The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1847-11-12

but this arises from ibis modesty and ioroear,
ance. Now if the great statesman OF Asnianu
entertains such high opinion OF the SADIE mar
monists, who come under the Wilmot ProViso'
il Is very evidenttha Mr. Clay must be SCI down
| in favor of the proviso itself, so tar as It's
music is skiful and its harmony delightful we
therefore set down Mr.. Clay as having furnished
the world with the first premonitory symptom
of his adherence TO the Wilmot proviso; and Tor
a confirmation of il we shall wait to hear from
him on the great occasion which Is to take
Mace at Lexington, tomorrow forenoon. Thus
| admitting the conclusion to which we have
come, the public can satisfy themselves, as we
have already said, by referring to the Sable
Harmonists themselves, at the Minerva Rooms.
TRIAL OF MADAME REsrELL-STATE OF SocI-
rrY.-After lapse of two weeks and upwards,
and the loss of much time, the trial of Madame
Restell, alias Caroline Lehman, for manslaugh-
ter, in producing an abortion on the girl Maria
Bodine, is concluded, and has resulted In the
conviction of the accused of misdemeanor.-
Punishment, of course. will follow. A full re-
port has been published by Camp b Wilkes; and
a most curious expose is.
This celebrated case has occupied much OF the
public attention, and much of the time OF the
court and the jury who tried it-much more than
there was any necessity for. We are satisfied
that half of the time was occupied in diving into
matter extraneous to the point at issue, VIZ; the
guilt or innocence ofths accused-and in other
matters, which might well have been LETT un-
touched.
The matter has, however, ended; and the re-
suit is, that the law has been INDICATED, al
A. IL III cd NV ne
ton, and the defendant stands convicted OF the
crime imputed to her. To a certain degree, lr-
respective of the practices alleged against her,
Madame Restel has contributed much to place
herself in the situation in which she now mas
herself. Knowing the prejudice against ner IN
the public mind, and as if brazening H. she mas
for years past appeared in the streets In her
magnificent equipage, and dressed IN the most
fashionable manner, decorated with costly Jew
els and ornaments, thereby exciting the jealousy
ofthose who envied her situation; whereas, II she
had practsed hersart-for we are sorry to say IT
has become an art among us-ln secret, and
lived in a retired and unostentatious style,
she might, like others, have not only es-
caped public notice and public prejudice, but
also her recent conviction. 1t is asserted, on
good authority, that so far from this woman
being the only practiser of the art she follows,
there are hundreds of others, great and small,
engaged in the same business IN this city, and
that even medical men, who claim high posi-
ton in society, constantly practice 1t to great
extent and rapidly become rich by 1t.
What state of mora.s, in this moral and VIZ
tuous land, does not this develope The cause
which produces it is subject worthy the inves-
tigation of the moralist, and the friends OF hui
manity.
It's a fact worthy of remark, IN connection
with this subject, that most of the unfortunate fe:
males who find themselves in situation to resort
to such means to conceal their degradation, are
ignorant and uneducated, not over two In ten
being able to write their names, and they come
from the country, mostly from New England, and
especially from the State of Connecticut. We
are at loss to reconcile this ignorance with the
system of common school education tor which
New England is famed Throughout the world,
| as well as throughout the United States. There
is some defect in its principles, or in its applica-
ton to the wants of society, lying at the bottom
| of it, which has as yet escaped public notice.
This is the only way in which this ignorance
can be explained On the other hand, the fact
that most OF these unfortunate girls come from the
State of Connecticut can be accounted for, and
is, we may say, a natural consequence of the
mistaken views of its Legislators. The idea, al
this time of day. that you can make men and
women moral and virtuous by legal enactments,
| is absurd and ridiculous but it is one of the
distractions for which New England is cele
brated, and smacks more OF the flavor of Puri
tanism than is consistent with knowledge of the
world, or Of the principles which govern human
nature. In Connecticut there exists law pun
ishing severely, by Imprisonment, certain female
offences, and we see here the results. WomeI
who err and lose their virtue, resort to New
York-to such houses as those of Madame
Restell, and other professional abortionists-
in order to escape the penalty provided by
law in their native State for the crime
they have committed They are driven by
special enactment, and by fear of incarcera
ton in the penitentiary, followed, of course, by
loss of character, and by degradation and dis
grace during the rest of their lives, to commi
sin greater, far greater in its effects on the gull
ty and on society, than the original crime, thu
prospective penalty of which they resorted te
this city to evade. There are hundreds of sucf
instances as those. There can be no doubt o
the statements we allege. Within two or tire,
weeks it has been publicly stated in q medica
periodical, that, to the knowledge ofthe editor
members of the medical profession constant,
practice abortion. 1t is as certain that the mos
of the victims are from New England.
We commend these remarks to the Legislative
sages of New England, especially those of Con
necticut, which State, Notwithstanding its grea
number of public schools, and its legislative en-
actments for the prevention of immortality, &C
tually supplies our professional abortionists with
large proportion of their business.
ST. LUcA.-The weather at this Island, up t.
the 18th Of Sept, continued favorable to the work
on plantations, and cultivation had been great,
extended The Palladium, of a recent date
speaking Of the resources of the place, Its pro
oresa. and interests, makes the annexed state