“Our old General, Lord Clyde (he is dead now), was standing at the port of Balaclava when, eleven years ago, the Italian Bersagliere were landing; and he turned round and said to his companion (a man high in office), ‘I wish to hide my face—I blush for ourselves when I see the perfect way in which those glorious troops are brought up to their work.’ And what have not the Italians done since, in those eleven years?—the work of almost eleven centuries!
“I, too, remember the Italian (Sardinian) hospitals on the heights of Balaclava, and their admirable government; and since then what has not the progress been? I wish you God-speed with my whole heart, and by that you will believe me, sir, your ever faithful servant,
“Florence Nightingale.”
“Cavaliere Sebastiano Fenzi, Florence.”
Miss Nightingale would certainly have been cheered in her sick-room if she could have seen the enthusiasm and emotion excited in her native city when her letter was read to the people.
The United States, which has to-day such an efficient organisation for the succour of the sick and wounded soldiers, owes the inception of the movement to Florence Nightingale. When the American Civil War broke out in 1860, her name had become a talisman not only to her fellow-countrymen, but to English-speaking people all over the world, and to her example the women of the United States looked when their land became devastated by war. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, women in the leading cities of the States formed themselves into working parties to provide lint and bandages and suitable clothing for the suffering soldiery. But as the colossal needs of the regiments being formed all over the States became apparent, a special Sanitary Commission was, at the instance of various Medical and Relief Associations, founded by the Secretary of War to deal with the sick and wounded in hospital and camp. Hundreds of women volunteered as nurses, and in time a most efficient organisation was built up.
MISS NIGHTINGALE AFTER HER RETURN FROM THE CRIMEA.
(Photo by Keene, Derby.)
[To face p. 272.