May, 1890 . 
CONSTANCE C. W. NADEN. 
103 
beyond these voices there is peace.” Necessarily, her 
medical attendants are extremely reticent as to the 
details of her illness, but such as could be given 
strongly impress one with the extraordinary courage and 
powers of endurance she must have had. Practically, her 
illness had taken a fatal form as early as June or July last, 
from which only an operation of the most desperate character 
afforded the slightest chance of relief. Circumstances 
unfortunately delayed this until the time above stated, when 
all reasonable chances of recovery had gone. Yet, in spite of 
this, her marvellously placid temperament enabled her to pull 
through so as almost to make a recovery. So far indeed was 
this recovery effected that she was almost able to leave her 
sick-bed, and her sudden death could be entirely attributed to 
conditions which had arisen long antecedent to the operation. 
Only so recently as the last meeting of the Sociological 
Section, held in the month of December, a resolution was 
passed congratulating Miss Naden on her progress towards 
convalescence, and on the first meeting in January, when her 
death was announced, the Section recorded “ the deep 
sense of regret at the irreparable loss which the cause of 
Evolution had sustained by the early death of their gifted 
friend and colleague, who for many years had advocated the 
doctrine of the Synthetic Philosophy with a genius, ability, 
and enthusiasm rarely equalled.” At a meeting of the com¬ 
mittee of the Central National Society for Women’s Suffrage, 
held in London in January last, presided over by Lady 
Sandhurst, the following resolution, upon the motion of Mrs. 
Ashton Dilke, seconded by Miss F. Pennington, was unani¬ 
mously passed:—“ That the committee have heard with pro¬ 
found regret of the death of Miss Constance Naden, who had 
evinced her warm interest in women’s suffrage by entering 
the ranks of those who publicly advocate the question. They 
deplore the loss of one who, by her ability and zeal, would 
have done so much to advance the cause of women, and they 
would respectfully tender to the members of her family their 
most sincere sympathy.” 
A few words may be devoted to personal characteristics, 
which are pleasant to dwell upon. It was impossible to be 
in Miss Naden’s company without the unmistakable feeling 
that one was in the presence of a superior intelligence. To 
a stranger there appeared at first a kind of deep seriousness 
or natural shyness in the slim and fair unaffected girl, who 
from her youth and freshness seemed so little qualified to 
enter into recondite subjects, but this feeling immediately 
passed away when her bright smile showed sympathy with any 
