Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
Since my last notice in this journal the great event has been the
trial of William Palmer at the Central Criminal Court for
poisoning, which began on Wednesday, May 14th, and did not finish
till Tuesday, May 27th--the most memorable judicial proceedings for
the last fifty years, engaging the attention not only of this
country but of all Europe.
My labour and anxiety were fearful; but I have been rewarded by
public approbation. The Court sat eight hours a day. When I got
home, renouncing all other engagements, I employed myself till
midnight in revising my notes and considering the evidence. Luckily
I had a Sunday to prepare for my summing up, and to this I devoted
fourteen continuous hours. The following day, after reading in
Court ten hours, I had only got through the proofs for the
prosecution. My anxiety was over on the last day, when the verdict
of _guilty_ was pronounced and I had sentenced the prisoner to die,
for I had no doubt of his guilt, and I was conscious that by God’s
assistance I had done my duty. Such was the expressed opinion of
the public and of all the respectable part of the Press. But a most
ruffian-like attempt was made by the friends of the prisoner to
abuse me, and to obtain a pardon or reprieve on the ground that the
prisoner had not had a fair trial. Having unbounded funds at their
command, they corrupted some disreputable journals to admit these
diatribes against me. They published a most libellous pamphlet
under the title of “A Letter from the Rev. T. Palmer,” the
prisoner’s brother, to Lord Chief-Justice Campbell, in which the
Chief-Justice was represented to be worse than his predecessor
Jeffreys, and it was asserted that there had been nothing in
England like the last trial since the “Bloody Assize.” However, the
Home Secretary remained firm and the law took its course.
The Rev. T. Palmer has since disclaimed the pamphlet, and it is
said to have been written by a blackguard barrister. I bear him no
enmity. He has done me no harm; but for the sake of example he
ought to be disbarred.
* * * * *
A LETTER TO THE LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE CAMPBELL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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