The court was even more crowded this morning than it has been since the
commencement of the trial. By nine o’clock every available seat was
occupied, and a great number of persons waited in the passages leading
to the various entrances during the whole day, without being able to
obtain admission. Among the distinguished persons who were present we
noticed the Lord Chief Baron, the Earl of Denbigh, Lord G. Lennox, Mr.
Monckton Milnes, Mr. L. Gower, Mr. G. O. Higgins, Mr. Forster, and
several other members of the House of Commons.
The learned Judges, Lord Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice
Cresswell, entered the court at about ten o’clock, accompanied by the
Sheriffs, Sir R. W. Carden, and other Aldermen.
The prisoner was immediately placed at the bar. He listened with great
attention to the address of his learned counsel, and maintained the same
calmness and self-possession that he had exhibited since the first day
of the proceedings.
Counsel for the Crown--the Attorney-General, Mr. E. James, Q. C., Mr.
Welsby, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Huddleston; for the prisoner--Mr. Serjeant
Shee, Mr. Grove. Q. C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kenealy.
CHARLES WEATHERBY, examined by Mr. WELSBY, said: On the 21st of November
I received a letter from Palmer, enclosing a cheque for £350. I produce
that letter:--
“Rugeley, Nov. 20, 1855.
“Gentlemen,--I will thank you to send me a cheque for the amount of
the enclosed order. Mr. Cook has been confined here to his bed for
the last three days with a bilious attack, which has prevented him
from being in town.
“Yours respectfully,
“WM. PALMER.”
On the morning of the 23rd I received another letter from him, which I
also produce. In this letter Palmer requested Messrs. Weatherby to send
a cheque for £75 to Mr. Pratt, and a cheque for £100 to Mr. Earwaker,
and deduct the same from Cook’s draft. On the 23rd I sent a letter to
Palmer, of which I produce a copy:--
“Nov. 23, 1855.
“Sir,--We return Mr. Cook’s cheque, not having funds enough to meet
it. When Mr. Frail called to-day to settle the Shrewsbury Stake
account, he informed us that he had paid Mr. Cook his winnings
there. We could not comply with your request as to paying part of
the money even if we had had sufficient in hand to pay you the sums
you mention, which we have not. Be so good as to acknowledge the
receipt of the cheque.”
On the 24th the following notice, signed by Palmer, was left at my
office:--
“Nov. 24, 1855.
“Gentlemen,--I hereby request you will not part with any moneys in
your hands, or which may come into your hands, on account of John
Parsons Cook, to any person until payment by you to me or my order
of the cheque or draft in my favour, given by the said John Parsons
Cook for the sum of £350, sent to you by me, and acknowledged in
your letter received by me at Rugeley on Wednesday morning, the
20th of this month of November.
“Yours, &c.
“WM. PALMER.”
“Messrs. Weatherby, 6, Old Burlington-street.”
On the 23rd I sent a letter to Cook at Rugeley, which was subsequently
returned to me through the dead-letter office.
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE: The cheque for £350 was, as far as
I recollect, signed by Cook.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Was it signed J. P. Cook, or J. Parsons Cook?--I
did not observe.
By Lord CAMPBELL: I observed that the body of the cheque was not in
Cook’s handwriting, but that the signature was.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE: When that cheque of Cook’s was presented, you had not
funds in hands to meet it?--No.
Were funds afterwards sent up by Mr. Frail, the clerk of the course at
Shrewsbury?--They were to have been, but were not eventually.
In the ordinary course of things, ought they to have been in your hands
on the day you received the cheque?--I can’t positively say. Clerks of
the course pay at different times. But Cook might reasonably have
supposed that they would be in hand, as it was then a week after he had
won the race. I informed Palmer, when I did not pay his cheque, of my
reasons for not doing so.
Mr. F. BUTLER examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I attend races, and bet.
I was at Shrewsbury races, and had an account to settle with Palmer. I
had to receive £700 odd from him in respect of bets made at the
Liverpool races. I had no money to receive in respect of the Shrewsbury
races. I endeavoured to get my money at Shrewsbury, and I got £40. I
asked him for money several times, and he said he had none, but had some
to receive. He did not say how much. He gave me a cheque for £250 upon
the Rugeley bank, which was not paid. I know Cook’s horse Polestar.
After she had won the race at Shrewsbury she was worth about £700. She
was worth more after than before she won.
Cross-examined by Mr. GROVE: I won £210 on Polestar for Palmer, and kept
it on account.
Mr. STEVENS proved that Polestar was sold at Tattersall’s on the 10th of
March, by auction, and fetched 720 guineas.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: That is the case for the prosecution.