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    decease of Oooke showed that the whole of the inone . woa by the latter had been seized by tho former . N sooner was the breath out of the poor fellow s body thai Talmer desired to perpetrate another forgery , by gettanj Cheshire to forge Cooke's name to a document , making Cooba indebted to him in 3000 ? . or 4000 / . Again what had become of the betting-book ? Palmer bad ob served "A dead man ' s bets are void—besides which , n . received them on the course . " But who received thos . bets , and who was responsible for them i Why , tai prisoner at the bar . It was for the jury now to saj whether they could come to any other conclusion thai that Palmer was guilty of the murder laid to his charge "If , " concluded the Attorney-General , " if , on a review Of the whole case , comparing the evidence on one side ther nd weihing it in the even scales oi uirtuuhw »~ »—

    and on the o , a g ana on me om , * . o ""'^ " - justice , y ou can come to the conclusion of innocence , 01 can even entertain that fair and reasonable amount oi 4 oubt of which the accused is entitled to the benefit , ui God ' s name acquit him ; but if , on the other hand , all the facts and all the evidence lead your minds , with satisfaction to yourselves , to the conclusion of his guilt , then—but then only—I ask for a verdict of ' Guilty at your hands For the protection of the good , for the repression of the wicked , I ask for that verdict by which alone—as it seems to me—the safety of society can be secured , and the imperious demands of public justice can be satisfied "

    . use saijuucu * The address of the Attorney-General occupied nearly four "hours ; and , at its conclusion , the Court adjourned till Monday . THE SUMMING-UP . The excitement in the neighbourhood of the court on Monday morning was even greater than it had been on previous days . Large numbers of persons—many ol them belonging to the upper classes —waited outside from an early hour for the opening of the doors ; but in j jl ^ p * ¦ ^ "? ^ ol i . 4 . y a- * vj u . L ± \ ja . u « a ^ s ^~ r ^* »•* i ^ *^— — •*— — — " - — - — - y —^ — — — —

    the end , many of those who held tickets were unable tc obtain places , for the galleries and the body of the court , directly the public was admitted , were filled to inconvexiience . The jurv , who had been out for a walk in the earlier part of tho morning , took their seats a little before ten o ' clock ; and the civic functionaries shortly afterwards made their appearance . The Attorney-General was not present ; but all the other counsel on both 6 idsa attended as usual . " " The appearance of the prisoner is variously described . According to the Times reporter , only a slight additional shade of anxiety passed over his face during the address of the I * rd Chief Justice Other accounts state that fj ¦ _¦

    > . ^^ B A | | f ^ b ^^ ^ ^ ^ m » m . » . - ^ r ^^ U V ^^ ' *' ^^^ ^ " ^ ^* ^ ^ ^^ —^ ^^ ^ ^ lie seemed lost in thought until the commencement of the- summing-up , and that it was then quite painful to see the eagerness with which he listened to every word . He gazed fixedly , and with parted lips , at Lord Campbell , and appeared nervously apprehensive of losing- »^ y portion of the address ; but , on his Lordship beginning UVl I > MIU Ul lilXD ttUUlcaa , UUi , VIA ui > 1 -i-iv * ^ »^ m »^ uvgiiuiui ^

    to . read the evidence , he seemed to breathe freely again ,, and to look on with comparative indifference . Lord Campbell , addressing the jury , said : — " I must begin by imploring you to banish from your minds all that occurred previous to your coming into this court . No doubt there was the strongest , prejudice against the . prisoner in the county of Stafford ,, where the offence for which , he is to answer is alleged to have been committed ; and this prejudice was so strong that the Count of Queen ' s Bench made an order to remove tho trial from the county . With gentlemen of your intelligence , I feel it to be an unnecessary caution ; but it is my dufcy to entreat that you will not suffer your minds to bo influenced by anything which you may have heard against ¦

    " - - * -r- - - ~ - - ^ — ^ t ^ ^ ^ ^ - * the prisoner with respect to matters not connected with tibia charge . There is certainly evidence which tmids to connect the prisoner with some very discreditable transactions , lie appears to have forged a groat number of bills of exchange . - These transactions would , however , fcave been , excluded altogether from your notice , but that it . became absolutely necessary that they should be brought , forward . By tho practice of some foreign oountrias , it i » allowable in the oase of an accused poison ta put forward evidence that he has committed other offences with , tho view of showing that the prisoner is an immoral person who might bo reasonably supposed to have committed tho particular offence allegod against him t but the law of England that bllHb

    presumes every UIUA p VUb V *** 3 J *» W Ul JUf #££ JtSiavi JMJUQII tu *^ r > UVUIJ ' ( Ban is innocent until his guilt is established , and it pprovidou ^ hat evidence shall only be offered aguinstt him . on tfoa ehargc for which he is arraigned . Gentlemen , it gives , me great satisfaction to find that thi ? case Ifas been , laid so fully before you . Every , thing ; has been done that could bo accomplished to assist tho jury in coining to a right couchuuou . Tho proip ^ tiiaL . b 4 iu juty m coming co u ii ^ ul uuuuumiuii . aiiu i »

    ru-¦ eaution has been taken , up by the Government of the Qomn ^ ry merely in order that justiee may bo fully and fairly 4 « ne . The Attorney-General , who is tho firat law officer of the Crown , has conducted tho prosecution an tho Minl « t « r of Public Justice , and the priuouer appears to have . ha 4 muplo itwana for conducting his defence . Witnesses , Tery property , havo been brought from , all parts of the kingdom \ n his defence , and he baa had tho * dvantage of Having hiu ease conducted by olio of tho noat distinguished advocate * at the English bar . I moat ( Itronjcly recommend you to attend to everything that foil ao eloquently * bo ably , and bo iuapireBHivoly from that advocate with , the exception only of tho Gxpreaaion

    Y of his own personal opinion that the prisoner is innocent 0 ' and that the jury , if they found him Guilty , would on < a day repent it . Such assertions are merely analogous tc rr the formal plea 'Not Guilty- ' They go for nothing » more , and the most inconvenient consequences woulc * follow from regarding them in any other light . " His - lordship then proceeded to state the allegations both or b the side of the prosecution and the defence , and observer a that , if there was no motive for the commission of th « 9 crime , the probability of Palmer having committed il r would be greatly lessened . Still , it was not unknown . 1 in the annals of crime , that offences had been committed without any assignable reason . In cases of poisoniDg , the r result generally depends mainly on the medical evidence : 3 but what is called the moral and circumstantial evidence , f should also be considered . His lordship informed the jury

    * K-w n » if rtKaotTTotinnc T . vlii /» h Iia mirrhfr frnm finifi tc \ tlmf r that any observations which he might from time to time f make from the bench would merely be thrown out with a i view to assisting them , and would by no means be in-[ tended to have any influence , by way of dictation , on i their minds . The verdict was in their hands alone . , Referring to Palmer ' s pecuniary embarrassments pre' vious to the death of Cooke , his Lordship related all the i circumstances attending the prisoner ' s dealings with i Pratt and Pad-wick ; his insurance of his brother ' s life » for 13 , 0002 . ; his inability to obtain the money after Wali ter Palmer ' s , death ; his association with Cooke in connexion with money matters ; iis various liabilities and want

    , of money before the death of Cooke , and his possession I of cash after the death of that gentleman . His Lordship next read Wright ' s evidence as to the large debts due to his brother from Palmer , and the bill of sale i given by Palmer , as security , upon the whole of his i property ; Strawbridge ' s evidence as to the forgery of F Mrs . Palmer ' s name to acceptances ; and the further evi-> dence of Mr . Weatherby , particularly calling the attention of the jury to the fact of the cheque purporting to be turned to lmer b

    be signed by Cooke having en re Pa y Mr . Weatherby , when he refused payment of it . u A great deal , " said ' his Lordship , " turns upon the question whether that cheque was really signed by Cooke or not , as , if not , it shows that Palmer was dealing with Cooke ' s money and appropriating it to his own use . Mr . Serjeant Sb . ee observed that Mr . Weatherby expressed an opinion that the cheque was Cooke ' s . Lord Campbell : — " Mr . Weatherby said that the body of the cheque was not in Cooke ' s handwriting , and that he had paid no attention to the signature . You , gentlemen , must consider all the evidence with regard to this part of the case . The cheque is not produced , although

    a respectable man . There was a discrepancy between 3 the statements of Elizabeth Mills on the trial and her > j depositions before the coroner . On the former occasion r ' she did not mention that the broth prepared for Cooke ' I I and of which she took two spoonfuls , had made her sick-3 alleging , as a reason for this omission that she was not i asked by the coroner . Her evidence on this point , how-[ ever , was confirmed by that of Lavinia liarnes , her fel-; Tow-servant . His Lordship then proceeded to recal the t evidence of Mr . Jones , surgeon , of Lutterworth , and the , letter forwarded to that witness on the Monday bj-I Palmer , informing him that Cooke had been taken ill > with diarrhoea in the night , and requesting him to come ; over and see him , upon which lie remarked , as a mys-, terious part of the case , that the evidence of Jones ¦ clearly showed that there was no diarrhoea about Cooke

    > at nil . nnr nnvthinjr of a bilious nature ill his attanh-a ' , at all , nor anything of a bilious nature in his attacks . i The evidence of Dr . Savage , to whom Cooke applied when he thought himself labouring under the sei condary symptoms of a disease from which he had suffered , tended to show that at that time he -was in excellent health . Referring to the evidence of i Newton , the chemist ' s assistant , and to the fact that he . had not mentioned his having given strychnine to i Palmer when before the coroner , nor up to the Tuesday morning before he appeared in that court , the Chief Justice told the jury that the incident was one which ; deserved their attention ; but at the same time there was

    no contradiction in his evidence , and therefore too much stress must not be laid upon the omission , which mi ght have been caused by fear , operating upon a weak mind . : Roberts ' s evidence was next read . He also had not entered the sale of the six grains of strychnine to the ¦ prisoner in his book ; still there appeared to be nothing in this to impeach his veracity . If the jury believed him , as well as Newton , there was evidence of the prisoner having purchased strychnine on both days—the * T *« -. a . » ... »?* -..-. n-n 4-l « n TlT ^ t-i / 1 . ¦» « r ami + Hr > civ nn fliA Tn ^ crl n * r thregrain thMonday and the six on the luesdaj ^

    , s on e , the day of Cooke ' s death . It had been asserted for the defence that the symptoms in Cooke ' s death were not those of strychnine ; but no account had been given , or suggested , of what had been done with the strychnine which it was alleged Palmer had purchased . The removal , by the prisoner , of the jar containing Cooke ' s intestines , was not in itself a remarkable fact , except when it was taken in connexion with his subsequent conduct in trying to get the jar broken . The explanation of that conduct advanced by the defence he did not think was justified by the facts . Palmer ' s attempt to influence the mind of the coroner , by communicating

    it was sent back by Mr . Weatherby to Palmer and notice to produce it has been given . If it had been produced , we could have seen whether Cooke ' s signature was genuine . It is not produced . " His Lordship then read the evidence of Butler , to whom Palmer owed money in respect of bets , and of Bergen , an inspector of _^ _ _ & ¦ * V ^ 4 ¦ " ¦ rf 4 # ^ A lmerh for af

    to him the result of Dr . Taylor s j > ost-morte . m examination , his Lordship considered highly improper ; but such conduct might be consistent with innocence , and it would be for the jurj- to say -whether it was or was not . The prisoner , however , had evidently endeavoured to tamper with justice . Passing from this documentary z . 1 j- « 4-1 ^«* np 4-lkn l-v * -iy- \ L- *\ F nmanii q ftkiinri lil t . YlPi eviden tthat of the book of oisons found in the

    police , who had searched Pa ' s ouse papers ter the inquest . " it might have been expected that the cheque which was returned by Mr . Woatherby to Pal ^ mar , who professed to set store upon it and to have given value for it , and who required Mr . Weatherby not to pay awav any money until it had been satisfied , would have been foundi , but it is not forthcoming . It is for you to draw whatever inference may suggest itself to you from this circumstance . Wo then come to the arrest of Palmer . Now , as it strikes my mind , the circumstance that Palmer remained in tlie neighbourhood after suspicion had arisen against him is of importance and ought to be taken into consideration by you , although he may , perhaps , have done so thinking that

    , ce o p prisoner s possession , his Lordship declared his opinion that the notes written in- it on tlie operations of strychnine and nux vomica ought not to weig h one iota against the prisoner , and ought not to influence the jury at all , as in all probability they were written at a time when he was pursuing his medical studies in London . The medical evidence was then read over , with a view to balancing the contradictory assertions with respect to the possibility of always finding strychnine alter death , when it has been administered . Dr . Taylor ( bis Lordship said ) had perhaps acted indiscreetly in communicating with newspapo ' rs ; but no such imputation rested on Dr . liees , and he fully confirmed this testimony ol hw

    from the care he had taken nothing could ever be discovered against him . It seems , however , he was imprisoned on civil process before the verdict of the coroner ' s jury rendered him amenable to a criminal charge . Besides the cheque purporting to be signed by Cooko , the prisoner also had in his possession a document purporting that certain bills had been accepted by him for Cooke ; but neither that document nor any such bills have been found . All tho papers which were not retained were returned to the prisoner s brother , and notice has bean given to produce them ; but neither the bills nor the document are produced . " Passing to tho consideration of tho circumstances attending the the allegod administration of oison to Cooko at tho inn at Shrewsbury after

    coadjutor . . The evidence for the prosecution having been summed up , the Court adjourned till the next day . Lord Campbell resumed his summing-up on Tuesday morning by calling attention to the fact that Palmer applied Cooke ' s money to the payment of his own debtsdebts for which he alone was liable . Thure was . iurtner evidence , thut he employed a mail of tho name ol Herring to collect Cooko ' a betting money , and to appropriate it to his use . It uppeared thut , when Cooko ' s death took place , he took advantage of it for obtaining possession ot tho horse Pole-star , which had belonged to Cooke ; ana there was evidence of his having fabricated a document , which was to declare that ccrtuiii bills of exchange , in

    p the races , Lord Campbell pointed out the discrepancies existing between the evidence of the witness Fisher ( for the prosecution ) and that of Myatt , for tho defence . The latter said Cooke did not leave the room after taking the brandy and water , whereas the former said he did so for ton minutes . Tho jury wonld also observe that Fishor spoke to having handed Cooke between 7002 . and JU IDHUI OIJlJMhW ! # ** ** i » V ** " ^ . »»» M ^* % *» . «» - ^» ww *» . vi * # * jw . » . *« . * ¦ w •* ¦> . » .. »

    .... . _ 1 * V __ i l . _ i . | V *« . n . w l P ,, / ll ;| l W < 11 *( 5 COU- which it appeared that both he and Cooke wore concerned , were negotiated for Cooke's advantage , and that tho prisoner derived no benefit from them . That iloeumont wus to have been brought forward uitcr Cooke it death ; for , if Cooko had survived , the Iraud must Iniv © been exposed , mid tlie prisoner punished . With rospcei to tho question that no strychnine ) was found m tho bociy , ... r . ... i i : .. e < i ... ; , irv 'I liero wit . i consideration of tho jury There w »

    800 / . on the Thursday morning bofore his death ; and yet when Cooke died no such sum was found in his possession . The evidence of Mrs . Brooks , who Btatcd that sba saw Palmer at tho hotol during the vacca examining tho contents of a tumbler by holding it up to tho light and shaking it , his Lordship thought was worth nothing . With respect to Elizabeth Mille , tlie chum barmaid at tho Tulbot Arms , ltugeley , it had bean hinted that she had been bribed by Mr . Stevons Cooke ' s Btepfuther ; but there was not tho smallest pretence for the allegation , nor did there appear to be any ground for imputing that Mr . Gardner , the attorney who attended the inquest on Mr . Stovouu ' s behulf , waa any other than

    that was for tho . no point of law uccording to which the . poison must do found in . the body of a deceased portion , to constiiuw evidence of death by poisoning . The witnwaeH lor i » dofonco said that , had strychnine been mlniiniatorocl , tm-jshould have expected to lhul it ; but other witnesses oi hig h reputation ( Dr . ChristiBon among Hio m 1 "" . '"^ gave a different opinion . Ah regards thu length ol in which elapsed between the alleged administration oi upoison and the appearance of tho nyniptoinw , > t a l' » icnr to him that , although tho interval was less m Ui" "' of tho animals experimented , on , in tho casts ol ^ J ) OK would depend on the manner in which tho puiu w "

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    -1 T H E I ; E A B E B . [ No . 323 , Saturday , [ ¦ V * V '—^_^______^_ Zi ^_ -- —————— u—JJ ™>»» ' ^^^ » «^"'»^^^™^^™™~'" - ^ » " » ' ^^"'™"" — ¦¦¦¦¦ U i—1 __^_„__^^^^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 31, 1856, page 510, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2143/page/6/