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Leader (1850-1860), 24th May 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 492

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      Untitled Article

      THE TRIALOF PALMER ( YESTERDAY ) . ' ' Farther witnesses for the defence wewi examined jres-! terday , the first being Mr . Thtfmai Rosi , of the Xondon Hospital ,-who described ths death of a . man from tetanus produced by old sorea It was thought at first that he had been poisoned with strychnin ^ but no trace-tof that drng was found in the body oiv the postmortem exainination . This testimony wasrsnpportad by Mr . > R- Mantell . —Dr . Wrightson , analytical chemist and teacher ; of chemistry in the School ¦ . at Birmingham , aaidhehad been ¦ a . pupil of Lksbfe , and ^ he . gav e . it as his opinion that strychnine could be detected . ? He ; had detected it in various solids * and fluids of ; , the animal body . He had heard the theory of Dr . Taylor \; as to the decomposition

      of gtrychninein the ^ ct . of , jfoijoning , and ; was of , opinion that it did not undergo fhat , decomposition , . Assuming that a man was poisoned by siryclraine , and the contents of his stomach were s 6 n « i -witMtt' eight or ten days for analytical examination , he should certainly expect ¦ to discover it . Being asked : by-the Attorney-General whether , if the WA . qfe . of the poison were absorbed , he would expect to find ' it ia the stomach , I * r . Wrightson replied "No ; " In answer to Serjeant Sbee , he saidlie Sidaot think that strychnine , administered in the shape of pills an hour , and a half before jthp , death , o $ . * he ( parent , would be so absorbed after death as to havp passed out of the stomach \ but , even if it had , he could find it in the liver and kidneys . ' He-could not say whether lie . should be ( likelytorfind . it in the oo&ts of the-stomach ; but he , thought it probabjejie . might , ,, :

      . Mr Partridge , Profesaor of , Anatomy at ; King ' s Collage , ' said that no conclusion as to Cooke ' s death could beXdrawn from the rigidity of the body .. He could , not fown any opinion as to the deceased ' s death , thotigb . the arching of the feet was greater than is usual . Saving alluded to the alleged inflammation in . the case of Cooke , arising from " the granules on tie spine , the Attqrney-General said :- ^ " Now , Mr . * Partridge , we liave heard the symptoms in Cooke ' s ease , thfcUlre enjoyed contpl 6 te repose for twenty * foiir h 6 ttrs « -fiwns > Mbnday > inigbt < to Tuesday night : do you mean to say in . the , face- of this Court , that Cooke died , from the inflammation you , have described ?*? "I do not . ' * " v ~ The" Attorney-General : " HaVe you ever' known a case in which the httnds were clenched in such a manner as that described in Cooke ' s case to have . arisen

      from such inflammation ? —f No . " , In reply to further question ? from , the Attorney-General , the witness stated that he' had never in such cases of inflammation known the'ifeef t to be so" bent as to assume the form of a clnb-foot : ' The bowing of the body , so that when placed on its back it rested on its head and feet , was consistent with death hy > tetanus ; and the symptoms in Cooke ' s caseweie quite consistent with all that hd knew of death by strychnine . ( This admission produced' » - profound sensation in Court , in consequence of Jd > n Partridge . bfeing , one of , the , principal witnesses for the defence . ) lie never knew a . case of tetanus run its course iii less than three or four days . If death resulted in two or three days he should expect that there had been premonitory symptoms .

      The Attorney-General : "Before 1 srt down , I wil ask you whether ypu have ever , known such , disease as that described in Cooke ' s case to have proceeded from natural causesi ?"^ - " Never . " Mr . John Gay , of the Royal College of'Surgeotis , gave some , scientific details of a case of tetanus he had attended , but wjhich did not much , affect $ he evidence , either , way . - ~ Dr . M'Donald / of the Kpyal College of Surgeons of Bdtrfburgtr , said lie believed that tetanic' convulsions might : be ? produced by causes as yet altogether' undispov « rftblo'by human i aeieacfe .. He' first heard in that Couii ) the theory propounded ^ ,, tjuat , strychnine , When taken into the bodv , could be decomposed or absorbed ahtf ^ itfrely I 6 s ' t . ' Thorp was no well grounded . reason for thiaft theory . Ho believed the cause of Qeath in Cooke'a case was epileptic- convulsions with tetanic complications . This witness ' s statements were nqt materially shaken by cross-examination .

      Mr . Austin Steady , of tbe Royal College of Surgeons , having given florae scientific evidence , MK George Robinflon , physiaiau , said ho believod the cause of death in Copke ' a case was epilepsy ; but , in qrasgrexamipation , he admitted that the symptoms wore those which wpuld occur from strychnine . —Mrl Benjamin Ward , Richardton ' , ' physician , thought that Cboke ' s death might bo tttelbuted to angina' pectoria ^ The' lost wittiest colled wa * , Qatherta * Wfctson , ¦ the girl , jn ( Scotland whoso case was re ^ rred jtp an being one of jetjanuB , froin which she recovered . Her evidence was tliat » Jvo had not taken anythiDg to bring on tbe . Attack . :. ' VHed * MacaCtwaa « pt oonjcludod when the Court ad-Jo « nMd ., tlU ( th « . »« Hiti 4 ay . >(•( .. ! ; I - ' . •>• , ¦•¦ ¦ '

      Untitled Article

      , + THE PENALTIES OP INDIFFERENCE * IiOBD Pai < kbbsxon last -week , told the working qlasaea why ( they are without . power > -He tipld them , they , we ? e apathetic . He knows , apd all know , that if the masses of ^ he nation , unrepresented in Parlianient , had either spirit or purpqse , the state , of political insignificance ana social tutelage in which . they live could notlong cantiniie . There are some who mistake this torpor for content ; others attribute it to . exhausfcionefijulting fi ^ m a ,, fprn > ec excess

      > ^ of deinajgoffuiaiw , ; , pthers , again , plead ' for the wprkipg c ^ spes , that thejr have , be ^ n justiged in their indifference and in their despair by the failure of many , efforts , by the deceptions of their leaders , by , the evasions of the "V ^ hi gs , and the selfishness of the middle orders . Tfiere ., appears a paijsture , of truth and exaggeration in all these ; statements . But , to whatever cause , it . may b ^ traced , apathy , or something Ukq apathy ,, exists , ; , and we . can tell t ^ e working classes that , while

      they remain in this respect unchanged , no change will take place in their relations to the rest pf society . Their power will not be increase ^; t ( heir interests will not be

      claims . We have seen within a short time more than one illustration of popular apathy , followed by an illustratipn of popular power . When Mr . Patten ' s Sunday Beer Act was passed , the working classes , whoso convenience it restricted , and whoso independence

      it curtailed , stood listlessly aloof , and encouraged a second attempt against Sunday trade - —a necessity among the poor . Then , from whatever cause an agitation sprang up , a brobf of vital opinion among tho working ordei' s tvas- giveii ; the projected bill disappeared , aiul its predecessor was so modified as to be , though not less . arbitrary , far less ¦

      obnoxious . Next , tho motion for opening the public galleries and museums on Sunday excited a general cru ' sado of tho Sabbattic party . In every city and province of the tJnitcjd , Kiugd ' o ' m they ' worked j ; o obtain resolutions ' an 4 rj ^ titionB a ^ avn ' a ' t the nioasufe . What wprp fhe working , ; cldS 8 e > - ^ br ;; thos > < # . te ^ h ' nfr w ^ uld have appreciated a 3 unqay stjroU . an , a ] gallery-of arc . or in a inupouu ^ b ( t" s , cjk ; nc © and aAtidtutieB- ^ . what ' werp , |; hjoy ^ jing , jnoam- <

      . petitions dropped as one to a hundred / and 1 yet it is certain ; that , had the 1 measure paased , theywould , have crowde d in myriads to enjoy the ¦ ¦ sight of pictures , ancient relics , and natural curiosities . But the London-population was dndolent , and the conntry people *—excepting 'Jthe vdilage flocks "driven , by the ! dleargy >^ to 6 k no . iiitebest in the amusements ' of ; 1 the 1 [ London . population , and so ; the . agitation , flowed in one stream against the popular proposal . * - .- > Again } 1 foith respect to the bands ui the * . park ; OHDundreds of

      thousands JenjoyTed ; the psivilege , but hundreds iof thousands tdid- jaot . petitiqn to have it guarded for them , did' not meet ta protest against the interference of the Sabbatists ; with their manner ; of passing the Sunday Of course not . The working , das 3 ea have ceased ^ to take their > qwq naiii .. A jnorbid sickness haa fallen on their minds , as if Cffisar 48 m in Prance , the disappointment of liberty throughout Europe ) the abasement of England by her aristocracy , the hollowness of parliamentary discussion , " the abandonment

      by prudent , men of unprofitable virtues , * ' the reign of irony among men of scholarship and feeling , had ^ mitten the strong English nature , and left it , without aim or intelligence , drifting . ; ¦ '" | : ''' It is not dii these subjects alone that the working-classes , display apathy . ' Before the Eastern Question had assumed a > ; European significance ^ they were invited , ' i > y the Piitliamentary initiative of I ^ drd ^ JoHBr Etjsseli ,, to consider ( the principles of a new Keform Bill . Would that bill have disappeared , like

      a puff of smoke , had a -strqng and d ^ dJhl popuh \ r opinion ' ixifitediPr iii " vanished , and was regretted Tby none , .. except' the Finality Statesmanv ¦ Then ; caine the war . ¦ The people refused to have any share iix directing the policy of England . " ' They left the formation of alliances , the establishment of new dynastic relations , the . conduct and scope of the struggle , the negotiations of peace , without jealousy and without vigilance , to ministers acting in secret ^ and they were not

      perrqitted to know * what terms had been purchased with the blood and treasure of the nation , until Kussia , Austria , Prance , arid Great Britain ; were again united in " lasting friendship , " Either they have no faith or no courage , no object onno discernment , no heart or no sejnse . We think it is ^ the faith , the purpose , the hearty , that , is , wanting , Never ha ? the , English , people evinced , when its energies , have been ; roused , a deficiency of sense , discernment ,-or , courage . ' ¦ ¦>

      What , then , iis . the . seeret of this sceptical languor ? Why has every great object of popular policy dwindled into the topic of au annual motion , the ridicule of the country , the toy of Parliament } , the technical evidence of some liberal member that ho has acted up to his principles ? Why are the old Whigs less content with Finality than the working classes ?

      The working classes are bewildered . They have taken the initiative , twice , since the enactment of tho Bqform Bill . Twice they havo trusted to contemptible lenders , who have dragged them into ^ despera te mistakes . This , wo cpneoivo , is the ! reason why tho working classes have lost confidence iu themselves . The ( Dhartist movement , which . led to the Monof 1848

      mouthphiro . risings , and tho . burlesque , imp , aired the sympathies of the middle orders , which had derived enormous aid in 1881 and 1 , 8 $ 2 , from . bodiea of me » unenfranchised by tho till . . Agaip , in 1840 , tho nation cams out of an cxjha . u 9 tivo atruggle on tho Cornlaws , in whioji . tho working classes had large ^; pwrticjipatpd , , , But is tho political life , and independent action of a majority p £ the people ( to coaao ,, because twenty-five yoars of alternate . 1 notivity and indolence

      Untitled Article

      NOTICES TO COBBESPONDENTS . No notioe can be taken of . auoqyiapus communioationR whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated -hy the namie and-addross ofvthe writer ; not necessarily for publi « tio , n ; but as ajruaruntee pf , his good faith . It is impossible to aokn 6 wle ' dj ? e the mass of letters wo . reeeive . Thei * insertion ia often delayed , owing'to a . press of nnUterjand when omitted it is . ii < equentjy . ; frpin i Reasons ' quite Independent of the merits of the communication ; ¦¦ •¦ ' - ¦ " -- ¦ ' "¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ " ¦ " ¦; ¦ ' " '' ¦ We cannot tajdertake to return rejected ( jommunications . During -the SeasipD of Parliament it is often impossible to ' 'find room for correspondence , wen "the 'briefest :

      Untitled Article

      .. LOSS OF ; AJT ENGLISH STEAMER . The £ zat English , steamer bound : to Gronstadt , a new one called the Tyne , has been lost , , wfth all its joargo , off the Island of Oesel , in the Gulf of Finland .

      Untitled Article

      while ? Their in 4 , qo T HOB - ' . liEA D CB It . [ No > 322 * ( SA ^ JBDAar , '" *** ' ''" ' ' *¦ —^ !—! ! ; ;—LL ^ l—L——!—L ^—^^^^^^ BBH ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ¦ (— . mi ¦ J * j- T "l

      Untitled Article

      ' Ckfati&tyjhJUm . ^^ iurn or admtosidna for . six days « maitog < AWjrt ! J 8 W , 1856 i number admitted , iirtJluding 4 «^ Kml tlcket > b 4 ld « ra (| l a « d . ¦ ,, ' I ; . h , ; . u .,..: iii ' <<'' , n /;!> l ill I J () J-c . n ' . . ¦ ¦ ¦ . ' I ¦ . I i j .. || i (• : t- -I i" > l '• •' '

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      Untitled Article

      SATFBDAT , MAT 24 , 1856 .

      .. ..„.. .- , , /^C**Lft-* (Ta £T*L~. ~ Miux*. ' ¦ "

      ^ ublir Iffara . — ' —^

      Untitled Article

      lt There ia nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural end convulsive , as tlie strain ; to keep things fixed when all the worl , d is . by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . — jDb . Aknoid .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1856, page 492, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2142/page/12/