76 
CONSTANCE C. W. NADEN. 
Apr., 1890 . 
the most wonderfully delicate and accurate studies^/of 
flowers from the life—[one of these studies, a convolvulus, 
is preserved by Miss Dodd, another friend of these days, 
and an examination, which was courteously allowed me, amply 
confirms the above description] —studies which show little of 
the freedom and vigour which characterise her treatment of 
intellectual subjects in later life, but which clearly indicate 
unusual powers of observation and an infinite capacity for 
taking pains.” 
“ At one time circumstances threw Miss Naden much into 
the society of girls younger than herself, and to them she 
proved a singularly delightful and sympathetic companion. 
She possessed the fascinating gift of a Princess Scheherazade, 
or an Andrew Lang, and used day after day to beguile the 
tedium of the walk to school with marvellous fairy tales, in 
which fun and fancy, beautiful imaginations, and grotesque 
impossibilities were skilfully intermingled, and the most 
delicate consideration shown for youthful tastes and preju¬ 
dices. For example, her good fairies were invariably lavish 
of chocolate! ” 
In searching for the factors other than those just alluded 
to, which give the bias to her mind in favour of literature, 
science, and philosophy, one is certainly impressed (first) 
with the ever-present example of her grandfather, Mr. 
Woodhill, who was a great book-lover in his retirement, and 
possessed a somewhat large miscellaneous library, and of 
whom the writer of these lines entertains many pleasant 
recollections of “ bookish chat” in days gone by. Another 
friend expresses her belief that Miss Naden “ not only read 
every one of these books, but that she mastered their con¬ 
tents ; ” (second) with the important influence exercised by 
her devoted friend and accomplished mentor, Dr. Robert 
Lewins, whom she first met at Southport in the year 1876. 
En passant it is gratifying to record that this loyal friend has 
generously promised to found a gold medal, to be called “ The 
Constance Naden Medal,” in her honour at the Mason College, 
and to place a marble bust of her—which promises to be a 
chef cVceavre of the sculptor, Mr. William Tyler, of Kensington 
—in the library of that institution. Dr. Lewins also intends 
shortly to publish a volume containing a selection of Miss 
Naden’s philosophical writings. A third minor factor of 
influence may have been the late Mr. William Bates, B.A., of 
the Queen’s College, a great bibliophile, who was her 
instructor in the classics. 
But, before all, the primary germs of love of knowledge 
were indubitably obtained from the grand-parents, whom she 
