English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 413, 18 October 1856, Page 2

English and Foreign.

TRIAL OF WILLIAM PALMER. EIGHTH DAY. The Court was crowded as usual at an early hour. The Duke of Cambridge was pr -sent nearly the whole day. No change was perceptible in the appearance of the prisoner. Lord Campbell, before the opening of the proceedings, expressed his earnest desire that the press would refrain, during1 the progress of the trinS, from publishing any comments or letters in reference to it. [These observations were understood to apply specially to the letter of Mr. Henry Mayhew in reference to Dr. Taylor. It should be observed that since the commencement of the trial the jury had not been permitted to look at a newspaper.] Dr. Thomas Nuuneley, who had beeu in practice twenty or thirty years, had seen many cases of tetanus, and was of opinion that Cook died of some convulsive disease. He founded that opinion on Cook's previous state of health, on the symptoms at the time of his death, and on the particulars of the post-mortem examination. Referring to the evidence, he inferred that Cook's health had not beeu good, and that his constitution was delicate, and that he was liable to nervous irritation. He inferred also, from the periodicity of the attacks, that they were of a convulsive character. In some forms of convulsion the patient retains his consciousness; and convulsive attacks are sometimes accompanied with violent spasms and rigidity of the limbs. When a man dies in one of these convulsions, asphixia is ihe immediate cause of death, suffocation—spasms of the heart In such cases there is sometimes no trace of disease of the body. He had unadc post-mortem examinations on two persons who died from strychnia within the last twelve mouths, in one case fortwwo hours,{and in the other thirty hours after death". He detected strychuia in both. In one the muscles of the lower limbs were flaccid, of the body not so flaccid, of the arms and other parts rigid, and the hands were clenched. In the other case the muscles were quite flaccid. He had seen a patient under the influence of strychnia. The symptoms appeared in a few minutes after strychnia was Taken. _ The spasms vrere not violent ; they were intermittent, and lasted six hours. He had experimented upon upwards of sixty animals ■with strychnia. Death followed at various periods up to three hours and a-half. In every case the rigidity ceased immediately before death. He knew no exception. He considered the symptoms "in Cook's case different to the effects of strychnia. He had more power of voluntary motion- The state of the lungs and brain after death was wholly inconsistent with death by strychnia. He knew no casein which therehad been anintervalofseverj] hours between the paroxysms after poisoning by strychnia. He th;n described the tests he would use to detect the poison, which, if taken, must have been found. Poison underwent no change like food, and, if absorbed, mighube obtained unchanged Irorn the blood. Iso amouut of putrefaction would destroy strychnine. In his cross-examination this witness stated that Cook's heart being found empty, led him, amongst other things to conclude that he did not die'by strychnia. No doubt he died from convulsions occasi jued by excitement or depression. It was not a case of tetanus. [In the course of the crossexamination an angry discussion took place between the Attorney-general and tne witness, but it led to do result.] William Herapath, professor of chemistry for 40 years, had paid attention to the subject of poisoning by strychnia. In one case the poison was/ound in thestomach three days after death. He had expsrnnented upon tnimals, and had always discovered the poison—in one instance, where the'animal had bxn famied two months. He had experimented Tfith org,uic matter, and had always discovered the strychnia, no matter what was the state of decomposition. He wis of opinion that if was possible to find afifty-thousandth part of a grain in anyca.se in which strychnia had been administered. Mr. Roger?, professor cf chemistry, had experimented on one animal, in a case vvh«r_- two grains of strychnia had been administered. In ten days the blood became putrid, and-he separated the s'trychuia. In a month or five weeks afterwards he detected strychnia in large quantities in the stomach. If Cook had taken strychnia it must have been found. It would be quite possible tven then to discover it in the tissues of the stomach. _ Henry Letheby, professor of toxicology and chemistry at the London Hospital, had large experience in poisons and their actions upon animals. The symptoms in Cock's case were different from those he had witnessed in cases where poison had been administered. They generally began in five minutes. Animals affected by strychnia could not bear to be touched ; a noise or breath* would throw them into convulsions. It is not likely shut a nerEtm in that state could bear to have his neck rubbed. Of all poisons strychnia was the easiest to aiseover. .- He had detected it in an animal in a .plate of decoi»2>osiiion a month after death. The

most minute portion he had been able to extract was a twenty-thousandth part of a grain. He always found the right side of the heart full of blood. He agreed with Dr. Taylor that strychnine is absorbed into the blood, but not that it is changed there. The mixing of the contents of the stomach with the intestines in tile jar, would not pievent the discovery of strychnia.

Upon cross-examination this witness said that he was surprised in the case of the lady at Romsoy who died of strychnine, at the power she showed in getting out of bed and ringing the bell. It was quite irreconcileable with what he had observed in strychnia cases-, but it did not shake his opinion with reference to Cook. He admitted that Cook's death was not reconcileable with any disease he had evei heard of.

Upon this statement he was again examined for theuiefence, when lie said that Cook's death was as irreconcileable with poisoning by" strychnine as anything else. He had never known vomiting in strychnia cases. The Romsey case was exceptional in the way in which the poison was administered. In his opinion the ringing of the bell produced a paroxysm.

Robert Edward Gay, member of the College of Surgeons, had attended a person suffering under idiopathic tetanus. It began in sore throat and muscular pains in the neck. About the fourth day the pains extended to the face, difficulty of swallowing ensued, and in the evening the jaw became completely locked. Convulsions set in throughout the entire muscular system. Attempts to introduce food renewed them. The slightest thing, such as opening a window, or placing the fingers on the pulse, brought on the most violent convulsions. About the 12th day the patient became insensible, and he was kept alive partly by injection till the 14th day. He had had no other injury or complaint whatever, except sore throat, from which these symptoms might have come. On his cross-exami-nation the witness stated that lock jaw was the first marked symptom that presented itself, and that the disease was altogether progressive in its character. The court:then, adjourned to the following day. NINTH DAY. The excitement upon this day appeared to have increased. The Duke of "Wellington, Lord Albemarie, Lord Dufferin, Lord Bury, Sir John Pakington, Professor Owen, Mr. Tollemache, M.P. General Peel, and Mr. Warren, M.P., were seated on the bench during the proceedings. The prisoner remained standing the whole-day, taking notes, and in constant communication with his brother and his solicitor. Thomas Ross, house-surgeon at the London Hospital, described a case of tetanus he had recently attended." Halt an hour elapsed from the admission of the patient to his death. The man had had wounds which were the cause of tetanus. There were the ukial tetanic spasms, lock-jaw, and rigidity of the muscles. It. Mantell, one of the house-surgeons, confirmed the statements of Mr, Ross. James Wrightson, who had been a pupil of Liebig and was now teacher of chemistry in Birmingham, stated that there were no extraordinary difficulties in detecting strychnine. lie had found it in pure water and in decomposed matter. He asserted" from his experience that it could be found in the tissues. He •wholly differed from Dr. Taylor as to the decomposition of strychnine ; it undergoes no such process. If a man had been poisoned by strychnine, he should certainly expect to find it, * If it had been absorbed into the circulation, and thence into the tissues, he should look for it in the blood. If the whole dose had been absorbed md passed into blood he should not expect to find it; nor if it had been eliminated from the blood and had passed into the urine. At the close of the examination of this witn ss Lord Campbell observed—l cannot allow this witness to leave the box without expressing my approbation of the way in which he and the gentleman who preceded him have given their evidence. Mr. Partridge, professor of anatomy at King's College, stated that inflammation of the spine had been known to produce tetanic convulsions. He could not form any conclusion as to the cause of Cook's death. No inference could be safely drawn from the contractions after death, every variety of which maybe found to occur from natural causes. The cross examination of this witness went into muinte details of the various symptoms of Cook's ca?e. The main points elicited were these :—That although some of the symptoms could be accounted for, others could -not; some were consistent with death by strychnine, others wore not; and upon the whole he never knew of a disease" proceediii"- from natural causes in which the symptoms were like those vi the present one.

Mr. John Gay, Jw ; ]],, w o f t ! lc College of Surgeons described a case of traumatic (eUnn.s ia a hoy, attended by the usual paroxysms and rh/uVi'.y of the muscles. On tiie fourth morning the rigidity disappeared and the patient was thoroughly relieved ; but when the nur.se attempted to clianjre his linen, convulsions returned, and he died in a few minutes, i-etanusin tins case was produced by an injury of the feet.

j William M'Donnld, surgeon, of Edinburgh, w } 10 ■' had liad considerable experience in tetanus, said that tetanic convulsions were produced by causes as' yet unknown, aud that in many post-mortem examinations in cases of tetanus no trace of disease had been discovered beyond the congestion of some of the vessels surrounding the brain. Strychnia could be easily discovered. '-lie could discover the iiftythousandib part of a grain. He had actually experimented so as to discover that quantity. Dr. Taylor's doctrine of the decomposition of strychnine was wholly unsupported by any well-grounded scientific reason ; and he (witness) had proved his conclusion against that doctrine by numerous experiments. I Jo had invariably found strychnine in the' 4 urine. He considered the cause of death in Cook's case to bo from epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications. On his cross-examination this witness maintained his views unshaken. He said that the white spots found in the stomach might have caused convulsions from inflammation ; that there could not be white spots without '.inflammation ; and that when those who made the post-mortem examination said there was no inflammation, he did not believe them. He agreed with Dr. Bamford that there was congestion of the brain, but he did not agree with him that it was a case of apoplexy. _John Bainbride, M. D., had had considerable 'experience in convulsive ['disorders. They were very various in their symptoms. Epileptic attacks were frequent y accompanied by tetanic complications. Edward Austin Steady, surgeon, described a case of trismus, in which paroxysms continued with intervals a fortnight. Twelve months afterwards the patient was seized again, when the paroxysms continued a week. Dr. George Robinson, «f Newcastle-on-TyneDis* pemary, was of opinion that the cause of Cook's death was convulsions, not from tenanus, but similar to those of tetanus. The convulsions of epilepsy sometimes assumed a tetanic form; but he had never seen the symptoms in such a degree in epilepsy as in Cook's case. On his cross-examination the witness said that the symptoms were consistent with tetanus from strychnia, and also that they were not inconsistent with epilepsy. If he had nothing else to ascribe death |to, he should say it resulted from epilepsy. Dr. Richardson thought that the symptoms of Cook's death were similar to those of angina pectoris, and he concluded that it was a case rather of angina pectoris than of strychnia. Dr. Wrightson was recalled, and stated that if the whole dose of strychnia, had been absorbed, he should have a good chance of finding traces of it in the kidneys and the blood. Catherine Watson was examined, in reference to an illness she had had, accompanied by cramps; but it seemed to have no bearing on the case. The court then rose.

TEXTU DAY. Mr. O. Pemberton, lecturer on anatomy" at Queen's College, Birmingham, and surgeon to a general hospital there, s:iid he was present at the examination of Cook's body after it had been exhumed. He observed the condition of the spinal cord ; it was not in a state to enable him to state with confidence what had been its condition immediately gafter decease. Cross-examined : lie did not know how many hours the body had been opened before he saw it. This witness closed the medical evidence for the defence. 11. Matthews, Inspector of Police, at the Eustonsquare railway station, stated that the express train, taking passengers for llugeley, leaves at live o'clock in the afternoon, due at St.-.fford at ibrfy-two minutes past eight, and the distance from Staflord to Rugeley by railway is nine miles. Mr. Foster, a farmer, at Stirstop, in Northamptonshire, knew Cook, and said he had known him several times to have severe biliious attacks and sick headaches. Cross-examined : Ho hunted regularly in Northamptonshire when he was well. Mr. Myatt, a saddler at llugeley, was one of a party at the Haven Hotel, on the day.of Shrewsbury races : Me thought Cook on that occasion rather the worse for liquor. He saw nothing poured into the brandy which Cook drank. Hu then repeated what is already known on this point, adding that the next evening Cook, Palmer, and he left for llugeley, but dined together fust at the -Raven. Palmer paid for the three tickets. On the road Palmer was sick, and Cook and he said they could not account for it. Palmer vomited through the window. This was on the road from Stafiord to Huge-ley. Thcj' could'not account for it, unless, as Palmer said, the dinner was cooked mi some brass kettle, or there was something in t c water. A good many.people had been ill in the .same way at Shrewsbury, and he heard several people speak about it. Crossexamine!!: I havo known Palmer all his life. He dealt with me in s;iddlery- I did not pay my expenses at Shrewsbury. Palmer paid my expenses there and also the fare back. I had an interview with Palmer at Srftbrd Gaol. 1 was with him about a couple of hours. J cannot call to mind whether the interview was before or since Stafiord asbizt's. Mr, Lniith was going, and I said I should

like to go too and see him. The most that I ever " stood " on Palmer's horses had been a sovereign or half-a-sovereign. He used to put me "on" them, but I did uot bet at Shrewsbury. I have Stood a sovereign or so with Palmer on his horses. I was at home on the first two days of the inquest, and on the last day I went to Birmingham. I did not go to the inquest at all. He-examined : I was examined by the prosecution, but they did not subpoena me. At the interview in the Stafford Goal, the deputy*-governor was present part of the time, and during the rest of the time an officer.

Mr. Serjeant said he was of no profession, but lived on his means; knew Cook intimately, and also Palmer; received a letter from Cook during the Shrewsbury races; was subpoenaed on the part of the Crown, but had no notice to produce that letter; had not got that letter, as he sent it to Saunders the trainer. He had seen Saunders since, and taken every means to Mud the letter he received from Cook. Only knew what Palmer won and lost at Shrewsbury by what that letter contained. Shortly before Mr. Cook's death, he had an opportunity of noticing the state of his throat. Was with him at Liverpool in the week previous to Shrewsbury races. They staid at the same hotel and slept in adjoining rooms. One morning he called witness into his room and drew his attention to the state of his tongue and throat. There were ulcers upon them, and his tongue was so swollen that he said he was surprised at the state of his mouth. He replied that he had been in that state for weeks and months, saying "Now I don't take notice of it.*' On the platform at Liverpool, after the races, witness saw him take a cayenne gingerbread nut. He took it by mistake, and he told him afterwards that it had nearly killed him. Shortly before Mr. Cook's death, witness had known Palmer to supply him with a lotion called " black wash.' Cross-examined : The black wash was supplied at, the Warwick race meeting in the spring, when the mare Polestar won there in the spring last year. Witness saw him at Newmarket, and at nearly all the autumnal race meetings last year; The Liverpool meeting was the week before Shrewsbury, and when witness saw his throat he said he was surprised lie could eat so well.

Mr. Jeremiah Smith, an attorney at Rugeley, examined. In that important part of his evidence which related to the broth sent to Cook at the Talbot Arms, at Rugeley, he said : I had a boiled leg of mutton for dinner, and I sent some broth from the Albion by a charwoman named Rowley I think. He added : I know, of my own knowledge, that Palmer and Cook were jointly interested in one horse, and that they were in the hiibit of jointly betting together. When Palmer's horses ran, Cook put the money on, and when Cook's horses ran, Palmer put it on. I have seen Palmer's assistant, Thirlby, dress Cook's throat, but I cannot say whether it was before or after the Shrewsbury. Cross-examined: I took Myatt to Stafford Gaol. I have known Palmer intimately for many years, and have been employed a good deal as his attorney. I cannot recollect his applying to me in December 1854, to attest a proposal for an insurance of £13,000, to be effected in the Solicitor's and General Life Office. If 1 saw the document I might perhaps be able to tell. Ido not recollect Palmer applying to me in January, 1855, to attest such a proposal to the Prince of Wales Office. I didn't* know that Walter P.ilmer was then a man without a penny, or that he was an uncertificated bankrupt. He had been a bankrupt, but I don't know lhat he was without a certificate. In 1854 and 1855 I lived in Rugeley, partly" at Palmer's mother's and partly at my own house. I frequently slept at Mrs. Palmer's, perhaps two or three times a week. I am a single man. This practice of sleeping at Mrs. Palmer's extends over several years, and during that time I always had lodgings, including a bedroom at Rugeley. My own lodgings are about a quarter of a mile from Mrs. Palmer's. When 1 came there I used to remain. I had no particular reason for staying there, but I used to remain late drinking: gin and water and playing cards. I have slept there when the sons were not there and the mother was, and when all the family, were at Buxton. There was nothing improper between me and Mrs. Palmer. 1 don't recollect being called upon to attest another proposal in the Universal Office, on the life of-Walter Palmer. If lv could see arty document reminding me of the fact I would not deny it. Most likely I got a. £5 note for assigning a policy so effected upon Walter Palmer to William Palmer, but Ido not recollect it. [The AttorneyGeneral handed up a document to the witness, bearing his signature. He said he could not recollect whether it was his signature. Baron Alderson threw Up his hands in astonishment.] .Having read the document (an assignment of the policy) witness said he believed the signature was not in his handwriting—he'doubted it—he would swear it was not.—Lord Campbell: Do you positively swear, sir, that you-did not sign that document? WitnesQ: I don't recollect. I don't think I did.—The Attorney-General pressed the witness, and he trembled violently.—lt is impossible to describe the scene that ensued. The Judges questioned him,

and then abandons! the matter in despair.—Crossexamination continued : The signature is a very good imitation of my handwriting. The signature ' William Palmer' is in Walter Palmer's handwriting. I have no doubt the prisoner gave me this document, but still I believe the signature to the attestation is not my handwriting. 1 applied to the Midland Counties Insurance Office to be appointed their agent at Rugeley, and I sent them a proposal for £10,000 on Bates's life. Palmer and Bates called upon ineaud asked if I knew whether the office had an agent in Itugeley, as they wanted to raise some money. I then applied to the office to be appointed their agent, and I did so, in order that I might make the £10,000 proposal. I afterwards went to see Mrs. Walter Palmer to get her to give up her interest in the policy on her husband's life, but she said she would rather have another solicitor to act for her. I don't know that William Palmer signed the assignment of the policy without ■ getting anything for it, but he had a hoase furnished, and got a bill for £200. I don't know that the bill was never paid. The signature attesting the docu= ment product'dis in my handwriting, but I do not recollect attesting a proposal to the Solicitor's office for insurance on Walter Palmer's life for £13,000 at the request of the prisoner. The witness having turned over the papers, at length said, • I do not recollect such a transaction' After a deal of fencing with the question put to him, and being told not to trifle with the court and the jury, hi admitted that the prisoner made requests to him to attest proposals for large sums of money upon Walter Palmer's life about the same perioif. lleexamined : I have known the prisoner's mother twenty years. Her husband has been dead thirty years. I should say she is sixty years old by the age of her sons. Joseph Palmer is a timber merchant, and-forty-five or fo ty-six years old. Mrs. j Palmer's is a large house, and there are several bed--rooms in it Serjeant Shee: Is there any tiuth in the statement or suggestion that there is any improper intimacy between: you and Mrs. Palmer? Witness: There ought not to be.—Serjeant Shee: But is it true? Is it a fact? Y>:itne=s : I should say not. . W. J. Sanders was then called upon as a witness for the prisoner, but did not answer, and the defence closed. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S REPLY.

The Attorney-General then rose to reply. He said that the prosecution and the defence were both before the jury. He regretted that he could not accede to the desire expressed by his learned friend in opeuing the defence, that the prisoner should be found not guilty. Standing as he did in the place of public justice, he was bound in duty to ask at the hands ef the jury a verdict of guilty against the prisoner, but lie should approach the case in a "spirit of fairness and moderation, and only attempt to convince them of the prisoner's guilt by facts and legitimate arguments. Two questions would have to be decided: —-Ist, whether the deceased man died a natural death ; and 2ndly, whether he was taken off by the foul meaus of poison. The statement of the Crown was, that he had been practised upon by antimony, and that at last he was poisoned by strychnine. That he thought he should conclusively prove. He had listened with deep attention to every form in which tetanus had been brought under consideration, and he asserted deliberately that no case, either in a human subject or in any animal, had been brought under the notice of the Court and the jury in which the symptoms had been so marked as in the case of Mr. Cook. Idiopathic and traumatic tetanus were completely out of the question. It was not traumatic tetanus, for all the witnesses admitted that there were no grounds for supposing it so ; and as to idiopathic tetanus, there was quite as little ground for coming to that conclusion, for the medical testimony on that point which had been called by the defence was a mere sea of speculation. The way in which that testimony had been given for the defence was a scandal to a liberal profession, and he could not too strongly condemn the system which had been pursued of perverting facts and drawing sophistical conclusions for the purpose of deceiving the jury. The learned gentleman sifted with his usual extraordinary ability the medical evidence for the defence, pointing out the contradictions which were involved in the four theories which the witnesses set up—namely, 1. General convulsions. 2. Arachnites. 3. Epilepsy, with tetanic convulsions ; and '4. Angina pectoris. In reference to the conclusions which had been drawn from [the experiments upon animals, he thought they were of little use, inasmuch as there was a vast difference between animal and human life in the "power with which certain specific things acted upon them. Pcison in a rabbit might operate in a given time, but it did not follow that it would operate in a similar manner upon a larger animal, still less that it would in the same time exercise its baneful influence upon a human subject. Taking it as a whole, he deemed the medical evidence for the defence worthless and contradictory, and denounced the dishonesty and insincerity of the witnesses who gave it. Excluding the four topics of the medical men to which he alluded, and excluding also idiopathic and irau-

matic tetanus, there remained only tetanus by strychnine. Strychnine was not in his body, and it must he admitted that they had strong evidence that it was easy of discovery by those tests which were placed at the disposal of scientific men. But the jury must recollect the circumstances under which the examination of the body was made. There might have been some spilling of the matter in. placing it in the jar, far there had evidently been a great deal of bungling, and the stomach was cut through from one end to the other, ibut he did not rest his case upon such grounds. He asked the jury to consider the case in a still more serious aspect. The learned serjeant said at the outset of the inquiry that he would contest the facts for the prosecution foot to. foot, but he had left disregarded a most important portion of it, namely, that the prisoner had - possessed himself of the poison with which it was alleged the unhappy man Cook died. He obtained the strychnine on Monday evening, but under circumstances which he trusted £the jury would well consider. It appeared that the young man Newton kept the secret locked up in his breast until the eve of the trial, but what motive he could have had in making a statement which, if believed, must take away the life of the prisoner, it was hard under the circumstances to conceive. The learned gentleman pointed oy.t the manner in which, the prisoner obtained the poison, and the means he took to escape observation. If Palmer obtained strychnine for any patient who might require it, then why was not that patient produced ? or, if for any other purpose, why was it not explained 1 The learned serjeant had passed over the matter in mysterious but significant silence. It had been said that a circumstance which was in favour of the prisoner was, that he called in Mr. Batnford and Mr. Jones, two medical men, to see his sick friend. He picked his men well, for without any disrespect to Mr. Bamford he must contend that his powers were impaired by age: and Mr. Jones, although he was present and saw liis friend die in the violent manner that had been described, suspected nothing. Had it not teen for the sagacity which had been displayed by Mr. Stevens, the prisoner would have got the dead man into that oak coffin which he had prepared for him, and nobody would have heaid about the matter. Although all the medical witnesses had spoken of strychnine, not one of them had spoken of antimony, which Dr. Taylor had found in the [tissues, and which must have been administered withiu 48 hours before death. Who could have administered it but the prisoner at the bar? Passing to the conduct of Palmer in the after stages of the case, the Attorney General said he feared the jury would find in it cogent reasons for coming to a verdict unfavourable to the prisoner. He alluded to the solicitation of Palmer that Mr- Bamford should not see Cook on the day of his death—his omitting to tell Mr. Jones anything about the fit Cook had had on the previous night—the ordering of the coffee, and to a variety of other circumstances which, when taken singly, were not of .much importance, hut when taken as a whole, he considered, had a most important bearing on the case. It had been said that Palmer had no motive for taking away the life of his friend. If the jury were convinced that the unfortunate man, Cook, died from strychnine, the motives for which it was administered would be a secondary consideration. Palmer was a man in the direst embarrassment, and nothing could save him but the immediate possession of money. He owed upon bills £19,000, all of which were forged. He had looked for the £13,000 on his brother's death, and that having failed Pratt gave notice that certain of the hills must at once be met "Writs were threatened, and he obtained a concession that upon payment of a further sum they should be witheld. That was the state of things when Polestar won. For Palmer matters were approaching a crisis, and where was Palmer to get the money 1 It was said that Cook was Palmer's best friend. But how ? He had assigned everything to Palmer—all he had in the world after the Shrewsbury races was what he won there. There was not the slightest pretence for saving that Palmer had-any interest in Cook's life ; and there was only one transaction in which they were jointly interested, and that was-the £500 for which Polestar was assigned. Poiestar won, and Cook was naturally anxious to redeem his property. For this purpose £300 was sent up, but instead of going to liquidate that debt, with the assistance of £200 to be advanced by Fisher, it was taken by Palmer, who applied it to the payment of demands made on himself in reference to the bills becoming due. The learned gentleman entered at length into the pecuniary, transactions of Palmer and Cook with a view to show that Palmer was interested in Cook's death rather than in prolonging his existence, and to prove the frauds which he was constantly-perpetrating. He dwelt upon the sudden accession of wealth on the part of Palmer immediately on the death of Cook, the whole of which was no doubt the proceeds of Cook's winnings at Shrewsbury, and urged that no sooner was the breath out of the poor fellow's body than Palmer desired to perpetrate another forgery, by getting Cheshire to forge Cook's name to a document making Cook indebted to him in £3,000 or £4,000,

for what motives he thought he might confidently leave to the jury. Everything showed that the death of Cook was necessary to Palmer's purposes. Then, asain, what had become of the betting-book? It had been urged that other people were about and might have stolen itf; and Palmer said, as he said afterwards, "A dead man's bets are void—besides which, he received them on the course." But who received these bets and who was responsible for them? Why, the prisoner at the bar ! Did not that throw a strong light on the motive he had in representing the bets void? If Stevens had seen that book, he would have seen that Fisher was his agent, and Irom him that Herring, and not Fisher, 3iad calculated his bets. But there was slill more jet to be accounted for. "When Stevens determined upon having a post mortem examination, what was the conduct of the prisoner at the bar? [The Attorney-General then referred to the arrival of Dr. Harland at Rugeiy for the purpose of making the examination, his conversation with Palmer, when the latter said he had died rf epileptic fits, and that traces of old disease would be found in the head and heart, none of which, were, however, found on the examination olf the body; the removal of the jar containing the stomach and intestines of Cook, the slits cut in the covering, for the purpose of introducing something into the jar which would neutralise the poisou if it were present, the restlessness and uneasiness of the prisoner while the examination was going on, his remonstrating with Dr. Bamford for letting the jars be sent away, and his attempt to bribe the post-boy to upset the chaise and break the jar.] The Attorney-General in concluding, said: ** It is for you to say, ucder these circumstances, whether or not the death of the deceased was caused by the prisoner at the bar. You have indeed had introduced into this case one other element which I cannot help thinking might well have been omitted. You have heard from my learned friend an unusual, I tiiiuk I may even say an "unprecedented, expression of his conviction of the innocence of his client. I can only say upon that poiut, thatjl believe my Jearned friend might have abstained from any such statement. What would he think of me if, imitating hisexample, Ishould at this moment declare to you no my honour, as he did, is the internal conviction which hatr.followed from my conscientious consideration of this ca?e. My learned friend has, with a full display of his great ability, also adopted another course, which, although sometimes resorted to by members of our profession, involves in my mind a species of insult to the good sense and the good feeling of the jury ; he has endeavoured to intimidate you by the fear of your own consciences, and by the fear of the country condemning you for your discharging firmly and honestly the great and solemn duty which you have to perform on this occasion. My learned friend told you that if your verdict in this case should be guilty, the innocence of the prisoner would one day or other be made manifest, and you would never cease to regret the verdict you had given. If my learned friend was sincere in that I can only 'attribute the conviction he has expressed to that strong bias which his mind easily, perhaps, received in directing all his energies to the defence of a man charged with this frightful crime. But I still think he would have done well to have abstained from any assurance of the innocence of the prisoner at the bar ; but I go further, and say that I think he ought in justice, ! and in consideration to you,?to have abstained from teiiina you that the voice of the country would not sanction th 2 verdict which you might give. In answer to my teamed friend I have only this to say to you. Pay no regard to the voice of the country, whether it be for condemnation or for acquittal ; pay no regard to anything but the internal voice of your own conscience; trust to the sense of that duty to God and man which you are about to discharge upon this occasion, seeking no reward except the comforting assurance that when you shall look back at the evviits of ihis trial, you have discharged, to the best of your ability, and to the utmost of your power, the duty you have been called upon to fulfil. If: on a review of the whole case, comparing the evidence on one side and on the other, and weighing it ii the even scales of justice, you can come to the conclusion of the innocence, or even Jentertain that fair and reasonable doubt of guilt, of which the accused is entitled to the benefit, in God's name give to him that benefit. But if, on the other hand, al! the facts and all the evidence lead your minds with satisfaction to yourselves to the conclusion of his guilt, then—but then only—l ask for a verdict at your hands. For the protection of the fa -ood, for the r- prt.s-.ion of the wicked, I then ask for that verdict by which alone, .-in it seems to me, the safety of soci'/ty can be secure!1, and the demands—the imperious demands—of public justice can be satisfied,"

The C«urt then adjourned, at twenty-five miniTe< to seven o'clock, until Monday. The prisoner listened with deep attention to the whole of \he address of tlte -General, and even with an air of considerable anxiety, altiimi")i he Mill preserved his umih! perfect Eelf-posveßsion, niHkin^ a fw notps of points which seL-med to strike Jiitn, and handi'ijr them to his solicitor. [to be continued.]

Coolness between Francs and Russia. —The ' Morning Post' correspondent at Paris intimates that there is no possibility for doubt-^ ing that a coolness exists between the courts of the Tuileries and St. Petersburg. The delay of the nomination of a Eussian Ambassador in France ; the continued procrastination of M. de Morny's mission; then, again, the silence of the Eussian journals on the reception of Marshal Ney at St. Petersburg, sent there by the Emperor; and lastly, the extreme reserve of Count Orloff during the late period of his stay in France—a reserve strangely contrasting with the eclat of the first few days he passed at Paris; all these (suggests the writer of tho ' Post,') are significant symptoms that it is impossible to avoid noticing. The coolness is generally attributed to the conclusion of the loth April—the famous treaty of defiance, as some persons call it—which Eussian diplomacy lias not yet been able to get over. Royal Visit to Ibeland.—A Dublin paper states confidently that the Queen and the Court will visit Ireland in the course of the month of August, preparatory to the disembodiment of the Militia, and that there will be a grand review of all the troops in Ireland on' the Curragh of Kildare. This announcement is made with so much circumstantiality that we are inclined to give it credit, especially as the Sovereign and her consort have shown quite a partiality of late to military manoeuvring. It was stated, for instance, in the middle of the present week, that the Queen and Prince Albert would put themselves at the head of the Guards when these fine soldiers entered London on their return from the Crimea. This statement was premature, but it now appeares that the Guards will be reviewed in Hyde-park immediately after their arrival by Victoria and her spouse. Certain it is that the Queen loves excitement. She is constantly moving about, and no ruler of our time has cultivated with the same success the applause of the people.

Naval Memorial. —The survivors of the officers engaged in the Baltic during the late war are about to erect a magnificent cenotaph to the memory of their companions in arms who have died from disease or fallen in battle. It is expected that the monument will be erected in Westminister Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, or some other public institution.

New Masonic Tejiple.—The Masonic fraternity of New York contemplate building a temple in that city, which in size and magnificence is to surpass any other edifice used for Masonic purposes. The cost is estimated at about £100,000. That of the Masonic temple in Philadelphia was over £65,000.

Fbee Tbade in Russia.—St. Petersburg, June 20.—Within the last few days symptoms have been exhibited which lead to a well grounded hope that a comprehensive change in our hitherto so jealously supported protective system is likely to be introduc d at no very distant period. The Government has appointed a mixed commission to inquire into the working of the system hitherto in operation, of establishing and carrying on manufactories on account of the Crown, and to draw up a full and searching report with reference to the expenses, the profits, the proportion between the capital employed and the pecuniary results, and the beneficial or disadvantageous effect it has exercised on the industrial character of the Russian nation generally. Persons intimately acquainted with the intentions of the Government have hinted pretty plainly that a plan has been submitted, and is now under consideration, the object of which is to abolish the system of exclusive monopoly hitherto so vigorously pursued, and to throw open the trade in manufactures to the freo competition and industrial energy of private individuals or associated coupanies. State of Spain.—According to the etateof Marshal O'Donnel, the War-Minister <f Spain, the recent disturbances at Valladoliil, Valencia, and other towns, may bo traced to tho influence of Socialist doctrines. It is said that these ideas, which strike at the root of all respect for property, are very prevalent in Spain, and that the cry of " Death to the rich" was frequently heard in the mouths of the insurgents of Valiadolid. Woe to a country whose treason to society of this description finds a restingplace among the people. ° _ A treaty of criminal extradition Ims been signed between Holland and America, which is the tint treaty of the kind that has ever been signed by tho latter Power.