Mr. Arnold-Forster, who died suddenly while preparing to start for
the Tariff Reform luncheon yesterday week, was the grandson of Dr. Arnold of Rugby, and the adopted son of Mr. W. E. Forster. But it is not too much to say that he owed his position and his political advancement entirely to his ability, his industry, and his mastery of certain subjects. While quite a young man he made a special study of naval and military matters, and was in the prime of life when he became Secretary of War in the late Administration. By a coincidence which it is no exaggeration to call tragic, his health gave away almost at the moment of his promotion to Cabinet rank. During the last three years he was frequently disabled by acute suffering, which he bore with uncomplaining fortitude, and when he was not prostrated with pain laboured unceasingly with his pen and voice in support of the military reforms he had recommended when at the War Office. Whatever may be said or thought of his policy or of his methods of commending it to others, there never could be any doubt as to the passionate sincerity of his patriotism. It must not be for- gotten that Mr. Arnold-Forster took an active and influential part in the campaign on behalf of the Navy in the "eighties," and wrote several admirable school-books inculcating the duties and privileges of citizenship.
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