The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1882-01-26
TIE AssAssIE,s sPRlcH.

assassin Of 0srneld the privilege Of speak |
ing before the jury In his own behalf. A.
will probably be the last time be will be per. |
fore the
''Cheer from the crowd below
And leap from lea6ess tree"
we give the main points Of the hsrangue with
incidents and his bearing noted.
Upon entering the court room Guitesu
took his seat In the witness box, remxrking
rs he laid out his papers: 81 sit down be-
cause can speak better, not that am afraid
Of being shot. This shooting business il
getting played out"
At an intimstion from Judge Cox the pris-
oner carefully arranged his glasses and with
flourish began to read from manuscript rs
follows:
The prosecution prctcnds that am wick
| ed man. Mr.. ScovilIe aud the rest think am
lunatic, and presume you think am.
| Certainly l was lunstic on july ID when
cred on the President, and the American
people generally think l am. Can you imas-
inc any thing more insane than my going to
the depot and shooting the President Of the
United States? You are here to say whether
l was sane or insane ut the moment l fired
that ,hot. You have nothing to do with my
condition before or since that shot wat fired.
You must say by your verdict whether was
sane or insane ut the moment that shot was
fred. II you have any doubt Of my sanity
at ,hat moment, you must give me the bene-
1T Of that doubt and acquit; that IL, il you
have doubt whether fired that shot or was
the agent Of the Deity. II fred it on my
| own account, l was sale. Ii fired it sup
posing myself the agent OF the Deity, was
insane and you must acquit. This 10 the law
=, given In recent decision Of tn, New York
Court Of Appeals. 1t revolutionizes the old
rules and 10 grand step forward In the law
Of insanity. 1t is worthy Of this age Of rail-
roads, electricity aud telephones, and 1t well
comes from the progressive State Of New
York. have no hesitation in saying that 1t
is special providence in my favor and ask
this court and jury SO to consider 1t. Some
eminent people in America think me the
greatest man Of the age, and this feeling is
growing. They believe In my inspiration
and that Providence and have really saved
the Nation another war. My speech setting
forth in detail my defense was telegrsphed to
all the leading papers and published Monday
morning and now am permitted by His
Honor to deliver it to you.
Guiteau explained to the jury that his
speech opened with quotation from his
Christmas greeting to the American people
and in using it for the opening Of his speech
to the jury, be had neglected 10 cut out the
date, Christmas, 1881. After thanking his
counsel and paying very high compliment
to the zeal and ability which Scoville had
displayed, and whom he proposed soon TO re-
ward with very liberal fee, he extended his
grateful acknowledgements to the court, the
Jury, the officers and bailiffs, and last, but
not least, to the American press. The latter
were power that generally crushed man
when they got down on him. They had
been pretty heavy on the prisoner ut first,
but when they found out his motives they
changed their views and now they were
treating him very fairly.
With this introduction the prisoner took
up newspaper and proceeded to read to the
jury his published speech. 1.-THE speech in
full can be found on the first page of this is
sue OF the EAGLE l-ED.
i His manner, to the casual observer, seemed
completely elfpossessed, As usual, but be-
hind this este ntatious affectation of compos-
ure was intense feeling, which was only held
ia control through undoubted strength of
will. His excitement was betrayed by q
slight hectic flush on his usually colOrless
face, and by the unusual elaboration with
which he began, and for sometime continued
to speak. Whether this excitement was
from the merely sui CRITICAL effect upon his
emotions naturally incident to the occasion,
or whether it proceeded from the deeper and
more overpowering influence Of the true re-
alizxtion Of his position of almost convicted
murderer pleading for his life it was difficult
to divine. Whatever was the original char
acter OF the feeling it finally gained an ascend
ancy over his powers Of control and as he
reached this point in his speech: 81 have AL
WAYS served the Lord and whether live or
die'-he broke down completely. He quit
and tried TO choke down the rising lump in
his throat, but found it impossible to keep
back genuine sob and taking out his hand
kerchief he buried his face in 1t for = few
seconds. lie wiped his eyes and with a de-
termined effort started on again. He seemed
to recover his compOsure so quickly seine be-
lieved that the effort Was manufactured
His sister, Mrs. Scoyille, however, apparent
" thought otherwise. She was deeply af.
fec,ed aud wept aud sobbed bitterly for some
minutes.
L
| Alter this incident GuiteAu continued to
read, occasionally adding brief comments
upon the text. As he proceeded with the
reading all appearance OF nervousness grad
ually wore of and with the utmost compos-
ure and an JUNCTION that bordered upon the
iudicrous, the prisoner read on with An at
tempt ut every conceivable form of orator.
cal and dramatic effect. His description of
the tAkiug-of of the President was given
with striking effect. At times he closed his
eyes or turned them heayenward, waved his
| body back and forth, and sank his voice to a
whisper or raised to high treble. Al times
the intensity OF his utterances seemed to re.
act upon himself, but the effect was but tran
STORY and with the exception Of one instance
there WIS no indication Of breaking down.
At frequent intervals he paused to emphasize
some sentence or sentiment by repeating il
or commenting upouit.
At one time. pausing, he leaned towards
the jury and emphasizing with his head and
his hands said, with an attempt at great TO-
lemuity Of utterance:
II tell you, gentlemen, just as sure Is there
is God In heaven, II you harm hair OF my
head this Nation will 20 down in blood. You
can put my body in the grave, but there will
be day OF reckoning"
In the most natural manner imaginable !
Guiteau explained again that the reason he
did not take Garfield away two weeks before
he did was because he had no authority to
remove Mr.. Garfield. when the time |
came" he said in an airy tone, 81 removed
him gently and gracefully"
The jury may put my body in the ground, 1,
but my soul will go marching on. The slave
holders put John Browns body In the ground
but his soul goes marching on
Here he chanted most wierdiy one stznza |
of "John Browns Body" closing with
''Glory, Glory, Hallelujab," twice repeated.
Guiteau concluded his address ut lies and |
upon the announcement by Corkhill that
Judge Porter would be unable to spesk that
day, court adjourned until Monday.
4 miniature ship was built at the navy
yard in Washington, for the purpose of form
ing one of the ain features In the grand