Daily Republican., 1881-11-19
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Sketches from the Gutseau Trial
A Weak PrOseruitOP-Mr. RIasue
as u WftDess-sCenes ana Incl
dents Of the Firat Day.
From .ur Regular Correspondent.

| y rum ~uf heH Correspondent.
wASHISGTON., u. {. Nov. 19Lh. 1881.
| | have this hour returned from the
G"iteau trial, and will give you my
impressions while they are fresh. The
court room was so deDsely crowded that
| could not at first see the prisoner, but,
pressing with the bar, ] secured
seat from which had an excellent view
AS took my seat, heard sharp dis
| tlnct voice say: Il want the Court to
| know that ] do not come here on nv
| hands and knee as a criminal, but az a
| representative OF the Deity Looking in
the direction Of the voice, | SAW pale,
thin, excited, gesnculing man, it was
Guiteau. Soon the door Of the witness
room was opened, and all eyes were fix
ed on the well known form and features
OF James g. Blaine, He was conducted
TO seat within the bar. Colonel Cork.
hill now arose to open the case for the
| prosecution. If the reader has seen u
verbatim report, presume he has felt
regret and shame that the United
States, IN so important a case, in which
the word ofcounsel will be read in every
civilized Ionyue. should have been 50
lrcompet"ntly and weakly represented
| 1he address was a verbose, ram bling,
| irrelevant harlngue ahont tine late war,
the ASSASSINATION of Lincoln. Our form
OF government, and 1t abouudcil in sOph-
"morlca' II 'ghtS and hackueyed plat
tudes all calculated to confuse the Jury
as ~ their dulN and mystlfy them as 10
the crlminaity Of the criminal. Con-
slderlnG the cause and the occasion, SO
.h r..,.t,, ,1
been crowded into so brisf "A time.
W hen the counsel sat down, | thought
a sigh OF relief came from IA disguised
court and bar. have no personal i'll
feeling toward Col. Corkhill, but, il
something is not done to rebuff the
intrusion ofSnch low grade mt,tlocrity
INTO responsible Position in THIS Coun-
try, the public legal service will be in
uaLEer OF Inanitlon. Owing to his so
cial standing and connections here, the
clfy press speak iiatteringly of his fail
ur", but the press outside Of Washing
ton Is, Tree from social rmbIrra- smrnt.
ana can serve God and man by
telling the truth. | can now see why
the Government would not entrust the
Star Route cases To him, bu. | cannot
understand now sane Government
entrusted him with anything.
| Mr.. Blaine was now called To the
witness stand. The clerk was proceed.
ing TO administer the oath with the
Bible, but Mr.. Blaine whispered his
preference for the other way, and was
sworn with his right hand elevated and
without Kissing the book. A chair
was offered him, but he preferred to
testify standing. He detailed the
incidents of the morning, the hour, and
the moments proceeding and following
the assassination But little was added
to the tragic history with which the
public is familiar, but it was ex ceeding.
y interesting to hear the story from
the distinguished witness. After Mr..
Blaine had concluded his testimony
direct, Mr.. Scoville, the brother.in law
and counsel for Guiteau, arose to cross
examine Elm. With arms folded
across his chest, and with perfect poise
and composure, but not without de.
ference to the witness, he questioned the
Mr.. Blaine with great skill and direct
| ness.
His object was to elicit from distin.
guished authority, a history of the
cause and effect OF the bitter dissensions
within the Republican party at the
time of the assassination, and to i'm
press the jury with the idea that those
dissensions were calculated TO throw
unsound and loosely pivoted minds off
their balance, thus shifting the odium
of Guiteau's offence to this supposed
uiterior cause. Mr.. Blaine answered
the questions relative to politics within
his party with apparent reluctance, and
with much adroitness and wit. When
the cross-exanination was over, Mr..
Blaine bowling to the Judge, and shak-
ing hands with the clerk who had ad.
n.inistersd the oath, left the room.
believe that Guiteau is insane, but
not to the degree of irresponsibility OF
murder, and my opinion has not been
formed from what l have seen, more
than from his assertion that he was a
lawyer a politician and a theologian.
The vanity of those three professions is
too much for even a strong mind.