The Press. — 1856-06-07 (London, England)

THE CONVICT WILLIXM PALMER.  THE friends of Palmer are making every effort to obtain a commutation of his sentence, on the ground that his conviction was obtained by mere circumstantial and theoretical evidence, that there was no proof that Cook was poisoned, and that at least, under the circumstances, the life of the convict should be spared until a further analysis of Cook's body has taken place. Earnest representations have been made to the Home-office, and a petition to the Queen drawn up. Mr. Smith, the solicitor for the defence, has written two letters to the Times—in one appealing for a further analysis, and in the other as-erting that by the verdict the whole spirit of the criminal law was reversed, denying that the medical symptoms in Cook's case should be allowed to weigh heavier than the chemical evidence, and concluding with a solemn declaration, from his belief that nothing could have nor had been concealed from him, of his conviction of Palmer's innocence.  Since his return to Stafford, Palmer has not made the slightest communication to the authorities in connection with the crime of which he stands convicted. His manner is reserved. He still asserts that he has not had a fair trial, and bitterly complains pf the summing-up of Lord Campbell, and also of the evidence of Newton, of the maid servant at the albot Arms, and of the damage done to his case by the evidence of Jeremiah Smith. Some members of his family have had an interview with him, and he asserts, in reply to ail questions on the subject of his guilty complicity in the death of Cook, that of whatever misdeeds he may have to accuse himself, be is not guilty of the crime of murder. He has been made acquainted with the exertions 31r. John Smith, his solicitor, has made to obtain from the Government a remission of the sentence, and he has frequently expressed to Captain Fullord, the governor of the gaol, and to the Rev. R. H. Goodacre, the chaplain, his conviction that, in consequence of those exertions, his life will be spared, and that the Government will take further means to test the truth of the charge for which he was put upon his trial, as well as of those other charges on which be would have been arraigned had the jury in Cook's case returned a verdict of acquittal. The coolness and selfpossession which Palmer displayed during the first few days of his incarceration, after his return from London, are said to be deserting him, and he betrays evident anxiety in reference to his fate. He passes sleepless nights, and during the daytime his mind appears to wander. Until the last day or two he would talk upon general subjects with freedom, and sometimes with apparent cheerfulness, but a feeling of depression seems to have come over him, and his whole thoughts' when he is calm and collected, are engrossed with one subject—the probable result of the intercession with Government on his behalf. It is understood that the Government have already taken the opinion of the judges on the propriety of the verdict, and that no hope whatever can be entertained that those learned persons have expressed any reason to alter the very decided opinion they formed after the trial as to the conclu-iveness of the evidence adduced by the Crown against the prisoner. Since the conviction of the prisoner a great number of letters directed to him have been delivered at Stafford Gaol, from persons who appear moved by a vicious sympathy for his fate. Some of these communications contain "poetry,' supposed by the authors to be applicable to a person in his condition, and the writers, for the most. part, conclude by expressing a hope that their favours will be acknow ledged, "if possible." The object of the writers is, in all probability, to obtain the culprit's autograph, but in this they will be disappointed, as the letters never reach his bands. Arrangements have been already commenced at Stafford for the execution at eight o'clock in the morning of Saturday week. Applications have already been made for almost all the hotel accommodation in the neighbourhood, and special trains are reported to run to and from all the pridcipal towns within a circuit of fifty miles. In connection with his trial and conviction it is reported that the jury on their retirement, without discussing among themselves the subject of the Prisoner's guilt or innocence, agreed that each indi Quid ju.ryman should write his verdict, and place it under MI bet. Within teu inimiteis from the time of