After this age, the girl must be the guardian of her own virtue, and it is most probable that increased knowledge and strength of will power would preserve her from moral ruin. It is a significant fact that while the law holds the child of fourteen capable of defending her honour, it does not allow any girl who may possess property to manage or dispose of it in any way till she is 21 years old, and anyone marrying her without the consent of her legal guardians, even though she may be willing herself, is liable to severe punishment. If the girl of fourteen is capable of being the guardian of her own virtue then we must concede that physically she is fitted to become a mother, that she realizes to the full, the consequences of immorality, and that her self-control and power of moral resistance render her proof against any bribes or threats by which it may be sought to influence her. Now all medical authorities would utterly condemn the idea that a girl of fourteen was fit for the stress and strain of motherhood. Not only would she run great danger herself, but her offspring would in all probability be sickly and unfit for the battle of life. Again, can a young girl comprehend in the least degree, the consequences of consenting to her own ruin? The majority of girls are brought up in entire ignorance of all matters connected with sex. It is the parent’s boast that they are perfectly “innocent,” by which is meant that they know none of the facts of the genesis of life, and are totally unwarned against the dangers which may assail them at any moment. Nothing could be better fitted for the purpose of the seducer, and the innocence which is supposed to throw a halo of purity round the girl, is sometimes the instrument of her ruin. But, granting that she has learnt in some imperfect and unsatisfactory way, about these matters, can she adequately grasp the results which may come upon her? Is she aware that she may become a mother, with all the dangers attending maternity, can she estimate the social ostracism, the life-long shame that will be her lot if her fall is discovered; does she know that this first downward step taken through ignorance or thoughtlessness, is the first on the path which leads by the streets of the city to the harlot’s grave? And further, is the period between 14 and 18, one in which self-control is firmly established, and the actions governed by prudence and reason? We know it is not. Girls at this age have little resisting power. Their vanity is easily appealed to, their ignorance of life leads them into situations which older women would avoid, often their affections are easily engaged, and under the caresses and blandishments of the man--generally much older than themselves, they are but as clay in the potter’s hands. And it would be difficult to say how many of these case are actually, if not legally, cases of rape, for often a considerable amount of resistance has to be overcome before the crime is effected.