Gentlemen, you have a most anxious duty to perform. The life of the prisoner is at stake; if he be guilty, it is necessary that he should expiate his crime; if he be innocent, it is requisite that his innocence should be vindicated. If his guilt be proved to you on satisfactory evidence, it is your duty to society and to yourselves to convict him; but unless his guilt be fully sustained by the evidence, it is your duty to acquit him. You must bear in mind that in a case of this sort you cannot expect that witnesses should be called to state that they saw the deadly poison mixed up by the prisoner, and by him openly administered. Circumstantial evidence of the fact is all that can be expected; and if there be a series of circumstances leading to the conclusion of guilt, a verdict of guilty may be satisfactorily pronounced. With respect to the motive, it is of great importance, in cases of this description, that you should consider whether there was any motive for committing the crime with which a prisoner is charged, for if there be no motive, there is an improbability of the offence having been committed. If, on the other hand, there be any motive which can be assigned for the commission of the deed, the adequacy of that motive becomes next a matter of the utmost importance.

The great question which you will have to consider is, whether the symptoms of Cook’s death are consistent with poisoning by strychnia. If they are not, and you believe that the death arose from natural causes, the prisoner is at once entitled to your verdict of Not Guilty. If, on the other hand, you think that the symptoms are consistent with poisoning by strychnia, you have another and important question to decide—namely, whether the evidence which has been adduced is sufficient to convince you that death was effected by strychnia, and, if so, whether such strychnia was administered by the prisoner. In cases of this sort the evidence has often been divided into the medical, and the moral, or circumstantial evidence. They cannot be separated, however, in the minds of a jury, because it is by a combination of those two species of evidence that their verdict ought to be given. In this case you must look at the medical evidence, to see whether the deceased died from strychnia or from natural causes; and you must look to what is called the moral evidence, to consider whether that shows that the prisoner not only had the opportunity, but that he actually availed himself of that opportunity, and administered the poison to the deceased. Now, gentlemen, with these preliminary observations, I will proceed to read over the evidence which has been given in the course of this long trial, praying you most earnestly to weigh that evidence carefully, and to be guided entirely by it in the verdict at which you may arrive. I begin with that part of the case which was first raised by the Attorney-General, with respect to the motive which the prisoner is supposed to have had for taking away the life of John Parsons Cook. Now, I think that that arises out of certain pecuniary transactions which must be fresh in the minds of all of you. It appears that the prisoner had borrowed large sums of money upon bills of exchange, which he drew, and which purported to be accepted by his mother—a lady, it seems, of considerable wealth, residing at Rugeley. Those acceptances were forged, and the lady was not aware of them until a recent period, when they became due, and proceedings were taken upon them. One of those acceptances, for £2,000, was in the hands of a gentleman named Padwick; £1,000 had been paid, and £1,000 remained due to Mr. Padwick upon that bill. A solicitor named Pratt, of Queen-street, Mayfair, had advanced large sums of money to the prisoner upon similar bills to the amount, I think of £12,500. Several of those bills had been renewed without the knowledge of the mother; but there were two which remained unrenewed—one, for £2,000, became due on the 25th of October, 1855, and another, for £2,000, became due on the 27th of October, 1855. Besides these, Mr. Pratt held one bill for £500, and another for £1,000, which were overdue, but not renewed, and which Pratt held over, charging a very high rate of interest upon them.

In addition to these large sums, which had been advanced by Pratt to the prisoner, it appears that upon similar bills Palmer had contracted a very large debt with an attorney at Birmingham, named Wright, to whom he owed £10,400. It had been stated by Palmer that he should be able to liquidate those bills by the proceeds of a policy of assurance which had been effected on the life of his brother, Walter Palmer. Gentlemen, the law of this country wisely forbids an insurance being effected by one person upon the life of another who has no interest in that life; but, unfortunately, it does not prevent a man from insuring his own life to any amount, however large, and whatever his position may be, and assigning the policy of that insurance to another person. It has been proved in evidence that there had been an insurance for £13,000 effected on the life of Walter Palmer, who was a bankrupt, without any means except such as were furnished to him by his mother; and that the policy had been assigned by Walter Palmer to the prisoner at the bar. It was expected that the £13,000 insured upon the life of his brother would be the means of enabling the prisoner to meet the acceptances to which I have referred, but the directors of the Prince of Wales Insurance-office denied their liability upon that policy, and refused to pay it. Hence arose the most pressing embarrassments; claimants were urging the payment of their accounts, and it was evident that, unless they were immediately paid, the law would be put in force against the prisoner and his mother, and that the system of forgeries which had been so long carried on would be made apparent. Now I begin with the evidence of Mr. John Espin, a solicitor practising in Davies-street, Berkeley-square. [The learned Judge then read the evidence of Mr. Espin with respect to the £2,000 bill held by Mr. Padwick, the dishonouring of the cheque for £1,000, and the final issuing of a ca. sa. against the person of the prisoner on the 12th of December.] This, continued the noble Lord, is certainly strong evidence to show the desperate state of the prisoner’s circumstances at that time; but we now come to the evidence of Mr. Thomas Pratt, who had advanced money to the prisoner upon bills of exchange, which bore the forged acceptance of the prisoner’s mother, to the amount of £12,500. [The learned Judge then proceeded to read the whole of the evidence of Mr. Pratt, together with the voluminous correspondence between that gentleman and the prisoner, detailing the entire history of the transactions which had taken place between them from the date of their first acquaintance in November, 1853, down to the period of the apprehension of the prisoner upon the present charge. They will be found reported in their proper place.] With regard to the letter subjoined, and marked “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.”

—the learned Judge observed that the jury would recollect that when that letter was written Mr. Stevens, the stepfather of Cook, was making inquiries of a nature which were certainly very disagreeable to Palmer. [Having first disposed of that portion of the correspondence respecting money due from Palmer to Pratt, and with regard to which Cook, was supposed to have no interest, the learned judge next proceeded to read that branch of the correspondence relating to the assignment of the two racehorses, Polestar and Sirius, and to some other occurrences to which Cook was supposed to have been a party.] With respect to the cheque for £375, sent by Pratt to Palmer for Cook, from which the words “or bearer” had been struck out, his Lordship observed:—Now, it is rather suggested on the part of the prosecution, upon this evidence, that Cook had been defrauded of this money by Palmer, and certainly the endorsement was not in Cook’s handwriting; but, as was very properly argued on the part of Palmer, it is very possible that Cook may have authorized Palmer or some one else to write his name. Cheshire, a clerk in the bank, is then called, and says that the check was carried to Palmer’s account. Now, all this may have happened with the consent of Cook, in pursuance of some agreement between him and Palmer. [His Lordship then read the cross-examination of Pratt, the bill of £500, drawn by Palmer on Cook, and payable on the 2nd of December, and also the evidence of Armshaw, who proved that on the 13th November Palmer was in a state of embarrassment, and that on the 20th he received from him two £50 notes. It is for you, gentlemen, to draw your own inference from this evidence. Having before the races been pressed for money, on the night of the Tuesday on which Cook died he has two £50 notes in his possession. [His Lordship next read the evidence of Spillbury, who on the 22nd of November received a £50 note from Palmer; and of Strawbridge, who proved that on the 19th of November his balance at the bank was only £9 6s.] This evidence certainly shows that the finances of the prisoner were at the lowest ebb, and he had no means of meeting his bills. [His Lordship next read Wright’s evidence as to the large debts due to his brother from Palmer, and the bill of sale given by Palmer, as security, upon the whole of his property; Strawbridge’s evidence as to the forgery of Mrs. Palmer’s name to acceptances; and the further evidence of Mr. Weatherby, particularly calling the attention of the jury to the fact of the cheque purporting to be signed by Cook having been returned to Palmer by Mr. Weatherby, when he refused payment of it.] A great deal, said his Lordship, turns upon the question of whether that cheque was really signed by Cook or not, as, if not, it shows that Palmer was dealing with Cook’s money and appropriating it to his own use.

Mr. Serjeant Shee observed that Mr. Weatherby expressed an opinion that the cheque was Cook’s.

Lord Campbell: Mr. Weatherby said that the body of the cheque was not in Cook’s handwriting, and 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 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 Cook’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 police, who had searched Palmer’s house for papers after the inquest.] It might have been expected that the cheque which was returned by Mr. Weatherby to Palmer, who professed to set store upon it, and to have given value for it, and who required Mr. Weatherby not to pay away any money until it had been satisfied, would have been found, but it is not forthcoming. It is for you to draw whatever inference may suggest itself to you from this circumstance. We then come to the arrest of Palmer. Now, as it strikes my mind, the circumstance that Palmer remained in the neighbourhood after suspicion had risen against him is of importance, and ought to be taken into consideration by you, although he may, perhaps, have done so thinking that from the care he had taken nothing could ever be discovered against him. It seems, however, that 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 Cook, the prisoner also had in his possession a document purporting that certain bills had been accepted by him for Cook, but neither that document nor any such bills have been found. All the papers which were not retained were returned to the prisoner’s brother, and notice has been given to produce them, but neither the bills nor the document are produced. With regard to this witness’s statement, that Field was at Rugeley, I know not how it is connected with the present investigation. If Field was employed ta inquire into the health of Walter Palmer at the time the insurance was effected on his life, and into the circumstances of his death, I know not what he can have to do with the question you are to determine.

This, then, is the conclusion of the evidence upon one branch of the case, and now begins the evidence relating to the health of Cook and the events immediately preceding his death. [His Lordship then read the evidence of Ismael Fisher, observing in the course of it that one of the most mysterious circumstances in the case was that after Cook had stated his suspicion as to Palmer having put something in his brandy he remained constantly in Palmer’s company; he appeared to have entire confidence in Palmer, and during the few remaining days of his life he sent for Palmer whenever he was in distress; in fact, he seemed to be under the influence of Palmer to a very great extent. His Lordship also directed the attention of the jury to the circumstance of the £700 which Cook had intrusted to the care of Fisher having been returned to him on the morning of the day on which he went with Palmer to Rugeley. His Lordship then read Fisher’s statement that he had been in the habit of settling Cook’s account.] And now, he continued, comes the very important letter of the 16th of November. Certainly if Cook induced Fisher to make an advance of £200 on the security of his bets, and then employed another person to collect those bets, there was a fraud on his part. In the letter of the 16th of November Cook says—“It is of great importance, both to Mr. Palmer and myself, that a sum of £500 should be paid to Mr. Pratt, of 5, Queen-street, Mayfair, to-morrow, without fail. £300 has been sent up to-night, and if you will be kind enough to pay the other £200 to-morrow, on the receipt of this, you will greatly oblige me, and I will give it to you on Monday at Tattersall’s.”

Mr. Serjeant Shee: There is a postscript, my Lord.