Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
Gentlemen, that is a very remarkable fact; it is remarkable in two ways;
the Crown might say it is remarkable in this sense, that Palmer knew it,
and said not a word about it. But it seems it was a matter, in the
opinion of Cook, so little serious, that he never said a word of it to
Mr. Jones, because, if Cook had thought that those words which he used
to Elizabeth Mills were not an exaggerated description of what had
occurred, do you not think, when Mr. Jones came to see him, and felt his
pulse, and inquired what his symptoms were, that Cook would have said
(he being in full possession of his senses), “You cannot judge now from
my appearance how I am--I was in a state of madness last night--I was in
the greatest possible agony--I do not know what it was--I was attacked
in the middle of the night in such a way that I thought I was going to
die”? As he had Mr. Jones with him, would he not have mentioned that in
the conversation? My inference from that is, that in all probability
this first statement of Elizabeth Mills was the correct statement of
what occurred; and if we find it is consistent with what Mr. Jones says
as to what occurred the next night in its general character, it would be
very nearly the same on both nights. We may reasonably infer that
anything in excess of that, on which the medical evidence was given, has
been the result of imagination, and not so strictly consistent with the
truth as the original statement. Let us see what Mr. Jones says. (The
learned Serjeant read a portion of the deposition of Mr. Jones before
the coroner.) Observe the significance of that. Palmer, in the presence
of Mr. Jones, brings up two pills, which it is supposed were the pills
that poisoned him--pills containing a substance which sometimes does its
work in a quarter of an hour, which has done it in less, but never
hardly exceeds half an hour; and so we are to be asked to believe that
Palmer, Jones being present, and Cook in his presence objecting to take
the pills, positively forced them down his throat, at the imminent peril
of his falling down, like the rabbit, in two or three minutes afterwards
in convulsions evidently and manifestly tetanic. He states what did take
place. (The learned Serjeant read a further portion of Mr. Jones’
deposition.) But, as I am reminded by one of my lords, that in the
course of the examination of Mr. Jones the word “tetanus” is used, it is
right I should say a word on that, lest I should forget it. The word
“tetanus” is not in the deposition, and it is very remarkable that the
suggestion which has been put forward by the Crown was the suggestion of
Dr. Taylor. I do not think it is impossible that Mr. Jones, when he gave
that evidence, had in his mind’s eye what he had seen that night and not
seen very correctly. He had not light enough to see the patient’s face.
There was only one candle, and he could not tell whether there was any
change in his countenance on the Tuesday--a very important symptom. They
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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