But that retirement was not allowed to be
unproductive. So soon as her health, which was at all times delicate,
and had suffered considerably in the Crimea, had been somewhat restored,
she set to work to render the fruits of her experience useful to the
world. In 1859 she produced her "Hints on Nursing," one of the most
useful and practical little books ever published. In it she showed how
much might be done, even with small means, and in the midst of manifold
difficulties and discouragements; and it is no small triumph to the
advocates of female labor, in proper spheres, that Florence Nightingale
and her friends have shown that, as a nurse and comforter on the field
of battle, woman may work out her mission quietly and unostentatiously,
without, at the same time, interfering with the occupations of the other
sex. In Florence Nightingale we have an example of a lady bred in the
lap of luxury, and educated in the school of wealth and exclusiveness,
breaking down the barriers of custom, and proving to the world that true
usefulness belongs to no particular rank, age, or station, but is the
privilege of all Eve's daughters, and that any employment sanctified by
devotion and fervor and earnest desire to do good is essentially womanly
and graceful, and fitting alike to the inheritors of wealth or poverty.
That the absence of feminine influence must tend to materialize, to
sensualize, and to harden, must, we think, be admitted by all the
thoughtful.
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