he thought the cause of his illness was. Did he reply: 'The pills which Palmer gave me at half-past ten'?
MILLS. Yes.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did you tell the Coroner that?
MILLS. No.
SERJEANT SHEE. Since Mr Cook's death, have you been questioned by anyone respecting what you said about these pills before the Coroner?
MILLS. Yes, by a Dr Collier. He came to see me at Hitchingley.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did you tell Dr Collier that the gentlemen in London had altered your evidence on that point, and that it was now to be: ' Cook said the pills which Palmer gave him at half-past ten made him ill'?
MILLS. I did not tell him that the gentlemen had altered my evidence. SERJEANT SHEE. Did you say that the evidence had since been altered by anybody?
MILLS. It had been altered by myself since; because Mr Cook's words
had occurred to me.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did you say to what gendeman you had given this
information?
MILLS. No, because I did not remember, except that I met him at Dolly's.
SERJEANT SHEE. So an unknown gentleman came to you at Dolly's!
Did he tell you from whom he came?
MILLS. No, he asked: 'Will you answer a few questions?' I said:
' Certainly.' He did not tell me his name, neither did I ask it.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did he ask you many questions ?
MILLS. Not very many.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did he write down your answers ?
MILLS. Yes.
SERJEANT SHEE. But he did not tell you who he was, or whom he
came from, or for what your answers were wanted?
MILLS. No.
SERJEANT SHEE. Did he mention Mr Stevens's name?
MILLS. Yes.
SERJEANT SHEE. What did he say about Mr Stevens?
MILLS. Mr Stevens was with him in the sitting-room; he called Mr
Stevens by name.
SERJEANT SHEE. Why did you not tell us that before?
MILLS. I was not asked.
We have heard of Judges warning juries to place no reliance on witnesses whose conduct and demeanour were in every way superior to those of Elizabeth Mills; yet the Lord Chief Justice supported her with romantic fervour and characterized Serjeant Shee's suggestion that Mr Stevens paid her money as 'a most foul charge'. The Dr Collier mentioned by Elizabeth Mills had gone, at John Smith's request, to Hitchingley, where he took down her statements. When informed that he was now in Court, Baron Alderson exclaimed angrily: 'Dr Collier should be absent, if he is to be examined for facts. He is here under the false pretence of being a doctor!' Baron Alderson forgot that three doctors called by the Prosecution to be examined for facts were also in Court.
Further evidence that day came from Lavinia Barnes, who docilely supported Mills's new story of having been poisoned after tasting the broth, but otherwise added nothing to the stock of common knowledge; from Dr Jones, Cook's oldest friend, and the only medical eye-witness of his death, who kept to his view that Cook had died of natural causes; from Dr Savage, the London physician, who gave evidence that Cook was in reasonably good health, save for a weakness of the lung, up to a fortnight before his death; and finally from Charles Newton, Dr Salt's assistant.
Newton now testified to having given Dr Palmer three grains of strychnine crystals at nine o'clock on Monday night, November 19th. He also told a most improbable tale about a meeting on Sunday, November 25 th, the eve of the
Cross-examined by Mr James, Q.C., for the Prosecution:
JAMES. Do you remember Sunday, the 25th of November?
NEWTON. I do.
JAMES. Where were you at about seven o'clock that evening ?
NEWTON. At Dr Palmer's house.
JAMES. What was the cause of your going there?
NEWTON. I was sent for.
JAMES. Where did you find Palmer when you went, and what was he doing?
NEWTON. He was alone, sitting by the kitchen fire, reading.
JAMES. What did he say to you ?
NEWTON. He asked me how I was, and would I take a little brandy?
JAMES. Did he say anything else to you ?
NEWTON. He asked me: 'What dose of strychnia would be required to kill a dog?' I told him, 'a grain'. He then asked me whether it would be found in the stomach after death.
JAMES. What did you say?
NEWTON. I told him there would be no inflammation, and that I did
not think it would be found.
JAMES. Did he make any remark upon that?
NEWTON. I think he said: 'It is all right,' as if speaking to himself.
Then he did that
Newton's evidence was greeted by a loud clapping of hands in Court, as though he had delivered a telling dramatic speech at Drury Lane. Lord Chief Justice Campbell made no attempt to quell the applause.
Cross-examined by Mr Grove for the Defence:
GROVE. You were examined at the inquest, I think you have stated; did you then say anything either about your conversation with respect to the dog, or about the three grains of strychnia ?
NEWTON. NO, I did not.
GROVE. Did you say anything about the conversation of Cook's suffering from diseased diroat—syphilis? NEWTON. Yes, I did.
GROVE. At the inquest?
NEWTON. I was not questioned there about the
Re-examined by Mr Attorney-General Cockburn:
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. You have said that you gave information to the Crown on Tuesday about this fact of the three grains of strychnia. How was it you did not give that information before?
NEWTON. On account that Dr Palmer had not been friends with Dr Salt; they never speak to each other.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. What had that to do with it?
NEWTON. I thought Dr Salt would be displeased at my letting Dr Palmer have anything.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. YOU say they did not speak?
NEWTON. No; Mr Thirlby lived with Dr Salt for nineteen years . . .
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. Was it in consequence of Mr Thirlby going to Dr Palmer's that this difference took place between Dr Palmer and Dr Salt?
NEWTON. Yes; Dr Salt did not speak to Dr Palmer, or Mr Thirlby either.
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. Was there any other reason besides that for
your keeping it back?
NEWTON. That was my only reason.
SERJEANT SHEE. Will your Lordship ask this witness whether he has not given another reason: the reason being that he was afraid he should be indicted for perjury?
NEWTON. No, I did not give that as a reason, though I mentioned it to the gentleman sitting there [Mr
