THE HALLOWED NAME.

I ONCE could speak those simple words With gay and cheerful tone,

And hear them fall from other lips

As lightly as my own;

But now my voice grows tremulous

And low, as if it came

Through tearful mists, whene'er I breathe That fond, familiar name.

When others utter it, the sound

Awakes a sudden start,

That with concentric motion thrills

The surface of my heart;

All other visions break before

That circle's widening sway.

Until the trembling memories melt

In silent tears away.

Why should those sounds have power to call Such sadness to my brow?

And wherefore has that name become

So consecrate as now

That I can only murmur it

In mournful under-breath?
It hath been hallow'd-sanctified
By the dread seal of death!

Far off, above a grave that lies
Mid other graves unknown,
Strange eyes will see it cut upon
The monumental stone:

They reck not, as the sad brief line
They frame with thought'ess air,
Through what a gush of tears my eyes
Would read it graven there!

Deep down within my brooding heart Is hid that sacred word,

Which midst the throngs of living men
Shall never more be heard:

He could not find on earth again
Scope for his spirit's aim;

Oh! since an angel bears it now
It is a hallowed name!

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.

HE excellent lady whose portrait we give this month, and whose name, has been for these seven years past a household word in the mouths of Englishmen at home and abroad, is the younger daughter and co-heiress (with her sister, Lady Verney) of William Edward Nightingale, Esq., of Embly Park, Hampshire, and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire. She was born at Florence, in May, 1820, and received her designation in memory of her birthplace. Her father, who is a member of an old Yorkshire family, formerly bore the name of Shore, and assumed that of Nightingale only on succeeding to the property and estates of a distant relative. He married early in life the daughter of the late William Smith, Esq. M.P. for Norwich, an ardent laborer for slave emancipation and a general promotor of every good work. As the child of intellectual no less than of affluent parents, the youth of Florence Nightingale was passed under circumstances most favorable to the development of her moral and mental life; and that spirit of philanthropy and love of letters which formed part of her natural inheritance, was cultivated with the most sedulous attention.

"In her childhood," writes Miss H. Martineau in Once a Week, " a domestic incident disclosed to the honest-minded little girl what her liking was, and she followed the lead of her natural taste. She took care of all cuts and bruises, and nursed all illness within her reach; and there is always a good deal of these things within the reach of country gentry who are wealthy and benevolent. In literature, books which disclosed life and

its miseries, and character with its sufferings burnt themselves in upon her mind and created much of her future effort."

Under the guidance of her father she gradually attained proficiency in classics and mathematics, as well as a genera! acquaintance with science, literature and art. Nor was the ordinary range of feminine accomplishments omitted from her education, as she is a good musician, and possesses some knowledge of almost all the modern languages, speaking those of France, Italy and Germany with scarcely less facility than her native tongue. She was while young an extensive traveller, having visited most of the cities on the Continent, and even penetrated far into Egypt, making friends and acquaintances of every class and creed among whom her lot has been cast, and and thus storing up fresh experience of human nature and human life.

Endowed with independence and a home rich in art and beautiful in nature, surrounded by affection, and gifted with a heart and mind to appreciate such blessings, Florence Nightingale might fairly say, "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places." Why, then, it might be asked, should she have foregone all the delights of life to dwell among sights and sounds that might appal the strongest heart? Simply because, whilst gathering up the good things of the outward existence so abundantly showered upon her, and so far fulfilling the requirements of her station as to consent to a presentation at Court, her tender heart and energetic nature yearned after something even more satisfying than the fruits and flowers of a fashionable or even an intellectual life.

"She had gone out into the the world," writes one who knows her well-" she had seen sorrow that might be soothed, vice that might be reformed, misery that might be relieved; and she longed to do something for the afflicted, as the friends and the brethren,' of the Great Founder of our faith, who had done so much for herself. From a very early age she evinced a strong sympathy and affection for her poorer neighbors; as a child she was accustomed to minister to the necessities of the poor dependants on her father's estates, purchasing that privilege by frequent acts of self denial; and even in her youth she became still further their teacher, consoler and friend.

"As Miss Nightingale advanced nearer to an age which admitted of independent action, she frequented the schools, hospitals and reformatory institutions of the metropolis, as well as those of Edinburgh and the Continent, becoming an eager student, and gathering up practical experience wherever it was to be learnt."

"In the year 1851," observes a writer in "Men of the Time," "when all Europe seemed keeping holiday in honor of the Great Exhibition, she took up her abode in an institution at Kaiserwerth, on the Rhine, where Protestant Sisters of Mercy are trained for the business of nursing the sick and other offices of charity. For three months she remained in daily and nightly attendance, accumulating the most valuable practical experience, and then returned home to wait patiently until an occasion should arise for its exercise. The strong tendency of her mind to look beyond her own immediate sphere did not long leave her without a definite interest. Her energies were now exerted on behalf of a class which has been too long neglected by the happy and the affluent; sufferers belonging to that order whom the Spanish pathetically designate as the 'blushing poor." Hearing that the Sanatorium for Governesses in Harley street was languishing for want of systematic management and effectual support, she volunteered to place herself at its head. Leaving the comforts and pleasures of home, Florence Nightingale took up her abode within its walls, devoting all her time and much of her fortune to the practical and permanent reorganization of that valuable institution. In this case, as in others, she proved her determination to do thoroughly the task she had set herself to execute; and as reforms are not accomplished without labor, or great achievements. performed without a vigorous exercise of sel-denial, the few friends who were admitted to her society at this time usually found her in the midst of nurses, prescriptions, letters, accounts, interruptions, and all the multifarious duties of a regular hospital chief."

Her health in some degree failed under these exertions, and cannot be said to have been re-established, when, after a short

At the request of the late Lord Herbert, then Secretary-atWar, Miss Nightingale consented to undertake the management of the expedition, and to place herself at its head. Not a moment was lost in unnecessary delay; she herself had counted the cost, and shrank not from its payment; whilst her parents, scarcely less self-denying, were content to give up their child to so holy a service. A very short time (barely eight days) sufficed for preliminary arrangements, and on the 5th of November, 1854, she arrived at Constantinople in the steamship Vectis, accompanied by her valuable coadjutors, Mr. and Mrs. Bracebridge, and by thirty-seven nurses of more or less experience. The whole party were speedily established at their new quarters in the barrack-hospital at Scutari, and the occupation awaiting them there was increased in a few hours by the arrival of six hundred wounded men, sent down after the battle of Inkerman. At such a juncture the services of the nurses were acknowledged by the attendant surgeons to be invaluable; how ardently they were appreciated by the patients themselves, many an individual tribute of gratitude has since proved to us.

The details of this labor of love, pursued so unremittingly for many months, have been too widely diffused to need recapitulation here. It is well known that with some very few exceptions, the subordinates were never found wanting, either in will or power; whilst the strength and energy brought to bear by Miss Nightingale herself on the difficulties of her position surpassed, like the good she effected, even the hopeful anticipations of those who knew the extraordinary capabilities of her nature. "Every day," observes a qualified witness, "brought some new complication of misery to be somehow unravelled by the powers ruling in the sisters' hospital. Each day had its peculiar trial for one who had taken such a load of responsibility in an untried field, and with a staff of her own sex all new to it. She was frequently known to stand for twenty hours on the arrival of fresh detachments of sick, apportioning quarters, distributing stores, directing the labors of her corps, assisting at the most painful operations where her presence might soothe and support, and spending hours over men dying of cholera and fever. Indeed, the more awful to every sense any particular case might be, the more certainly might be seen her slight form bending over the patient, and administering to his case by every means in her power."

And yet probably, Miss Nightingale's personal devotion to the cause was, in her own estimation, the least onerous of her duties. The difficulties thrown in her way by the restrictions of system, and the prejudices of individuals, will scarcely be forgotten; or the daily contests by which she was compelled to wring from the authorities a proper allowance of the appliances needed in the daily offices of her band, 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. The executive strength at ber disposal, it may be observed, had been increased early in January, 1855, by the arrival of Miss Stanley (the daughter of the late Bishop of Norwich, and sister of Canon Stanley), with fifty more nurses, many of whom were dispersed to different parts of the country, where their services were particularly needed. The gradual growth of Miss

When it became apparent that the most important portion of her work at Scutari was achieved, she proceeded to Balaklava, for the purpose of inspecting its hospitals, arriving there on the 4th of May, 1855. Her previous exertions, however, now told on a frame which had always been delicate; and, completely prostrated by an attack of Crimean fever, she was carried up to the hut hospital on the heights. At the end of a fortnight the severity of the attack had abated, and a voyage to England was strongly recommended. No persuasions, however, could induce her to proceed further than Scutari, and after remaining there sufficiently long for the comparative reestablishment of her health, she resumed her active duties. On two separate occasions she returned to the Crimea, and devoted all her energies to the improvement of the hospitals there, from periods of from two to four months. The announcement of peace, at the beginning of 1856, found her thus engaged.

"Miss Nightingale," observes the author of "Scutari and its Hospitals," "is just what you would expect in any other well-bred woman, who may have seen, perhaps, rather more than thirty years of life; her manner and countenance are prepossessing, and this without the possession of positive beauty; it is a face not easily forgotten-pleasing in its smile, with an eye betokening great self-possession, and giving, when she wishes, a quiet look of firm determination in every feature. Her general demeanor is quiet and rather reserved; still I am much mistaken if she is not gifted with a very lively sense of the ridiculous. In conversation, she speaks on matters of business with a grave earnestness thaa one would not expect from her appearance. She has evidently a mind disciplined to restrain, under the principles of the action of the moment, every feeling which would interfere with it. She has trained herself to command, and learned the value of conciliation towards others and constraint over herself." In conclusion, the same author records his opinion that Florence Nightingale is the one individual who in the Crimean war showed, more than any other, what real energy, guided by good sense, could do to meet the calls of sudden emergency. The important service rendered by her to her own sex, in breaking down the barrier of prejudice which had crushed many a noble impulse, will surely be exemplified through generations to come by the healthy activity and increased happiness of many an Englishwoman's life.

Towards the close of the year 1855, her majesty presented to Miss Nightingale an elegant diamond ornament, adapted to be worn as a decoration, accompanied by a most cordial autograph letter, in testimony of the Queen's approval of her valuable efforts.

When the period of Miss Nightingale's return to England and her ordinary sphere of occupation could not possibly be very long deferred, it was resolved that an acceptable testimonal of public gratitude should be offered to her on her arrival, in the shape of a fund for the foundation of an institution in which to carry out her views for the education and employment of nurses; presuming, from the tenor of her past life, that the opportunity of future exertion would be the most congenial recompense for her noble self-devotion.

Upon the declaration of peace, so soon as the troops were withdrawn from the Crimea, and the return of her nurses provided for, Miss Nightingale embarked with one female relative, and effected her journey to England without having been recognised, and with such rapidity as to reach her Derbyshire home before even her family were apprised that she had left Scutari. She shortly afterwards visited Scotland, where she was summoned for a few days to Balmoral, that the Queen might have the opportunity of receiving from herself an account of her proceedings, in which her majesty testified the most lively and feeling interest.

In the report of the commissioners appointed in 1857 to examine the regulations as to the sanitary condition of the army and the organization of military hospitals, will be found the answers of Miss Nightingale to a series of written questions, in