plan in which she wished to interest me. She says that for six months she shall be utterly unable to give any thought to the fund work, and wants me meanwhile to observe English life very carefully, and make up my mind as to whether I can give up America, which she thinks a very serious matter. Unfortunately she does not think private practice possible in connection with her plan. If so, it would be impossible for us to help her. She thinks her own health will never permit her to carry out her plan herself, and I much fear she is right in this belief.
After a short visit to the Riviera, to confer with
the Countess de Noailles about her proposed sanatorium
for women, I returned to London. There my
warm friends the Misses Leigh Smith, supported by
their generous-hearted father, and Miss Bessie Rayner
Parkes, interested themselves actively in preparing
for the first delivery of my lectures. The Marylebone
Hall was secured. Our young friends brought
up primroses and other lovely flowers and green
wreaths from Hastings to ornament the reading-desk,
and warmly supported me by their ardent
sympathy. On March 2, 1859, the first lecture was
given to a very intelligent and appreciative audience,
whose interest was warmly enlisted. I well remember
the tears rolling down the benevolent face of Miss
Anna Goldsmid, who sat immediately in front of me.
But the most important listener was the bright,
intelligent young lady whose interest in the study
of medicine was then aroused—Miss Elizabeth
Garrett—who became the pioneer of the medical
movement in England, and who, as Mrs. Garrett
