They Hanged My Saintly Billy (70 page)

smith
.
I'll
tell
you,
Mr
Attorney
.
.
.

the attorney-general
.
Don't
'Mr
Attorney'
me,
Sir!
Answer
my

question!
Will
you
swear
that
it
isn't
your
handwriting?

smith
.
I
believe
it
is
not.

the attorney-general
.
Did
you
apply
to
The
Midland
Counties Insurance
Office
in
October,
1855,
to
be
appointed
their
agent
at Rugeley?

smith
.
I
think
I
did.

the attorney-general
.
Did
you
yourself
send
them
a
proposal
on

the
life
of
Bate
for
£10,000?

smith
.
I
did.

the attorney-general
.
Did
William
Palmer
ask
you
to
send
that proposal?

smith
.
Bate
and
Palmer
came
together
to
my
office
with
a
prospectus,
and
asked
me
if
I
would
write
and
get
appointed
agent
for
that company
in
Rugeley,
because
Bate
wanted
to
raise
some
money.

the attorney-general
.
And
you
did
so
?

smith
.
I
did.

the attorney-general
.
Was
Bate
at
that
time
superintending
William
Palmer's
stud
and
stables
at
a
salary
of
one
pound
a
week?

smith
.
I
can't
tell
his
salary.

the attorney-general
.
After
that,
did
you
try
to
make
the
widow

of
Walter
Palmer
give
up
her
claim
on
her
husband's
policy?

smith
.
I
did.

the attorney-general
.
Did
you
receive
a
document
from
Pratt
to

lay
before
her
at
Liverpool?
smith
.
William
Palmer
gave
me
one
which
had
been
directed
to

him.

the attorney-general
.
Did
the
widow
refuse
to
sign
the
document?
smith
.
She
said
she
would
like
her
solicitor
to
sec
it.
So
I
said:
'By

all
means,'
and
brought
it
back
because
I
had
no
instructions
to

leave
it.

the attorney-general
.
Didn't
she
say:
'I
understood
from
my husband
that
the
insurance
was
for
£1000?'
—or
words
to
that effect?

S
erjeant shee
objected
to
the
question.
What
had
passed
between Walter
Palmers
widow
and
the
witness
could
be
no
evidence against
the
prisoner.

the attorney-general
explained
that
the
question
was
intended
to affect
the
witness's
credit,
and
was
most
important
in
that
respect.

the court
ruled
that
it
could
not
be
put.

the attorney-general
.
Don't
you
know
that
Walter
Palmer
obtained
nothing
for
nuking
that
assignment?

smith
.
I
believe
that
he
ultimately
did
get
something
for
it.

the attorney-general
.
Don't
you
know
that
what
he
got
was
a
bill for
£200?

smith
.
Yes;
and
had
a
house
furnished
for
him.

the attorney-general
.
Don't
you
know
that
the
bill
was
never

paid?

smith
.
No,
I
do
not.

the attorney-general.
N
ow
,
I'll
refresh
your
memory
a
little with
regard
to
those
proposals
(handing witness a document).
Look at
that,
and
tell
me
whether
it
is
in
your
handwriting.

smith
.
It
is.

the attorney-general.
N
ow
,
I
ask
you,
were
you
not
applied
to by
William
Palmer
in
December,
1854,
to
attest
a
proposal
on the
life
of
his
brother
Walter
for
£13,000
in
The
Solicitors'
and General
Insurance
Office?

smith
.
I
might
have
been.

the attorney-general
.
Were
you,
or
were
you
not,
Sir?
Look
at that
document,
and
say
have
you
any
doubt
upon
the
subject?

smith
.
I
have
no
doubt
that
I
might
have
been
applied
to.

the attorney-general
.
Do
not
trifle,
Sir,
with
the
Court,
and
with the
jury
and
myself!
Have
you
any
doubt
whatever
that
in
January,
1855,
you
were
called
on
by
William
Palmer
to
attest
a
further proposal
for
£13,000
on
his
brother's
life
in
another
office?
Look at
the
document
and
tell
me.

smith
.
I
see
the
paper,
but
I
don't
recall
the
circumstances.

the attorney-general
.
That
piece
of
paper
seems
to
burn
your fingers?

smith
.
No,
upon
my
honour,
it
does
not.
I
might
have
signed
it
in blank.

the attorney-general.
D
o
you
usually
sign
attestations
of
this

nature
in
blank?

smith
.
I
have
some
doubt
whether
I
did
not
sign
several
blanks.

the attorney-general
.
On
your
oath,
looking
at
that
document,

don't
you
know
that
William
Palmer
asked
you
to
attest
that

proposal
upon
his
brother's
life
for
£13,000?

smith
.
He
did
apply
to
me
to
attest
proposals
in
some
office.
the attorney-general
.
Were
they
for
large
amounts
?