[Chamberlain] Secretarial Letter in his first person Signed 'Austen Chamberlain' to Dear Mr President (later revealed as Humphrey D. Barnard) declining a fresh engagement [Cambridge Univ. Union Centenary.]

2pp.,8vo, black-bordered, bifolium, good condition. I am at the present time so tied by public work that I should hesitate to take any fresh engagement, but in addition to this I feel that the times are unsuitable [First World War] for anniversary celebrations for which none of us can have much heart at the moment. I beg of you therefore, to excuse me, and, did I not fear to be impertinent, I should suggest that it would be more consonant with everyone's feelings at the present time if the Union postponed the celebration of its centenaryuntil the War is over. Note: Barnard had just become President of The Cambridge University Union Society. He obtained a commission to the Rifle Brigade in 1915 and was killed in action in August 1916.