The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-02-08
TheSbadow of theGalloWs
GUITEAU SENTENCED TO DEATH.
His Last Speech-To be Hanged on
the 3Oth of June-Scene ia the

Court-HulSc.
WASHINGTON, February 4.-Aftcr the
| motion iurancw trial had been ~orcrrnltd,
Guitcau. who had been permitted to re-
sumo his sea: at the counsel table, called
out eff your Honor please, desire W
ask if there is any motion that olghs &c
make to rescue my rights" Srorilie tried
to prevent his speaking, but he rrtorteu
swell, / don't want any advantage taken
of me. / want to know how much uInc
I Shall have to prepare my appeal to the
Court in bauc.'
Scovillc: please kcepquiet, we havp't
| reached that yet"
Guitcau: with much eXcitement) II
won't keep quiet, I'm here and | propose
TO do my W taking
Judge Cox then Informed Scorille OF
the rules Of practice applicable t" 1.-THE nj
ing OF his exceptions, AMI after tins mat
ter had been arranged. Col. C"rkhii' re-
newed his motion, saying: 1t is now my
duty to ask for the sentence of the Court.
Judge Cox, to the prisoner: stand
up. Have you anything to say why sen,
tencc shall not now be passed upon your
Guiteau, still sitting: II ask your
Honor To postpone sentence rs long as
possible
anything TO say why sentence Should not
now be pronounced upon yon ~
The prisoner then arose, pale, but with
Inns compressed and desperate determina-
. ton stamped upon his features, and in a
low and deliberate tone began, but soon
h,s manner became wild and violent, and
pounding upon the table he delivered
himself of the following harangue:
Il am not guilty Of the charge set forth
in the indictment; it was Gods act, not
! mine. and God will take care of it, and
! don't let the American people forget it.
! He will take care of it, n every officer
of this government from the Executive
down to that of marshal, taking in every
man on that jury and every membe OF
| this bench will pay for 1t, and the Amcrl-
can nation, Will roll in blood if my body
goes into the ground and | am hung
The Jews put the dcspised Galilean into
the grave. For L time they triumphed,
but at tho destruction of Jerusalem, forty
wears afterwards, Almighty God got eyer
with them. | am not afraid OF death. 1
am here as Gods man. Kill me to-mor-
row if YOU want, I am Gods man and 1
have been from the start
Judge Cox then proceeded to pass sen.
tcnce, addressing the prisoner rs follows
You have been convicted OF 3 crime sc
terrible in its circumstances, anu so TAI
reaching, that it has drawn upon you the
horror of the whole world and the eX'
ccratiOnS of your countrymen. The eX'
element produced by such an otlence
made it no easy task to secure for you .
fair and impartial trial, but you have had
the power OF the United States treasury
and government in your service to pro
tect your person from violence and to pro
cure evidence from all parts Of the coun.
try. You have had as fair and Impartial
A Jury us ever assembled in a Court O
Justice You have been defended by
counsel with zeal and devotion that mer'
it's the highest encomium, and | certainly
have done my best to secure a fair pre-
sentation OF your defence. Notwlth.
standing all this you have been founc
guilty.
1t would have been a comfort to many
people if the verdict of the jury had es.
tablished the fact that your act was thai
Of an irresponsible man. 1t wonld have
left the people the satisfying belief thai
the crime of political assassination was
something entirely foreign to the lnstltu.
tons and civilization Of our country. But
the result has denied them that comfort
The country will accept it as a fact thal
that crime can be committed, and the
Court will have to deal with it with tho
lllSltCSl DStltllN Nho"A W. SAS
.codc, to serve as an example tc others
Your career has been SO extraordinary
that the people might well at times have
doubted your sanity, but n cannot but
believe that when the crime WAS commit
ted YOU thoroughly understood the nature
OF the crime and its consequences, (Gul-
teau II was acting as Gods man. anC
that you had moral sense INT conscience
enough to recognize the moral equity o.
such an act. (The prisoner: "That's
matter Of o%pinion.") Your own tcsti.
mony shows that you recoiled with hor'
ror from the idea. You say that you
prayed against it. You say that YOU
thought it might he prevented. This
shows that your conscience warned you
against it, but by a wretched sopllistry o.
your W mind you worked yourself uE
against the protest of your W con.
science. What motive could have i'll,
duced you to this must be a matter o.
conjecture, probably men will think that
some political tanaticism or morbid dc.
sire for self-exalta!ion was the real in
SEPARATION for the act. Your own testi-
mony seems to controvert the theories Of
your counsel. They have maintained
and thought honestly. l believe, that you
were driven against your will by All IN.
sane impulse 10 commit the act, but your
testimony showed that you deliberately
resolved to do it, and that a deliberate
and misguided will was the sole impulse,
This may seem insanity to some persons,
but the law looks upon it as wiltul crime
You will have due opportunity of having
any errors l may have committed during
the course of The trial passed upon by
the Court ia banr, but meanwhile it is
necessary for me to pronounce the sen.
tence of the law, that you be taken hence
to the common Jail Of tho district from
whence you came, and there kept in con
fuement, and on Friday, the 30th day Of
June, 1882, you be taken to the place OF
execution, within the walls of the said
iail, and there between the hours Of II NJ
and . p. NJ. you be hanged by the neck
until you are dead, and may the Lord
have mercy On your soul"
During the reading Guiteau stood ap'
parentiy unmoved and with his gaze riv,
ctcd upon the Judge, but when the t1na
words were spoken he struck the table
violently and shouted, And may the
Lord have mercy on your soul. Tc
rather stand where 1 do than where thai
Jury does and where your Honor does
I'm not afraid to die. / stand here as
Gods man. God Almighty will curse
every man who has had a part in procur'
ing this unrlShteouS Verulct. NotnlhG
but good has come from Garfield's re-
moval, and that will be the verdict Of pos
terity. On my inspiration l don't care
snap for the verdict Of this corrupt gene
ration. I would rather a thousand times
be in my position than that of those wle
have bounded me to death. I shall
have a glorious fight to glory, but thai
miserable scoundrel, Corkhill, will have
a permanent job down below, where the
devil is preparing for him." After APP
parently talking himself out the prisoner
turned to his brother and without the
slightest trace of excitement conversed
for some minutes before being taken from