The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-09 00:00:00

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF A
JOURNALIST.

Considerable excitement has been aroused in New York
by the attempted assassination there of Mr. Albert D.
Richardson, a contributor to the New York Tribune, by
Andrew Macfarland. There had been a feud between the
two for some time, and on a previous occasion Macfarland
shot at and slightly wounded Richardson. The cause of die
pute had reference to the wife of the former, who did not
live happily with her husband. A separation took place
owing, as is alleged, to the ill-treatment and ne-
glect of Macfarland. Since then Richardson had pub-
licly stated that whenever Mrs. Macfarland became
legally free ho would make her his wife. Six
weeks ago she obtained, it is said, a divorce in Indiana;
and it is also said that she has now married Richardson.
She is described as a werean of considerable talent, who
has supported herself by performing as an actress,
and by writing for magazines. Mr. Richardson is the
author of a work called " Field, Dungeon, and
Escape," a record of his experiences in the South as
a special correspondent of the New York Tribune during
the civil war. The attempted assassination took place in
the office of that paper. Mr. Richardson was asking a clerk
at the counter for his letters, when Macfarland, who had
been standing at an inner desk, suddenly rushed forward,
and when about five or six feet distant, aimed a revolver
at him and fired. The bullet took Effect in the abdomen.
Mr. Richardson was attended to at the office, and then re-
moved to the Astor House Hotel. His wound is con-
sidered dangerous. Macfarland got clear off at first, but
was arrested the same evening. With reference to the
first attack made upon him, Richardson published a few
days afterwards the following statement in the Tribune :
"A statement has just appeared from Macfarland, who
attempted to assassinate me two years ago. He alleges
that he was temperate, kind-hearted, good man, and a
kind, affectionate, and generous husband ;' but that I
seduced the affections of his wife' from him, and en-
ticed her from his home' Both allegations against me
are utterly and preposterously false. These are the

facts :-I.With the full sanction of her family and friends,
Mrs. Macfarland left her husband, charging him with
gross cruelty during his paroxysms of intemperance, with
neglecting to support her, and with living upon, and
sometimes squandering her own hard-won earnings. The
charge of ill-treatment did not rest solely upon her
statements, but stood, and yet stands, explicitly ad-
mitted in his own handwriting and over his own signa-
ture long before I knew either of them. That will appear
in due time before the proper tribunal. At their last in-
terview, in presence of several witnesses, she distinctly
announced that the Fer arat ion was final and irrevocable,
and he as distinctly acquiesced. 2. After this formal
and final separation, and while she was beginning life
anew, with two little children dependent upon her, it came
to be understood between her and myself that whenever
she should be legally free she should become my wifa.
Several of my friends and some of hers were fully ac-

quainted with the fact. 3. About three weeks after the
separation,
Macfarland intercepted a letter from me to her;
such a letter as one would naturally write to the woman
he expected to marry. Macfarland claims that it 'fren-
zied' him ; but there was method, not to say deliberation,
in his frenzy' Instead of seeking me face to face, he

kept this letter in his pocket for three days, and finally, at
11 o'clock on a dark, rainy night, crept up behind me in
the street, and, with his revolver within fourteen inches of
my back, began to shoot. Before he could fire the fourth
shot I succeeded in throwing him to the ground, where I
held him till the police came up and secured him. One ball
only took effect, keeping me in bed for a weelc. I refrained
from prosecuting him, partly because I knew I had been
rash, but chiefly to withhold the lady's name from any
additional and avoidable publicity. For weeks and months
after this he earnestly sought to induce her to return to
her kind' and `affectionate' husband. Finding this
• hopeless, he seems since to have devoted himself chiefly
to slandering her, and reading an alleged copy of my
letter, with many dramatic accompaniments, to every
acquaintance or stranger who will listen to it.
Sometimes he ends his tale, And now, after all,
I don't believe the scoundrel will even marry her'
But his common peroration is that if I ever do, he will
kill me on sight.' Finally, ho has brought suit against
me for civil damages, rating the money value of his
wounded affections at exactly 45,000 dollars. That at
least ought to prove some equivalent for being deprived of
the affectionate' privilege of striking a helpless woman
in the face, or terrifying her with a brandished knife, and
being baffled in the `temperate' act of stealing up in the dark
behind an unarmed man, and shooting him in the back.
Whatever the intercepted letter really contains, he would
better print it, and save the trouble of many future read-
ings and deelaimings. I wrote it for but one person;
yet I did write it, and I propose to stand by it. What-
ever fault there was in holding such an attitude towards
a lady who had very recently separated from her husband
was solely mine, and I shall not try to palliate it. Whatever
sum twelve unbiassed men may determine that I owe this
`good' and `temperate' antagonist I shall with alacrity
pay, if it comes within my modest means. And finally,
whatever violence he may re-threaten or re-attempt, should
the lady ever be legally free during my lifetime, she will
certainly become my wife, if she will accept so poor a
1 man as I."

WIFE MURDER IN SCOTLAND.—DUNDEE, -WED.
NESDAY NIGIIT.—This evening Alexander Prain, a flesher,
of Wellg,ate, was apprehended for murdering his wife or.
Saturday night last. They had a quarrel, and Prain, it is
alleged, struck his wife on the skull with a sharpening
steel, which penetrated near to the brain. She sank
thereafter, and died yesterday.

DISESTABLISHMENT IN JAMAICA.—The Executive
Committee of the,. Liberation Society has passed a resolu-
tion, in which it expresses the belief that any attempt to
secure religious equality in Jamaica by extending State
support to the ministers of various religious denominations
" will provoke the hostility of, instead of conciliating, the
Nonconformist bodies, and will utterly fail as a moans of
promoting the peace and prosperity of the island."
THE WESTMINSTER BRYMBO COAL AND COKE.
COMPANY.--A case interesting to coal miners has been
heard by Vice-Chancellor Mains. The defendants were
the Westminster Brymbo Coal and Coke Company, who
had entered into an agreement with Messrs. Wheatley, to
rent the Gwersylt estate, in the county of Denbigh, and
the coal and ironstone mines. The complaint was that
they had not worked the mines in accordance with their
agreements to work the seams of coal regularly.
The defendants argued that they could work any one of
the three scams and leave the others unworked for as long
as they thought proper, that they had not found a market
for more coal, and intended to erect more works. The
amount of rent and royalties paid had dissatisfied the
plaintiffs. The Vice-Chancellor said it was clear that the
plaintiffs cared little about the mode of working the mines ;
it was the extent of working which dissatisfied them ; and
it would have been better to have referred the disputes to
I a competent mineral agent. The: plaintiffs' remedy, if they
had any case, was by an action at law for damages, and
net by a bill in this court. 414.4ippkiwd, with costa,

e -4, tiliga
Tort
A I

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Dec. 8.
Her Majesty, accompanied by her Royal High
ness Princess Beatrice, drove out this morning, at-
tended by the lion. Caroline Cavendish.

LATEST INTELLIGENCSI

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.
(Per French Atlantic Cable.)
NEW YORK, nec. 8.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE''.

CLOSING PRICES.
Gold closed at 124 ; the highest quotation dur-
ing the day was 124 ; the lowest, 1231.
Sterling Exchange on L0nd0n............ 108 -

5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1882 ll5.
" 1885 ll3.
6 4
!.
1867 ll5
1081'

10-40

Illinois 1341.
261.
Erie
Cotton—Ma upland 2sl°.
Petroleum—Standard White
Flour, extra state, $5.25c. to $5.85c. Coro' ().
mixed, sl.Bc.
The following is the semi-weekly message receiveci
by Messrs. Stokes and Co. from their Sew -I(°r
correspondents :

" NEW YORK, Dee' 8"
" Exports of cotton to Great Britain, 24,000
bales ; exports to the Continent, 8,000 bales. 'rho
quotations for Middling Orleans laid down la
Liverpool, with all charges, is 111 d. per lb' '
Middling Memphis, 111 d. per lb.; Middling Wan-
nab, 11id. per lb."
The above quotations rll include an allowance °f
6 per cent. for loss in weight.
QUEENSTOWN, Dee. 9'
The Guion steamship Nebraska arrived here
to-day, from Liverpool, and having embarked r
pas-
sengers she proceeded for New York. All
The National Steamship Company's steam eo
England, from New York, arrived off here at l'3
a.m. to-day. She landed passengers, and proceeded
for Liverpool. All well.

THE PRINCIPALITIES.
BRINDISI, Dee. 9'
The Adriatic and Oriental Company's ateswe:
Il Principe Carignano, 85 hours from Alexandria
with 8-1 passengers, has arrived here. 00
Letters will probably be delivered in London
Saturday evening.

TURKEY.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Elec. 8'
A diplomatic telegram arrived here to-daY, 313,5
nounoing the acceptance by the Khedive of
tU
conditions contained in the Sultan's latest tirw3°'
and stating the intention of his Highness to co of
in person to Constantinople to assure the Sultan
his faithful allegiance.
The principal conditions of the firman conveYedo
an expression of the absolute will of the Sultan
that all taxes and imposts levied in EgYPt sb°ll,o
be levied in his name; further, that Ilth
inhabitants should not be burdened `ilia,
new taxes without legitinate necessity ; and,
lastly, that no new foreign loan shoed,
be contracted unless its necessity was established,
and the Sultan's previous authoriz Won oht3lllfeor
In conclusion, the Kedive was urged to adqt
the future his acts and conduct to the terms ef the,,y
present Imperial firman on all points in COnf°111)1
with his respective rights and duties. The 41.13°
also maintained all previous firmans.
h Sul"
In consequence of this acceptance of t-e rot,
tan's firman by the Kedive, the lion. Mr. 11,
the British Ambassador, has not returned te Cc' pt
stantiuople, but proceeds to England, from
direct, on leave, in her Majesty's ship Aute.°P
which starts next week for Malta.

ITALY.
FLORENCE, Dec. 8 (Evening). 10
Gnaer
The King, yielding to the advice of :j
Menabrea and Cialdini, has this afternoon clit"
Signor Sella with the formation of the lie

Cabinet.
el g li' 1314°
It is not yet known whether Signor -etecl
definitively accepted the charge, but it is eslieliog
that should he decline or be unsuccessful, the
would summon Signor Monghetti.

INDIA AND CHINA MAIL. 8,
MESSINA,
BtPee*
t 1 of
The Peninsular and Oriental CompsllY's e,
Tanjore passed Messina at 2.30 tod3. "
route for Marseilles.

9,
PART% the
The liberal speech delivered yesterday ette,
Legislative Body by M. Forcade de la It°4ll,cess.
iso regarded by the Paris papers as a great 511: doif
the
passage of the speech is supposed to foresurio
abolition of the system of official Candidate:oo,
BOURSE, Dec. B.—Three o'clock--The °3-
closed as follows :

FRANCE.

855
Bank Shares ...... 2 54 q 1
Ital'an Fives ...••• 66 50
Austrian Fives ." 330 60
Ottoman Loan '•' 44 ~5
Do. Debt .....••• .4",
Spanish
leoraerer
Deferred
r.bist.
.e.
'S. 9573,
Orleans ... 6323
Western .......................................
0
Northern ...... 1.;;5
Strasburg • • ........................ „821
Lyons and Mediterranean ............••• ':96t
Southern..." .................................
Sardinian .................................... 781/
Austrian .......................................
510
Lombard ..............................
45
North of Spain ..............................
Saragossa .................................... 44i
R
.. •
Roman ..........
KING'S LYNN ELECTION.

4} per Cent.
End of month —
3 per Cent
End of month 73
Credit Mobilier 210
Transatlantic 240
Credit Foncier 1640
Paris Gag 1625 -
iIAILWK

t
The official declaration of the Pa 3- fistlle
Lynn was made this morning, and the Cotoe' vaajo•
candidate was declared duly returned by all were,
rity of 19 votes. The numbere telegraithei r jrA•
for Lord Claud Hamilton, 1,051; and b°
Young, 1,032. J she

In consequence of the severe weatb
er f rue
Lieut.-Gen. the Hon. Sir Jaraes:": 0
past week,
Aldershot,
troops of the (1•C•13.9 commanding the Divis'°- tbn
circular
publicity asexjturastfoel authorisedreferred tthoe
itiissitviar°oooo
3, of the Bth of Sept., 1864. ninctt
WATCH3I I. KlNG.—There has of late been iiped
ordinary
porforragiven
more
accurately than those tranufacturo3. ',,,rcA'
man.netro the fact that watches made by maic.ol tiok
,and as they are produced without tw' 1, co
amount of labour hitherto bestowed upon theni, °tit, tl,B
be sold Yet still the fact {brit t
comparatively c'aeap
cases of these skilled pieces of mechanism are made eltil deuce .
gold or silver renders a good article now altnoet f°, til°
edvser. It is true a Geneva watch can be bou;tit A°' fare
chased,
figure, but then, without one of the finest Otbore
no end to the cost for re te
is the investment turns out a very bad one, $`5,,, of
Thavies'-inn, have, howeverpmtrasd'e such asstep in s' :re c't
by the adaptation of their new metal to the manufai; 8 °eV
watch cases, that a first-rate timekeeper CO 1:107 c,03
d at a remarkably cheap price. The watch° their
action is beautifully finished, their performance is aceiwblo
The essrs. rY'poe,
itself, and the price at which they are offered to tb°,„r poi
is so small that really the wearing a good watch 17
to be achieved by the outlay of a few. 'shillings.