Volume 28, No. 5                                                   
February 2, 2003

Arsenic and Old Lies

   Herbert Armstrong scandalized his nation and, even today, holds the distinction of being the only English lawyer ever executed for murder.  

   At the time of his hanging, Armstrong was a dapper, mild-mannered retired major who practiced law in a quiet village. Years earlier, the 53-year-old had married a domineering woman who nagged him constantly. His wife, Katherine, was a hypochondriac who was certified insane but returned home after several months in an asylum. She died soon after from an agonising illness diagnosed as gastritis. Armstrong went on a long holiday to recover.

   Upon his return, he got into a legal dispute with another solicitor, Oswald Martin. Over tea, Armstrong handed his rival a scone, saying, “Excuse fingers.”  Later that day, Martin got violently ill.  His father-in-law, the town chemist, told the attending doctor Armstrong had just made several purchases of arsenic.  The doctor sent a sample of Martin’s urine for analysis and, as suspected, it contained the poison.

   Armstrong was arrested and charged with attempted murder.  Newly suspicious, police exhumed Katherine Armstrong’s body, which contained 208 milligrams of arsenic. Though the corpse had been buried for ten months it was remarkably well preserved because of arsenic’s mummifying effects.

   Armstrong was tried for murder in the very courtroom he’d worked in so often.  He was convicted mostly on the medical evidence, including the fact he was carrying a packet of arsenic when arrested.  In May 1922, Armstrong died on the Glouster Prison gallows.

   According to the experts, arsenic is the perfect poison for murder because of its unique characteristics. For starters, it’s a white powder easily disguised as flour or something equally harmless.  It’s readily available and tasteless, making it a cinch to administer secretly.  Since arsenic accumulates in the body, it can be given in small doses that produce only common symptoms usually mistaken for flu.

   But there’s an especially hateful aspect of arsenic poisoning.  It almost always requires an intimacy between victim and perpetrator.  The murderer is usually someone close enough to dispense the dose, see the suffering up close, and offer a simple explanation for the sudden bouts of illness. Arsenic is always mixed with betrayal.

   So is envy.  Like arsenic, envy is easily disguised and passed off as something harmless, like ambition, healthy competition or even a desire for spiritual growth.  We tell ourselves it’s only natural to want the good things in life, or the roles and spirituality of others, but rather than do the work,we make compromises and character accommodations to get the approval of others.

    After all, envy is characteristic of our culture and considered harmless in small doses. So when we can’t have what we want, we sometimes carry with us a carefully concealed envy we dispense in smidges that poison our relationships with those who have more, do more, or are more than we.  At first, it may not be obvious that envy is the problem.  But, over time, the toxic contamination accumulates until those relationships die a messy death.

   Sadly, envy usually targets those we’re closest to:  our friends, family members and fellow Christians.  Even in the church, when envy is given enough time and opportunity, it’ll spread through the Body and kill it.  “You’re jealous for what others have and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it from them,” says Paul.  “Yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it.  And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong... So humble yourself before God.  Resist the devil and he’ll run from you.  Draw close to God and God will draw close to you...  When you bow before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, He’ll lift you up and give you honour.” (James 4:2-10).  When we don’t believe that, we’ll swallow anything.  

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe, contact sgamble@bfree.on.ca