Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
inn, though he has to some extent recovered himself, in a state of
elation, of which it is my duty to say that one man said he was not more
elated than other people when they have won, but still, depend upon it,
overjoyed, and with a revulsion from the despair in which he was, which
must have convulsed, though not in a sense of immediate illness, every
fibre of his frame. His first and his natural inclination was to
entertain his friends, and he gives a champagne dinner. The evidence is
that he did not drink to excess; that is the evidence--but he had
champagne, and we all of us know that when there is champagne there are
other things besides, and it very often happens it is not because
champagne is drunk the company do not drink as much of other wines. What
in ordinary parlance is called a champagne dinner is a good, luxurious
entertainment, in which there is no stint and not much self-restraint. I
do not mean to say he was drunk. The evidence is he rose from table not
drunk, and therefore it is not for me to say, and the evidence will not
justify me in saying, he was. That evening he did not spend in the
company of Jones. I do not think it is very clear in whose company he
spent it after the dinner was over; but we find him the next night,
Wednesday, at the Unicorn, with Saunders, the trainer, Mr. Palmer, and a
lady. The next morning is cold and wet. He went on the ground, and was
observed by Herring standing in the wet, who remonstrated with him for
so doing. He was taken ill that night, and you will hear what his
symptoms were. I shall call your attention to those under the third head
of what I have to address to you. He sent for a doctor, who recommended
an emetic. The poor man seemed to know more about it than the doctor. He
said he could do it with hot water and a toothbrush. Perhaps he had
often relieved his stomach in that way. He was unwell that day, and was
ailing till his death at Rugeley. That is the general history, as far as
the mental excitement can be referred to--great reason to apprehend ruin
when he went to Shrewsbury; immediate, sudden, yet only partial recovery
from his embarrassments at Shrewsbury; and home to Rugeley to meet them
again in their full intensity, all the winnings and twice the sum,
unable to save him from the ruin he had brought on himself. All the
property he appears to have had at the time was “Polestar” and “Syrius,”
and they were mortgaged for debts due to Pratt. He may have had some few
hundreds in money. It is with a weakened body and an irritated and
excited mind that he is affected with a sickness at Shrewsbury, which
clings to a system incapable of being recruited by the ordinary
necessary food, without which the strongest man gives way, excites his
nerves, and makes him in imminent danger of falling a victim to any
convulsive attacks to which his constitution would be likely to be
disposed. Depend upon it, the thoughts of that young man, when he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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