Volume I Part 32 (1/2)
Then she asked her uncle to assist her in ale Fund, to the ement of which she had not as yet been able to devote attention She proposed to leave it to St
Thomas's Hospital The property to which she would ultimately be entitled upon the death of her father andof ato her ideas; ”that is, with day-rooms for the men, separate places to sleep in (like Jebb's Asylu-roo a kind of Model Lodging-House for the married men” In a letter of instructions to her uncle, she named Sir John McNeill, Mr Herbert, and Dr Sutherland as the men ould best carry out such a plan She included a few family bequests; but as nearest to her heart at this time was to leave personal keepsakes to Mrs Herbert and other friends who had ”worked for her long and faithfully” For this purpose, in order that there ed her sister to send up to London frooods and chattels which had personal association with herself
And she had one other wish; it related to her ”children” ”The associations with our men,” she wrote to her sister (Dec 11), ”amount to me to what I never should have expected to feel--a superstition, which makes me wish to be buried in the Crimea, absurd as I know it to be _For they are not there_”
CHAPTER IV
REAPING THE FRUIT
(1858-1860)
With aching hands, and bleeding feet We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish 'twere done
Not till the hours of light return, All we have built do we discern
MATTHEW ARNOLD
”You ale (May 13, 1858), when her work for the health of the British soldier at ho to bear fruit, ”that you have not laboured in vain, that you have made your talent ten talents, and that to you more than to any other man or woman alive, will henceforth be due the welfare and efficiency of the British Army Napoleon said that in military affairs the moral are to the physical forces as four to one, but you have shown that he greatly underrated their value The rapidity hich you have obtained unanimous consent to your principles much exceeds my expectations I never dared to doubt that truth and justice and h to see their trius[272] I thank God that I have lived to see your success” Sir John's thanksgiving was caused by the tone and the result of a debate which had taken place in the House of Coton, proale, had ard to the Health of the Army, founded upon the Report of the Royal Coures, due to Miss Nightingale's insight and industry, co the mortality in the Army and in civil life respectively; he called attention to the horrible state of the Barracks, and his Resolutions concluded thus: ”That in the opinion of this House, iood policy and true economy, than by justice and huhtingale's can had thus obtained the unanih in the autumn of 1856; see above, pp 321, 328
She had worked indefatigably, and through many channels, and she continued so to work, in order to focus and stiton's Resolutions By the end of 1857 the Sub-Coress, and the Report of the Royal Commission was about to be published She devised an effectiveits salient feature upon the attention of every person most concerned in the evils orthe necessary rerams illustrative of the mortality in the British Army As finally prepared with Dr Farr's assistance, they showed lance, by es, (1) the deaths due to preventable causes in the Hospitals during the Crimean War, and (2) the rate of mortality in the British Army at home: ”our soldiers enlist,” as she put it, ”to Death in the Barracks” She norote atheir moral, and had 2000 copies printed This anonymous publication--entitled _Mortality of the British Army_--is called in her correspondence _coxcorareed, that the rams should be included as an appendix in his Report, in order that her paht appear as ”Reprinted froreater authority So soon as the Report was issued, she distributed her _coxcombs_ to the Queen and othermembers of both Houses of Parliahout the country, in India and in the colonies She had a few copies of the diagralazed and framed, and three of these she sent to the War Office, the Horse Guards, and the Army Medical Depart up the present ”It is our flankan early copy to Sir John McNeill, ”and we e upon Murder_”
The Report of the Royal Co of February (1858), and the Secretary sent one of the earliest copies to Miss Nightingale ”I like him very much,” she replied (Feb 5); ”I think he looks very handsome Lady Tulloch says I make my pillow of Blue-books
It certainly has been the case with this” She did not sleep over it, however She was i her papers there is a curious collection of letters and , partly in that of Mr and Mrs Herbert, showing how industriously they set to work to pull wires in the press The reat iale drew up and sent for Mr Herbert's criticisainst each nated as the ideal contributor of an article upon the Report They had as er finds in settling his cast Lord Stanley, for example, promised to write, but he was particular about his place of appearance It ale had already allotted that place to the principal star, Mr Herbert hiers in this instance were drawing up a cast for other people's houses, and the editors did not in all cases prove amenable Mr Elwin, the editor of the _Quarterly_, rejected the article subh_, was an old friend of Miss Nightingale, and he accepted her no the article in the Ministerial interest However, in the dailies, the monthlies and the quarterlies, the Report had, on the whole, ”a good press,” and, what is no less i public opinion, a prompt press
[273] His article appeared in the _Westiven in _Stanale read it in manuscript and contributed s had hardly been arranged when there was a political crisis, and this involved Miss Nightingale and her allies in additional work
Lord Palmerston's Governned Lord Derby came in (Feb 25), with General Peel as Secretary for War Here, then, we say good-bye, for the present, to ”the Bison”
He had been dilatory to the last Mr Herbert had hoped to see the Army Medical School established in January, and had written to Miss Nightingale to nominate suitable ly, ”that Panel Gabriel had offered hiels to fill the different chairs He is very slow to ale took for him a copy of one of her books ”You shockme I once called you 'a turbulent fellow' Had any one else said so, I should have denied it, but I y now; and to bribe you to do so, I send you a box of grouse” Mr Herbert at first cherished high hopes of Lord Panale and Mr Herbert were particularly anxious upon a personal point The Army Medical Department had not yet been reformed, and it was known that Sir Andrew Smith would shortly retire
By seniority Sir John Hall would have claims to the post, and his appointment would, the allies considered, be disastrous to the cause of reforulations without an infusion of new blood This, therefore, was the first point on which representations were made to Lord Panmure's successor ”I have seen General Peel,” wrote Mr Herbert to Miss Nightingale (Feb 27), ”and he proard to the Medical Department or sanitary measures till he has conferred with me I think Peel may do well if we can put him well in possession of the case” General Peel duly did what they wanted on this personal issue ”I hope we ale (May 25), ”that S to realize the enormous importance of such a fact” They must now, he continued, ”fix the appointment of Alexander” Three days later he wrote to Dr Sutherland: ”Please tell Miss N that I warned Peel against the expected recommendation of Sir J Hall, and he will, I think, be prepared to turn a deaf ear to it I wrote yesterday to him on another subject and threw in so Ministers On June 11 Dr T Alexander was appointed to succeed Sir Andrew S of 1860, but it was a great thing for the Refor recast, to have one of themselves at the head of it, instead of a supporter of the _ancien regiale (Sept 16, 1858), ”how glad I a _in futuro_permanently _in terrorem_ over the Director-General, and Alexander see to be his own coood stroke of business with General Peel Another of the new ministers--Lord Stanley, the Colonial Secretary--was also helpful ”He will send the _coxcombs_ out to the Colonial Governors,” wrote Mr
Herbert (March 16); ”he offered any service his position can enable hiests that a Commission should inspect Colonial barracks, and he proposes to discuss the matter with you” Presently, however, Lord Stanley was htingale enlisted his interest in another sanitary cae space in her working life, as will appear in a later Part So, then, the new Governan to appear that at the War Office the cobere beyond the power of the new broom to sweep away Some reforms were carried out, but the permanent officials were as obstructive under General Peel as under Lord Panhtingale (June 29), ”are intolerable--half a dozen fellows sitting down to co on a subject which they cannot possibly know anything about! Peel ought not to let these Subs interfere, spoil and delay as they do That office wants a thorough recasting, but I doubt whether Peel is the ood sense, but I think he is over-powered by the amount of hich Pan to do it found so easy”
But alike aer, Mr Herbert and Miss Nightingale worked away at their reforhout the year 1858 she was in a very weak state of health She divided her titon Street, travelling backwards and forwards in an invalid carriage, and escorted by Mr
Clough, noorn to her service Her aunt, Mrs Smith, was still in frequent attendance upon her Her father ith her for a while at Malvern, and, like every one else, enjoined the desirability of rest
”Well, my dear child,” he wrote afterwards from Lea Hurst (Sept 25), ”it's no sain, and to ood deal more than half alive But the worst of it is, that there's no depending upon you for any persistence in curing yourself, while you have so many others to cure I often wonder how it is that you who care so little for your own life should have such wonderful love for the lives of others” She seldom saw her mother and sister In June 1858 her sister ale to Lady McNeill (July 17), ”for your congratulations on e, which took place lastAnd my father is very fond of Sir Harry Verney, which is the next best thing He is old and rich, which is a disadvantage He is active, has a will of his own and four children ready-e Unives nothing back to this poor earth It runs no risk, it gives no pledge to life So, on the whole, I think these reflections tend to approbation” For herself she ”thinks,” wrote her aunt, ”that each day may be the last on which she will have power to work”
And her ally, Mr Herbert, was also feeling the strain He had all the four Sub-Co this year (1858) he broke down--on one occasion under a sharp attack of pleurisy
It was now Miss Nightingale's turn to lecture hi her not to let Sidney call ”I really am not ill,” he wrote (March 18), ”only washy and weak, while I always recover wonderfully, and paying you a visit to-morroill do me no haresting a cure at Malvern ”I should like to come,” he said (Sept 16), ”and look at the Place which I have a notion I shall soo to, and see you episodically, unless you had rather not be seen” But I do not think that either of the allies expected, or desired, the other to take the advice which they interchanged Well or ill, each of thely
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