Joseph Chamberlain - Decline

Decline

On 8 July 1906, Chamberlain celebrated his seventieth birthday and Birmingham was enlivened for a number of days by official luncheons, public addresses, parades, bands and an influx of thousands of congratulatory telegrams. Tens of thousands of people crowded into the city when Chamberlain made a passionate speech on 10 July, promoting the virtues of Radicalism and imperialism. Chamberlain collapsed on 13 July whilst dressing for dinner in the bathroom of his house at Prince's Gardens. Mary found the door locked and called out, receiving the weakened reply "I can't get out." Returning with help, she found him exhausted on the floor, having turned the handle from the inside, and having suffered a stroke that paralysed his right side.

After a month, Chamberlain was able to walk a small number of steps and resolved to overcome his disabilities. Although unaffected mentally, his sight had deteriorated, compelling him to wear spectacles instead of his monocle. His ability to read had diminished, forcing Mary to read him newspapers and letters. He lost the ability to write with his right hand, and his speech altered noticeably, with Chamberlain's colleague, William Hewins, noting that 'His voice has lost all its old ring... He speaks very slowly and articulates with evident difficulty.' Chamberlain barely regained his ability to walk.

Though he had lost all hope of recovering his health and returning to active politics, Chamberlain followed his son Austen's career with interest and encouraged the tariff reform movement. He opposed Liberal proposals to remove the House of Lords' veto, and gave his blessing to the Unionists to fight in order to oppose Home Rule for Ireland. In January 1914, Chamberlain decided to not seek re-election. On 2 July, he suffered a heart attack and, surrounded by his family, he died in his wife's arms.

Telegrams of condolence arrived from across the world, with the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, Chamberlain's adversary a decade before, leading the tributes in the House of Commons, declaring that

in that striking personality, vivid, masterful, resolute, tenacious, there were no blurred or nebulous outlines, there were no relaxed fibres, there were no moods of doubt and hesitation, there were no pauses of lethargy or fear.

The family refused an offer of an official burial at Westminster Abbey and a Unitarian ceremony was held in Birmingham. He was laid to rest at Key Hill Cemetery.