_THE SQUIRE’S DAUGHTER_
An Accomplished Girl--An Angel in the Homes of the Poor--Children’s
“Feast Day” at Lea Hurst--Her Bible-Class for Girls--Interests
at Embley--Society Life--Longing for a Vocation--Meets Elizabeth
Fry--Studies Hospital Nursing--Decides to go to Kaiserswerth.
God made her so,
And deeds of week-day holiness
Fall from her gentle as the snow;
Nor hath she ever chanced to know
That aught were easier than to bless.
LOWELL.
When Florence Nightingale reached her seventeenth year she began to
take her place as the squire’s daughter, mingling in the county society
of Derbyshire and Hampshire and interesting herself in the people and
schools of her father’s estates. She soon acquired the reputation
of being a very lovable young lady as well as a very talented one.
She had travelled abroad, could speak French, German, and Italian,
sang very sweetly, and was clever at sketching, and when the taking
of photographs became a fashionable pastime, “Miss Florence” became
an enthusiast for the art. There were no hand-cameras in those days
and no clean and easy methods for developing, and young lady amateur
photographers were obliged to dress for their work. Nothing daunted
“Miss Florence,” and she photographed groups on the lawn and her pet
animals to the admiration of her family and friends, if sometimes to
the discoloration of her dainty fingers.
She was also a skilful needlewoman, and worked cushions and slippers,
mastered the finest and most complicated crochet patterns, sewed
delicate embroideries, and achieved almost invisible hems on muslin
frills. At Christmas-time her work-basket was full of warm comforts for
the poor. She was invaluable at bazaars, then a newly introduced method
of raising money for religious purposes, and was particularly happy at
organising treats for the old people and children.
The local clergy, both at Embley and Lea, found the squire’s younger
daughter a great help in the parish. The traits of character which
had shown themselves in the little girl who tended the shepherd’s
injured dog, and was so ready with her sympathy for all who suffered
or were in trouble, became strengthened in the budding woman and made
Florence Nightingale regarded as an angel in the homes of the poor.
Her visits to the cottages were eagerly looked for, and she showed
even in her teens a genius for district visiting. The people regarded
her not as the “visiting lady,” whom they were to impress with feigned
woes or a pretence of abject poverty, but as a real friend who came to
bring pleasure to their homes and to enter into their family joys and
sorrows. She had a bright and witty way of talking which made the poor
folks look forward to her visits quite apart from the favours she might
bring.
If there was sickness or sorrow in any cottage home, the presence of
“Miss Florence” was eagerly sought, for even at this period she had
made some study of sick nursing and “seemed,” as the people said, “to
have a way with her” which eased pain and brought comfort and repose to
those who were suffering. She had, too, such a clear, sweet voice and
sympathetic intonation that the sick derived great pleasure when she
read to them.
As quite a young girl the bent of her mind was in the direction of
leading a useful and beneficent life. She was in no danger of suffering
from the _ennui_ which beset so many girls of the leisured classes in
those times, when there was so little in the way of outdoor sport and
amusements or independent interests to fill up time. In whatsoever
circumstances of life Florence Nightingale had been placed, her nature
would have prompted her to discover useful occupation.
The “old squire,” as Mr. Nightingale is still called at Lea, took a
great interest in the village school, and Florence became his right
hand in looking after the amusements of the children. There were many
little treats devised for them from time to time, but the great event
of the year was the children’s “feast day,” when the scholars assembled
at the school-house and walked in procession to Lea Hurst, carrying
“posies” in their hands and sticks wreathed with garlands of flowers.
A band provided by the squire headed the procession. Arrived at Lea
Hurst, the company were served with tea in the field below the garden,
Mrs. Nightingale and her daughters assisting the servants to wait upon
their guests. After tea, the band struck up lively airs and the lads
and lasses danced in a style which recalled the olden times in Merrie
England, while the squire and his family beamed approval.
Then there were games for the little ones devised by “Miss Florence,”
who took upon herself their special entertainment; and so the summer
evening passed away in delightful mirth and recreation until the
crimson clouds began to glow over the beautiful Derwent valley, and
the children re-formed in line and marched up the garden to the top
terrace of the lawn. Meantime “Miss Florence” and “Miss Parthe” had
mysteriously disappeared, and now they were seen standing on the
terrace behind a long table laden with presents. As the procession
filed past, each child received a gift from one or other of the young
ladies, and there were kindly words from the squire and gracious smiles
from Mrs. Nightingale and much bobbing of curtseys by the delighted
children, and so the “feast day” ended in mutual joy and pleasure.
The scene was described to me by an old lady who had many times as
a child attended this pretty entertainment at Lea Hurst, and still
treasures the little gifts--fancy boxes, books, thimble cases and
the like--which she had received from the hands of the then beloved
and now deeply reverenced “Miss Florence.” She recalls what a sweet
young lady she was, with her glossy brown hair smoothed down each side
of her face, and often a rose placed at the side, amongst the neat
plaits or coils. Her appearance at this period can be judged from the
pencil sketch by her sister, afterwards Lady Verney, in which, despite
the quaint attire, one recognises a tall, graceful girl of charm and
intelligence.
In Derbyshire, Florence Nightingale’s interest in Church work was
divided between the historic little church of Dethick, described
in a former chapter, and the beautiful church which Sir Richard
Arkwright had built at Cromford on the opposite side of the river
from his castle of Willersley. To-day, Cromford Church is thickly
covered with ivy and embowered in trees, and, standing on the river
bank with greystone rocks towering on one side and the wooded heights
of Willersley on the other, presents a mellowed and picturesque
appearance. In our heroine’s girlhood it was comparatively new and
regarded as the wonder of the district for the architectural taste
and decoration which Sir Richard had lavished upon it. The great
cotton-spinner himself had been laid beneath its chancel in 1792,
but an Arkwright reigned at Willersley Castle in Miss Nightingale’s
youth--as indeed there does to-day--and carried on the beneficent
schemes of the founder for the people of the district. Then the
Arkwright Mills--long since disused--gave employment to hundreds of
people, and the now sleepy little town of Cromford was alive with an
industrial population. It was something of a model village, as the neat
rows of low stone houses which flank Cromford hill testify, and there
were schools, reading-rooms, and other means devised for the betterment
of the people. Many schemes originated with the vicar and patron of
Cromford Church, and the young ladies from Lea Hurst sometimes assisted
at entertainments.
We may imagine “Miss Florence” when she drove with her parents down
to Cromford Church making a very pretty picture indeed, dressed in
her summer muslin, with a silk spencer crossed over her maiden breast
and her sweet, placid face beaming from out the recesses of a Leghorn
bonnet, wreathed with roses.
It was, however, in connection with the church of Dethick and the
adjoining parishes of Lea and Holloway that Florence Nightingale did
most of her philanthropic work. This district was peculiarly her
father’s domain, and also embraced the church and village of Crich.
Like Cromford, it was the seat of a village industry. Immediately
below Lea Hurst were Smedley’s hosiery mills, which employed hundreds
of women and girls, many of whom lived on the Nightingale estate,
and Miss Florence took great interest in their welfare. As she grew
into womanhood, she started a Bible-class for the young women of
the district, holding it in the old building at Lea Hurst known as
the “chapel.” The class was unsectarian, for “Smedley’s people,”
following the example of their master, “Dr.” John Smedley, were chiefly
Methodists. However, religious differences were not bitter in the
neighbourhood, and Miss Nightingale welcomed to her class all young
girls who were disposed to come, whether their parents belonged to
“chapel” or “church.”
The memory of those Sunday afternoons, as they sat in the tiny stone
“chapel” overlooking the sunny lawns and gardens of Lea Hurst,
listening to the beautiful expositions of Scripture which fell
from their beloved “Miss Florence,” or following her sweet voice
in sacred song, is green in the hearts of a few elderly people in
the neighbourhood. A softness comes into their voice, and a smile
of pleasure lights up their wrinkled faces, as they tell you how
“beautifully Miss Florence used to talk.” In years long after, when she
returned for holiday visits to Lea Hurst, nothing gave Miss Nightingale
greater pleasure than for the young girls of the district, some of them
daughters of her former scholars, to come on summer Sunday afternoons
and sing on the lawn at Lea Hurst as she sat in her room above.
Infirmity prevented her from mingling with them, but the girls were
pleased if they could only catch a sight of her face smiling down from
the window.
During the winter months spent in her Hampshire home, Florence
Nightingale was also active amongst the sick poor and the young
people. Embley Park is near the town of Romsey, in the parish of East
Willow, and Mr. Nightingale and his family attended that church. “Miss
Florence” had many friends amongst the cottagers, and a few of the
old people still recall seeing the “young ladies” riding about on
their ponies, and stopping with kind inquiries at some of the house
doors. Although the sisters were such close companions, it is always
“Miss Florence” who is remembered as the chief benefactress. She had
the happy gift for gaining the love of the people, and the instinct
for giving the right sort of help, though “Miss Parthe” was no less
kind-hearted.
At Christmas, Embley Park was a centre from which radiated much good
cheer. “Florence” was gay indeed, as, in ermine tippet and muff and
beaver hat, she helped to distribute the parcels of tea and the warm
petticoats to the old women. She devised Christmas entertainments for
the children and assisted in treats for the workhouse poor. Local
carol-singers received a warm welcome at Embley, especially from Miss
Florence, who would come into the hall to see the mince-pies and
coin distributed as she chatted with the humble performers. Training
the boys and girls to sing was to her a matter of special interest,
and she did much in those far-away days to promote a love of music
amongst the villagers both at Lea Hurst and Embley. It would afford her
pleasure to-day could she listen to the well-trained band formed by the
mill-workers at Lea, which one hears discoursing sweet music outside
the mills on a summer’s evening.
Embley overlooked the hills of the Wiltshire border, and the cathedral
city of Salisbury, only some thirteen miles distant, afforded Miss
Nightingale a wider field of philanthropic interest. She was always
willing to take part in beneficent work in the neighbourhood, and the
children’s hospital and other schemes founded and conducted by her
friends Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Herbert, afterwards Lord and Lady Herbert
of Lea, formed a special interest for her in the years immediately
preceding the outbreak of the Crimean War.
It must not, however, be supposed that in the early years of her
womanhood Miss Nightingale gave herself up entirely to religious and
philanthropic work, though it formed a serious background to her social
life. Mr. Nightingale, as a man of wealth and influence, liked to
see his wife and daughters taking part in county society. During the
winter he entertained a good deal at Embley, which was a much larger
and handsomer residence than Lea Hurst. Mr. and Mrs. Nightingale had a
large circle of friends, and their house was noted as a place of genial
hospitality, while their charming and accomplished daughters attracted
many admirers.
The family did not confine themselves only to county society. They
sometimes came to London for the season, and Florence and her sister
made their curtsey to Queen Victoria when in the heyday of her early
married life, and entered into the gaieties of the time.
However, as the years passed by Florence Nightingale cared less and
less for the excitement and pleasures of society. Her nature had begun
to crave for some definite work and a more extended field of activity
than she found in private life. Two severe illnesses among members of
her family had developed her nursing faculty, and when they no longer
required her attention, she turned to a systematic study of nursing.
[Illustration: MISS NIGHTINGALE.
(_From a Drawing._)
[_To face p. 48._
]
To-day it seems almost impossible to realise how novel was the idea of
a woman of birth and education becoming a nurse. Miss Nightingale was
a pioneer of the pioneers. She herself had not then any clear course
before her for the future, but she realised the important point that
she could not hope to accomplish anything without training. The faculty
was necessary and the desire to be helpful to the sick and suffering,
but a trained knowledge was the important thing. In a letter which
Miss Nightingale wrote in after years to young women on the subject of
“Work and Duty” she remarked: “I would say to all young ladies who are
called to any particular vocation, qualify yourselves for it as a man
does for his work. Don’t think you can undertake it otherwise. Submit
yourselves to the rules of business as men do, by which alone you
can make God’s business succeed; for He has never said that he will
give His success and his blessing to sketchy and unfinished work.” And
on another occasion she wrote: “Three-fourths of the whole mischief in
women’s lives arises from their excepting themselves from the rules of
training considered needful for men.”
This was the spirit in which Miss Nightingale entered upon her chosen
work, for she was the last person to “preach and not practise.” The
advice which she gave to other women, when she had herself risen to
the head of her profession, had been the guiding influence of her own
probation.
The beneficent work which distinguished her as the squire’s daughter
had given her useful experience, and had opened her eyes to the need
of trained nurses for the sick poor. What is now called “district
nursing” at this period exercised the mind of Florence Nightingale, and
her attention to military nursing was called forth later by a national
emergency.
It was at this critical period of her life, when her mind was shaping
itself to such high purpose, that Florence Nightingale met Elizabeth
Fry. The first grasping of hands of these two pioneer women would
serve as subject for a painter. We picture the stately and beautiful
old Quakeress in the characteristic garb of the Friends extending a
sisterly welcome to the young and earnest woman who came to learn
at her feet. The one was fast drawing to the close of her great work
for the women prisoners, and the other stood on the threshold of a
philanthropic career to be equally distinguished. We have no detailed
record of what words were spoken at this meeting, but we know that the
memory of the heavenly personality of Elizabeth Fry was an ever-present
inspiration with Florence Nightingale in the years which followed.
It was a meeting of kindred spirits, but of distinct individualities.
We do not find Miss Nightingale making any attempt to take up the
mantle fast falling from the experienced philanthropist: she had
her own line of pioneer work forming in her capable brain, but was
eager to glean something from the wide experience through which her
revered friend had passed. Mrs. Fry had during the past few years been
visiting prisons and institutions on the Continent, and had established
a small training home for nurses in London. She was a friend of
Pastor Fliedner, the founder of Kaiserswerth, and had visited that
institution. The account of his work, and of the order of Protestant
deaconesses which he had founded for tending the sick poor, given by
Mrs. Fry, made a profound impression on Florence Nightingale, and
resulted a few years later in her enrolment as a voluntary nurse at
that novel institution.
In the meantime she studied the hospital system at home, spending some
months in the leading London hospitals and visiting those in Edinburgh
and Dublin. Then she undertook a lengthened tour abroad and saw the
different working of institutions for the sick in France, Germany, and
Italy. The comparison was not favourable to this country. The nursing
in our hospitals was largely in the hands of the coarsest type of
women, not only untrained, but callous in feeling and often grossly
immoral. There was little to counteract their baneful influence, and
the atmosphere of institutions which, as the abodes of the sick and
dying, had special need of spiritual and elevating influences, was of
a degrading character. The occasional visits of a chaplain could not
do very much to counteract the behaviour of the unprincipled nurse
ever at the bedside. The habitual drunkenness of these women was then
proverbial, while the dirt and disorder rampant in the wards was
calculated to breed disease. The “profession,” if the nursing of that
day can claim a title so dignified, had such a stigma attaching to it
that no decent woman cared to enter it, and if she did, it was more
than likely that she would lose her character.
In contrast to this repulsive class of women, whom Miss Nightingale
had encountered to her horror in the hospitals of London, Edinburgh,
and Dublin, and to the “Sairey Gamps” who were the only “professional”
nurses available for the middle classes in their own homes, she found
on the Continent the sweet-faced Sister of Charity--pious, educated,
trained.
For centuries the Roman Catholic community had trained and set apart
holy women for ministering to the sick poor in their own homes, and had
established hospitals supplied with the same type of nurse. A large
number of these women were ladies of birth and breeding who worked for
the good of their souls and the welfare of their Church, while all
received proper education and training, and had abjured the world for a
religious life. An excellent example of the work done by the nun-nurses
is seen in the quaint old-world hospital of St. John, with which
visitors to Bruges are familiar. It was one of the institutions visited
by Miss Nightingale, and, religious differences apart, she viewed with
profound admiration the beneficent work of the sisters.
After pursuing her investigations from city to city, Miss Nightingale
decided to take a course of instruction at the recently founded
institution for deaconesses at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine. There a
Protestant sisterhood were working on similar lines to Sisters of
Charity, and had already done much to mitigate the poverty, sickness,
and misery in their own district, and were beginning to extend their
influence to other German towns. At Kaiserswerth the ideal system of
trained sick nursing which Miss Nightingale had been forming in her own
mind was an accomplished fact.