Volume II Part 9 (1/2)
[79] Letter to Mada in this country the Sixteenth of May 1865 is a date only less memorable than the Twenty-fourth of June 1860
On the earlier day the Nightingale Training School was opened at St
Thoan work in the Liverpool Infirurated Miss Jones herself had arrived a feeeks earlier
Mr Rathbone felt the importance of the occasion, and ,” he wrote (May 12, Miss Nightingale's birthday), ”to be allowed to constitutewished--providing a flower-stand for your roo it supplied with plants I hope you will not be offended withthat in your daily work you ratitude for all you have done for our town and for ood seed you have planted here is doing, they will be bright enough; and as for reat they are to you for guiding me to and in this work” Mr Rathbone and other kindly Liverpoolwhohtful of Miss Jones At their own expense they furnished rooht with flowers and pictures
But it was a formidable task to which she was called, and the pleasantness of her rooms made the workhouse wards look yetwoman, well-bred, sensitive, and refined, accustomed as yet only to well-appointed hospitals, was thrown into the rough-and-tuh well-intentioned, had necessarily caught so atale, after a preli 1864), ”cae so that even nohile waiting for the coovernor has promised me every co-operation and toldseeh everything'
You will laugh when I tell you how at first his want of refinement prejudiced me, but his earnest hearty initiative in the whole work has quite won ood
Miss Jones's standard was too strict, he thought, for rough workhouse ways
The greatest shock to Miss Jones, however, was the nature of the hus whom she was sent to nurse Sin and wickedness, she said, had hitherto been only naed into a sink of hue, the drunkenness, the vicious habits, the bodily and radation on all sides appalled her The wards, she said in her first letter from the workhouse, are ”like Dante's _Inferno_” ”Una and the Lion”[80] was the title given by Miss Nightingale to her account of Agnes Jones and her paupers, ”far more untamable than lions” She had, it is true, the help of twelve trained nurses, devoted alike to her and to their work; but there were 1200 inmates, and of the other ”nurses” some were probationers of an indifferent class, and the rest ”pauper nurses,” of whom Miss Jones had to dismiss 35 in the first few months for drunkenness Then, the standard of workhouse cleanliness was sadly low She found that the men wore the same shi+rts for seven weeks Bed-clothes were sore coain,” wrote Miss Nightingale, and Miss Jones was strengthened by the thought that the disciple was experiencing some of the difficulties which had beset the Mistress By way of sovernor of the workhouse saying, in effect, that the eyes of the world were upon hiratified and flattered by your letter,” reported Miss Jones Miss Nightingale was constant in advice and encouragees h without you”
”God bless you for all your kindness” Such expressions shoelcoale's help And in every detail she was consulted There was all the friction which usually accompanies a new experiment There were disputes of every kind, and all were referred to Miss Nightingale--sometimes by Mr Rathbone, sos seehtingale in person; on less serious occasions he would write Miss Nightingale and Dr Sutherland would then sit as a kind of Conciliation Board, and see how matters could be adjusted In one of Dr Sutherland's draft judgale's concurrence there is a blank left for her to fill, as the note explains, with ”soft sawder” His breezy manner may sometimes have been of co at Liverpool seeale was: ”I don't despair by anyhas in it the elements of an Irish row, for they are all more or less Hibernian there, and they will cool down” And so they did Miss Jones, as at first a little too stiff-necked, soon found out a ale touch” in many of her later reports ”To-day they were a little cross, but I got my way all the saets all she asks for” She suggests things She is laughed at She persists A decent interval is allowed to elapse; and then the things are suggested to her by the officials; she says the suggestions are excellent, and the things are done It is obvious to Miss Nightingale and Dr Sutherland that sooner or later the powers of the Lady Superintendent must be better defined; obvious, too, that the worthless probationers and drunken pauper ”nurses” s that the experih to drive in the thin end of the wedge So well does Miss Jones do her work that opinion, in the workhouse and outside, begins even to be impatient for the thicker end The experio to Miss Jones and ask eagerly when she and e of the feo in to see their husbands or brothers report wonderful changes in the House since ”the London nurses” ca ladies report to the sa popular; and the Liverpool Vestry begins to wonder whether the cost hitherto borne by Mr Rathbone's private purse should not be thrown upon the rates Miss Nightingale has good cause to be pleased She has been throwing herself into the work, not only in order to make the particular experiment a success, but also because she wants to use it as a lever for proer reforms
[80] See Book I chap iii stanzas 4 _seq_ of _The Faerie Queene_:--
”Her angel's face As the great eye of heaven shyned bright, And made a sunshi+ne in the shady place, etc”
III
Liverpool had shown the way, and Miss Nightingale resolved in her own le was long and arduous; the fortune of political ent at a critical ainst her; the victory of 1867 was only partial, and indeed there are other parts of her designs which even to this day await fruition But the insight hich from the very first, as her Papers show, she seized the essential positions was masterly I can understand hoas that Mr Charles Villiers, not usually given to such outbursts of adhtingale's song about it all If any of theht expect son was made in December 1864 There had been an inquest on the death of one Tiured in the newspapers as ”Horrible Treatment of a Pauper” The facts, as ultimately sifted, were not in this particular case as bad as they were painted in the press, but the circu and public opinion was excited The situation was in that favourable condition forin the air that ”soale seized the opportunity to open communications with the President of the Poor Law Board, Mr Villiers She did not in this first letter disclose her whole scheh to show that she had considered the subject in its larger bearings She knew the art of beginning on a moderate, and even a humble, note She presu, in which matter she had had some practical experience; she had, moreover, been ”put in trust by her fellow-country nurses” She described as to be done in the Liverpool Infirale Fund,” and she invited the Minister's attention to the possibility of preventing the scandals, hich the newspapers were ringing, by starting some scheme of a like kind in London This letter, in the coht to its mark Mr Villiers at once replied (Dec 31, 1864) that he would like to coale personally on the subject In January the interview took place, and this was the beginning of a long series of personal and written co the next few years On one occasion early in 1865 Mr Villiers, being prevented by official business froed her to receive in his place his right-hand man, Mr H B Farnall, Poor Law Inspector for the Metropolitan district Mr Farnall called, and he and Miss Nightingale became as thick as conspirators in no time For Poor Law purposes he soon became the Chief of her Staff Mr Farnall was a man after her own heart He not only knew the facts hich he had to deal, but he felt the of her ”divine impatience” ”It's intolerable toand ht solace and perhaps in some 5000 cases save, and yet that we have to let theet out of bed and think about it all” He was a keen and broad-ale's ideas were upon lines which he too had considered He was an old official hand, but he hated official obstruction: ”all this is treason to King Red Tape, but I know that the old King is always happy _after_ a change, though he gets very red while the change progresses” Miss Nightingale instantly set her new ally to work Here, as in all that she undertook, she knew that the first thing needful was to collect the facts She drew up a schedule of inquiries, to be filled up with regard to all the sick-wards and infirmaries in London ”I will immediately issue your Forms,” wrote Mr Farnall (Feb 16, 1865) He required theale's set of thehout the year she and Mr Farnall were engaged in the work of inspiring and incensing Mr Villiers in the direction of radical refor an old s to think about, and he was apt to see lions in the path Moreover, not all the officials at the Poor Law Board were reforhly placed than Mr Farnall, ere of a very different opinion; and some of the medical officers were inclined to dispute the necessity of any radical changes However, on the subject of workhouse nursing, Mr Villiers promptly authorized Mr Farnall to press upon the Guardians the i competent nurses, and he told the House of Commons (May 5) that ”in consequence of communications lately received at the Poor Law Board fro reat reforht come about She, however, knew perfectly well that the only way to such reform was by refor month Mr Farnall persuaded his Chief to insinuate into an innocent little ”Poor Law Board Continuation Bill,” a clause which would enable the Board to _compel_ Guardians to improve their workhouses; but the clause was struck out, Mr Farnall was disappointed, and Miss Nightingale wrote to reassure him They must work all the harder to secure, not by a side-wind, but by a direct move in the next session of Parlia measure of reform ”Your kind note,” said Mr Farnall (July 3), ”has done le expression or hope in it which I cannot ether for next year's ripened fruit I hope, too, that we etill the task is done It is so to have heard you say that such a victory will so to think of, and I shall think of it as a soldier thinks of his Flag”
So, then, Miss Nightingale set to work, with the help of Mr Farnall and Dr Sutherland, in elaborating a sche for the Memorandum finally submitted to Mr Villiers, and many notes and emendations by Dr Sutherland The scheme was sent also (at a later date) to Mr Chadwick (one of the few survivors of the faht subht to enlist in the cause[81] The essential points and considerations were these:--
A To insist on the great principle of separating the Sick, Insane, ”Incurable,” and, above all, the Children, from the usual population of the Metropolis
B To advocate a single Central Administration
C To place the Sick, Insane, etc, under a distinct administration, supported by a ”General Hospital Rate” to be levied for this purpose over the whole Metropolitan area
These are the ABC of the refor as a sick man, woman, or child is considered _administratively_ to be a pauper to be repressed, and not a fellow-creature to be nursed into health, so long will these overn totally different froovernment of paupers Why do we have Hospitals in order to cure, and Workhouse Infirmaries in order _not_ to cure? Taken solely fro pauperism, what a stupidity and ano up all kinds of poor in workhouses will never be sub wanted is classification and separation
(B) Uniformity of system is absolutely necessary, both for efficiency and for econo suitable establishments for the care and treatment of the Sick, Insane, etc, consolidation and a General Rate are essential To provide suitable treatment in each Workhouse would involve an expenditure which even London could not bear The entire Medical Relief of London should be under one central ement which would knohere vacant beds were to be found, and be able so to distribute the Sick, etc, as to use all the establishments in the most economical way
[81] Mill was at the time a member of a Select Committee on the Local Government and Local Taxation of the Metropolis; see above, p 106
The Committee did not, however, touch Poor Law Adale elaborated her views in detail, going into the questions of Hospitals, Nursing, Workhouse Schools, etc The cardinal point hat Mr Farnall spoke of to her as ”your Hospital and Asylum Rate” The Minister was favourable to the idea ”I have conferred with Mr Villiers,” wrote Mr Farnall (Dec 12), ”and he has decided on adopting your scheme He thinks it will be popular and just, and I think so also, but I think too that it will be theout a further reform some of these days That is le is half over Under these circumstances I shall to-morrow commence a list of facts for you on which those who are to support your plan in print will be able to hang a considerable amount of flesh, for I shall furnish a very nice skeleton” Miss Nightingale had already, through an intermediary, interested the editor of the _Times_ in the matter, and he had been to see Mr Villiers Further public support came from the association above mentioned (p 124), which sent a deputation to the Poor Law Board Mr Villiers in reply (April 14, 1866) foreshadowed legislation on Miss Nightingale's lines, and he appointed Mr Farnall and another of her friends, Dr Angus Smith, to inspect all the Infirmaries Their Report has already been cited Public opinion was ripe for radical refor, no fresh contentious legislation was deemed advisable, and in June 1866 Mr Villiers was out The opportunity had passed, and Miss Nightingale was left crying, ”Alas! Alas! Alas!”
IV
She was not one, however, to waste ain, that was all; and she wrote at once, as we have heard,[82] to the new Minister She also procured an introduction for Mr Farnall to Lord Derby, and the Prime Minister seemed sympathetic
Mr Hardy had answered politely, but did not follow up his letter, and his first move seemed sinister He dismissed Mr Farnall from Whitehall and sent him to the Yorkshi+re Poor Law District The anti-reforained the ascendant But now a fortunate thing happened Mr Hardylaere adequate, if properly enforced, to meet the case Technically there was a measure of truth in this statement, but in practice it was fallacious;[83] and in any case Mr Hardy's remark was a reflection on his predecessor's adoing to sit down under it,” he said; he became red-hot for reform; very htingale did not fail to add fuel to the flath; saw her repeatedly; reported all he was able to learn of how things were going at Whitehall, and begged her to do the like for him ”The public are led to infer,” he said to her, ”that nothing was needed but a touch froht” The public, thought Miss Nightingale also, would soon discover his , or to legislate; unless indeed the Tory Ministry were overthrown first