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    -JMHa '• fj | fM » VliV t <\ « e **»« ™™* h On thBfith « fcQfltob « |™™^^ tfts ^ kmouni ; reoiainin £ dn <* ag ^ ftt the ^ rj ^ uer's mp * h ^ er , no 'proceedings as to ^ ervice should be taken until the morning pf Saturday ' the lQth ^^^^ J ^^ f " ; 'Ser' ^ 6 iilT ^ d % Lp I <)^ . pr 1300 ? . On th * 6 thof November it appears that two writs were issued for 4000 H- ^ bne a ^ atostValmei' and the other ajjainst his ihdther ; but , oil the same day , Pratt wrote to say that , although he had sent two writs to his agen £ Crabbe , they should not be served until be sent further directions ; and he strongly urged t ^ e prisonerjo make immediate arrangements for the bill of 15001 that was

    ' coming due on the 9 th of thetaonth . Palmer then paid 300 ? ., and , haying before paid two sums of ! 250 ? .,, the entire payments ampunted to 800 ? ., from which 2001 , for' two months * discount , haying been deducted , left v © 00 £ to be applied to payment of the first bill for 20001 , becoming due on the , 25 th of October ; and after payment of that sum of 600 A there remained due on Sat bill a sum o £ 14001 On the 14 th of November , the day on which Polesti * ( Cooke's horse ) won the Shrewsbury , there . was , another , letter urging the pr isoner to make up ' the sum of . 1000 ? ., without which ft would be . impossible to renew the bill for 1600 ? . due on the 9 Uu That was the state of things in which the prisoner was placed on the 13 th of

    November . They would find that . Pratt held at that time 12 , 500 ? . worth of the prisoner ' s bills in his hands , minus ^ the 600 ? ., leaving nearly 11 , 000 ? . worth of bills , the whole of which bore the forged acceptance of Palmer ' s jmother—forged by him , or some other person by his directions , and for which , he mas criminally as well aa I pecuniarily liable . ; The Prince of Wales Office declined ' to pay the sum for which his brother's life was insured , and Pratt , -who held the policy as a collateral security , / could no longer renew the bills , and therefore had issued . wrjits , against the- mother ,: which' were forthwith- to be served if Palmer did not find the means of paying off a ^ jjortipn . of the demand made by Pratt , on behalf of himself and his clients .

    The circumstances attending the races at Shrewsbary last November , and the subsequent death of Cooke , were then related by the Attorney-General ; - but with these our readers are . so well acquainted ^ thattheyneed ttot b ^ repeated , with the exception of an incident wbicb .-occurred on the morning of the ( death s when— ¦¦¦ ¦ ¦ ' - . ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ - >¦ < •¦¦ •¦;¦¦•¦¦ . ,, ' ... " / ' .. \ ' . - " ' ' . o- palmer went" to the ' show of a certain Mjv Hawkings , a'druggist , at Hugeleyl He had not dealt with him fo ? two years before , it being his practice during that period "to purchase such' drugs' as he required from Mr . Thirlby , J fonner ' assistant of fijr . Hackings ' , who had set up in -business' folr himself . But on this day Palmer went to ^ Sfr ; Hawkings ' s shop , and , ' producing ; ' ^ bott le , informed

    'tilte' assistafct that he wanted two drac hma of prussic field . While' itwas ' bejjnjg ; prepared for him , Mr . New"tdn , the , same man from whom he ^ ad ori a former occa-. 'tilbitiobtained strychnine , came i « t p the shop , hereupon ° I * almW'seiWed nimby ' the armj and , observing that he had something particular to say to him ,, hurried-him 'inljb'the street , wherfe he kept , Ialking to' hipa 911 a matter * 6 f"the'Smallest possible importance , relating to the pre- ' "cise period at which his employer's son meant to , repair to" a farm he tad taken in theVcpiiptry . They , continued to'converse on this trivial tome uhtrf a . centleman named

    Brassiiigton ( for Grasaihgtpn ^ . came up , whereupon Mr . ^ SWfwton turned aside to , say a' few wpirds io , him , Calmer , ril ^' ed b ^ thi ^ accident , went back into the shop , and . Cj Jinked , lh acfditi 6 n , f 6 r six jpvi $ a of strychnine and a "' bbtHfiHn quantity' ' of ' '¦ B '&l ^ y ' fj ^ li quor \ of opium . He ob- ; tauied them , paid' for ' them , ' and " went away . ' .. ,..: The jncidents connected with-Palmer * * visit to a Jhbu , Herring , a , aportang man ^ at his residence in Beaufort-buildings , Strand , ¦ Xondbn ** during the illne ^ of Cookey may be . reproduced for the sake ¦ of some additional details : — , 1

    Immediately on s ^ em ^ Palmer , Herring Inquired after Cooke's health . " Oh , " oaid Palmer , « he is all right ; his medical man has given him a doae of calomel , and recommended him not td come out , and what I want to .. seeiyou about ia > the 1 settling of his accounts . " Monday , ; > it appears , was settling-day at TattereauTs , and it-was necessary that all accounts should be squared . ' Cooke's , iuaal < agent for effecting that' arrangement was ¦ a person named / Fisher , and it seems not a little singular that ! : Oooke Bhould not have told Palmer why Fisher should ; not hare been employed on this as on all similar occa-: Bions . On this ) point , however , Palmer offered no explftnationi He was himself a defaulter , and could not olhow at TattersalTs . He produced 1 a piece of paper , Mrij | ch ho said contained a llitof the sums which Cooke , ftNM- « ntit 2 * d to receive , and he mentioned the names ^ f «^^ different persons'who were indebted to Cook e , ' > f& IN * ' « Wount 8 > tbt which ¦ they were respectively

    JU » bU ., t ; H * rrl ~ r hold ont W » hand to take the :. »» Wr ^ -bnb . itPdmer ¦ ¦ > saldt *• Nd ; I will keep thia d ^ umtat ^ bort iranother pteoo of paper ; write down What I t «« d to you , «•* what I have here I will retain , , m It will be a check ajftlnto yottl ? ' He then dictated the puompt the vmriott * p « rWh «^ rtUi the aumslot which

    logoi A '^ ejy , Wlh' \ W ^ P ^ W )"* W ywrgeipi . &M * A §>*** Vm % * nm , tjll ^ m Cwk ^ w ^ y h ^^ Xh « raday ^ . Friday . And . now . ^ he ^ added , " how ^ n > uch ^ o y ° » Mtk * tfe * . i balance ? Blernngi « eplied iha > he ' made it . t |? almer ^ replied , that that waa , right ,. an 4 tljen . werit . on to Bay , V-I wift give ; you 167 ., which will make , it 100 . QA -Pay yourself the 200 i that I owe you for- my , billj ; pay Pfldwicfc 360 / ., and Pratt 450 ? . " So we have it here established beyond all controversy , that Palmer did not hesitate to apply Cooke ' s money to ilie payment of his ( Palmer's ) own debts . WUh regard to the debt due to Mr ; Padwick , I am assoted that it represents moneys won by that

    gentleman , partly from Cooke , 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 Herr ing 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 , weH , " said Palmer , " never mind , it is all right 4 but , come what willi 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 the 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 Cooke . With this injunction Herring complied , and I shall prove in the course of the trial thai : the letters he wrote to Cooke were

    intercepted by the postmaster at Rageley . Not having received as much as he expected at TattersalFs , Herring was unable to * pay Padwick the 350 ? ., but it is not disputed that he paid 450 ? . % o 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 2 0 ? . w hich he had received from I-I erring . The circumstances following the death of Cooke were thus related by the Attorney-General : —

    Oti . the 25 ' tTirbf Npyember , ' palmer , sent for Chesiwure ( the" postmaster ' at ' Jtugeley ) , ' ana , ' , producing a " paper , purporting to bear'iJiQ signatufe 9 ^ , Cooke , asked him to attestit . X ^ esnire gtanced over it . It was a document in which Cdoke acknowledged that certain bills to the amount of 4000 ? ., or thereabouts , were bills that had been negotiated for his ( Cooke ' s ) . benefit , and in respect of which Palmer had received no consideration . Such was the paper to which forti >* -eight hours after the death of the man whose name it bore Palmer did not hesitate

    to ask Chesturc to be an attesting witness , Cheshire , though , " unfortunately' for hunseif 7 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 } ° oh more regular h * it were attested . On Friday , Mr . Stevens , Cooke's tfather ^ irf-4 aw , ^ ame d ^ O j Kugete ^ , and , a ^ ter , , tA ^ Wihg thebody ' oth ' y relative , to wh ^ he had been tenderly attached , ' asked Palmer about h' 8 affairs . Palmer assured hiththat he held a paper drawn up by a lawyer , and signed by Cooke , stating that , in respect of 4000 / . worth of bills , he ( Cooke ) was alone liable , an . d , that Palmer had a claim to ihat amount against his estate . Mr .

    Stevens expressed his amazement , and replied that there would not be 4000 shillings for Uie holders of the bills . Subsequently Palmer displayed an eager ofuciouanesa in the matter of the . funeral , taking upon , himself to order a shell and an oak coffin withou , ^ i ay directions to that effect iVoni' i £ he relatives of , the . deceased , who were anxious to have the arrangements in their own hands . Mr . Stevens . ordered dinner at the . hotel for Bamford , Jo ' nes , and himself , and , finding Palmer still hanging about hita , thought it but civil to extend the invitation to hiin . Accordingly they all sat down together . After dinner , . 'Mr . Stevens asked Jones to stop up-stairs and bring down all books and papers belonging to Cooke . 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

    bettingjook or any of the papers belonging to the deceased . Palmer added , " The bettiug-bppk would be of no , use to you if you found it , fpr the bets . are void , by his doathu " Mr . Stevens replied , " The book must be found ; " and then Palmer , changing his tone , said , " . Oil , I daro say it will tufh up . " , Mr ., Stevens ( then rapg the bell , and told the housekeeper to take charge of whatever books and papers had belonged to Cooke , and to be sure not to allow any one to meddle with them until lie came back from London , which he would soon do , with hie solicitor . He then departed , but , returning to Rugeloj r after a brief Interval , declared his intention to have a post mortem examination . , Polmer volunteered to nominate the surgeons who should conduct } t , but Mr . Stevens refused to employ any one whom he , should recommend . On Sunday , the 26 th , Paline ^ called - on Dr . Bamford , and asked him fpr a certificate attesting the cause of Cooke ' fl death . The dootpr , e ^ prepscd lu « surprise , and observed , " Why , he waa your patient . " But Palmer

    -importuned him , and Dainft > rd 7 ~ taktng thoffing ; ' -nHeiir ' Tip the ; certificate , ¦ and entered the cause' of deat h as ^ apoplwty . " Dr . Bamford is upwards of « ighty , and Ihbpe that it is to some infirmity connected with hm great age that this tsaost unjustifiable act is to be attributed . However , he . ahall bo produced in court , and he will tell you that apoplexy has never been known : to produce tetanus , lathe , course of the day , Pahner sent for Newton , and after they had had some brandy-and-Watei ^ asked him hpw much strychnine he would use to kill : a dog ? TKevton replied * , *? From half a grain to . » grain . " "; And how much , " inquired Palmer , ^' would be found in the tissues and intestines after death ?!' .. - " None at all , " was Newton ' s reply ; but this is a point oft which I will produce important evidence .

    The body was exhumed , and was found to be for the most part healthy ; but in the January of the present year another examination was made , at which the conduct of Palmer < who was present ) was very extraordinary . On the ' occasion of the first examination- — Dr . Harland was joined by Palmer , whom he knew as a medical man , and he said , '' What , Palmer , is this case— -I hear that there is a suspicion of poison ? " " Oh , ho , " replied Palmer , "he had epileptic fits on Monday and Tuesday night , and you will find an old disease both

    in the heart . and in the head . " Then they went on to Bamford ' s , where the medical , men were assembled . Here Palmer made this observation— " There is a queer old man , his ( meaning deceased ' s ) father-in-law , making inquiries—his conduct seems very strange—I don't know what he wants . " Among the medical men present was Mr . Newton , and , as they were leaving Dr . Bamford ' s , Palmer made this observation to him" This will be a dirty job , and I shall go and get a drop of brandy ; the poor fellow was fall of disease—his heart was diseased . "

    Dr . Bamford on this occasion clung to the opinion he had previously expressed ( perhaps under the influence of Palmer ) that there was - congestion of the brain ; but the other medical men unaiairnously dissented from this . On the secoiid examination in January—The body was exhumed to see if there was any injury to the spinal marrow and cord , to account for , death ; bat the two or three medipal ' . men ^ yho then examined the body found both in a ' perfectly healthy condition , and they alsP 'discovered that though the muscles of the trunk had lost their rigidity , those of . the arms , fingers , and legs still retained theirs . The prisoner ' s attention was directed tip the fact that

    there was no unhealthy appearance indicative of any inflammation or injury to Certain parts , and he turned round to Dr . Bamford , and used'more than once the remarkable expression , " Doctor , they won ' t bang us yet . " The stomach and intestines were taken out of the body , and the contents were placed in ajar . An accident happened while that was being done . Mr . Devonshire , being a young practitioner , did not perform these things in' the most skilful manner . He ruptured something , and was obliged to tie it up-with a string , and in doing so he happened to turn a portion of the stomach Inside out , and to mix different matters together . While this was being done , the prisoner unnecessarily pushed against him , so much so as to edus * a remark by those who were

    present . When the Btomach and intestines had been placed in the jar , the jar was covered over with two skins , and tied down by Dr . Harland , and then placed on one side while that gentleman turned his attention to the rest of the examination , but a minute afterwards he happened to turn round , and saw that the jar had disappeared . He immediately called out , " Where is the jar ? " and then every one's notice was directed to a room at some distance off . The prisoner answered from a door , "I have get it . I thought you could more conveniently put your harid ' npon Jt if I placed it here . " He wbb requested' to bring back the jar immediately , and he did so , and it was , found that two slits knife

    had been made through the double skins with a . Whatever his intention was he would not venture to say , but if he wiBhed to let out some of the contents of the jar he failed in that object , for the slits wore perfectly clean , and nothing had passed through them . These circumstances in the conduct of the man were important when they came to consider the external indications of liifl innocence or guilt . He told Bamford that ho did not think the medical men ought to be allowed to take away tho jar , adding , " Who knows what they will put in it ? " If ho had been an Ignorant man , not familiar with tho course pursued on such occasions , there might have been some reason in hia entertaining a suspicion of tliat kind ; but it certainly did seem singular that a medical man should have so little reliance in tho honour and

    integrity of reftpoctablo members of hia own profession as to suspect that they would tamper with nny portion of the body which was taken away for analyzation . « would be for tho jury to say whether that anxiety to utop tho jar being removed waa not an indication of a guilty conscience . Bnt tho matter did not Btop h" ° - Tho jar was eoaled tip , and' delivered to tho dork 01 Mr . Gardner , tho solicitor at Itngoloy , i » a atato inwlnc " it could not bo tampered with , yet tho prisoner was in the highest state of anxiety lost it should not reacn Its destination * Ho found tliat Stevona , tho fathe r-inlaw , and Gardner ' s clork , ' wore going away at nig" *

    Untitled Article

    460 , ? S ^;^ * J * Pfo-rm g 4 TO 4 f , _

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1856, page 460, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2141/page/4/