The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-08 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

only to what they have achieved, hut also to what they
have endured—not only to their conduct in action with the
enemy, but also to their bearing under the pressure of
privations and sufferings such as perhaps no other victori•
ous army has undergone, and which are far more trying to
the fortitude of brave men than the dangers of actual
combat. In the chill rains of December and the bitter
cold of January, when his strength was sinking from pri•
vation and fatigue and the enervating diseases that follow
in their• train, under which his comrades were falling like
leaves in autumn, he preserved unimpaired the honourable
pride of a British soldier in the midst of all his sufferings.
As long as his enfeebled limbs would carry him he stag-
gered down through miry ravines to trenches ankle-deep
in mud, or struggled up to his picket on some exposed
height. He was determined to do his duty whatever might
betide. He knew that the honour of her Majesty's arms
and the glory of his native country were intrusted to his
keeping. He never lost heart—he never yielded an inch
of ground, and not a murmur ever escaped his lips. This,
to my mind, is proof of a loftier heroism than even that
which was displayed in the devoted gallantry of Alma,
Balaklava, or Inkermann.

Sir John INl‘Neill then briefly alluded to the disasters
of the winter of '54, and came at once to the Crimean
Commissioners' report:—

Had the Government intended the inquiry in the Crimea
to be a sham, they would have selected tit instruments for
that purpose, but for any other than an honest purpose
they sent out the wrong men. Reports more }tiniest, and,
in all essential particulars, more faithful, or founded upon
a greater amount of trustworthy and concurrent testimony,
than the two reports which, on behalf of my colleague and
myself, I put into the hands of the Secretary of State for
War, and which he thought proper to lay before Parlia-
ment anti the public, were never, I believe, presented to
any Minister, and nothing that has since occurred has in
any degree shaken my confidence, or. I believe, the confi-
dence of the country, in the diligence, fairness, and
fidelity with which the inquiry intrusted to my guidance
was conducted, the evidence recorded, and the results
stated. That confidence will not be shaken until a better
authenticated account of the causes of those deplorable
deficiencies into which it was my duty to inquire has been
produced. (Loud cheers.)

To the hospital system he attributed the losses of
our army in the first winter:—

The truth is that the system upon which our military
hospitals were conducted, especially in the field, appears
to be antiquated and defective. It is little in accordance
with the ideas of our times—it contrasts disagreeably with
the progress in comfort and decency of most classes in
our community, and still more painfully with the improved
education, the improved tastes, and the improved social
position of the soldier. The sick who were landed at
Scutari from the Crimea, suffering from the prevailing
diseases, during the autumn and the early part of the
winter, were generally received into hospital in a loath-
some condition, and without any change of linen. The
hospital authorities did not consider themselves at liberty
to provide them with linen, because, according to the rules
of the service, a man going into hospital ought to take his
linen with him. Bnt this it was impossible for him to do.
When he embarked from Bulgaria for the Crimea in Sep-
tember, 18M, he hail been ordered to leave behind him his
squad bag, which contained the greater part of his linen
and spare clothing. Those bags were stored at Scutari,
where, I understand from a gentleman who has made in-
quiries on the subject, they all remained till January, and
nearly all till March, 1A55. When the sick and wounded
were sent down from the Crimea in the autumn and first
months of winter the linen which they had taken with
them to that country was generally either worn out, lost,
or destroyed during their illness ; and when they arrived
at the hospital at Scutari in the condition I have stated
the fact that their squad bags were there appears to have
been overlooked, and their own linen, which was lying in
those bags, within a few yards of where they were suffer-
ing in filth and rags for want of it, was not made available
to them. Who was responsible for this omission it would
be useless to inquire. Of course nobody is to blame,
unless, perhaps, I should be blamed for letting the cat out
of the squad bag.
But, though I em unable to tell yeat who was responsible
for leaving the sick in that wretched condition, I am able
to tell you who rescued them from it. Florence Nightin-
gale found them in that condition, and, except the aid she
received from the Times fund, provided. at her own ex-
pense, linen for the numerous patients, which could not
have cost less than 2,0001. or 3,0001. She found the hospi-
tals unprovided with any establishment for washing the
linen, and with the aid of the ladies and the nurses made
arrangements for that purpose, some of the ladies taking
an active share in that menial labour. She found the
hospitals without any trained cooks, and she established a
private kitchen in which food fitted for those who were
most reduced was prepared, and I have no doubt contri-
buted to save the life of many a brave man. Foreseeing
that the accotomodation would be insufficient, she urged the
repair of a large wing of the Barrack Hoapital, which was
so dilapidated as to be uninhabitable, and the repairs were
commenced : but the workmen soon struck because they
were unpaid, and the officer who had charge of the work
could not procure the requisite funds. She advanced
them from her own means, and, curiously enough, the
very day on which those repairs were completed a number
of sick and wounded, sufficient to fill that wing, and for
whom there was no other accommodation, arrived from the
Crimea and were placed there. But the wards were as
empty as b.-Iris, and the hospital authorities declined to
provide the requisite furniture. She purchased it at her
own coat, and furnished the wards ; but the amount has
since been repaid. I mention these things—and I might
tell you of many more—because many of you may not
know or may not remember them, and very few, I am sure,