They Hanged My Saintly Billy (73 page)

Thereupon
the
Judges
assumed
the
black
cap,
and
Lord
Chief Justice
Campbell
pronounced
sentence
in
the
following
terms:

'William
Palmer,
after
a
long
and
impartial
trial
you
have
been convicted
of
the
crime
of
wilful
murder.
In
that
verdict
my
two learned
brothers,
who
have
so
anxiously
watched
this
trial,
and myself,
entirely
concur.
The
case
is
attended
with
such
circumstances
of
aggravation
that
I
will
not
dare
to
touch
upon
them. Whether
this
be
the
first
and
only
offence
of
the
sort
which
you have
committed
is
certainly
known
only
to
God
and
your
own conscience.
It
is
seldom
that
such
a
familiarity
with
the
means
of death
can
be
achieved
without
long
experience;
but
for
this offence,
of
which
you
have
been
found
guilty,
your
life
is
forfeited.
You
must
prepare
to
die;
and
I
trust
that,
as
you
can
expect no
mercy
in
this
world,
you
will,
by
a
repentance
of
your
crimes, seek
to
obtain
mercy
from
Almighty
God.
The
Act
of
Parliament under
which,
at
your
own
request,
you
have
been
brought
here
for trial,
allows
us
to
direct
that
the
sentence
shall
be
executed
either within
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Central
Criminal
Court,
or
in
the county
where
the
offence
was
committed.
We
think
that
the sentence
ought
to
be
executed
in
the
county
of
Stafford,
and
we hope
that
this
terrible
example
will
deter
others
from
committing such
atrocious
crimes:
for
it
will
be
seen
that,
whatever
art,
or caution,
or
experience
may
accomplish,
yet
such
an
offence
will surely
be
found
out
and
punished.

'However
destructive
poison
may
be,
it
is
ordained
by
Providence,
for
the
safety
of
its
creatures,
that
there
are
means
of detecting
and
punishing
those
who
administer
it.
I
again
implore you
to
repent,
and
to
prepare
for
the
awful
change
which
awaits you.
I
will
not
seek
to
harrow
up
your
feelings
by
enumerating the
circumstances
of
this
foul
murder;
but
content
myself
now
by passing
upon
you
the
sentence
of
the
law.

'Which
is:
that
you
be
taken
from
hence
to
the
gaol
of
Newgate,
and
be
thence
removed
to
the
gaol
of
the
county
of
Stafford —the
county
in
which
the
offence
for
which
you
stand
convicted was
committed—that
you
be
taken
thence
to
the
place
of
execution,
and
there
hanged
by
the
neck
until
you
be
dead,
and
that your
body
be
afterwards
buried
within
the
precincts
of
the
prison; and
may
the
Lord
of
Heaven
have
mercy
on
your
soul!

'Amen.'

Dr
Palmer's
notorious
comment
on
the
verdict—the
sporting phrase:
'It
was
the
riding
that
did
it,'
which
he
wrote
on
another scrap
of
paper
and
tossed
to
his
solicitor—has
been
read
as
an unwilling
tribute
to
the
Attorney-General's
masterly
conduct
of the
Prosecution.
But
we
have
it
from
his
solicitor,
John
Smith, that
it
referred
solely
to
the
Lord
Chief
Justice's
discreditable jockeysh
ip
on
the
Bench.

Chapter XXIII

A
CHANGE
IN
PUBLIC
OPINION

B
ACK
in
his
cell
at
Newgate
Gaol,
Dr
Palmer
complained to
the
Under-Sheriff
that
he
had
not
received
anything
like a
fair
trial.
The
Under-Sheriff
replied:
'You
can
have
no
reason for
complaint,
my
man.
Why,
the
Attorney-General
laid
his
cards face
upwards
on
the
table,
saying
that,
since
so
much
prejudice had
been
excited
in
this
case,
all
the
evidence
against
you
would first
be
communicated
to
Counsel
for
the
Defence,
not
sprung upon
him.'

'I
saw
in
that
only
the
hypocrisy
of
a
Scot,'
Dr
Palmer
retorted. 'There
were
several
cards
missing
from
the
pack,
including
the high
trumps.'

'Moreover,'
went
on
the
Under-Sheriff,
'no
less
than
three Judges
agreed
with
the
jury's
finding.'

'Well,
Sir,
but
that
don't
satisfy
me,'
said
the
Doctor.
He
then stated
that
Lord
Chief
Justice
Campbell
had
failed
to
consult
his fellow-Judges
before
announcing
their
unanimous
agreement
with the
verdict;
and
that
it
should
properly
have
fallen
to
Mr
Justice Cresswell,
as
junior
Judge,
to
pass
sentence.

Later,
Dr
Palmer
admitted:
'Despite
old
Campbell's
unfair speech
at
the
close
of
it,
I
had
hoped
to
get
off;
but
when
the
jury returned
to
Court
and
I
saw
the
cocked-up
nose
of
that
perky little
Foreman,
I
knew
it
was
a
gooser
with
me.'