Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1881-11-04
Judge them by their Records.

Judge Of our Court of Appeals. 1t is then
of the first moment that the masses should
know for whom they are voting and the re-
lative merits of the two aspirants for the
most exalted and responsible position in the
gift of these people, and as a member of the
Montgomery Bar for over fourteen years and
OF the District Bar for the last seven years |
feel called upon and think it no presumption
give my fellow-citizens the benefit Of my
knowledge in the premises
There is no royal road to knowledge and
skill in the practice of the law, they can on
ly, like the apples in the garden of the
Hesperides, be the outcome of native ability
time and experience This being SO, re-
specially but confidently submit that no just
comparison can be made between the Hon.
John Richie, of Frederick, and Francis
Miller, of ID. G.
Mr.. Richie for thirty years has been train
ed at bar that has ever stood confessedly
at the head Of the profession in this State,
and has measured strength with such pro-
fessional athletes as Palmer, F. K Nelson
and others upon cases memorable and his
toric, many of which are now part of the
judicial literature of the State. AT such
bar he has for years stood among the very
first. In comparative youth he represented
his district with distinguished honor in Con-
greSs, and when vacancy occurred upon
the Bench all eyes turned upon him, and
Gov. Hamilton, himself most accomplished
jurist, but gave expression to our wishes and
hopes by appointing Mr.. Richie as Chief
Justice.
Mr.. Richie, while he has ever been con-
sentative and his opponents have ever en-
countered in him a generous foe, still he is
conceded to be man Of positive convictions
and unwavering fealty to party, and it has
bnnr hic IN nliDoh tho ms apI
tread the valleys of his native State and
give bold and eloquent voice to the princi-
Piles of his party. Mr.. Richie is in full
sympathy with our people-he is one of US
we have summered him and wintered him
he is flesh of our flesh and bone of our
bone-he has mourned when we mourned
and rejoiced when we rejoiced. He needs
no proud ancestry to bolster him up. He
| filings away his family name, "illustrious
though it be-" and stands before us in the
pride of manhood and intellect--a part Of
the just pride of the State, and every intel
| ligent and honorable man can but feel that
his continuance upon the Bench of this Dis
| trict and Court OF Appeals would be but a
| just tribute to his honorable and useful life
in our midst, and many lofty qualities of
head and heart. Napoleon, when asked by
Madame de Stael who was the foremost
woman of the world, replied, "The woman
that has the most children" Be that as it
| may John Richie can well say with the old
| Vicar of Wakefield, "That man who mar
ries and raises large family deserves better
of the State than the man who remains sin
gle and talks about population.
! We now come to discuss the merits of Mr..
Francis Miller, Of the District of Columbia,
"who would leave this fair plain to batten
on that moor" Mr.. Miller has practised
only fifteen years before foreign tribunal,
and has not stood a single Term before our
Courts, and is utterly ignorant of Maryland
practice and the decisions of our Court of
| Appeals. Time was when our Court of APP
peals could boast such names as Dorsey, Blu
chanan, Tuck and Legrand, and now we
are to be told that Miller, who, in the esti-
nation of his associates, does not rank above
a third rate lawyer, is the peer of the Hon,
John Richie and worthy to wear the man
tie that was SO worthiy worn by the master
spjrits--the giants of other days-judges
whose decisions are legal axioms and who
held the scales with an even hand and lift
ed the standard of justice so high in their
native State as to attract the eyes of the ma
ton and the world. "a thing of beauty is
q joy forever" "Tell it not in Gath, pub
fish it not in the streets of Askelon"
But, perhaps, Mr.. Millers devotion to
! not find it in their hearts to demand the
usual qualifications for the most sacred and
exalted Of positions. Now how stands the
record =? and speak from the best author
| ity-from the confession by himself, in the
| presence of hundreds of both parties, at
| large political gathering in the town of Rock
vile, he there confessed that he voted for
George b. Mcclellan against the martyred
Lincoln, and he applauded to the echo the ac
ton of the Chicago Peace Convention that
he voted for Charles Calvert against John G.
| Holland, and when johnson apostatized he
went into Democratic convention and offer
ed resolutions commencing johnson and con-
demning the Civil Rights and Freedmen's
Bureau bills, and the entire rec construction
policy of the Republican party. But to the
honor of the Democrats be il said, they
would not allow his resolutions to be read,
and he soon found himself standing on the
ragged edge" and his reception at the hands
of the Democracy and universal suffrage
fully account for his newborn zeal for Re-
publicanism. 90, consistency, thou ait a
jewel ~
Just here comes in the story of the pole
cat and the wood-chuck. The polecat had
invaded the den OF the wood-chuck during
the absence Of the latter and upon his re-
turn claimed to be brother wood-chuck,
but that animal retorted; "You don't look
like wood-chuck you don't talk like
wood-chuck; you don't smell like wood
chuck, and I'll he id if | believe you are
wood-chuck" Brother Miller, you did
not, in "the times that tried mems souls
talk like Republican; you did not look
like Republican; you did not vote like
Republican, and III be id if we believe
you are Republican.
The Democratic party has ever been jeal-
GUS of the purity and ability of the Bench;
of them it can never be said that the judicial
ermine has been dragged in the filth and
mire Of party politics. point to the selec-
ton of Judge Pearre, a Radical, by the De-
mocracy over the heads of distinguished
Democrats, because of his peculiar fitness,
and the extension of the time of Judge
Bowie, an accomplished gentleman and en-
inent jurist, but pronounced Republican, by
Democratic legislature.
Shall it be said then that the Republican
party, less wise and patriotic, now that pas
sion and prejudice no longer rule the hour,
would deliberately and wickedly fasten upon
this people as Chief Justice of this Circuit
and Associate Justice of the Court of APP
peals that amalgam of mediocrity, presump-
ton, inexperience and inefiiciency, Francis
Miller, of the District of Columbia, large
portion of whose limited practice has been
In the classic precincts OF the Police Court
before that modern Rhadamanthus, Judge
Smell
As for the fulsome eulogy upon Miller by
A. G. Riddle, let us cast over it the mantle
of charity The infirmities of age and the
eccentricities of genius have ever awakened
the liveliest sympathy. Mr.. Riddle may
adopt any standard for his man Friday, and
may deem himself most fortunate if he can
bring our people, who know Miller from
turret to foundation stone up to his stand
ard.
A hypochondriac imagined himself enci-
eltte. The physician thought best TO humor
him, so he presented him with hedgehog
The poor fellow kissed it and found il had
jigs; he gazed upon it and saw how un.
couth and hideous it was he pressed il and
found it was prickly; but then it was his
child, and he cried out in all the pride and
enthusiasm of fond fathers heart: "Sweet
babe, may you live forever" "Plgmies
though perched on Alps are pigmes still"
But, says Riddle, "Miller is modest to a
fault" This embodiment of modest worth