aches" against Rev. Mr. Teackle, for which she was ordered to
receive twenty lashes on her bare shoulders and to be banished the
country. Of course, for the correction of slaves the whip was in
constant use till our Civil War banished slavery and the whipping-post
from every state save Maryland and Delaware. This latter-named
commonwealth has been much censured for countenancing the continuance of
whipping as a punishment. It is, however, stiffly contended by Delaware
magistrates that as a restraint over wife-beaters and other cruel and
vicious criminals, the whipping post is a distinct success and of marked
benefit in its influence in the community. It should also be remembered
that these are not the only civilized states to approve of whipping for
certain crimes. About thirty years ago, when garroting became so
frequent and so greatly feared in England, the whipping-post was
reestablished in England, and whipping once more became an authorized
punishment.

There was one hard-hearted and unjust use of the whip which was
prevalent in London and other English cities in olden times which I wish
to recount with abjuration. At the time of public executions parents
were wont to whip their children soundly to impress upon them a lesson
of horror of the gallows. As trivial offenses, such as stealing anything
in value over a shilling, were punishable by death, and capital crimes
were over three hundred in number, executions were of deplorable
frequency; hence the condition of children at that time was indeed
pitiable. Whipped by most illogical parents, whipped by cruel
teachers--even Roger Ascham used to "pinch, nip and bob" Queen Elizabeth
when she was his pupil--whipped by masters, whipped by mistresses, it
would seem that the moral force of the whipping-post for adults must
have been very slight, after so many castigory experiences in youth.

VII

THE SCARLET LETTER

The rare genius of Hawthorne has immortalized in his _Scarlet Letter_
one mode of stigmatizing punishment common in New England. So faithful
is the presentment of colonial life shown in that book, so unerring the
power and touch which drew the picture, it cannot be disputed that the
atmosphere of the _Scarlet Letter_ forms in the majority of hearts, nay,
in the hearts and minds of all of our reading community, the daily life,
the true life of the earliest colonists. To us the characters have
lived--Hester Prynne is as real as Margaret Winthrop, Arthu