The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-01-26
Mr.. scoville concluded bis address which


for the prosecution lied when he told the jury
that diagram representing Guieau's head as
symmetrical was correct. He averred that tho
list of homicides committed by lunatics which
was introduced by DR.. Gray had been pre-
pared for this case, and he read from the off
cial tables of the Utica asylum to show that
four cases, which had direct bearing on the
case, had been omitted from DIR.
Gray's tables. In conclusion, he argued
that the crime OF lunatic must not be pun
ished in the same way as that of sane man
He asserted that capital punishment had do.
mOralizlng influence, and, in his opinion,
crimes would be diminished by its abolition.
As on tho previous day there wero several al
tercations between Scovile and Corkhill. There
was some applause in the court room when
MIR. Scovile concluded his speech. Guteau
tried to strike one of the officers in charge
of him while leaving tho courtroom at the re-
cess. He stopped TO speak to Mr.. Scovillc,
when the bailiff attempted to push him along.
He grew angry and when the pressure was re-
newed he drew back his hands, locked as they
ysse ESFS q the h'nSS% oss4 another snS tried ocs9 tS
caught his hands and he was then quickly
hustled ont. Judge Cox consented to let Gui-
teau deliver his speech to the jury, saying that
some of his brethren had very serious doubts
whether in capital case the prs oner could bo
denied the right to address the jury. Guiteau
declared, when he gave out his speech for pub
lication, that the refusal to let him deliver it in
court would not be approved by Judge Cox's
associates. He said he would deliver the same
speech that he had already given to tho press,
but he wanted to wait until the next morning,
as his mind was not clear. Tho prosecution
Withdrew their objections to his speaking, AMI
Guiteau seemed Modified by what he called the
unexpected courtesy ofCorkhill.
tremendous crowd was present to heai
Guiteau speak in his own behalf OH the fifty.
first day of the trial. Upon entering the room
Guitcau took a seat III the witness box, remark
ing, as he laid ont his papers: 81 sit down
because l can speak better; not that / am
afraid of being shot. This shooting business
is getting played out" At an intimation from
Judge Cox the prisoner carefully arranged his
glasses, and, with a flourish, began to read
from manuscript as follows: The prosecution
pretend that am wicked man. Mr. Scovilo
and Mr.. Reed think l am lunatic and l pre-
sumo You think | am. | certainly was luna
tic on July 2, when fired on tho President
and the American people generally, and pre-
sumo you think l was. Can you imagine any
thing more insane than my going to that depot
and shooting the President of the United States
You are here to say whether l was sane or
insane at the moment | fired that shot. You
have nothing to do with my condition before
or since that shot was fired You must say by
your verdict sane or insane at the moment
the shot was fired. If you have any doubt OF
my sanity at the moment you must give me
the bcueht of that doubt and acquit me. That
is, if YOU have any doubt whether | fired That
shot or the agent of the Deity. II fired it
on my own account ! was sane. If | fired it
supposing myself the agent of the Deity | was
Insane and you must acQuit. This is the law
as given i'll the recent decision of the New
York court of appeals. 1t rcvoutionizes the
old rules and is grand step forward i'll the
law of insanity. 1t is worthy this age of rail
| roads, electricity and telephones, and it well
comes from the progressive State of New York
| m II hpt q al
providence in my favor, and l ask this court
and jury so to consider it. Some of the best
people of America think me the greatest man
Of this 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 telcgraphed Sunday to all the leading
papers and published Monday morning,
and now l am permitted by his honor
to deliver it to you. Only l here de-
sire to express my Indebtedness to the Ameri
can press for the able and careful way they
have reported this case. The American press
is vast engine They generally bring down
their man when they open upon him. They
opened upon me with all their batteries last
July because they did not know my motive and
inspiration. n Nv that this trial has developed
my motive and inspiration their bitterness has
gone. Some editors are double-headed. They
curse you to-day and bless you tomorrow, a.
they suppose that public opinion is for or
against you, which shows the low grade OF their
humanity. l desire to thank my brother and
sister and my counsel, ScOvllle and Reed, for
their valuable services. l intend to give my
counsel ample fees, especially Scoville. He is
stanch man and hero, and commend him
to the great Northwest as fine lawyer and q
Christian gentleman We have differed as TO
this defense He has his theory and have
mine. l told him to work his theory as he
thought best, and he has done it in splendid
T nd i'm for
his slight experience as an advocate he showed
himself as a man of marked resources. In
other words, you cannot tell what is in
man until he has a chance Some
men never have chance, and go down in
obscurity. There are plenty of brains in this
| world Not every man has chance to de-
velop his brain. 1t is brain and opportunity
under Providence that makes a great man. |
return thanks 10 the marshal and his aids to
the superintendent of police and his force, t.
the warden of the jail and his keepers and TO
| General Ayrcs and his forces for services rem
dered me, ] return thanks to This honorable
court and bright jury for their long and
patient attention to this case. | am not here
| AZ wicked man or a lunAtic. / am here as a
patriot, and my speech is as follows: / read
from the New York Herald: The prisoner then
proceeded to read his speech az already pub
lished. In a declamatory manner he rolled
forth his sentences, holding the paper in one
hand and with the other gesticulating and en-
phasizing his utterances. The words Orally
round the nag, boys" he repeated in q sing
song tone, waving his arm i'll the air above his
head. "And for this / suffer in bonds as Il
patriot" he quocd, in an oratorical manner,
and then repeating the sentence he allowed
his voice to tremble so that the words
were nearly inaudible. The trembling in
his voice continued till he spoke about his
mother and declared that he had always been
"a lover of tho Lord" when he broke down
Completely and applyinn his handkerchief IN
his eyes, wiped away the tears which, naturally
or forced for the purpose of exciting sympa-
thy, coursed down his checks. However, he
Immediately recovered himself, and i'll his
usual tone of voice proceeded with his address
When he came to his description OF the at
tempts made upon his life by Mason and
Jones, he stood up for the purpose of the more
vividly pointing out to the jury the narrow es-
capes which he had had. with something OF
piile he held up his arm and showed the rent
made i'll his coat by the bullet fired by Jones
and made his old declaration that it was a
proof that the Lord was watching over him. A
laugh ran through the audience as the prisoner
read and reread his declaration that it would
be perfectly safe for him to walk the streets of
Washington or New York. Coming down to
the extracts from his mail he read them with
extreme JUNCTION, particularly the rhyming one
dated Philadelphia, New Years day, 1882,
which he read in a sng-song way, which
caused laugh among the audience. He evil
IDENTIFY enjoyed the structures upon the counsel
for the prosecution, and his pleased smile
was too much for the district attorney who
joined in the laugh which followed the reading
Of the extract. Reaching that portion Of the
speech where an abstract nom his ad-
dress to the American people is in
serted, he folded up the paper, took of
his glasses and squaring himself in his
chair proceeded to repeat the extract from
memory. In doing this he assumed his most