THE LAST FEW MONTHS
From the time that Forbes took his degree at Cambridge his health was
far from strong. He suffered from time to time from a form of eczema
which caused him a good deal of discomfort and pain. Many of his
letters contain references to the fact that he had been unwell and had
been unable to do as much work as he had hoped. In September 1897 he
went with his brother Armitage on a visit to St. Petersburg and Moscow.
He stayed in the house of a Russian priest at St. Petersburg, and was
much interested in the work of Father John of Kronstadt, with whom an
interview was arranged which unfortunately fell through at the last
moment. Towards the end of 1897 he developed a bad cough and was
threatened with phthisis. He accordingly spent Christmas and the first
two or three months of 1898 at St. Moritz in Switzerland. His health
then seemed to be much improved. For several years he went back to St.
Moritz to spend the greater part of the Christmas vacation. He took
great delight in tobogganing, and on one occasion was awarded a prize
for a race in which he took part. In the summer of 1899 he went out to
South Africa {33} during the Long Vacation. He visited Pretoria and
had an interview with President Kruger and his wife. One of his
letters records his impressions of the President. He was for some time
disposed to believe that the war, which broke out soon after his
return, could and should have been avoided, but he subsequently
modified his views on this point.
Towards the end of August 1903 the pain from which he had suffered
intermittently for years became so much worse that he came up to
consult a London doctor, and by his advice remained in town as a
patient at St. Thomas's Home. When he entered the home he fully
expected to undergo an operation within a fortnight; but the doctor who
had suggested it declared, after further examination, that no operation
was necessary. Meanwhile Forbes lingered on in the home week after
week. Eventually a partial operation was performed, and after he had
spent thirteen weeks in the home the surgeon suggested his removal to a
private nursing home, where he could keep him under closer observation.
Here he performed a second operation. This seemed at first to have
been a success, and after a fortnight in this private home he was well
enough to start for Switzerland again. He went at first to St. Moritz,
where he had been so often before; but, finding that the pain returned
and that he could not sleep, he went down to Alassio on the Riviera.
Here he was for several weeks till his return to England. He reached
Westminster on January 13 and went up to Cambridge on the following
day. For a few days he was well enough to lecture, and it seemed as
though he might be able to {34} resume his old work. On Sunday
evening, January 17, he was 'at home' in his rooms and received over
sixty undergraduates who came to welcome him back. Soon the old
trouble returned, and he rapidly grew worse. His pain became almost
constant, and he was removed with great difficulty to another London
nursing home on January 29. It was then proposed that the original
operation which had been suggested, but had never been performed,
should take place, and he fully expected that this would result in his
restoration to health and to work. A few days later he was threatened
with blood-poisoning, and it became obvious that the operation must be
delayed. On Saturday evening, February 6, he seemed fairly cheerful.
Neither he nor his doctors had any idea that he was in an extremely
critical state. About midnight, as the pain had become worse, his
doctor was sent for, and he gave him an injection of morphia. Soon
after this he asked his nurse to turn the light down and said to her,
'If I am asleep in the morning do not wake me.' She looked in about
3.30 A.M. to see if he was asleep, and, finding him awake, inquired if
he would like a drink of champagne. He said yes, and asked her first
of all to help him turn over to the other side. As she was in the act
of assisting him, he passed away, without a movement of any kind. A
happy smile lingered long on his face after the end had come.
His body was removed the same evening to St. Faith's Chapel, in
Westminster Abbey. Here on the following Thursday morning, February
11, at 9 A.M., the funeral service was said. The chapel {35} was
filled with his friends, who had come from Cambridge and elsewhere.
His body was buried the same afternoon at Eastbourne in the same grave
with that of his sister, the Deaconess Cecilia, who had passed away
five months before.
The inscription on the memorial card issued to his friends was:
CUM CHRISTO VICTURUS
DE MORTE AD VITAM MIGRAVIT
DOMINICA IN SEXAGESIMA
ANNO SALUTIS MCMIV
AETATIS SUAE XXXVII.
And, doubtless, unto thee is given
A life that bears immortal fruit
In those great offices that suit
The full-grown energies of heaven.
{36}