Nebraska advertiser., 1882-02-09
Guiteau's Sentence.

UHilkt AHNh wv bliO IllNOllNl lNldilAl
up. Have you anything to say why
sentence should not DO passed upon
your
Guiteau (still sitting)--I ask your
honor to postpone the sentence rs long
as possible.
Judge Cox Stand up. Have you
to say why sentence should
not be pronounced upon you?
THE PRISONER SPEAKS.
The prisoner then arose, pale, but
with lips compressed and desperate de-
termination stamped upon his features.
In u low and deliberate tone he began,
but soon his manner became wild and
violent. Pounding upon his table he
delivered himself of the following ha-
rangue:
81 am not guilty Of The charges set
forth in the Indictment II was Gods
act. not mine. and God will take care of
it, and don't let the American people
forget it, lie will take care of it, and
every officer Of this government, from
the executive down to that Of the
marshal. taking in every man on that
jury, and every member of this bench,
will pay for ii, and the American ma
ton will roll IN blood, if my body goes
into the ground and | Am hung. The
Jews put the despi'ed Galilean in the
grave. For the time they triumphed.
but at the destruction Of Jerusalem,
forty years afterward. the Almighty
got even with them. | am not afraid
Of death. ! am here as Gods man; kill
-
man, and | have been from the start -
PASSING SENTENCE.
Judge Cox then proceeded to pass
sentence, addressing the prisoner as
follows:
"You have been convicted Of il crime
so terrible in It's circumstances and SO
! far-reaching in its results, that it has
drawn upon YOU the horror Of the
whole world and the eXecration OF your
countrymcn The excitement produced
| by such an offence made il no easy task
to secure you a fair and impartial trial,
but you have had the power of the
United States treasury and of the gov
eminent IN your service To protect your
person from violence and to procure
evidence from all parts of the country.
Gou have had as fair and impartial a
jury as ever assembled in court OF
Justice You have been defended by
counsel with "a zeal and devotion that
merits the highest encumium. and
certainly have done my best To secure
a fair presentation of your defense.
notwithstanding all this, you have
beeu found guilty. 1t would be Il
comfort To many people if the verdict
of the jury had established the fact thai
| your act was that of an irresponsible
man. IL would have left the people
under belief that the crime of political
assassination was entirely foreign t.
The constitution and construction OF
our country. This result has denied
them that comfort. The country viii
accept il us Il fact that crime can 1T
committed, and the court will have t.
deal with It with the highest penalt,
known To the criminal code TO serve a.
an example to others. Your career ha!
been so extraordinary that the peopl,
might we'll at times have doubted YOU
sanity, but We cannot bat believe tia
when the crime WAS committed Vol
thoroughly understood the nature o
the crime AMI its consequence lGuiteal
? II was acting as Gods man. - anC
that you had moral sense and con
science enough 10 recognize the mora
lnlqulty of such an act. Prisoner
That's "a matter of question: You
own testimony shows that you recuile,
with horror from it. You say that you
prayed against it You say that vol
thought 1t might be prevented. Thi
shows that your conscience warned YOU
against it, but by the wrptched sophis
try of your own mind YOU wurke,
Yourself up against the protest of yuu
own conscience. What motive coul,
nave induced You To this act must be
matter of mere conjecture. Probabl,
men will think that some fanaticisl
or morbid desire for self-eXaltation wa
the real inspiration for the act You
own testimony seems To cOntrOvert tn
theories of your counsel They hav
maintained the thought, honestly be
heve, that YOU was driven against you
! VIII by an insane impulse. The testi
nony showed that YOU deliberately re
solved to do it, and that the deliberat,
and disguised will was some impulse
This may seem insanityto some people
: but the law looks upon it rs wilifu
crime. You will have an opportunit,
of having amy errors | may have com
united during the course of the tria
passed Won by the court, but mean
while II Is necessary for me to pro
nounce the sentence of the law. tina
You be taken to the common Jail in tn,
District, from whence You came, an,
there be kept in confinement, and OF
Friday, the 30th day of June, 1882, yo,
be taken to the place prepared for You
execution, within the walls of said iail
and there, between the hours OF ~ nm,