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


tfons and its rctributions. Dishonest par
ties, like designing men, may claim The pos
session OF distinguished virtue, and may |
succeed. ny sheer audaciiy, in getting the
claim allowed. But fortunately reputation |
involves responsibility. The impostor cheats |
himself in assuming IL virtue which he cannot |
maintain. Ills mask docs not change his
character and sooner or later the time ar
rivcs when the inconvcnent lions skin is
cast of or disnrrangcd and the terror Of the
forest becomes its 3corn. His just deserts
are metcd out to the vicious and obstinate
brute who claimed the honors due 10 the
king Of beasts.
Esop's fiblc represents ,olcrably we'll The
state Of the Republican party at the present
time. This infamous Observation-Disclosures
case has laid bare the corruption of the po-
liIral vendors of moral ideas. AS the pa
irons Of cause whose appalling delas
have startled nnt shocked the whole cosiSE
try stand forth tic stair of the 7iibunesa,d
the great pulpit lights Of RcpuDlishnism-
Henry Ward Bccchcr and o. B. Froihng-
ham. These model rcformcrs, than whom
none have spoken more sanctimonipusly of
the tenderness and strength of the marriage
bond. have pandcrcd TO Il dark matrimon ii
intrigue, eliminating in adultery and MUIR
der. Such is the latest ethical precedent cs-
tablished by the very elite of our national
reformcrs.
b The case was of such n sort that ie4Iiin-
isLyy should have had no connection with it.
lrthe ccanR1e evidence given for the prd
curemcnt oitnc divorce 10 the court nj Mar
tinsville cam be credited, Mcfarland is a
monster. But il should be said that the one
hundred and twenty adults living in TINT re-
mote village of Indiana, kneY.,and cared
nothing about the case, and that the dc-
serted husband had no opportunity of de-
fence. So far us Mrs. Mcfarland is con-
cerncd she cannot be held blamcless, for
The divorce was an illcgalty, and was Sc
cured for the purpose of facilitating her union
with 'her husbands friend" as to Rich
ardson. who is now i'll his grave, the cvi-
dcncc pretty clearly shows that he had So
llclted and won the affections of his friends
vile before any separation had taken place:
and he pursued, with an eagerness which
Mrs. Mcfarland herself was constrained 10
moderate, his purpose of making her his
own. Regarded from whatever point of
view, the case was an ugly one. The min
istry had nothing to do with it cycept as
they arc officially appointed to "call sinners
''to repentance" 1t was a horrible outrage
when they appeared, i'm their robes of sane
tity' TO bless an affection Which has cast
gifted genius into "a the sa,,,..sss sSsh 81
beautiful, accomplished woman, and which
is likely to bring wrctched 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 humblcst of
them all in station was Mcfarland, who was
first In the provost marshals office and then
received an appointment to the custom
house. His wife was employed as contribu.
tor to the Independent His "friend" Rich
ardson was nm editor of the Tribune. So
was his wife's female friend and adviser
Mrs. Calhoun. No less person than Vice
President CofaX welcomed Mrs. Mcfarland
on her divorce expedition to Indiana and
introduced her ''to the best society i'm In
''dianapos." The card which introduced
Mrs. McFarund's female friend TO Bcccher
bore the signature of Horace Greeley. The
two ministers who performed the public con- |
secration of the bignmy are among the most
distinguished men of the party. In short, |
the terrible hurlesQuc was an net of domcs-
tic reconstruction, to which Republican,
ism lent its greatest names. There was n |
OF the clans, grand magnifi. |
cent uprising g-Eice-Prcsidcnt editors, sccu-
lar and religious male and female, and min |
listers, orthodox and hctorodoy-for the yir- |
tuous, glorious, nay sublime purpose of
taking away wife from her husband and
giving her to 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 noblest of them all, Law
dead in the arms Of victory, n heart broken
woman nj his side, and in the prison house |
there was one miserable bood-stained can.
tive, wringing his hands and tearing his
hair AMI gibbering in his mad anguish.
Great is the honor of the conquerors They
have reconstructed family in way just as
legal, just rs moral, and just us successful
as that in which they have reconstructed the
States.
The Tribune, in its issue OF the 18th
instant, is particularly and justly severe on
what are called Southern loyalists. One Of
this sweet sct--thc Hon. Mr. Blackburn
resides in the Parish of Claiborne, Louisiana.
which he represents in Congress He is also
editor OF the Nind, "the official journal of
the United States, from whose tripod he de-
nounccs his opponents rs "buzzard,
"boltlc-bellicd toads,' "skunks,' "hoss. -
dogs" and the like. '.The Inference NAV
t.ha irnwn y snra il,n kr.n -,