The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1866-06-16
Judge UndervyO0d's Address to
the Grand jury.

Judge UndeFyO0d's Address to
the Grand jury.
| The United States District Court was
opened by Judge Underwood, at Richmond,
on Tuesday the 9Th inst. The following is
the Judges address to the Grand Jury,
which admonishes blatant, fonl-mouthed
| treason, in that Sodom of the Rebellion, that
justice, as far as in Judge Underwood S
| power lies, will be laid to the line:
Gentlemen Of the Grand J,uy Il am
happy to meet you again and to know that
you are still living, notwithstanding the as
saults that have been made upon you. Little
need be said in addition to the instructions
given at Norfolk. Your last session has
made you historical, and | trust that the
efforts which have been made to intimdate
You and to impede the course of justice will
n 1t make you less faithful and earnest in the
discharge of your public duties We ought
not to be surprised that the reasonable and
licentious press of this State and city should
treason and RIGHTEOUSNESS are exposed and
arranged for trial and punishment. Nor
should we be surprised at the enormity and
desperation exhibited when we remember
that this city has long been the centre and
seat Of the greatest traffic in human beings
that has ever disgraced the world-a traffic
which has annually employed many hundred
If moral monsters and many millions of
capital, Substituting the press, pulpit and
politics of the State, rendering Richmond
more infamous among men for its particpa-
ton in this great crime than all the cities
along the coasts of Scngamba, Upper and
Lower Guinea, Congo; Lounge Angela and
Bcngucla combined.
The wonder then is that so many traces of
kindness, humanity and Christian civilization
should have survived such debasing and bru-
talizlng influences, and let us thank God and
take courage that more fortunate than the
devoted cities of antiquity, we can count
more than ten men who have stood faithful
among the fathless. The complaints of
threatened violence and intimidation which
have been forwarded to me by several of
your members for your late heroic and pa
trotic actions, have been submitted to the
highest legal and military authorities of the
Government, and | can assure you of the
earnest sympathy and firm support of all the
officers of the law, not excepting the Presi-
dent, whom the reasonable now hatter and
fawn upon, but whom they will probably soon
curse as heartily as they did two years ago.
But, gentlemen, am glad to call your atten.
ton to a law of Congress which put Your
own vindication, as well as that of the cour:
try, into your own hands. In 1861, Con.
gress enacted, as you will find on page 4S3
of the fourth volume of the statutes at large,
as folows:-
Section .. and be ii further enacted,
That II any person or persons shall, corrupt
~, or by threats or force, endeavor to in
ilnence, imtimidate or impede any juror,
witness or officer, in any Court of the United
States in the discharge of his duty, or should
corruptly, or by threats, or force, obstruct
or impede, or endeavor to obstruct or i'm
pede the due administration of justice there
IN, every person or persons so offending shall
be liable to prosecution therefor by indct-
ment and shall, on conviction thereof, be
punished by a fine not exceeding five hun
dred dollars, or by Imprisonment not ex-
cecdng three months, or both, according to
The nature and aggravation Of the olTense.
You will thus have it in your own power
to exercise wholesome restraint upon H.
centious tongues and pens, and upon press
which, as a blind leader of the blind, has
been, and still is, one of the chief causes of
past, present and prospective calumny and
misfortune. the murders, duels, assassina-
tons, violent and ungoverned passions, end
ing in sef.conhagr and self:immolation.
unparalleled in any heather country. The
poverty, suffering, agony and degradation
which have given this city, of almost I'M
equaled natural capabilities, its bad emincnce,
are the legitimate PARTS of the teachings of
the public press and anything you can be
able to contribute towards its reformation
will in the highest degree, be seryiceable to
the cause of the country and of humanity
But gentlemen, let us act with moderation
and discrimination, for though a prosti.uted
press is one of the greatest calamites, a free
and virtuous. press is one of the greatest
public blessings great ornament and
support of public virtue"