John Armstrong: the story of a life

Front matter

THE STORY OF A LIFE BY MAJOR GREENWOOD M.D., LL.B. ' 'The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague us.' LONDON: DIGBY LONG & CO., 18 BOUVERIE ST. FLEET STREET TO MY WIFE THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED CONTENTS CHAP. PA0K i. the three friends .... i ii. the nurse and her sister . . ii iii. an emergency at the norwich hospital 21 iv. an excursion to great yarmouth . \2 v. the surgeon and his patient . . 59 vi. two christmas scenes . . . j2 vii. john's illness . . . .86 VIII. JOHN BECOMES A ' LOCUM tenens ' . . IOO IX. WHAT JOE FOUND IN FRITTON BROAD . 115 X. JOHN COMMENCES PRACTICE AT DRIFFIELD . I40 XI. A LETTER IN THE ' MERCURY ' . . 1 56 XII. WHAT TOOK PLACE AT THE ' ÆSCULAPIAN ' . 1 69 XIII. ARMSTRONG V. BUTCHER . . 1 85 XIV. THE REV. JAMES PAGET RETURNS FROM INDIA 208 XV.

SIR JOHN ARMSTRONG MAKES HIS WILL . 228 XVI. WHAT JOHN FOUND IN HIS FATHER'S DESK . 24O XVII. ESTRANGEMENT BETWEEN MAN AND WIFE . 250 XVIII. WHAT HAPPENED AT ST BARNABAS . 264 XIX. EMILY BURROWS HAS A STRANGE VISITOR . 278 xx. sir john Armstrong's last journey . 292 XXI. A VISIT TO FRITTON RECTORY . 3

Chapter I

the three friends ' O day and night, but this is wondrous strange, There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' It was a November evening in the year of grace 18 — , and our story opens in the cathedral city of Norwich. In the house surgeon's room, in the County Hospital, three young men are seated round the fire engaged in an animated conversation. As these personages have a good deal to do with our story, I will introduce them in detail to the reader. Sitting in his easy chair, and bending forward in an attitude of attention, with his pipe in his hand, John Armstrong, house surgeon of the Norwich Hospital, first deserves our attention. He is about twenty-six, of ruddy complexion, with light hair and moustache ; well built, standing in his shoes about five feet nine inches, and quite up to the average in weight and general development.

He was well read as a student, and had taken an interest in matters not generally studied by the medical A I 2 aspirant, or to no greater extent than his professional examination required. But although John Armstrong had largely devoted his spare time to studies outside his profession, he was yet proficient in all its branches, having gained some of the highest distinctions both in medicine and surgery. He had held several public appointments, and was shortly about to terminate his present office and join his father in practice, who wished him to settle down where he and his father before him had always been doctors, and to carry to another generation the reputa tion of the family. Indeed, he hoped from the special talent of this member of the race that a new era was about to dawn in the north country, and that the pro fessional skill of his ancestors was about to be more than eclipsed by this latest offshoot of the stock.

Such views were not altogether shared by the son. Much as he respected, indeed loved, the old home and all the memories associated with it, the routine of a quiet country practice did not satisfy him. He had no burning desire to distinguish himself, but he wanted a much larger scope than he saw there, and he felt that he possessed a mind that required a bigger field than a north country village could afford ; and, in short, though he did not see how at present he could avoid the prospect sketched out by his father, he had yet made up his mind that if the opportunity presented he would seek out a freshfield for the active work of his life. He felt chiefly attracted to the great metropolis, where the leaders of his profession lived and taught, and where most of the scientific questions of the day were debated ; there he thought he might find a worthy arena, and it was in this direction that his eyes were frequently turned.

He had one sister, who, since the death of their mother kept house for their father in the old home. The second of the three, who was sitting opposite the last, was a somewhat older man, of dark complexion, with clean shaven face, and in clerical attire. He was deep in an argument with Dr Armstrong, who was a friend of some years standing, and was expounding his views with considerable warmth and fluency. James Paget — for such was his name — was a priest of the English Church, and curate of a neighbouring parish ; being also a friend of the hospital chaplain, he at times assisted him in his spiritual duties. He was a member of a county family, and had very aristocratic relations. He was highly educated, an Oxford graduate, and his tenets, as might be expected from the school in which he had been trained, were distinctly High Church without being too ritualistic.

He claimed, however, to be ultra-liberal, and rather liked than otherwise to argue with an atheist ; and he was without holy horror of a divergence from orthodox opinion ; and although he honestly and devoutly believed in his religion, he was not always ready to devote to everlasting destruction every opponent he did not succeed in overcoming by argument. The remaining member of the trio was somewhat sallow complexioned ; in build he was spare, and not too well developed, and, although enjoying good health usually, gave an observer the idea of physical weakness. There was a peculiar sharpness about his eyes, which were deeply set, and his expression would often deceive a careless eye, for he was very observant, and frequently allowed nothing to escape him, when he appeared to be giving little attention to the subject in hand.

He was twenty-five, a solicitor by profession, and at the present time taking a holiday in Norwich, where his family resided ; but he was shortly about to commence housekeeping in London, where a share in a practice had been recently acquired for him by his father, who was one of the surgeons to the County hospital. The latter had been in his youth a fellow student with John Armstrong's father at Guy's, and the intimacy begun in those days had never been allowed to lapse ; so that in the course of time Charles Dawson, the son of the Norwich surgeon, became the intimate friend of John Armstrong the younger, and later, the accepted suitor of his sister Alice. Now the London practice was purchased, it only remained for Charles Dawson to settle down into his new business, put his house in order, and bring home the bride.

Charles Dawson was sitting between the other two with one of his elbows resting on the table, smoking a cigar, and while apparently not paying much heed to the conversation, was taking careful note of it. ' You say, then,' said the clergyman, ' that Science knows nothing of miracles ? Do you mean to contend that all Revelation in this respect is untrue ? Some of you medicos, I know, are sceptical in everything, and, as in your own case, I find it is often difficult in the extreme to ascertain what it is you really do believe ; but I don't think you are quite an infidel. Science, I admit, has made in this age giant strides, but, my good fellow, none the less, " There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy." ' ' Don't mistake me, Paget,' said the other, ' when I said Science knows nothing of miracles, I did not say — though some great thinkers do — that Science proves them to be impossible.

You have repeatedly told me that a necessary element in the appreciation of miracles is faith, and faith and science are somewhat antagonistic principles. We medicos really know so little about miracles that we feel quite incapable of discussing them and we leave such matters to you clerics, who appear to be so much better informed on the subject. I must say, however, when you approach this question, you seem to have a somewhat mixed idea as to what is, and what is not evidence. Much as I may respect the truths of Revelation, when you say they are proved by unimpeachable evidence, unless you consider faith and evidence to be the same thing, I fail to follow you. Come, Dawson, gather your wandering thoughts, and give the court the value of your legal acumen ! In the great case Science v. Miracles, what do you think of the defendant's evidence ? ' ' Really, my good fellows, you must not drag me into this argument,' said Dawson, taking his cigar out of his mouth after one or two vigorous whiffs, and gazing fixedly into the fire. ' I know nothing about the matter, and in such a case as Armstrong has propounded, I fail to see how any costs could possibly be recovered, so de minimis non curat lex.

I must say, however, Armstrong, I consider your behaviour unprofessional. What would you say if Paget were to dispute your dictum as to a medical point ; or what should I say if my law were impugned ? Yet here is that exemplary personage calmly allowing you to suggest doubts, and actually arguing with you about them, touching the very foundation of principles, which in this realm of England he is specially empowered to teach by Act of Parliament. If this is allowed to continue, it seems to me that order itself is threatened.' 'There, Paget, now go for him,' said the previous speaker, ' and give him some of your eloquence ! Did you ever hear anything so sordid ? That's the character of our lawyers all over. Mark you, they never trouble about the scientific bearing of anything, where no costs JOHN ARMSTRONG [CHAP. I are to be got.

Costs — costs — costs ! They're all you think about ! ' 'Good again, old man,' retorted Dawson, 'who ever heard of doctors looking after their fees ! Come, Paget, give us your ecclesiastical opinion as to who are keener after their fees — doctors or lawyers ? ' ' No, no, it's too bad,' said the curate. ' This is the way you always behave, whether lawyers or doctors, when beaten in argument. You go off on some side issue ! Speaking of evidence, you can have different kinds.' 'Indeed you can,' interrupted Dawson; 'don't you remember old Dr Simpson, when asked by the Norwich county court judge the other day what evidence he had to show that Farmer Rumbal was able to pay his bill ; replied that he had very good evidence, and when challenged to give it, said that his coachman told him that he had heard his — the coachman's — mother-in-law say that she knew, as a fact, old Rumbal had a banking account at the London and Provincial Bank.

The old man felt quite insulted when his honour told him he was surprised to find an educated man so ignorant of the nature of evidence.' ' Now, Dawson,' said Armstrong, 'just leave the Pro fession alone, can't you ! But really, Paget, dropping for a moment the subject of miracles, your last apt quotation from the immortal bard is very much to the purpose ; there are more things in heaven and earth than we poor mortals dream of, or can explain by any scientific reasoning. We often see phenomena, which we don't understand, although we give them big sounding names — phenomena which in their way are sometimes as hard to explain as miracles. Now, here's a queer case. About a fortnight ago a patient named Gibbs, was admitted into the hospital, whose history was briefly as follows : — He is a man of about forty-five years of age, a clerk in a wholesale firm in the town, and he was sent here by his employers, who found him one morning lying down on the floor of the office in a sort of stupor.

At first they thought he had been drinking, as he could give no account of himself. He seems to have been writing at a desk, then suddenly to have fainted, and fallen off his chair on to the floor. His previous history quite refuted the drink theory, and on his coming here I elicited the fact that some years ago he had a similar attack, which, however, soon passed off and did not recur. i I found also unmistakable evidence of chronic heart disease, but after the most careful physical examination, and the closest scrutiny of all his symptoms, I failed entirely to formulate in my own mind sufficient reason for the condition he is now reduced to. For although I may tell you the attack has shown no tendency to return, while in the hospital, my patient's general state is a most lamentable one. He appears to have lost heart, and says he is going to die, and has even mentioned the day, which is about a week hence.

There is no good combating this idea ; he is quite sure, and has given directions as to the settlement of a few of his affairs after death. When I asked him why he had fixed on a certain day, he shook his head, and said he was not quite sure, but he knew he would never go back to work again. His wife is greatly troubled, and comes to me about it. She is very nervous, and I don't know what to tell her. There is nothing in the man's condition warranting any immediately fatal issue beyond the peculiar gloomy character of his thoughts. I particularly asked Dr Barrett, our senior physician, and your father, Charley, to see him ; and although they were a little struck by the unnatural JOHN ARMSTRONG [CHAP. I 8 persistency with which he repeated his belief, they both came to the conclusion, after a careful examination, that his views partook more of the nature of a delusion.

Now, what I want to know is, are these gloomy ideas any evidence of a crisis in his present condition ? If he were to die, would you call it only a coincidence ? I remember another case on the same lines. There I thought it was a coincidence, but now I'm in doubt, and am very carefully watching what will happen.' ' But,' said Dawson, throwing the end of his cigar into the fire, ' don't you find patients telling you they are going to die, who fail to keep their word ? I have frequently heard the governor say one pet patient of his is always dying — whenever she sends for him — though I believe he is very glad the old lady does mistake her condition, for otherwise he would be a good many fees out of pocket.' 'That's another sort of case altogether, Charley,' replied the other, ' and doctors have many such cases to deal with each year.

There is this distinction, which is quite enough to differentiate them. My patient suffers from undoubted organic disease ; the kind you refer to rarely, if ever, do. I well remember the words of an old hospital teacher, " If a patient suffering from organic disease of a serious nature ever tells you he is going to die, do not be in too great a hurry to disbelieve him." ' Paget, who had been listening intently and evincing great interest, here asked whether any clergyman had seen this poor patient, that the question was one of great importance from a spiritual point of view. ' My dear fellow, you are right,' isaid Armstrong ; ' there again I have been puzzled as to the proper course to pursue. The patient is a Roman Catholic and only yesterday his priest came, and told me he had been requested to administer the last rites of the Church, and that he was doubtful as to his duty under the circumstances.

Did I think the man was so near death as he purported to be ? ' ' What did you tell him ? ' eagerly asked the curate. ' I told him that I could take no responsibility, that the patient suffered from heart disease, and therefore, as was well known, might die very rapidly, but that up to the present I had seen no symptoms indicating so rapid a termination of his illness.' 1 What did he do ? ' said Paget. ' Did he comply with your patient's wishes ? ' 1 After much doubt, and, I believe, after having con sulted with an ecclesiastical superior, he decided to do so.' ' Quite right. I should have done the same. Yes, I should have done the same,' said the curate. ' But,' said Dawson, fixing his eyes on Dr Armstrong, 'don't you think, John, that, supposing a patient were in so critical a condition, the prayers for the dying, with all the paraphernalia of the Romish Church, would be more likely to accelerate than to ward off a fatal termination ? ' ' Your question is a poser, Charley, I must confess,' said the other. ' Strictly, according to the teaching of Science, the excitement likely to be produced by the ceremony would rather tend to physical harm.

But, then, supposing the man be in the condition he ima gines himself; supposing he attribute to this religious ceremony the importance, which there can be no doubt many do, it is no light responsibility to take on oneself the onus of opposing such rites.' ' He ought to be anathema who would do so,' sternly ejaculated Paget. ' What ! in that supreme moment, when the poor wretch knows he is about to approach his Maker, when he feels to the full the fearful weight of his earthly transgressions, and eagerly asks for the one JOHN ARMSTRONG [CHAP. I 10 last chance of disburdening himself, then to throw obstacles in his way ! No, Armstrong is not that sort of man.' 'But that is the question,' said Dawson, 'does he, or can he know ? ' Just at this moment with a hurried knock at the door, a nurse burst into the room. ' Oh, Dr Armstrong, Sister says, will you come at once to the patient Gibbs, in Paston Ward, for she thinks he's dying ! ' In an instant Dr Armstrong had flung down his pipe, and was hurrying to the wards, followed by the nurse, leaving the other two fairly startled by the episode. ' It does look as if he's bad,' said Paget. ' Don't you think Armstrong will find him dead ? ' replied Dawson. ' I saw from the look of the nurse that something had happened.' ' I'm glad the poor fellow saw the priest yesterday,' said the clergyman. ' It would have been indeed a tragedy, if it had been in any way prevented.' Dawson made no remark, but pointed out it was getting late, that the event would probably occupy all the spare time of their friend that evening, and that it was time to depart. Paget agreed; so, taking up their hats, the two friends left the room, walked down the corridor, and silently left the hospital.

Chapter II The Nurse And Her Sister

' Tell me where is fancy bred. In the heart, or in the head ? ' When Dr Armstrong reached the ward, he saw at a glance that all was over. A screen had been drawn round the bed, and the Sister was standing by the bedside. ' It was all in a second,' she said, as he approached. ' A nurse came for me, and when I got here he was dead. He kept asking to get up about an hour ago, and indeed in spite of being told that he could not, I thought he would make the attempt, and put a nurse specially on duty to watch him. She says that just before she called me, the patient raised himself upon his elbows in bed, gave a kind of cry, and one or two gasps, then fell back dead.' ' I don't see what more could have been done to help him, Sister,' said the surgeon. ' It's very extraordinary, but I don't feel altogether surprised.

I half expected it.' ' You would like to see his wife, when she comes, wouldn't you, sir ? Shall I send her to your room ? ' ' Yes— do— ' Dr Armstrong then took a lamp from a nurse, and gazed steadily on the dead man. His face was quite [CHAP. II JOHN ARMSTRONG 12 calm ; there was no trace of a death struggle : indeed, the look was more one of composure, and to the eyes of the doctor almost seemed to rebuke him for his doubt as to his patient's foreknowledge of the end. The white, im passive features seemed to say, ' I told you so. Now, look at me. Is not this death ? ' The surgeon bent reverentially over the body, looked carefully at the widely-dilated pupils, gently raised the hands, and felt at the wrists for the now motionless pulse. He did it mechanically, not for a moment thinking there might be a mistake, for when the nurse had appeared at the door of the sitting-room, he knew his patient was dead, and he seemed to think he had never doubted the man's words.

He slowly left the ward and took his way to his room, which had been deserted by his friends. He sat down in his chair and looked into the fire. 'I wonder,' he mused to himself, ' if I shall know like this man when I am to die ? How came he to know ? The man who died in B ward the week before last had almost an identical condition. He died suddenly, but he certainly had no foreknowledge. What is it that makes the difference ? I know what I shall find when I dissect his heart ; I shall be able to put my finger on the precise disease, and trace its effect throughout the body. But shall I be able to find anything in his brain to afford a clue to this wonderful foresight of his ? Will any pathologist ever be able to do so ? Did the man make a strange guess ? ' So he ruminated, pondering over the recent event, wondering whether it could be made to throw light on the general mystery of life.

At this moment the clock struck ten, and the gate porter knocked at his door, bringing two letters. After handing them to him, the man said, ' If you don't mind, sir, nurse Elliot's sister, who is just leaving the hospital, wants very much to see you. I told her it was getting late, but Miss Mary said she was sure you would see her. ' All right, Bradford, send her in,' was the reply. 'What does Mary Elliot want,' thought the doctor as the porter went out ; ' I noticed she was spending the evening here with her sister.' In another minute his door was thrown open, and two young women came demurely into the apartment. The elder was about twenty-six, dressed in full nurse's costume, and seemed to be impelled chiefly by the younger on the present mission, for she looked as if she were aware she was taking a great liberty, and was not sure how the house surgeon would like it.

Closely following, and urging her on, came the younger, a beautiful girl of twenty-two, who, although she would not have had the courage to have faced the doctor alone, now, with her sister, felt bold enough for anything. Advancing in front she exclaimed, ' Oh, Dr Armstrong, my sister is the silliest creature imaginable ! She says that we have no business to come and see you at this time of night, and that she does not know what the matron would say, if she came to know of it.' 'Don't talk such nonsense, Mary,' said her sister, 'just tell Dr Armstrong what it is you want, and save his time.' 1 Sit down, nurse. Take a chair, Miss Mary,' said the surgeon. ' Never mind what the matron would say.' ' How can I be of any service ? I'm sure I shall be most happy.' ' There, Emily, didn't I say so ? ' said the younger. ' I knew Dr Armstrong would help us.' 'But you haven't yet told him what you want,' said her sister.

JOHN ARMSTRONG [CHAP. II 14 ' Dr Armstrong, we are going to have such a treat on Thursday ! There's to be an excursion down the Yare to Yarmouth in a steamer. All the teachers of St Margaret's School are going, and my sister too, and several other friends. Mr Paget will conduct the party, and he told me I might ask you to come. He felt sure you would help, and would tell us a lot about many things we should see. We're to stop specially at Burgh Castle to see some old encampment, where the Romans once lived. Then we shall have a splendid time at Yarmouth, and a Service all to ourselves at the church which, Mr Paget says, is better than many cathedrals. You will come, won't you ? ' The last sentence was said so pointedly, and the speaker looked so pretty, as she gazed entreatingly on the doctor, that without giving much thought to the matter, he replied gaily — ' Go ?

Why, of course I'll go ! I'm much obliged to Mr Paget for thinking of me. Miss Mary, you are sufficient attraction alone without considering the many other delightful things we shall see and do. What time do we start ? ' The girl blushed at the compliment, but the elder sister replied, — ' Don't quite turn her head, Dr Armstrong, Mary is already giddy enough ! I'm sure we shall be glad to have you in our party, and it is kind of you to come. Mr Paget did tell us to ask you, and will be pleased to find you can. We start at 8 o'clock from the quay.' ' You may rely on me,' said the house surgeon ; ' and mind, Miss Mary, I shall expect you to give me your best attention. I shall consider myself your guest.' The girl blushed, as she said with a look of real pleasure, 'I'm so glad you are coming ! ' The two sisters then departed, leaving John Armstrong once more to his thoughts.

The series of ideas that their coming had interrupted did not recur ; the face of Mary Elliot seemed to excite quite other thoughts. He greatly admired her beauty, which he had watched developing for some time. Although it was not alto gether of the most refined type, there was a freshness and innocence about it, which had repeatedly riveted his attention. He had frequently met her, when she visited her sister at the hospital, and could not help admiring her. Her sister, too, had more than once consulted him as to the health of the younger, so that a certain amount of intimacy might be said to exist between them. The Elliots were the daughters of a small Suffolk farmer, who lived at Fritton, a few miles south-east of Norwich. He belonged to a class of English yeomen, who are, unfortunately, getting rarer every year.

His family had farmed the land for generations, and although there had been a time when they had farmed much more, and when a large part of their farm had belonged to them in fee simple, yet from various causes the history of the family for a long time past had been one of decadence. Farmer Elliot, the present representative of the family, was a thoroughly good man, and by no means an unskil ful agriculturist, so that in the recent bad times he had done quite as well as his neighbours. But it must be confessed, as far as his education went, he could boast of no more than a good acquaintance with the three R's, and what general knowledge a lifetime's careful perusal of such instructive organs as the Norwich Argus, and the East Anglian Gazette, could give him. He was a sturdy upholder of the rights of his class, but, so far as his own particular interests were not adversely affected, JOHN A RMSTRONG [CHAP. II 16 he had a conservative tendency, and by no means favoured the extreme radical principles of late years.

Indeed, it would seem that although cut down to a few small fields, there yet lurked in him some of those feelings inherited from the Elliots of long ago, which had their origin when they were the lords of half the country round. Farmer Elliot, however, was shrewd enough to see the value of education, and took care that his daughters should not be wanting in this respect — that is, as far as lay in his power to prevent it. But the local schools, supplemented though they might be, by a year or two at Norwich, could only give a moderate grounding in all the various subjects, which are now considered necessary to make up a good modern education : so that Emily and Mary although superior in this respect to their own class generally, could not boast of more than an average middle class education.