Year: 1879

dOl ulu manifest nlnSelI speedily


he should be ready to admit that he haC


done wrong. If he had done wrong he


should be disposed to take his own life


because he could not bear the thought o


living after learning that he had put {


taith in God which was not answered -


This is all that he would say, and he re


fused to see any one except his brother
| de asked his brother whether it coulC


be possible that he had misplaced his


faith. Mrs. Freeman wept for the first


time this morning. She would see nc


one except Mrs. Swift the woman who


had agreed to take Bessie to her house -
''If we have done wrong" she said, we
did it because we thought God command
ed it, that the world might see our faith in


Him"


You have done wrong" replied Mrs
Swift God would not command his
worshippers to take human life


But don't you see that in this case il
was to show our supreme faith in God
and His promises We thought so at all
events but"-and here Mrs Freeman
wept--" if we were wrong, don t you think k
God will forgive usT'


! DR. Munsell Of Harwich had a conver
aatinn yesterday with Freeman and wife
He came away with the conviction that
| the case is more marvellous than any OF
a similar kind recorded in the medical
books. He says that neither Freeman
nor his wife is insane. They are perfect
ly rational in every respect. They are,
however, in a morbid mental state, and
have one delusion-that God can and
does speak directly to human beings -
Freeman said. and his wife also, that
whatever course was taken with them,
hAU n I'd 1nt Nln Of in
sanity entered He admitted that he
undertook the at with a full
understanding of what he was doing. He
knew that he was violating the law He
knew that people would look upon it as
a horrible crime, and he knew that it
would be agony for him to take the life
of his little tughter. Why" he said
to DR. Muns-ll "ehe was playing around
with me while [ was at work all last
week"-and here he first seemed to show
the natural sorrow of a tather-'and do
you think | could do such a thing uoless
something more powerful than insanity
commanded me2' To test him still fur
ther DR. Munsell asked him if he would
lose his faith unless he got assurances
from on high that he had worked out the
divine will and he at once said that he
could not conceive that he had been
hOlbR bul OOe-N lHS TUE COul
mand OF God, but if he had made mis-
take he should hope to die rather than
live any longer.


When asked by a gentleman whether
he did not think it a delusion to believe
that God put things into the hearts of
men to do, he at once responded: DO
you think it a delusion when your minis
ter tells you that God put it into his
heart to preach the Gospel. or that God
directed him to become missionary ?
Now, | Just as firmly believe that God
put it into my heart-that is, spoke to
me-to do that act, that the world m ght
see that there was faith even as great as
A Abraham's. | did think that He would
stay my hand before l struck the blow
can't see any difference between my
firm belief that God spoke to me and the
firm belief OF others that they have been
in personal communion with God"


This conversation was repeated to Dis
trict Attorney Knowlton. What an
swer," said the gentleman to the Attor
ney, could l make to such an argu-
ment p


To another person Freeman said that
he did not understand why the other
AdventiSts were blamed by Christians,
for all Christians believe that Abraham
was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. 1T
they can believe that" he said, why are
my religious fellow worshippers blamed
for believing with me that | WAS com
manded to sacrifice my daughter In these
latter days2 believe, with a perfect
abiding faith, that was SO commanded
to show my faith" "


The District Attorney said this after
noon that the case was legally clear
enough. Here are a man and woman
who, with complete and perfect knowl-
edge of what they are doing, with ahun-
dant opportunity to reflect, and admit
ting that they understood the responsi
bility they were meeting. kill u child
They must be indicted for murder IN the
first degree NJ dlcal testimony will bt.
introduced The question is To what
extent such a d-iu-ion will affect the
verdict l. it such delusion ~ should
Lead to acquittaI2 But if the mitigation
plea OF deIu-lon be allowed in the case of
Freeman and his wife. public sentiment,
at least at present, will not sustain it in
the cases OF the other Adventists. Sen
timent has gone so far that | learn of
several UnitarIan pulpits hereabnut5
where the crime was advprted to yes
t+rday as the natural outcome of false
teachings of the Scriptures, and the





the Bible literally, | hear everywhere in
this vicinity the expression OF opinion
that an example must be III 4d- Of people
who would tolerate such ~ religion. Yet
the Adventists are on the defensive An
orthodox deacon upbraided one of them
soundly this morning.


Deacon" he replied, IF you sincerely
and conscientiously believed that God,
tor mysterious purposes of bis own,
C mmauded you to take your wite's
lIIe what would you dO?'


Such Il thing would not be possible
hut suppose it was, | suppose | should
kill her. was the reply.


Then whv do you blame US We be
lieve that Freeman was commanded to
do this as test OF faith. Believing, we
lived up, as he did, to our belief"


Dr. Munsell DR. Smith, Justice Hop
kns. and Sheriff Harris have no doubt
of the perfect sincerity of these people,
and the attention of several eminent
physicians in Boston has been called to
the developments as Offering the most
remarkable opportunity for the study Of
religious delusIon.


To the people of Pocasset it is no de
luslon. They have been getting ready
for aggressive steps, and the action of
Mr. Davis and of the other Adventists
on Sunday at the funeral has carried the
Indignation to a point almost beyond
control There were demands made of
the Splectmen to proceed at once, and
therefore "A public meeting was called for
this morning at ii o'clock. The hall
was packed Those who had counsellrd
moderation, were using violent languagr.
There was danger that a mob would pro
ceed at once to lynch Davis 1t only
needed leader to carry out some vio
lent propos AIS; but S-lectm4n Nye was
able to control the people He said that
iustlce and example required that pun