The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-27
Family I,t4o,,structton.


tfonS and lis rctribution>. Dishonest par
tics, like designing men. may claim the pos
session of distinguished virtue and max
succeed. l,y sheer auiaciy, in getting the
claim allowed. But fortunately reputation
involves responsibility. The impostur cheats
himself in assuming Il virtue which hc cannot
maintain. lis mask does not change his
character: and sooner or later the time ar
rivcs when the iEconvcnicn, lions skin is
cast oil or tlisarrangcd, and the terror Of the
(or,lt becomes its 5.orn. His just deserts
are mgtcd out to the vicious and obstinate
brute who claimed the honors due 10 tho
king of beasts.
Es"p'S fable represents tolcrably well the
STATE of the Republican party al the present
time. This infamous Richardson Mcfarland
casr has lad bare the corruption Of the po-
lilical vendors of moral ideas. AS the pa
irons Of Il cause whose appalling dctails
| have startled snnd shocked the whole ca,iiy9
Try, stand forth the stail of the TiJbnap,sa,d
the great pulpit lights Of Rcpubicunism--
| Henry Ward lIccchcr and d. lt. Froilium-
ham. These model rcforlncrs than whom
| none have spoken more sanctimonipusly of
the tenderness and strength of the Marriage
hond, have pan'!crcd to u dark matrimonial
intrigue, eliminating in adultery AMI mur-
tier. such is the latest chical precedent es-
tablishcd hy The very tlHc of our national
rcformcrS. -
b The case was of such q SORT that f{N!llhin-
| islSy should have hal no connection with il ,
1.-The c. cMGas evidence given for the prda
curcmcnt of1he divorce 10 the court ut Mar
tinsville cam he credited Mcfarland is IA
monster. But il should bc said that the one
hundred and twenty adults living in that fe-
mote village OF Indiana, kncw,>and cared
nothing about the case, and that the de-
serted husband had no opportunity of de-
fence. So far as Mrs. Mcfarland is con-
ccrncd, she cannot he held blamccss for
the divorce was an iilcgality, and was Sc
cured for the purpose vi facilitating her union
with ''hcr husbands friend" AS TO Rich
artlson. who is now in his grave, the cvi-
dcncr pretty clearly shows that lie had So
llclted and won the affections OF his friends
vile before any separation had taken place:
and he pursued, with an cagcrncss which
nodcratc. his purpose Of making her his
own. Regarded from whatever point of
view, the case was an uwly one The mn
istry had nothing 10 do with il EXCEPT as
they are officially appointed to "cal sinners
ito repentance. Ii was Il horrible outrage
when they appeared, in their robes Of sane
,ity, TO bless an affection which has cast a
''e" genus into :t q l the har,..sss1 %s1f,i 5,
Il beautiful accomplished woman, and which
is likely TO bring II wretchcd husband TO the
gallows.
This case is taken out of the ordinary
class OF crimes by the circumstance that all
who have acted in it from first to last belong
TO the Republican party, and are representa-
tive members thereof The humblest of
them all i'll station was Mcfarland. who was
first in the provost marshai's Office and then
received an appointment to the custom
house Ills wife was employed us contribu-
tor to the independent His "fricnd" Rich
artlson was an cllitor Of tic Tribune. So
was his wfc's female friend and adviser
Mrs. Calhoun. No less person than Vice
President ColfaN welcomed Mrs. Mcfarland
on her divorce expedition to Indiann. and
introduced her .lo the best society in In
''dianapolis." The card which introduced
Mrs. McFarland'S female friend TO Bccchcr
bore the signature Of Horace Greeley. The
Two ministers who performed the public con-
secration OF the higamy arc among the most
distinguished men Of the party. In short.
The terrible hurlcsQuc was an act of ,lomes-
lie Reconstruction, TO which Republican,
Ism icht lis greatest names There was Il
marsha!lnG Of the clans, Il grand ma.niii.
cent uprising President, editors scc,l-
lar anu religious. male and female, and min
lsters, orthodox and hetorodox--fOr the yir-
tuols, glorious nay sublime purpose of
taking away wife from her husband and
giving her 10 another man. Rank after
rank, with civic trophy and sacred sign,
they threw themselves. body and soul, into
that grand conflict; and when il was over.
one, perhaps the nOhlest of Them all law
dead i'll the arms Of victory, heart broken
woman at his side, and in the prison honsc
there was one miserable bood-staincd can.
tive, wringins his hands and tearing his
h.r anu gibberinS in his mad anguish.
Great is the honor OF the conquerors! They
have reconstructed Il family in Il way lust rs
legal, just as moral, and Just as successful
us that in which they have reconstructed the
Southern States
The 1rfh"nr, in lis issue Of the 18Th
instant, is particularly and Justly severe on
what are called Southern loyalists. One of
This sweet srt--thc Hon. Mr.. Blackburn
resides in the Parish OF Claiborne, Louisiana.
which he represents in Congress. tIe is also
editor OF The Hiof, "thc Official journal of
the United States, from whose tripod he de-
nonnccs his opponents as "buzzarl,. ("
"holilc-lcllcd toads,' ''skunks," .hors. !"
dogs" and the like. '.The inference may