St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1882-02-25
Hrs. ScOyille to Mrs. Garfield.

the following letter to Mrs. Garfield:
CHICAGO, February l..
| Mrs Lucretia Garfield. Cleveland, o.:
DEAR MADAM: Humbly address you, trust
ing YOU will not turn a deaf car even upon
/ despised Guitcaus sister.
All these weary months | have patiently
| waited until the time should come Tor me to
| speak; when, after the verdict. which be-
| leyca would be =. Not guilty, by reason of in
sanity" could say without shamcfacedncss:
Ny heart bleeds for you and the sainted
| dead"
My poor brother was not his own master
when he fired that shot. Forgive him; look
with compassion upon him and me.
have. connted the hours for the time when
I could boldly say to you, as | have sad from
the moment when the terrible news was
brought me on that dark day inJu!y: - He was
bralll-sick, dcudcd, crazy; forgive Tim, even
as Christ shall forgive us all.
Both our martyr II President and his fam ly,
having shown such an example OF Christian
fJrtitude and trust i'll the Most High as the
world may well revere. led me to nope that the
sense of wrong suffered would, when the truth
was shown, be tempered with that ineilt1ui
forg yrncss which is indeed Christi k.
All til Sc dreadful weeks OF the Presidents
SUIT .ng prayed that the Father above US all
would spare his lie. Day an night my be-
seeching cry went up: God save the Presl-
mt" | thought he could not DIE
When the y .Ople of the whole world called
nightly unto Him to interpose in his behalf
|
glory But al,is. the interest care Of Wife,
family and fr ends the prayers OF the people,
could not move the Ruler OF the Universe to
countcrmand the DEGREES of His all-Wl~e and
MYSTERIOUS Providence: :could not keepin his
poor despoied body his grandiy beautiful
soul.
of his family. of the Nation, of tn world, the
midnight bells were tollcd, the midnight cry
was heard: The President Is s dead
Tn Iulv when If was ronorted that the suffer
ing President was likely to recover, wrote a
letter to you stating the facts in nay brothers
life and every theory OF this case, thinking that
both yourself and the President would be glad
to know thar Il poor crazy man had done the
deed instead of the hardened wretch he was
painted. At the time it was reported the prcsl-
dent was interested in anything regarding the
terrible affair. that he even sad one day: "
wonder what that poor fellow would thlnk II
he knew that had forgiven him.? On. that L
might know from his own wife if that were
true. My heart, be still.
In Heaven we know. as we are known; the
sainted Garfield knows now that he " had tod9
it, and feel sure if he could speak he would
say: Forgive that dcluded man, even ASH
forgive him; safely keep. him from doing any
more harm, but forgive.
never sent the letter. The report came al
most Immediately that the President was
worse, and knew you would not wish to be
troubled with anything from Gustea1ls sister
] had hoped by waiting to come before you
with better showing-uindicdted so far as in
sanity is an excuse for crime, but my heart
burns within me, and, Notwithstanding that
unjust verdict and barbarOus sentence, must
speak. My poor brother shut away from the
world for mouths in a tomb-like cell; not q ray
of sunshine not blade of grass, not flower,
not d bird, not q friend to speak a kind word:
who is there to speak in his behalf, ii not his
heart-broken sister? Did L not speak, the very
stones would Cry out.
His sainted mother, the purest and nOblest
of women, that mother who gave her life for
his, who suffered torture for seven long years
because of his birth, until death made her
free: that father, tender and kind, but mis-
taken i'll his direction of the boy, would, if pos
sible, make their voices heard from beyond
the grave. Even, as | verify believe, would
the glorious Garfield cry out in horror at that
verdict. What of that verdict? Was it ac-
cording to truth. justice and mercy? Verify,
no.
had hoped to be able to cast myself at the
feet of Judge Cox: to be able, so long as l had
breath, to look up to him as the grand, the no.
bic, the just Judge, who could stand as firm as
the everlasting rocks for the weak and de-
fenseess against the whole world. But, alas,
my idol!
And that jury! God only knows how 1 had
trusted in their honesty and steadfastness. l
had watched their faces day by day, had seen
their eager absorbed, solemn interest when
my brother was reading his last address. When
he came to the recitation of those few lines of
the story: " John Browns body lies molder-
ing in the grave but his soul goes marching
along" commencing i'll low, sad melody OF
the song. breaking up and ending in the weird.
hysterical laugh, the awful laugh, of the i'll
sane, one could feel the silence. / thought,
surely it is enough; no power on earth can
prevail upon those men to say that poor luna,
tic, without revenge, without motive except
to obey what he deemed the will Of Cod com
mitted willful murder.
But they did. They must have reasoned as
some do, that it is good thing to hang u crazy
man. as an example to other crazy men,
Knowing him, understanding him. as claim,
better than any one else, assert and can prove
that my brother has always intended to do right
and live honestly: His shortcomings have been
those of an unbalanc3d. distracted brain, rath.
er than a bad heart. His heart has ever beer
kind and tender az that of q woman. But he
has been most unfortunate; he was neither
born right. reared right nor married right
Even with his defective organization, had he.
instead of being forced into the Oneida Com
munity, been allowed to obtain good educa-
ton, entered upon some practical business,
50 that his mind would not drift into vaga-
ries; and most important of all, had he, when
married, found in his wife a helpful, hon
est woman, he might have gone through
to its close, as did his father. But,
alasl his mother died; father married
a woman who disliked his children, and
Charles, the only one needing home with
them, was almost turned away from his faith
er's house; tender in years, weak in body and
mind; no one to guide him, no one to care Tor
litte), the boy drifted out into the cruel world
Everything went wrong with him. and now,
with sorrow unspt akablc,, | look upon the
wreck of what might have been.
Shall the true story of Charles Guiteaus life
ever be told, the world will see that he has
been more sinned against than SHINING. He
has never smoked, or drank, or gambled, or
lied or been profane, or been in any way
vicious. Detectives securing the country for
months have found. what? That he did not al
ways pay his board, that he borrowed Sl0d
from minister which he never returned that
he pawned watch for S25 that he sinned
against himself, and only himself, to give an
unworthy woman legal divorce. Little did ]
think the time would ever come when she, the
woman who could not say he had ever
wronged her, would travel across the conti-
nent to swear his life away. When he dis
missed the woman he had once loved, with his
blessing, was moved to tears. If ever my
poor brother proved that the blood OF q gem
tleman flows in his veins he proved4i it then.
Wreck though he is was proud of him.
l cannot close this letter without one word OF
explanation or excuse for the strange testimo-
ny of my brother, J. W. Guiteau. Ysry much