The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-09 00:00:00

DREADFUL TRAGEDY.

On Saturday, the 31st ult., an inquest was taken at the
late dwelling-house of Mr. John Bailey, of Green- grove, in
the isle of Ely, on the body of the said John Bailey and two
of his sons, John, aged nine years, and George, aged eight
years, who came to their deaths under the following cir-
cumstances :
The late John Bailey was of an old and respectable family,
long resident in the parish of Thorney, where they were occu-
piers of farms under the present and several other of the
Dukes of Bedford. The deceased was a widower, with four
children, whose wife died about three years since. Grief for
the loss of his wife, and the unfortunate circumstances of the
times, arising from the depreciation of agricultural produce,
had long preyed upon his mind, and he was observed to be
low and desponding in his habits and manner. Some time
since he was obliged to execute a deed of trust to pay his cre-
ditors as far as he could, and in consequence thereof, he was
obliged to be removed to another and a smaller farm, more
within the compass of the means his friends would have pro-
vided to enable him to bring up his family. On Thursday
se'nnight the deceased went to bed at his usual time ; one of
his sons slept in the same bed with him, the other in a cot by
the side of his bed. Miss Denny (the sister of his late wife)
kept the house ; in the dead of the night she was awoke by a
noise like the smothered discharge of a pistol. ' She ran to
the room, which she found completely filled with smoke. Her
shrieks soon brought a maid-servant to her assistance, who
upon looking into the room, saw the legs of the deceased
hanging out of the bed. She immediately sent the servant
boy to a cottage upon the farm, and who soon after returned
with three men to render assistance. They found the de-
ceased lying upon the bed with his morning coat on, his
craves had been taken off; his right hand was grasping a pis-
tol(which had been discharged) and lay upon his breast; one
of the boys was lying by the side of him on the same bed,
apparently fast asleep; the other in the cot, also apparently
in a profound sleep. After examining the body of deceased,
which was found to be quite dead, they proceeded to move the
children into beds in other apartments, when they found them
in a complete state of stupor; the poor youths made a gurg-
ling in their throats. and their eyes were turned up in their
heads. A messenger had been to Thorney, to request the im-
mediate attendance of Mr. Clapham, the surgeon, who came
in about an hour. His first attention was directed to the
father. He lay in the same state in which he was first disco-
vered. A pistol, which deceased grasped in his right hand,
had been placed in his mouth in an upward direction, and fired
off; the deceased was bleeding moderately from the nose and
mouth ;he was quite dead. Search was made for the bullet,
but none could be found ; there was no external wound, so
that the bullet still remained in the head, most likely in the
brain. On the dressing-table there sto,'d four empty phials,
labelled 4. Prussic acid—poison—three drams—William Sniith,
chemist and druggist, High-street, Wisbech ;" also two empty
wine-glasses. The youngest boy (George) expired soon
after. The elder, (John) who was labouring under precisely
the same symptoms, and decidedly without the chance or
hope of recovery, expired about half-past eleven the same day.
After a most elaborate and patient investigation of several
hours, the Jury unanimously returned the following verdicts :
" That John Bailey, not being of sound mind, did shoot and
kill himself."—" That John Bailey, the father, not being of
sound mind, did poison and kill his son, John Bailey." The
same verdict as relates to George Bailey. The Jury repro-
bated the conduct of Smith, the druggist of Wished], for the
incautious or imprudent conduct of him or his assistants in
selling prussic acid to any but medical men.
It was the practice of Mr. Bailey always to be the last in
the house to bed, and it is tliO.general opinion, that as soon
as all was quiet, he began the destructive preparation for the
death of himself and children ; that when all was ready
he awoke the innocent and unsuspecting boys ; he gave
them some raisins to cat, as some were found in the bed and
in the hand of one of the boys; that he gave each some prussic
acid in a wine glass, and that he then took the remainder of
the contents of the four phials himself before he discharged
the pistol, which was the immediate cause of his death.

THE LAST OF THE PIGTAILS.—It is wonder-
ful to think what a dire and terrific meaning the word change
carries with it to the minds of some men. It may bold out
advantages, it may pronaiA improvement, but, inasmuch as it
overturns settled habits of thinking and ways of acting, it is
regarded with suspicion or dismay by certain people. We
have in our memory a yemarkable illustration of such feelings.
It occurred in the case of one who went by the name of "the
last of the pigtails," from his ,adherence to that once universal,
but now exploded, ornament, long- after it had passed into dis-
use in every other quarter. Our friend venerated the said
pigtail as fervently as the Catholic of the middle ages did a
fragment of the true cross. At length the airs of consequence
which he assumed on account of this antiquated appendage,
excited the envy and jealousy of the neighbourhood; a regular
conspiracy was laid against the pigtail, and it was determined
to sever it from the head which it adorned, on the first oppor-
tunity which should offer, and an adventurous youth watched
his opportunity, until one day, finding Old Pigtail enjoying au
after-dinner nap in his easy chair, with no one by, he consum-
mated this second "rape of the lock" without detection. He
withdrew, after placing the treasure in such a position that it
could not fail to catch the eye of the sleeper the moment be
should awake. And what an awakening it was when it did
come. His strength had departed from him, like that of Samp-
son when shorn of his hair by the Philistines. His self-im-
portance, his airs of superiority, his pride and vanity—all were
gone—his spirit was broken and humbled to the dust—and
from that day forward "the last of the pigtails" became a
melancholy and moody man ; and from that day forward, too, I
until the hour of his death, everything which happened to him
was, in his mind, associated with the loss which had befallen
Lim. Did evil fortune come upon him, it was all owing to the
departure of the pigtail : was good fortune his lot, still he was
certain it would have been meted to him in tenfold measure
had the pigtail remained in its original position.—Liverpool
Chronicle.

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT On Saturday last, as
three miners, Walter Thomas
were sinking the engine sht' Joseph--
Moyle, and John Daily
TfreveneulMinc, near llelston,
a hole which they had preparel,
wouldor blasting the rock, owing
to the dampness of the tamping, not explode. On re-
forming to the spot to ascertain the cause, an explosion took
which killed Thomas on the
was providentially spot, and lacerated Moyle
pla.",
in a ,4readful manner. Dally so little
fiat be was able to give information of hurt, ti.
survivor,
.accident,
when he,, was immediately afforded to the bat
with very I,:ttle prospect of recovery. _Cornwall —ornwall Gazette.lr