its contents
and publication, and stated, or inferred, that in her belief it would be
right to teach young children the physiological facts contained in the
said pamphlet. [This was a deliberate falsehood: I had never stated or
inferred anything of the kind.] The said Annie Besant has also edited and
published a pamphlet intituled 'The Law of Population; its consequences,
and its bearing upon human conduct and morals', to which book or pamphlet
your petitioners crave leave to refer."

The petition was unfortunately heard before the Master of the Rolls, Sir
George Jessel, a man animated by the old spirit of Hebrew bigotry, and
who had superadded to this the coarse time-serving morality of "a man of
the world", sceptical of all sincerity, and contemptuous of all
self-devotion to a cause that did not pay, as of a weakness by which he
was himself singularly unassailable. The treatment I received at his
hands on my first appearance in Court told me what I had to expect. After
my previous experience of the courtesy of English judges, I was startled
to hear a harsh, loud voice exclaim, in answer to a statement from Mr.
Ince. Q.C., that I appeared in person:

"Appear in person? A lady appear in person? Never heard of such a thing!
Does the lady really appear in person?"

After a variety of similar remarks, delivered in the most grating tones
and with the roughest manner, Sir George Jessel tried to attain his
object by browbeating me directly.

"Is this the lady?"

"I am the respondent to the petition, my lord--Mrs. Besant." "Then I
advise you, Mrs. Besant, to employ counsel to represent you, if you can
afford it, and I suppose you can."

"With all submission to your lordship, I am afraid I must claim my right
of arguing my case in person."

"You will do so if you please, of course, but I think you had much better
appear by counsel. I give you notice that, if you do not, you must not
expect to be shown any consideration. You will not be heard by me at any
greater length than the case requires, nor allowed to go into irrelevant
matter, as persons who argue their own cases generally do."

"I trust I shall not do so, my lord; but in any case I shall be arguing
under your lordship's complete control."

This encouraging beginning may be taken as a sample of the case. Mr.
Ince, the counsel on the other side, was constantly practising in the
Rolls' Court, knew all the judge's peculiarities, how to flatter and
humor him on t