Ruled by the Rod (10 page)

He also told
of the County Asylum for Lunatics, to which he was consultant. A
majority of the patients were of the weaker, female sex, so liable
to disturbances of the brain, nature not having seen the need to
overburden them in that direction, to compensate for the
complication and general proneness to disorder of their other
organs. A great number of them had been consigned to the
institution by their families on the grounds of moral turpitude,
having been found in intercourse with men and, in some cases,
actually bearing them children. When the babies had been born, and
put in the care of wet nurses, the young women were locked up, for
their own good of course, and subjected to a strict regime designed
to drive out the disorders that troubled them, and render their
minds whole again through the disciplining of their bodies.

We recognised
many of the elements readily enough, for they were the same that
had had such a beneficial effect upon ourselves; cold baths, hard
work, and physical restriction of the limbs, too much freedom of
which invariably leads to loosening of manners and softening of
moral fibre. They were flogged regularly, too, but not across the
buttocks, as we, but on the back. Like the loose creature we had
seen at the cart's tail.

Justice
Rodsham, apparently, was not so plagued by female company in his
domestic arrangements, having no family of his own, with but a
housekeeper to look after him and a parcel of maids. He did,
however, come into frequent contact with females of all degree in
his court, and when making prison visits. He gave many instances of
the pernicious natures inherent in all us females, and our
inclination to perfidy and moral turpitude. Amongst the more
deplorable activities he had sought so hard to curb, was that well
known weakness of our sex for letting our tongues run away with us.
It seems that many are so lost to shame and decency as to berate
their husbands and other men set in authority over them, such as
fathers and brothers, not hesitating in some cases to pursue them
in the streets to the public scandal.

He would
usually suggest that the man should lay charges of committing a
breach of the peace, since this charge could be tried in a higher
court, where a wider range of more severe punishments was
available. He was most impressed by the scold's bridle, as
demonstrated on ourselves, and much regretted that it had gone out
of use in England, though still retained by the sagacious Scots.
His preferred punishment in the majority of cases was a combination
of the birch and hard labour. He would generally consult the
husband as to how long he was prepared to do without the services
of his recalcitrant spouse, some asking him to make the lesson
short and sharp, others, usually with younger mistresses to serve
their needs, suggesting that a prolonged incarceration was
necessary to obtain significant improvement, without fear of
backsliding.

The woman
would be removed to the county gaol where, on reception, she would
be stripped and shorn by the grim matrons who supervised the house
of female correction. Once scrubbed with lye and hard bristle
brush, she would be secured over a heavy block in the courtyard,
her buttocks well spread by securing her feet some three feet
apart, and drawing her hands down the far side of the block. In
this position, with her belly and breasts pressed firmly against
the rough wood, one of the most powerful among their number was
employed to lash her bare and stretched hinds with a bundle of
birch twigs, about three feet long and well pickled in brine. Such
lithe limbs stung atrociously, scouring the skin.

The husband
was generally invited to view this warm reception, and the judge
often felt it his duty to attend. The number of strokes depended on
the seriousness of the offence felt by the complainant, the length
of the incarceration - the shorter the stay the greater the number
to compensate - and the judge's estimation of the woman's potential
for stirring up trouble. This same number of strokes would be
repeated as a 'leaving present' when the sentence had been served,
and the woman ready for return to her husband, or other male
guardian.

During their
stay in the house of correction, the women were worked hard for
many hours each day, such labour being held to be excellent for
their minds, as well as their bodies. The most usual form was the
treadmill. This was a long slatted drum, some six feet in diameter.
The women stood on the curved surface, gripping a horizontal pole
set at the top of the slope. Their weight caused the drum to turn,
and they were forced to keep continually walking up the steep slope
for hour after hour, any falling back bringing a heavy strap about
their sweating backs, their out-thrust buttocks or their straining
thighs, as the wardress on duty thought most fitting and effective.
It was hot, hard, unremitting labour and, since the perspiration
ran from their bodies in rivulets, they performed it bare foot and
naked, save for a scrap of cloth around their waists, no lower than
their juts behind, for their buttocks must be available to the
whip, dipping in front to just reach their mossy mounds, so that
decency might be preserved.

The judge
often felt it his duty to check that this aspect of the punishment
was conducted with sufficient vigour, and would visit the gaol
personally to inspect the women as they toiled. He was able to
assure the company that where he visited there was no letting up,
nor sparing of the rod. And as a consequence, very few women were
ever known to re-offend, going quietly about their domestic duties,
curbing their tongues, lowering their eyes in the presence of men,
and generally behaving as is proper for womankind.

The doctor and
papa joined with the learned judge in deploring the demise of the
bridle in England, but enquired if all the traditional, and
effective, means of regulating the conduct of unruly females had
been totally lost.

'By no means,'
he replied. 'I am aware of, and have given my encouragement to,
many a village where the ducking stool is still standing, and a
local magistrate willing to make use of it. 'Tis a most sovereign
remedy for scolds. Likewise, there are still many whipping posts in
use, where the scold, the slattern and the harlot may scream their
repentance under the lash. I believe, also,' he went on, 'that
there is one manor in the forest, where the Spanish horse is still
employed. I have not seen it ridden, myself, but there is such an
apparatus in the house of correction, where those who kick against
the pricks may sit and contemplate the error of their ways. 'Tis
said that even the fiercest termagant can be found bathed in tears
and incapable of saying boo to a goose, after a night on the
horse.'

The gentlemen
were most excited by these revelations, and resolved to make trial
of them as soon as maybe, agreeing amongst themselves that it would
serve a very educational purpose if we were to accompany them on
the expedition, a proposal that we received with mixed feelings. A
ride in the country was always a treat, but we feared to see how
the women might be suffering, and even more so, that our guardians
might be taken by the idea that we might make personal trial of
these punitory delights. Since, however, it was not our place to
query their designs, nor did they ever take into account the
opinions of mere women, we held our peace.

By now the
evening was well advanced. The tales of feminine discipline and
management had occupied the gentlemen through the soup, the fish,
the mutton pie and the jam pudding, to say nothing of copious
quantities of Claret and some Muscadet to accompany the desert.
Now, with their cigars lit and the port to hand, they turned their
attention to their charges - ourselves.

The doctor
wished to take up again the subject of what he referred to as the
pubic nerve. At their last discussion they had agreed to postpone a
decision on the fate of that organ in each of us, to enable greater
thought to be given. Now the doctor wished to bring the matter to a
head. He began by making each of us mount the chair in the normal
fashion but, for the time being at least, not for correction but
for inspection. He found this the best position in which to examine
our vulvas, and he was right, for it presented them well opened,
between our stretched thighs, and at a convenient height without
forcing him to bend unduly after his good supper.

In turn he
probed our buds, and the delicate membranes and fleshy lips by
which they were surrounded, reminding himself of their size, their
response to stimulation, their erectile qualities, their smooth
glistening texture when aroused. When each of us had mounted,
spread our thighs, writhed under his manipulations to the point,
almost, of spasm, and revealed to him all our most intimate secrets
under his searching catechism of our habits regarding those small
reddened tongues, he dismissed us and returned to the table.

'The best
medical opinion,' he began, 'is that these organs, unnecessary and
superfluous to the reproductive process, can be responsible for
much disorder in the female. Their brains, more feeble than in the
male, are easily overexcited by the nervous stimulation emanating
from these dangerous sources, often to the extent of generating
hysteria, nymphomania and many other ills. Currently the best
authorities are recommending excision, where there is thought to be
any risk whatever to the individual's stability.

'In my
opinion,' he declared, 'these three young females are all at risk,
for varying reasons, and to greater or lesser degrees, and I would
urge you to have their clitoris excised as soon as is
convenient.'

The judge
looked grave.

'Is it your
opinion that the matter is one of urgency, or that the risk to
their mental state, and their good management, is extreme?' he
asked.

'No, I cannot
say that,' Dr Boucher replied. 'We have provided them with such
support, with regular corrections, and physical restraints to
prevent unseemly rashness in their movements, that they may be
considered well under control, and not likely to burst out
precipitously.'

'I am
mindful,' said the judge, 'that husbands might one day be found for
these young women in our charge. While most men would undoubtedly
prefer them to be rid of these dangerous organs before they have to
take responsibility for their management, there are, in my
experience, a number of men, not large I grant you, but
significant, who gain pleasure from their wife's frenzy during
intercourse. If a woman is cut in this fashion, she generally loses
the ability to achieve this state, especially if she has no
experience of men before she loses the gland, and it would seem
presumptuous of us to deprive a potential husband of this pleasure,
except it be a matter of urgency. Are there no other, less drastic
measures you could take?'

'There are,
sir,' the doctor conceded, 'and perhaps the risks remaining after
their implementation might be acceptable, so long as they continue
under our careful management. After all, if a bridegroom, at some
future date, were unhappy at her condition, there is nothing to
stop him having her excised as soon as she becomes his, or even
stipulating it as a condition of the marriage contract, that she
should come to him with it already removed.'

'What might be
involved, sir?' asked papa, ever careful of our wellbeing.

'In the case
of the elder girl,' the doctor answered, 'the organ suffers from
hypertrophy. That is, it is larger than the generality. I would
recommend that, as an interim measure, it should be reduced by
ablating the top third with the bistoury.'

I saw that
Marion turned white; she had not forgot the bistoury applied to her
fundament, nor the cautery that followed it. I doubt not that my
own cheeks had turned as pale, nor had Charlotte heard the
diagnosis with any less perturbation.

'As to the
youngest, the organ is normal for a female of her age, though set a
little deep in the folds of the vulva. Moreover, though it does not
appear to be overly sensitive, she admits to stimulating it quite
frequently, despite our exhortations to refrain. I would recommend,
therefore that, for reasons of hygiene, the prepuce, or hood,
should be pruned, and a small incision made in the tip to reduce
the sensitivity somewhat.'

My belly
contracted at the dire pronouncement, and I had to put a hand on
the wall to support myself, as he continued.

'The middle
daughter causes me the most concern. Of the three, she is the most
in need of a complete clitodectomy, but if we save the two, we
should endeavour to save the third. The problem, as I see it, is
that she is too addicted to the febrile excitation of the organ.
Despite our warnings to the contrary, she has had to confess far
more frequently than her sisters, to breaking the prohibition, and
paid the price in stripes on her buttocks, though to no effect for,
within days, she offends again. The gland is properly formed,
though perhaps a trifle prominent and extra sensitive. If we are
not to take the radical approach, then I feel that the proper
course, in addition to continued strict management naturally, would
be to subject the organ to a course of treatment, designed to
thicken and coarsen the epidermis, until its sensitivity is reduced
sufficiently to bring the problem under control. I am still a
little uncertain as to the precise details, but the best treatment
would be, I think, to ablate a small portion of the tip, then
subject it to abrasion at regular intervals, to slow the healing
process and promote a build up of scar tissue, forming an
insensitive shield.'

'Well, sir,'
asked Justice Rodsham, addressing our parent, 'how say you? Shall
their problem parts be dealt with as we are medically advised is
possible, if not certain, or shall it be the more radical
operation?'