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328 The Century of the Child
been done. Most of the victims are so accus-
tomed to blows already that the physical effect
is little or nothing, but they awaken feel-
ings of detestation against a society which so
avenges its own faults. If the soul of the child
is sensitive, corporal punishment can produce
deep spiritual torment, as was the case with
Lars Kruse, the hero of Skagen, who some
years ago met his death by drowning. Every-
body knows his story from the fine account of
him by the Danish poet, Drachmann. Lars, in
his childhood, had taken a plank, a piece of
driftwood, and sold it. For this he was con-
demned to be punished. Till late in life, what
he had suffered was ever present with him.
He was not ashamed of his action but of his
punishment—a punishment which embittered
the whole life of a really great character.
The blows administered by society are in-
flicted on children whose poverty and neg-
lected education are in most cases responsible
for their faults. The victims, often emaciated
by hunger, and trembling with shame or ter-
ror, can experience no spiritual emotion fit to
be the basis of moral shame.
If the statistics of the life-history of those
who are so disciplined were revealed, we should
find that the majority come from, and return
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