Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1882-02-10
The Assassin Guiteau.

On Saturday last Judge Cox pronounced
sentence of death on the assassin of Presi
dent Garfield in the following very inn
pressive language:
You have been convicted Of a crime so terri
BILE in its circumstances. and so far reaching In
its results, that it has drawn upon you the hor-
ror of the whole world and the excavations OF
your countrymen. The excitement produced
by such an offence made it no easy task to secure
for you fair and impartial trial but you
have had the power of the United States treas
ury and of the government in your service TO
protect your person from violence and to pro-
.ure evidence from all parts of the country.
You have had as fair and impartial a jury as
.ver assembled in court of justice. lon
lave been defended by counsel with IA zeal and
devotion that merit the highest enconiums,
nd certainly have done my best to secure
, fair presentation of your defence. Notwth
landing all this you have been found guilty
would have been Il comfort TO many people
f the verdict of the jury had established the
,ct that your act Was that of an irresponsible
nan. 1t would have left the people the satisfy
ingibelief that the crime ofpolitlca assassination
Was something entirely foreig ca 10 institutions
md civilization of our country but the resu |
has denied them that comfort. The countr,
=" Ill dCltpl II i.tIt titl tual ~ ihS N'h "
committed; and the court will have to deal
with it with the highest penalty known 10 tb
criminal code, to serve as an example to others.
Your career has been so extraordinary thai
people might well, at times, have doubted
YOUR sanity. But one cannot bat believe thar
when the crime was committed, you thoroughly
understood the nature of the crime and its CON
sequences Guiteau-l was acting as God :
man |, and that you had moral sense and con-
science enough to recognize the moral in'qult,
of such an act. PriSoner-That's II matter o.
opinion. Your own testimony shows that
you recoiled with horror from The idea. You
say that you PRAYED againS, it, You SAY that
YOU thong ht it ght be prevented, This shows
that your conscience warned You against it,
but by the wretched sophiStry of your own
mind, you worked yourself up against the
protest of your own conscience. What motive
could have induced YOU TO this act must he a
matter of conjecture. Probably men will think
that some fanaticism or morbid desire foI
self-exaltaton was the real inspiration for the
act Your own testimony seems 10 cont'overt
the theories OF your counsel. | believe, that
you were driven against your will by an in
sane impulse to commit the act but your testl-
none, showed that yeu deliberately resolves
| TO do it, and that a deliberate ana misguided
will was the sole impulse. This may s.em in
sanity to some persons, but the law looks upon
| it as wilful crime. You will have due oppor-
tunity of having any error, | may have COM
mitted during the course of the trial passed
upon by the court in banc; but meanwhile ii Is
necessary for me to pronounce the sentence Of
the law that you be taken hence 10 the con-
mon Jail of the District, from whence you came.
| and there be kept in confinement, and on Fri
day, the 30th day of June, 1882, you be taket
to the place prepared for the execution, within
the walls of std Jail, and there, between the
hours of II NJ and P. NJ. you be hanged b!
the neck until you are dead, and HAY the Lord
have mercy your soul.