Editing Joseph Chamberlain (section)

==Stroke, decline, and death==
[[File:Joseph Chamberlain Vanity Fair 1908-01-29.jpg|left|thumb|An ageing Chamberlain caricatured for ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1908. Although his family attempted to conceal his disability, Chamberlain was barely capable of standing unaided by this time and was no longer an active member of the House of Commons.]]
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 for Chamberlain's passionate 10 July speech promoting the virtues of Radicalism and imperialism.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

On 13 July Chamberlain collapsed while 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. He had suffered a stroke that paralysed his right side.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} 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 was diminished, forcing Mary to read him newspapers and letters. He lost the ability to write with his right hand and his speech altered noticeably. Chamberlain's colleague [[William Hewins]] noted, "His voice has lost all its old ring. ... He speaks very slowly and articulates with evident difficulty." Chamberlain barely regained his ability to walk.{{sfn|Judd|1977|pp=267–68}}

Though he lost all hope of recovering his health and returning to active politics, Chamberlain continued to follow and support the tariff reform campaign and his son Austen's career. He opposed Liberal proposals to remove the House of Lords' veto and gave his blessing to Unionist opposition to Home Rule for Ireland. In the two general elections of 1910 he was returned unopposed in his [[Birmingham West (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham West constituency]]. In January 1914 Chamberlain decided not to seek re-election.

===Death, memorials, and burial===
[[File:Key Hill Joseph Chamberlain.jpg|thumb|Grave of Joseph Chamberlain and his first two wives, Harriet (d. 1863) and Florence (d. 1875), in [[Key Hill Cemetery]], [[Hockley, West Midlands|Hockley]], Birmingham]]
On 2 July 1914, six days before his 78th birthday, Chamberlain suffered a [[heart attack]] and died in his wife's arms, surrounded by his family.

Telegrams of condolence arrived from across the world. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, Chamberlain's adversary a decade before, led the tributes in the House of Commons, declaring, <blockquote>In [Chamberlain's] 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.{{sfn|Mackintosh|1914|p=358}}</blockquote>

His 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]], [[Hockley, West Midlands|Hockley]], in the same grave as his first two wives, close to that of his parents. On 31 March 1916 the Chamberlain Memorial, a bust created by sculptor Mark Tweed, was unveiled at Westminster Abbey. Among those present were [[Arthur Balfour]], [[Bonar Law]], Chamberlain's sons Austen and Neville (then [[Lord Mayor of Birmingham]]) and other members of the Chamberlain, Hutton and [[Martineau family|Martineau]] families.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chamberlain Memorial – Fitting Scene in Westminster Abbey – Unveiling of a Bust|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19160511-1.2.45.aspx|date=11 May 1916 |page =9|work=The Straits Times|access-date=1 March 2013}}</ref>