Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-11-23
PREVENTING A cIvrL WAR.


party last spring was widening week
by week and | fOresaw a civil war
My inspiration was to remove the late
President at once and thereby close the
breach before it got so wide that moth.
ing but another heartrending and DESC
lating war could close it. The last
VIZ cost the nation a million of men
and a billion of money. The Lord
wanted to prevent repetition of this
desolation and inspired me to execute
His will. Why did He inspire ne in
preference to some one else Because
| had the brains and nerve probably to
do the work. The Lord does not EN-
ploy incompetent persons TO serve Him.
Hc uses the best material He can find.
No doubt there were thousands of Re-
publicans that felt as | did about Gen
eral Garfeld's wrecking the Republican
party last spring, and had they the
conception, the nerve, the brains and
the opportunity they would have re-
moved him. of all the world was the
only man who had the conception On
the trial of my case | propose to sum-
mon some of the leading politicians of
the Republican and Democratic parties;
also the leading New York and Wash
ington editors, to show the political
situation and the perils which surround
ed the public last spring l propose
to go into this branch of my defense
exhaustively. Another reason the
Lord inspired me to remove the Presi-
dent in preference to some one else is
because He wished to circulate my
theological work The Truth This
book was written to save souls and not
tor money, and the Lord in circulating
the book is after souls"
GUITEAU ON INSANITY
Guiteau next speaks of the witnesses
summoned for his defense and says:
Mr.. Scoville is developing theory of
insanity. This, he says, may have an
important bearing. Insanity runs in
my family. My father had two sisters
and a nephew and a niece in an insane
asylum. He himself was monomani-
ac for twenty-five years on the Oneida
Community. He could see no evil in
that concern and no good out of it. He
thought Noyes a greater man than the
Lord Jesus Christ 1t was owing to
his fanaticism that got into the Onei-
da Community. Once under Noycs'
influence it was impossible to get
away, and | fingered there in great
distress for six long and weary years.
l was in the Community from 1850 to
1866. Since then have known and
cared nothing for them" He goes on
to speak of Noves as a fugitive on Bri-
tish soil and charges him with crimes
and misdemeanors at Oneida. He says
he has been in Jail since July 2 and has
twice been shot at, but the Lord kept
him harmless. He says he does not
wish his lawyers to work for nothing
and appeals to the public ct large to
send money for his defense He con-
tinues: Certain politicians seem per-
fcctly willing to fatten at the public
expense on my inspiration, but they
pretend to be horrified oat of their
senses by the late Presidents removal,
and want nothing to do with me. They
say | am 'dastardly assassin The
word assassin CRATES on the mind, and
yet some people delight in using it.
Why am | an assassin any more than
a man who shot another during The
war? Thousands of brave boys on
both sides were shot dead during the
war, but no one thinks of talking about
an assassination. There was homi-
eide, l. e., man killed But in my
case the doctors killed the late Presi-
dent and not me, so that there is not
even a homicide in my case. The
President was simply shot and wound
ed by an insane man. The man was
insane in law, because it was Gods act
and not his" Guiteau then takes up
his married life and speaks of it
my ex-wife has been summoned by
the prosecution. Our marriage was
premature. | only knew her ten weeks
and we were married on ten hours no.
tice. She was poor girl. She had
been unfortunate, and had no busi-
ness to have married her. We were
married in 1860, separated in 1878 and
divorced in 1874, without issue; was
practlcng law then, and we lived at
hotels and boarding houses. | know
little about her since 1873. j under
stand that she married well four years
ago and is living in Colorado. l have
been strictly .yirtuous for six or seven
years claim to be gentleman and
q Christian"
GUITEAU AS A PATRIOT.
81 am patriot. To-day | suffer in
bonds as a patriot. Washington was
a patriot. Grant was a patriot.
Washington led the armies of the Rev
olution through eight years of bloody
war to victory and glory. Grant led
the armies of the Union to victory and
glory, and to-day the nation is Eappy
and prosperous. They raised the old
war cry, Rally round the flag, rally
round the flag and thousands of the
choicest sons of the republic went forth
to battIe-to victory or death. Wash
ington and Grant by their valor and
success in war won the admiration of
mankind. To-day | suffer in boHds as
a patriot because | had the inspiration
and nerve to unite great political par
ty to the end that the nation might be
saved another desOlating war. l do not
pretend war was immediate, but do
say emphatically that the bitterness in
the Republican party last spring was
ii n hnnr hnnr
and that within two or three years, or
less, the nation would have been in
civil war In the presence of death all
hearts were hushed contention ceased,
for weeks and weeks the heart and
brain of the nation centered on the sick
man at the White House. AT last he
went the way of all flesh. The nation
was house of mourning. To say |
have been misunderstood and villifed