"With me it is always most difficult to speak about the things upon
which I feel the most deeply. Elsie Inglis is a case in point. She was
dearer to me than she ever knew and than I can make you believe. She is
one of the most precious memories I possess, the mere thought of her
and her tireless devotion to her fellows being the strongest inspiration
to effort and achievement.

"She was the Edinburgh hostess for most of the Woman Suffrage
propagandists, and we all have the same story to tell. Doubtless you
have already had it from others. Every comfort she denied herself she
scrupulously provided for her guests, whom she treated as though they
were more tired than herself. Usually she was at her medical work till
within a few minutes of the evening meal, would rush home and eat it
with us, take us to the meeting afterwards, frequently take a part in
it, and bring her guests home to the rest she was not always permitted
to take herself. And through it all there was no variation in her
wonderful manner--all brightness, affection, and warm energy.

"The last time I saw her was in the Waverley station. She was returning
shortly to her work abroad, while I was on my way to address a public
meeting in Dundee on the need for attempting to negotiate peace. It was
the time when everybody who dared to breathe the word 'peace,' much more
those who tried to stop the slaughter of men, were denounced as traitors
and pro-Germans. It was the time when one's nearest and dearest failed
to understand. But _she_ understood. And she broke into a busy morning's
work to come down to the train to shake my hand. What we said was very
little; but the look and the hand-clasp were sufficient. We knew
ourselves to be serving the same God of Love and Mercy, and that
knowledge made the bonds between us indissoluble. I never saw nor had