The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-05-24
Canadian Opinion Of Judge Under

From the Montreal Gazette, May 30.
The people of Richmond, Va, must be
a heard hearted and stiti-necked genera
tion if they resist all the influences which
have lately been brought to bear for their
conversion to the sound and wholesome
principles of northern Radicaiism. The
indignant denunciations Of Judge Under
wood at the opening of the United States
Circuit Court on the 9th instant must
have fallen upon their ears like thunder
strokes from Sinai. Never has such clo-
qucncc been heard from any English or
| Canadian bench. Whether it is that the
! highest flights of oratory are not cultivated
| by the legal profession here or IN the
mother country, or whether the peculiar
| genius which is necessary for the produc-
| tion of this particular kind of oratory is
| found nowhere outside of the United
| States, or whether ii is merely some stupid
Scruplc on the score Of taste which pre-
vents our judges from launching out in
the same magnificent and impressive style,
we shall not here attempt TO decide. The
Judge, in the first place, congratulated
| himself and the jury that they were able
| to meet ain conscious security under the
wings of the starry banner which our
patriotic Congress has raised for our
protection that we are permitted to
meet in this building of everlasting
granite so emblematic of the power
| and strength Of our Government" &c.
&c. The learned gentlcman's next rciiec-
tion was that in the very rooms where they
were then assembled there once had dweit
"thc fiery soul Of treason, rebellion, and
civil war" These words call up very
striking picture-Richmoud Courthouse,
the very centre of pandemonlum, where
fiery souls I'VE presume =" fiery" lS>a kind
of cuphemiSm for word which was deem
cd hardly suitable for a Judges chargc)
were concocting damnablc schemes for
their emancipation from Government
which did not happen 10 be quite TO their
own diabolical taste. Ii Milton had lived
in these days he could certainly have bor-
rowcd some ideas from Underwood, ana
added very much to the effect Of his own
descriptions Of the internal regions. We
must not, however, allow ourselves 10
dilate, tempting as is the theme, upon the
superiority of Undcrwood'S genius to that
| Of Milton; we must hurry on. The next
| thing which greeted the ears of the audi
| encc in the courthouse was a catalogue al
the crimes of which the Southern Conicd-
| cracy had been guilty-that is to say, OF
which the large majority of those present
on the occasion had themselves been guilty.
one can imagine how soothing this must
have been to the people Of Richmond.
The Judge, however, had no intention OF
soothing them his object was TO strike
| them with remorsc and terror and abject
remuneration Of their sins. lie went on 10
describe Richmond as "the beautiful and
abandoned seat OF the rebellion, where
bloody treason hourished its whip Of scor-
pions." What Babylon was to the Apoca-
lvptic seer, Richmond is to Judge Under
wood. The only difference is that there Is
some hope for it, now that black men sit
upon the grand jury and Underwood cc-
livcrs charges in the courthouse. The
Judge is rs apt with Scripture quotations as
a certain "fiery soul,' who shall be name
less. He reminded his hearers that
"where sin abounded grace may much
more abound" and expressed his hope
that there might be ga material and mo
raj future for the city Of Richmond IN
strong contrast with It's awful and athcl>tc
past. and in harmony with tine salubrlty oi
climate, the poetic beauty OF its scenery,
and the magniGceuce Of its water power
This is the climax. We hardly care to 20
beyond this point in the speech, for though
the rest is a thick set with beauties as the
part we have reviewed, there is hardly any
thing else which quite equals this magni-
ticent outburSt Of enthusiasm for morality
and water privileges.