Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-05-12
THE STORY OF A CRIME.

the strangest outbreak of religious fanati-
cism the present age has seen. Six years
ago, the first Sunday in May, the village
church and graveyard overlooking Buzzard's
bay witnessed display of ante-barbaric su'
perstition far more incomprehensible than a
startling tragedy that had three days pre-
ceeded it. The occasion was the burr al of
a little child, Edith Freeman, who had been
slain by her parents, as they proclaimed it,
in obedience TO the command OF God. On
that gray, cherries Sunday afternoon | sat
in the small church where I could scan the
faces of three hundred people who crowded
all the pews. Presently there strobe up the
aisle friend of Freeman, the jailed fanatic,
carving under his arm small coffin, which
he laid in front of the altar. 1t was thetest
moment for the faith of the band of believ-
ers in the congregation. Their leader "the
Christ of the nineteenth century," had told
them that the martyred child should rise
from the dead on this, the third day. Their
faith was great, but their faces told of in
tense anxiety. The coffin was opened, and
during the solemn service they watched for
some sign of life from the little form within.
Freeman's representative was not allowed
to address them at the close of the short
Methodist service, and the coffin was carried
out, in the same manner it had been brought
in, to the grave that unbelieving friends
had prepared Again the lid was removed,
and over the sleeping figure there was
scene which no one of the three hundred
witnesses has been able adequately to de-
scribe. The desperate, almost maniacal at.
tempts of Freeman g lieutenants to defend
the motives of the deluded murderer; the
indignant protest of the outsiders; the per-
sistent, defiant defence; the rage of the
people; the cry for rope and for a lynch
ing; the peace-making prayer of white
haired minister; the final burial of the child
all have become matters of religious and
secular history. As the earth began to fall
upon the coffin found upon the outskirts
of the crowd trembling old man who had
been one of the most earnest of the Advent.
lists, as they were called. Leaning despon-
IDENTIFY upon canting gravestone, he pitt.
fully cried, in the depths Of his despair:
"Why has God failed to fulfil His promi
ses ?" He knew not what to believe. The
faith Of all his band was terribly shaken.
Some sought refuge in the idea that they
had miscalculated the time for the child's
resurrection, and to prevent any attempt at
body -snatching the grave was watched for
some days by the sheriff.
I remained for some time in the village,
studying the causes and effects of the
strange delusion which had unbalanced the
reason of an entire community, and one of
the so-called Adventists has told me the
true story of Freeman's revelation OF his
deed to his followers.
At the time of the tragedy, when the
law threatened to punish all as accomplices
in the crime, it was impossible to get the
exact truth about their relations to the
deed. They were summoned to their lead
er's house oil Thursday afternoon, relates
one of the company Of twenty or more who
responded to the call. They found Free
man and his wife in an unusually
happy frame of mind. The dining room
had been prepared for one of the usual
meetings, and Freeman remarked at the
opening that the usual singing would be
omitted because he had much to say to them.
He then read a chapter from the Bible and
offered an earnest prayer. Beginning an
impassioned address, he dwelt first upon
the sacrifice of Abel, to illustrate that some
are chosen of God and that others are re-
iected. The command of God to Abraham
to sacrifice Isaac was touchingly reviewed,
and he next spoke with much feeling of the
sacrifice of Christ. He added: "Ours is
religion Of sacrifice and God has called for
one more offering. 1t is for Edie. Come J"
and he led the way into the next room,
where the child lay upon its pillow, stabbed
to the heart and sleeping in death. The
little assembly was awestruck and amazed.
Freeman, with tears in his eyes, told of his
terrible struggle before he was willing to
give up his best loved little one, and added
Gods comforting promise to restore her on
the third day. Nathaniel Wing was the only
one who spoke after the awful announcement.
He would not attempt, he sale, to judge the
deed. He had not known that it was con-
templated, and he could not realize all it
implied. The beoediction was pronounced,
and the group of believers was dismissed,
with instructions to reassemble at the resur-
rection scene on the following Sunday. But
in the meantime a child, in her terror, dis.
closed the secret to an unbeliever, and the
law soon usurped the place of the tanatical
leader and his divinely. inspired plans.
The townsfolk who live here through the
wear deplore the world wide notoriety the
village has gained, and they are naturally
slow to forgive those of their neighbors
whose blind credulity made the stain upon
their good name possible. The Freeman
homestead has remained unchanged since
the tragedy. Everything movable has been
carried off by relic hunters, who, when
opportunity offers, steal even the shingles
from the roof. The house is occupied by
family whose lives are almost burden to
them in summer by the stream of visitors,
many of whom have made pigrimages fer
long distances to the scene of the sacrifice,
Charles F. Freeman, the chief actor in the
great tragedy, is kept under mild restraint
| in the State Prison Hospital at Danvers
Two years ago he was pronounced sane-in-
deed, he never exhibited any signs of in
sanity, except in connection with the craze
which eliminated in the death of his child
and by decree of the courts, he will remain
in confinement during life, unless pardoned
by the Governor. He never talks upon
religious subjects, but he admits freely that
he was grievously led astray. His wife, now
q broken.hearted woman, is earning liv