Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-12-07
THE ASSASSTN'S OPENING
SPEECH.


y text OF the document is subtantially q
u follows:
d The speech which Guteau prepare
! for delivery in Court says he is charge
y with numbering Garfield. Nothin
can bo more absurd, because CARTEL
y died Of malpractice. Garfield was
! good man, but veal; politician, Be
: ing President, he was in position {
do vast injury to the Republic, an
was doing 1t by the unwise use Of pat
! ronage, and the Lord and himself tool
the responsibility of removing him
His duty to the Lord and to th
American people overcame his persona
feelings toward Garfield and he sough
= to remove him. Not being a marks
man, Garfield was not fatally shot
, but incompetent physicians finished
: the work, and they, not himself, arr
g responsible for Garfeld's death.
= Guiteau then speaks of the breach
in the Republican party and his resolve
to remove the President, and claimi
that Deity ordered him to fire the shot
2 He also refers to his work on theology
| insanity in his family, his married life
and his lilo in prison, and appeals tC
/ those whom he says he has put in po
! sition to send him money for defense.
The Deity seems well-disposed to "a
ther it, thus far, and | expect lie will
, continue TO father it to the end. 1t is
not likely He will allow me to come
to grief for obeying Him. How do
you know it was the Deity? | was
so certain of it, put my life on it, and
undertake tosay the Deity is actively
engaged in my defense, Lam confident
He will check.mate the wise heads on
this prosecution. | beg they 60 slow
they cannot afford to get the Deity
down on them. "He uttered His
voice. says the Psalmist, "and the
earth melted" This Is the God whom
| served when I sought to remove the
President, and He is bound to take
care Of me Recently Washington
newspaper Autographed a crampcd
piece OF paper | bad carried in my
vest pocket week under the title OF
"Guiteau's Plea" 1t was written
when had the material at odd times,
and | could hardly read it myself, and
so told the gentleman | gave il to /;
but he thought he could read it and
took it, as be was in haste. ! next
heard OF it as Autographed Owing to
circumstances beyond my control,
have been forced to ask your Honor
to assign me counsel and furnish mo
witnesses. | formerly practiced in
New York and Chicago. In 1877
left good practice in Chicago and
went out lecturing, but | had small
success. had ideas, but no reputa.
tion. Scoyille Is developing the theory
of hereditary insanity, which may have
an important bearing on this case.
Insanity runs in my family. Ny ia.
ther had two sisters and a nephew and
niece in an insane asylum. He, him
sell, was monomanIac for twenty-five
years in the Oneida Community. He
could see no evil in that concern and
no good out of il, He thought Noyes
greater man than the Lord Jesus
Christ lie was rational enough out.
side of the community idea, On that
he was lunatic. He would get greatly
excited in discussing that and look and
act like wild man. All this time he
was a good business man. He was
cashier of bank, and attended to bis
duties promptly and faithfully. 1t was
owing to his ianaticism and insanity
that got into the Oneida Community
when boy. Once under Noyes' inhn.
ence it was impossible to get away,
and ] fingered there in the greatest
distress six long weary years. | was
in the Community from 1860 to 1866
Since then | have known and cared
nothing for them. One Smith, whom
| knew there, has taken upon himself
to write on this case, and among other
silly and unimportant statements he
says: ~ was in the habit of connect
ing my name with the words premier
to England etc. These statements
are false, My father was q frequent
visitor at the Community; but never
resided there, He wanted to 60, but
my stepmother opposed it. | wish
this Oneida Community business to
pass into oblivion. Ny ox.wife has
been summoned by the prosecution,
Our marriage was premature. only
know her ten weeks and we were
married on ten hours notice. She
was poor girl. She was unfortunate,
and ! had no business to have married
her We were married in 1869, sepa.
rated in 1873, and divorced in 1874,
without issue. Was practicing law
then and we lived at hotels and board.
ing houses have known little about
her since 1873. | understand she
married well four years ago and is
living in Colorado. Ihave been strictly
virtuous six or seven years, | claim
to be n gentleman and n Christian. |
am a patriot. To-day suffer in bonds
as a patriot, Washington was a pa
triot. Grant was patriot. Washing
ton led the armies of the Revolution
through eight years of bloody war to
victory and glory and tho nation is
happy and prosperous. They raised
tho old war cry, "Rally Round the
Flag, Boys Rally Round the Flag"
and thousands of the choicest sons of
the Republic went forth to battle, to
vIctOry " ~ d,"th, Weehinatnn
and Grant, by their valor and success
IN war won the admiration of man.
kind. To day, | suffer in bonds as a
patriot, because / had tho inspiration
and nerve to unto a great political
party to the end that the nation might
be saved from another desolating war.
! do not pretend the war was immedi-
ate, but | do say, emphaticaly, that
the bitterness in the Republican party
last Spring, was deepening and deep.
oning, hour by hour, and that within
two or three years, or less, the nation
would have been ia civil war. In the
presence of death all hearts were
husheG, all contention ceased, For
weeks and weeks the heart and brain
of the nation centred on the sick man
at the White House. At last he went
the way OF all the flesh, and the nation
was a house of mourning To say /
have been misunderstood or villiied
by nearly the entire American press,
nay more, by nearly the entire Amed'
can people, is true statement
Referring TO the Oneida Community,
Guiteau says, notably. his mixing With
Oneida Noyes" FOR two years, was
the curse of my fathers lie, and for
six years lived under the despotism
be welded in the Oneida Community.
expressed my detcstation of Noyes.
| iam Then. nn.hav- Inhn II. NnNea