the ,master has no right to    
delegate that power to the  ,monitor4   
,now ,i will not enter into the question
 how far the ,master is  correctly      
described as the ,parent's delegate4    
,doubtless the act which  consigns to   
him the individual ,boy is the act of   
the individual ,parent4  ,but the       
,master of a ,public ,school is not made
 so by that act1 nor by any  number of  
such acts3 his office is conferred upon 
him by an independent  authority1 and is
 exercised under conditions irrespective
 of the parental  will4  ,otherwise the 
,parent who created1 might in each case 
limit1 the  right3 he might prescribe to
 the ,master the studies to be pursued  
and the  punishments to be inflicted2 he
 might depute his own functions thus far
  and no further4  ,but1 even allowing  
the justice of the appellation1 it      
would scarcely be desired1 ,i suppose1  

to admit all the consequences  involved 
in this principle1 and assert that the  
,master has no right to  delegate any   
portion of his office1 but that alone1  
unaided by coadjutors  or subordinates1 
he must teach in person every ,boy      
entrusted to him1 hear  every lesson1   
and impose every punishment4  ,the fact 
surely is1 that the  system of a ,public
 ,school is essentially peculiar and    
exceptional2 and  that1 when that system
 is fairly established1 and its rules   
publicly  notorious1 a ,parent uses his 
own discretion in selecting the ,school 
for  his son1 and having done so he     
subjects him to its discipline as       
established1 retaining only the power of
 withdrawing him when he will4    ,but1 
on the other hand1 it is no less        
necessary1 for the sake alike of  the   
,monitors and of the ,school1 that such 
checks shall be imposed upon  the       
exercise of this power as shall make its
 abuse either absolutely  impossible or 
at least a very rare exception4    ,with

 this view1 it is one rule of the       
system1 that any ,boy has a right of    
appeal from the individual ,monitor     
7however high his station7 to the       
assembled body2 who are bound to enter  
into the merits of the case1 and  come  
to a formal decision upon it4  ,my      
experience thus far has led me to       
believe that ten young men1 acting under
 such responsibilities1 are not  likely 
either to come to an unjust decision or 
to execute their sentence  with undue   
severity4    ,but if1 after all1 this   
hope is in any case disappointed2 if    
7which in  such an event is the most    
probable supposition7 an individual     
,monitor has  outrun his powers1 by not 
allowing this appeal to the collective  
body1 or  by not waiting for its result1
 or by executing punishment himself in  
undue excitement or passion2 then the   
duty is cast upon me1 of  interposing my
 authority to redress the injustice1 by 
the degradation of  the offending       
,monitor1 or by a measure of punishment 

yet more severe4    ,this1 happily1 is a
 case of rare1 most rare1 occurrence4   
,the general  testimony1 alike of ,boys 
and of their ,parents1 will rather be   
this--that1  while the ,school has      
enjoyed1 on the whole1 under the        
,monitorial system1  a very real        
exemption from the miseries of that     
tyranny of brute force  which it is     
designed more especially to preclude1 it
 is perfectly easy1  on the other hand1 
for any ,boy to pass through his ,harrow
 life without  once incurring the risk  
of ,monitorial punishment1 while the    
salutary  dread of it has done much to  
keep him orderly and tractable1 and to  
save  him in no slight degree from the  
sight and hearing of evil4 #ba    ,and1 
while this is so1 however unpopular may 
be the avowal1 ,i know that  my duty is 
clear3 to watch the operation of the    
system1 to guard it from  abuse1 to     
influence and animate 7so far as ,i may 
be able7 those who are  to take part in 
it--if necessary1 to coerce and to      

punish its abuse2 but1  none the less1  
to adhere to it manfully1 and to take my
 full share of its  obloquy4    ,it may 
be found impossible long to withstand   
such impressions as those to  which your
 ,lordship has adverted4  ,to persons   
unacquainted with its  practical        
operation the ,monitorial system must   
always appear  objectionable2 a cumbrous
 and uncertain substitute for zeal and  
vigilance  on the part of the ,master4  
,the time may come when public opinion  
will  imperatively require the          
introduction of an opposite principle2  
of which  it shall be the object to     
confine and preclude the expression of  
evil by  the unceasing espionage of an  
increased staff of subordinate ,masters4
  ,the experiment may be tried2 ,i hope 
not at ,harrow--certainly not by me4  ,i
  see many difficulties1 some evils1 in 
the present system2 some  advantages1   
many plausibilities1 in its opposite3   
and yet ,i believe the  one to be       
practically ennobling and elevating--the

 other essentially  narrowing1          
enfeebling1 and enervating4  ,i well    
foresee the results of the  change1 come
 when it may4  ,i know how pleasing1 yet
 how brief1 will be  the lull consequent
 upon the establishment of a rule of    
equality and  fraternity2 how warm      
perhaps1 for the moment1 the            
congratulations of some  who have       
trembled for their sons' safety under   
the present 7so called7  reign of       
terror2 on the other hand1 how gradual1 
yet how sure1 the growth  of those      
meaner and more cowardly vices which a  
,monitorial system has  coerced where it
 could not eradicate2 and how impossible
 the return to  that principle of       
graduated ranks and organized internal  
subordination1  which1 amidst some real 
and many imaginary defects1 has been    
found by  experience to be inferior to  
no other system in the formation of the 
character of an ,english ,christian     
,gentleman4                        ,i   
have the honour to be1 my ,lord1        

,your most obedient and faithful        
,servant1                               
,,chas4 ,j4 ,,vaughan4    ,,harrow1     
,december #ad1 #ahec4                   
99 99 99 99 99                ,,printed 
,,by ,w4 ,,nicol1 ,,shakspeare ,,press1 
,,pall ,,mall4          ,,footnotes4    
#e  8,in many points he 7,dr4 ,arnold7  
took the institution 7the authority  of 
the ,sixth ,form7 as he found it1 and as
 he remembered it at ,winchester4  ,the 
responsibility of checking bad practices
 without the intervention of  the       
,master1 the occasional settlement of   
difficult cases of  school-government1  
the triumph of order over brute force   
involved in the  maintenance of such an 
authority1 had been more or less        
produced under  the old system both at  
,rugby and elsewhere4  ,but his zeal in 
its defence1  and his confident reliance
 upon it as the keystone of his whole   
government1 were eminently              
characteristic of himself1 and were     
brought  out the more forcibly from the 

fact that it was a point on which the   
spirit of the age set strongly and      
increasingly against him1 on which      
there was a general tendency to yield to
 the popular outcry1 and on which  the  
clamour1 that at one time assailed him1 
was ready to fasten as a  subject where 
all parties could concur in their       
condemnation4  ,but he was  immoveable3 
and though1 on his first coming1 he had 
felt himself called  upon rather to     
restrain the authority of the ,sixth    
,form from abuses1 than  to guard it    
from encroachments1 yet now that the    
whole system was  denounced as cruel and
 absurd1 he delighted to stand forth as 
its  champion2 the power1 which was most
 strongly condemned1 of personal        
chastisement vested in the ,prpostors   
over those who resisted their           
authority1 he firmly maintained as      
essential to the general support of  the
 good order of the place2 and there was 
no obloquy1 which he would not  undergo 
in the protection of a boy1 who had by  

due exercise of this  discipline made   
himself obnoxious to the school1 the    
parents1 or the  public40--,stanley's   
,life and ,correspondence of ,dr4       
,arnold1 ,vol4  ,i4 page  #aje4  ,see   
also ,arnold's ,miscellaneous           
,works--,on the ,discipline of ,public  
,schools3 page #cga1 c4    #g           
8,corporal punishment1 it is said1 is   
degrading4  ,i well know of what        
feeling this is the expression2 it      
originates in that proud notion of      
personal independence which is neither  
reasonable nor ,christian1 but          
essentially barbarian4  ,it visited     
,europe in former times with all the    
curses of the age of chivalry1 and is   
threatening us now with those of        
,jacobinism40  ,arnold's ,miscellaneous 
,works1 page #cfe4    #h  8,it is idle  
to say that the ,masters form1 or can   
form1 this  government2 it is impossible
 to have a sufficient number of ,masters
 for  the purpose2 for1 in order to     
obtain the advantages of home           

government1  the boys should be as much 
divided as they are at their respective 
homes4  ,there should be no greater     
number of schoolfellows living under one
  ,master than of brothers commonly     
living under one ,parent3 nay1 the      
number  should be less1 inasmuch as     
there is wanting that bond of natural   
affection which so greatly facilitates  
domestic government1 and gives it  its  
peculiar virtue4  ,even a father with   
thirty sons1 all below the age  of      
manhood1 and above childhood1 would find
 it no easy matter to govern  them      
effectually--how much less can a ,master
 govern thirty boys1 with no  natural   
bond to attach them either to him or to 
one another6  ,he may  indeed           
superintend their government of one     
another2 he may govern them  through    
their own governors2 but to govern them 
immediately1 and at the  same time      
effectively1 is1 ,i believe1 impossible4
  ,and hence1 if you have  a large      
boarding-school1 you cannot have it     

adequately governed without  a system of
 fagging40--,dr4 ,arnold1 as above1 page
 #cgb4    #ba  8,public ,schools are by 
no means faultless institutions2 but1 if
  there is one vice of which they have  
to a wonderful extent shaken  themselves
 free of late1 it is that of gross      
bullying and oppression3 and  this great
 improvement is owing mainly to the     
happy working of that  institution which
 makes the ruling body in the ,school   
one which owes its  acknowledged        
authority1 not to inches or to sinews1  
or to boyish  truculence1 but to        
activity of mind1 industry1 and good    
conduct4  ,ask any  #8little fellow'    
from ,eton1 ,harrow1 or ,rugby1 whether 
he is bullied at  ,school2 he will      
probably answer1 #8,no3' if #8,yes1' ask
 him by whom2 and he  will tell you that
 it is by some bigger or stronger fellow
 in his own  part of the ,school--one   
who neither is nor ever will be a member
 of the  #8decemvirate1' but who annoys 
him because he is industrious1 or won't 

do  ,latin verses for his more stupid   
neighbour1 or #8gets above him' in form1
  and who dare not use his brute        
strength upon him within sight or       
hearing  of any ,sixth-form fellow4     
,but it ought to be idle to say this    
after all  that ,arnold has done and    
written1 after all that hundreds have   
seen and  read of10 c4                  
c4--,correspondent of the ,spectator1   
,december #ag1 #ahec4