Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1882-02-07

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Judge Cox-"Stand MP. Have you
alything to say why sentence should
not now be pronounced upon you?"
Prisoner then arose, pale, but with lips
compressed and desperate determination
stamped upon his features. In low
and deliberate tone he began, but soon
his manner became wild and violent,
and with pounding upon the table he
delivered himself Of the following har-
rnguc: IL am not guilty of the charge
set forth in the indictment. 1t was
Gods act, not mine, and God will take
care Of 1t; aud don't let the American
people forget it, He will take care of
it; and every officer of this Government,
from the executive down TO that of mar
shall, taking in every man on that jury
and every member of, this bench, will
pay for it; aud the American nation will.
roll in blood If my body goes into The
ground, and lam hung. The Jews put
the dcspised Galilean into the grave.
For time they triumphed. but at the
destruction Of Jerusalem, forty years
afterwards, the Almighty got even with
them. ] am not afraid of death. am
here AS Gods man; kill me tomorrow
If you want. / am Gods man, and /
have been from the start"
Judge Cox then proceeded to pass SEN
tence, addressing theprisoner as follows:
"You have been convicted of crime so
terrible in all Its circumstances, and so
far-reachlng that it has drawn upon you
the horror of the whole world and the
excavations Of your eountrymen. The
excltementproduccfl by suchan offence
made II no easy task to secure for you a
fair and impartial trial, but you have
had the power Of the Uuited States
Treasury and Government in your SER
vice to protect your person from violence
and procure evidence from all parts of
the country. You have had rs fair and
Impartial jury as ever assembled in a
court of justice. You have been defend
ed by counsel with a zeal and devotion
.that merits the highest encomiums, and
certainly have done my best to secure
fair presentation of your defence. Not
withstanding all this you have been found
guilty. 1t would have been comfort to
many people if the verdict of the jury
had established the fact that your act
was that Of an irresponsible man. 1t
would have left people satisfied in the
belief that the crime Of political assassin
alton was something entirely foreign to
the institutions and civilization of our
country0 But the result has denied
them that comfort. The country will nc
cept it as fact that crime can be com
United, and the court will have to deal
with it with the highest penalty known
to the criminal code, to serve as an
example to others. Your career has been
so extraordinary that people might well
at times have doubted your sanity. But
one cannot but believe that when the
crime was committed you thoroughly
understood the nature of the crime and
its consequences (Guiteau--"I was acting
as Gods maryland that you had moral
sense and conscience enough to Iecog-
rize the moral iniquity of such m act.
(The prisoner-"That's matter of opin-
ion.") Your testimony shows that you
recoiled with horror from the idea. You
say that you prayed against it. You say
that you thought II might be prevented.
This shows that your conscience warned
you against it. But by the wicked sOph-
istry of your own mind you worked
yourself up against the protest of your
own conscience, What motive could
have induced YOU to do this act must be
matter Of conjecture, p Probably men
will think that some political fanat-
icism or morbid desire for sclf-cxaltation
was the real inspiration for tho act.
Your own testimony seems to controvcrt
the theories of your counsel. They have
maintained and thought, honestly. l.
believe, that you were driven against
your own will by an insane impulse to
commit the act, hut your testimony
showed that you deliberately resolved to
do II, and that deliberate and misgui1-
ed will was the sole impulse. This may
seem insanity to some persons, but The
law looks upon II MS willtukcrime. You
will have due opportunity OF having any
errors mny have committed during the
course Of this trial passed upon by the
court In banc, but meanwhile II is neces-
sary for me TO prOnouce the sentence of
the law, that you be taken hence 10 the
common Jail of the District from whence
you came. and there be kept IN conhne-
ment, and on Friday, the 30th dry of
June, 1882, you be taken to the place Of
execution within the walls Of said Jail,
and there. between the hours Of y NJ.
and 2 p. NJ, YOU b. hanged by the neck
until you are dead, and may the Lord
have me roy on your soul ~