Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-10-20
The Virginia Tragedy.

Some days ago we announced the deliberate killing of James Mcdowell by Henry w. Bow yer,.at Fincastle, Va. The parties are of the highest standing in tbe community. The trial of Bowyer for murder is now proceeding. The cause of the shooting is the supposed seduction of Miss Lizzie Bowyer, the daughter of the ac- cused, lady of thirty years of age, described by one of the witnesses as " a young ladv who was always difident among strangers-alwsys dressed in the best style-and whose father was never in the habit of consulting her in re- gard to her purchases; he always paid the bis.n The defense admits the killing. but ask the jury to declare that under the circumstances it should be appauded and not condemned It would appear that Miss Bowyer just before the discovery of her intimacy with deceased, had run away from home, and that Bowyer was un- der the impression that Mcdowell had persuad- ed her to that step. in order to accomplish her run-an enterprise iu which the whole drift of the testimony goes to show that he must, or might have been, successful. Bowyer it is sad, was satisfied that his daughter was in state of Arrangement throuhout the entire tran- sactlon, and that her -seducer had taken advan- tage of that Arrangement. After awhile. how ever, Miss Lizzie returned to her parents house, The interview between father and daughter was most touching, and an eye witness thus de- scribes it:
 MT. Bowyer remarked to his daughter that ne didn't come to upbraid her for her past con- duct, but to save her, if possible. from sinking into deeper degradation; she wept at her recep- 1 tioar and seemed sorry for her conduct In re- sponse to the question from her father, why she left her home, she replied that McDowell had informed her that some person was going to wf1te an anonymous letter to him. normng him of her conduct-that as soon as her father received it he would kill her-that le (Mc- DowelD was going on pleasure trip to New York, and if she would follow him tie third day after he left, he would give her me hun- dred dollars tor travelling expenses, ad when she got to New York he would furush her a house and give her five hundred dollss Me- Dowell also asked her what had become of his
 letters and notes, she replied that she had them. He then made her promise to burn them, and he promised to burn hers, in order to pre- vent his exposure in case she should le pursued and found with his letters and notes n her DOS session. She did burn them according to pro- mise. He requested her particularly not to stop at any hotel in Richmond, Baltimore or Philadelphia, but at the houses of certain per. sons whom he named in those cites, which she found afterwards to be houses f ill-fame. lie said she could be too easily traced if she stopped at hotels He gave her $1OO, but she was prevented from leaving home at the time appointed, by the fact that the hands on the 1 farm were cutting grass in the immediate neigh bofhood where she intended to get on the stage | for Bonsack's depot | MT. bowyer also states that he would rather that Mcdowell had applied the torch of the incendlary to his dwelling. at midnight, and de- stroyed him and his whole family than to have been guilty of persuading Elizabeth from her home and sending her to house of ill-fame in the clty-that he was satisfied that Mcdowell had done it to gratify malignant feeling to- ward him and to degrade his family. aud that 1t was his duty to avenge it. He then remained silent for while, and seemed to be perfectly ab- sorbed in thought, not inclined to talk
 | The trial has now been goingon for more than week, and the probability that it will last another week. The court rom is crowded day after day, and the utmost intrest is mani- tested on all hands in the proceedings. Two sons of the deceased are in dal, attendance, and the rumor is that they lythreaten to re- venge the death of their father, if Bower is acquitted. So that there may second act
 Tn the tragedy to come.
 Since the above was cut from an exchange. we learn that MT. Bowyer was equitted.