"The knife I stabbed her with was one that belonged to my father and I took it home and put it in the pantry drawer. "I left the wrench somewhere near where I hit her. When I hit her first, she did not scream but moaned. "She said she thought it was quite a ways and she did not see any house. "I was not afraid when I got home; I was just as happy as I ever was and didn't think anything about it as I thought I had revenge. "I make this statement voluntarily and under no fear or threat and knowing the same may be used against me. "JEAN GIANINI. "Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of March, 1914. "FRED MOORE, "_Justice of the Peace of Town of Russia_." In its main points the confession must be accepted as true. To refuse to accept it would be to admit at once without further proof that the boy was crazy or an imbecile, since, if it were not true, it is inconceivable that any normal person would claim to have done such a deed. It is accepted then by all that Jean Gianini killed Lida Beecher on the night of March 27th, 1914. There is no difference of opinion on that point. It is now only a question of his responsibility. We may now review the facts and see what is the evidence: first, that he is an imbecile; second, that being an imbecile, he did not know the nature and quality of his act and that it was wrong. Is Jean Gianini an imbecile? What is an imbecile? We cannot expect to agree upon the question of whether Jean is an imbecile until we agree upon the definition of imbecile. There are various ways of designating this type of individual. Imbecility, as used in law in this country, may be defined as "the state of mental defect existing from birth or from an early age, due to incomplete cerebral development, in consequence of which the person affected is unable to perform his duties as a member of society." The high-grade imbecile, such as the person under discussion, feeble-minded as he is called in England, or the moron as we are coming to call him in the United States, is one who is "capable of earning a living under favorable circumstances, but is incapable from mental defect, existing from birth or from an early age, (_a_) of competing on equal terms with his normal fellows, or (_b_) of managing himself or his affairs with ordinary prudence." These definitions were formulated by the Royal College of Physicians of England, and accepted by the Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-minded.