The Express.
London, England, 1863-07-25 00:00:00

MONUMENTS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Mr. M. MILNES drew attention to the fees demanded 17
the Dean anti Chapter of Westminster for the erection of public
monuments in Westminster Abbey. Be reminded the home
that in 1854 be bad occasion to bring forward this question
in connection with a monument to the poet Campbell, for
which • fee of 2004 wee demanded by the dean and chapter
before it wu allowed to be erected in the abbey. Upon •
Woos remonstrance from Sir W. Molessorth that fee was
either wholly remitted or conside-ably diminished ;
but that proceeding was followed by • resole.
Um that no other monuments would be admitted.
That resolution, however, had so little effect that continual
applioations he i since been made to the dean and chapter
for this purpose, end they had either been met with refuels,
or, as in a cam which lately recurred, by moot inordinate
demands. . .

Kr. F. POWELL trusted they would remember that the
abbey was built for the worship of God. and for the &coma-
modatioo of oongregatioas of Christian people from genera-
tion to generation. It was not intended as a receptacle for
enormous masses of tasteless marble. As to the suggestion
that monuments should be placed between the columns,
he supposed the hoe gentleman could not be in the habit
of attending service in the church, or he would know that
it was already sufficiently encumbered. (Hear, bear.)
The dean and chapter had a duty to perform, and he hoped
that they would, if pcesibla, diminish rather than increase
the number of monuments under their charge. (Cheers.)

INFANTICIDE.
Mr. COX mid it appeared from a return which he had
moved for, that in the eighteen months flow January,
1881, to July, 1862, there had been in Eoglami
and Wales no fewer than 5,547 coroners' inquests
over children of two years sod under. In 224 cams the
verdict had been " wilful murder," UMW found dead,"
and in 96t "suffocation," making a total of 1,887 violent
deaths. This was certainly no credit to our boasted civilisa-
tion. He slid not think that the most obvious motive,
namely, a desire on the part of the mothers of illegitimate
children to get rid of the evidence of their shame, operated
so widely as might be thought, bemuse a majority of the
children murdered were upwards of a year old. He be-
lieved, however, that the bastardy laws were in fault, for
the allowance of 2a. 6d. was not sufficient is sup.
port au infant, and boards of guardians were us.
able to moist women to recover even that. An-
riber fertile source of child murder was that coroners'
juries would not bring in verdicts of child murder if they
meld by any possibility avoid it. (Hear. hear.) The ques-
tion be bad to put to the right boo. gentleman at the head
of the Home-office was whether during the racer he would
take the subject into consideration, and suggest any me►as
whereby a remedy might be applied to the evil now
existing.
AFFAIRS ,OF GREECE.

Mr. MONSELL rose to uk the Under Secretary of Stale
for Foreign Affain whether tbere was any objection to lay
on the table the correspondence which took place in 1826
and 1826 between the government of this country and Rus-
sia with reference to the affairs of Greece.

Mr. HUNT exproseed his approval of the boo. member
for Finsbury bringing forward the subject of infanticide,
which he (Mr. Hnot) knew from his magisterial experience
was largely on the increase. The real mum of half the
child murders in this country wee the desire to conceal the
shame of giving birth to an illegirnate child. There were
two rowan why this crime was on the increase. One was
• peeper subject for the consideration of the home • the
other was beyond the scope of the house, and
ugh
very Important Wei calculated to provoke • smile. It MSS
the present dress of the females of this country. (Laughter.)
He believed that the dreseof females in the present day
conduced very seriously to immorality. The crime of infanti-
cide was very prevalentamoeg domestic servants, to 'whom
the large fall draw bed descended, and that dress not only
interfered with their woefulness in household work, but
assisted greatly in the concealment of pregnancy.
With such • dross it was almost imputable
for any one living in the same house with a
pregnant woman and even sleeping in the name room to
know that she was in the family-way. He repeated that
this matter was entirely beyond the power of the house,
but hon. members would do themselves a good turn, and at
the same time promote morality, if they forbade female
servants to adopt the present faabiosable mode of extend-
ing their dram The other cause wee the way in which the
law was admiebtered, or rather altered by the judges with
regard to child murder. In forme: times the questions
pot in snob cases were whether the child was born
alive, whether it come by its death by violent mean,' and if
so, whether the child came by its death by the hands of the
prisoner. The first question was guerallv answered by a
surgeon by means of the lung teat If the child had breathed
ft was held that it had been bora alive, and could be mur-
dered. That wan the old and he believed the right principle,
hat the judges. from tendemeu and a reluctance to convict
• woman for the crime of child murder, had
explained away that doctrine. One judge held that the
question was not whether the child bed breathed, but
whether it had due so when it war entirely separated from
the mother. That, be believed, was not a correct interpre-
tation of the law ; but yet it bad recommended itself to the
minds of almost all the judges. It waa now almost impos-
sible to convict • woman of the murder of • sew-born child
unless she confessed, and even a confession was sometimes
not sufficient Such being the case, they ought to has. an
act to give some severe punishment for the destruction of
child life, and not leave the judges to the alternative of
convicting • woman either of child murder, which they
would not do, or of the concealment of the birth when the
evidence clemiy proved • murder.

Slr G. GREY said the question brought forward
by the boa. member for Finsbury we. no doubt
a very important one. No doubt the crime of infanticile
did exiet toe great degree, but he waa not sure that it bed
increased in s greater ratio than the increase of the popula-
tion. The suggestions made for its suppression were not of
a very practioal nature. The hon, member for Finsbury
proposed that'lle allowance for an illegitimate child should
be increased, but be (Sir G. Grey) wee afraid that would
have the effect of encouraging the birth of illegitimate chil-
dren. The hon. member for Northamptonehire-made a Bug-
gfttion in regard to dress, not of course with a view to the
house interfering, but rather for the consideration of the
heads of families. With reiinect to the judges, it would be
presumption on the part of the house, or any member, to
say that they were wrong in the rules of evidence which
they had laid down, and in which the hon. member said
they had all soneurred.
Mr. HUNT—I said almost ell.

Sir G. GREY thought that the hon. member's censure
Cu the Chief Baron, who was • most experienced
judge, in the .case be had meetioced was uode.
*erred. (Hear, hear.) He was afraid that the
oely remedy fee chisokieg this crime wee the improved mo-
rality of Use people, for which they must look to improved
ideation. With regard to Westminster Abbey, be thought
that the dean and chapter were quite right in sot allowing
the trace in that cathedral devoted to worshippers to be
encroschen upon by 'oecumenic and statues. Still be
thought that every facility should be given for
the 01111104111 of states, to distiegoillied Men, if
it could be done without interfering with that seam
The dean ad chapter did not derive any pecuniary benefit
from the fee of 200/ which was charged, but he thought
that the better method would be to Owlish that payment
altogether. se it did Lot have • apparent", the dean
and chapter still retaining the to amide what stelae'
ought to be erected. (Hear, beer.