The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-02-11
THE GUlTEAU TRIAL.
The Final Scene Sentenced to be Hanged June
3Oth, l8S2.-The Assassin Replies to mis- Doom
I'm a Torrent of Curses

The Final SCene--Sentenced TO be Hanged June
Goth, l882..The Assassin Replies to mis- Doom
In q Torrent of Curses.
On Saturday last, Judge Cox having over
ruled Mr. Scoville's motion for u new trial IN
the GuItcau case, District Attorney CotkhilI
moved the court to pass sentence upon The
prisoner in accordance with the verdict
Judge Cox 90 the prisoner) Stand up
Have you anything to say why sentence should
not be pronounced?
Guiteau responded as follows;
| am not guilty of the charge set forth in the
indictment. Ii was Gods act, not mine, and
God will take care OF it. He will take care OF
it, and dOu'l let the American people forget IT,
lie will take care Of ii and every officer Ut tins
Government from the Executive down to that
marshal, taking III every man on the jury and
every member OF this Bench will pay for it;
and the American nation Will roll IN blood II
my body goes into the ground and am hung
| The Jews put the despised Galllean into the
grave. For the time they lrumphcd, tut al
the destruction of Jerusalem forty years after
ward 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, ana have been from the start
Judge Cox then proceed 10 pass sentence
addressing the prisoner as follows:
You nave been convicted OF crime so ter
riblc in It's circumstances and 50 iarreachlng
| IN its results that it has drawn upon you the
horror of the whole world and the excavations
Of your Countrymen.
The excitement produced by such an offence
made it no easy task to secure Ton you II fan
and impartial trlal, but you have had the pow
or of the United States Treasury and Of the
Government IN your service to protect your
person from violence and lo procure evidence
| from all parts OF the country. You have had
as fair and impartial Il jury as ever assembled
in court of justice. You have been aefenaed
| by counsel with zeal and devotion that mer
| its the highest encomium, and certainly have
done my best to secure Il iair presentation OF
your defence. Notwithstanding all this you
| have been found guilty 1t would have been
u comfort to many people il the verdict OF
the jury had established the fact that your
act was that of an irresponsible man
II would have left the people thu
satisfying belief that the crime Of political as
sasslnation was something entirely foreign tC
the institutions and civilization of our country
but the result has denied them that comfort
The country will accept it as fact that tina
have to deal with it with the highest penalty
known to the criminal code, to serve rs an eI
ample to others Your career has been so ex
traordinary that people might well at time,
have doubted your sanity. But one canno
but believe that when the crime was commit
ted you thoroughly understood the nature o
the crime and its onsequenCes-(Gi uiteau-
was acting as Gods NAM and tnat you haC
moral sense and conscience enough 10 rcCOg
Inize the moral iniquity Of such an act C'rls
Oncr-Thats Il matter OF Opinion) Your owl
testimony shows that you recoiled with horro
from the idea. You say that you prayed agains
Int. You say that you thought II might be pre-
vented. That shows that your consCienc
warned you against it, but by the wretChe,
sophlstry OF your own mind you worked your
self up against the protest OF your own con
science. What motive could have induced yo
To this act must be matter OF coniectur,
Probably men will think that some ianatIcisr
or morbid desire for seli.e1altaton was tn
real inspiration for the act Your own test
mony seems to conlrovert the theories of you
counsel They have maintained and though
honestly, | believe that you were drive
against your will by an insane impulse |
lcOmmit the act, but your testimony shove
that you deliberately resolved to do IL, and TIN
a deliberate and misguided will was the sol
impulse. This may seem insanity to som
persons, but the law looks upon 1t as a Wilt
crime. You will have due opportunity {
having any errors may have committed dul
ing the course of the trial passed upon by n
Court IN banc, but meantime il Is necessar
for me 10 pronounce the sentence Of the law
that you be taken hence TO tine common jail {
! the district from whence you came, and there
kept in confinement, and on Friday, the 30t
day OF June, 1882, you be taken to the plac
lprppared for the execution, within the walls
isaio iajl. and there. between the hours q 1