THE TASKS OF PEACE.
Now, the people of England had been on tiptoe for some days with
eagerness, waiting to welcome the heroine of the Crimea back to her
native shores. They would give her such a reception as no one had ever
yet had in that land of hospitality and welcomings. She should have
bells and cannon and bonfires, processions and deputations and
addresses--she should have everything that anybody could think of.
When they found that their heroine had slipped quietly through their
fingers, as it were, and was back in her own peaceful home once more,
people were sadly disappointed. They must give up the cannon and the
bonfires; but at least they might have a glimpse of her! So hundreds of
people crowded the roads and lanes about Lea Hurst, waiting and
watching. An old lady living at the park gate told Mrs. Tooley: "I
remember the crowds as if it was yesterday. It took me all my time to
answer them. Folks came in carriages and on foot, and there was titled
people among them, and a lot of soldiers, some of them without arms and
legs, who had been nursed by Miss Florence in the hospital, and I
remember one man who had been shot through both eyes coming and asking
to see Miss Florence. But not ten out of the hundreds who came got a
glimpse of her. If they wanted help about their pensions, they were told
to put it down in writing, and Miss Florence's maid came with an answer.
Of course she was willing to help everybody, but it stood to reason she
could not receive them all; why, the park wouldn't have held all the
folks that came, and besides, the old Squire wouldn't have his daughter
made a staring stock of."[14]
After the first disappointment--which after all was perfectly
natural--all sensible people realized how weary Miss Nightingale must be
after her tremendous labors, and how much she must need rest. All who
knew her, too, knew that she never could abide public "demonstrations";
so they left her in peace, and began sending her things, to show their
gratitude in a different way. The first gift of this kind she had
received before she left the Crimea, from good Queen Victoria herself.
This was "the Nightingale Jewel," as it is called; "a ruby-red enamel
cross on a white field, encircled by a black band with the words:
'Blessed are the merciful.' The letters V. R.; surmounted by a crown in
diamonds, are impressed upon the centre of the cross. Green enamel
branches of palm, tipped with gold, form the framework of the shield,
while around their stems is a riband of blue enamel, with the single
word 'Crimea.' On the top are three brilliant stars of diamonds. On the
back is an inscription written by the Queen."
Another gift received on the scene of her labors was a magnificent
diamond bracelet sent her by the Sultan of Turkey.
I do not know of any more jewels; but two gifts that Miss Nightingale
prized highly were a fine case of cutlery sent her by the workmen of
Sheffield, each knife blade inscribed with the words "Presented to
Florence Nightingale, 1857," and the silver-bound oak case inlaid with a
representation of the Good Samaritan; and a beautiful pearl-inlaid
writing desk, presented by her friends and neighbors near Lea Hurst.
All these things were very touching; still more touching were the
letters that came from all over the country, thanking and blessing her
for all she had done. Truly it was a happy home coming.
Miss Nightingale knew that she was very, very weary; she realized that
she must have a long rest, but she little thought how long it must be.
She, and all her friends, thought that after a few months she would be
able to take up again the work she so loved, and become the active
leader in introducing the new methods of nursing into England. But the
months passed, and grew from few to many, and still her strength did not
return. The next year, indeed, when the dreadful Indian Mutiny broke
out, she wrote to her friend Lady Canning, wife of the Governor-General
of India, offering to come at twenty-four hours' notice "if there was
anything to do in her line of business"; but Lady Canning knew that she
was not equal to such a task.
Slowly, gradually, the truth came to Florence Nightingale: she was never
going to be strong or well again. Always delicate, the tremendous
labors of the Crimea had been too much for her. While the work went on,
the frail body answered the call of the powerful will, the undaunted
mind, the great heart; now that the task was finished, it sank down
broken and exhausted. Truly, she had given her life, as much as any
soldier who fought and died in the trenches or on the battlefield.
And what did she do when she finally came to realize this? Did she give
up, and say, "My work on earth is done?" Not she! There may have been
some dark hours, but the world has never heard of them. She never for an
instant thought of giving up her work; she simply changed the methods of
it. The poor tired body must stay in bed or on the sofa; very well! But
the mind was not tired at all; the will was not weakened; the heart had
not ceased to throb with love and compassion for the sick, the
sorrowful, the suffering; the question was to find the way in which they
could work with as little trouble as might be to their poor sick friend
the body.
The way was soon found. Whether at Lea Hurst or in London (for she now
spent a good deal of time in the great city, to be near the centre of
things), her sick room became one of the busiest places in all England.
Schemes for army reform, for hospital reform, for reform in everything
connected with the poor and the sick--all these must be brought to Miss
Nightingale. All the soldiers in the country must write to her whenever
they wanted anything, from a pension down to a wooden leg (to their
honor be it said, however, that though she was overwhelmed with begging
letters from all parts of the country, not a soldier ever asked her for
money). The Nightingale fund, now nearly fifty thousand pounds, was
administered under her advice and direction, and the first Training
School for Nurses organized and opened. The old incapable, ignorant
nurse vanished, and the modern nurse, educated, methodical, clear-eyed
and clear-headed, took her place quietly; one of the great changes of
modern times was effected, and the hand that directed it was the same
one that we have seen holding the lamp, or writing down the dying
soldier's last words, in the Barrack Hospital at Scutari.
That slender hand wrote books with all the rest of its work. In the sick
room as in the hospital, Miss Nightingale had no time to waste. Her
"Hospital Notes" may be read to-day with the keenest interest by all who
care to know more of that great story of the Crimean War; her "Notes on
Nursing" became the handbook of the Nursing Reform, and ought to be in
the hands of every nurse to-day as it was in 1860, when it was written.
Nor in the hands of nurses only; I wish every girl and every boy who
reads this story would try to find that slender, dingy volume in some
library, and "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" its contents. They
would know a good deal more than they do now. Well might Miss
Nightingale write, in 1861: "I have passed the last four years between
four walls, only varied to other four walls once a year; and I believe
there is no prospect but of my health becoming ever worse and worse till
the hour of my release. But I have never ceased, during one waking hour
since my return to England five years ago, laboring for the welfare of
the army at home, as I did abroad, and no hour have I given to
friendship or amusement during that time, but all to work."
Drop a stone in the water and see how the circles spread, growing wider
and wider. After a while you cannot see them, but you know that the
motion you have started must go on and on till it whispers against the
pebbles on the farther shore. So it is with a good deed or an evil one;
we see its beginning; we cannot see what distant shore it may reach. So,
no one will ever know the full amount of good that this noble woman has
done. The Sanitary Commission of our own Civil War, the Red Cross which
to-day counts its workers by thousands in every part of the civilized
world, both owed their first impulse to the pebble dropped by Florence
Nightingale--even her own life, given freely to suffering humanity.
I have never seen, but I like to think of the quiet room in London,
where she lies to-day in the white beauty of her age. Nearly ninety
years have passed since the little girl-baby woke to life among the
blossoms of the City of Flowers; more than half a century has gone by
since the Lady with the Lamp passed like light along the corridors of
the Barrack Hospital; yet still Florence Nightingale lives and loves,
still her thoughts go out in tenderness and compassion toward all who
are "in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity."
Let us think of that quiet room as one of the holy places of the earth;
let us think of her, and take our leave of her, with loving and thankful
hearts.
THE END.
STORIES FOR YOUNG READERS
=JOURNEYS OF THE KIT KAT CLUB.= _Illustrated. 8vo. $2.00 Net._
By William R. A. Wilson.
A beautifully illustrated volume filled with interesting and salient
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=BUTT CHANLER, FRESHMAN.= _Illustrated. 12mo. $1.50._
By James Shelley Hamilton, Amherst '06.
College sports are always a subject of interest to young readers, and
here are incidents that are dear to all college associates.
"The story is breezy, bright, and clean."--_The Bookseller, New York_.
=WILLIAMS OF WEST POINT.= _Illustrated. 12mo. $1.50._
By Lieut. Hugh S. Johnson.
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=THE SUBSTITUTE.= _Illustrated. 12mo. $1.50._
By Walter Camp.
"Presents the ideal to football enthusiasts. The author's name is
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=THE FOREST RUNNERS.= _Illustrated in Color. 12mo. $1.50._
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This story deals with the further adventures of the two young woodsmen
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D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
TWO GOOD NOVELS.
=Cy Whittaker's Place.=
A Novel of Cape Cod Life, by Joseph C. Lincoln, Author of "Mr. Pratt,"
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Cape Cod life, as pictured by Joseph C. Lincoln, is delightful in
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the old man to attempt alone, so he calls in two old cronies and
they form a "Board of Strategy." A dramatic story of unusual merit
then develops, and through it all runs that rich vein of humor
which has won for the author a fixed place in the hearts of
thousands of readers. Cy Whittaker is the David Harum of Cape Cod.
=The Whispering Man.=
A Detective Story Worth While, by Henry Kitchell Webster. Frontispiece.
12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50.
A detective story you ought to read. Something altogether
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D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
NOVELS BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS.
=SPECIAL MESSENGER.= _Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50._
A romantic love story of a woman spy in the Civil War.
=THE FIRING LINE.= _Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50._
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The hero, forced out of the army by domestic troubles, returns to New
York homeless and idle. He finds a beautiful girl who promises ideal
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the New York _Sun_ calls Mr. Chambers' "amazing knack of narrative."
=THE FIGHTING CHANCE.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50._
One of the most brilliant pictures of wealthy American society ever
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one of the most widely read of all American novels.
=SOME LADIES IN HASTE.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50._
Mr. Chambers has written most delightfully, and in his charming satire
depicts the plight of five society girls and five clubmen.
=IOLE.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.25._
"Think of eight pretty girls in pink silk pajamas and sunbonnets,
brought up in innocence in a scientific Eden, with a 'House Beautiful'
in the back-ground, and a poetical father in the foreground. Think again
of those rose-petalled creations turned loose upon New York society and
then enjoy the fun of it all in 'Iole.'"--_Boston Herald._
=THE TRACER OF LOST PERSONS.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50._
The captivating account of the strangely absorbing adventures of a
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"Compared with him Sherlock Holmes is clumsy and without human
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=THE TREE OF HEAVEN.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50._
If you looked squarely into a mirror and saw your PROFILE instead of
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=THE RECKONING.= _Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50._
A story of northern New York during the last fierce fights between
Tories and Revolutionaries and the Iroquois Indians, by which tribe the
hero had been adopted.
"It would be but an unresponsive American that would not thrill to such
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D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
BY RALPH HENRY BARBOUR
=The New Boy at Hilltop=
Illustrated in Colors, Ornamental Cloth Cover with Inlay in Colors,
12mo, $1.50.
The story of a boy's experiences at boarding school. The first
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remaining chapters tell of his life on the football field, on the
crew, his various scrapes and fights, school customs and school
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incidents of boarding school life.
=Winning His "Y"=
Illustrated in Colors, 12mo, Decorated Cloth Cover, $1.50.
The scene of this story is Yardley Hall, the school made famous in
"Double Play" and "Forward Pass!"; and we meet again the manly,
self-reliant Dan Vinton, his young friend Gerald Pennimore, and
many others of the "old boys" whose athletic achievements and other
doings have been so entertainingly chronicled by Mr. Barbour. The
new story is thus slightly connected with its predecessors, but
will be fully as interesting to a boy who has not read them as if
it were not.
=Double Play=
Illustrated in Colors, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50.
Further experiences of Dan Vinton--hero of "Forward Pass!"--at
Yardley Hall. He becomes in a way the mentor of the millionaire's
son, Gerald Pennimore, who enters the school. There is the
description of an exciting baseball game, and the stratagem by
which the wily coach, Payson, puts some ginger into an overtrained
squad and develops from it a winning team will appeal to every boy.
=Forward Pass!=
Illustrated in Colors, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50.
In his new story, Mr. Barbour returns to the field of his earlier
and more successful stories, such as "The Half-Back," "Captain of
the Crew," etc. The main interest in "Forward Pass!" centers about
the "new" football; the story is, nevertheless, one of
preparatory-school life and adventures in general. The book
contains several illustrations and a number of diagrams of the
"new" football plays. Mr. Barbour considers this his best story.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK
BY WALTER CAMP
=Jack Hall at Yale=
Illustrated in Colors, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50.
This is a story following, but not distinctly a sequel to, Mr. Camp's
successful juvenile, "The Substitute." It is a story dealing principally
with football in college, but including rowing and other sports. Mr.
Camp's idea in this book is to give a little more of a picture of
college life and the relations, friendships, enmities, etc., of the
students rather than to tell nothing but a football story. In other
words, the book is more of an attempt at the "Tom Brown at Rugby" idea
than a purely athletic story, although the basis of the story, as in
"The Substitute," is still athletics.
=The Substitute=
Illustrated in Colors, 12mo, Cloth, $1.50.
It describes vividly the efforts of the coaches in "whipping" the
football team of a great university into shape for the season's
struggles. The whole story is completely realistic--the talks of the
coaches to the team; the discussion of points and tactics in the game;
the details of individual positions; the daily work on the field.
Who can tell of Yale traditions, Yale ideals, and the militant Yale
spirit--which the famous author has marshaled on a hundred football
fields--as well as Walter Camp?
"Those interested in the great college game of football will find a
most fascinating tale in 'The Substitute,' of which Walter Camp,
the well-known coach and authority on the game, is the
author."--_Brooklyn Eagle._
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: "By the Alma River," by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik.]
[Footnote 2: "Charge of the Light Brigade," by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.]
[Footnote 3: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 137.]
[Footnote 4: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 126.]
[Footnote 5: "Santa Filomena," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.]
[Footnote 6: Kinglake, "Invasion of the Crimea."]
[Footnote 7: "Hiawatha," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.]
[Footnote 8: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 154.]
[Footnote 9: Rachel was a famous French actress, but I cannot imagine
any real resemblance between her and Miss Nightingale.]
[Footnote 10: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 220.]
[Footnote 11: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 223.]
[Footnote 12: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 229.]
[Footnote 13: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," pp. 231-32.]
[Footnote 14: Tooley, "Life of Florence Nightingale," p. 240.]
Transcriber's notes:
_Underscores_ show where _italic_ fonts were used in the original printed book.
=Equals signs= show where =bold= fonts were used in the original printed book.