The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-28 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MA.Y 28, 1856.

One of the most extraordinary cases ever
brought before a criminal tribunal has just been
brought to a conclusion. The trial of WILLIAM
PALMER has terminated, after a patient investiga-
tion, which occupied the attention of the Court
and jury for twelve days, in the only verdict
which that jury could have returned consistently
with the oaths they had taken, and the important
and oneroi duty which they- were called ou to
discharge. Well and faithfully they performed
their parts. They submitted to no ordinary pri-
vations and no ordinary difficulties in this com-
plicated transaction. For a clear fortnight—two
Sundays and twelve working days—they were not
only kept close prisoners, but even debarred from
the slightest communication with their families,
and the power of obtaining information or giving 1
instructions respecting their Own private affairs,
however urgent. It was indeed a weighty tribute
which these gentlemen rendered to the cause of
justice, but they will receive an ample reward in
the approval of the presiding Judges, of their
fellow-citizens, aud, still more, of their own eon-
seiencee, which must regard with atisfactien the
reanner in which they fulfilled so inapor taut, but
at the same time so Very painful, a duty.
The case, a:; we have stated, was the mosq, extra-
ordinary, and at the same time one of the most
difficult, ever presented before a criminal tribunal.
The prisoner, a prefessional man, manifestly pos-
sessing considerable toxicological knowledge, evi-
denced, among other tnings, by his note on the ope-
ration of strychnia, is in company with another
who dies under Very suspicious circumstances;
consistent with poisoning by strychnine, and, ap.
many eminent medical men declare, not consistent
'l7th any other disease which they have ever wit-
nessed or read of. It is discovered on investiga-
tion that the deceased has had a large sum of
money in his possession which cannot be dis-
covered, while PALMER, who had previously been
sty/al-red in very serious pecuniary difficulties,
nem 'veal payments inmedistely after the

death, showing himself to be ve " flush of cash,"
as it is termed. It is- also faJuM that Nietting-
book, which the deceased had in his possession a
short time before, vanishes under very sus-
picious circumstances, while the suspected party
causes the bets which the ether had won to be
collected on the settling day, and applied for his
own exclusive benefit. Nor are these all the
damning features of the case. Certain bills of
exchange, which had been discounted by PALMER,
and some of which are supposed not to be genuine,
would speedily arrive at maturity-, so that they
could not be kept from Coon's knowledge► ; while
a document was prepared, which a party was re-
quested fraudulently to witness as being executed
by Coon, declaring that all the proceeds thereof
had been obtained for Coon's use, and that he
was therefore primarily responsible for these lia-
bilities, amounting to 4,0001. sterling. A cheque,
too, which there was reason to believe had been
forged by PALMER in the name of Coon, on
the Messrs. WEATHERBY—a discovery whereof
would be fatal to PALMER. He bad
also proved himself an adept in forgery,
for bills to a large amount, purporting to bear
his mother's acceptance, were in circulation. He
had, therefore, the strongest possible motives for
obtaining money within a few hours' notice,
which was essential to prevent him from appear-
ing as a felon in the dock for an offence only less
serious than that of which he was subsequently
accused. He obtained money, which was not
accounted for in any other way than the plunder
of the man whom he professed to regard as a dear
friend. Here, then, was abundant motive for the
offence to a person wholly indifferent to moral
considerations, and the first great link in the
chain of overwhelming circumstances against the
accused is completed.

It is then found that PALMER had purchased
strychnine in two separate places, and was there-
fore in possession of the deadly instrument that
might have produced the death. He had, in one
place, three grai na on Monday evening. The
same night COOK sustained a severe attack, such as
would have occurred after a severe, although
not fatal, dose. There might have been
impurities that retarded the full effect intended.
The following morning a double dose is procured
at a different place. Pills are again forced on the
unfortunate victim the same evening by his medi-
cal adviser and friend. This time " the drugs
are sure." COOK dies in intense agony, while
PALMER looks coolly on, being ready to witness
the result at a moment's notice. Antimony was
traced in the body, which must have been ad-
ministered shortly within 48 hours of
death. PALMER, as a medical man, had
in his possession the drug of which he was more
than suspected to have made fearful use on other
occasions. And there was a motive for its use to
get COOK to Rugeley, in place of letting him go
to London, where he might have received his
own winnings, and the opportunity for his mur-
der would have been lost ; while his death before
Monday would have defeated PALMER'S supposed
object of obtaining the money and applying it to
his own use.

The next link was the conduct of the accused
after the event. We find him interfering with
the pose mortem, examination, offering a bribe to
the post-boy to upset the carriage and break the
jar, tampering with the Coroner who held the
inquest, and with the Postmaster, so as to obtain
surreptitiously knowledge of the private commu-
nication from Dr. TAYLOR to the attorney acting
on behalf of the next of kin of the deceased. None
of them taken separately might be sufficient to fix
the guilt on PALMER, but, combined with the
other circumstances, they added enormlusly to
the weight of the evidence, and seemed perfectly
inconsistent with innocence.

From these various matters it became clear
as light that, if the deceased died by poison,
PALMER'S was the hand by which it was adminis•
tered, and with the cool and deliberate intention
of producing the fatal results that followed. There
was-Ist, the motive for the crime ; 2d, the pos-
session of the means by which it might be effected ;
and 311 y, the subsequent conduct of the accused,
in acting as a guilty man might bo supposed to
act, and as no innocent one would have for a
moment contemplated. But more was re-
quired to bring home the guilt. It was
also necessary to show that the death was
occasioned by poison, or, at least, that every symp-
tom was consistent with the supposition that
poison had been administered at the times and
under the circumstances allege) by the prosecu-
tion.

That doctors differ is certain, and the adage
received a further illustration during the late trial.
We do not for a moment impute a desire or in-
tention to give false testimony to any of
the professional witnesses on either side.
But it seems as if some of the num-
ber conducted their experiments in the spirit of
the partisan rather than in that of the strictly
impartial and indifferent witness, whose sole
object was to elicit truth, and to advance the
cause of justice. The difficulty of this
part of the case was materially enhanced
by the failure to trace the poison ; but that
failure might have occurred in the best-conducted
experiments, to say nothing of any mistake in the
tests administered. It was not sufficient to repel
the terrible presumptions arising from the other
links in the chain of evidence, or the agreement
of the symptoms with those which would have
followed the administration of strychnine. Under
all the circumstances of the case no reasonable
doubt could be entertained that WILLIAM PALMER
was a wilful and deliberate murderer, under cir-
cumstances of peculiar atrocity, such as, thank
GOD, are seldom brought to light iu a court of
justice, and which have scarcely been paralleled
since the time of the BORGIA&

Everything was done to obtain an impartial
trial. A special Act of Parliament was passed to
permit of the venue being changed from the
county, where great excitement prevailed on the
subject, to the Central Criminal Court. Money
was lavishly supplied to obtain the very highest
professional assistance—legal and medical—as
advocates and witnesses, with possibly a little
too much mixing up of the characters.
Perhaps no case ever exhibited greater evi-
dence of that strict impartiality—perhaps,
we might say, leaning to the side of the accused,
of which, as Englishmen, we are proud—than
the one under notice, the result whereof has been
to leave -WILLIAM PA.LMER a convicted criminal,
about to expiate his
enormous guilt by a painful
and ignominious death on the scaffold. The
gambler became the fraudulent debtor, gradations of guilt have been closely pursued—
the
with-
out means of liquidating his liabilities--the
debtor the forger—and the forger the wilful and
deliberate muderer—Nemo repent, fait turpissi-
td, 71$,

What are we to illuminate for ? The oftener
Ih3 question has been asked the further oft ha,
Seemed the solution. Of old, Englishmen
illumi-
sated because they had achieved what they fought
f )r, and had glorious trophies of war to suspend in
the Temple of Peace. Our readers are but too
well aware the country hay not got whit it fought

for, and where are the laurels over which the
present or future generations can rejoice ? Our
generals have won the soubriquet of asses. The
brava privates, serjeants, and subordinate officers
of the army have alone proved themselves lions.
The stout heart of England, to change the figure,
has breasted nobly the tide of war, but the gal-
lant vessel has been run not into the harbour of a
victorious peace, but on the sunken reef of a
precarious truce. Whether intended or not as a
bitter satire on the illumination, the device of a
private individual in the City aptly enough hits
off the truth. Over the word Peace (in large
letters) is a pair of gigantic spectacles. Whether
meant to represent a pair of French manu-
facture or no we cannot determine. But cer-
tainly the most powerful lenses ever invented by
a Parisian prefet will be required to make the
cessation of hostilities pass for peace. Are we to
illuminate to please the Emperor of the French ?
That were to add insult to injury. It may be
the case, but an Englishman will be excused
some scepticism on this head. Degraded as the
nation has been by traitorous and by incompetent
rulers, that depth of degradation has surely been
spared us. To have to accept a truce of his mak-
ing, at his instance, and to serve his turn, was bad
enough ; to be compelled by him to rejoice over it
were intolerable. What are we to illuminate for
then ? To please the Foreigners here who sold us
to spare the Foreigners there ? We have been
sacrificed by and for Germany to save Russia
from paying the eousequences of her fraudu:
lent ambition and hypocrisy. And for
what ? Is it to celebrate the triumph of
aristocratic misappropriation of power —of
regime of routine, selfish greed, and incom-
petency, over the enlightened wishes and best
interests of the nation ? The triumph certainly
is not with the people. Their day is yet to come,
and come it assuredly will. But so gross an in-
sult can never be intended. It would argue a
fatuity past redemption. What, then, are we to
illuminate for ?

The illumination is inexplicable, save perhaps
on one supposition, if we are to give our
rulers credit for the possession of any modicum of
common sense. The German Cousins of the Court
are paying and about to pay us a visit. The
people certainly are not anxious for the honour
of their acquaintance, nor at all prepared
to greet them with any warmth of feeling.
The stronger perhaps the reason for a Govern-
mental illumination. Senseless shows of re-
joicing have not unfrequently had to stand instead
of hearty popular acclaims. The princes of Ger-
many, too, are better used to the former. What
is thought of this as a solution Prince FREDE-
RICK of Prussia is now among us. His Father
will be here soon, and the Regent of
BADEN is here already. The illumination
must have its origin in some motive. Is it

intended to do honour to them ? If so, we are
quite certain Government has made a mistake. If
it wished to gratify their feelings, it should have
divided the 80001. the fireworks are to cost
among them. That would have pleased them
better. Offer the minor Princes of Germany
a few cool thousands each, all round,
and throw so much over to the leviathans, and
we are greatly deceived if a complete collection of
German Princes might not be forthcoming in the
Tower within the next six months. What poly-
gamists we are—about to be married to Prussia,
and possibly France, and married to Belgium, to
Russia, to Austria, and to the remainder of Ger-
many already. Why, we shall be married to all
the despots of the world shortly,
Is it decent to illuminate in prospect of this ?
One consolation fortunately remains. The illu-
mination which should properly follow the cessa-
tion of such a war is yet to come. The oppressed
nationalities, whose interests, hopes, and feelings
have been so studiously ignored during the con-
flict, may be trusted to get up that. The
triumphs of despots and Court Camarillas precede
nowadays, in the order of things, the rejoicings
of the people. Court marriages, however great
the sacrifice of the rights of womanhood offered
at them, never staved these rejoicings off.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS IN PARIS.—An extraordinary
council of Ministers was held yesterday in Paris. It is
supposed that it related to the affairs of Italy.
His Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of
Prussia, attended by Lieutenant-General Baron de
Schreckenstein, Baron Moltke, and Capt. Heinze,
visited the members of the Royal Family at their
residences yesterday afternoon.
Her Royal Higness the Duchess of Kent visited her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday,
at Gloucester House.

The Duchess of Northumberland's party, at North-
umberland House, this evening, is unavoidably post-
poned.

The Earl and Countess of Clancarty and Lady Ann
Butler have left Howchin's Hotel, St. James's-street,
for Paris. They will return again early in June.
The Hon. Mrs. Vesey-Dawson and Miss Fitzpatrick
have arrived at Edwards's Hotel, from Paris.
Lord Holland, who has lately been suffering from
severe indisposition, is now out of danger, and rapidly
recovering.
Sir Charles and Lady Wake and family arrived at
their town house in Chester street, Belgrave-square, on
Monday last, for the season.
Count Dam .rinida, Adjutant-General of the King of
Sardinia. arrived at Vienna on the 231 from Turin.
Lord John Russell, it is understood, intends to leave
this country about the middle of July, accompanied by
Lady John Russell and family, for, in the first instance,
Switzerland, and ultimately Italy. The object of his
lordship's visit to the continent•is for the benefit of the
health of Lady John Russell, whose condition of late
has occasioned her relatives some anxiety. That the
❑oble lord contemplates a protracted absence from this
country may be inferred from the circumstance that he
intends to break up his domestic establishment, and let
fur a term his town mansion in Chesham-place as well
as his seat in the vicinity of Stroud.
A deputation from the Carlton Incorporation, intro-
duced by Mr. Milligan, M.P., and consisting of Mr.
Ackroyd, visitor, Mr. Morris, Mr. Walker, Mr. Dews-
bury, and Mr. Wright, had an interview with the Right
Hon. E. P. Bouverie, yesterday, at the office of the
Poor-law Board, on the subject of the Poor-law Amend-
ment Bill, as it affects Gilbert's Incorporations.
A deputation from the Burial Board of the City of
London had an interview with. Viscount Palmerston and
Sir G. Grey, yesterday. The deputation consisted of
the Chai man, Mr. Deputy Peacock, Mr. Deputy Harri-
son, Mr. Deputy Bower, Mr. Deputy Whiteside, Mr.
Waterlow, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Bone, Mr. Hickson, Mr.
Ross, Mr. Deputy Aitchison ; the clerk, Mr. Daw ; the
solicitor, Mr. Tyrrell, and the engineer, Mr. Heywood.
Mr. John Wood, chairman of the Board of Inland
Revenue, and Mr. Pressly, deputy-chairman, had an in-
terview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, yester-
day, at his official residence in Downiutz-street.
The Cologne Gazete states that Teathen, who is
charged with abstracting the despatches at Potsdam, is
to he indicted for high treason.
LORD CHAIIBERLAIN'S OFFICE, May 27.—Notice is
hereby given, that the state apartments of Windsor
Castle will be closed after Friday next, the 30th inst.,
till further orders.

Sir C. Wood, Admiral Eden, and Col. Green, R.E.,
paid an official visit to Woolwich dockyard yesterday,
for the purpose of making decisive arrangements as to
the disposal of the gun-boats and mortar floats.
EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE ON LONDON-BRIDGE.-
-Yesterday morning, at half-past three o'clock, con-
siderable sensation was created on London-bridge, in
consequence of a wide-spread report that a respectably-
dressed female, name unknown, had been thrown over
London•bridge, and that the alleged murderer had been
apprehended. Upon inquiry this turns out to be too
true, and the particulars are nearly as follow :—A police
constable (Wheeler, No. 557) was on duty on London-
bridge, at half-past three o'clock yesterday morning.
He observed a man and woman loitering on the bridge
for some length of time. They presently got on one of
the recesses. A person who was pa sing saw the man
push the woman over the bridge. In falling she struck
against the abutments, and fell into the water. Whee-
ler instantly raised an alarm, when the Royal Humane
Society's boats and drags were quickly put in requisition,
but the body was not found. The man, when arrested,
attempted co commit suicide. Upon arriving at the
station, the inspector asked him his name. He
answered, William Mayes, billiard-marker, aged 26
years, and that he resided at Three Tons-court,Borough.
The acting inspector entered the charge against the
prisoner as follows :—Charged with attempting suicide,
an l also pn,hing a woman over the parapet of London.
bridge, Later in the afternoon the man was placed at
the bar, before Sir It Carden, at the Mansion-house,
charged
with the above offence, He was remanded for
s week.

THE S 1711; LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENINGri MAY 28, 1856

LATEST NEWS,

MARSEILLES, MAY 27

The Danube has arrived with advices from Con

stantinople of the 19th, and from the Crimea 01
the 17th inst.

Despatches leave at 10 p.m.

The ship of war Duquesne and the English
steamers Empress and Napoleon 111, have arrived

with troops from Kamiesh.
Advices from Sebastopol of the 17th state that
the Ripon had left for Corfu with the 68th Regi-
ment and part of the 46th,

The Sardinians had left. The Russians occupy

their positions.
Lord Panmure's spe9ch has not given satisfac-

tion to the army.

A few cases of typhus had occurred in the

English camp.

A number of new and large Russian cannon

have been discovered at Sebastopol.

COPENHAGEN, MAY 26,

The King has accepted the resignation of M.
Luttichan, the Minister of War, who was obliged
to insist on withdrawing definitively from the
Cabinet, in consequence of the vote of the Grand
Council reducing the budget of his department.

..1.•........,
.....,

FRANCE.
PARIS, THURSDAY EVENING.
The Emperor reviewed to-day, in the Champ de
Mars, the troops of the garrison and army of Paris.
The infantry, consisting of two divisions of the line
and two divisions of the Imperial Guard, was drawn
up on five lines facing the avenue of La Mothe
Piquet. It consisted of 22 battalions, and was
commanded by Generals Regnault de St. Jean
d'Angely, Courtigis, l'Amirault, Groben, Forey,
and Souric. The cavalry occupied the left, and was
composed of the Cuirassiers of the Imperial Guard,
the Carabikeers, the 11th Regiment of Dragoons
(lately returned from Rome), a regiment of 'lan-
cers, the Guides of the Imperial Guard, a regiment
of Chasseurs, another of Hussars, the Garde de
Paris, and the Gensdarmes. The artillery was
stationed opposite the Ecole Militaire. Marshal
Magnan commanded in chief. At one o'clock
the Emperor arrived on the ground, mounted
on his favourite Arabian horse. His Majesty
wore the uniform of General of Division. On
his right rode the Archduke Ferdinand Maxi-
milian, and on his left Prince Oscar of Sweden,
both dressed in the uniform of General Officers of
their nation. Prince Napoleon was on the right of
the Archduke, and Marshals Valliant, Canrobert,
and Bosquet followed at a short distance. Next
came a multitude of French and foreign Generals and
superior officers, and the aides-de-camp of the three
Marshals, and the cortege was closed by a detach-
ment of the Cent Gardes. Two open carriages fol-
lowed. In the first was seated the Empress, who
was enthusiastically cheered by the people. The
second carriage was occupied by the Princess
Mathilde. The Emperor having rapidly passed
before the lines of the troops took his station in
front of the Pavilon de l'Horloge, when the defile
commenced. Each corps, as it marched by, saluted
the Emperor and Empress with its acclamations.
The four regiments of the division of General
Forey, every man of which wore the Crimean
medal, attracted particular attention, and were
hailed with enthusiasm by the population; The
defile was terminated at about half-past three,
when their Majesties returned to St. Cloud with
their Royal guests.
The Committee of the Legislative Body entrusted
with the examination of the' supplementary budget
for the year 1856, comprising the extraordinary
credits, has completed its labours. The total
amount of this credit is 1,500 millions of francs,
comprising 1,200 millions for the expenses of the
war.

General de Failly has addressed the following
letter, dated the 25th, to the Salut Public of
Lyons :

" The subscription of which you have taken the
generous initiative gives me an opportunity of
loudly testifying the gratitude with which we all,
officers and soldiers, are inspired by the flattering
welcome given to us by the people of Lyons, and
by the fetes with which the city celebrates our re-
turn. Under existing circumstances the division
cannot better respond to the sympathy expressed
towards it than by renouncing this subscription in
favour of the victims of the inundation. The cor-
dial and hearty reception given us by the people is
the best recompence for the services which we have
been able to render in the war of the Crimea. I
am happy in being the interpreter of the whole
division to express its sincere thanks, and its wish
to see the subscription devoted to the benefit of
those who have suffered by the inundation."
In consequence of dis communication it has
been decided to close the subscriptions, and to
hand over to the prefect the amount collected.
Some of the members of the Circassian deputa-
tion to the Turkish Government are coming to
Paris in hopes of better success. Sou Maza, the
Algerine chief, who has entered the Turkish ser-
vice, and has penetrated further into Circassia
than any European, will come with them to intro-
duce them to the Emperor,

Special representatives rill be sent by France
and Austria to urge on the Pope the reforms
deemed necessary. These reforms consist of a
complete remodelling of the judicial system—a
native army—the completbn of the railways al-
ready begun—and the development of the com-
mercial and industrial capabilities of the country.
The French and Austrian occupation is not to
cease till these requisites have been carried into
execution.

The BOURSE, May 27.—Tle following were the
last quotations :
Cash. fr. a• End of Month.
4i per Cents 94 20 —f, ._.e.
3 per Cents 75 25 75 25
New Loan 75 45

Bank Shares 4,109 Rate,'
Credit Mobilier 1,922 50 Ans;ria.n
Belgian Five 5........ 97 Spanish Threes
Piedmontese (5). 93 7j Tome Debt

RAILA'ATEI—SOR NAL
ft. c. fr. a.
Orleans
Northern 1,163 75 Strasburg 1,005
Lyons _.„ 1,522 50 New Ditto ...... ... 910
Mediterranean ......1,750 Grand Central
Lyons Geneva 832 50 Testa
Cette Bl2 50 Austrian Com. 945

TURKEY.

CONSrANTINOPLE, MAY 15.

not emanate from the government, but from the
Prince Archbishop of Vienna. Steps have also
been taken to ward off the mischief which might
arise from the circular relative to the interment
of Protestants. Instructions have been given to
the gendarmery, for the purpose of preventing the
inconveniences which might result from it.

Our troops are dai y preparing to move home.
wards, and their sto:es, horses, and so forth ad•
vertised for sale.

M. Pisani, the Rusiian. Consul, with his staff, is
expected here to-day or. to-morrow, having em-
barked at Odessa on the 13th inst., according to
the report. It is further stated that quarantine
regulations have been suspended for four months
at the Russian ports ; their arrivals, however,
have been subjected, in this place, thus far, to a
quarantine of observation—eve days, that is to
say—and this measure will continue until such time
as the state of the public health in those localities
be fully ascertained and certified by the Russian
sanitary authorities.
The Ramazan this year has set in opportunely,
and true believers are reposing os their laurels after
a long and arduous struggle. Business, as usual,
is at a dead lock ; nay, the government offices in
former times were all closed till aightfall.
The fires unfortunately still outline, and the
splendid barracks of Daoud Pacha, converted into
an hospital by our allies, were entirely consumed
a few days ago, and 2,000 invalids with difficulty
rescued from the flames. This is the second acci-
dent of that nature which has befallen the French.
Our own troops have been more csreful,or had bet-
ter luck, perhaps ; and the British military hospi-
tals will be consigned in a far different state from
from that in which they were received from the
Turkish Government.