New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-19
UHAT NEXTR

Probably no such striking proof was ever Of
| fered of the absolute freedom allowed to the
individual in this country, OF which we spoke
the other day as Mr.. ScOvillc's lecture on
| Wednesday. Is is an unheard of thing in any
civilized country for the counsel in great
State criminal trial, while the trial is yet III
progress, 10 rush before the people with an
inGammatory appeal, either to rouse public
sympathy for the prisoner to beg money for
him, or to influence the presiding Judge by
gross 1atcry.
All Of these things Mr.. Scovlle has tried to
do. He did not speak to the few men who
came to hear him, but to the great public, to
whom he knew his words would be
faithfully reported by the very press
10 hinder so indecent an exhibition, except the
Wuwrtten one Of custom and the opinion OF
all right-miuded people. In Europe this would
have been strong enough to keep even the
Guiteau family silent. Here the prisoner and
all OF his relatives apparently are OF the
opinion that they have buttOnh0lcd the Amer
lean Nation, anG have a right to pour forth
their vanity and vulgarity at leisure. II is as
well to remind them that their only right lies
in the fact that one of their number has
lately brutally murdered man for whom the
whole world incurred, and that the Nation
holds itself in honor bound, because of the
very enomity of the act, to give the murderer
fair trial. His brother-in-law. however, goes
a step too far when, leaving the legal course
Of defence, he attempts to set up this gibbering
assassin as a martyr, and ask for him peculiar
sympathy to hint darkly at his own secret
knowledge of the certainty "that Guiteau
would not be suffered to live until the end Of
the trial to attack the press and the peO-
pie of the United States because they
felt horror at the death of James
4. Garfield and nationally Judged his
murderer to be a sane man by the public
exhibition lac has voluntarily made of himself
since the murder According to Mr.. Scoyile's
statement, the father of the prisoner quite
agreed with the American people in believing
him to be "instigatcd by the devil The at
tempt TO influence Judge Cox by this
open audatOn of his course and general char
acter will not, we are certain, have the slight
est effect. If Mr.. ScOvillc were wise he would
have seen in how embarrassing a position he
has placed the Judge should his own opinion
tend to make him charge in favor of the pris-
Oner. II is precisely rs if a bride were openly
offered, and the public were left in ignorance
as 10 whether it had been accepted or not.
After the speech was over resolutions, we
are told, were adopted, expressing SYM
patty with the Guitcau family and admira-
ton of Mr.. Scoville. Every humane person
must feel sympathy with the kinsioIk of this
wrctcacd man, but the desire to draw out
public applause for them or himself mt this
time is certainly peculiar feature in MIR.
Scoylcs character. What are we to expect
next from this extraordinary family2 The
prisoner has been allowed to make appeals for
public sympathy and mislcad the jury day
after day. Why not have Il hall for him and
let him lecture in his own behalf at SO
much a head