Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-07
A TERRIBLE ARRAIGNMENT.
The Second Hypothetical Question
PrOpOunded to Witnesses In IhG
Gu1teau Case.

Suppose that in addition to the foregoing
1t is shown this man went from place to
place leaving unpaid board bills behind him;
that he borrowed money on false representa-
tions, using the names of prominent men as
references without their knowledge or con-
sent to secure money; that he abandoned
his practice Of the profession of law, as he
said 1t did not pay, and went to lecturing
on theological subjects in imitation Of
prominent evangelists who, he said, had
made money; that while he was PROCESSING
religion and a church member he was guilty
OF deception and lasciviousness; that in the
character of a Christian gentleman he
travelled through the country borrowing
money and contracting Indebtedness for his
personal support which he seldom II ever
paid, though profuse in promises, evasions
and misrepresentation; that he pub
lished a book called "Trutb,n a large
portion of which was stolen from
book published many years before, called
the "Berean;" that he represented and sold
this book, "Truth," +" as his own literary pro-
6uction and ideas; that, falling in this, he
returned to the practice of law, and col
lected money for clients, which he retained:
that he associated himself with the Young
Mems Christian Association, had his letters
addressed in their care, and used his reIa.
tions with them as passport to secure con-
1dence, which he grossly abused: that he
fraudulentlY obtained money by Furnishing
an oroide watch and passing 1t off for gold,
and boasted of 1t; that he declared he would
secure notorietV by good or evil, even II he
had to Kill some prominent man and initiate
Wilkes Booth; that so far back as 1872 he
took part In the Greeley campaign, de-
claring that he expected by so doing to
s. cure the Chinese mission; that in order to
procure a divorce from his wife, who
had labored for him and sent money
to him for his support, although
he was at the time lawyer and officer of
the court, he yet deliberately, in accordance
with his own statement, committed adul-
terry with a prostitute and appeared as a
witness against himself in the divorce pro-
ceedings by which decree of divorce was
granted against him; that during his mar
ried life, while member of the church and
protesting religion, and engaging in the
public exercises of the church with which
be was connected, he got his wife to borrow
money from the pastor, and afterward was
accused of immoral conduct and vicious
and dishonest practices, and he admitted
tire truth Of the accusation; that he went
again into politics because neither the law
nor theology would pay; that be used each
and all the schemes he undertook which
have been presented as evidences of his
insanity, for the purpose Of dishonesty
obtaining money; that during the |
political campaign of 1880 he |
wrote speech which was delivered but |
once; that on this speech and his so called |
services in the campaign he claimed and |
asked for an important foreign appoint |
ment, and for that purpose came to Wash |
ingtOn; that Immediately before coming to
Washington he was getting a precarious |
subsistence in New York by soliciting life /
insurance; that in order to get to Washington |
he borrowed $40 and arrived IN Washington |
without funds; that he stopped at the Eb- |
bett House one day and left without paying |
his bill; that he went from one boarding |
house TO another in Washington, leaving the |
board bills unpaid in each, and falsely rep |
resenting that he was expecting money and |
would soon psy; that he borrowed SIS from |
a friend, stating that he wanted money to |
pay a board bill, but really used It |
to purchase a pistol with which |
to shoot the President of the |
United States; that he boarded at a respect |
able house in the city of Washington for |
more than five weeks, leaving it only two |
days before The shooting, and only then be-
cause the landlady demanded payment for
board, which he promised to pay in a few |
days, but which was never paid; that during |
this time he was on friendly relations with |
his fellow bOarders, converting with them |
daily at the table upon religious and general
topics, attending church, reporting and dis
cussing sermons with the pastor, as well as
Gn6 I6NlslOQ u bu6 new Testament ana IEG |
situation as represented by the Senatorial
contest at Albany, and exhibiting nothing
unusual in his manners, conduct or CONVEX
sstion; that while stopping at the house
he followed the President on at least |
two occasions for the purpose of shooting |
him, once watching him from Lafayette
Park, but seeing him ride out with several
friends desisted from shooting him; that |
once he followed him to the depot, but,
seeing a sick wife leaning on his arm, |
refrained from shooting on that occasion,
and that during all this time he never men
toned the subject of inspiration, or that he
had any extraordinary relation with the
Deity, or had any divine commission to
perform; that he went to the Riggs House
the day before the shooting, and left that
board bill unpaid; that, falling to secure
the offices he sought and disappointed in
the expectations which ne had frequently |
said he confidently entertained, he followed |
the President from place to place, seeking
the opportunity to shoot him, Gnd, finally,
learning that the President was to go to
Long Branch on certain day, he went to
the railway station to waylay him, and there,
stealthily approaching him from behind,
trescherouslY murdered him by shooting
him in the back; that, arrested and charged
with this crime, he justified it as
patriotic act, and claimed that
it was political necessity, and
the blacklist ingrasitude by going back
on men who made him that by removing
the President he took but the life of one
man, which cemented the Republican party
and prevented another war which might
have cost thousands of lives, as our last war
did, and that the prominent men connected
with the Republican party whom he sup
posed would be benefte1 by his crime would
protect him from the consequences of his
act that when he learned that these men
had expressed their adherence of his crime
he appeared to be "struck dumb" and In
"great mental agony" and after collecting
himself, he repeatedly used the words,
"Most astounding !" and exclaimed, "What
does it mean / would have staked my life
that they would defend me" and again re-
peated the words, ''Most astounding" and
that shortly thereafter he, for the first
time, used the words or expressed the idea
Of 'inspiration" in referring TO bis crime |
and that only since that time has he ex-
claimed ''inspiration" as defense for the
murder Assuming all these propositions
to be true, l will ask you to state whether
In your opinion the person was sane or In
sane at the time of shooting President Gar
felds