The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-10 00:00:00

Society for the Prevention of Infanticide.

A meeting of the members of this society vas
held yesterday, at the offices, 16, Craven-street,
Strand, for the purpose of considering the bust
means to be adopted to suppress the evil in con-
nection with which the society had been established.
Mr. S. O'Neill occupied the chair. The Chairmam
commenced the proceedings by reading a paper
having reference to the present state of the law as
regarded child murder. He contended that an ap—
plication should be made to Parliament for an addi-
tion to a clause in the Act relating to capital punish-
ment, which would enable juries to return verdicts
of guilty, with extenuating circumstances, in all
cases where a mother had killed her child in or
before the agonies of unaided parturition could
have subsided. That system was adopted in France
and worked well. The case to be dealt with was
one of temporary insanity, and as in such cases cul-
prits were respited from the penalty of an ordinary
murder, so ho thought should that act of mercy be
conceded to females under the circumstances he had
indicated. He argued, also, that the recommenda-
tions to mercy under the present system were un-
certain in their results, and the frequency of. se::
quittals, originating in humanity, encouraged enoe_
The truth of that opinion was made manifest every
day, and therefore it was he made the presellitrg:
posal. Mr. G. Brooke complimented the
.c.h..3 wain.
on his paper, but considered that one oftitclude was
causes of the present prevalence of
the poor-law system. The poor girlsuer is the work.
" i treated as
unfortunate, instead of finding a in trgho became
el,e encouragement,
houses and receiving counsel
were driven from them, or,
}Li:
th,
ewhadoo Isei t
receptiont main
of features
if
aested this fact would
criminals and outcasts. lie trociety. Papers Were
by
sthtaffe
osrd, gr. Fleming, and
not be lost sight of
then read by Mr. A.
theirhi
l d r
e n recovery
being
asylums, under well•
were the establisbnyt:
Mr. Duncan, the secriletso3;
managem-eclfvoirdwedh,omthecine
organised
in a state of prep nau '
situations sheeid be P
kept and educated in , both
n the asylum, fe father and
d
mother being Compelled to contribute to their sup-
They als° recommended
an alteration in the
port. dy law, compelling the
nt hastarfather
of a
prole i
putative child to pay a larger sum for its mainte-
nano than
a vote that now demanded by the present law.
After
discussion, the proceedings terminated with.
of thanks to the chai:man.

The Peninsular
u warariilvse(hl
~
Tim-CRAWLEY CASE "
unci ,-- ,JOUTIIA7.IPTON, Friday.—.
Ceylon, %chic, Oriental Company's etesmehip
here this morning with the Bombay
and Asuritius
itud 12 ornivgesdt hfre(rinplaslsedugerts 60 soldiers
- - officers who have c's
awr
ele.nee on the trial of Co!onel Crawley by court-martial,nl4ogiveevfl-
t the
,uelty to Sergeant-Major Lilley. . All the for
Ceylon was occupied by the soldiers. The nona-commie'
momise-
11,10ned officers had first-class accommodation on board the
Ceylon. Some of the soldiers have been very ill on hoard,
and ono private nearly died from dysentery. Another batch
of witnesses will arrive home in the Poonah, due about a
week hence. Nearly 150 witnesses will come home from
India to give evidence on the trial. Colonel Crawley left
Alexandria for England in the .I\larseilles packet. He is
described as a stout, tall man, with a grey beard, Ind be
been -
tween fifty and sixty years of age. Corop/Rint'having
made that the Indian authorities had not fairly selected the
witnesses, the home government telegraphed for every man
to be sent home who was directly or indirect)), connected
with the treatment of Sergeant-Meior Lilley.