The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-13 00:00:00

THE COBHAM TRAGEDY.

(Fronz the West Surrey Timm)
Upon whatever hypothesis the deaths of the two
brothers, Charles and Herbert Bittlestone, be ac-
counted for, we believe the affair to be without a
precedent in the criminal annals of this country.
The circumstances which surround it are indicative
rather of the romantic notions of the Gaul than of
the staid demeanour of the Briton • and when it is
considered that these two men were clerks in a city
office, pursuing a daily round of plodding work,
their conduct appears to be even more strange and
unaccountable.
As the last and only judicial investigation which
can ever take place into the occurrence has now
been terminated, we may be excused for dwelling
upon it for an instant. There are three theories on
which the deaths may be accounted for
Suicide may have been pre-arranged by the brothers,
and each may have killed himself, pursuant to some
extraordinary compact entered into between them ;
2d, One may have killed the other, and then have
committed suicide upon himself ; and 3d, Both may
have been murdered by a third person. Tne
third alternative may, we think, at once be dis-
missed from notice. The pistols and instruments
of death recognised by the father as the property
of Herbert, his Youngest son, fairly lead to thein-
ference that in one of the other two theories an ex-
planation must be sought. The first of these sug-
gestions is the one which the father favoured. He
was utterly unable, he said, to account for it, or to
say why such a step should be taken by his two
sons ; but he and his family had arrived at the con-
clusion that this was a premeditated and pre-
arranged double suicide. Front this conclusion the
father could not be moved, and when closely pressed
by the coroner as to how he reconciled certain pas-
sages in the letter with such a view, all he could
say was,
.that doubtless something would come out
" after a bit " which would account for it. He de-
clared that his sons were like other young men of
their class ; not over enthusiastic ; but steady, quiet,
well-behaved young men, affectionate in their home
associations, but not more so than others of their
class. He knew of no attachment which either of
them had formed. He believed that the supposed
female name in the letter, which had been so-care-
fully erased, was that of his daughter Emily, of
whom Herbert Bittlestone was unusually fond;
and he could suggest nothing which should lead to
a transaction of this fearful nature. The jury, which
was an unusually intelligent one, was very much
puzzled by the evidence of the senior Mr. Bittle-
stone. They could not believe that this deed was
perpetrated without any motive. They could not
believe that the writer of the scrawl on the back of
the tailor's circular referred to his sister Emily when
he wrote, " Take the gloves the writer wears to —,
and tell her that he died blessing her and praying
for her happiness. • . And as the last request
of her dying child, he asks his mother to love
and to take care of her as far as possible."
It is not consistent with experience that so roman-
tic a passion should exist between a brother and a
sister, that the prayer of a dying suicide should be
addressed to his mother begging her to take care of
her daughter. Why should it be necessary to urge
such a request? And why, too, such care to erase
the name of his own sister's
had ever been inserted
ti Pre? The jury were right in discarding this view,
and in thinking, as they eventually did, that the
name of some young lady to whom one or both' of
the brothers had been attached had there been writ-
ten. One point the father did clear up. Until he
was examined every one was of opinion that the
underneath man was the younger, and that the letter
had been written by the elder, who had died last.
'This the father contradicted. Herbert, the younger
man, was above, and Charles, the elder, was beneath.
The view taken by thejury. evidently inclined to
the second of the theories which we have mentioned
above, and all the evidence tended in this same di _
rection. Herbert, by his own letter, was confessedly
a suicide ; was he not also a murderer and a fratri-
cide ? To this fearful interrogatory they have not
thought it necessary to return an answer. No eye
save that of Him who shall judge us all at the last
day saw the deed done; and the jury were right in
saying that by whom the wound which occasioned
the death of Charles Bittlestone was inflicted there
was no evidence to show. It is remarkable that the
bullets, the powder-flask, the percussion caps, and
all the instruments of death were found upon Her-
bert, while on Charles was found the copy of a
newspaper, bearing the date of the day on w hich the
two brothers set out on their excursion, and indi-
cating that he was not at all intent upon crime. It is
remarkable, too, that two persons going fishing in
company had only one rod between them. And it is
singular that no return railway ticket was found on
either of the deceased. The question was not asked at
the inquest ; but the police would surely have pro-
duced the return tickets had such been found. We may
add that the police were in error in say ing thateither
of the deceased wore a wig. Both wore their
natural hair, but owing to the decomposition it had
parted from the scalp.
Under all the circumstances, the jury have
adopted a safe view in the verdict which they
have returned ; and, as the result of their inquiry,
Herbert Bittlestone will be buried at night, between
the hours of nine and twelve, and without the rites
of Christian sepulture.
From a careful analysis-of this case the theory at
which we have arrived is this :—That Herbert and
Charles Bittlestone were in love with the same
lady ; that the lady favoured the pretensions of the
elder brother : and that the younger, consumed by
a devouring flame, resolved that as his suit was re-
jected, neither should possess her. That, animated
by these feelings, he engaged his brother Charles
to join in his pretended fishing excursion ; and that
having enticed him into the sequestered spot where
the bodies were found, he there foully murdered
him, and then committed suicide upon himself. We
further believe that the letter to which reference has
so often been made, was written beforehand, with
the view of removing from his memory the stigma
attaching to a murderer, and encouraging the idea
that each had committed suicide. This view is cor-
roborated by the evidence of Mrs. SusannahMorum,
wife of the colt breaker residing on the common,
who distinctly swore that the pistol shots followed
each other at an interval of not more than two
minutes ; whereas it would have taken double that
time to have written the letter in question.
But we will not further pursue this painful sub-
ject. The jury are entitled to great credit for their
patient investigation, and for the sensible verdictat
which they arrived and Mr. Brown of Cobham will
assuredly receive the approval of his own con-
science and the thanks of all for the measures which
he took to discover the relatives of the deceased
persons, and which were fortunately crowned with
complete success.