The examiner., 1882-02-11
THE SHADOW OF THE sCAFFOLD.
How Guiseau Keceivan His Sentence to be
 Hinged Gn June 80.


 | Oox's decision in thu application of Guiteau'e l counsel for a new trial. Guiteau came in
 quietly and took his seat at the trial table.
 Judge Cox refused the application for new
 trial, saying in effect that no significance was
 attached to the finding of tho newspaper in
 the room occupied bv the jury, as any friend ! of the prisoner could have put it there; that
 the affidavit of John ". Guiteau as to the auto-
 graphs of jurors found on the newspaper was of doubtful competency, ihasmuoe as his knowledge of theif writing must have been acdured specially for the purpose of qualify ing him as an affiant; that even w re it a.d- mitted that tho paper had been found in the jury-room with writing cn it actually done by iurors tie only effect of that would be to 1 raise & suspicion or 8 probable inference that the contents of the paper were brought to the notice ofthe jury, but that was suspicion and l an inference that might be repelled; that new evidence would be merely cumulative and would not affect the verdict. In conclusion, Judge Cox said: '' From all the papers pre- ssnted am unable to find any reason t9 graht
 Mr. Scoville-I would like to note an e3cep- | ton to the ruling of tho court.
 | Colonel Corkhill- Your honor it now be- | comes my duty
 . Mr. Scoville-One moment, please: would 1 like to file in due form the motion which I re- 1 ferred to yesterday.
 | Guiteau called out: eff your honor please, I desire to ask if there is any motion that ought to make to reserve my rights.'
 | MT. Scoville tried to prevent his speaking 1 but Guiteau was violent and uncomfortable. q am going to talk too,'' he shouted. q am here, and don't propose to leave this matter to you. l have my. opinionr! of you ss s lawyer. You have been doing well, but your theory is wrchg. Your theory is too small. You con- victed me with your jackass theories and con summated nonsense: don't propose to have your theory prevail. (To the bailiffs, who were endea1oring to suppress hi,n)--l will not be still for you nor for anybody else.' While Judge Cox was informing NIT. Scoville as to the rules of practice applicable to the wild abuse. " You keep your mouth still' he screamed. |" am doing this matter myself. You convicted me by your wild theory and con- summate asinine character all through'
 Colonel Corkhill-It is now my duty to ask for the sentence of the court.
 Judge Cox (to the prisoner)-Stand up Have you anything to say why sentence should not now be passed upon you :?
 Guiteau (stih sitting)-f ask your honor to postpone the sentence as loi1g as possible
 Judge Cox-Stand up HaYe you anything to say why sentence should not now be pro nOunced upon you
 The prisoner then arose. pale, but with lips compressed, and desperate resolution in his expression. In 8 low and deliberate tone he began, but soon his manner became wild and violent, and pounding upon tho table, he de- livered himself of the following harangue:
 ''I am not guilty of the charge set forth in the indictment. It was Gods act, not mine, and God will take care of it, and don't let the Ameri- can people forgetit. He will take care of it. and every officer of this government from the ex- ecutive down to that marshal, taking in every man on that jury and every member Of this bench, will pay for it; and the American nation will roll in blood if my body goes into the ground and 1 am hung
 s'The Jews put the despised Galilean into the grave. For the time they triumphed, but at hte destruction of Jerusalem, forty years after ward, the Almighty got even with them. I am Dot afraid of death. I am here as Gods man. fn- | voTo3 or1 [13c man, and have been from the start''
 Judge Cox then proceeded to pass sentence, addressing the prisoner as follows:
 "You have been convicted of crime go terri ble in it's circumstances and so far-reaching in it's results that it has drawn upon you the hor- TOT of the whole world and the execrations of your countrymen.
 '"The excitement produced by such an offense made 1t no easy task to secure for you fair and impartial trial, but you have had the power of the United States treasury and of the government in your service to protect your per son from violence, and to procure evidence from all parts of the country. You have had as fair and impartial jury as ever assembled in 8 court of justice. You have been defended by counsel with zeal and devotion that merits the highest encomium, and certainly have done my best to secure fair presentation of your defense. Notwithstanding all this you have been found guilty. It would have been comfort to many people if tho verdict of the jury had established the fact that your act was that of an irresponsible man. It would have left the people the satisfying belief that the crimc of political assassination was something entirely foreign to the institutions and civiliza- tion of our country; but the result has denied them that comfort. The country will accept it as fact that that crime can be committed, and the court will have to deal with it with the highest penalty known to the criminal code, to serve as an example to others Your career has been so extraordinary that people might we'll at times have doubted your sanity. But one cannot but believe that when the crime was committed you thoroughly understood the na- ture of the crime and it's consequences [Guiteau Il was acting as Gods man], and that you had moral sense and conscience enough to recog- nize the moral iniquity of such an act.''
 Prisoner-That's ma ter of opinion.
 tYour own testimony shows that you recoiled prayed against it. You say that you thought 1t might 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.
 s'What motive could have induced you to this act must be matter of conjecture. Probably men will think that some fanaticism or a morbid desire for self-exaltation the real inspir tion for tho act.
 'YOur own testimony seems to cOntrovert the theories of your counsel. They have main tained and thought honestly, I believe, that you were driven against your will by an insane impulse to commit the act, but your testimony showed that you deliberately resolved to do it. and that deliberate and misguided will was the sole impul-e. This may seem insanity to persons, but the law looks upon it as a willful crime.
 s'you will have due opportunity of having any errors may have committed during the course of tho trial passed upon by the court in banc; but meanwhile it is necessary for to pro- nounce the ntence of the law, that you be taken hence to the common jail of the District from whence you came, and there be kept in confinement and on Friday, the 30th day of June 1882, you be taken to the place prepared for the execution within the walls of said jail, and there, between the hours of 12 M and P. M., you be hanged by the neck until you are dead. and may the Lord have mercy on your soul"
 During the reading Guiteau stood apparently unmoved, and with his gaze riveted upon the judge, but Wt.en the final words were spoken he struck tue table violently and shouted:
 And may the Lord have mercy on your soul. I'd rather stand where I do than where that jury does. I'm not afraid to die. I stand here Gods man, and God Almighty wifi curse every man who has had part in procuring this unrighteous verdict Nothing but good has come from Garfiel l's removal, and that will be the verdict of posterity my insph ation. don't care snap-for the verdict of this genera tion. would rather thousand times be in my position than that of those who have bounded me to death. 1 shall have glorious flight to glory, but that miserable scoundrel Corkhill will have permanent job down below, where the devil is preparing for him.''
 The prisoner for some moments continued to shout his anathemas upon the court and coun- sel for the prosecution. In order to silence