CHAPTER XVTIMELY HELPLavish Gifts for the Soldiers—The TimesFund—The TimesCommissioner Visits Scutari—His Description of Miss Nightingale—Arrival of M. Soyer, the FamousChef—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.
Lavish Gifts for the Soldiers—The TimesFund—The TimesCommissioner Visits Scutari—His Description of Miss Nightingale—Arrival of M. Soyer, the FamousChef—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.
Lavish Gifts for the Soldiers—The TimesFund—The TimesCommissioner Visits Scutari—His Description of Miss Nightingale—Arrival of M. Soyer, the FamousChef—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.
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’spersonal 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 goodfor 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 theDuke 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 thatThe Timesfund 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.
WhenThe Timescommissioner 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 hisTimesgold 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 “nothingwas 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 thatThe Timescommissioner 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 ofdrugs, 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 Timesalmoner 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 theLady-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 allthe 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.
MISS NIGHTINGALE AND THE DYING SOLDIER—A SCENE AT SCUTARI HOSPITAL WITNESSED BY M. SOYER.[To face p. 176
MISS NIGHTINGALE AND THE DYING SOLDIER—A SCENE AT SCUTARI HOSPITAL WITNESSED BY M. SOYER.[To face p. 176
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 musthave 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 ofThe 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.”
“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 hisimpressions:—
“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 appropriatekitchen, 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 ladywhose 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 ora 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.”