Note 346 — Chapter XXIII
Reading edition
From Paul’s I went, to Eton sent, To learn straightway the Latin phrase, Where fifty-three stripes given to me At once I had; For fault but small, or none at all, It came to pass thus beat I was, See, Udall, see, the mercy of thee To me, poor lad.
The result of the Eton system was, that many boys ran away from the school to escape a beating, a circumstance which led Ascham to compose his “Schoolmaster,” wherein, like Sir J. Elyot, he pleads for a more humane treatment of young scholars.