Work 73 ferred to the large hall of the Institute, which seats four hundred and eighty people, and during later years even this proved too small for the many who sought admission. The only criticism to be made of her twenty years of fruitful service is that her language has not always been simple enough for the audiences of the People's Institute. It is difficult for her to bring herself down to the level of the common labourer, but as one lis- tener rightly remarked: "The doors of the People's Institute are open to all whose education has been uncompleted, whether through poverty, or the cares of earning a livelihood and insufficient time for studies, and these have made up the great audiences which filled the hall during her lectures." During later years her lectures dealt with the history of literature instead of civilisation. There are those who have followed her from the very beginning. One interested attendant pleasantly expressed the thoughts of many in the following words : "The speaker's descrip- tion of the life of past ages is ahvvays coloured by richness of feeling, not by pathetic de- clamations, coquettish epigrams, or decorative phraseology. Neither does she throw weights stamped with prejudice onto the balance