The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1882-02-08
euITEAU SENTENCED.

IN making motions, &c., Col. Corkhill
said ''it is now my duty to ask for the
sentence Of the court" Judge Cox (to
the prisonef9 Stand upl Have you
anything 10 say why sentence should
not now Be pronounced against you ?
Guiseau [ssill sitting)--I ask your
honor to postpone sentence as long as
possible.
Judge Cox-Stand up. Have you
anything to say why the sentence
should not now be pronounced upon
yOuS
The prisoner then arose, pale, but
with compressed lips and a desperate
determination stamped upon his feat
ures. In low and deliberate tone he com.
menced, but soon bis manner became
wild and violent, and pounding upon
the table be delivered himself of the
following harangue II am not guilty
of the charge set forth in the indict.
ment. 1t was Gods act, not mine.
and God will take care of it and don't
let the American people forget it. He
will take care of it and every officer
of this government, from the executive
down to that marshal, taking in 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 ! am hung-the jews put the de.
spised Galilean into 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. I
am here as Gods man, kill me to.
morrow if you want. / am Gods
man and / have been from the sta r..
Judge Cox then proceeded to pass
sentence addre ,siDg the prisoner as fol.
lows: You have been convicted of a
crime so terrible in its circumstances
and so far reaching in its results, that
it has drawD upon you the horror of
the whole world and the execrations
of your countrymen. The excitement
produced by such an offense made it
no easy task to secure for YOU a fair
and impartial trial. but you have had
the power of the United States treas.
ury and the government in your ser.
vice to protect your person from VIC.
lence and to procure evidence from all
parts of the country. You have had
as fair and impartial a jury as ever
assembled in court Of Justice. You
have been defended By counsel with
zeal and devotion that merits the
highest encomiums, and l certainly
have done my best to secure
fair presentation of your defense. Not.
withstanding all this. you have been
found guilty. It would have been
comfort to many people if the verdict
of the jury had established the fact
that your act was that of an irrespon.
sible man. 1t would have left the
people the satisfying belief that the
crime of political assassination was
something entirely foreign to the insti.
tutions and civilizations of our
country, put the result has denied
them that comfort The country will
accept it as fact that the crime can
be committed and the court will have
to deal with it with the highest pen.
atty 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 nature of the crime and its conse.
quences (Guiteau-I was acting as
Gods MAINLAND that you had moral
sense and conscience enough to rec
ognize the moral iniquity Of such an
act.
PrisOner-That's a matter of Opin.
ion.
YODr own testimony shows that Won
recoiled with horror from the idea.
You say that you prayed against il. |
You say that you thought it might be
prevented. This shows that your cor.
science warned you against it, bat by
the wretched sophistry of your mind |
you worked yourself up against the
protest of your own conscience. What
motive could have induced you to this
act, must be matter of conjecture.
probably men will think that some
fanaticism or morbid desire for self.
exaltation was the real inspiration for
the act Your own testimony seems
10 cOntrovert the theories of your
counsel. They have maintained and
thought, honestly / believe, that YOU
we're driven against your will by an
insane impulse. The testimony
showed that you deliberately resolved
70 do IL nnd fhnf q dnI;Lnna4 -,