94 Ellen Key of the same year, she had been present at her father's death in her married sister's home in Visb3^ where he had been cared for ever since his illness enforced his leave of absence from Helsingborg. Crossing the sea, one night, in a snow-storm, she brought her father's remains to the grave of her mother in Vestervik's cemetery, the only plot of earth in the beloved home parish to which she henceforth had proprietary rights. With such deep personal experiences of the presence of death, causes for sober reflection have not been lacking in Ellen Key's life. The actual passing away of her father was perhaps not so bitter a blow, since the paraly- tic stroke some years previously had left him mentally incapacitated. But the loss of her two friends shook her profoundly. Through them, Stockholm had been touched as it were by a fresh breeze from the great world, and this had been especially exhilarating to Ellen Key. At this early date, she had as yet had little opportunity for studying places and conditions abroad such as later offered during her prolonged visits to foreign lands when, as a famous author and admired personality, she was the honoured guest in private homes, such as rarely open their doors to foreigners.