Guiteau's Confession

" I have nol used the words 'assnssination or 'assassiu' in this work. These word grate on the mimi anid produce a bad feel ing. I think of Gen. Garfield's comlitiot .¦is ;i removal and not as an BMsssinatloo My Idea glmply stated was to remove a easllyas poasible Mr. JamM A. Oarlield. : quietandgood natured citlzenof Oblo, wl tem i lorarily occupied the posltlonoj Pres) (leut of the United States, and substituto in bis place Mr. Ofaester A. Arthur, of New York, a dlstlngulshed and highly estimable gentleman. .Mr. Garfletd l Intended t ([uictly remove to Paradise (which la agrta Improvetnent on this world), while Mr Arthur sared the Republlc.'1 Hesays: " addressed a letter to President Garlield ah( to Secretary Blaine sume time in Harch, should say, calling their attention to ui; services during the canvass and to my earlj suggestion to Oen. GUröald at Mentor, il October and also in January, touching the Austrian mission. 1 haard itothiog abou the Austrian mission uutil I noticed in the paper tliat Win, Walter Pheips, of New Jersey, had been givun the mission, and o course that ended it. 1 then sought the l'aris Coosollhip. I spoke to Oen. Logai abotf it, and be (aW that he wouïd Speaï t Oen. (arlield and with Secretary Blaine He told me that he did speak to Gen. Garlield, and that Qen. (iariiuld agreed toleave it willi Secivtaiy Hlainc. I saw Mr. lilaim alioiit it sevcral linies during the deadhiek in the Señale, and Mr. ISlainc said tliatthcy had not gol lo that vet. lle was vcryclevel al lliat 1 1 il ie. I sim! well with lulu am willi Gen. Cailield, am! I had even raaSOl lo expert Ihat Ihev inlcuded, us toOB as the) gol to n, toglveiH Uium. Mr. Walker, tin present ('ohmiI, as trom New STork, anc had been appolnted by -Mr. Huyes twoyears ago upon the recommeudatlon of ex-Secre tary Evarts, and I Jid not feel that Mr Walker had any claim Upon Gen. (arlick for the office, as the uien who did the busineas ilnriutr the canvass ought tobe remembered. And l have an impression decidedly that at this time Gen. Garlield and Mr Blaine feit us 1 did. Well, EoaUedal thi White House to see Garlield about it (aftei Gen. Logan had .-poken to hiin and Be liad agreed to leave the matter to Secretan Blaine), but 1 was nnable to see the President. I only called the President's attention to this matter cnce.and that was within two or three days after I reaehed Washington. I gave the President mv speech eutitletl, 'Garticld against Hancock,' which ] delivered in New York in August, 180. ] marked at the head of the speech these words : 'Paris Consulsbip,' which wen written in pencil, and then drew a line down to my name, connecting the words 'Paris consulship' witn my name, so that the l'resident would reinember what 1 wanted. This was the only time that I had any personal conversation with the President on my havinjj the Paris consulship. He took the speech and ran his eye over it, and ti"jre wr other people preaaim around liim and I left him in the act oi reading my speech, I went into his room through the Private Secretary's room and thereïsawMr. Morton, Minister of France and Gen. Tyner and two or three other gentlemen of that character. They knew me and I was cleverly received, especially by Mr. Morton. He asked me about my healtlihow I wasgetting along, etc. This interview with the President occurred about the 7th or 8t'h of March. "Imay say here that after Mr. Blaine was appolnted Seretary of State I had aot nitich expectation that I was to get the Austrian mission, because I expected that it was to begiven to one of the Blaine men; but I did think and I did feel that I had a right to press my application for the Paris consulship in view of my having sarrendered any supposed right I might have haü in reference to the Austrian mission on account of having called Gen. Garlield's attention to the Austrian mission in October and also in January. I abandoned the idea of obtaining the Austrian mission as soon as 1 saw that Mr. Blaine was appointei] Secretary of State, but Idid feel that I had a right to press my application for the Paria Consulship. During the beadlock in the Senate 1 wrote Secretary Blaine scveral notes. I called at the State Departmenl fipvpml timpR. luit " o ¦¦-¦¦". '". v.e!áu"uat i bad to by a brief note. I always addressed him familiarly as 'Secretary Blaine' or 'Mr. Blaine.' After the deadlock broke I saw Secretary Blaine at the State Department one day, and he said that he did not think that the President would remove Mr. Walker. This was the int intimation trom either the President or Seeretary Blaine that they did not intend to give me the Paris ( 'onstilship. I was surprises, and I said to Seeretary Blaine: 'I am going to see the President and try and induce him to remove Mr. Walker and give me the Paris Consulship.' 'Well, if you can, do so,' said Secretary Blaine. This is the last conversation I had with, and have not spoken to him on any subject siuce. A few daya aflcr I saw Seeretary Blaine I called at the White House to get the President's linal answerin referente to my getting the Paris CoosuUhip. I sent in my Oard and the doorkeeper eame back in a moment and said: 'Mr. Guileau, the President says it will be itnpossihle for him to see you to-day,' I therefore sent him a little note and told hini about the Paris consulship. My concept ion ot the iileu of removlng the President was this: Senator ('onkliug resigned on Monday, May 10, 1881., On the folio wing Wednesilay, i was inbed. I think I rclired about 8 o'clock. I feit depressed and perplexed on account of the political situation, andl retired much earlicr thiin usual. 1 telt wearicd in mimi and body, and I was In my bed aboul ü o'clock and I was thinking over the political situation, and the idea tla-lied tlirough my bratn that If the President was out of the way everything would go better. At lirt this was a mere impression. It Startled me, but the next morning it carne to me with renewed foroe, andl began to rad the papers with my eye on the possibility that the Prc.-ideiii would have to go and he morel read, the more 1 saw the bom[jlication of public afi'airs, the more I was uiprc.-seil with thf necessity of removing lim. This ihing .cniitinucd lor about two weeks. I kept readtng papen and kept being impressed and Che idea kept hearing ind hearing down upon me that the oniy Way tO nnite the Uvo tactions of the ReDUbican party and save the Kipublic from gong into tiie hands of the reliéis and Democrats was toquletly remove Um President. Pwo weeks alter I conceivcd the idea mv nlnil was thoroughly aettled on the inten,ion to remove tbe President. I then prelared myself. 1 snt to Boston for a copy f my book, 'The 'l'nitn,' and I spénl a week' in preuartng that, I cm out a para[r&pb and a 1 i 1 1 1 - and I u ord hcre and thcre, and added one or tWO ncw ehapters, hul ,.n,e new Ideas In it. and I greatly ImjproT¦d it. I knew that it would probably have i large sale on account of the notoricty thai he ad of removing the President would five me, and I wished the book to go out o the public in proper shpc. That was one preparation toril. Another prepaiation was to think the matter all out in deail and to buy a revolver and to prepare n -elt for evccuting the iilea. Outtean bOUght the revolver bcfore tbe 'resident wciil tO Long liranc.li. I called il o Meara's, corner of Kilteentli and F . oppositethêTreisnry, about two or In. e Hreeks hi-lorc the reinoval. [tepued out to the show ca.se and aid, 'Let me look Itthat.' I saw it was a large liore, and he mllcd t out. 1 saw it marked 'Britlsh Buil Jog,' and saw that it was an uniisual revolver, and he said 'That will kill a luirse,' r something to thatcil'cct. Therc weretwo ust alike, excopt one had an vory handle or $10, and the other a plain wooden hanUoforf; I got the best ono for flO. 1 was very titnid In holding it. I knew nothing about weapons at all; I looked at it in iui unsophistieated way, snapped it, and I said, 'That will make agood noise,' and he said, 'Oh, yes, that will kill a horsej'he said, 'I never want abullct like that In me.' I said, 'Perhaps I may get that some of these days.' Three-or fon r days afterward I stepped in there and selected the revolver with the vory handle and gol a box of cartridges and a little penknife, and he said he would give me the entire parchase for $10. 1 did not have the money when I flrst went in; Igot it t rom a gentleman in the interim. He loaded the revolver aud suid, 'Put that right into your pocket.' Said I, 'Is there any law here against earrying a revolver?' He said, 'Yes, there is, but they don't cnforce it except against drunken people.' 'Where can I shoot tliisV'savs I. He says, 'Well, yon can go down to the foot of Seventeenth Street and lire it oft' into the river.' In the course of two or three days (I remember it was the Saturday night after I bought it) I went down about 7 o'clock in the evening and shot it off twice, that ia, I shot off ten cartridges. At the rlrst shot I was about ten feet from a sapling three inches in diameter, that was stuck into the mud, and I pulled and struck the sapling, and it trembled like a leaf and it made a fearful holfciw; I was terribly excited at the noise and power of the weapon ; tbougbt I, that is a terrible weapon;' it sounded like a little caimon ; it startled me. I fired ten shots, and they went off with tmneudous ellVct every time; it made a terrilic noise. Une or two men came around luMiing the report, and on the way baek I Dottoed a colorad roman and several other people. 'Did you hear that noise?' They said, 'Oh yes ; it made a terrible noise.' I went down agajn the Saturday morning that I Iqtendéd to remove the President When lic went to Long Braneh and Mrs. Qarfield deterred me. I got up about 4:30 that morningand 1 went rfght down to the same place. I got down there about five o'clock. It was a bright, splendld morning I remeinber, aud I shot it ofl using ten cartridges. It made a terrible noise, as usual. Those are theouly times that I have practiced with a revolver, I then took it to the house and wiped it nicely and took the cartridges and rubbed them oft', and I loaded it aud put it into my drawer in my room, and it was in that condition when I used it.on the President. I took great pains; put it in my coat and wrapped it up nicely, so that no moisturecould get to the powder in order that it would be in a nice conditicm when I wanted to use it. I took itout several times and carried it in my hip poaket; but it was not tired off after that until I used it on the President on Saturday morning, July 2." In bringing bis autobiography to an end Guiteau says : "And now I speak of two matters strictly personal, First- I am looking for a wife, and see no objection to mentioning It here. I want an elegant Chrlgtlan lady of wealth, under.30, belongiugtoa first-class tamily. Any such lady can address me in the utmost conüdence. My inother died when I was only seven, and I have (always feit it a great privation to havo no motlier. If my mothcr had lived I never should have got into the Oneida Community, and my life, no doubt, would have been happier every way. Nearly three years after I left the community I was unIbrtunately married. At last I made upmy mimi that I would sever the bonds, and I was divorced in 1874. I am fond of female society, and I judge the ladies are of me, and I should be delighted to flnd my mate." "The second" subject In which he de9ires to take the public into hts confidence refers to the Pre8ideucy. "For twenty years," he writes, "I have had an idea that I should be President. I had the Idea when I lived in the üneida Community, and it has never left me. When I left Boston for New York, in June, 1880, I remember distinctly I feit that I was on my way to the White House. I had this feeling all through the canvass last fall iu New York, although I mentioned it to only two persons. My idea is that 1 sball be nominated and elected as Lincoln and Garfield were - that is, by the act of God. If I were President 1 should seek to give the nation a lirst-class administration in (vtiv respect; I want nothing sectional or crooked around me. My object would be to unify the entire American people and to make them happy, prosperous and God-fearing."