Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-01-17

had no power to prevent it. Ny free
agency was entirely destroyed was du-
ress. In law, any one IN
der duress is not responsible
for his acts. On this ground, ask you
to acquit me- How do we know you was
under duress My word for it. No one
else can know this fact but the Deity and
me. 1 know it; the Deity knows it, and
the Deity has taken special pains to thus
far protect me. If it be true absolutely
that Providence and saved the nation, why
should not 1 be hero and the equal of
Washington and Lincoln and Grant? Many
the nation. This trial has developed my
motive and inspiration and to-day the peo-
pie consider me patriot and a great man.
The prosecution have made great flourish
with their insane experts. The only insani-
ty in this case is what these experts call
transitory mania. g., the Abraham style
of insanity. There are thirty-eight cases
of Abrahamic Insanity in the Bible. e.,
of illegal killing, resulting from the pos
session of transitory mania by divine
authority. If single man on this jury has
the slightest doubt as to whether fired that
shot on personal occount, or as the agent of
the Deity, he is bound under the law to
give me the benefit of the doubt and
acquit me. The prosecution have attempted
to show by their paid experts that was not
suffering from transitory mania at the time
I fired on the President; but what do they
know about it? Absolutely nothing. Had
I plenty of money, could get fifty reputa-
BILE experts to swear I was insane absolutely
at that time l take no stock in the shape
of the head or the hang of the tongue, or
in the opinion of experts on either side of
this issue. I leave my justification to God
and the American people, and to-day, SIX
months after the shot was fired, the Deity
has repeatedly confirmed the act as indi-
| Gated by my experience as set forth In this
speech, and the American people are salts
fed to let this prosecution go by default,
and that is the way you will probably let
| it CO."
Guiteau then quotes in ertea,Ss a large
number of letters which he claims to have
received from the American people, ap-
proving his act, and gives extracts from the
prayers of a number of prominent clergy
men after Garfelds death, to show that in
their opinion it was Gods will that he should
| die.
The address closes with a eulogy on
Justice Cox, and the following:
In general, / am satisfied with your
honors in the proposed instructions, but I
would humbly suggest that the jury be
charged as follows:
! That if they believed it was right for me
| to remove the President, because 1 had
| special divine authority for SO doing, they
will acquit on the ground that was over
powered by the Deity. e., that was suf
ferjng from transitory mania. Your horror
has suggested that the law of jurisdiction
in this case may be different from what
some of the leading Washington lawyers
say it is. Should it be necessary to have
your honor pass, finally, on this issue, ex-
pect we shall find plenty of authority to
show that your honor has no jurisdiction.
am also of the opinion that the court in
banc will SO decide if necessary, and now,
gentleman, I must close Two months ago
you left your homes and loved ones to listen
to this case. I have no doubt but you have
given it your most solemn and prayerful at
tention, and that your verdict will
be ''not guilty." as charged in the
indictment, and now, gentlemen, I leave
this case with you. At the last great day you
and all men will stand in the presence of
the Deity, crying for mercy and justice. AS
you act here SO will be your final abode in
the great hereafter.
beg for your own sakes, and for the sake
of the American people, and for the sake of
generations yet unborn, that you let this case
alone. You cannot afford to touch it. Let
your verdict be, that it was the Deity's act,
not mine. When the President was shot
his Cabinet telegraphed to foreign nations
that it was the act of "a madmsu," and it
will be far better everyway that it be official
| ~ decided that it was the act of "mad-
man."