_TIMELY HELP_
Lavish Gifts for the Soldiers--_The Times_ Fund--_The Times_
Commissioner Visits Scutari--His Description of Miss
Nightingale--Arrival of M. Soyer, the Famous _Chef_--He Describes
Miss Nightingale.
This is true philanthropy, that buries not its gold in ostentatious
charity, but builds its hospital in the human heart.--G. D. HARLEY.
Miss Nightingale’s personal efforts for the sick and wounded soldiery
were nobly and most generously seconded by sympathisers at home. Ladies
were continually arriving at the Admiralty Office in carriages piled
with huge boxes and chests labelled “Miss Nightingale,” and such large
cargoes reached Scutari that it was said at the time the officials
might fancy that the Indian mail had been landed by mistake.
The Queen in her palace, assisted by the young princesses, in common
with women of all degrees throughout the land, were making lint and
bandages, sewing shirts and knitting socks, for the poor soldiers.
Nothing indeed was deemed too good for the suffering heroes. Sister
Mary Aloysius relates that when she first began to sort the stores in
the sheds at Scutari, she thought that the “English nobility must have
emptied their wardrobes and linen stores to send out bandages for the
wounded. There was the most beautiful underclothing, and the finest
cambric sheets, with merely a scissors run here and there through them,
to ensure their being used for no other purpose, some from the Queen’s
palace, with the Royal monogram beautifully worked.” Amongst these
delicate things the rats had a fine time, and on the woollen goods
they feasted sumptuously ere the sisters could get them sorted and
distributed from their temporary resting-place in the sheds outside the
hospitals.
While private charity was sending its promiscuous bales of goods, _The
Times_, to which belonged the honour of having first aroused public
interest in the suffering soldiery, had organised a fund for the
relief of the wounded which met with the most generous support. The
great journal undertook to distribute the fund, and for this purpose
appointed Mr. Macdonald, a man of high character and endowed with good
sense and discrimination, to proceed to the East and ascertain on the
spot the manner in which the money could be best applied for the relief
of the distressed army.
Before setting forth Mr. Macdonald called on the Duke of Newcastle,
Secretary of State for War, also on Dr. Andrew Smith, the
Inspector-General, and was assured by both that such ample measures
had been taken by Government that _The Times_ fund was really scarcely
needed for the relief of the sick and wounded. However, Mr. Macdonald
proceeded on his way, for there was at least one man connected with
the War Office--Sidney Herbert--who knew from Florence Nightingale’s
letters what the true state of affairs was.
When _The Times_ commissioner reached the Bosphorus, he again had cold
water thrown on his mission. Officialdom laughed amiably over “bringing
coals to Newcastle.” Mr. Macdonald found, however, that the men of the
39th Regiment on their way to the seat of war were going to face the
rigours of a Crimean winter in the trenches before Sebastopol in the
light and airy garments which they had been wearing at Gibraltar, and
he got rid of some of his _Times_ gold by going into the markets of
Constantinople and purchasing suits of flannels for the men.
When Mr. Macdonald at length reached the hospitals at Scutari--those
hospitals the deficient and insanitary state of which had moved the
heart of the country to its core--he must have felt dumfounded when Dr.
Menzies, the chief medical officer, in answer to his offer of help,
told him that “nothing was wanted.” It seemed that officialdom was
leagued together to deny the existence of wants which the Government
ought to have met. In a higher quarter still, Kinglake relates that
_The Times_ commissioner was met with the astounding proposal that as
the fund was wholly unneeded, he might disembarrass himself of it by
building an Episcopal Church at Pera!
However, there was one person to whom Mr. Macdonald had not yet offered
his money-bags, and he forthwith proceeded to the Barrack Hospital and
sought an interview with the Lady-in-Chief and related his experiences.
“Help not needed! the soldiers provided with all necessaries! the
proffered money thrown back on the donors!” Florence Nightingale
must have taken a long gasp when she heard that. She marshalled the
excellent Mr. Macdonald and his superfluous cash away to her office in
the Nurses’ Tower, where he could see for himself the daily demands
on her private stores made by the sick and wounded soldiers, and how
impossible it was, despite the generous gifts already received from the
charitable at home, to meet all requirements.
The Lady-in-Chief could tell of men arriving by hundreds without a
shred of decent clothing on their backs, of the lack of hospital
furniture, of beds, pillows, sheets, and sanitary appliances, even
of drugs, to say nothing of materials for invalid food. Before the
narration was concluded Mr. Macdonald must have come to the conclusion
that there would be no church built at Pera just yet.
_The Times_ almoner now found his days fully taken up in visits of
investigation to the wards, under the guidance of the Lady-in-Chief,
and many hours of each day were spent in her office in the Nurses’
Tower, taking down in his notebook the things which were pressingly
needed and dispatching orders to the storekeepers of Constantinople.
Miss Nightingale had now found the kind of help really needed. Here
was English gold to replenish her stores at discretion, and she was no
longer left to depend on promiscuous charity, which sent embroidered
cambric when good stout calico would have been more useful, or fancy
mufflers to men who needed shirts. On the eve of his return to England
Mr. Macdonald wrote of the Lady-in-Chief:--
“Wherever there is disease in its most dangerous form, and the hand of
the spoiler distressingly nigh, there is this incomparable woman sure
to be seen. Her benignant presence is an influence for good comfort
even among the struggles of expiring nature. She is a ‘ministering
angel’ without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender
form glides quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow’s face
softens with gratitude at the sight of her. When all the medical
officers have retired for the night, and silence and darkness have
settled down upon those miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed
alone, with a little lamp in her hands, making her solitary rounds.
“The popular instinct was not mistaken which, when she had set out
from England on the mission of mercy, hailed her as a heroine; I trust
she may not earn her title to a higher though sadder appellation. No
one who has observed her fragile figure and delicate health can avoid
misgivings lest these should fail. With the heart of a true woman and
the manners of a lady, accomplished and refined beyond most of her sex,
she combines a surprising calmness of judgment and promptitude and
decision of character.
[Illustration: MISS NIGHTINGALE AND THE DYING SOLDIER--A SCENE AT
SCUTARI HOSPITAL WITNESSED BY M. SOYER.
[_To face p. 176_
]
“I have hesitated to speak of her hitherto as she deserves, because
I well knew that no praise of mine could do justice to her merits,
while it might have tended to embarrass the frankness with which she
has always accepted the aid furnished her through the fund. As that
source of supply is now nearly exhausted and my mission approaches
its close, I can express myself with more freedom on this subject,
and I confidently assert that but for Miss Nightingale the people of
England would scarcely, with all their solicitude, have been spared
the additional pang of knowing, which they must have done sooner
or later, that their soldiers, even in the hospital, had found scanty
refuge and relief from the unparelleled miseries with which this war
has hitherto been attended.”
After the departure of Mr. Macdonald, Miss Nightingale received another
welcome and also an entertaining visitor in the person of M. Soyer, an
expert in cooking and culinary matters generally, to offer his services
at the hospitals. M. Soyer’s “campaign” was initiated in February,
1855, by the following letter to the editor of _The Times_:--
“SIR,--
“After carefully perusing the letter of your correspondent, dated
Scutari, in your impression of Wednesday last, I perceive that,
although the kitchen under the superintendence of Miss Nightingale
affords so much relief, the system of management at the large
one in the Barrack Hospital is far from being perfect. I propose
offering my services gratuitously, and proceeding direct to Scutari
at my own personal expense, to regulate that important department,
if the Government will honour me with their confidence, and
grant me the full power of acting according to my knowledge and
experience in such matters.
“I have the honour to remain, sir,
“Your obedient servant,
“A. SOYER.”
The services of M. Soyer having been accepted, he in due course sailed
for the East and arrived at Scutari in April. The gallant Frenchman
was all anxiety to pay his respects to “Mademoiselle Nightingale,” and
was gratified to hear that she had heard of his arrival and would be
much pleased to see him. As soon as he reached the Barrack Hospital he
inquired for Miss Nightingale’s apartment, and was immediately shown
into what he terms “a sanctuary of benevolence.”
Upon entering the room, M. Soyer was received by the Lady-in-Chief, to
whom, after the inevitable complimentary speech, he presented parcels
and letters from Mr. Stafford, who had been such an indefatigable
helper to Miss Nightingale in the past winter, and other friends, among
them one from Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, who strongly commended
M. Soyer to Miss Nightingale as likely to be of service in the kitchen
department. The Lady-in-Chief arranged to accompany her visitor in a
tour of inspection, and M. Soyer thus records his impressions:--
“On my arrival I first visited, in company with Miss Nightingale
and one of the medical officers, all the store-rooms, cook-houses,
kitchens, and provision departments, to glean an idea of the rules,
regulations, and allowances made by the authorities. Instead of there
being no appropriate kitchen, as was represented by several Government
employees prior to my embarkation for the East, I found ample room and
space adapted for culinary purposes even upon the most elaborate and
extensive scale.
“I must especially express my gratitude to Miss Nightingale, who from
her extraordinary intelligence and the good organisation of her kitchen
procured me every material for making a commencement, and thus saved
me at least one week’s sheer loss of time, as my model kitchen did not
arrive until Saturday last.”
The Lady-in-Chief found a very valuable ally in M. Soyer, who was
eagerly ready to carry out her suggestions for the furtherance of
various schemes for the better dietary arrangements for the sick, and
who introduced new stoves and fuel and many other reforms of which she
had hardly dared to dream in the first months of her work. To these
new arrangements Lord William Paulet, the military Commandant, and
Drs. Cummings, Menzies and Macgregor the principal medical officers,
gave their entire approval, and Miss Nightingale had at length the
satisfaction of seeing the culinary arrangements of the Scutari
hospitals arranged on a model plan.
During his stay M. Soyer obtained a glimpse into the “ministering
angel” side of the lady whose excellent business faculty had filled
him with admiration as he inspected stoves and boilers and discussed
rations and diets in their rounds of the kitchens. He had been spending
a jovial evening in the doctors’ quarters, and in making his way at two
o’clock in the morning to his own apartment, he saw, at an angle of one
of the long corridors filled with sick and wounded, a group revealed in
silhouette by a faint light. A dying soldier was half reclining upon
his bed, at the side of which sat Florence Nightingale pencilling down
his last wishes home. A sister stood at her back holding a lighted
candle. The group thus outlined, like a sombre study of Rembrandt,
drew M. Soyer to the spot, and for a time unseen he observed the dying
man pass his watch and trinkets into those tender womanly hands of the
Lady-in-Chief, and heard the laboured gasp of the man to articulate the
last message to wife and children. Then approaching Miss Nightingale,
M. Soyer inquired as to the complaint of her patient, when she replied
in French that the poor fellow had been given up by the doctors and was
not likely to last many hours, and she was noting down his last wishes
for his relatives. The incident enables one to realise how manifold
were Miss Nightingale’s duties and how after laborious days she gave up
hours of needed rest in order to comfort the dying.
Soon after the opening of his model kitchen, M. Soyer received a visit
from General Vivian, and while the General was there Miss Nightingale
entered the kitchen, and an animated conversation ensued regarding
hospital treatment. At the conclusion, M. Soyer relates that the
General said, “M. Soyer, Miss Nightingale’s name and your own will be
for ever associated in the archives of this memorable war.”
One can understand the ecstasy of the volatile Frenchman at finding
himself coupled in such distinguished company and forgive his little
conceit, for he was an enthusiastic admirer of our heroine, and has
left one of the best pen portraits of her extant. “She is rather
high in stature,” he writes, “fair in complexion and slim in person;
her hair is brown, and is worn quite plain; her physiognomy is most
pleasing; her eyes, of a bluish tint, speak volumes, and are always
sparkling with intelligence; her mouth is small and well formed, while
her lips act in unison, and make known the impression of her heart--one
seems the reflex of the other. Her visage, as regards expression, is
very remarkable, and one can almost anticipate by her countenance
what she is about to say: alternately, with matters of the most
grave import, a gentle smile passes radiantly over her countenance,
thus proving her evenness of temper; at other times, when wit or a
pleasantry prevails, the heroine is lost in the happy, good-natured
smile which pervades her face, and you recognise only the charming
woman.
“Her dress is generally of a greyish or black tint; she wears a simple
white cap, and often a rough apron. In a word, her whole appearance
is religiously simple and unsophisticated. In conversation no member
of the fair sex can be more amiable and gentle than Miss Nightingale.
Removed from her arduous and cavalier-like duties, which require the
nerve of a Hercules--and she possesses it when required--she is Rachel
on the stage in both tragedy and comedy.”