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    52 THE LEADER. [No, 304, Saturday,

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    THE RUGELEY POISONINGS. {From our Sjwial...

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    The American President's Messagf. The Me...

    liberally with other Powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall Lereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the Sound or belts . " The disagreements with France , Spain , and Greece , have been satisfactorily settled . In connexion -with Cuba , the President writes : — " I do not abandon the hope of concluding with Spain some general arrangement , ivhich , if it do not wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba , will render them less frequent , and , "whenever they anall occur , facilitate their more speedy settlement . "

    Mexican affairs are described as being in such a state of disruption that the United States Government has been unable to negotiate for the removal of grievances . The President has felt it incumbent ou him to appeal to the good faith of American citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in the affairs of Nicaragua . He has also adopted preventive measures . Of dinancial matters , we read : — "It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury that the receipts during the last fiscal year ending June 30 ,

    1855 , from all sources , were 65 , 003 , 930 dollars ; and that tie public expenditures for the same period , exclusive of payments on account of the public debt , amounted to 56 , 365 , 393 dollars . The amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal year was 40 , 583 , 631 dollars , and , deduction being made of subsequent payments , the whole public debt of the Federal Government remaining at this time is less than 40 , 000 , 000 dollars . " A departure from the principles of the present tariff on imports is not anticipated . lc

    The question , of the Constitutional relations of Slavery" occupies considerable space . The allegation of the Northern States that the Southern States have persistently asserted claims , and obtained advantages in the practical administration of the . general government , to the prejudice of the North , is denied . " It is mere delusion and prejudice , " says tie Message , " to speak of Louisiana as acquisition in the special interest of the South . " The acquisitions of Florida and Texas are pointed to as evidencing the desire of sectional agitators to exclude new States from the Union , for mere party purposes . [ We have discussed , in a separate paper in our leading columns ^ this portion of the President * s Message . ] The probable results and general character ofifche anti-slavery movement ar « thus indicated by the President towards the close' * of his official document : —

    "It is either disunion and civil war , or it is mere angry , idle , aimless disturbance of public peace and tranquillity . Disunion for what ? If the passionate rage of fanaticism , and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention , it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States , as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the 25 , 000 , 000 of Americans—to trample und « r foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation—and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the employment of the common heritage of our national institutions . "

    52 The Leader. [No, 304, Saturday,

    52 THE LEADER . [ No , 304 , Saturday ,

    The Rugeley Poisonings. {From Our Sjwial...

    THE RUGELEY POISONINGS . { From our Sjwial Correspondent . ) Rugelej ' j January 16 , 1856 . Let us imagine a sensible and intelligent Parisian , weary of the eternal chatter and the saunter along the Boulevards , forming tho sage resolution of setting up bis household gods in tlio right little , tight little island , famous throughout the world as tlie peculiar slirino of the domestic affections , of solid comfort , and genuine worth . Let him cast his eyes over the length and breadth of the land . Lot him survey its bold mountains and smiling valleys , its populous towns and sweet rural villages . Much would he kehold worthy of admiration as a traveller and a cosmopolite , but little pause would ho make ere taking up

    Ilia abode in the pleasant vale watered by the winding v Xreat . Thia would bo Iris liarbonr of refuge from the vanities and vexations of a frivolous or malicious world , This would bo to him the promised land—a land flowing with milk and honey . Here , if anywhere , he might hope to exhume tlio simple virtues hitherto buried in the dull driliblings of pastoral rhapsodies . Here ho would expect to find a true manly race , softened l > y the gentle influences of homo , and equally free from the ' brutal impulses of a barbarous and the calculating selfishness of a too refined state of society . Alighting at the Rugeley station lie would walk with a buoyant step betwoen . ivell-kept hedges , fencing iii "

    meadows trim , with daisies pied , " until , linlting for n moment on . a bridge that Bpnna a brontl canal , bis eyo would alight upon a substantial red-brick house with ita bow-windows looking out upon n lawn sloping clown to the wator . A small court , -tilled with Portugal Inurols , evincing tlio genuine Dutch taato for regular forma , separates the nouso from tho road . At tho l > nek may bo seen wlmt was onco a timber-yard of Bomo pretensions , where ntlll a few rows or plunks « U-C 8 t the proflencc of u saw-pit , and where « wlmzy-looking crane enjoys the repose duo to a long nnd faithful servitude . Adjoining thcao groundfi a spucioua bnt densely-peopled churchyard contains whole generations of men who , after slumbering through life , now sloop in death . Tho pioue doggrela commemorating tho

    umgrammatical sorrows of the survivors are already half ob literated by time ' s " effacing fingers , " while two noble arches , clad with ivy , tell by their very ruin 3 How earnest were the men of afore time when they sought to glorify their Creator . On the opposite side of the road now stands a more modern church , fitted for a numerous congregation , and not displeasing to the eye . Here , too , a rapidly filling enclosure proves that the bills of mortality fall due even in the cheerful valley of the Trent : i 8 not the medical profession largely represented in Rugeley ? Behind this edifice our imaginary traveller would behold a tomb , in front of whicli the gravel had been recently disturbed . Had he stood there a few daj'S since , he would have seen the spade and the pick-axe busily at work , a curious crowd standing around , and the

    glazed hats of the police conspicuous above all . These were not mourners . Their countenances , where capable of ether expression than vacancy , denoted indignation rather than grief . There was one face , indeed , which might well have reflected both feelings , but our stranger would have traced" only a heartless indifference , or a superhuman resolution , as he observed it looking through the window of that comfortable house , whence a widow could behold the spot where they had laid her lord , and whence they were now once more bringing into tho light of day the mouldering remains of her daughter-in-law and her son . Beneath that tomb was deposited the master of the comfortable house . He had entered upon the

    stage of life under many disadvantages , but his merits or demerits had prospered his undertakings , and the successful sawyer left behind Mm a handsome fortune , if not a single friend . He died in his chair nigh twenty years ago . He died , and was buried in the vault which now they are Te-opening . It has heen opened four times since then . That timber merchant ' s son , and the wife of another son , and the mother-in-law of that other son , and tlie guest o > f that other son , have all been laid in that vault within a short period of each other . The bodies of his son and his daughter-in-law are now wanted to bear evidence whicli shall hang the brother of the one , the husband of the other . ; Our traveller , astonished and alarmed , asks what means all this commotion by the banks of the cheerful Trent . A clear friend of the accused hastens to answer him in this wise : — In that substantial red-brick house dwells tlie widow of a timber . merchant arid sawyer , who amassed / -very considerable wealth in a space of time so brief as seemed to reflect on the judgment or industry of his less fortunate neighbours . An apoplectic attack placed him , at last , beyond the envy of his townsmen , and Mrs . Palmer—such was his widow ' s name—reigned h £ his stead . Both sons and daughters had been born to this prosperous coupleprosperous in all points save this . One son was a lawyer , another a clergyman , a third a surgeon , a . fourth a corn" actor , a . fifth a timber merchant . There were likewise two daughters ; one still unmarried and living with her mother * but otherwise Very respectable , and kindly spoken of by the poor ; the other married and died , having shortened her life , it is said , by a too assiduous devotion to u the rosy god : " for the sanguine temperament of parents is visited upon , at least , the first generation . Though passing rich , this family was involved in the obscurity that enfolded their native town . If it ivere lawful to parody an epitaph , it might be

    said—Rugeley , and Rugeley ' s boors , lay hid in night ; God said , " Let murder be ! " and Kugeley came to light . The man destined in the fulness of time to dispel tliis darkness was William Palmer , a surgeon , whoso practice was fortunately confined to his own family and a f « intimate friends . His personal appearance , if-not heroic . waa by no means disagreeable . Hia stout * compact form , light complexion , florid hue , and easy smile , bespoke the genuine English yeoman , healthy and good-humoured . To the poox he was kind and considerate . Among * , the humble fry of clerks , apprentices , inn-keepers , and small dealers , he was extremely popular , for ho could always guide them in laying their beta upon horses , and freely imparted any certain knowledge he possessed . There is not a chambermaid or waitress within thirty miles , who does not speak of him aa " nioe , pleasant sort of

    gentleman , " nnd he is known to have R iven pledges to fortune , that prove hia loves were neither p lntonio nor those of the angels . His illegitimate offspring died very , very young . lie has been almo . st equally unfortunate with hia children born in lawful wedlock ; four Iiavo died , in infancy ; a . little boy of fieyen alone survives , to whom will descend his molhcr ' a property . The wife of William Palmer was tho illegitimate child of Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes , a retired East India officer , residing in Stafford , whoso brains were blown out , but by whom was never discovered . His mistress , Mra . Thornton , was a woman subject to wild fits of passion . That was previous to hia daughter ' s marriage . The Colonel , at his death , left tho usufruct of his property to his mistress ; tho capital , however , fceinpr settled on hia daughter and her hoira .

    Thia daughter , afterwards Mrs , William Palmer , waa an nnivorsal favourite , and the poor of Rugeley still deplore tho loss of a most Byjmpathbing benefactress With such a wife one would have thought that William Palmer would have lived in contented obscurity in hia snug twostoried cottage , standing a little off tho street , with ita three square windows above and ono on cither side of the door . Atid as he stood ul his door , or at the little gate in front , lli « eyea must Iiavo often alighted on tho legend beneath the Tulbot Arms , tho swinging and croaking fiign of tlio hostelry ovsr against him : —IIumani Nuiii , Ai . nc . NLM . Unhappily ho had other guides . Ilia political morality ho borrowed from lib daily paper , tho Tttnea ; for social morality ho betook himself to Bulwer ' a " Lucrotia ; " bis medical studios appear , by tho -wellthumbed pages of a work upon poisona , to havo been chiefly directed to itie properties of pruasic acid , strychnia , and doftdly narcotics ; while tho beet-filled bottlo in hio

    surgery wa 3 one of tartarised antimony . So fond , indeed waa he of fatal drugs , that he once owned a horse named Strychnine . The most fatal poison of all to h imself was his love of horses—hisp'ssion for the turf . Accustomed from his earliest infancy to live among horses , and horselike men—for Rugeley fair is famous throughout the Midland Counties—he acquired the expensive habit 3 and unscrupulous practices of the latter . Not that any one would blame him for hid good old English tastes . Ig not the turf the keystone of the British Constitution ? it is tho last Conservative clement in the hind . Who nvre fond of the noble sport than tlie mutual friend of W . D . and \ V . P . ( William -Palmer ) , the great Frail of Shrewsbury ? Let it not be imputed to tho accused as a fault that besought to tread in the steps of those line old Tory

    gentlemen whose wisdom and virtues are equally conspicuous in the liberal administration of public affairs , and in the honour and purity of their happy homes . Suffice it to say that William Palmer became an owner and breeder of race-horses , that he betted freely and largely , and that he won rarely and to a small extent . The ready money that came to him at his father ' s death—a few thousand ? , it is said—waa soon dissipated . Tradesmen may be put off , I ut debts of honour ? niistbs paid . Mone 3 must be had ; if at sixty per cent , well ; if not by bills , l > y pills ; money , anyhow . Hebrews not without guile , and that class ol attorneys who form the " peculiar people"" of modern civilisation , took much paper in

    exchange for a little gold . Tlie crisis was growing desperate ; the next step would plunge him into the slouch of despond . There was still one hope , one plank between him and perdition . His mother-in-law might afford some aid . From her fears , though not from her love , he extracted' some £ 20—a syringe playing on a . world in flames . The maternal instincts , however , wero stronger than that of self-preservation . Mrs . Thornton became alarmed on her daughter's account . She left Stafford and became an inmate in Palmer ' s house . Four days afterwards she was a corpse . Her property descended " to Mrs . William , whose husband , of course , thus enjoyed a larger income . But as at her decease this source would fail , it

    waa necessary to adopt some counter measure ? . These were readily suggested by certain institutions devised by the commercial spirit of this sensible nation io nssuage their $ , rief for departed friends by entering , per . contra , a cert ain sum of money . In other words , W illiam Palmer could find his remedy by effecting a Life Insurance on hid beloved Anne . Medical men gladly certified tliat . Irei health was good , as indeed it was , and pmiieUd length of life nnd tho payment of many a . premium .- It was iru-c that the lady was pregnant—and tbc medical science <> f a refined civilisation deems pregnancy a disease—but thfe only accounted the ' more naturally for the husband ' s anxiety to prepare an elixir of . gold against possible- woe . Three offices engaged to pay the collective sum of £ 13 , 00 u , whenever Anne Palmer should be gathered to her fathers .

    The baby was born on the 2-lth of January , 1854—apparently a delicate , perhaps an . untimely child—and wgs bap . ti . scd on the same * lay . On the 25 tli , the mother came downstairs ; the baby doing so well that its father was able to go " to Stafford about insurance , " a 3 we read in his diary . The next night , however , he sat up with baby . On tlie 27 th baby was worse , and Dr . Bam ford , one ~ of the antiquities of the place , was called in ; and prescribed " a mixture "—no matter what . " Baby died iit 10 p . m . " To occupy the nine months that elapse before this diary ngain becomes worthy of note , it may be worth while to notice an incident that occurred some five years ago . In those days there live 1 , a Mr . Bluden , a collector for Cliarington's brewery , who dabbled sufficiently in turf transactions to make him a defaulter to his employers . It

    would seem , if public rumour be ever worthy of credit , that WilliimPalmer h .: id borrowed £ 100 from tlicsporting Bagman , and . it is probable that the hope of recovering this sum induced tlie unfortunate man to becomo tho guest of his debtor . However this injiy be , he had no cbacico of taking it out in board and lodging . He fell desperately tick , and after William Palmer smd bis assistant , one Thirlby—whoso windows are now recognisable by a gr « nt display of rupture bandages and one large jar full of broken poppy-heads—had exhausted their skill , that iloar old Dr . Bauiford was culled in to " prvscribo a mixture . ' * Nevertheless , the patient died- Hia wife arrived when hu was already insensible , but in a few minutes was hurried out of , the room and never again allowed tu behold him—because- decomposition had set in so rapidly .

    She was also dissuaded from earn ing the corpse to London , tho expense of which William Pttlmcr greatly exaggerated . ltumour goea on to any thnt tho hitter hnnilod the widow u cheque for £ ( 10 , and pouiq looso cash which ho had found in tho pockets of the ducoancri , -whom ho represented as being in Ills debt to ( lie amount of : Ci > 7 . This claim tlie widow laughed to acorn , nnd on Mrs . William ' s earnest Ontrcaty it was never repeated . Poor Blarton rests in the same vault with Mia . Thornton , W « Uor Palmer , and Mr ? . Willinms . In the month of September , 1854 , Mr * . Williams .. and lior Miafcr-in-lnw , Miss Sanih Palmer , wore present at a concert in St . George ' s Hull , at Liverpool . Hove the former liuly , perhaps , caught cold , and on her return to Ku . ^« ley next day oho appeared to l >»

    very unwell . The following morning her hushftiul took up to her room a cup of tea with « ugar in it , but no uiil !> . and Homo dry tonst . Soon ufiorwardH vomitingcommunci'il . Whatever Hubatnnco hIio received , tea , (? niel , mid onto . i little arrowroot , was prepared by tho norviwit girl Klici Tlinrm , but ndminiatcrod only T > y Mr . l ' alnior or Ann Hriulfihnw , n deaf old nurao Buhnvqurmly r . nllod in . <*>» Sunday Dr . Bamfoid wan sent for , and be ' nitf h Ivcu t >> undorfttnixl that tho caae wdhoiiooI' Kn ^ Iishctiolorn , thutiK 1 ' tho patient was then su tiering from coiituipeuioii , lio |> i' « - HCiibodfiome pills containing onloinul and colocynth ami < w > opening draught . On Tuesday evening bo n ^ itin calli' < l , and found thnt only ono pill bud been tnkcu and that , thuunwi'lH wore ntitl unmoved . Thia was tlio lust timo he author , but at her husband ' s rofiiu' & t boat uncn uiiriiod n ccilifloti )

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 19, 1856, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19011856/page/4/