given him by yourself was really what he
purchased the pistol with?

_Answer_. I knew Guiteau slightly; I saw him for the first time
a few days after the inauguration. He wanted a consulate, and
asked me to give him a letter to Secretary Blaine. I refused, on
the ground that I didn't know him. Afterwards he wanted me to lend
him twenty-five dollars, and I declined. I never loaned him a
dollar in the world. If I had, I should not feel that I was guilty
of trying to kill the President. On the principle that one would
hold the man guilty who had innocently loaned the money with which
he bought the pistol, you might convict the tailor who made his
clothes. If he had had no clothes he would not have gone to the
depot naked, and the crime would not have been committed. It is
hard enough for the man who did lend him the money to lose that,
without losing his reputation besides. Nothing can exceed the
utter absurdity of what has been said upon this subject.

_Question_. How did Guiteau impress you and what have you remembered,
Colonel, of his efforts to reply to your lectures?

_Answer_. I do not know that Guiteau impressed me in any way. He
appeared like most other folks in search of a place or employment.
I suppose he was in need. He talked about the same as other people,
and claimed that I ought to help him because he was from Chicago.
The second time he came to see me he said that he hoped I had no
prejudice against him on account of what he had said about me. I
told him that I never knew he had said anything against me. I
suppose now that he referred to what he had said in his lectures.
He went about the country replying to me. I have seen one or two
of his lectures. He used about the same arguments that Mr. Black
uses in his reply to my article in the _North American Review_,
and denounced me in about the same terms. He is undoubtedly a man
who firmly believes in the Old Testament, and has no doubt concerning
the New. I understand that he puts in most of his time now reading
the Bible and rebuking people who use profane language in his
presence.

_Question_. You most certainly do not see any foundation for the
accusations of preachers like Sunderland, Newman and Power, _et
al_, that the teaching of a secular liberalism has had anything to
do with the shaping of Guiteau's character or the actions of his
vagabond life or the inciting to his murderous deeds?

_Answer_. I do not think that the se