CHAPTER XLIII 



A YEAR OF UNCERTAIN HEALTH (1910) 



(Age 76) 



The principal public interest in the eariy part of 

 the year was the General Election. Lord Ave- 

 bury had made a speech at Chislehurst in which 

 he spoke highly of the political opinions, char- 

 acter, and ability of the member for the Division, 

 Mr. H. W. Forster. Following these remarks 

 Mr. Forster wrote that some of the Free Trade 

 Unionists in the Constituency found a difficulty 

 in consenting to vote for him, and saying that 

 he thought a large number would change their 

 point of view if they knew that he had Lord 

 Avebury's support. In these circumstances he 

 asked Lord Avebury to write him a letter, which 

 he might circulate, expressing the sense of his 

 remarks in the Chislehurst speech. Lord Avebury 

 readily consented and wrote as requested. In the 

 event Mr. Forster was returned with a triumphant 

 majority of over four thousand. 



A little more than a year after Lord Avebury's 

 death the ties between his family and the Forsters 

 were drawn closer by the marriage of his son 

 Harold to Dorothy, the eldest daughter of Mr. 

 and Mrs. Forster. 



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