Queen Victoria

ose whose wo

us in our

their o

from wh

GFE

specially when their work has had for its chief end and aim the alleviation of suffering. Woman has taken a leading par

ng was scarcely known at all. The worst type of nurse is viv

lf, if one may say so, at those to whom she talked. She wore a very rusty black gown, rather the worse for snuff, and a shawl and bonnet to correspond. In these dilapidated articles of dress she had, on principle, arrayed herse

d say also to all young ladies who are called to any particular vocation, qualify yourselves for it, as a man does for his work. Don't think you can undertake it otherwise. . . . If you are called to man's work, do not exact a woman's privileges-the privilege of in

aining, visiting all the best institutions in Germany, France, and Italy. She gav

the century. Everything was hopelessly mismanaged from the beginning. In August the English and French allied forces moved against the fortress of Sebastopol, from which Russia was threatening a

hemselves into pack-mules and tramp fourteen miles through the mud in the depth of winter in order to obtain food and warm blankets for their comrades and themselves. Their condition

transports, and the doctors were forced to see men dying before their eyes without the means of helping them. The loss of life from the a

in battle; 18,058 died from other causes in hospital. Several regiments lost nearly all their men, and during th

ling state of affairs to the notice of the public, and the nation at last woke up

exhausted remnants of the army, and on the 21st October Florence Nightingale, wit

fewer than ten thousand sick men in her charge, and the rows of bed

one and another, and nod and smile to many more; but she could not do it to all, you know-we lay there

return to England she received a national welcome. She was received by the Queen and presented with a jewel in commemoration of her work, and no less than

n: Florence

s later, it was agreed that in time of war all ambulances, military hospitals, etc., should be regarded as neutral, and that doctors and nurses should be considered as non

ery matter which affected the health of the people, and it is entirely owing to her

low, in his poem "Santa Filomena," often

t I, as by

at army of

hes cold

ed and fr

from the b

hospital

rless co

and sto

at house

ith a la

h the glimm

from room

s in a drea

ss sufferer

dow, as

darkeni

ment. Alas! It is that awful accompaniment of war, disease, which is so much more to be dreaded than the fighting itself." And again, after a visit to Chatham: "Four hundred and fifty of my dear, br

ers, mostly Quakers, led by Elizabeth Fry, to bring about any real improvement. Any one who wishes to read what dens of filth and hotbeds of in

for all prisoners; chaplains and matrons for female prisoners were appointed. The public, however, got the idea-as in the case of workhouse

s in the country. The condition of the women and children was too dreadful to describe, and she felt tha

ng before there was a marked improvement in the appea

ion of the London prisons. Mrs Fry was called upon to give evidence, and she recommended several improvements, e.g. that prisoners s

be done to improve the condition of the unfortunate women who were transported as convicts. She succeeded in improving matters

Hood, author of "Song of the Shirt," misunderstood Mrs Fry's aim

our friend-and

very worst de

word! But I mu

school in Ne

ay increase, b

ls at their br

st you rent-(and

ool out of Ne

es, Mrs Fry persevered until the day of her d

time there were practically no reformatory or industrial schools in the country, and Mary Carpenter set to work with some friends to found an institution near Bristol. She worked to save children-especi

ing good assistants. She wished to convince the Government that her methods were rig

a Bill was passed establishing reformatory schools. From this time her influence rapidly increased, and it is mainly owing to her efforts

need for the better education of women, and at a later date she went to America, where she had many warm f

tineau. At an early age it was evident that she was gifted beyond the ordinary, and at sev

bore this affliction with the greatest courage and cheerfulness, but misfortunes followed one another in rapid succession. Her elder brother died of cons

until late in the night, and after her first success in literature, when she won all three prizes offered by the Unitarian body for an es

s publishers, she succeeded in getting it accept

ture and politics could always be discussed. She was consulted even by Cabinet Min

o the majority of people, who were apt to look upon 'learned' women as 'Blue-stocking

us touch t

a song

omewhat difficul

case more

sperate e

the praise of

eggs, an

osophy sh

your house but she

e, with a

ake (and pa

l my eye and H

itical

ue as De

f Distress she st

l he sta

s a migh

e's my eye and

sides with the utmost fury, for the Northern States stood solid against abolition. But she remained unmoved in her opinion, and when in 1862 the great Civil War broke out, her

of her best books, including her well-known stories for children,

r chief pleasure lay in devising schemes for improving the lot of her poorer neighbours. She orga

ged leader on all moral questions, especia

as women," she said, "to mount guard over society