Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-12-13

The Triple Murderer, Thompson.
Our readers will remember the case of
the murder of Miss Pharr, in Virginia, by
Or. Thompson, who administered strych-
nine, after he had deceived and ruined her,
the daughter of Rev Mr.. Pharr, distin-
guished and highly beloved clergyman of
the Presbyterian Church. The evidence
OF his guilt was so strong as to forbid the
slightest doubt on any human mind, yet,
disgraceful to tell, the villain has been
ACQUITTED! That such monster should
escape the vengeance ofjustice for his three
fold crime is sad exemplifcation of the
proverbial uncertainty of the law The
rope of the hangman was never fastened
around the neck of a victim more worthy
OF 1t. Thompson seems, from some letters
OF his which have been exhibited on the
trial, to have been almost an illiterate char
acter, and it is wonderful how any girl as
respectable and intelligent as Miss Pharr
could have formed the attachment that she
did for him. In numbering her he also
murdered his innocent unborn offspring
Nor does his guilt stop here. Her unhappy
father by the same blow was hurried to an
untimely grave. He fingered but brief
season after the overwhelming catastrophe.
In the agonies of broken heart he expired
IN an early stage Of the trial, leaving in
writing his dying testimony of his daugh
ter's wrongs and sufferings to go upon the
record
The following brief notice of the case is
taken from the last Lynchburg Republi.
can. The stanza from Byron will strike
the reader as no less beautiful than opposite:
" DIR. THoMPsoN.s-From the testimony
which we published in our last issue against
this man. it must be satisfactory to all sane
minds that he is guilty of the darkest
! CRIME that blackens the criminal record of
our State. The foul murder OF her whom
ne had irreparably wronged, the consequent
disgrace of respectable family whose honor
was intact-above aspersion. But to this
must be super-added the destruction Of life
in his own flesh and blood.
She died, but not alone she held within
second principle of life, which might
Have daWn'd fair and sinless child Of sin;
But closed its little being without light,
And went down to the grave unborn, wherein
Blossom and bough lie Wither'd with one blight ::
In vain the dews of Heaven descend above
The bleeding flower and blasted fruit of love-"
The Petersburg Intelligencer indulges
IN the following just comments on the dis
graceful verdict of acquittal of Thompson
rendered by the Jury:
"The verdict of acquittal in such a case
is calculated not only to produce the strong
est indignation, but seriously to impair
public confidence in the efficacy of our
criminal law to work out its great ends
The fear of punishment constitutes the only
restraint to the commission of crime, with
the vicious and the depraved The enfee-
Element OF this check cannot but have the
most injurious and dangerous tendency
The well being Of every community essen
TALLY depends upon faithful discharge of
its duties by the organized tribunals of
justice-by all the responsible agencies
which give operative energy to the laws
If Courts or Juries fail, either of them, to
fulfil the sacred obligations which they owe
to the State-if, under any influence they
violate or prostitute the high powers with
which they are invested, they infict by
every such act deadly wrong upon the
community. So also do they when they
shrink from or evade the performance Of
their prescribed and we'll defined duties.-
In the case of Thompson we have no COM
plaint to enter against the Court. It is the
Jury with which We have to deal, and we
have no hesitation in saying that their YER
dict IS an unrighteous one It lets loose
upon society man who stood convicted by
evidence as strong as could be offered by
the Commonwealth in any prosecution of
the kind, of a double murder, under cir
cumstances of the most aggravated charac-
ter. A young, respectable and confding
female was first blasted In her reputation
by the dishonorable advantage which he
took of her affections, and afterwards. when
the consequences Of his guilty deed became
SO apparent as to render his exposure almost
certain, was secretly taken off by poison,
administered in the way he thought best
adapted to avert suspicion and secure a
fatal result. We have not time to 60 into
a consideration of the various developments
made by the witnesses as to this tragic and
melancholy affair. 1t is enough for us to
say that they were so conclusive of the
guilt of Thompson that he ought to have
been consigned to the gallows, which has
by his acquittal been grossly defrauded Of
its due. This is a case upon which the
press should speak out in indignant repro
baton of verdict so totally in conflict
with the testimony and so subversive of the
social welfare. What is the use of Grim.
inal code if against the highest of human
offences it cannot be enforced? What
guaranty has any person of the safety Of
his or her life against the secret dagger OF
the secret poison of the assassin, when there
are such frequent instances as we see Of
1.-THE acquittal of murderers by Juries? Cir
cumstantial evidence is the only kind Of
evidence that can be obtained in such cases