The first great measure, which, supported as it was by the Queen,
the Cabinet, and the united opinion of the country, it was
impossible to resist, was the appointment of a Royal Commission
to report upon the health of the Army. The question of the
composition of the Commission then immediately arose; and it was
over this matter that the first hand-to-hand encounter between
Lord Panmure and Miss Nightingale took place. They met, and Miss
Nightingale was victorious; Sidney Herbert was appointed
Chairman; and, in the end, the only member of the Commission
opposed to her views was Dr. Andrew Smith. During the interview,
Miss Nightingale made an important discovery: she found that 'the
Bison was bullyable'--the hide was the hide of a Mexican buffalo,
but the spirit was the spirit of an Alderney calf. And there was
one thing above all others which the huge creature dreaded--an
appeal to public opinion. The faintest hint of such a terrible
eventuality made his heart dissolve within him; he would agree to
anything he would cut short his grouse-shooting--he would make a
speech in the House of Lords, he would even overrule Dr. Andrew
Smith--rather than that. Miss Nightingale held the fearful threat
in reserve--she would speak out what she knew; she would publish
the truth to the whole world, and let the whole world judge
between them.
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