POISONING. 



747 



were there charaytably fedde wyth the remayne of 

 the sayde porrage and other vytayles, were in lyke 

 wise infected, and one pore woman of them that is 

 to saye Alyce Tryppytt wydow is also therof nowe 

 deceassed : our sayde sovereign lorde the kynge of 

 hys blessed disposicion inwardly abhorrying all such 

 abhomynable offences, because that in manner no 

 person can lyve in suertye out of daunger of death by 

 that meane, yf practyse thereof should not be ex- 

 chued, hath ordeyned and enacted by auctorytie of 

 thys presente parlyament that the sayd poysonyng 

 be adjudged and demed as high treason. And that 

 the sayde Richarde for the sayde murder and poy- 

 sonynge of the sayde two persones as is aforesayde 

 by auctoritye of thys presente parlyament, shall 

 stande and be attaynted of highe treason: and by 

 cause that detestable offence nowe newly practysed 

 and comytted requyreth condigne puny sshmente for 

 the same; It is ordayned and enacted by auctoritie 

 of this presente parliamente that the said Richarde 

 Roose shall be therfore boyled to deathe without 

 havynge any advauntage of his clargie." 



Under this statute, as we learn from lord Coke, 

 in his third institute, Margaret Davy, a young wo- 

 man, was attainted of high treason, for poisoning 

 her mistress, and some others were boiled to death 

 in Smithfield, the 17th of March, the same year. 

 But this act, continues his lordship, was too severe 

 to live long, and was therefore repealed by 1 E. 6. 

 cap. 12, and 1 Mar. cap. 1. It is not impossible 

 that the proverbial expressions, to keep out of hot 

 water, and to get into hot water, may have had their 

 origin in the cruel punishment attached to this 

 crime, by the law of 22 Henry 8. 



It would seem that, by the ancient law of Eng- 

 land, poisoning was still more severely dealt with. 

 " Poyson," says lord Coke, (venenum, a venis quia 

 a venis permeat.}* "is, as hath been said, the most 

 detestable of all, because it is most horrible and 

 fearful to the nature of man, and of all others can 

 be least prevented, either by manhood or pro- 

 vidence; and that made Fleta to say, Item nee per 

 patriam se defendere debet quis de veneno dato, sed 

 tantum per corpus suum, eo quod initium facti non 

 fuit tarn publicum quod sciri poterit a patria, &c., 

 but that is not holden for law at this day." As 

 well it might not be. Suppose the person accused 

 were innocent. 



The case of John Roose illustrates the insular 

 awkwardness of John Bull, compared with the 

 dexterity and taste of his continental neighbours. 

 The exquisite Toffana distils her delicate acquetta, 

 and four or five drops are sufficient to do the work. 

 John empties a pound of arsenic into his master's 

 soup-kettle, and poisons half the parish. But the 

 arts improve by time and practice, and under the 

 reign of Elizabeth, that of secret poisoning was 

 introduced from Italy, and flourished under the 

 auspices of no less a personage, than the great Earl 

 of Leicester, the most magnificent subject that ever 

 adorned the British court. Among the persons at- 

 tached to his household, was an Italian secretary, 

 whom he had brought home from his travels, and 

 who was the reputed instrument with which he 

 removed his victims. There is no great reason to 

 doubt, that many of the tales which circulated 

 about the secret practices of this arrogant favour- 



* Lord Coke's Etymology is obscure and doubtful. Venenum 

 (of which the first half only is radical, as in Venefica) is, we 

 take it, from an aiu-ient root, with which the English bane, the 

 Saxon bana, and the Greek aiv;- (dreadful, deadly), are pro- 

 bably connected The latter word, with the digamma, would 

 give the basis of retienum. 



ite, were the product of envy and political hostiU 

 ity. They were so generally believed, however, 

 that persons dying of a sudden death, were said to 

 have gone off by Leicester's cold; and Camden, 

 who wrote his work, under the auspices of the 

 lord treasurer Burleigh, gives no doubtful counte- 

 nance to some of the most atrocious of the insinu- 

 ations against Leicester. Among his earliest vic- 

 tims was his wife, the gentle Amy Robsart, im- 

 mortalized by Sir Walter. He married this lady 

 on the 4th of June, 1560; his sovereign, king 

 Edward, was present at the nuptials ; and from a 

 passage in his journal, we obtain a knowledge of 

 the somewhat singular bridal festivities of that day. 

 "June 4, 1560, Sir Robert Dudley, third son of 

 the Earl of Warwick, married Sir John Robsart's 

 daughter ; after which marriage there were certain 

 gentlemen, that did strive, who should fiist take 

 away a goose's head, which was hanged alive on 

 two cross posts." After living with him ten years, 

 this poor lady disappeared, " at a very unlucky 

 juncture for the earl's reputation; because the 

 world at this time conceived it might be much for 

 his conveniency, to be without a wife, this island 

 then holding two queens, young and without hus- 

 bands." She was prevailed upon to visit Cumnor- 

 house, the seat of Antony Foster, one of Leicester's 

 creatures. There the unfortunate lady became ill, 

 the consequence of the infernal practices upon 

 her, which however produced their effect too 

 slowly to answer the desired end. She was im- 

 portuned by Foster and his tool Varney, to take 

 medicine for her disorder. " They, seeing her sad 

 and heavy, as one that well knew by her other 

 handling, that her death was not far off, began to 

 persuade her, that her present disease was melan- 

 choly, and other humours, and would needs counsel 

 her to take some potion. This she absolutely re- 

 fusing to do (as suspecting the worst), they sent a 

 messenger for Dr Bayly, professor of physic, at 

 Oxford, university, and intreated him to persuade 

 her to take some little potion, by his direction. 

 They would fetch the same at Oxford, meaning to 

 have added something of their own for her comfort, 

 as the doctor upon just cause and consideration did 

 suspect, seeing their great importunity, and the 

 small need the lady had of physic, and therefore he 

 peremptorily denied their request." As well he 

 might, for a part of this ingeniously contrived plan, 

 was to mix a deadly poison with the medicine, 

 which the doctor might prescribe, arid thus throw 

 upon him the responsibility of her death. Her 

 wariness baffled the attempts at poison, and she 

 perished by arts still more atrocious. The superb 

 and remorseless hypocrite who caused her death, 

 bestowed upon her the honours of a splendid fune- 

 ral ; but his own chaplain, in pronouncing her eu- 

 logium, stammering under the load of the dark and 

 universal suspicion of foul play, twice in the course 

 of his address, invoked the sympathy of the au- 

 dience for the fate of the poor lady " so sadly 

 murdered." 



The next experiment of Leicester was upon 

 lord Sheffield, who suddenly died, and, as it was 

 charitably rumoured, of a Leicester cold. Leicester 

 shortly after espoused the widow, and under the pre- 

 tence that the queen would be offended at the mar- 

 riage, compelled her to keep it secret. After some 

 time, the more effectually to conceal the connection, 

 he required her to marry Sir Edward Stafford. This 

 she refused, till under the gentle discipline of 

 Leicester, her hair fell off, and her nails dropped 



