Indeed, the more awful to
every sense any particular case might be, the more certainly might her
slight form be seen bending over him, administering to his case by every
means in her power, and seldom quitting his side until death had
released him. And yet, probably, Miss Nightingale's personal devotion in
the cause was, in her own estimation, the least onerous of her duties.
The difficulties thrown in her way by the formalities of _system_ and
_routine_, and the prejudices of individuals, will scarcely be
forgotten, or the daily contests by which she was compelled to wring
from the authorities a scant allowance of the appliances needed in the
daily offices of her hand, until the co-operation of Mr. Macdonald, the
distributor of the _Times_ fund, enabled her to lay in stores, to
institute separate culinary and washing establishments, and, in short,
to introduce comfort and order into the department over which she
presided." And so, during the greater part of the momentous campaign,
she did the work that she had set out to do, bravely and faithfully, and
earnestly and well; and we may be sure that on her return to England she
was welcomed gladly. The queen presented her with a costly diamond
ornament, to be worn as a decoration, and accompanied it with an
autograph letter, in which her great merits were fully, gracefully, and
gratefully acknowledged. It was proposed to give Miss Nightingale a
public reception; but, with true modesty, she shrunk from appearing in
any other than her own character of nurse and soother, and at once
passed into retirement.
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