Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-05-09
NUMBER IL.


y HahiaN NatfiH
In the long and bIooi-staineG annals Of
religious huatcsm are recorded countless
deeds Of violence and wrong done in the
name Of that God whose name is Love; hut
seldom. if ever, in New England and in our
times, has guch a horrible crime been com
mittcd in the name OF religion as the recent
murder Of hs young and beautiful daughter
| BY Charlie +. Freeman, at roclssct, Ma
sachugctts. Crazcd by the teachings Of the
sect Of enthusiasts and isnOramuFes to which
he belongs people the Legitimate descend
ants OF the "I'ifth Monarchy men Of two
centuries ago-hi= lunatic imagination framed
Divine commission which Is hi- plea in bar
upon the model OF ;he command gwen To
to Abraham and, his ann not heing stayed
| by the intcrVosi.ipn sf the AliWi-e, he
plunged the knife into hi; child's heart and
uttered 4 shocking Invocation over her bleed
ing form. The mothcr-llyc, too. which 81
seldom lai!s, from the cradle to the grave,
was walloweI up in the enthusiasm Of a l.,r
worse than mistaken religious belief and
the vile wa an accessory to the murder Of
her child. Morc than this, over a score of
their friends, holding the same belief, As
semblcd at the house Immediately after the
dreadful tragedy and took Tart in some
religious" exercises They notified no one
Of what had happened, and defended Free
mans act. The child-mu,derers were ar
raigncd before justice and on Saturday
afternoon bound over for trial at the October
term Of court.
Such arc the leading facts in this tragic
affair. 1t seems absolutely impossible that
religious ianaticism shoul1 lead man to
such horrible cxtrcmes. But the boundaries
between the two eternitics of right and
wrong arc often very narrow to some minds
weak souls whose enthusiasm tremendous
IL transeends their intellectual powers, and
who, at the final tension, easily pass from
the sunlight Of love AMI mercy to the dark
ness Of a blind, uuSplring, mcrciess fanati-
cism. There is = rather fine psychological
point, We shogli say, a. to the extent
Of FFeeman's nllueina:iJn. \ dispatch
from Pccl@c; says he is mot regarded
Us insane, Tut As hboring under
great excitement which latter clause
is quite possible, since most people
would be somewhat excited should they or
any one else Kill child Of tLeiis. One or
two of our exchanges peak Of his undoubted
e.rano from punishment on the ground of
insanity, and one or two Others favor his
hanging a beirg quite As electull IN ante
doto to the practical imitation of Biblical
examples of sacrifice as the divine veto. Ii
the sayings and doing OF the Second Adyen-
ti7t- OF PocaS-ct are correctly reported, there
wOuld seem to be imminent danger of another
imitation of JeIhthl or Abraham but it
may well he douhtci whether the execution Of
Freeman (which they would at once trans
form into martyrIom) would have much
influence on such people as they. Something
ought certainly - be done tJr the protection
Of society y the Mormon saints re-
criyel revelation, requiring the immediate
transIi.n,a;iin tu the other side the Styx of
Gcntiles who hcrrme dispensing in their
eyes. 50 roc.s@et saint might - out ,iLe
the itmily next time.