Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1882-02-09
THE GJrITEAU TRIAL.

Davidge. and that his remarks against him Da-
vdgc) were based upon that. The prisoner
had found out, however, that he was mistaken
and that Davidge was hRh-tOned Christian
gentleman aud u sound lawyer. and he desired
to withdraw anything he might have said
against him. lie was wrong on Da-
Xmldgei but right on C3rR and ,o, Mr.
by the evidence OF j. w Gutcau and other
witnesses for the defense the fallacy Of Mr..
scoyillc's theory that the prisoner was an i'm
beetle. Davidge passed 10 the examination of
the prisoner himself, his appearance on the
stand what he had said, and what capacity of
intellect he had shown proving, he said, con.
clusivcy that what had gone before had all
been a sham and hollow fraud. Scoville had
dlHted upon his morality, and had asserted
that lack OF intellect was his failing. On the
contrary, ne mad shown upon the stand won
dcrful memory logic reason and intellectual
ability. Likewise, MS the defense had claimed
for him virtue aud morality, the prosecution
had availed themselves of their right to show
the contrary, and what had been the result?
He had been shown 10 be such II monster
OF corruption dirt, dcpravity and wicked
%s n% shudder eonngur iOo Mr Dan On
vldge sklllfully, and with marked effect, re-
viewed that portion Of the testimony bearing
upon the prisoners moral character, as evinced
In his past life. " All this time" said the coun-
sci, no one accused him of insanity. In the
estimation of his friends and his family, he
was sane enough for ali transactions OF life;
but when his hand is red with blood, and out
ragged law claims him as u sacrifice on tho altar
of Justice we first hear of insanity" He al
ludcd briefly to the testimony of Mrs. Dunmire,
the divorced wife of the prisoner. The prose
cution were dcbarrcd from entering upon
those condolences which exist between husband
and wife. The defense could have done so,
but they did not Mrs. Dunmire did not hest
tate, said Dayidge, 10 testify cmphatcally
that he was a sane man. Commenting on
the testimony of DR. Spit2ka Daydgc said
that, Notwithstanding some of his remarkable
statements, Spitzka never denied the prison
cr's legal responsibility. Accepting all his
evidence even Spltzka brought the prisoner
within the reach of law and punishment.
Never before had so many men of eminencc
appeared upon trial of this character. The
Treasury had been opened 10 secure the at
tendance of witnesses; more than twenty cx-
pertS had been summoned for the defense,
many of them men whose names were known
In every household. They came here they
watched the prisoner. They listened TO his
evidence, and what was the RESULT With two
exceptions, they vanished from before the
light of evidence, like clouds before the wind,
and not one of them could come upon the
stand and swear thut this man was legally in
sane. They met and compared notes, and could
not TESTIFY but To his sanity. Now" continued
Mr.. DnVidgc, what has been the result of all
this evidence? This alleged fool has grown
before YOU 10 man of more than ordinary i'm
tellect. We have uncovered his moral nature.
We have shown him 10 be- i'm religion u hypo-
critic; at law a pettlfoggcr; In all things a
swindler; dcnizon of jails and u depraved
and wicked wretch" In answer to the prison
er's claim of Divine inspiration, Davidge read
with impressive eject from the first chapter
OF the EpiStlc OF james, thirteenth tn fifteenth
verses, Inclusive, ns follows: Let no man
say, when he is tempted, | am tempted of God,
for God cannot be tempted with evil neither
tempted when he il drawn away of his own lust
and cnticed. Then when lust hath conceived,
IL bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it
Is finished, bringeth forth death" After
disposlng of the insanity and inspiration theo-
ries Mr. DaNdgc continued: There is not
an element i'm this case thar removes 1t from
the category so carefully provided against in
the courts. Here was Il daring, audaciOus boy,
who In the Oneida Community gave way to u
life of lawlcss vice; later, ~ man, Il thcocrat,
who would oVerturn all law and churchcs
later, when he bOastcd himself to be of the
firm of Jesus Christ a Cos You see the legit-
mate outcome of his Wicked cgotisn. II is
just ~ Legitimate and logical to find the true
explanation of this crime in the same traits of
inordinnte vanity, desire of uotoriety and
reckless cgotism. A | conceive IL, the only
theory of his crime h this: He conceived the
idea of this monstrous crime, believing that
others were as wicked as himself, and that
those who would be benefited by il would in
some way interposc To save him from the
darnning consequences of his most heinous
crime Mr. Davidgc concluded his remarks
without peroration, and the Court adjourned.
GUIrEAU opened the proceedings on the 18th
by announcing that he had received about
$4,000 worth of checks on the preceding day.
Some of them, he thought, were worthless,
and many were no doubt good. He requested
those who were sending checks to him to for
ward only good ones, and make them payable
20 his order. Upon the motion to allow the
prisoner to address the jury Judge Cox said
that while he should he 10th to deny to any
man the proper opportunity to be heard, even
represented by counsel, In this case 1t was
certain the prisoner would abuse the privi-
lege, as he had done all through the trial,
and that what he would say would be
highly improper To go before the jury.
| He should therefore deny him the privilege.
His counsel could, IL they thought
proper, read such portions of his manuscript
IA they considered suitable. Guiteau pro-
| tested that he appeared rs his own counsel,
| ana claimed the right, as an American citizen,
/ to be heard In his own defense. Finding that
Let the record show that ! appear here as
! my own counsel and that take exception TO
your ruling, Judge Cox. shall appeal to the
American people. and they Will overrule you,
and you wifi go down to future ages with a
! black stain on your name" Mr.. Reed then
addressed the jury. He complimented
them upon the seriousness and solemnity
which had characterized them during
! the trial. Contrasting the mercy OF
the savior toward those inflicted with
Se c M E Hanr h fnq ' s
Reed then commented upon the evidence, and
said II did not require nm expert To pronounce
the prisoner insane; The jury had seen him
| day after day shutiliug in before them, and
| his CONDITION was patrnt - all Continuing
in this strain, Mr. Reed said that, in his opn
| ION, II this poor creature was sent to al
| ~
six months. These experts" continued the
! speaker, "do not swear To facts for none but
| the Deity can know what there is in the braI
! of n man. They swear only to opinion, and
! you hayea notable instance how far from the
| facts the opinions of most learned doctors
may lead In the sad case of the late President. Il
! would be a shame To send a man To the gallow,
on the opinion of doctors" Abiding To the
! structures of Mr.. DaYidge upon the course OF
! certain members of Guitcuu's family in stick
| ing to the prisoner when they should have en-
him of, Mr.. Reed said that il was in eVidenc,
| mat, SIX years before, Mrs. ScoNlle consid
cred her brother mental wreck and should
she desert hm' now that he was on trial 70
| his life, she would bc unworthy the name %
sister referring TO the difficulty experienced
by the defense in securing witnesses, Mr.
Reed said the jury could have no idea how
| knew Ihey would rather listen to the cry o
"crucify him than come and tell what the!
knew 10 save the poor man from the galows
| All the testimony they had been able To secur,
! for the deinmsn Mns a Nnritnhln Gnd.snnd