a patent fact to
observing physicians. The crime itself differs little, in reality, from
that considered in the last section, the prevention of conception. It
is, in fact, the same crime postponed till a later period.

We quote the following eloquent words on this subject:--

"Of all the sins, physical and moral against man and God, I know of
none so utterly to be condemned as the very common one of the destruction
of the child while yet in the womb of the mother. So utterly repugnant
is it that I can scarcely express the loathing with which I approach
the subject. Murder!--murder in cold blood, without cause, of an
unknown child; one's nearest relative; in fact, part of one's very
being; actually having, not only one's own blood in its being, but that
blood momentarily interchanging! Good God! Does it seem possible that
such depravity can exist in a parent's breast--in a mother's heart!

"'Tis for no wrong that it has committed that its sweet life is so
cruelly taken away. Its coming is no disgrace; its creation was not
in sin, but--its mother 'don't want to be bothered with any more brats;
can hardly take care of what she has got; is going to Europe in the
spring.'

"We can forgive the poor deluded girl--seduced, betrayed,
abandoned--who, in her wild frenzy, destroys the mute evidence of her
guilt. We have only sympathy and sorrow for her. But for the married
shirk who disregards her divinely-ordained duty, we have nothing but
contempt, even if she be the lordly woman of fashion, clothed in purple
and fine linen. If glittering gems adorn her person, within there is
foulness and squalor."[30]

[Footnote 30: Gardner.]

Not a Modern Crime.--Although this crime has attained remarkable
proportions in modern times, it is not a new one by any means, as the
following paragraph will suffice to show:--

"Infanticide and exposure were also the custom among the Romans, Medes,
Canaanites, Babylonians, and other Eastern nations, with the exception
of the Israelites and Egyptians. The Scandinavians killed their
offspring from pure fantasy. The Norwegians, after having carefully
swaddled their children, put some food into their mouths, placed them
under the roots of trees or under the rocks to preserve them from
ferocious beasts. Infanticide was also permitted among the Chinese,
and we saw, during the last century, vehicles going round the streets
of Pekin daily to collect the bodies of the dead infants. To-day there
exist