The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-06-11
CT a, R LE ST O N.
MONDAY. MORNING, JUNE Il, 1885,
JUDGE UNDER WOOD: D !,

for her sins,-i very mucn gwen w r ''1N'
Rnt for certain Inherent peculiarities, ncompa1i-
BILE with the sacred ofioe we should say 'nis uls-
tinguished jurist has mistaken his vocatlon' 40
nrefarred the ernine, doubtless not thinking nln-
self worthy to be sa saint in lawn" But no1"len,
standing he has cast his lot with the pro1ane auo
worldly, he never allows an opportunity To pass
nn;mproyed by homiletic exercise. THESE scr
mons are put forth under the name OF .'cnarRee.
When the first Of these was del1vereo' VIZ oannoe
say with accuracy. The "charger" nero.oAoio
has occupied an obscure position; we may tnere-
fore be excused for not having closely followed tne
several steps in his public career. We ave an
;ndatinct recollection OF first seeing hls name N
the public prints, as the solitary delegate 1rom
Virginia to the Black Republican oonVen..ou
that nominated Mr.. FREMONT. This unlmpor tano
item had passed into oblivion when the acolaents
Of onr civil and social revolution again brougn1
this individual scum to the surface; now 70 % TO-
warded for his protagonism IN the bsoh i'epuD1i
can ranks
If ever man owed his position to aooident' IN. ,
pEnwoop is that man. He is altogether an eA'fa
ordinarily ordinary man, and in norm 81 ssate ~ -
oociatv could never have risen to distlnotlon or
even notoriety. And yet is he not altogetner an Gu
ordinary man. For il he were, he would conoaos
himself with decency and propriety ana not pros
tituto his high office for the base purpose OF ma
licouely venting his long pent-up spite agalnso
hia gallow-citizens An ordinary man pays regar 2
to public opinion; and does not wllfui1y OF neee-
lessy outrage all the most sacred feelings q az MS
friends and neighboFs. That Judge oapEhwoon O
has taken occasion to do al thfb. and todoi 1t re-
neatedly and deliberately, proves him mo ordinary
man. The New York Herald is not generally con: M 2:
aidered very squeamish on. questions OF SOCIAL
nro,,r;etv. Vet Jndge UNDERw6oD shocks the
nerves of even the Herald.
We say not this because we are in the least us-
loval. On the contrary, it is our loyalty taxes
nmhrape at such lanpuaget and conduct on tne
part of q United States Judge. Mr.. UNDERWOOD
had perfect right to be an abolitionlst, OF any
thing else he liked; and to him doubtless De longs
the credit Of having been 'an original virginia
1Inion;st. He can moreover lay his hand on MS
heart. and thank bis God id themarket place Tor
the court Housed, that he never was as wicked as
these shareholders. This JUNCTION he can lay on
his soul. But ought he not also to remember,
that slavery was one of the lawful institutions OF
the land; and that some very good people "a hao
been slaveholdersf,
We venture tosay that even Mr.. UspEnwoon,
iaundicod though his vision be, has known OF
SUCH Ia 1t decent therefore, for him, citizen OF
Virginia, and United States Judge, to attempt
I'd stir up the prejudces Of his jury and OF all the
crowd Of Northern Radicals, against the people Of
Richmond, by saying that that oity had 'long
been the centre Of the greatest traffic in human
beings that ever disgraced the. world; . traffic
which has employed many hundreds Of moral
monsters and many millions of'oapital; subsidiz- :
ing the presh pulpit and politics of the State rem
dering Richmond more infamous among men for
this great crime than all the cities along the coasts
ofsenegambia, Upper and Lower Guinea, Congo,
i,oanpo. Angola and Bengue1a combined.
The Judge is learned and q travelled gentle
man. and of course is quite familiar with the
crimes of slavery all along the African coast. In
this he has the advantage over u.s. We know
nothing of fSenegambia, &c., 60. but we do know
something of slavery as it existed in Richmond;
and with all due Difference to the opinion OF the
Judge, we humbly suggest that he is somewhat
mistaken in his estimate Of the horrors OF slavery
in that city.
We will say nothing here Of the chaste and clas-
sic references the Judge made in his 'charge" at
Norfolk to the evils of the Institution" then as
now gratuitous and unoalled for These remarks
were indeoent,-obscene. No gentleman would
have been guilty Of such utterances. Yet the
Judge doubtless considered it his duty to launch
these envenomed shafts at-the mother OF WASH
1NaroN JEFFERSON, PATRICK HENRY, MADISON,
MONROE, CLAY, SooTr and TAYLOR Even the New
York Herald, remarking on the above African,
geographical quotation, says ':His violent de-
nuncia tions Of Richmond and it's people en- naasse
we're better adapted TOR stump speech from
Parson BRowNLow, or d leoture from that un tam
able .shrew, WENDELL PHILLIPS, or for such
savage as Judge JEFFRRYs on his bloody assize,
than for United States Court upon a ascaee Of
treason"
And yet are there some who find ground for ad-
miration in the character and conduct of Judge
UNDERWOOD We honestly confess that we are
not Of this number. Tom PAINE, JoHN W1LK Es,
and LLOYD GARRISON, have, in q measure, occu-
pied similar positions to their times and genera
tons. They enjoyed the honor Of holding opin-
ions, shared by very few contemporaries. But we
do not think that history accords them q high
place in consequence of their disregard Of public
opinion. And yet must We crave pardon Of the
shades of these worthless for comparing with
them this new made model of Judge. If there
is a sublimity in impudence, Judge UND ERwooD
has certainly reached it. We remember nothing
more shameless, more devoid OF heart and feeling,