Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-01-30
SPIRITUAL DEvFEaPMENTs.
Trial ef the N~vark Srfrftaalist~-The
ttesine Day-Thr Jury Out over Fsftera
Hours without Agr-sfr..

1 fsEN tf1ftg-NDS.
Trial Of the Nevark SrirituaiiStS-The
tiosine Day-Thr 5ury Out over Fiftera
| Hears Witheut Agr-sirg.
| The second day 3 ( ial of William nIcEweu.
ior indecency for exposing his person ga New
1 Years dav, was bsgun Yrsf, riay morning iu
| the Newark COuri-housae Is5ag lsfsre the
| Upening the lOiibi's ol the building wa. packed
Win people Judge y. A. Teese Pr'.sid a. a.
I s,Sied nv Judge Jesse VII ms ant Judge W
| u. q uiid. The District AuolnsA, a. =. Tttl~-
worth conducted the case for the peopl'. Tue
utmost decOrum prev atlcd throughout The ,sa-
nre proc edings. The prisoners count''nanoa
! ~ decidedly intelligent His hair. worn loacls
almost k.and Combed ack without parting.
he y oi m"oiuln s.afuc, slightly butit, and Of
/ bihoos temperament HE ewes have a keen,
/ shf"Md "a hook, and, at iimes, twinkle humOrous-
! fy tie apparently knows what be j. an sut.
and eN' IDENTIFY paNs his part well. unless, a. his
a~y'r claims, hn is insane. The Iirst witness
placed ca the sand was Miss Althea R.svss, u
da tighter OF Mr.. Reeves. " hose spiritual-tic ta-
2 tercourse with the accused has created fh,.
present sensation Miss Reeves = a handsome
giri OF ~. Win ct"ar complexion. pcrfectly
4 healthy, and modest d'm,snor She calmly
gave h' testimony, bat owing 10 its indclicasN.
much of ~ h necessarily omitted The follo,N
I ing - a portion OF the t~stdnony
AT th" time the exhibition occurred mofhsr
] las greatiy excited. oNsing much. I think %
. the death Of hrr Sist'r, who died a short time
4 previously; do not r,1nembr the exact Ian
gnage she or McENven used at the lime, nut \
ann SURE nothing improper said ny any
one of us neither did W make any immodest
MIR. Nc Even since has November. our oeliefiS
about the same g't from the Bible. and a.
y similar to the so-cailed SpirItualism; b.
leve tha we should do "A Christ did-thai A..
commune with ths spirits; nothing was done
the occsslon referred 10. etther from lasciy
ness and wantonnfss; do not exactly balieNe
The same as the Oth.rs do. though dad on New
Years Day: considering the state OF
Mr.. McEwcns mind, 1 think n was
right Tor h-m TO do he dad. AZ
hc Xas called 10 do 20 now I think IN vV,,uld
fra lfrecflN Tinhf- lad A hat
aud the spirits commanded us 20 do: they sad
Ma must go into the stree naked a We did not
show ourselves To the public at the window.
L went according to the TEACHINGS ol the scrip
tures, and they say s-t'hiidren. ob-y your
par nts," consequently 1 did 40: Ma mad
every one in the hous- do iusi what sh. wan,ad
th' m to DO not uhink Mr.. McEwen would a
agaiI. tor do not believe the spirits want han
We believed in SpiritualSIn bsfOre McENal
came TO our house; i'm all of our actions ~.
acted on the principle s-that 90 the pare ali
things are pure"
In reply to the question a. TO whether NJ
Even ever undressed before in her presence.
she said that she would rather not tell. Her
answer being insisted upon, she wered. =. 1
have seen him 40 20 betOr,. bat not very oIts.tl;
1 think IL Was about mouth before New
Years when he tirst CONNIE ced these eNhi-
bItions i'm our hous..; Mr.. Eyvsn l. a tailor and
mother worked with him: they attended % tbs.
business, while did the honsewors. 4 bav,.
four brothers and one sister; my oldest brother
u eighteen years old, aud The youngest tAre.:
these exhibitions were made before ma aud
myself, the Others not being present AT the time.
these things were done under excitement aud
Were never perforlned only "A mothers reanesi
OF with her con ~'nt; all We dad TO strip our
selves. and i do not rcmemb.r OF ever hear
ing am improper word. or seeing an indecent
act: McEwen occupied a single b.-d in the hall
bedroom, and he generally slept alone, eN-
cept when one Of the children slept with
him: sometimes mother and myself passed the
night with him: did not ever think there was
any harm a doing, nothing improper was
done: kcEwen wac not ma the habit Of praying
when We retired; we slept together; ma and I
rechned on either side OF Nc Even. nothing was
said done " hich was the least Improper. \
have never heard Of these things bring don.
anywhere else: i have a good opinion OF NJ
McEwen, and would not do the same with any
other man, for know that none are pure a.
he: 1 was little tmid ~ first. but had no grsa.
fe;'r, and none Of Mr.. n cE wen: McEwen sl.pt
with us several times before New Years day:
ma did not request Ine or McEwen To lie to-
gether: the bed WAS single on.: i generally
sleep with mother, which ] have done most OF
the time since father died; was with Nc Even
alone one night. " hen ma Was sick. because sh.
could not rest well when crow ded: McEwen re-
tired first, ana was asleep whea I went TO
bed; 1 remember nothing that was said: have
never known him To take. or attempt 10 take,
any personal liberties AZ all while in our fami-
ly; do not know why Mr.. McEwen appeared
a be did on New-1ears day. only that he did
il at the r-quest of NV mother: ma did thas.
things several times herself think fonr times
previously; she wanted to cruelty the flesh
ad show 10 the world she was pure. Wh.D
she put her arms around MeEWen's neck. Sh.-
represented herself n the mother of Christ. bur
i did not believe it, and thought that we were
all ordinary men and women: did not feel any
shame at the time; thought mother was the
first 10 unoress ON this OCCASION
DIR. Wickes. of New Y ork CITY. author of.sThe
Bible Revealed" also = lecturer and spiritual
let. was Il witness: also Judge Mills
In closing, the counsel for the defense made
q long and eloquent appeal He said. an sub
stance, that there has been cause for indict-
ment shown in the testimony. There have
been many cases where the persons implicated
were acquitted on the ground OF insanity. aud
Vel at the same time have been guilty OF the
crime charged. They may be perfcctly sane
IN re gard 70 everN thing except one particular
subject. Miss 'Reeves stood up before this
court and, with a smile, told how she was
naked, and had slept with McEsy-n. with rs
httle unconcern a she would when talking 10
a f1lend ia her parlor al home. All OF the de-
PENDANTS state that they thought they were doing
right in the sight Of Heaven. What sane man
can stand uncovered ortW.en two naked wo-
men uncsBcsrned,
Here McEwen stated that he cou ld and would
do so now before Court, il they wanted. The
Court had no desire 10 s-e the exhibition AT that
stage of the proceedings.
The counsel. reS uming. said that not a single
improper word or action had been proven 10
kaNe been said or done during the whole trans
action, from the beginning to the end Mrs
Reeves II now an inmate of the lunauc ASYLUM.
a ra wing maniac.
The jury had not agreed mp to the hour Of
going TO press this morning.-N D. Trs6eas,
29h.