The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1859-05-28
For The Cecil Hhig.
A Word for Right and Justice against
Wrong and a Wrong -d0er,


/ sense Of the people, but in this enlightened
age when that ;n.rciful maxim of the Law,
That II is better that ninety and nine guilty
nen should escape than one innocent man be
! punished, pervaics and governs the Bench
the Bar and the Jury, it is rare thing to
hear even The worst criminal cXclaim against
| tie justice of the court whose sentence tie
suffers. The Criminal docket daily gives
evidence, n thousand times more furclb.e
than the most labOrtd encomiuins of polished
culogsts, Of the purity and importantly of
our courts otJustice and though condemned
culprIts are sometimes heard to rail at the
witnesses by whose testimony they were cor.
victed this railing is almost universally uc-
companed with an acknowledged of
| thanks to the Court and Jury for their fair
ness and impartlality.
The Cech Democrat of last week furnishes,
however, one of these rare exceptions, more
| than Il column Of it being devoted to what it
calls the rigorous administration of the
Law by the Circuit Court for Cecil county
The paper says:
"Justicc was not tempered with mercy
90 but he: relentless sword fell with sure effect
upon the necks Of the devoted victims. The
conviction followed the accusation with a
"degrce of certainty that elected general
* remark.
"The most fragrant outragcs have been
" pcrpctrated upon individuals through the
6 means and appliances Of our courts, which
g are called courts ofjusticc, but too frequently
90 it is a misnomcr to use that term in such
:. conncctOn.'
desire brify, Mr.. Editor. to refer to at
least one of the acts Of this Circuit Court for
Cecil county. and to examine whether it is
Justly chargcable with injustice, or even rigor
in its administration of the law. At its last
session llcnry Fanderford, Jr., was found
guilty of printing end publishing Il libel
The indictment upon which this verdict was
rendered vas found in lila ford county, at the
November term. 1858, and removed to this
county by Henry Vandcrlord, Jr.. himself
Now. when we bring to mind the fact that
| the l33 indictments referred to had been found
and nearly all sustained" that this extra
ordinary charge" by Judge Price had been
delivered. and that the certainty with which
- conviction followed accusation had elected
remark before Henry Vanderford removed the
indictment against him to Cecil comfy, we
must conclude that he, at least, found no
fault with any of these things until the Court
acted upon his own case. He was silent
while all this injustice was being done-hc
had no sympathy with the 1873 presented
individuals, against whom the Grand Jury
found Bills: the alleged pernicious character
OF such teaching as Judge Price S charge pro-
vnked not even line of comment and though
- nearly all these indictments were sustain
ell and conviction was almost the certain
| result OF accusation not once did Henry Van
dertord, Jr., exclaimed 80 Justice what
crimes are committed in thy name" uEtil the
- relentless sword fell with sure effect" upon
his own devoted neck Ga the contrary
alter all these things, which he now mcnt IONS
as instances Of justice, had been done, he
selected this same Circuit Court for Cecil
county as the tribunal which should decide
upon his rights and liberty under the law
Ills own condition then is what he complains
Of; that simple act turns the Circuit Court
tor Ccc!l county into on " instrument of cru
city, injustice and torture" Let us see then
how the action of the Court in this justlties
such charges. Besides the Indictment from
Hartford, Nandclford was, also, indicted in
tins county for the Same ollenSe. The result
OF the case which was tIi,d shows, very con-
clusivey, that the verdict in The second case
would have been guilty" So that we see
Nandeiford put to the expense and annoyance
OF but one prosecution, while there was a
second indictment standing against HIM as
fully suSpcctibe of proof and which could
have been sustained with as much certainty
as the one upon which he was tried, The
fact that he was not tired upon the second
charge is of itself sufficient t, show how
bastly false are all his assertions and charges.
Again, the charge upon which Varderford
was tried was for printing and publishing n
most scandalous libel, the lbrous character.
OF which was So grossly manifest upon its
face that the vcriest fool on the earth could
not have been deceived by it. 1t bore on
every line the proof that it was intended to
accuse Physician of Hartford county of con.
duct so base as TO deprive him of the conf.
dence of all men and take from him the last
hope OF earning support for his family. To
this attempt he made himself party and lent
his aid, by multiplying the copies Of this libel
and furnishing to the writer of it the vcry
means of carrying out his infamous design.
and shielding him from the consequences. -
The fact that he did not know the particular
physician referred to IN the libel lif it is fact)
docs not avail him, nor is 1t necessary TO argue
question of guilt which has been pronoun-
ced upon by twelve gentlemen whose charac-
tiers for honor and intelligence will not be
questioned by Henry Vanderford, Jr.
The idea that twelve conscientious men
could render any other verdict than the one
they did render is so absurdy ridiculous that
no man in this community but Henry Van
derford, Jr., entertans it for "A moment. By
what right then does he cry out injustice!-
What hardshps has he suffered Of which he
can complain Arc men to perjure themselves
that he may escape the legal consequences of
his acts, or refusing to do this are they to be
denounced for simply doing their duty and
preserving their integrity In this verdict
there is nothing like " injustice, cruelty or
torture '-nothlng which shows that these
jurors were - wicked and vindictiye men,"
pass now TO the Judgment of the Court,
judgement be it remembered, which was
gwen not by Judge Price, whose :'pernicious
teachings Nanderford 50 much deprecates,
but by a gentleman Of whom he made choice
MS the special judge TO sit in his case. The
penalty for this olenso is fine or imprison-
ment or both at the discretion of the Court. -
There are few ol1tns es which are regarded by
Courts of justice with so little leniency as
libel. The line not unfrequently reaches
thousands ofdoars, accompanied with weeks
and months of impris' nment. And who will
say it is too severe. Had Henry Vanderford
attacked DR.. Forwood with any deadly
weapon the ofenSe would have been assault
with intent to kill, the penalty for which is
imprisonment in the penitentiary, and to. day,
instead of filling the county with these outra-
geous attacks upon the integrity and justice
of Courts and jurleS he would have been the