302 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ch. 



regret that you have been honouring and rendering 

 " useful," " peaceful," and " happiness-full " a poor 

 creature known as — Your faithful servant, 



Lord Avebury w^rote a letter to the Times this 

 month protesting against the Itahan expedition 

 against Tripoh, and received from the " Groupe 

 Parhamentaire Ottomane " a telegram conveying 

 their gratitude for " I'esprit juste et humanitaire 

 que vous avez manifeste par votre lettre." 



While laid up during the later months of the 

 year he also vvTote a review of the Duke of Devon- 

 shire's life, from the Free Trade point of view, 

 and an article on Free Trade in the Nineteenth 

 Century. 



Towards the end of November Lord Avebury 

 was again kept to his bed. The doctors tested a 

 sample of his blood and it was found to be lacking 

 in the red corpuscles. They seem to have been 

 a little puzzled as to the name by which to label 

 his illness, for continuously ill more or less, 

 unquestionably he was. I was shocked by his 

 wasted aspect, when I saw him for the first time 

 for several months. No doubt he felt himself 

 to be gravely ill. I see interpolated, at a later 

 date than the original entry, " my last game of 

 golf," in the diary for September 2, and I am 

 afraid this meant that, looking over his journal 

 at the end of the year, he had made up his mind 

 that his last game had been played. Neverthe- 

 less, I had the pleasure of playing vdth him in a 

 foursome, at Kingsgate, many months later, and 

 he completed nine holes without much fatigue. 

 It was, however, little more than a brief respite. 



