hat her splendid public work, in medicine,
in Suffrage, in that magnificent triumph of the Scottish Women's
Hospitals--they were _her_ hospitals--is there for all the world to see
and honour. But the things behind all that, the character that
conquered, the spirit that aspired, the incredible courage, optimism,
indomitability of that individuality, the very self from which the work
sprang--all that, it seems to me, had to be gathered in and understood
from the tiny incident, the word, the glance.
"There stands out in my mind my first meeting with Dr. Inglis. The scene
was dismal and depressing enough. It was an empty shop in an Edinburgh
Street turned into a Suffrage committee-room during an election. Outside
the rain drizzled; inside the meagre fire smoked; there was a general
air of lifelessness over everything. I wondered, ignorant and
uninitiated in organizing and election work, when something definite
would happen. Giving away sodden handbills in the street did not seem a
very vigorous or practical piece of work.
"Suddenly the doors swung open and Dr. Inglis came into that dull place,
and with her there came the very feeling of movement, vitality, action.
She had come to arrange speakers for the various schoolroom election
meetings to be held that night. The list of meeting-places was arranged;
then came the choice and disposal of the speakers. Without hesitation,
Dr. Inglis grouped them; with just one look round at those present, and
another, well into her own mind, at those not present who could be
press-ganged! At last she turned to me and said, 'And you will speak
with Miss X. at ----' I was horrified. 'But I must explain,' I said; 'I
am quite "new." I don't speak at all. I have never spoken.' I can
imagine a hundred people answering my very decided utterance in a
hundred different ways. But I cannot imagine anyone but Dr. Inglis
answering as she answered. There was just the jolliest, cheeriest laugh
and, 'Oh, but you _must_ speak.' That was all. And the remarkable thing
was that, though I had sworn to myself that I would never utter a word
in public without proper training, I did speak that night. It never
occurred to me to refuse. Confidence begat confidence. It was during
this time of work with Dr. Inglis that I began really to understand and
appreciate that wonderful character.
"Another incident runs into my memory, of desperate, agonizing days in
Glasgow, when Suffrage was unpopular and the funds in o
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