The ‘English vice’ is spanking on the buttocks sometimes refered to today as 'corporal punishment... The English 'public' school system used corporal punishment for many years and and it is claimed that many an English schoolboy acquired a taste for such treatment that carried on into his adult life. You may recall Swinburne's many references to Eton's block and 'birching', claiming that his own proclivity for that particular pasttime had been cultivated by such school practices. Of course, there is also the other opinion. That is, that the English vice is whatever the French say it is. I supposed the same could be said to be true about the French vice.

I sure hope he don't get hisself hurt one of these days, running his mouth thataway.

Tost his beamed frontlet to the sky.

Department of Defense