STANDING FOR PARLIAMENT 77 



on the way down very nearly lost their lives in 

 a railway accident. Just beyond Banbury the 

 axle of the engine broke, and the train, except 

 the last two carriages, ran off the line. "If," 

 said the Birmingham Daily Post, " the disaster 

 had happened two minutes earlier the train 

 would have been passing over the Hardwick 

 embankment, and would probably have been 

 thrown from a considerable height into either 

 the Canal or the Cherwell." 



The following is his account of the accident 

 given in a letter to his mother. It appears, not 

 unnaturally, to have had a lasting ill effect on 

 the health of Lady Lubbock. At all times a 

 highly-strung and sensitive creature, the shock 

 to her nervous system must have been exceedingly 

 severe ; the more so that in September, only 

 two months later, their son Rolfe was born : 



Birmingham, 

 Sunday, 10th July 1865. 



My dearest Mother — You will already have heard 

 from Nelly what a terrible accident we have had, and 

 how narrow an escape. 



We were coming down here yesterday by the 3.40 

 train from Paddington, when, about two miles on this 

 side of Banbury, suddenly we began to bump about, and 

 I felt certain at once that we were off the line. I gave 

 one look out of the window, and from the pace at which 

 we were going, it seemed to me almost impossible that 

 we could escape being killed. 



The bumping got worse and worse, we were thrown 

 backwards and forwards in the carriage, and though it 

 seemed rather a long while, the only distinct idea I 

 remember was that in a few minutes more we should 

 probably solve many of those questions which interest 

 us so much. 



At last there was one much worse bump, then a 

 dreadful scrunch, and then everything was still, and it 

 seemed from the contrast almost a supernatural quiet. 



