ow
of words, his dignity and his sober but friendly mien made him a
favorite with audiences, and constantly broadened his circle of
acquaintance.

Selma, on her side, took up the organization of the Free Hospital
provided by Mr. Parsons. Her husband left the decision of all but legal
and financial questions to her and Miss Luella Bailey, who, at Selma's
request, was made the third member of the board of trustees. She decided
to call in a committee of prominent physicians to formulate a programme
of procedure in matters purely medical; but she reserved a right of
rejection of their conclusions, and she insisted on the recognition of
certain cardinal principles, as she called them. She specified that no
one school of medicine should dictate the policy of the hospital as
regards the treatment of patients. To the young physician whom she
selected to assist her in forming this administrative board she stated,
with stern emotion: "I do not intend that it shall be possible in this
hospital for men and women to be sacrificed simply because doctors are
unwilling to avail themselves of the latest resources of brilliant
individual discernment. I know what it means to see a beloved one die,
who might have been saved had the physician in charge been willing to
try new expedients. The doors of this hospital must be ever open to
rising unconventional talent. There shall be no creeds nor caste of
medicine here."

She also specified that the matron in charge of the hospital should be
Mrs. Earle, whose lack of trained experience was more than
counterbalanced by her maternal, humanitarian spirit, as Selma expressed
it. She felt confident that Mrs. Earle would choose as her assistants
competent and skilful persons, and at the same time that her broad point
of view and sympathetic instincts would not allow her to turn a deaf ear
to aspiring but technically ignorant ability. This selection of Mrs.
Earle was a keen pleasure to Selma. It seemed to her an ideal selection.
Mrs. Earle was no longer young, and was beginning to find the constant
labor of lecture and newspaper work exhausting. This dignified and
important post would provide her with a permanent income, and would
afford her an attractive field for her progressive capabilities.

Selma's choice of young Dr. Ashmun as the head of the medical board was
due to a statement which came to her ears, that he was reviled by some
of the physicians of Benham because he had patented certain dis