The young gentleman returned to England by
the next ship.
This quarrel with Sidney Herbert was, however, an exceptional
incident. Alike by him, and by Lord Panmure, his successor at the
War Office, she was firmly supported; and the fact that during
the whole of her stay at Scutari she had the Home Government at
her back, was her trump card in her dealings with the hospital
authorities. Nor was it only the Government that was behind her:
public opinion in England early recognised the high importance of
her mission, and its enthusiastic appreciation of her work soon
reached an extraordinary height. The Queen herself was deeply
moved. She made repeated inquiries as to the welfare of Miss
Nightingale; she asked to see her accounts of the wounded, and
made her the intermediary between the throne and the troops. 'Let
Mrs. Herbert know,' she wrote to the War Minister, 'that I wish
Miss Nightingale and the ladies would tell these poor noble,
wounded, and sick men that NO ONE takes a warmer interest or
feels MORE for their sufferings or admires their courage and
heroism MORE than their Queen. Day and night she thinks of her
beloved troops. So does the Prince. Beg Mrs. Herbert to
communicate these my words to those ladies, as I know that our
sympathy is much valued by these noble fellows.' The letter was
read aloud in the wards by the Chaplain.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201