Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1870-05-20

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| had at the most general acquaintance
with the party and refused the invitation
rs soon as made. One morning during
this winter which am now describing,
after Mr.. McF. had been out nearly all
night in drunken orgie and had risen
from bed in one OF his worst tempers,
approached as he stood by the mirror
finishing his toilet and began 10 say some
thing soothing to prevent the outburst of
his old temper. which | feared was soon
coming. He turned around and struck
me blow across my face which made me
roel backward From that time took an
entirely different course with him. When
in one Of. these fnrics, shed great
many tears under his cruelty and tried to
reason with him and tried entreaties and
persuasions. After this whenever he was
in one Of his paroxysms, rs he himself
called them. never moved or spoke but
kept perfectly self controlled. As far as
| could sat qniet, always keeping my
eye on him, because always fan cied as
looked steadily at him. he would not do
me any mortal violence believe now,
as believed then, that my life was saved
by this silence and scli-control.
He has sometimes approached with his
hands extended. the fingers bent like
claws, as if he were about To clutch my
throat. and cried. How should like to
strangle you" or Your life is bound
sometime to end in n tragedy" or Your
blood will he on your own head" and
has, rs think, been restrained because
simply looked ut him without raising
word. In these furies he would often
seize and break anything which was at
hand, lamps, glasses. mirrors. and some
times tho heavier furniture of the room.
Often he would rise from bed in these un-
controllablo fits OF passion, tearing in
shreds his own night clothing, throwin g
anything he could find which was break
able, crashing about the unlighted room
till il has seemed to me there could he no
pandemonium worse than that in which
lived. and all this he would do without
explanation or even pretext for COM
plant against me; and when knew no
more what excited him than babe un-
born. he would sometimes keep up this
conduct and abuse for hours without a
syllable or II motion being made on my
part and he would then burst into tears.
begging my pardon, say that was the
best woman that ever lived, and then 90
TO sleep exhausted. Sometimes he said.
''your damned silence irritates me m ore
than if you talked" In the winter of '63
and GA we were at Mr. Sinclair's, our
neighbors, one night. While there Mr.
McF. came home SO bruised and bleeding
from some street brawl, Il common occur
renee on his part, that was obliged to
call on Mr. Sinclair for aid in getting him
To bed. 1t was only two or three weeks
before the death OF my youngest child,o or
| should not have done so. This event
kept Mr.. McF in his room for more than
u week carried his meals to him my
self that his Disgrace might not be seen
and commented on hy the boarders.
Mrs. Richardson also narrates her effort
to support herself and children by writ.
ing for papers and magazines, the great
er part Of her earnings being appropriat-
cd by Mcfarland. She declined aid from
motives which could not allow her to re-
ceive charity, and mentions McFarlands
procuring thousand dollars in January,
1865, by blackmailing an oil land owner
Of Pennsylvania, threatening to expose
irregularities in his income returns if he
did not give him money. In the winter
Of 1866 she first met Mrs. Calhoun, and
January I'd, 1867, after an unusually harsh
and inhuman treatment from her husband,
wrote her the letter giving the statement
of her wrongs and appealing Tor SYM
pathy and advice, which Mrs. Calhoun
answered in the letters that were read on
the trial. In this, Mrs. Richardson says:
Dear. try to write these things coldly
and mechanically. | want TO do so, so
as not to be unjust. but | must write
you. l feel must lc, you know some
thing OF my inner life, Of tue struggles
that none, no one else eau see, or shall
die. don't kn,w what TO do or what
course to take. Iwant TO be advised. l
have written these wild words incoherent-
ly. know, since writing is not my
natural method of expression. to get some
of this weight off of me, and have tried
to write justly. know must in some
way protect myself from Mr.. McFarland's
mode of revenging any carless word up
on me.
have made up my mind today to tell
the Sinclairs l feel the encroachmcnls of
his habits. dread my future so much
aud l have my babies to think Of
Besides, yesterday he drew two weeks
of my salary at the theatre and paid Inc
weeks board bill, and fear will spend
good deal of the money which weneed SO
much, in liquor. Don't come TO me after