The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-11-01 00:00:00

LORD BROUGHAM'S REPORTED DEATH.

(From the Morning Poet.)
PENRITH, THURSDAY EVENING.—I have just had the
satisfaction of seeing Lord Brougham, who has returned to
Brougham, after his excursion to the lakes, as well in health
and in as good spirits as his best friends could wish. The
cause of the rumour which agitated London is still involved
in mystery. Mr. Shafto, whom I have also seen, is cer-
tainly not the author of the report ; and his name has been
most wantonly used by some person. I forward you the fol-
lowing letter from Mr. Shafto, which you will perceive com-
pletely exonerates him :

- • .4 To the Editor of the Morning Post.
" Brougham, Thursday, Oct. 24, 1839.
" Sir,—ln reference to a letter which appeared in your
paper of the 23d instant, alluding to a letter giving an ac-
count of Lord Brougham's death, and signed with my name,
I beg to deny having written any such letter, or any letter
at all, to Mr. Montgomery or any other person, with an ac-
count of Lord Brougham's death.—l remain, your obedient
servant, " B. DUNCOMBE SUAFTO."

The accident, as I mentioned before, was a very frightful
one, and might have been attended with most serious conse-
quences. The plunging of the horses has been described to
me by an eye-witness as terrific ; and if one of the wheels of
the carriage had not come off, so as to prevent the horses
from running off with it, all the party would probably have
been severely hurt. It is singular that Lord Brougham,
fearing lest any false reports of the accident should be con-
veyed up to town, wrote to his family and some friends, tell-
ing them there had been an accident to the carriage, but
warning them not to believe any idle rumours that might
reach them. Mrs. Shafto behaved with remarkable courage
and presence of mind. The only mode in which the false
report can be accounted for is, that it sprang from some
person in Penrith who saw the carriage which was sent for
return with Mr. and Mrs. Shafto, and without Mr. Leader
and Lord Brougham, who walked home another way, having
previously despatched expresses to Carlisle and Penrith for
medical assistance for the driver. This circumstance might
have iodueeti SOUR, perm). in Penrith to believe that Lord
Brougham and Mr. Leader were injured.

In reference to this affair, the Morning Post of Tuesday
publishes the following letter from Mr. Shaft°, with its en-
closures :

" To the Editor of the. Morning Post.

" Fern Rill, Windsor, Oct. 28, 1839.
" Sir,—l beg leave to' enclose a 6opy of the letter, which
received on Monday the 21st instant, and which I showed to
Count D'Orsay about an hour after it reached me, and after-
wards to Lord Uxbridge, whom I -met by accident on my
way to Fern Hill.

`.` As the letter bears the postmark of " Penrith," and as
I was not at the time acquainted with Mr. Shafto's hand-
writing, I never for an instant doubted the authenticity of
the letter; and I remained under the painful impression of
Lord Brougham's death until the following afternoon, when I
was relieved by receiving at Fern Hill a letter from Lord
Brougham himself.

" f have since seen several letters written by Mr. Shaft°,
the writing of which is entirely different from that which
received on the 21st instant.—l have the honour to be, sir,
your most obedient humble servant,
"ALFRED MONTGOMERY."

" Brougham, Oct. 19, 1839.
" Dear Alfred,—l have just but time to send you a line to
tell you of a terrible accident which happened here to-day,
and has almost bewildered me. We were going to see an
old castle, when the cirriage, a horrid old thing from the
inn, broke down, the splinter bar and axle being completely
worn through ; and, after being dragged some way, on we
were clashed into the ditch. I escaped ; but Lord Brougham
was kicked by one c f the horses, and being stunned by the
kick could not get away from the carriage, which fell on him,
and crushed his head. He died on the spot. Leader is so
injured from his fall, that he can scarcely survive. Leonard
is away shooting, and I am in a shocking state—alone in the
house, and scarcely know what to do. I send you this that
you may tell Lord Wellesley.—Yours truly,
" 11. SHAFTO.
_ _

" To Alfred Montgomery, Esq., Kingston House,
Knightsbridge, London."'
The Post adds the following remarks, which, whether well
or ill founded, agree pretty generally with the conjectures and
inuendoes which pervade the press, both metropolitan and
provincial :

"In another part of our paper we give a communication
from Mr. Alfred Montgomery, relative to the report of Lord
Brougham's death, which so agitated the town yesterday se'n-
night. The mystery of the matter is, however, still unex-
plained. Who forged the letter purporting to be from Mr.
Shafto ? That is the question.
" Our contemporaries are beginning to make shrewd gues-
ses, 'and to indulge in sundry sagacious inuendoes on this
point.
" One thing we can promise—we shall not be in a hurry
again to believe any statement of Lord Brougham's death,
even though there Mould be good reason to believe he has
written the account himself."