The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-05-23
A ABRAHAM IN THE PRESENT CENTURY
[New York SUM-

things that God did tempt Abraham,
and said unto him, Abraham and he
said sBehold, here am.' And he said ,
Take now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lowest, and get thee
into the land of Moriall, and offer him
there for a burnt offering upon one OF
the mountains which Will toll thee
OFF,
If Elder Brown preached from this
text to the little Second Adventist con-
gregation of Pocasset, the fact is not
yet in evidence. Probably he did. At
any rate, Charles +. Freeman, the
young shoemaker from Lynn, pored
over this passage in the Hebrew Scrip
lures until the thought got full pos
session of him that he also was called
upon to offer a similar sacrifice. 1t was
revealed to him, as he fully believed
in his mad fanaticism, that the victim
whom God required at his hands was
his little daughter, the idol of his heart.
His obedience was as prompt as Abra-
hams. He communicated tho rcvcla-
ton to his wife. At first she pleaded
with him for the life of her child, but
in n short time the fanatics lelusion
got tho better of the mothers heart.
She took their other child from the
side of its sister, carried her into anoth-
CT ToOuA uAN "cuO NIOItYulbly 10 sleep.
Then Freeman stabbed tho little one.
his darling, to the heart.
There can be no question that, in
committing this atrocious deed, Free
man firmly believed that he was obey
ing the divine command, and that his
daughter would either be restored TO
life or visibly translated to heaven, to
the confusion of the unbelievers and to
their conversion to the true religion as
preached by Elder Brown. There can
be no question that his wife fully shared
this belief. There can be no question
that it was fully and honestly shared
by some at least of his co-religionists
of Pocasset-notably by Undertaken
Davis, who, standing over the grave
that was to receive the small body,
avowed his purpose to offer up one OF
his own children in the same way. 1t
is reassuring to know that Undertake r
Davis is in close custody, and that the
Cape doctors have been invited to pass
upon his mental condition.
Abraham's faith, we are told, was
counted to him for Righteousness. Free
mans faith is likely to land him in Il
Massachusetts State Prison or Massa-
chusetts Insane Asylum for life.
We take it for granted that no jury
will bring him in guilty OF murder in
the first degree, and thus consign him
to the gallows. Murder in the first
degree is the premcditated, deliberate
taking of human life. Freeman did,
indeed, take the life of his daughter;
but he did it in the belief that she
would be miraculously restored to life
by the God who, as he in his horrible
delusion believed, had commanded the
decd for His own glory and the eternal
good of mankind. Murder in the first
degree involves the murderous intent ;
and i'll this Pocasset case the mu rdcr-
Gus intent is wanting.
But in mercy to themselves, their
children, and their neighbers, these
Pocasset fanatics or maEiacs should
be put under lock and key. Society
cannot affOrt to tolerated the Abraha m
business at this day of the world, or
to leave the would-bc AbrAhams ut
large.