The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-02-12
NEW YORK, Dec. l6, 1869

|I1JT -HJltF "a StIff''c ~ -'A' - ~-' -
IFROH OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK, Dec. l6, 1869.
,Vprobably no events of the past three weeks
: 70 50 profoundly affected the American mind
Z. those connected with the dark story of the
...scharIson tragedy.
iTbe leading points of the story are these
r,sarIy two years ago Mrs. Daniel Mcfarland, of
Id city, (nee Miss Abby Sage,) commenced pro-
seiings to procure divorce from her husband.
IA was an habitual drunkard, an idler, fierce,
Assionate, brutal man, with whom wOman's
Ia was PROCLAMATION, misery, and despair. He
Si not love his wife well enough to support her /;
aie was compelled to earn her own living by her
IA but he loved her well enough for jealousy
~ murder. From him the suffering woman
zsalIy procured a divorce, granted her in due
~ form, for proper and sufficient reasons. and
Ii the proper legal authorities of the State of
LLAMA, where the injured woman resided year
S,eyious to the divorce. She continued to sup
.stiting. Meanwhile Mr.. Albert ID. Richardson,
IN popular author and y. Y. Tribune CORE
|2,bndent, excited, by sympathy and attentions
bard Mrs. Mcfarland, the jealousy of McFar-
Id. who made, nearly two years ago, his first
.<kempt to murder Richardson, by shooting at
4 n wounding him. 1t las not yet been shown
.lht any just cause for jealousy existed; but in
lie community the mere existence of jealousy is
Lib often held, by citizens, jures, and judges, to
Nj, a uaIIiation If not sufficient excuse for muir
liz and Mcfarland escaped prosecution Rich
5rason also knew that American Juries do not
,5Ayict a man who can show that he was jealous
t,hen he committed crime and Mcfarland, secure
lnr the knowledge of this fact, cherished for two
ssers, before attempting a second time to carry
f1Ep effect, his deliberate intent 10 murder.
Ar1ned, he followed Richardson's footsteps, and
was more than once in act to shoot; but each
time he was cowed by the determined eye Of
Richardson, as wild animals sometimes quail be-
fore the human glance. But at last the assassin's
moment came. Following him into the editorial
rooms of the Tribune Office, Mcfarland found his
sictim. Richardson's eyes were averted at the
laeuaent, and Mcfarland fired, iafiicting fatal
bound in the abdomen. Richardson fingered a
week, sustained by incredible strength of cOnsti-
tution and of will His bed at the Astor House
was attended by the kindest care and skill; tele-
grams, letters, and messages, which the dying
man could not receive, poured in by the thousand
ron all parts of the country; hourly bulletins
OF his condition were posted up in the bJteI
once; and the sick man seemed to be the centre
of sympathy of the entire Eastern States. 1t
teeame evident, at last, as experienced surgeons
tAf divined from the beginning, that Richardson
conld not recover. He insisted-for he retained
the fullest possession of his mental faculties to
he end-tIat his marriage with Mrs. Mcfarland
eAeuld take place. The ceremony was conse-
qQently performed by Revs. III. W Beecher. o.
rockingham, and III. NJ. Field. The desc
i1te woman had the satisfaction of riddng her
sell and her children Of the name of the mur-
aerer, and Of taking that of the man who was
'n5ing for her. The end came soon after this
splenn wedding Richardson died painfully and
k9fFarland lies In prison, to await trial, and
1srdiet which will probably aequit him, as Daniel
sckles and hundred other great criminals have
pen acquitted, and which will proclaim to him
ahd to all the American world - You are free 20
bmmit murder, provided only that jealousy be
be cause''
shall not endeavOr to reproduce the dis
lssions of the press upon this tragedy. An
Neited debate has filled the papers during the
past fortnight. The majority of the editors
eking only to fatter the popular mind, justify
tfe murder, dilate upon the wickedness of divorce
Fe beautifully conservative, and denounce the
lnisters who sOlemnized the deatI-bed marriage
4here Is something amusing in the alacrity with
hleh the most seurrilous and unprincipled news.
pers have rushed to the defence of marriage
pa the moralities, now that their championship
~ De coupled with an assault upon the ministers
apd an increased sale of their issues. One would
ppose that the very palladium and safeguard Oi
ristlan society was deposited in the offices oi
Il " L. Herald, Sun, and EUening Post
pere was never 4 more voIubIe ehampionship Of
moralities; and Messrs. Beecher, Frothing-
n' and Field have been represented, by the
i''e moralIsts of these unspotted journals, dur
80 the past fortnight, as social incendiaries ol
most dangerous description. Their crime
tiia1 they married a woman, legally divorced
'ni murderer, to a good and honest man who
GU her- But the intelligent minority feel that
'hly proven wrong, thus far, in the whole
49, Is that OF the assassin who acted upon
american idea that jealousy justifies murder
P'ihelple is likely to be reafirmed, ere long
=. tue jury who are to have the trial; so deeply
'uea rooted in the mind of our community.
inApS none of the people concerned in this
aii'iF will interest your readers nearly SC
~. ~ . I'dy whom have frequently met this
.,i ~ h'erary society," lady who is known
~ as any other lady in the world.
nOI t;ansgress the amenities of correspond
th'nk' by closing my letter with a descriu-
Oh Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe.
was invited to meet this lady at an aesthetic
not long since; but when O'Clock arrived
Stowe failed to come with it. So your eor.
'ndent went to bring her, and found, as he
supposed, that she had mistaken the bour
'ie mistake gave him pleasant opportunity
9 zee a tete conversation in the carriage. Mrs
Is lady of medium stature, and rather
tne average weight. Her temperament is
7-,. l4''nati'n Of the nervous, sanguine, and
-' one II much better-looking than he1