Part 16

I had received from Palmer a letter, dated October 5, acknowledging, on the part of his mother, the receipt of a bill of exchange for £2,000. On the 10th I wrote to Palmer a letter, from which the following is an extract:--

“However, not to repeat what I said in my last, but with the view of pressing on you the remembrance that the two bills due at the end of this month, the 26th and 27th, must be met, I say no more. The £2,000 acceptance of your mother, due the 29th of September, I sent her yesterday. It was renewed by the second of the three sent me up.”

On the 18th of October I wrote to Palmer as follows:--

“I send copies of two letters I have received. As regards the first, it shows how important it is that you or your mother should prepare for payment of the £4,000 due in a few days. I cannot now obtain delay on the same ground I did the others, for then I could have no ground for supposing the claim would not be admitted.”

On the 27th of October, Palmer called and paid me £250. This was on account of the bills due on the 25th and 27th of that month. He said he would remit another sum of an equal amount before the following Wednesday, and would pay the remainder of the principal by instalments as shortly as possible. In reply to a letter of mine of the 27th of October, I received the following letter from him, dated the 28th of October:--

“I will send you the £250 from Worcester on Tuesday, as arranged. For goodness’ sake do not think of writs; only let me know that such steps are going to be taken and I will get you the money, even if I pay £1,000 for it; only give me a fair chance, and you shall be paid the whole of the money.”

On the 31st of October I wrote to Palmer:--

“The £250 in registered letter duly received to day. With it I have been enabled to obtain consent to the following:--That, with the exception of issuing the writs against your mother, no proceeding as to service shall be made until the morning of Saturday, the 10th, when you are to send up the £1,000 or £1,500. You will be debited with a month’s interest on the whole of £4,000 out of the money sent up. I impress upon you the necessity of your being punctual as to the bills. You will not forget also the £1,500 due on the 9th of November.”

On the 6th of November I issued writs against Palmer and his mother for £4,000. I sent them to Mr. Crabbe, a solicitor at Rugeley. On the 10th of November Palmer called on me. I had received a letter from him on the 9th of November:--

“I will be with you on Saturday next, at half-past one.”

He did call on me, and paid me £300, which, with the two sums I had before received, made up £800. £200 was deducted for interest, leaving £600. He was to endeavour to let me have a further remittance, but nothing positive was said. It is possible that writs were mentioned, but I have no recollection of it. No doubt he knew of them. [A letter of November 13 from Pratt to Palmer was then read, in which, after giving some explanations with respect to the “Prince of Wales” policy, Pratt said:--“I count most positively on seeing you on Saturday; do, for both our sakes, try to make up the amount to £1,000, for without it I shall be unable to renew the £1,500 due on the 9th.”]

On the 16th of November Palmer wrote to me:--

“I am obliged to come to Tattersall’s on Monday to the settling, so that I shall not call and see you before Monday, but a friend of mine will call and leave you £200, to-morrow, and I will give you the remainder on Monday.”

On the Saturday (Nov. 17) some one came from Palmer, and gave me a cheque of a Mr. Fisher for £200. On the 19th Mr. Palmer wrote to me:--

“All being well, I shall be with you to-morrow (Monday), but cannot say what time now. Fisher left the £200 for me.”

On Monday, the 19th, which was the settling day at Tattersall’s, Palmer called on me after 3 o’clock. This paper (produced) was then drawn up, and he signed it:--

“You will place the £50 which I have just paid you and the £450 you will receive by Mr. Herring--together £500, and the £200 you received on Saturday towards payment of my mother’s acceptance for £2,000, due on the 25th of October, making paid to this day the sum of £1,300.”

He paid me £50 at the time, and said I should receive the £450 through the post, by Mr. Herring. I afterwards received a cheque from him for that amount, which was paid through my bankers. On the 21st of November Palmer wrote to me:--

“Ever since I saw you I have been fully engaged with Cook, and not able to leave home. I am sorry to say, after all, he died this day. So you had better write to Saunders; but, mind you, I must have Polestar, if it can be so arranged; and should any one call upon you to know what money or moneys Cook ever had from you, don’t answer the question till I have seen you.”

“I will send you the £75 to-morrow, and as soon as I have been to Manchester you shall hear about other moneys. I sat up two full nights with Cook, and am very much tired out.”

On the 22nd of November I wrote to Palmer:

“I have your note and am greatly disappointed at the non-receipt of the money as promised, and at the vague assurances as to any money. I can understand ’tis true, that your being detained by the illness of your friend has been the cause of not sending up the larger amount, but the smaller sum you ought to have sent. If anything unpleasant occurs you must thank yourself.

“The death of Mr. Cook will now compel you to look about as to the payment of the bill for £500, on the 2nd of December.

“I have written Saunders, informing him of my claim, and requesting to know, by return, what claim he has for keep and training. I send down copy of bill of sale to Crubble, to see it enforced.”

On the 23rd of November I received a note from Palmer, saying that Messrs. Weatherby, of 6, Old Burlington-street, would forward a cheque for £75 in the morning. On the 24th I received another note, saying that he would come up either that day or Monday. I saw him on the 24th, when he signed the following paper:--

“I have paid you this day £100. £75 you will pay for renewal of £1,500, due on the 9th of November, for one month, and £25 on account of the £2,000, due the 25th of October, making £1,325 paid on that account.”

I had received a cheque for £75 on Messrs. Weatherby, but they refused to pay it. On the 26th of November Palmer wrote to me:--

“(Strictly private and confidential.)

“My dear Sir,--Should any of Cook’s friends call upon you to know what money Cook ever had from you, pray don’t answer that question or any other about money matters until I have seen you.

“And oblige, yours faithfully,

“WILLIAM PALMER.”

There was a bill of sale on Polestar and another horse of Cook’s, called Sirius. I did not know Cook. I never saw him. The bill of sale was executed at the beginning of September. The prisoner had transacted the loan. [The bill of sale was read.] On the 26th of August Palmer wrote to me on the subject:--

“Now, I want, and must have it from somewhere, £1,000 clear by next Saturday without fail, and you can raise it on the policy (viz. the policy for £13,000 on the life of W. Palmer) if you like, and it must be had at a much less rate of interest than I have hitherto had, because the security is so very good; and if you cannot manage it, you must let me have the policy, because you have plenty of security for your money.”

On the 30th of August he again wrote:--

“I have undertaken to get the enclosed bill cashed for Mr. Cook. You had the £200 bill of his. He is a very good and responsible man. Will you do it? I will put my name to the bill.”

In this letter was enclosed Cook’s acceptance for £500. On the 6th of September Palmer wrote:--

“I received the cheque for the £100, and will thank you to let me have the £315 by return of post, if possible; if not, send it me (certain) by Monday night’s post, to the post-office, Doncaster. I now return you Cook’s papers, signed, &c., and he wants the money on Saturday, if he can have it, but I have not promised it for Saturday. I told him he should have it on Tuesday morning, at Doncaster; so please enclose it with mine, in cash, in a registered letter, and he must pay for it being registered. Do not let it be later than Monday night’s post to Doncaster.”

On the 9th of September he wrote:--

“You must send me, for Mr. Cook, by Monday night’s post (to the Post Office, Doncaster), £385, instead of £375, and the wine warrant, so that I can hand it to him with the £375, and that will be allowing you £50 for the discount, &c. I shall then get £10, and I expect I shall have to take to the wine, and give him the money; but I shall not do so if you do not send £385, and be good enough to enclose my £315 with it, in cash, in a registered letter, and direct it to me to the Post Office, Doncaster.”

I accordingly wrote to Palmer at the Post-office, Doncaster, enclosing £300 in notes, and a cheque for £375. I struck out the words “or bearer,” so that it was payable to order. In the letter I said:--

“You know by this time that if I do what I can to accommodate you, there is a limit to my means to do so, and more particularly as in this instance you have been the means of shutting up a supply I could generally go to. I think also you had little reason to allude to the £10 difference after the trouble, correspondence, &c., I had with respect to a second insurance you know of, which, although it did not come off, arose not from any lack of industry on my part. I have no reply as yet from the Prince of Wales. When shall I see you about the three £2,000 bills coming due at the end of this month? I speak in time, in order that you may be prepared in case anything untoward happens with the Prince of Wales. I am obliged to send a check for Cook, as I have not received the money, which I shall do, no doubt, to-morrow.”

The check for £375 and the wine-warrant was the consideration for Cook’s bill of sale for £500. The other £300 had nothing to do with Cook’s transactions. [A letter from Palmer was then read, acknowledging the receipt of the previous letter, with the enclosures.] I had one other transaction with Cook before this. It related to an acceptance of Cook’s for £200, which was paid. I had no other pecuniary transactions whatever with him. The date of that first transaction was the end of April or the beginning of May, 1855. The bill was drawn by Palmer on Cook, and was paid by Cook.

Mr. Stevens was here recalled, and having examined the endorsement on the check for £375, said--This endorsement is not in the handwriting of Cook. I never saw him write his name otherwise than “J. Parsons Cook,” whereas this is written “J. P. Cook.”

Mr. Strawbridge was shown some acceptances purporting to be by Mrs. Sarah Palmer, and said that none of them were in Mrs. Palmer’s handwriting.

William Cheshire, who had been a clerk in the bank at Rugeley, in September last, proved that Palmer had an account there, and that the check already in evidence had been received by him, and carried to Palmer’s credit.

Cross-examined: I did not know Cook; he never had any transactions with us.

Mr. PRATT was then cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE: Previous to May, 1855, I knew nothing at all about Cook. I then held a sum of £310 due to Palmer, and he wished me to add £190 to it, and to pay £500 to a Mr. Sargent. I declined to do that without further security. He proposed the security of Cook’s acceptances, and represented Cook to be a gentleman of respectability and substance. On his representation I agreed to accept a bill drawn by him on Cook for £200, and to make the advance. He thus got the £500. I wrote to Cook about the first transaction. I also wrote to him before his death, on the 13th of November, reminding him that £500 was due on December 2. I sent the letter to him at Lutterworth.

Re-examined: The first £200 bill was due on the 29th of June, but was not then paid. I wrote about it, and Cook came up on the 2nd of July and paid it. I did not see him.

JOHN ARMSHAW, examined by Mr. WELSBY: I am an attorney, practising at Rugeley. About the 13th of November I was employed to apply to Palmer for payment of a debt of about £60, due to some mercers and drapers at Rugeley. On the 19th of November I sent up to London instructions for a writ. On the next morning (the 20th), I went to Palmer’s house. He gave me two £50 notes, and said he hoped he should not be put to the cost of the writ. One was a Bank of England, the other a local note. I took them to my employer to get the receipt and change, and to settle about the costs.

JOHN WALLBANK, examined by Mr. WELSBY: I am a butcher at Rugeley. On the Monday in Shrewsbury race week, Palmer’s man came to me and fetched me to Palmer’s house. Palmer said, “I want you to lend me £25.” I said, “Doctor, I’m very short of money, but I’ll try if I can get it.” He said, “Do, that’s a good fellow; I’ll give it you again on Saturday morning, as I shall then have received some money at Shrewsbury.” On the Saturday I met him in the street, went to his house with him, and he paid me the money.

Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE: Palmer had lent me money sometimes when I had asked him. His mother lived in the town, in a large house near the church. He was in the habit of going there.

JOHN SPILLBURY, examined by Mr. BODKIN: I am a farmer, near Stafford, and have had dealings with Palmer. In November last he owed me £46 2s. On the 22nd of November (Thursday), I called on him and he paid me that amount. He gave me a Bank of England note for £50. I called casually. I had not applied to him for the money. That was the first transaction I had with him.

Mr. STRAWBRIDGE, examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL, said: On the 19th of November Palmer had an account at the bank, and there was a balance of £9. 6_s._ in his favour. Nothing was paid to his account after that. The 10th of October was the last date on which anything was paid to the account. The amount then paid was £50.

HERBERT WRIGHT, examined by Mr. E. JAMES: I am a solicitor, in partnership with my brother, at Birmingham. I have known Palmer since July, 1851. In November, 1855, he owed my brother £10,400. We had a bill of sale upon his property. [It was produced and read. It recited that Palmer was indebted to Edwin Wright in the sum of £6,500, on account of bills of exchange accepted by Sarah Palmer and endorsed by Palmer to Wright, and as security for that amount, and a further sum of £2,300, which had been advanced to him, a power of sale, subject to redemption, was given by Palmer over the whole of his property, including his horses.] All the advances were made upon bills, together with other collateral security. All the bills are here. [The bills purporting to be accepted by Palmer’s mother were produced; also an acceptance of Palmer’s for £1,600.] In the early part of November I was pressing Palmer for payment. Many of the bills were overdue. Palmer always said the money would be paid after the Cambridgeshire races at Newmarket. I put the bill of sale in force in December, after the verdict of the coroner’s jury was returned. I was present when the property was taken. I found no papers in the house.

Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant SHEE: A sheriff’s officer effected the seizure, and an auctioneer followed him.

Should you have objected to give Palmer more time for payment if you had been asked?--I hardly know; probably I should not. I was not hostile to him. I never accommodated Cook. I had offered to do so, but the transaction never assumed completion. (A laugh.)

Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: These bills were discounted at 60 per cent. per annum, and would have been renewed probably at the same rate of interest.

Mr. STRAWBRIDGE proved that the acceptances produced by the last witness were not in the handwriting of Mrs. Palmer.

Cross-examined: They are a bad imitation of her hand.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that Mr. Weatherby was the only remaining witness for the prosecution, and, as he was not now in court, he hoped their Lordships would allow him to be examined in the morning, before his learned friend opened the defence.

Mr. Sergeant SHEE asked the Court to permit the witness Mills to be recalled, in order that he might examine her as to where she was now residing.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL: She was cross-examined upon that point.

Lord CAMPBELL: We are of opinion that there is no ground for recalling her.

Mr. Sergeant SHEE asked permission to put some further questions to Dr. Devonshire with regard to his having been pushed by Palmer during the _post-mortem_ examination.

Lord CAMPBELL: By all means.

Mr. Justice CRESSWELL observed that he did not think it was a circumstance to which much importance could be attached; he had not taken a note of it.

Mr. Baron ALDERSON expressed a similar opinion. There was nothing extraordinary in a person who was interested in the examination being anxious to see all that was going on.

Mr. Sergeant SHEE, after that intimation of their Lordships’ opinion, would not press his request.

Lord CAMPBELL hoped that the jury would have an opportunity given them of breathing the fresh air that fine evening.

The Court adjourned at half-past 3 o’clock until 10 o’clock Wednesday morning.

SEVENTH DAY, MAY 21.

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.

THE DEFENCE.

(_Seventh Day Continued._)