The “Nightingale Cross,” as the monument came to be called, strikes the eye of the mariner as he crosses the Black Sea, and to the British sailor it must ever be an object to stir a chivalrous feeling for the noble woman who thus honoured the brave dead.
On her way home from the Crimea, Miss Nightingale called at Scutari, that place of appalling memories, and saw the final closing of the hospitals. The Barrack Hospital had now been taken back by the Turkish authorities, but the suite of rooms which Miss Nightingale had occupied in the southern tower were preserved as she left them, and kept so for some years.
The Sultan had been an admiring witness of Miss Nightingale’s labours, and presented her with a magnificent diamond bracelet as a farewell gift and a mark of his estimation of her devotion.
Before leaving the Crimea Miss Nightingale had received from Queen Victoria a beautiful jewel, for which the Prince Consort made the design. It consists of a St. George’s Cross in red enamel, on a white field, representative of England. On the cross are the letters V.R., surmounted by a crown in diamonds. A band of black enamel, inscribed in gold letters with the words “Blessed are the merciful,” surrounds the cross. Palm leaves, in green enamel, form a framework for the shield, and on the blue enamel ribbon which confines the palms is inscribed in letters of gold “Crimea.” On the back of the jewel is an inscription written by Queen Victoria, recording that the gift was made in memory of services rendered to her “brave army” by Florence Nightingale. The following letter accompanied the gift.
“Windsor Castle,
“January 1856.
THE NIGHTINGALE JEWEL
“Dear Miss Nightingale,—You are I know, well aware of the high sense I entertain of the Christian devotion which you have displayed during this great and bloody war, and I need hardly repeat to you how warm my admiration is for your services, which are fully equal to those of my dear and brave soldiers, whose sufferings you have had the privilege of alleviating in so merciful a manner. I am, however, anxious of marking my feelings in a manner which I trust will be agreeable to you, and therefore send you with this letter a brooch, the form and emblems of which commemorate your great and blessed work, and which I hope you will wear as a mark of the high approbation of your Sovereign!
“It will be a very great satisfaction to me when you return at last to these shores, to make the acquaintance of one who has set so bright an example to our sex. And with every prayer for the preservation of your valuable health, believe me, always, yours sincerely,
“Victoria R.”