Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-07-26

ing of the greatest cruelty towards them. A
memorable one is found in the commission of
Pharaoh TO the midwives, to murder all the
male offspring Of .he Jews. Their own chill
dren, however, were treated with greater ten.
derness, and they are accordingly, on this &C
count, mentioned with honour by some OF the
writer's of other ountries. Strabo, in particu-
lar, speaks of them as an honorable exception
to those nations who exercised the right of life
and death over their infants.(g)
Among the ancient Persans, il was common
custom 10 bury children alive. Herodotus tells
US Of Amcstris, the wife Of Xerxes, who, at an
adv anced age, ordered fourteen Persian infants,
Of illustrious birth, TO be inferred alive, in hon
our Of one Of the deilics Of the country. M
In most Of the Grecian STATES, infanticide was
not merely permitted but actually enforced by
law. The Spartan lawgiver expressly ordained
that every child that was born should be exam
med bv the ancient men of the tribe; and that,
iffound weak or reformed, it should be thrown
in 10 deep cavern at the foot of Mount Tay-
gctus, called 4pofhei0e, "concluding that its lie
could be ONO advantage either to itself or 10
the public, since pature had no, given II athrst
any strength or goodness OF constitutional
This practice was not, however, upheld merely
by the sanction Of law; it was defended by the
abIest men of Greece. Aristotle, in his work
on government, eni Joins the exposure OF children
that are naturally fec bic and deformed, in order
to prevent an excess of population. He adds,
of this idea be repugnant to the character Of
the nation, fix at least the number Of children
in each family; and if the parents ransgress the
law, let it be ordained, that the mother shall
destroy the fruit of her body before it shall have
received the principles Of life and sensation"
III The mild Plato also justi6es this practice.
Inihis Republic, he directs that children born
with any deformty, shall be removed and
concealed in some obscure retreat."(k)
OF the existence Of infanticide at athens, we
have the testimony Of the comic poets, who in
describing the manners of that city, frequent
ly allude to the exposure Of childrrn(U
The5es, however, exhibited noble contrast
was expressly forbidden 10 initiate the other
Grecian cities, who exposed their children at
their birth lm)
But of all the nations Of antiquity, the Ro-
mans were the most unrelentiDg in their treat
ment of infants. The Roman father was vested
with an absolute authority over the lives and
fortunes Of his children, (n) and we have album
dance Of testimony TO show that the right was
commonly exercised. This barbarous preroga.
tive was coeval with the existence Of Rome,
and continued to triumph over justice and hu-
mainly during the lapse Of many ages. until
Christianity wresied itfrom her. Romuius au-
,horised the destruction Of all children that we're
deformed He however, required the parents
to exhibit them 10 their five nearest neighbours,
and to obtain their consent 10 their death. Coz
The law of the Twelve Tables, enacted in the
3oIst year of Rome, sanctioned the same bar
barious practice. (p) After this, even the slight
restrictions which Romulus had imposed upon
parents, appear 10 have been removed, and an
unqualified jurisdiction surrendered 10 the fa-
Their over the lives Of his children, even after
they had arrived to years Of maturity. Sallust
mentions an instance Of the latter. Fuerc ia
men extra conjurationem complures. qui ad
Callahan intio protect stunt: in his a. Fulvi-
US, SENATOR'S 6lius; QUEEN retractum ex itinere,
parens jussit necayi."- Sallust, Cat. xxx.
aMichaelis' Commentaries the Laws of Moses,
vol. 4.
b Jeremiah, vii. 81; and xix S.
CO Chron. xxxiii. 6. Kings, xxi. 6.
d. Kings, XIII 10. Hist. Lib v. chap. S.
fPsalm cvi 81, 3S. 6 Beckman on Invent. vol H.
p ASS.
Beloe's Ierodo.us, vol a, 81.
iPlutarch's Lives, translated by Langhorne, vol I,
p 142
Travels of Anacharsis, vol 5, p go.
* Ibid. VOL 4, p 342.
wide Quartey Review, vol. q p. $50, for quotations
from Terence and Pautus.
M Travels OF Anacharsis. vol. 5, p 277
The right parents their children is thus sta
ted in the Justnan Institutes, Lib Tit tx p. 90 Coon
cr's edit Jus autem potestats, qIod in iberos babe
mus, proprum est civum Romanorum multi enim
al teunt homnes, qu alem in Ebcros habeant potesta
TEN, quaiem nos habemus
Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws vol. I, D 1O4 Lon
Cooper's justinan, p, $50.