Leno's stage partner Herbert Campbell died in July 1904, shortly after the pantomime, following an accident at the age of fifty-seven. The death affected Leno deeply, and he went into a decline. At that time, he was appearing at the London Pavilion, but the show had to be cancelled owing to his inability to remember his lines. So harsh were the critics that Leno wrote a statement, published in "The Era", to defend the show's originality. On 20 October 1904, Leno gave his last performance in the show. Afterwards, he stopped at the Belgrave Hospital for Children in Kennington, of which he was vice-president, to leave a donation.