Morning journal and courier., 1882-01-13
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. THB ASSASSIAPS CRIME, A Glowing Word Picture
 of Its Enormity PRESENTED TO THE JURY. The Opening Argument By Attor-
 ney Davidge. GUlTEAU AS INS0LENT AS EEvR. Claiming the Right to Address
 the Jury.
GUlTEAU AS INS0LENT AS EEvR.
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.

The Arguments Begun-A Powerful Ad- dress by MT. Davidge-The Assassin's Crime Held Up i'm its Naked Horror The Defense's Plea of Insanity-A Sharp Discussion of the Prisoners
 Proposition to Address the Jury.
 WASHINGTON, Jan. 12.-Mr. Davidge began his speech to the jury promptly at 10 o'clock
 The court room was of course packed to overfowing. Rossi the tragedian, was among the audience. Mr. Davidge opened by briefly reviewing the legal aspects of the case, reading and commenting on the instruc- tions to the jury on the prayers of either side given by Judge Cox on Tuesday. The only question, he said, was that of insanity.' In the progress of the trial very many vague and general expressions have crept into the case. We have heard of crazy men, of men of their balance, of insane men, and hence it was necessary to apply to the court for clear and perspicuous definition as to what is insanity in a legal sense. The medical ex- perts have defined insanity from the stand point of medicine, and it was necessary to have it defined from the standpoint of law. Even if man be deficient in intel ligence it does not follows that he shall be permitted to commit murder with impunity. It takes one degree of intelligence for a man to make contract another to make will and another to do any other act. But when you come to crime, such crime as we have here, murder murder most foul and unnatural-the law requires very slight degree of intelligence indeed. It was, gentlemen, in order to make this question perfectly clear, and to abridge your labors, so far as to prevent your being led astray by the introduction of irrelevant matter, that the prosecution asked the court to state succinctly what constitutes malice and insanity in legal intent. The court has spoken, and it has not spoken in any vague or ambiguous language. |. It has laid down, too, instructions for your guidance, which l will now read" MT. Davidge then read Judge Cox's instructions. Commenting on the first and second instructions Mir. Davidge said: "That is, gentlemen of the jury, if any human being has any degree of intelh- gence which enables him to understand the act he is doing, and if he has sense enough to know, and does know. that that act is in violation of the law of the land or wrong, then no frenzy, no passion, will af- ford any excuse whatever; then no desire of moral nature will constitute any excuse whatever then no be- lief however profound, though a man through reason and reflection may reach the conclusion that the act is the suggestion of and commended by Almighty God, will af- ford aAy excuse whatever for the perpetra- tion of crime. His sole and exclusive excuse is disease of the mind, obliterating the sense of the difference between right and wrong, and absolutely controlling the judgment and reason of the party. Thus you will see that the degree of reason necessary to make 8 man responsible is very limited indeed vii a who has been styled 8 crank, or off his bal ance, or even partially insane, and yet may be abundantly responsible for crime. What is the act committed here? Murder, murder, murder, by lying in wait-what is common ly called assassination. How great a degree of intelligence does it take to inform man that that is wrong? What degree of in- telligence was necessary to make 8 lawyer know that it was in violation of the law of the land to kill? What degree of intelli- gence was necessary to make religious man to know that the everlasting edict had gone forth from Almighty God: Thou shalt commit no murder ?" He then argued that the prisoner had that de- gree of intelligence, legal knowledge and moral sense which rendered him responsible for his acts. But Guiteau's crime was more than murder. It was murder of the head of the nation. There was a traditional divinity that hedged about king, but we relied upon the true greatness of the American Presiden- cy to inspire that respect which would hedge it about with real divinity, stronger to pro- tect than that claimed by unchosen heredi- tary rulers. The murdered President was besides surrounded by 8 people who loved him with personal affection, founded upon his great ability and many virtues. Through all these broke the wretch at the bar, with no more character than a vulture and no more heart than wolf, and struck down in mere wantonness probably the most sincerely beloved of all Christian rulers. Lying in his couch night after night the assassin bored over the factlonal fight in his party and conceived the idea of extin- gushing the little life which in his wicked brain divided the factions, thinking to batte down this thin partition and make himself the great benefactor of his own faction the Stalwarts. Hell born, and not of divine origin, was such conception. The daring of the act, which the criminal claimed was proof of1his inspiration, was no more than that which had characterized most of the enter prises of his long course of depravity. "Oh!" shouted Guiteau, tell something about William Winter Davis, friend of yours" The idea, continued the lawyer, came to the assassin in the dark. It could not have en. tered the wretch's head during the sunshine.
 "The idea came from the Lord," bawled Guiteau.
 III Soh1luu1LS COuLSol ohO"OA A1o" 1nO do- sassin delighted in his foul eonceit and gave the President a last chance to present him with the Paris consulship before he carried his threat into execution. When his borrow ing habits were alluded to Guiteau cried tHow many due bills have you got out, Day. idge. was in the Lords hands and am still. I will be protected.'
 The assassin, continued MT. Davidge, feared the mob after the execution of his crime. He did not fear the law or its pun ishment He thought, 'T will break through the meshes of the law as if they were thread, but fear that terrible thing, the mob" It is enough to make an American blush that any man should shrink in this land from Q fear of the mob at the same time that he de- fled the law. Yet if this wretch had enter tained the same fear of the law that he did of the mob on that fatal day tha murdarad