The Sun. — 1829-01-26 (London, England)

MURDERING OF SIXTY-TWO  CHILDREN.  It has been repeatedly remarked of late, that the annals of crime do not furnish us with a parallel to the atrocious deeds of Burke, Hare, i\l'Dougal, and Co. The narration of the following horrible :ale, the truth of every particle of which may be relied upon, will perhapa go far to convince the readers 'of the Elgin Courier, that the history of France in the seventeenth century, contains one instance at least of a system of murderS being regularly acted on, limier ciretnnstances of atrocity as great, if not greater, than that pursued by the nefarious firm whose names we have just mentioned :—ln the year 1673 a midwife in Paris had by hei• superior knowledge. of her profession, got into an extensive practice. Knowing. that many of her employers were unmarried, and that consequently they would wish their delivery to be as private as possible, she conceived it would prove a :good speculation to engage commodious premises for herself, and provide for those whose circumstances could afford it the necessary accommodation at her own house, at the time of their lying-in.— The speculation was attended with eminent success ; numbers of pregnant females took up a temporary residence in this novel institution. It was observed, however, by a gentleman who resided directly opposite the midwife's house, that notwithstanding the many pregnant women that went in to be delivered, there were comparatively: few children. that came out. It accordingly occurred to him, as the most probable supposition to.acconnt for-this, that a number cf the young innocents trust 'have been murdered shortly after • their entrance into the world: He intimaukl his suspicions to several of his neighbours and the result was, that they applied to a magistrate for a search warrant, under the pretension that a quantity of silver-plate had been stolen: The warrant was obtained, and the search commenced, when to their indescribable horror, they' discovered a secret place of the house, under ground, in which which were deposited no less than the bodies of sixty4wo children ! Some of them were considerably decomposed ; but the great majority of .them seemed to have been murdered within two or three weeks of the time at which  the shocking discovery- was made. The inhuman monster was apprehended, imprisoned, tried, and condemned .on the most conclusive evidence,in conjunction with her own confession of guilt. The atrocity of her guilt produced such an impression on the public mind, that a universal demand was made .for the infliction of the punishment of death under the most torturing of its forms. A most excruciating mode of death was accordingly resorted. to. A gibbet was erected, under which a fire was lighted. The delinquent was then hung up in a large iron cage, in company with sixteen wild cats, which had been caught in the woods for the purpose. When the heat of the fire had become intolerable, the whole of the ferocious animals flew on the woman as the cause of the agonizing pains they experienced. In about a quarter of an hour she presented a most shocking spectacle,_ but continued to live for twenty minutes longer,—imploring, but i❑ vain, some of the spectators to despatch her at.once. Before ;she expired, twelve of the cats had died, and the other four only lived about two minutes longer. —Vain Courier...  On Saturday last the following gentletnen were called to the Bar, by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, viz. John Walter Hulme, Robert Wellbebyed, Thomas Henry, and William Glover, Esquires.