American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1867-06-01

~ n Sna e..& with borbaritv pnlnou,
w /~dian countries scattered yellow f.
I'd small. pox among the poor and he,ni IL
* 1and, finally, struck down one If cart
nooiest martyrs to freedom and humani
Is this a judicial charge, or is it
cavalry charge?
Al time when Virginia is mOyj,
10 consnmmate her own rcconstr,
= lloh On the basis Of universal Suffra
tne nitimatum of the North. n ind
OF the United States, under the clos
;, OF an official charge, without occasic
T. ana without excuse, utterS tins bon
: oaSlle denunciation, to stir up fl
n passions of both parties, and prever
!. That eonSummation SO earnestly Il,
p sired by all good citizens in ever
part of the country, and for whic
. Senator Wilson and other dis
: tlnSulshcd Republicans are nov
laboi1ngin the South. Judge Under
wood eXhausts his catalooue n
asuslve epithets on the people amona
Mileih he is to administer Justice
me clergymen of Richmond are
described as having been minister.
ing gay LothariOs," who filed a pros
ut'ited pulpit and generally recon-
mehded the worship of what they
most respected, "pleasure, propertv,
ana power, corresponding to the
pagan and NEUROLOGICAL ideas of
1accouS, Mammon, and MarsE In
snort, Richmond was "a;h aded
Sepulchre1 ~vhere,5 bloody %s = -
r.,i &lShe:I ~ ~ ,.-.,i uept. on II 'ii' I
MMGntttffe't. righteousness had ruled I'M
til probably a majority of births were
illecitimate or without the forms OF
law" With this picture of Rich
mond as it was before the Jury, ne
calls upon them to be grateful, With
out stating any particular reason, or
informing them whether they are to
offer IN Thanksgiving because Rlch-
mond was such an internal place as
he had described it to be, or because
the great j. G. Underwood is now III
that city, prepared, like the valorons
Knight of La Mancha, to defend the
oppressed and insulted, and by Il
general splurge against wrongdolnG
convert the " gilded scpnlchre y into
an Underwood paradise. 1t IS
probably on the latter account that
lie would have them give thanks, for
he starts out with an expression OF
dcvo,lt gratitude that he and ana
the iury escaped q plot of assasSlna-
ton a wear ago-a plot which proba-
h]y never had an existence except III
the anxiety of j. G. Underwood to
gain nOtorlety.
Having got well under way in his
haranguc, Underwood becomes more
swollen as he:approa:hcS the concill-
sion, gathering momentum IKE Il
stone rolling down II decllvlty. lie
pitches into Congress, because IN loo2
it cave the courts discretion to re
duce the penalty for treason to fine
and Imprisonment instead OF death.
After uttering this threat i'll advance
of the trial of Jefferson Davis, Under
wood goes Into an elaborate ana
very ridiculous culoSy or 1hadeuS
Stevens, with which he entcrtans
the Jury through many long and
turgid sentences. Stevens, lie as
-salres the jury, is ga statesman great
Iv eminent among his telloW-lc%lSla-
tors, and, by common consent OF
successive Congresses, acknowledged
us a leader and father, with a defer
ence that neither Clay, Fox, the
Pitts, nor even Cicero had ever
know1." He is the grandcst old
Statesman of our country" an " honor
to humanity and ~ light among the
nations"
We 6hink no futher quotations are
necessary to make oar assertion clear
that tbs so-callcd charge IS II dis
grace to the bench and to the protes-
sion of the law. 1t is not only bonn
bastic 10 degree border ing on
I, idiocy, but it is evil and malicious,
menacing to the prisoners to be
tried who are not of his political
faith, and. under the circumstances,
4 studied insult to the people within
bis Jurisdiction. We believe no can
did man. after reading this charge,
would say lihat a man could expect
! Justice in IVnderwood's court, if he
did not agree with Underwoods
ualitical views, if it were in the
Judges power to prevent it. AS an
example, after having announced
! tliat the Richmond press has reach
ed the lowest depth of profiigacy,"
he tells the jny that the abuses of
! the press will probably be one of the
Subjects that VIII come before them.