The herald., 1895-03-10

when she hobtained a position as gov
! erness in ladies' boarding school in
Chester, where she remained for four
years, living life which she describes as
OF exquisite happiness, but OF I'M
adulterated hard work, the weel; days be-
ing devoted not only to the duties OF an
English governess, but also included in
struction in music French, Latin, sing
ing, dancing and calisthenics, while GER
| tain hours had to be found for initiating
such OF the pupils as were of an artistic
turn of mind into the mysteries of
painting, and Sundays were devoted to
Sunday school work
Shortly before attaining her majority
Mrs. Chant became greatly interested in
mission work for India, and determined
to go to hospital for the purpose of
learning nursing in order to go to that
country. The difficulties, however, which
beset lady who desired to become
nurse at that time were considerably
greater than the ease with which the de
sire to this end can now be accomplished.
Mrs. Chant who was then Miss Dibbin,
wrote to Miss Gregory, for whose work
she had supreme admiration, and told
her that she was ambitious to go into
training as probationer and begged to
be allowed to enter in that capacity at the
Nottingham general hospital. She was
accepted only on the assurance that no
difference was made between lady and
the ordinary general probationer. Even
in those days Mrs. Chant was democrat
OF the first water, and not only did she
accept the condition, but would unques.
tionaly have insisted upon it had it not
been ordered.
Some of the practical hardships that
| had to endure" said Mrs. Chant,
gave perhaps an added zest to what |
found in a way the most interesting
work in the world, as it brought me into
contact with all sorts of kindness from
people whose. lives might be thought too
fully occupied to be exceptionally consid
crate to novice in the art of nursing.
Hospital life was by no means easy, and
had to be up every morning at 30, when
put on hideous print dress and cap,
quite different from the pretty and becom-
ing costumes which nurses generally wear
nowadays, and with the other nurses
had to breakfast in the scullery. where
also partook of the evening meal or tea,
while dinner was an institution which
was eaten without an accompaniment of
ceremony which we are assured on good
authority is the sauce to the meat.
During my stay at this hospital l nat
urally beguiled the time by reading, and
my first acquaintance with Shelley was
made on my knees-an appropriate po-
sition, by the way-and l remember dis
tinctly that the Ode to the West Wind was
broken in upon by my hav ng to attend TO
three men who were brought in badly
wounded in an accident which had Just
happened on the railway.
After eleven months at Mott ngham
| applied for admission to the London
hospital, but | was refused on account of
my youth and the short time l had been
in training. The matron of the hospital,
however, took my address in case any
emergency should occur, and very short
time afterward one OF the sisters who
formed the nursing staff became very i'll
and | was suddenly sent for and ask ed to
even month until a suitable sister
could be found as her substitute. The
sister, however, died and in spite of my
youth and supposed lack of training it
was soon found that l had the necessary
skill, and the position which was to have
been merely temporary was offered to me
as a permanency, and need hardly say
was accepted with alacrity.
Il rem ined at the London hospital a
little over two years, and left it when an
overmastering ambition to be woman
doctor for insanity impellcd me to take a
position as Joint m mayer of a lunatc
asylum. While there l passed the exam
ination in arts at the Apothecares' hall.
which enabled me to be registered as
and travelled i'll Italy, Switzerland, Ger
many and the Tyro, and when | returned
my approaching marriage--for l. had be-
come engaged during my stay at the hos
pital--rendered it desirable to postpone
further stud until that had taken place.
My husband is physician and he
and | built many castles in the air with
re- ard to the same doorplate announcing
our calling and showing our qualifications
for healing the bodies of our neigh bors,
but this dream was not fulfilled. for when
my first baby was five months old and
had given me a veritable
glimpse of how paradise is here upon
earth | first became acquainted roughly
enough, though by accident, through an
other womanss tragedy, with the fact
that Il married woman in England had no
right before the law to her own child.
- was then living at Lowestoft, where
my husband was assistant to one OF the
largest firms of phyicians. | was so full
OF righteous Indignation and horror at
the cruelty and wrong OF such a law in
hlcted upon women that | hired the
Town Hal which happe. ed to be next to
our own house and | sent out cards of
invitation TO everybody l could think of,
and got my friends to do the same, to
come and hear a lecture on the position
Of women in the nineteenth century bas-
ing my plea on the rights of mother to
the ownership OF her child. The result OF
this speech was the formation OF a suff-
rage society which has been always an
active organ cation ever since.
This was my first public lecture, for