The following outline of a recent quarrel at Winchester School serves to
illustrate the _System_ of _Fagging_ as practised at one of our leading
schools, among the "future clergy, lawyers, legislators, and peers of
England." It is extracted from a pamphlet by Sir Alexander Malet, Bart.;
and we hope this _expose_ will lead to the extermination of the
"custom:"--
The prefects, or eight senior boys of the school, are in the habit of
fagging the juniors; and that they may have a greater command of their
services during meal times, they appoint one of the junior boys with the
title of course keeper, whose business it is to take care that whilst the
prefects are at breakfast or supper, the juniors sit upon a certain cross
bench at the top of the hall, that they may be forthcoming whenever a
prefect requires any thing to be done. During that part of the short
half-year in which there are no fires kept, a sufficient number of boys
for this service was generally furnished from the fourth class, and it
was considered that the junior part of the fifth class, which is next in
the ascending scale, was exempt from so disagreeable a servitude. It
appears, however, that within these few years, there has been a much
greater press of boys to enter the school than formerly; the consequence
has been, that they have come to it older and more advanced in their
studies than formerly, and the upper departments of the school have
received a greater accession of numbers in proportion than the lower
classes. The fourth class, therefore, gradually furnishing a smaller
number of fags, the prefects issued a mandate, that the junior part of
the fifth class should share with the fourth in the duty of going on hall:
this was for some time submitted to; but at length one of the boys of
this class intentionally abstained from seating himself on the cross
bench at supper-time, and being seen by the senior prefect, and desired
by him to go on hall, refused to do so, and argued the point as a matter
of right, alleging, as the ancient usage of the school, the exemption of
the junior part of the fifth class from this duty till the commencement
of fires; he referred to the course keeper as being the depositary of
the rules, and expressed himself prepared to abide by his decision. The
course keeper, who does not appear to have been very well versed in the
usages of the school, decided that the boy ought to go on hall; and the
prefect therefore resolved, not only to enforce this new rule, but
to punish the contumely of this unlucky boy by giving him a public
chastisement. To this, however, the junior did not feel inclined to
submit, and a second prefect laid hold of him, that he might not evade
the beating destined for him: a simultaneous movement then took place
amongst the juniors, who pinioned the two prefects, released the boy
who was being beaten, and gave them to understand that the intended
chastisement should not be inflicted. The prefects instantly laid a
complaint before the head master, who expelled the boy who had refused to
go on hall, and five others, who had appeared most active in preventing
the prefect from punishing him.
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