ons
against them. Immediately after the Franco-German War, these accusations
dealt with offences against the laws providing for the safety of the
Empire and of the individual States of the German Confederation. At a
later date, persons seeking revenge made frequent use of accusations of
_lese majeste_. Still more recently, it is the section in the German
legal code dealing with sexual offences against children, which is
chiefly utilised for such purposes, "The good-natured householder who,
because it is his birthday, presents a few sweets to children assembled
in the courtyard of his house, is suspected of an offence against sexual
morals;" when he finds it necessary to give warning to his untrustworthy
hall-porter, this latter revenges himself by lodging a false accusation
of this kind. It is a melancholy fact that an experienced barrister
should find it necessary to make the following comprehensive
declaration: "As a rule it is of no use for the accused person to call
expert witnesses, who give the court long lectures upon the significance
of children's evidence, and upon the import of evidence in general. _In
our own experience one accused of such offences rarely escapes
conviction._ He is hardly ever spared the terrible ordeal of examination
and cross-examination. On all hands we hear the loud complaints of such
persons, declaring that they have been wrongfully condemned." My own
experience in the law courts leads me to accept these statements without
reserve, and _I regard as one of the gravest scandals of our present
penal system the ease with which a girl who makes a pretty curtsy to the
court, and who appears to be shamefaced when giving her evidence, is
believed by the judge or magistrate._ The dangers involved in this are
obvious to many, especially to those who have much to do with children.
An actor personally known to me, constantly received advances both from
married women and from young girls, was pestered with letters from such
persons, and to his great distress was several times followed in the
streets by half-mature and immature girls. One day, in the street, he
was walking with a friend, when two girls of about thirteen or fourteen
years of age began to follow him. Turning round, he shouted to the
girls that they had better run off home, or their father would give them
a good spanking. To his astonished companion he explained that only by
such drastic methods was he able, as he thought, to protect himse