Connecticut western news., 1879-06-11

preme being who required blood to satisfy his broken law-that he was selected to furnish the victim in the person of his child. Had the fancied demand extended
 to the sacrifice of any number of persous-- even to an entire community, would that
 deluded man who had the monstrous hard-
 ihood and nerve to plunge his accursed
 knife into the heart of his innocent child.
 have hesitated to execute the orderi Un-
 fortunate mau! Unfortunate in his the
 ology and in his constitutional hardness of heart most dangerous of fanatics. En-
 dangered humanity may we'll weep over
 him. but can it in safety afford to stand be- tween him and the lawf If victim of the gibbet is required for salutary warning.
 where among the ranks of men can be
 found cheaper offering than hef
 In looking at the evidence which has yet
 appeared in regard to the motive of Free
 man. 1t may be questioned as to what par
 ticular class of murderers he properly be- longs. Some murder to obtain military
 tame, others for pecuniary advantage, and
 some to gratifv great ambition; and in
 more solitary instances men are urged to
 take the life of an inoffending person
 through the fear of some powerful instiga-
 tor who is urging them on and whom they
 dare not disobey.
 | From Q letter, written by the mother of
 the slain child, to her sister, it may be req
 sonably inferred that the assassin was infiu-
 with ambition. The following quotations
 from the wife's letter make 1t probable
 that if these two feelings had been absent l.. h AI~..
 not have been committed. That he be-
 lieved in 8 terrible duty resting upon him
 with all the faith that fanatic ever cher
 ished. 1t can hardly be doubted. See what the afflicted woman writes, in testimony eff.
 the above conclusion: ., "He (Charlie) read his Bible every spare moment and his entire aim was to win souls
 to Christ and to seek for himself eternal
 life. By and by there came . week or more of great and new trials, Charlie did
 not eat nor scarcely sleep for nearly two f weeks, He felt that God re quired him 10 \ have the faith of Abraham. At last he told the Lord that he was willing 10 bear the test. = He thought that would be all that 0od
 would require. Knowing Charlie's life a and love, and his fear to disobey God, and
 that he had Abraham's faith, I could not ' hinder him. But neither of us thought that NUu WOulu cu11SI ucT tO uC tOuCuCO LuOkG s than that the day would fail 10 come. We n did believe that 1t was Gods plan to take
 her that he might raise her from the dead
 (that he might show foith his mighty pow : s CT, etc.) We believed this to be that Edie e would yet go with Charlie to preach the if gospel of the Kingdom. What power ,s would she be-what glory to his cause. " V This quotation is fragmentary, but 1t is 70 hoped that it is not an unfair representa-, T. tiou of the feelings and motives of these e fanatical agents in the remarkable tragedy. a- It seems by this letter just quoted from 2. that Free an was seeking his salvation, or
 striving for self-preservation, which can
 not be greatly different. He may have had
 some regard for the welfare of others. Iu 'o the distraction of bis intense pursuit hs ID mistook the fears of his imagination fol - the voice of God demanding the blood oi d his child at his own hand. It is presumed i that he loved his child, but he feared the e inst gator whose demand rang constantly If in his ears, more. He dare not risk hti o soul in disobeylng, 80 after the pressure
 had become intolerable, he at last told tht 's Lord that if He required of him the faiti pt of Abraham he would not withhold it. II ot see'ns that ln council with the wife le they arrived at the comforting conclusion l. that the transaction Tn winch the husband e. had pledged his services would prove ,d be nothing more than sham ou the sid .. of the other party, while he, with an ID
 ward smle would go forward iu the sacri fee with all the solemn boldness and ap '- parent good faith which the occasion re It quired, reaping without cost the laurels Q r. u second Abraham, while his child. instead D. of harmed, would be raised to the i2hss lv pitch of glory. Did fanaticism ever befor os offer such an insult to heavenf But Ii ', this absence of all religious integrity ol -, the part of this. wIetched pair. it canno @' we'll be supposed that they were free from a- apprehension about the child. The muS nd der, though one of singular atrocity, ans .r proceeding from singular cause, may no 'i. be sad to differ in motive from Q larK r" class of that crlme namely, self-preserva n- tion with mingling of ambition. Out or this world, the question is asked, "Wha ss shall be done with Freeman" The Ques tion had been asked. "Wherein dId tn ]: faith of Freeman differ from that of Abra 1, faith, the highly religious mind credltlni tn the account, would naturally aspire to at r. tain to it. But Freeman, aslde from r. morbid fear, seemed not to have arrived [, ss any really practical faith. He did not .ac off till all apprehenslons of any danger ha. n- dellverance had dissipated them. He ha r. only to walk by sight, and not by faith -t es only travel over known path. already hft 8. torically pointed out; but whatever ma ly have been the sentiment that posesse v. him, his career should teach one saving iea VI, son-that faith, not founded upon soun, ," common sense cannot be safely trusted. 0. SEARCH.