THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL

proceeded, amid breathless silence, to open the case on the part of the

prosecution. He said: Gentlemen of the jury, the duty you are called

upon to discharge is the most solemn which a man can by possibility have

to perform--it is to sit in judgment and to decide an issue on which

depends the life of a fellow human being who stands charged with the

highest crime for which a man can be arraigned before a worldly

tribunal. I am sure that I need not ask your most anxious and earnest

attention to such a case; but there is one thing I feel it incumbent on

me to urge upon you. The peculiar circumstances of this case have given

it a profound and painful interest throughout the whole country. There

is scarcely a man, perhaps, who has not come to some conclusion on the

issue which you are now to decide. All the details have been seized on

with eager avidity, and there is, perhaps, no one who is not more or

less acquainted with those details. Standing here as a minister of

justice; with no interest and no desire save that justice shall be done

impartially, I feel it incumbent on me to warn you not to allow any

preconceived opinion to operate on your judgment this day. Your

duty--your bounden duty--is to try this case according to the evidence

which shall be brought before you, and according to that alone. You must

discard from your minds anything that you may have read or heard, or any

opinion that you may have formed. If the evidence shall satisfy you of

the prisoner’s guilt, you will discharge your duty to society, to your

consciences, and to the oaths which you have taken, by fearlessly

pronouncing your verdict accordingly; but if the evidence fail to

produce a reasonable conviction of guilt in your minds, God forbid that

the scale of justice should be inclined against the prisoner by anything

of prejudice or preconceived opinion. My duty, gentlemen, will be a

simple one. It will be to lay before you the facts on which the

prosecution is based, and in doing so I must ask for your most patient

attention. They are of a somewhat complicated character, and they range

over a considerable period of time, so that it will be necessary not

merely to look to circumstances which are immediately connected with the

accusation, but to go back to matters of an antecedent date. I may

safely say, however, that, in my conscience, I believe there is not a

fact to which I am about to ask your patient attention which has not an

immediate and most important bearing on this case. The prisoner at the

bar, William Palmer, was by profession a medical practitioner, and he

carried on that profession in the town of Rugeley, in Staffordshire, for

several years. In later years, however, he became addicted to turf

pursuits, which gradually drew off his attention and weaned him from his

profession. Within the last two or three years he made over his business

to a person named Thirlby, formerly his assistant, who now carries it

on. In the course of his pursuits connected with the turf, Palmer became

intimate with the man whose death forms the subject of this inquiry--Mr.

John Parsons Cook.

Now, Mr. Cook was a young man of decent family, who originally had been

intended for the profession of the law. He was articled to a solicitor;

but after a time, inheriting some property, to the extent, I think, of

some £12,000 or £15,000, he abandoned the laborious profession of the

law, and betook himself also to the turf. He kept racehorses and betted

considerably; and in the course of his operations he became much

connected and familiarly intimate with the prisoner William Palmer. It

is for the murder of that Mr. John Parsons Cook that the prisoner stands

indicted to-day, the charge against him being that he took away that

man’s life by poison. It will be necessary to show you the circumstances

in which the prisoner Palmer was then placed, and the position in which

he stood relatively to the deceased Cook. It will be impossible

thoroughly to understand this case in all its bearings without those

circumstances being laid before you, and it will be necessary,

therefore, that I should go into them particularly. The case which, on

the part of the prosecution, I have to urge against Palmer is

this--that, being in desperate circumstances, with ruin, disgrace, and

punishment staring him in the face, which could only be averted by means

of money, he took advantage of his intimacy with Cook, when Cook had

become the winner of a considerable sum, to destroy him, in order to

obtain possession of his money. Out of the circumstances of Palmer at

that time arose, as we say, the motive which induced him to commit this

crime. If I show you upon evidence which can leave no reasonable doubt

in your minds that he committed that crime, motives become a matter of

secondary importance. Nevertheless, in inquiries of this kind, it is

natural and right to look to see what may have been the motives by which

a man has been induced to commit the crime charged against him; and if

we find strong motives, the more readily shall we be led to believe in

the probability of the crime having been committed; but if we find an

absence of motive the probability is the other way. In this case, the

motive will be matter for serious consideration; and inasmuch as the

circumstances out of which we say that the motive arose come first in

order of time, I will deal with them before I come to that which is the

more immediate subject matter of our inquiry. It seems to me that it

would be most convenient that I should follow the chronological order of

events, and I will therefore pursue that course. It appears that as

early as the year 1853 Palmer had got into difficulties, and that he

began to raise money upon bills. In 1854 his circumstances became worse,

and he was at that time indebted to different persons in a large sum of

money. He then had recourse to an expedient which it is important that I

should bring before you; but, as it will become necessary for me to

detail to you transactions involving fraud, and, what is worse, forgery,

I wish to make a few observations to you before I detail those

transactions.

Although I am anxious, where I feel it to be absolutely necessary for

the elucidation of the truth, that those circumstances should be brought

before you, I wish that they should not have more than their fair and

legitimate weight. You must not allow them to prejudice your minds

against the prisoner with reference to that which is the real matter of

inquiry. I cannot avoid bringing them forward; but I would anxiously

caution you and pray you not to allow any prejudice by reason of those

transactions to operate against the prisoner; for, though a man may be

guilty of fraud and forgery, it does not follow, therefore, that he is

guilty of murder.

Among the bills on which Palmer raised money in 1853 was one for £2,000,

which he had discounted by a person named Padwick. That bill bore the

acceptance of Sarah Palmer, the mother of the prisoner. She was, and is,

a woman of considerable property, and her acceptance being believed to

be genuine, was a security upon which money could readily be raised. The

prisoner forged that acceptance, and that was, if not the first, at all

events one of the earliest transactions of that nature by means of which

for a long period of time money was obtained by him upon bills, with his

mother’s acceptance forged by him. This shows how, when things came to a

climax and he found himself involved in a position of great peril and

emergency, he had recourse to a desperate expedient to avoid the

consequences which seemed inevitably to press upon him. He owed in 1854

a very large sum of money. On the 29th of September in that year his

wife died. He had effected an insurance upon her life for £13,000, and

the proceeds of that insurance were realised, and by means of them he

discharged some of his most pressing liabilities. In dealing with a

portion of these liabilities he employed a gentleman named Pratt, a

solicitor in London, who was in the habit of discounting bills. Mr.

Pratt received from him £8,000, and Mr. Wright, a solicitor of

Birmingham, received £5,000; and with those two sums £13,000 of debt was

disposed of; but that still left Palmer with considerable liabilities,

and among other things, the bill of £2,000, which was discounted by

Padwick, remained unpaid. In the course of the same year he effected an

insurance on his brother’s life, and upon the strength of that policy

Palmer proceeded to issue fresh bills, which were discounted by Pratt at

the rate of 60 per cent., who kept the policy as collateral security.

The bills which were discounted in the course of that year amounted in

the whole to £12,500. I find that there were two bills discounted as

early as June, 1854, which were held over from month to month. In March,

1855, two bills were discounted for £2,000 each, with the proceeds of

which Palmer bought two race-horses, called Nettle and Chicken. Those

bills were renewed in June, and one became due on the 28th of September,

and the other on the 2nd of October, when they were again renewed. The

result of the bill proceedings of the year was that in November, when

the Shrewsbury races took place, there were in Pratt’s hands one bill

for £2,000, due the 25th of October; another for £2,000, due the 27th of

October; two for the joint sum of £1,500, due on the 9th of November;

one for £1,000, due on the 30th of September; one for £2,000, due on the

1st January; one for £2,000, due on the 5th of January; and another for

£2,000, due on the 15th of January; making altogether £12,500. £1,000 of

this sum, however, he had contrived to pay off, so that there was due in

November, 1855, no less than £11,500, upon bills, every one of which

bore the forged acceptance of the prisoner’s mother.

Under these circumstances, a pressure naturally arose--the pressure of

£11,500 of liabilities, with not a shilling in the world to meet them,

and the still greater pressure resulting from a consciousness that the

moment when he could no longer go on and his mother was resorted to for

payment, the fact of those forgeries would at once become manifest, and

would bring upon him the peril of the law for the crime of forgery. The

prisoner’s brother died in August, 1855. His life had been insured, and

the policy for £13,000 had been assigned to the prisoner, who, of

course, expected that the proceeds of that insurance would pay off his

liabilities; but the office in which the insurance was effected declined

to pay, and consequently there was no assistance to be derived from that

source. Now, in these transactions to which I have referred, the

deceased John Parsons Cook had been to a certain extent concerned. It

seems that in May, 1855, Palmer was pressed to pay £500 to a person

named Serjeant. He had at that time in the hands of Palmer a balance

upon bill transactions of £310 to his credit, and he wanted Pratt to

advance the £190 necessary to make up £500. Pratt declined to do that,

except upon security; upon which Palmer offered him the acceptance of

Cook, representing him to be a man of substance. Accordingly the

acceptance of Cook for £200 was sent up, and upon that Pratt advanced

the money. When that bill for £200 became due, Palmer failed to provide

for it, and Cook had to meet it himself. In August of the same year, an

occurrence took place to which I must call your particular attention.

Palmer wrote to Pratt to say that he must have £1,000 by a day named.

Pratt declined to advance it without security; upon which Palmer offered

the security of Cook’s acceptance for £500. Pratt still declined to

advance the money without some more tangible security. Now Palmer

represented this as a transaction in which Cook required the money, and

it may be that such was the fact. I have no means of ascertaining how

that was; but I will give him the credit of supposing it to be true.

Pratt still declining to advance the money, Palmer proposed an

assignment by Cook of two racehorses, one called Polestar, which won the

Shrewsbury races, and another called Sirius. That assignment was

afterwards executed by Cook in favour of Pratt, and Cook, therefore, was

clearly entitled to the money which was raised upon that security, which

realised £375 in cash, and a wine warrant for £65. Palmer contrived,

however, that the money and wine warrant should be sent to him, and not

to Cook. Mr. Pratt sent down his cheque to Palmer in the country on a

stamp as the Act of Parliament required, and he availed himself of the

opportunity now offered by law of striking out the word “bearer” and

writing “order,” the effect of which was to necessitate the endorsement

of Cook on the back of the cheque.

It was not intended by Palmer that those proceeds should fall into

Cook’s hands, and accordingly he forged the name of John Parsons Cook on

the back of that cheque. Cook never received the money, and you will see

that, within ten days from the period when he came to his end, the bill

in respect to that transaction, which was at three months, would have

fallen due, when it must have become apparent that Palmer received the

money; and that, in order to obtain it, he had forged the endorsement of

Cook. I wish these were the only transactions in which Cook had been at

all mixed up with the prisoner Palmer; but there is another to which it

is necessary to refer. In September, 1855, Palmer’s brother having died,

and the proceeds of the insurance not having been realised, Palmer

induced a person named Bates to propose his life for insurance. Palmer

had succeeded in raising money upon previous policies, and I have no

doubt that he persuaded Cook to assist him in that transaction, so that,

by representing Bates as a man of wealth and substance, they might get a

policy on his life, by which policy, deposited as a collateral security,

they might obtain advances of money. Bates had been somewhat better off

in the world, but he had fallen into decay, and he had accepted

employment from Palmer as a sort of hanger-on in his stables. He was a

healthy young man; and, being in the company of Palmer and Cook at

Rugeley on the 5th of September, Palmer asked him to insure his life,

and produced the form of proposal to the office. Bates declined, but

Palmer pressed him, and Cook interposed and said, “You had better do it;

it will be for your benefit, and you’ll be quite safe with Palmer.” At

length they succeeded in persuading him to sign the proposal for no less

a sum than £25,000, Cook attesting the proposal, which Palmer filled in,

Palmer being referred to as medical attendant, and his former assistant,

Thirlby, as general referee. That proposal was sent up to the Solicitors

and General Insurance Office, and in the ensuing month--that office not

being disposed to effect the insurance--they sent up another for £10,000

to the Midland Office--on that same life. That proposal also failed, and

no money, therefore, could be obtained from that source. All these

circumstances are important, because they show the desperate straits in

which the prisoner at that time found himself.

The learned counsel then read a series of letters from Mr. Pratt to the

prisoner, all pressing upon the prisoner the importance of his meeting

the numerous bills which Pratt held, bearing the acceptance of Mrs.

Sarah Palmer; and these letters appeared to become more urgent when the

writer found that the insurance office refused to pay the £13,000 upon

the policy effected on the life of the prisoner’s brother, and which

Pratt held as collateral security. The letters were dated at intervals

between the 10th of September and the 18th of October, 1855.

On the 6th of November, two writs were issued by Pratt for £4,000, one

against Palmer and the other against his mother; and Pratt wrote on the

same day to say that he had sent the writs to Mr. Crabbe, but that they

were not to be served until he sent further instructions, and he

strongly urged Palmer to make immediate arrangements for meeting them,

and also to arrange for the bills for £1,500 due on the 9th of November.

Between the 10th and the 13th of November, Palmer succeeded in paying

£600; but on that day Pratt again wrote to him, urging him to raise

£1,000, at all events, to meet the bills due on the 9th. That being the

state of things at that time, we now come to the events connected with

Shrewsbury Races. Cook was the owner of a mare called Polestar, which

was entered for the Shrewsbury Handicap. She had been advantageously

weighted, and Cook, believing that the mare would win, betted largely

upon the event. The race was run upon the 13th of November--the very day

on which that last letter was written by Pratt, which would reach Palmer

on the 14th. The result of the race was that Polestar won, and that Cook

was entitled, in the first place, to the stakes, which amounted to £424,

_minus_ certain deductions, which left a net sum of £381 19s. His bets

had also been successful, and he won, upon the whole, a total sum of

£2,050. He had won also in the previous week, at Worcester, and I shall

show that at Shrewsbury he had in his pocket, besides the stakes and

the money which he would be entitled to receive at Tattersall’s, between

£700 and £800. The stakes he would receive through Mr. Weatherby, a

great racing agent in London, with whom he kept an account, and upon

whom he would draw; and, the race being run on a Tuesday, he would be

entitled on the ensuing Monday to receive his bets at Tattersall’s,

which amounted to £1,020.

Within a week from that time Mr. Cook died, and the important inquiry

which we have now to make is how he came by his death--whether by

natural causes or by the hand of man? and if the latter, by whose hand?

It is important, in the first place, that I should show you what was his

state of health when he went down to Shrewsbury. He was a young man, but

twenty-eight when he died. He was slightly disposed to a pulmonary

complaint, and, although delicate in that respect, he was in all other

respects a hale and hearty young man. He had been in the habit, from

time to time, especially with reference to his chest, of consulting a

physician in London--Dr. Savage, who saw him a fortnight before his

death. For four years he had occasionally consulted Dr. Savage, being at

that time a little anxious about the state of his throat, in which there

happened to be one or two slight eruptions. He had been taking mercury

for these eruptions, having mistaken the character of the complaint. Dr.

Savage at once saw that he had made a mistake, and desired him to

discontinue the use of mercury, substituting for it a course of tonics.

Mr. Cook’s health immediately began to improve; but, inasmuch as the new

course of treatment might have involved serious consequences in case Dr.

Savage had been mistaken in the diagnosis of the disease, he asked Cook

to look in upon him from time to time, and Cook had, as recently as

within a fortnight of his death, gone to call upon Dr. Savage. Dr.

Savage then examined his throat and whole system carefully, and he will

be prepared to tell you that at that time he had nothing on earth the

matter with him except a certain degree of thickening of the tonsils, or

some of the glands of the throat, to which anyone is liable, and there

was no symptom whatever of ulcerated sore-throat or anything of the

sort. Having then seen Dr. Savage, he went down to Shrewsbury Races, and

his horse won. After that he was somewhat excited, as a man might

naturally be under the circumstances of having won a considerable sum of

money, and he asked several friends to dine with him to celebrate the

event. They dined together at the Raven, the hotel where he was staying,

and had two or three bottles of wine, but there was no excess of any

sort, and no foundation for saying that Cook was the worse for liquor.

Indeed he was not addicted to excesses, but was, on the contrary, an

abstemious man on all occasions. He went to bed that night, and there

was nothing the matter with him. He got up the next day, and went again

on the course, as usual.

That night, Wednesday, the 14th November, a remarkable incident

happened, to which I beg to draw your attention. A friend of his, a Mr.

Fisher, and a Mr. Herring, were at Shrewsbury Races, and Fisher, who,

besides being a sporting man, was an agent for receiving winnings, and

who received Cook’s bets at the settling day at Tattersall’s, occupied

the room next to that occupied by Cook. Late in the evening Fisher went

into a room in which he found Palmer and Cook drinking brandy-and-water.

Cook gave him something to drink, and said to Palmer, “You’ll have some

more, won’t you?” Palmer replied, “Not unless you finish your glass.”

Cook said, “I’ll soon do that;” and he finished it at a gulp, leaving

only about a teaspoonful at the bottom of the glass. He had hardly

swallowed it, when he exclaimed, “Good God! there’s something in it, it

burns my throat.” Palmer immediately took up the glass, and drinking

what remained, said, “Nonsense, there’s nothing in it;” and then pushing

the glass to Fisher and another person who had come in, said, “Cook

fancies there is something in the brandy-and-water--there’s nothing in

it--taste it.” On which one of them replied, “How can we taste it?

you’ve drank it all.” Cook suddenly rose and left the room, and called

Fisher out, saying that he was taken seriously ill. He was seized with

most violent vomiting, and became so bad that after a little while it

was necessary to take him to bed. He vomited there again and again in

the most violent way, and as the sickness continued after the lapse of a

couple of hours a medical man was sent for. He came and proposed an

emetic and other means for making the sick man eject what he had taken.

After that, medicine was given him--at first some stimulant of a

comforting nature, and then a pill as a purgative dose. After two or

three hours he became more tranquil, and about 2 o’clock he fell asleep

and slept till next morning. Such was the state of the man’s feelings

all that time that I cannot tell what passed; but he gave Fisher the

money which he had about him, desiring him to take care of it, and Mr.

Fisher will tell you that that money amounted to between £800 and £900

in notes.

The next morning, having passed a quiet night, as I have said, and

feeling better, he went out on the course; and he saw Fisher, who gave

him back his notes. That was the Thursday. He still looked very ill, and

felt very ill; but the vomiting had ceased. On that day Palmer’s horse,

the Chicken, ran at Shrewsbury. He had backed his mare heavily, but she

lost. When Palmer went to Shrewsbury he had no money, and was obliged to

borrow £25 to take him there. His horse lost, and he lost bets upon the

race. He and Cook then left Shrewsbury, and returned to Rugeley, Cook

going to the Talbot Arms Hotel, directly opposite the prisoner’s house.

There is an incident however, connected with the occurrence at

Shrewsbury, which I must mention. About 11 o’clock that night, a Mrs.

Brooks, who betted on commission and had an establishment of jockeys,

went to speak to the deceased upon some racing business, and in the

lobby she saw Palmer holding up a tumbler to the light; and, having

looked at it through the gas, he withdrew to an outer room and presently

returned with the glass in his hand, and went into the room where Cook

was, and in which room he drank the brandy and water from which I

suppose you will infer that the sickness came on. I do not charge that

by anything which caused that sickness Cook’s death was occasioned; but

I shall show you that throughout the ensuing days at Rugeley he

constantly received things from the prisoner, and that during those days

that sickness was continued. I shall show you that after he died

antimony was found in the tissues of his body and in his blood--antimony

administered in the form of tartar emetic, which, if continued to be

applied, will maintain sickness.

It was not that, however, of which this man died. The charge is, that

having been prepared by antimony, he was killed by strychnine. You have,

no doubt, heard of the vegetable product known as nux vomica. In that

nut or bean there resides a subtle and fatal poison which is capable of

being extracted from it by the skill of the operative chemist, and of

which the most minute quantity is fatal to animal life. From half to a

quarter of a grain will destroy life--you may imagine, therefore, how

minute is the dose. In the human organization the nervous system may be

divided into two main parts--the nerves of sensation, by which a

consciousness of all external sensations is conveyed to the brain; and

the nerves of motion, which are, as it were, the agents between the

intellectual power of man and the physical action which arises from his

organization. Those are the two main branches having their origin in the

immediate vicinity of the seat of man’s intellectual existence. They are

entirely distinct in their allocations, and one set of nerves may be

affected while the other is left undisturbed. You may paralyse the

nerves of sensation and may leave the nerves which act upon the

voluntary muscles of movement wholly unaffected; or you may reverse that

state of things, and may affect the nerves and muscles of volition,

leaving the nerves of sensation wholly unaffected. Strychnine affects

the nerves which act on the voluntary muscles, and it leaves wholly

unaffected the nerves on which human consciousness depends; and it is

important to bear this in mind--some poisons produce a total absence of

consciousness, but the poison to which I refer affects the voluntary

action of the muscles of the body, and leaves unimpaired the power of

consciousness. Now, the way in which strychnine acting upon the

voluntary muscles is fatal to life is, that it produces the most intense

excitement of all those muscles, violent convulsions take place--spasms

which affect the whole body and which end in rigidity--all the muscles

become fixed, and the respiratory muscles in which the lungs have play

are fixed with an immovable rigidity, respiration consequently is

suspended, and death ensues. These symptoms are known to medical men

under the term of tetanus. There are other forms of tetanus which

produce death, and which arise from other causes than the taking of

strychnine, but there is a wide difference between the various forms of

the same disease, which prevents the possibility of mistake.

The learned counsel then explained the different symptoms which

characterise traumatic tetanus and idiopathic tetanus, which latter is

of comparatively rare occurrence in this country; but, as this is a

matter which will be hereafter dwelt upon with great detail in the

medical testimony, it is unnecessary to burden our report with it at any

length here:--(He then continued.) I have reason to believe that an

attempt will be made to confound those different classes of disease, and

it will be necessary therefore for the jury to watch with great

minuteness the medical evidence upon this point. It will show that both

in traumatic and idiopathic tetanus the disease commences with the

milder symptoms, which gradually progress towards the development and

final completion of the attack. When once the disease has commenced, it

continues without intermission, although, as in every other form of

malady, the paroxysms will be from time to time more or less intense. In

the case of tetanus from strychnine it is not so. It commences with

paroxysms which may subside for a time, but are renewed again; and,

whereas other forms of tetanus almost always last during a certain

number of hours or days, when we deal with strychnine we deal with cases

not of hours but of minutes--in which we have no beginning of the

disease, and then a gradual development to the climax; but in which the

paroxysms commence with all their power at the very first, and

terminate, after a few short minutes of fearful agony and struggles, in

the dissolution of the victim. Palmer was a medical man, and it is clear

that the effect of strychnine had not escaped his attention; for I have

a book before me which was found in his house after his arrest, called

_Manual for Students Preparing for Examination at Apothecaries’ Hall_;

and on the first page, in his handwriting, I observe this remark,

“Strychnine kills by causing tetanic fixing of the respiratory muscles.”

I don’t wish to attach more importance to that circumstance than it

deserves, because nothing is more natural than that, in a book of this

kind belonging to a professional man, such notes should be made; but I

refer to it to show that the effect of poison on human life had come

within his notice.

I now revert to what took place after the arrival of these people at

Rugeley. They arrived on the night of Thursday, the 15th of November,

between ten and eleven o’clock, when Mr. Cook took some refreshment and

went to bed. He rose next morning and went out, and dined that day with

Palmer. He returned to the inn about ten o’clock that evening, perfectly

well and sober, and went to bed. The next morning, at an early hour,

Palmer was with him, and from that time throughout the whole of Saturday

and Sunday he was constantly in attendance on him. He ordered him coffee

on Saturday morning. It was brought in by the chambermaid, Elizabeth

Mills, and given to the prisoner, who had an opportunity of tampering

with it before giving it to Cook. Immediately after taking it the same

symptoms set in which had occurred at Shrewsbury. Throughout the whole

of that day and the next, the prisoner constantly administered various

things to Cook, who continued to be tormented with that incessant and

troublesome sickness. Again, toast-and-water was brought over from the

prisoner’s house, instead of being made at the inn, as it might have

been, and again the sickness ensued. It seems also that Palmer desired a

woman named Roney to procure some broth for Cook from the Albion. She

obtained it and gave it to Palmer to warm, and when Palmer had done so

he told her to take it to the Talbot for Mr. Cook, and to say that Mr.

Smith had sent it--there being a Mr. Jeremiah Smith, an intimate friend

of Cook. Cook tried to swallow a spoonful of the broth, but it

immediately made him sick, and he brought it off his stomach. The broth

was then taken down stairs, and after a little while the prisoner came

across and asked if Mr. Cook had had his broth. He was told, “No; that

he had tried to take it, but that it had made him sick, and that he

could not retain it on his stomach.” Palmer said that he must take it,

and desired that the broth should be brought upstairs. Cook tried to

take it again, but again he began to vomit and throw the whole off his

stomach. It was then taken down stairs, and a woman at the inn, thinking

that it looked nice, took a couple of tablespoonfuls of it; within half

an hour she also was taken severely ill. Vomiting came on, and continued

almost incessantly for five or six hours. She was obliged to go to bed,

and she had exactly the same symptoms which manifested themselves in

Cook’s person after he drank the brandy and water at Shrewsbury. On that

Saturday, about three o’clock, Dr. Bamford, a medical man at Rugeley,

was called in, and Palmer told him that Cook had a bilious attack--that

he had dined with him on the day before, and had drunk too freely of

champagne, which had disordered his stomach.

Now, I shall show to you, by the evidence of medical men, both at

Shrewsbury and Rugeley, that although Palmer had on one or two occasions

represented Cook as suffering under bilious diarrhœa, there was not,

during the continuance of the violent vomiting which I have mentioned, a

single bilious symptom of any sort whatever. Dr. Bamford visited him at

half-past 3, and when he found Mr. Cook suffering from violent vomiting,

and the stomach in so irritable a state that it would not retain a

tablespoonful of anything, he naturally tried to see what the symptoms

were which could lead him to form a notion as to the cause of that state

of things. He found to his surprise that the pulse of the patient was

perfectly natural--that his tongue was quite clean, his skin quite

moist, and that there was not the slightest trace of fever, or, in

short, of any of those symptoms which might be expected in the case of a

bilious man. Having heard from Palmer that he ascribed his illness to an

excess of wine on the previous day, he informed Cook of it, and Cook

then said, “Well, I suppose I must have taken too much, but it’s very

odd, for I only took three glasses.” The representation, therefore, made

by Palmer, that Cook had taken an excess of champagne, was not correct.

Coffee was brought up to Cook at 4 o’clock when Palmer was there, and he

vomited immediately. At 6 some barley-water was taken to him when Palmer

was not there, and the barley-water did not produce vomiting. At 8 some

arrowroot was given him, Palmer was present, and vomiting took place

again. These may, no doubt, be mere coincidences, but they are facts,

which, of whatever interpretation they may be susceptible, are well

deserving of attention, that during the whole of that Saturday Palmer

was continually in and out of the house in which Cook was sojourning;

that he gave him a variety of things, and that whenever he gave him

anything sickness invariably ensued. That evening Dr. Bamford called

again, and finding that the sickness still continued he prepared for the

patient two pills containing half a grain of calomel, half a grain of

morphia, and four grains of rhubarb.

On the following day, Sunday, between 7 and 8 o’clock in the morning,

Dr. Bamford is again summoned to Cook’s bedside, and finds the sickness

still recurring, but fails to detect any symptoms of bile. He visited

him repeatedly in the course of that day, and on leaving him in the

evening found, that though the sickness continued, the tongue was clean,

and there was not the slightest indication of bile or fever. And so

Sunday ended. On Monday, the 19th, Palmer left Rugeley for London--on

what business I shall presently explain. Before starting, however, he

called in the morning to see Cook, and ordered him a cup of coffee. He

took it up himself, and after drinking it Cook, as usual, vomited. After

that Palmer took his departure. Presently Dr. Bamford called, and,

finding Cook still suffering from sickness of the stomach, gave him some

medicine. Whether from the effect of that medicine, or from whatever

other cause, I know not; but it is admitted that from that time a great

improvement was observed in Cook. Palmer was not present, and during the

whole of the day Cook was better. Between 12 and 1 o’clock he is visited

by Dr. Bamford, who, perceiving the improvement, advised him to get up.

He does so, washes, dresses, recovers his spirits, and sits up for

several hours. Two of his jockies and his trainer called to see him,

are admitted to his room, enter into conversation with him, and perceive

that he is in a state of comparative ease and comfort, and so he

continued till a late hour. I will now interrupt for a moment the

consecutive narration of what passed afterwards at Rugeley to follow

Palmer through the events in which he was concerned in London. He had

written to a person named Herring to meet him at Beaufort-buildings,

where a boarding-house was kept by a lady named Hawks. Herring was a man

on the turf, and had been to Shrewsbury Races. Immediately on seeing

Palmer he inquired after Cook’s health. “Oh,” said Palmer, “he is all

right; his medical man has given him a dose of calomel and recommended

him not to come out, and what I want to see you about is the settling of

his accounts.” Monday, it appears, was settling-day at Tattersall’s, and

it was necessary that all accounts should be squared. Cook’s usual agent

for effecting that arrangement was a person named Fisher, and it seems

not a little singular that Cook should not have told Palmer why Fisher

should not have been employed on this as on all similar occasions.

On this point, however, Palmer offered no explanation. He was himself a

defaulter, and could not show at Tattersall’s. He produced a piece of

paper which he said contained a list of the sums which Cook was entitled

to receive, and he mentioned the names of the different persons who were

indebted to Cook, and the amounts for which they were respectively

liable. Herring held out his hand to take the paper, but Palmer said,

“No, I will keep this document; here is another piece of paper, write

down what I read to you, and what I have here I will retain, as it will

be a check against you.” He then dictated the names of the various

persons, with the sums for which they were liable. Herring observed that

it amounted to £1,020. “Very well,” said Palmer, “pay yourself £6,

Shelly, £30, and if you see Bull, tell him Cook will pay him on Thursday

or Friday. And now,” he added, “how much do you make the balance?”

Herring replied that he made it £984. Palmer replied that the tot was

right, and then went on to say, “I will give you £16, which will make it

£1,000. Pay yourself the £200 that I owe you for my bill; pay Padwick

£350, and Pratt £450.” So we have it here established, beyond all

controversy, that Palmer did not hesitate to apply Cook’s money to the

payment of his own debts. With regard to the debt due to Mr. Padwick, I

am assured that it represents moneys won by that gentleman, partly from

Cook, and partly from Palmer, but that Mr. Padwick held Palmer to be the

responsible party, and looked to him for payment. The debt to Pratt was

Palmer’s own affair. Such is the state of things as regards the

disposition of the money. Palmer desired Herring to send cheques to

Pratt and Padwick at once, and without waiting to draw the money from

Tattersall’s. To this Herring objected, observing that it would be most

injudicious to send the cheques before he was sure of getting the money.

“Ah, well,” said Palmer, “never mind--it is all right; but come what

will, Pratt must be paid, for his claim is on account of a bill of sale

for a mare.” Finding it impossible to overcome Herring’s objection to

send the cheques until he had got the money at Tattersall’s, Palmer then

proceeded to settle some small betting transactions between himself and

that gentleman amounting to £5, or thereabouts. He pulled out a £50

note, and Herring, not having full change, gave him a cheque for £20.

They then parted, Palmer directing him to send down word of his

proceedings either to him (Palmer) or to Cook. With this injunction

Herring complied, and I shall prove in the course of the trial that the

letters he wrote to Cook were intercepted by the postmaster at Rugeley.

Not having received as much as he expected at Tattersall’s, Herring was

unable to pay Padwick the £350; but it is not disputed that he paid £450

to Pratt.

On the same day, Palmer went himself to the latter gentleman, and paid

him other moneys, consisting of £30 in notes, and the cheque for £20

which he had received from Herring, and a memorandum was drawn, and to

which I shall hereafter have occasion to call attention. So much for

Palmer’s proceedings in London. On the evening of that same day (Monday)

he returned home. Arriving at Rugeley about nine o’clock at night, he at

once proceeded to visit Cook, at the Talbot Arms; and from that time

till ten or eleven o’clock he was continually in and out of Cook’s room.

In the course of the evening he went to a man named Newton, assistant to

a surgeon named Salt, and applied for three grains of strychnine, which

Newton, knowing Palmer to be a medical practitioner, did not hesitate to

give him. Dr. Bamford had sent on this day the same kind of pills that

he had sent on Saturday and Sunday. I believe it was the doctor’s habit

to take the pills himself to the Talbot Arms, and intrust them to the

care of the housekeeper, who carried them upstairs; but it was Palmer’s

practice to come in afterwards, and evening after evening, to administer

medicine to the patient. There is no doubt that Cook took pills on

Monday night. Whether he took the pills prepared for him by Dr. Bamford,

and similar to those which he had taken on Saturday and Sunday, or

whether Palmer substituted for Dr. Bamford’s pills some of his own

concoction, consisting in some measure of strychnine, I must leave for

the jury to determine. Certain it is, that when he left Cook at eleven

o’clock at night, the latter was still comparatively well and

comfortable, and cheerful as in the morning. But he was not long to

continue so. About twelve o’clock the female servants in the lower part

of the house were alarmed by violent screams, proceeding from Cook’s

room. They rushed up, and found him in great agony, shrieking

dreadfully, shouting “Murder!” and calling on Christ to save his soul.

He was in intense pain. The eyes were starting out of his head. He was

flinging his arms wildly about him, and his whole body was convulsed. He

was perfectly conscious, however, and desired that Palmer should be sent

for without delay. One of the women ran to fetch him, and he attended in

a few minutes. He found Cook still screaming, gasping for breath, and

hardly able to speak. He ran back again to procure some medicine; and on

his return Cook exclaimed, “Oh dear, doctor, I shall die!” “No, my lad,

you shall not,” replied Palmer; and he then gave him some more medicine.

The sick man vomited almost immediately, but there was no appearance of

the pills in the utensil.

Shortly afterwards he became more calm, and called on the women to rub

his limbs. They did so, and found them cold and rigid. Presently the

symptoms became still more tranquil, and he grew better; but the medical

men will depose that the tetanus that afflicted him was that occasioned

by strychnine. His frame, exhausted by the terrible agony it had

endured, now fell gradually into repose; nature asserted her claim to

rest, and he began to dose. So matters remained till the morrow, Tuesday

the 20th, the day of his death. On the morning of that day, Cook was

found comparatively comfortable, though still retaining a vivid

impression of the horrors he had suffered the night before. He was quite

collected, and conversed rationally with the chambermaid. Palmer meeting

Dr. Bamford that same day, told him that he did not want to have Cook

disturbed, for that he was now at his ease, though he had had a fit the

night before. This same morning, between the hours of eleven and twelve

o’clock, there occurred a very remarkable incident. About that time

Palmer went to the shop of a certain Mr. Hawkings, a druggist, at

Rugeley. He had not dealt with him for two years before, it being his

practice during that period to purchase such drugs as he required from

Mr. Thirlby, a former assistant of Mr. Hawkings, who had set up in

business for himself. But on this day Palmer went to Mr. Hawkings’s

shop, and, producing a bottle, informed the assistant that he wanted two

drachms of prussic acid. While it was being prepared for him, Mr.

Newton, the same man from whom he had on a former occasion obtained

strychnine, came into the shop, whereupon Palmer seized him by the arm,

and observing that he had something particular to say to him, hurried

him into the street, where he kept talking to him on a matter of the

smallest possible importance, relating to the precise period at which

his employer’s son meant to repair to a farm he had taken in the

country. They continued to converse on this trivial topic until a

gentleman named Brassington (or Grassington) came up, whereupon Mr.

Newton turned aside to say a few words to him. Palmer, relieved by this

accident, went back into the shop, and asked, in addition, for six

grains of strychnine and a certain quantity of Batley’s liquor of opium.

He obtained them, paid for them, and went away. Presently Mr. Newton

returned, and being struck with the fact of Palmer’s dealing with

Hawkings, asked out of passing curiosity what he had come for, and was

informed.

And here I must mention a fact of some importance respecting Mr. Newton.

When examined before the coroner, that gentleman only deposed to one

purchase of strychnine by Palmer at Mr. Salt’s surgery, and it was only

as recently as yesterday that with many expressions of contrition for

not having been more explicit, he communicated to the Crown the fact

that Palmer had also bought strychnine on Monday night. It is for you,

gentlemen, to decide the amount of credit to be attached to this

evidence; but you will bear in mind that whatever you may think of Mr.

Newton’s testimony, that of Mr. Roberts, on whom there is no taint or

shadow of suspicion, is decisive with respect to the purchases which the

prisoner made on Tuesday at the shop of Mr. Hawkings. I now resume the

story of Tuesday’s proceedings with the observation that Cook was

entitled to receive the stakes he had won at Shrewsbury. On that day

Palmer sent for Mr. Cheshire, the postmaster of Rugeley. He owed

Cheshire £7 odd, and the latter, supposing that he was about to be paid,

came with a stamped receipt in his hand. Palmer produced a paper, and

remarking “that Cook was too ill to write himself,” told Cheshire to

draw a cheque on Weatherby’s in his (Palmer’s) favour for £350. Cheshire

thereupon filled up a piece of paper purporting to be the body of a

cheque, addressed in the manner indicated to the Messrs. Weatherby, and

concluding with the words, “and place the same to my account.” Palmer

then took the document away, for the purpose, as he averred, of getting

Cook’s signature to it. What became of it I do not undertake to assert;

but of this there is no question, that by that night’s post Palmer sent

up to Weatherby’s a cheque which was returned dishonoured. Whether it

was genuine, or like so many other papers with which Palmer had to do,

forged, is a question which you will have to determine. And now,

returning to Cook, it may be observed that in the course of that morning

coffee and broth were sent him by Palmer, and, as usual, vomiting ensued

and continued through the whole of the afternoon.

And now a new person makes his appearance on the stage. You must know

that on Sunday, Palmer wrote to Mr. W. H. Jones, a surgeon, of

Lutterworth, desiring him to come over to see Cook. Cook was a personal

friend of Mr. Jones, and had occasionally been in the habit of residing

at his house. It is deserving of remark that Palmer, in his letter to

Jones, describes Cook as “suffering from a severe bilious attack

accompanied with diarrhœa,” adding, “it is desirable for you to come

and see him as soon as possible.” Whether this communication is to be

interpreted in a sense favourable to the prisoner, or whether it is to

be taken as indicating a deep design to give colour to the idea that

Cook died a natural death, it is at least certain that the statement

that Cook had been “suffering from a bilious attack attended with

diarrhœa,” was utterly untrue. Mr. Jones being himself unwell, did

not come to Rugeley till Tuesday. He arrived at about three o’clock on

that day, and immediately proceeded to see his sick friend. Palmer came

in at the same moment, and they both examined the patient. Mr. Jones

paid particular attention to the state of his tongue; remarked, “That is

not the tongue of bilious fever.”

About seven o’clock that same evening Dr. Bamford called, and found the

patient pretty well. Subsequently the three medical men (Palmer,

Bamford, and Jones) held a consultation, but before leaving the bedroom

for that purpose, Cook beckoned to Palmer, and said, “Mind, I will have

no more pills or medicine to-night.” They then withdrew and consulted.

Palmer insisted on his taking pills, but added, “Let us not tell him

what they contain, as he fears the same results that have already given

him such pain.” It was agreed that Dr. Bamford should make up the pills,

which were to be composed of the same ingredients as those that had been

administered on the three preceding evenings. The doctor repaired to his

surgery, and made them up accordingly. He was followed by Palmer, who

asked him to write the directions how they were to be taken. Dr.

Bamford, though unable to understand the necessity of his doing so,

under the circumstances, complied with Palmer’s request, and wrote on

the box that the pills were to be taken at “bed-time.” Palmer then took

them away, and gave either those pills or some others to Cook that

night. It is remarkable, however, that half or three-quarters of an hour

elapsed from the time he left Dr. Bamford’s surgery until he brought the

pills to Cook. When, at length, he came, he produced two pills, but

before giving them to Cook he took especial care to call Mr. Jones’s

attention to the directions on the lid, observing that the writing was

singularly distinct and vigorous for a man upwards of eighty. If the

prisoner be guilty, it is a natural presumption that he made this

observation with the view of identifying the pill-box as having come

from Dr. Bamford, and so averting suspicion from himself. This was about

half-past ten at night. The pills were then offered to Cook, who

strongly objected to take them, remarking that they had made him ill the

night before. Palmer insisted, and the sick man at last consented to

take them. He vomited immediately after, but did not bring up the pills.

Jones then went down and took his supper, and he will tell you that up

to the period when the pills were administered, Cook had been easy and

cheerful, and presented no symptom of the approach of disease, much less

of death. It was arranged that Jones should sleep in the same room with

Cook, and he did so; but he had not been more than fifteen or twenty

minutes in bed when he was aroused by a sudden exclamation, and a

frightful scream from Cook, who, starting up, said, “Send for the doctor

immediately; I am going to be ill, as I was last night.” The chambermaid

ran across the road, and rang the bell of Palmer’s house, and in a

moment Palmer was at the window. He was told that Cook was again ill. In

two minutes he was by the bedside of the sick man, and, strangely,

volunteered the observation, “I never dressed so quickly in my life.” It

is for you, gentlemen, to say whether you think he had time to dress at

all. Cook was found in the same condition, and with the same symptoms as

the night before, gasping for breath, screaming violently, his body

convulsed with cramps and spasms, and his neck rigid. Jones raised him

and rubbed his neck. When Palmer entered the room, Cook asked him for

the same remedy that had relieved him the night before. “I will run back

and fetch it,” said Palmer, and he darted out of the room. In the

passage he met two female servants, who remarked that Cook was as “bad”

as he had been last night. “He is not within fifty times as bad as he

was last night; and what a game is this to be at every night!” was

Palmer’s reply. In a few minutes he returned with two pills, which he

told Jones were ammonia, though I am assured that it is a drug that

requires much time in the preparation, and can with difficulty be made

into pills. The sick man swallowed these pills, but brought them up

again immediately.

And now ensued a terrible scene. He was instantly seized with violent

convulsions; by degrees his body began to stiffen out; then suffocation

commenced. Agonised with pain, he repeatedly entreated to be raised.

They tried to raise him, but it was not possible. The body had become

rigid as iron, and it could not be done. He then said, “Pray, turn me

over.” They did turn him over on the right side. He gasped for breath,

but could utter no more. In a few moments all was tranquil--the tide of

life was ebbing fast. Jones leant over him to listen to the action of

the heart. Gradually the pulse ceased--all was over--he was dead.

(Sensation.) I will show you that his was a death referable in its

symptoms to the tetanus produced by strychnine, and not to any other

possible form of tetanus. Scarcely was the breath out of his body when

Palmer begins to think of what is to be done. He engages two women to

lay out the corpse, and these women, on entering the room, find him

searching the pockets of a coat which, no doubt, belonged to Cook, and

hunting under the pillows and bolsters. They saw some letters in the

mantel-shelf, which, in all probability, had been taken out of the dead

man’s pocket; and, what is very remarkable is, that from that day to

this, nothing has been seen or heard either of the betting-book or of

any of the papers connected with Cook’s money affairs. On a subsequent

day (Thursday) he returned, and, on the pretence of looking for some

books, and a paper knife, rummaged again through the documents of the

deceased. On the 25th of November he sent for Cheshire, and, producing a

paper purporting to bear the signature of Cook, asked him to attest it.

Cheshire glanced over it. It was a document in which Cook acknowledged

that certain bills, to the amount of £4,000 or thereabouts, were bills

that had been negotiated for his (Cook’s) benefit, and in respect of

which Palmer had received no consideration. Such was the paper to which,

forty-eight hours after the death of the man whose name it bore, Palmer

did not hesitate to ask Cheshire to be an attesting witness. Cheshire,

though unfortunately for himself, too much the slave of Palmer,

peremptorily refused to comply with this request; whereupon Palmer

carelessly observed, “It is of no consequence; I dare say the signature

will not be disputed, but it occurred to me that it would look more

regular if it were attested.”

On Friday Mr. Stevens, Cook’s father-in-law, came down to Rugeley, and,

after viewing the body of his relative, to whom he had been tenderly

attached, asked Palmer about his affairs. Palmer assured him that he

held a paper drawn up by a lawyer, and signed by Cook, stating that, in

respect of £4,000 worth of bills, he (Cook) was alone liable, and that

Palmer had a claim to that amount against his estate. Mr. Stevens

expressed his amazement, and replied that there would not be 4,000

shillings for the holders of the bills. Subsequently Palmer displayed an

eager officiousness in the matter of the funeral, taking upon himself to

order a shell and an oak coffin without any directions to that effect

from the relatives of the deceased, who were anxious to have the

arrangements in their own hands. Mr. Stevens ordered dinner at the hotel

for Bamford, Jones, and himself, and, finding Palmer still hanging about

him, thought it but civil to extend the invitation to him. Accordingly

they all sat down together. After dinner, Mr. Stevens asked Jones to

step upstairs and bring down all books and papers belonging to Cook.

Jones left the room to do so, and Palmer followed him. They were absent

about ten minutes, and on their return Jones observed that they were

unable to find the betting-book or any of the papers belonging to the

deceased. Palmer added, “The betting-book would be of no use to you if

you found it, for the bets are void by his death.” Mr. Stevens replied,

“The book must be found;” and then Palmer, changing his tone, said, “Oh,

I dare say it will turn up.” Mr. Stevens then rang the bell, and told

the housekeeper to take charge of whatever books and papers had belonged

to Cook, and to be sure not to allow any one to meddle with them until

he came back from London, which he would soon do, with his solicitor. He

then departed, but, returning to Rugeley after a brief interval,

declared his intention to have a _post mortem_ examination. Palmer

volunteered to nominate the surgeons who should conduct it, but Mr.

Stevens refused to employ any one whom he should recommend. On Sunday,

the 26th, Palmer called on Dr. Bamford, and asked him for a certificate

attesting the cause of Cook’s death. The doctor expressed his surprise,

and observed, “Why, he was your patient?” But Palmer importuned him, and

Bamford taking the pen filled up the certificate, and entered the cause

of death as “apoplexy.” Dr. Bamford is upwards of 80, and I hope that it

is to some infirmity connected with his great age that this most

unjustifiable act is to be attributed. However, he shall be produced in

court, and he will tell you that apoplexy has never been known to

produce tetanus. In the course of the day Palmer sent for Newton, and

after they had had some brandy-and-water, asked him how much strychnine

he would use to kill a dog. Newton replied, “from half-a-grain to a

grain.” “And how much,” inquired Palmer, “would be found in the tissues

and intestines after death?” “None at all,” was Newton’s reply; but that

is a point on which I will produce important evidence.

The _post mortem_ examination took place the next day, and on that

occasion Palmer assured the medical men, of whom there were many

present, that Cook had had epileptic fits on Monday and Tuesday, and

that they would find old disease in the heart and head. He added that

the poor fellow was “full of disease,” and had “all kinds of

complaints.” These statements were completely disproved by the _post

mortem_ examinations. At the first of them, conducted by Dr. Devonshire,

the liver, lungs, and kidneys were all found healthy. It was said that

there were some slight indications of congestion of the kidneys, whether

due to decomposition or to what other cause was not certain; but it was

admitted on all hands that they did not impair the general health of the

system, or at all account for death. The stomach and intestines were

examined, and they exhibited a few white spots at the large end of the

stomach, but these marks were wholly insufficient to explain the cause

of dissolution. Dr. Bamford contended that there was some slight

congestion of the brain, but all the other medical men concurred in

thinking that there was none at all. In the ensuing month of January the

body was exhumed with a view to more accurate examination, and the body

was then found to be in a perfectly normal and healthy condition. Palmer

seemed rejoiced at the discovery, and, turning to Dr. Bamford,

exclaimed, “Doctor, they won’t hang us yet!” The stomach and intestines

were taken out and placed in a jar, and it was observed that Palmer

pushed against the medical man who was engaged in the operation, and the

jar was in danger of being upset. It escaped, however, and was covered

with skins, tied down, and sealed. Presently one of the medical men

turned round, and finding that the jar had disappeared, asked what had

become of it. It was found at a distance, near a different door from

that through which people usually passed in and out, and Palmer

exclaimed, “It’s all right. It was I who removed it. I thought it would

be more convenient for you to have it here, that you might lay your

hands readily on it as you went out.” When the jar was recovered it was

found that two slits had been cut in the skins with a knife. The slits,

however, were clean, so that, whatever his object may have been in

making the incisions, it is certain that nothing was taken out of the

jar. He goes to Dr. Bamford, and remonstrates against the removal of the

jars. He says, “I do not think we ought to allow them to be taken away.”

Now, if he had been an ignorant person, not familiar with the course

likely to be pursued by medical men under such circumstances, there

might be some excuse for this; but it is for you to ask yourselves

whether Palmer, himself a medical man, knowing that the contents of the

jars were to be submitted to an analysis, might not have relied with

confidence on the honour and integrity of the profession to which he

belonged. You must say whether his anxiety to prevent the removal of the

jars was not a sign of a guilty conscience. Dr. Bamford was a most

respectable physician, and his character and position were well known to

Palmer.

But the case does not stop here. The jar was delivered to Mr. Boycott,

the clerk to Mr. Gardner, the solicitor. Palmer, finding that it was to

be sent to London for chymical analysis, was extremely anxious that it

should not reach its destination. It was going to be conveyed by Mr.

Boycott to the Stafford station in a fly, driven by a post-boy. Palmer

goes to this post-boy, and asks him whether it is the fact that he is

going to drive Boycott to Stafford? He is answered in the affirmative.

He then asks, “Are the jars there?” He is told that they are. He says,

“They have no business to take them; one does not know what they may put

in them. Can’t you manage to upset the fly and break them? I will give

you £10, and make it all right for you.” The man said, “I shall do no

such thing. I must go and look after my fly.” That man will be called

before you, and he will have no interest to state anything but the

truth. I have now gone through the painful history, yet there are some

points of minor importance which I ought not altogether to pass over, as

nothing connected with the conduct of a man conscious that an imputation

of this kind rests upon him can be immaterial. After the _post mortem_

examination it was thought right to hold a coroner’s inquest. On two or

three occasions in the course of that inquiry, Palmer sent presents to

the coroner. The stomach of the deceased and its contents were sent to

Dr. Taylor, and Dr. Rees, at Guy’s Hospital, who were known to be in

communication with Mr. Gardner. A letter was sent by Dr. Taylor to Mr.

Gardner, stating the result of the investigation; that letter was

betrayed to Palmer by the postmaster, Cheshire, and Palmer then wrote to

the coroner, telling him that Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees had failed in

finding traces of poison, and asking him to take a certain course with

respect to the evidence. Why should he have done this if there had not

been a feeling of uneasiness upon his mind? These matters must not be

wholly overlooked, although I will not ask you to give them any undue

importance. I should have told you, in addition, that the prisoner had

no money prior to Shrewsbury races, while afterwards he was flush of

cash. Sums of £100 and £150 were paid by him into the bank at Rugeley,

two or three persons received sums of £10 each, and he seemed, in fact,

to be giving away money right and left. I think I shall be able to show

that he had something like £400 in his possession. Now, Cook had £700 or

£800 when he left Shrewsbury on the Thursday morning. None is found. It

may be that Cook, who, whatever his faults, was a kind-hearted creature,

compassionating Palmer’s condition, and influenced by his

representations, assisted him with money. That I do not know. I do not

wish to strain the point too far, but one cannot imagine that Cook, who

had no money but what he took with him to Shrewsbury, should have given

Palmer everything and left himself destitute.

The case then stands thus:--Here is a man overwhelmed with pecuniary

difficulties, obliged to resort to the desperate expedient of forging

acceptances to raise money, hoping to meet them by the proceeds of the

insurances he had effected upon a life. Disappointed in that expectation

by the board; told by the gentleman through whom the bills had been

discounted, “You must trifle with me no longer--if you cannot find

money, writs will be served on you;” Cook’s name forged to an

endorsement for £375; ruin staring him in the face--you, gentlemen, must

say whether he had not sufficient inducement to commit the crime. He

seems to have had a further object. No sooner is the breath out of the

dead man’s body than he says to Jones, “I had a claim of £3,000 or

£4,000 against him on account of bills.” Besides, he believed that Cook

had more property than it turns out he really had. The valuable mare,

Pole Star, belonged to him when the assignment had been paid off, and

Palmer would have been glad to obtain possession of her. The fact, too,

that Cook was mixed up in the insurance of Bates may lead one to surmise

that he was in possession of secrets relating to the desperate

expedients to which this man has resorted to obtain money. I will leave

you to say whether this combination of motives may not have led to the

crime with which he is charged. This you will only have to consider,

supposing the case to be balanced between probabilities; but if you

believe the evidence that will be given as to what took place on the

Monday and the Tuesday--if you believe the paroxysms of the Monday, the

mortal agony of the Tuesday--I shall show that things were administered,

on both those days, by the hand of Palmer, by a degree of evidence

almost amounting to certainty.

The body was submitted to a careful analysis, and I am bound to say that

no trace of strychnine was found. But I am told that, although the

presence of strychnine may be detected by certain tests, and although

indications of its presence lead irresistibly to the conclusion that it

has been administered, the converse of that proposition does not hold.

Sometimes it is found, at other times it is not. It depends upon

circumstances. A most minute dose will destroy life, from half to

three-quarters of a grain will lay the strongest man prostrate. But in

order to produce that fatal effect it must be absorbed into the system,

and the absorption takes place in a greater or less period according to

the manner in which the poison is presented to the surfaces with which

it comes in contact. If it is in a fluid form it is rapidly taken up and

soon produces the effect; if not, it requires to be absorbed, and the

effects are a longer time in showing themselves. But in either case

there is a difficulty in discovering its presence. If it acts only on

the nervous system through the circulation, an almost infinitesimal dose

will be present. And, as it is a vegetable poison, the tests which alone

can be employed are infinitely more delicate and difficult than those

which are applied to other poisons. It is unlike a mineral poison, which

can soon be detected and reproduced. If the dose has been a large one

death ensues before the whole has been absorbed, and a portion is left

in the intestines; but if a _minimum_ dose has been administered a

different consequence follows, and the whole is absorbed. Practical

experience bears out the theory that I am enunciating. Experiments have

been tried which show that where the same amount of poison has been

administered to animals of the same species death will ensue in the same

number of minutes, accompanied by precisely the same kinds of symptoms;

while in the analysis afterwards made, the presence of poison will be

detected in one case and not in another. It has been repeated over and

over again that the scientific men employed in this case had come to the

conclusion that the presence of strychnine cannot be detected by any

tests known to science. They have been grievously misunderstood. They

never made any such assertion. What they have asserted is this--the

detection of its presence, where its administration is a matter of

certainty, is a matter of the greatest uncertainty. It would, indeed, be

a fatal thing to sanction the notion that strychnine, administered for

the purpose of taking away life, cannot afterwards be detected!

Lamentable enough is the uncertainty of detection! Happily, Providence,

which has placed this fatal agent at the disposition of man, has marked

its effects with characteristic symptoms distinguishable from those of

all other agents by the eye of science.

It will be for you to say whether the testimony that will be laid before

you with regard to those symptoms does not lead your mind to the

conclusion that the deceased came to his death by poison administered to

him by the prisoner. There is a circumstance which throws great light

upon this part of the case. Some days before his death the man was

constantly vomiting. The analysis made of his body failed to produce

evidence of the presence of strychnine, but did not fail to produce

evidence of the presence of antimony. Now, antimony was not administered

by the medical men, and unless taken in a considerable quantity it

produces no effect and is perfectly soluble. It is an irritant, which

produces exactly the symptoms which were produced in this case. The man

was sick for a week, and antimony was found in his body afterwards. For

what purpose can it have been administered? It may be that the original

intention was to destroy him by means of antimony--it may be that the

only object was to bring about an appearance of disease so as to account

for death. One is lost in speculation. But the question is whether you

have any doubt that strychnine was administered on the Monday, and still

more on the Tuesday when death ensued? And if you are satisfied with the

evidence that will be adduced on that point, you must then determine

whether it was not administered by the prisoner’s hand. I shall produce

testimony before you in proof of the statements I have made, which I am

afraid must occupy some considerable portion of your time; but in such

an inquiry time cannot be wasted, and I am sure you will give it your

most patient attention. I have the satisfaction of knowing that the

prisoner will be defended by one of the most eloquent and able men who

ever adorned the bar of this country or any other forum, and that

everything will be done for him that can be done. If in the end all

should fail in satisfying you of his guilt, in God’s name let not the

innocent suffer! If, on the other hand, the facts that will be presented

to you should lead you to the conclusion that he is guilty, the best

interests of society demand his conviction.

The opening address of the Attorney-General occupied upwards of four

hours in its delivery. At its conclusion (at a quarter past 2 o’clock)

the jury retired for a short time for refreshment, and upon their return

the following witnesses were called in support of the prosecution:--

ISMAEL FISHER, examined by Mr. E. JAMES: I am a wine merchant at 4

Victoria-street, City. I am in the habit of attending races and betting.

I knew John Parsons Cook. I had known him for about two years before his

death. I was at Shrewsbury races in November, 1855. I remember the

Shrewsbury Handicap. It was won by the mare called Polestar, the

property of Cook. It took place on Tuesday, November the 13th. I saw

Cook upon the course. He looked as well as he had looked at any time

since I had known him. I was stopping at the Raven Hotel at Shrewsbury.

I know Palmer (the prisoner) very well. I have known him rather more

than two years. Cook and Palmer were stopping at the same hotel, and

occupied a room separated from mine only by a wooden partition. It was a

sitting room, and they occupied it jointly. On the Wednesday night,

between 11 and 12 o’clock, I went into the sitting-room. I found there

Cook, Palmer, and Mr. Myatt, a saddler at Rugeley, a friend of Palmer’s.

They had grog before them. I was asked to sit down by Cook, and I sat

down. Cook asked Palmer to have some more brandy-and-water. Palmer said,

“I will not have any more till you have drunk yours.” Cook said, “Then I

will drink mine.” He took up his glass and drank the grog off

immediately. He said within a minute afterwards, “There is something in

it; it burns my throat dreadfully.” Palmer then got up, took the glass,

sipped up what was left in it, and said, “There is nothing in it.” There

was not more than a teaspoonful in the glass when he emptied it. In the

mean time Mr. Read had come in. Palmer handed the glass to Read and to

me, and asked if we thought there was anything in it. We both said the

glass was so empty that we could not recognise anything. I said I

thought there was rather a strong scent upon it, but I could not say it

arose from anything but brandy.

Lord CAMPBELL: Did you put your lips to it?

WITNESS: I did not. It was completely drained. Within ten minutes I

retired. Cook had left the room, and then came back and called me from

it. We went to my own sitting room. He there told me he was very ill and

very sick, and asked me to take his money.

Mr. E. JAMES: Did he state what he was suffering from?

Mr. Serjeant SHEE objected to this question.

Lord CAMPBELL: Surely his statement of the effect produced on him by

what he had just swallowed is admissible.

Witness: He said he was very sick, and he thought “that d---- Palmer”

had dosed him. He handed me over some money, between £700 and £800, in

bank notes, to take care of. He did not sleep in the same room with

Palmer. He was seized with vomiting after he had given me the money, and

left the room. He afterwards came back to my room, and again complained

of what he had been suffering. He asked me to go to his bedroom. I went

with him. Mr. Jones, a law-stationer, went with me. He then vomited

again violently, and was so ill that I sent for a doctor--Mr. Gibson,

who came about half-past twelve or a quarter to one. I remained with

Cook till two o’clock. I sent for Mr. Gibson a second time, and he sent

some medicine, which Cook took. After seeing the doctor and taking the

medicine he became more composed. Mr. Jones and I gave him the medicine.

Next morning, about ten o’clock, I saw Palmer. I found him in my

sitting-room when I came down stairs; he said, “Cook has been stating

that I gave him something in his brandy. I never play such tricks with

people. But I can tell you what he was. He was d----d drunk.” I should

say Cook was certainly not drunk.

Lord CAMPBELL: Was he affected by liquor?

Witness: Not at all approaching drunkenness, my lord. Cook came into my

bedroom before I was up the same morning. He was much better, but still

looked ill. I gave him back his money. About three o’clock on that day

(Thursday) I saw Cook on the race-course. He looked very ill. I had

always settled Cook’s bets for him when he did not settle them himself.

I saw his betting-book in his hand. It was dark in colour, and about

half the size of this. (The witness here produced a small black

pocketbook). On the 17th of November (Saturday), by Cook’s request, I

paid Pratt £200. His account, in the ordinary course, would have been

settled at Tattersall’s on Monday, the 19th. I advanced the £200 to pay

Pratt. I knew that Cook had won at Shrewsbury, and I should have been

entitled to deduct that £200 from his winnings, if I had settled his

account at Tattersall’s. I did not settle that account, and I have not

been paid my advance.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE.--I had known Cook about two years,

and Palmer longer. They were a good deal connected in racing

transactions.

Do you know that they were partners?--I don’t remember settling any

transactions in which they were jointly interested, and I don’t know

that they owned horses jointly. They appeared very intimate and were

much together, generally staying at the same hotels. I was not at the

Worcester meeting. I don’t know whether Palmer won at Shrewsbury as well

as Cook. The races began on the Tuesday about 2 o’clock. Polestar ran

about an hour afterwards, but I cannot tell the exact time. I saw Cook

on the course after the race, and he appeared much elated. Polestar won

easily. In the evening, when I went into the sitting-room, there was a

candle on the table. A glass was ordered for me when I sat down. I don’t

remember drinking anything, but I cannot swear that I did not. I am a

good judge of brandy by the smell. I said there was nothing particular

in the smell, but the glass was so completely drained, that there was

very little to smell. I counted the money Cook gave me. I had been at

the Unicorn that evening quite an hour before. I dined at the Raven

about 6 o’clock. I did not see Cook after the race on the Wednesday,

till I saw him at the Unicorn, between 9 and 10 o’clock in the evening.

I merely looked into the room. I saw Sandars, the trainer, Cook, Palmer,

and a lady. I can’t say whether they were drinking.

Did it happen that a good many people were ill on that Wednesday at

Shrewsbury--I mean people connected with the races? No. I don’t know

that there were. On the Wednesday it was damp underfoot, but I forget

whether it rained. I saw Cook several times on the course. On the

Thursday the weather was cold and damp. I don’t know that Cook and

Palmer breakfasted together on the Thursday morning. On the 17th of

November I received a letter from Cook. [The letter was read. It was

dated, “Rugeley, Nov. the 16th,” and in it Cook said it was of very

great importance to Palmer and to himself that £500 should be paid to

Pratt on the next day, that £300 should be sent, and he would be greatly

obliged if Fisher would pay the other £200 immediately on receipt of the

letter, promising to give it him back on the following Monday at

Tattersall’s. He added that he was much better.]

Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I never intended to say that Cook

and Palmer were partners.

Did you notice any change of feeling on the part of Cook towards

Palmer?--He never had any great respect for Palmer, but I did notice a

change in him. It was a handicap race that Polestar won. Palmer had a

horse called Chicken, which ran on the Thursday and lost. He had betted

upon the race. Cook was not more elated at winning than people usually

are. I am not sure that I drank any brandy-and-water while I was staying

at the Raven.

Thomas Jones, examined by Mr. WELSBY, said: I am a law stationer in

Carey-street, London. I was at Shrewsbury races last November, and I

lodged at the Raven. I arrived there on a Monday night. I supped with

Cook, Herring, Fisher and Gravatt. Cook appeared well. I saw him on the

Tuesday and Wednesday, and he then also seemed quite well. Fisher and I

went to the Raven between eleven and twelve o’clock on Wednesday night.

Read was there, and he invited Cook into my room. Palmer was also there.

After the party broke up, Fisher came and told me something about Cook,

in consequence of which I went with him to Cook’s bedroom. He complained

of something burning at his throat and of vomiting. Some medicine was

brought,--pills and a draught. Cook refused to take the pills. I then

went to the doctor’s and got some liquid medicine, and gave him a small

quantity in a wineglass. He was in bed. About a quarter of an hour

afterwards he took the pills also, and I left him. Between six and seven

o’clock next morning I saw him again. He said he felt easier and better.

He looked pale.

This witness was not cross-examined.

George Read, examined by Mr. BODKIN: I live in Victoria-street, near

Farringdon-market. I keep a house frequented by sporting characters. I

am acquainted with Palmer. I saw him at Shrewsbury races on Tuesday, as

well as Cook. He appeared to be in his usual health. I saw him also the

next day, and he was apparently in the same health. I stayed at the

Raven. On the Wednesday night I went between eleven and twelve into the

room in which were Palmer and Cook. There was more than one gentleman in

the room. I had some brandy-and-water there. I saw that Cook was in pain

almost immediately after I entered. He said to us there is something in

the brandy-and-water. Palmer handed me the glass after it had been

emptied. I said, “What is the use of examining a glass which is empty?”

I believe Cook left the room. I did not see him again. I saw him on the

following morning at eleven o’clock. He was in his sitting-room. He said

in my hearing that he was very ill.

Cross-examined: On Tuesday he was as well as usual. He never looked a

strong man, but one having delicate health. He was not in the habit of

complaining of ill-health.

By the COURT: I had some of the brandy-and-water, and it did not make me

ill.

Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: My brandy was taken from another

decanter, which was sent for when I went in. Cook appeared to be a

delicate man, but I never knew anything to be the matter with him. He

frequented races everywhere. I never knew him prevented by illness from

going to races.

WILLIAM SCAIFE GIBSON: I am assistant to Mr. Heathcote, surgeon, of

Shrewsbury. On the 14th of November last I was sent for, and went to the

Railway Hotel, Shrewsbury, between twelve and one o’clock at night. I

saw Mr Cook there. He was in his bedroom, but not in bed. He complained

of pain in his stomach, and heat in his throat. He also said he thought

he had been poisoned. I felt his pulse and looked at his tongue, which

was perfectly clean. He appeared much distended about the abdomen. I

recommended an emetic. He said that he could make himself sick with warm

water. I sent the waitress for some. She brought about a pint. I

recommended him to use a feather. He said he could do it with the handle

of a toothbrush. He drank all the warm water. Having used the toothbrush

he was sick. I examined the vomit; it was perfectly clear. I then told

him I would send him some medicine. I sent him two pills and a draught.

The pills were a compound rhubarb pill and a three-grain calomel pill.

They were ordered to be taken immediately, and the draught, which was

sennica--a compound of senna, magnesia, and aromatic spirit--was to be

taken twenty minutes afterwards. It was what is called a black draught.

Half an hour afterwards I gave to Jones, for Cook, an anodyne draught. I

did not see Cook afterwards.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE: Did you form any opinion as to what

was the matter with Cook?--I treated it as a case of poisoning.

Did you observe anything in the vomit which led you to believe he had

been poisoned?--Nothing at all.

Did he appear to have been drinking?--He appeared to be a little

excited, but he was quite sensible what he was doing and saying.

By “excited” do you mean to say he was tipsy?--No; but his brain had

been stimulated with brandy-and-water. The idea of having taken poison

would have some effect upon it.

In your judgment, was what you had prescribed a good thing, supposing

Cook had taken poison?--According to the symptoms, I should say it was.

Would it not have been better to get the poison up at once, if

possible?--He threw up the warm water.

Lord CAMPBELL: Did that cleanse the stomach?--Yes.

Cross-examination continued: Yet you thought calomel necessary?--Yes; on

account of the distended state of the bowels.

Did you see anything like bile in the basin?--There was some on the edge

of the basin, but it must have been thrown up before he took the warm

water.

Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: The piece of bile was about the

size of a pea? The water thrown up was perfectly clean. Cook’s tongue

was quite clean.

Is that usual in the case of a bilious attack?--If the stomach had been

wrong any length of time the tongue would have been discoloured.

ELIZABETH MILLS examined by Mr. JAMES: In November last I was

chambermaid at the Talbot Arms, Rugeley. I had been so about two years.

I knew the prisoner Palmer, who was in the habit of coming to the Talbot

Arms. I also knew Cook, the deceased. On Thursday, the 15th of November,

he came to the Talbot Arms. He came between nine and ten o’clock at

night. The prisoner was with him. They came in a fly. Cook went to bed

at half-past ten o’clock. When Cook arrived he said he had been poorly,

and was poorly then. I don’t remember seeing Palmer after he got out of

the fly. About twelve o’clock on the following day I took Cook some hot

water, and he went out about one o’clock. He then appeared poorly. He

said he felt no worse, but was not well. He returned about ten o’clock

in the evening. In about half an hour he went to bed. I asked him if he

felt any worse than when he went out in the morning. He said he did not.

He said that he had been dining with Palmer. He was perfectly sober. He

asked me for an extra piece of candle to read by. I saw no more of him

that night. On Saturday morning, about eight o’clock, I saw Palmer at

the Talbot Arms. I do not know whether Cook had sent for him. Palmer

ordered from me a cup of coffee for Cook. I gave it to Cook in the

bedroom. I believe Palmer was then in the room. I left the coffee in

Cook’s hands, but did not see him drink it. Afterwards I went upstairs,

and found the coffee in the chamber utensil. That might be an hour, or

it might be a couple of hours after I had taken up the coffee. The

utensil was on the table by the side of the bed. I do not remember that

I spoke to Palmer, nor he to me, about this. I did not see any toast and

water in the bed-room; but a jug, not belonging to the inn, was about

ten o’clock in the evening sent down for some fresh toast-and-water. The

waitress, Lavinia Barnes, brought it down. I am sure the jug, which was

brought down from Cook’s room, did not belong to the Talbot Arms. I saw

Palmer go in and out of Cook’s room, perhaps, four or five times on that

Saturday. I heard Palmer tell Cook that he would send him over some

broth. I saw some broth in the kitchen, which some person had brought

there ready made. After Barnes had taken some broth up, ten minutes or a

quarter of an hour after the broth came over, I met Palmer going

upstairs towards Cook’s room. He asked if Mr. Cook had had his broth? I

told him I was not aware that any had come for him. While I was

speaking, Lavinia Barnes came out of the commercial-room, and said she

had taken the broth up to Cook when it came, but that he refused to take

it, saying it would not stay on his stomach. Palmer said that I must go

and fetch the broth; he (Cook) must have it. I fetched the broth and

took it into Cook’s room. Palmer was there. I cannot say whether it was

to him or Cook that I gave the broth, but I left it there. I am sure

that this was some of the broth which had been sent in. Some time

afterwards (about an hour or two), I went up to Cook’s room again, and

found that the broth had been vomited. About six o’clock in the evening,

some barley-water was made for Cook. I took it up to him. I cannot say

whether Palmer was with him. I cannot say whether or not that

barley-water stayed upon Cook’s stomach. At eight o’clock in the evening

some arrowroot was made in the kitchen. I took it up to Cook. I cannot

say whether Palmer was there, nor can I remember whether the arrowroot

remained on Cook’s stomach.

On Saturday, about three o’clock in the afternoon, I saw Mr. Bamford,

the surgeon. On Sunday morning I went to Mr. Cook’s room, about seven or

eight o’clock. Mr. Smith, called “Jerry Smith,” slept in Mr. Cook’s room

during Saturday night. He is a friend of the prisoner Palmer. I asked

Cook if he was any worse? He said he felt pretty comfortable, and had

slept well since twelve o’clock. On Sunday more broth, a large

breakfast-cup full, was brought over for Cook. That was between twelve

and one o’clock. I believe Charles Horley brought it. I took some of

that broth up to Cook’s room in the same cup in which it was brought. It

was hot. I tasted it. I drank about two tablespoonfuls. In about

half-an-hour or an hour I was sick. I vomited violently during the whole

afternoon till about 5 o’clock. I was obliged to go to bed. I vomited a

great many times. During the morning I had felt perfectly well, and had

not taken anything that could disagree with me. It was before dinner

that I took the broth. I went down to work again about a quarter before

6 o’clock. On the Sunday evening I saw Mr. Cook; he did not appear to be

any worse. He seemed to be in good spirits. The illness seemed to be

confined to vomitings after taking food. On Sunday night I saw Cook last

about 10 o’clock. On Monday morning I saw him between 7 and 8 o’clock,

when I took up to him a cup of coffee. I did not remain to see him drink

it. He did not vomit it. Palmer was coming down stairs, as though from

Cook’s room, about 7 o’clock. To my knowledge Palmer was not there, on

Monday. Cook got up about 1 o’clock, and appeared to be a great deal

better. He shaved, washed, and dressed himself. He said he felt better,

only exceedingly weak. He dressed as if he was going out. Ashmall the

jockey, and his brother, and Saunders the trainer, came to see him. As

soon as he got up I gave him some arrowroot, which remained on his

stomach. He sat up until about 4 o’clock, when he returned to bed.

Between 9 and 10 o’clock at night I saw Palmer. He was sitting down in

Cook’s room. I saw Cook about half-past 10 o’clock, and not again until

about a quarter before 12 o’clock. On the Monday night, about 8 o’clock,

a pill-box wrapped in white paper was brought from Mr. Bamford’s. It was

given to me by Miss Bond, the housekeeper, to take up to Cook’s room. I

took it up and placed the box on the dressing-table. That was before

Palmer came. When I saw Palmer he was sitting by the fire in Cook’s

room. I went to bed between 10 and 11 o’clock. About eight or ten

minutes before 12 o’clock the waitress, Lavinia Barnes, called me up.

While I was dressing I twice heard screams from Cook’s room. My room is

above, but not immediately over Cook’s. I went down to Cook’s room. As

soon as I entered the room I saw him sitting up in bed. He desired me to

fetch Palmer directly. I told him Palmer was sent for, and walked to his

bedside. I found the pillow upon the floor. There was one mould candle

burning in the room. I picked up the pillow, and asked Cook if he would

lay his head down. He was sitting up, beating the bedclothes with both

his hands and arms, which were stretched out. When I asked him to lay

his head down, he said, “I can’t lie down; I shall be suffocated if I

lie down. Oh, fetch Mr. Palmer!” The last words he said very loud. I did

not observe his legs, but there was a sort of jumping or jerking about

his head and neck, and his body. Sometimes he would throw back his head

upon the pillow, and then raise it up again. He had much difficulty in

breathing. The balls of his eyes projected very much. He screamed again

three or four times while I was in the room. He was moving and knocking

about all the time. Twice he called aloud, “Murder!” He asked me to rub

one hand. I found it stiff. It was the left hand.

By the COURT.--It was stretched out. It did not move. The hand was about

half shut. All the upper part seemed to be stiff.

Examination resumed.--I did not rub it long. As soon as he thought I had

rubbed it sufficiently he thanked me, and I left off. Palmer was there

while I was rubbing the hand. While I was rubbing it the arm and also

the body seemed to twitch. Cook was perfectly conscious. When Palmer

came in he recognized him. He was throwing himself about the bed, and

said to Palmer, “Oh, doctor, I shall die.” Palmer replied, “Oh, my lad,

you won’t!” Palmer just looked at Cook, and then left the room, asking

me to stay by the bedside. In about two or three minutes he returned. He

brought with him some pills. He gave Cook a draught in a wineglass, but

I cannot say whether he brought that with him. He first gave the pills,

and then the draught. Cook said the pills stuck in his throat, and he

could not swallow them. Palmer desired me to give him a teaspoonful of

toast-and-water, and I did so. His body was still jerking and jumping.

When I put the spoon to his mouth he snapped at it and got it fast

between his teeth, and seemed to bite it very hard. In snapping at the

spoon he threw forward his head and neck. He swallowed the

toast-and-water, and with it the pills. Palmer then handed him a draught

in a wineglass, which was about three parts full. It was a dark, thick,

heavy-looking liquid. Cook drank this. He snapped at the glass as he had

done at the spoon. He seemed as though he could not exactly control

himself. He swallowed the draught, but vomited it immediately into the

chamber utensil. I supported his forehead. The vomit smelt like opium.

Palmer said he hoped either that the pills had stayed on his stomach or

had not returned. He searched for the pills in the vomit with a quill.

He said, “I can’t find the pills,” and he then desired me to take the

utensil away, and pour the contents out carefully to see if I could find

the pills. I did so, and brought back the utensil, and told him I could

not see the pills at all. Cook afterwards seemed to be more easy. That

was about half an hour or more after I had first gone into the room.

During the whole of that time he appeared to be quite conscious. When

Cook was lying more quiet he desired Palmer to come and feel how his

heart beat, or something of that sort. Palmer went to the bedside, and

pressed his hand, I cannot say whether to the heart or to the side of

the face, but he said it was all right. I left Cook about 3 o’clock in

the morning. He was not asleep, but appeared to be dozing. Palmer was

sitting in the easy chair, and I believe he was asleep. I went into the

next room and laid down. About 6 o’clock I saw Cook again. I asked if

Palmer had gone, and Cook said he left at a quarter before 5 o’clock. I

asked if he felt any worse, and he said, no, he had been no worse since

I left him. I said, “You were asleep when I left.” He replied, “No, I

heard you go.” He asked me if I had ever seen any one suffer such agony

as he did last night? I said, no, I never had. He said he should think I

should not like to see any one like it again. I said, “What do you think

was the cause of all that agony?” He said, “The pills which Palmer gave

me at half-past 10.” I do not think anything more was said. I asked him

if he would take anything, and he said, “No.”

I do not remember seeing Palmer on that day (Tuesday) until he was sent

for. On that morning Cook seemed quite composed and quiet, but his eyes

looked wild. There was no motion about the body. About twelve o’clock at

noon he rang his bell, and desired me to send the “boots” over to Palmer

to ask if he might have a cup of coffee. Boots returned and said he

might, and Palmer would be over immediately. I took the coffee up to

Cook a little after twelve o’clock. Palmer was then in Cook’s room. I

gave the coffee to Palmer. He tasted it to see whether it was too

strong, and I left the room. Mr. Jones arrived by the three o’clock

train from Lutterworth. I saw him in Cook’s room. About four o’clock I

took Cook another cup of coffee. I cannot say whether Palmer was there.

Afterwards I saw Palmer. He opened the bed-room door and gave me the

chamber utensil, saying that Cook had vomited the coffee. There was

coffee in the utensil. I saw Cook several times before I went to bed. He

appeared to be in very good spirits, and talked about getting up next

morning. He said he would have the barber sent for to shave him. I

believe I gave him some arrowroot. I did not see him later than

half-past ten. Palmer was with him when I last saw him. I gave Palmer

some toast-and-water for Cook at the door. Palmer then said to Cook,

“Can this good girl do anything more for you to-night?” Cook said, “No;

I shall want nothing more till morning.” He spoke in a composed and

cheerful manner. I remained in the kitchen all night, to see how Cook

went on, and did not go to sleep. About ten minutes before twelve

o’clock the bell of Cook’s room was rung violently. Jones was sleeping

in a second bed in the same room. On hearing the bell I went up to

Cook’s room. Cook was sitting up. I think Jones was supporting him, with

his arms round his shoulders. Cook said, “Oh, Mary, fetch Mr. Palmer

directly.” I went to Palmer’s, and rang the surgery bell. As soon as I

had rung I stepped off the steps to look at Palmer’s bed-room window,

where I expected him to appear, and he was there. He did not lift up the

sash, but opened a small casement and spoke to me. I could not see

whether he was dressed, but I heard and knew his voice. I asked him to

come over to Mr. Cook directly, as he was much the same as he had been

the night before. I don’t remember what he replied. I went back to the

hotel, and in two or three minutes Palmer came. I was then in the

bed-room. Jones was there supporting Cook. Palmer said he had never

dressed so quickly in his life.

The question which elicited this answer was, “Did Palmer make any remark

about his dress?” After the answer had been given,

Mr. Serjeant SHEE objected to the form in which the question had been

put.

Lord CAMPBELL: It seems to me that the examination is conducted with

perfect fairness. No leading question, nor any one which could be

considered doubtful, has been put to the witness.

Examination continued: I left the room, but remained on the landing.

After I had been waiting there a short time (about a minute or two)

Palmer came out. I said, “He is much the same as last night.” Palmer

said, “Oh, he is not so ill by a fiftieth part.” He then went down

stairs as though going to his own house. He was absent but a very short

time, and then returned to Cook’s room. I also went in. I believe Cook

said, “Turn me over on my right side.” I was then outside, but the door

was open. I do not think that I was in the room at the time he died. I

went in just before, but came out again. Jones was there at the time,

and had his right arm under Cook’s head. Palmer was then feeling Cook’s

pulse, and said to Jones, “His pulse is gone.” Jones pressed the side

of his face to Cook’s heart, lifted up his hands, but did not speak.

Palmer asked me to fetch Mr. Bamford, and I went for him. Cook’s death

occurred about three-quarters of an hour after I had been called up. Mr.

Bamford came over. I did not return to Cook’s room. When Mr. Bamford

came down stairs he said, “He is dead: he was dead when I arrived.”

After Mr. Bamford had gone I went up to the landing, and sat upon the

stairs. I had sat there about ten minutes when Jones came out of the

room, and said, “Mr. Palmer wants you,” or “Will you go into the room?”

I went into the room where Cook was lying dead. Palmer was there. I said

to him, “It is not possible that Mr. Cook is dead?” He said, “Oh yes, he

is dead.” He asked me who I thought would come and lay him out. I

mentioned two women whom I thought Palmer knew. He said, “Those are just

the women.” I said, “Shall I fetch them?” and he said, “Yes.” I had seen

a betting-book in Cook’s room. It was a dark book, with gold bands round

the edges. It was not a very large book, rather more long than square,

and had a clasp at one end. I saw Cook have this book when he stopped at

Talbot Arms, as he went to the Liverpool races, some months before.

There was a case at the one side containing a pencil. I saw the book in

Cook’s room on Monday night. I took it off the dressing-table and gave

it to him in bed. He asked me to give him the book, pen, and ink, and

some paper. I gave him all. That was between seven and eight o’clock. He

took a postage stamp from a pocket at one end of the book. I replaced

the book on the frame of the looking-glass on the dressing-table. Palmer

was in the room after that time. To my knowledge I never saw the book

afterwards. I afterwards searched the room for it, but could not find

it. When I went into the room after Cook’s death, the clothes he had

worn were lying on a chair. I saw Palmer searching the pockets of the

coat. That was about ten minutes after the death. When I went into the

room Palmer had in his hand, searching the pockets, the coat which I had

seen Cook wear. Palmer also searched under the pillow and bolster. I saw

two or three letters lying upon the chimney-piece. I never saw them

again, but I was not much in the room afterwards. I had not seen the

letters before Cook’s death.

The examination in chief of this witness being concluded, the Court

adjourned, at twenty minutes past six o’clock, till next morning, when

it met at ten o’clock.