POISONING PLOTS

The use of poison as an instrument for political purposes during the Middle Ages soon spread over Europe, and the dread of wholesale poisoning caused numerous panics. Some of these alarms may probably have been circulated by unscrupulous traders who had articles to sell, or some business interest to forward, but of others authentic records exist.

June 6 is still kept as a public holiday in Malta. Upon that day, a century and a half ago, while the island was still possessed by the Knights of St. John, a Jew waited on the Grand Master, and revealed to him a plot that had been planned for exterminating the whole population at a stroke. This man kept a coffee house frequented by the Turkish slaves, and understanding their language, he had overheard suspicious remarks among his customers. The Grand Master, believing the truth of the man's statement, took immediate action. The slaves indicated were at once seized and put to torture, and they confessed a design of poisoning all the wells and fountains on the island, and to make the result surer, each of the conspirators was to assassinate a Christian. One hundred and twenty-five were found guilty. Some were burnt, some broken on the wheel, while others were ordered to have their arms and legs attached to two galleys which, on being rowed apart, would thus dismember them. Whether these frightful punishments were carried out it is impossible to say, but the fact remains that the people of Malta still commemorate their escape from poisoning to the present time.

Wholesale poisoning appears to have been a common practice in Eastern countries, especially in India and Persia. The wells or other water sources were usually chosen as the medium for disseminating the poison, and in this way whole villages have often been destroyed by some miscreant. Another extraordinary poisoning plot was discovered in Lima towards the close of the eighteenth century. During the insurrection of 1781, a rich Cacique, who professed loyalty, went to a chemist's shop and asked for 200 lb. of corrosive sublimate. He was willing to pay any price. The chemist had not anything like that amount in stock, and not wishing to send such a good customer away, substituted 200 lb. of alum. On the following day all the water in the town was found to be impregnated with alum. An examination being made of the reservoir, it was found that the fence round it had been broken down and the banks strewn with alum, and the water rendered undrinkable.

England has remained practically free from crimes of this kind. In 1530, a case occurred which caused great public indignation. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was accustomed to entertain a number of poor people daily. One afternoon a large number of his humble guests, together with some of the officers of the household, were taken ill. Two died, and after an examination of the food had been made, it was declared the yeast had been poisoned. Parliament took up the investigation, and the bishop's cook, one Richard Rowe, was found guilty. He was tried, and sentenced to be boiled alive as a terrible example to others. Boiling seems to have been a favourite punishment for poisoners during the Middle Ages, a fact which, doubtless, shows the abhorrence in which crimes of this kind were held.

It is further recorded that "On March 17th, 1524, Margaret Davy, maid, was boiled in Smithfield for poisoning three households she had dwelled in."

Among Queen Elizabeth's statesmen, poison would appear to have been regarded as almost a legitimate weapon of defence. Her favourite Leicester, to whom we have already alluded, was often called "The Poisoner." This propensity was probably largely due to the fact that most young Englishmen of rank were sent to Italy to finish their education, and there were introduced to the Italian methods of poisoning so much in vogue.

The Duc de Guise, in his memoirs, relates in a most matter-of-fact way, how he requested the captain of his guard to poniard a troublesome demagogue at Naples. The captain was shocked. He would poison any one at his Grace's command with pleasure, but the dagger was a vulgar instrument. So the duke bought some strong poison, the composition of which he describes at length, and it was duly administered. But Gennaro, the intended victim, had just eaten cabbage dressed in oil, which is said to have acted as an antidote, and so he lived after all.