They Hanged My Saintly Billy (57 page)

Serjeant
Shee
lost
two
other
important
witnesses—one
of
them being
Will
Saunders,
the
trainer
from
Hednesford.
When
the Grand
Jury
held
the
inquest
at
Stafford,
Saunders
had
deposed
on oath
that
Cook
sent
for
him,
on
the
Monday
afternoon,
thirty-six
hours
before
his
death,
gave
him
ten
pounds
on
account
of
a
£41 6s.
debt,
and
excused
himself
for
not
paying
the
remainder— because
of
having
handed
Dr
Palmer
all
his
cash
to
settle
urgent business
affairs
in
London.
This
evidence,
collusive
though
it
may well
have
been,
would
have
decidedly
weakened
the
Crown's case
that
the
Doctor
had
stolen
Cook's
money.
The
Crown
lawyers,
therefore,
engaged
Saunders
to
give
evidence
on
their
behalf, refrained
from
calling
him,
and
then
packed
him
off
out
of
Mr Serjeant
Shee's
reach.

The
third
important
witness
was
a
man
by
the
name
of
Allspice, who
drove
Dr
Palmer
in
a
fly
from
Stafford
to
Rugeley
on
the critical
Monday
evening—the
evening
when
Newton
stated
that,
about
nine
o'clock,
he
had
freely
presented
Dr
Palmer
with
three grains
of
stryclininc.
Allspice
would
have
been
ready
to
swear that
the
train
reached
Stafford
at
8.45;
that
the
Doctor
engaged him
at
The
Junction
Hotel
for
the
drive
to
Rugeley;
that,
on arrival
there,
at
ten
minutes
past
ten,
Dr
Palmer
had
gone
straight to
The
Talbot
Arms,
where
Jeremiah
Smith
was
anxiously
awaiting
him;
and
had
then,
after
a
brief
visit
to
the
hotel,
returned, paid
the
fare,
and
walked
away
with
Smith
in
the
direction
of
The Yard.
Had
this
been
proved,
the
Crown
must
needs
have
abandoned
the
charge
that
Dr
Palmer
was
given
the
strychnia
at
nine o'clock;
took
it
to
his
surgery,
made
it
up
into
pills
and,
at
about half-past
ten,
administered
diesc
to
Cook
in
place
of
Dr
Barn-ford's
prescription.

Two
letters
on
this
point
are
extant,
written
by
Dr
Palmer
from Newgate
Gaol,
where
he
was
being
kept
during
the
trial,
to Jeremiah
Smith.
We
copy
them
here
verbatim:

Dear
Jere,

No
man
in
the
world
ever
committed
a
grosser
case
of
Perjury than
that
vile
wretch
Newton—he
positively
swore
last
Friday
16
May,
that
he
let
me
have
3
grs.
of
Strychnine
the
Monday
before Cook's
death
and
that
I
went
to
Mr
Salt's
surgery
for
it,
and
got
it from
him
at
9
o'clock.

It
is
a
base
lie,
for
I
left
London
on
that
very
night
at
5
o'clock
by Express
and
arrived
at
Stafford
at
10
minutes
to
9,
brought
a
Fly from
the
Junction
and
arrived
at
Rugeley
at
Masters'
door
about
10
o'clock.

Now,
as
there
is
a
God
in
Heaven
(I
am
sure
you
can't
have
forgotten
it)
you
know
that
you
were
waiting
for
my
coming
and when
I
got
out
of
the
Fly
you
told
me
that
my
Mother
wanted
to see
me
particularly,
and
after
bidding
Cook
good-night
we
walked together
down
to
The
Yard
and
got
a
good
brushing
from
the
Old Lady
about
a
writ
of
Brown's
that
Arminshaw
had
sent
for;
that Arminshaw
told
to
George,
and
George
to
my
Mother—and
if
you recollect
she
was
very
cross.

We
then
walked
back
to
my
house
and
you
said:
'Well,
let
me have
a
glass
of
spirit.'
I
went
to
the
cupboard
and
there
was
none— you
said:
'Never
mind,'
and
bid
me
good-night.
This
must
have been
after
n
o'clock—now
I
should
like
to
know
how
I
could
get
to Mr
Salt's
shop
at
9
o'clock
on
that
night?
You
can
also
prove
this truth,
that
Cook
dined
with
me
(and
you)
at
my
house
on
the
Friday before
his
death
and
that
we
had
a
quantity
of
wine.
Cook
then
went with
you
and
had
a
glass
of
Brandy
and
Water—and
that
he
was then
the
worse
for
liquor.
You
can
further
prove
that
Cook
handed me
some
money
on
this
day,
for
he
told
you
so
in
my
presence
when he
gave
you
the
£10.
He
told
you
at
the
same
time
I
had
won
over
£1000
on
his
mare
at
Shrewsbury,
and
lastly
you
can
prove
that
he and
I
betted
for
each
other,
that
we
owned
'Pyrrhine
jointl
y,
and that
we
had
had
bill
transactions
together.
These
are
solemn
truths and
I
am
fully
persuaded
that
they
cannot
have
escaped
your
memory.