The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1899-06-01

girl, who, dropping everything. would
hasten away to soothe Or heal.
On so small a thing as the though.
less cruelty OF some country boys 10 a
shepherds dog did the career OF Flor.
ence Nightingale turn. Her father. a
man of wealth and gentle birth, was
proud OF her talents and brain, and she
was educated thoroughly in lines in
which even to day we'll bred young
ladies are not required to attain pro-
ficiency. She spoke several languag ges
f1uently and was a fine musician amt
artist
When she was older, the family went
to London, where the two dauehters
were presented at court and took Their
place III society. Florence, however,
was noticeably interested in hospitals
and hospital work.
Before the end O! the first season
Miss Nightingale had in a measure
withdrawn herself from social life. Her
time was devoted to going about among
the hospitals and charitable Institutions
in London. She soon discovered :he,
iEefficiency Of the majority of those
who nursed the sick. Those were The
days Of Sairey Camps, ard her mind,
actlye In its sympathles and phllan-
thropy, reached out for plan that
might remedy this defect. She saw in
continental countries the trained sister
hoods of the Catholic church carrying
on their noble work with all the ad-
vantages of experience and trained
skill. When she heard Of what was a
unique organization at the time--a
sisterhood Of Protestant nurses of Kai.
serWorth, on the Rhine-Miss Nightin.
gale, full OF enth uaiasm, journeyed
thlther TO learn of these good women
what she could CT their methods and
system. Alter staying with them for a
time she cane back to London eager
to put into practice some of the newly
acquire} knowledge. There was a
home for superannuated governessea
which was sadly in need Of financiering
AMI better management. This Miss
Nightingale took up as her first task :.
She gave up her luxurious surroundings
the society OF congenial and cultivated
friends, aud with all the art.or Of new
joan OF Arc threw herself into the
work OF caring for the poor and sick.
That she succeeded in rescuing the
Goyernesses' home from disaster and
oblivion goes without saying. Itstands
to day a prosperous institution at ~
Harley street, London.
Tho undertaking proved too much
for the always delicate constitution OF
Miss Nightingale, and she was after
whiia compelled to return to her beau
tiiul home at Lea Hurst to win back
health and strength among The beech
groves she loved so we'll.
The work for which Florence Night
ingale had been born came to her then,
perhaps because, herself weak aud suf-
fering, she was the better able to un-
defstand the pain of others. Philoso-
pliers OF the Sehopenhauer school say
that the quality and depth of our own
sympathy are in the ratio of our own
experience.
The whole Of England was ringing
with the suffering of the English
soldiers in the hospitals in the Crlmea.
Public Indignation had reached high
pitch, yet the British authorities SEEM
ed unable to mend matters. Sir Sydney
Herbert of the war department knew
Miss Nightingale, and at last he said.
at is wornan's work, and there is one
woman in England who can set this
right !" He sat down and wrote to Miss
Nightingale. At the same time, so
that their letters must have crossed in
the mails, Miss Nightingale had writ
ten letter offering her services to the
government and saying that she
thought the soldiers needed good nurs-
ing, such as women alone could give
them There was in those days no
such thing as a Red Cross society or
trained nurses
OF course, when her services were ac-
captea all her friends were aghast
they said her going to Crimea was un-
womanly, foolish and a useless sacrifice.
"Ths real dignity OF gen tlewonan,"
said Miss Nightingale in reply, "is
very high and unassallable thing aud
which silently encompasses her from
her blrti,.''
It is now an old story Of how she in
six months refused system and human
ity into the unspeakable arrangements
Of the hospitals OF Scutari, in which
she superintended the care OF 5000,
an army of the sick and dying. There
was no laundry, no kitchen for the
proper prepa, alton Of food, no system