"I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to Mrs.
Seacole"s kindness and attention to the sick of the Railway Labourers" Army Works Corps and Land Transport Corps during the winters of 1854 and 1855.
"She not only, from the knowledge she had acquired in the West Indies, was enabled to administer appropriate remedies for their ailments, but, what was of as much or more importance, she charitably furnished them with proper nourishment, which they had no means of obtaining except in the hospital, and most of that cla.s.s had an objection to go into hospital, particularly the railway labourers and the men of the Army Works Corps.
"John Hall,
"Inspector-General of Hospitals."
I hope that Mr. P----, of the Army Works Corps, will pardon my laying the following letter before the public:--
"Dear Mrs. Seacole,--It is with feelings of great pleasure that I hear you are safely arrived in England, upon which I beg to congratulate you, and return you many thanks for your kindness whilst in the Crimea.
"The bitter sherry you kindly made up for me was in truth a great blessing to both myself and my son, and as I expect to go to Bombay shortly, I would feel grateful to you if you would favour me with the receipt for making it, as it appears to be so very grateful a beverage for weakness and bowel complaints in a warm climate. With many kind regards, believe me, dear madam, your obliged servant,
"Samuel P----,
"Late Superintendent Army Works Corps."
Here is a certificate from one of the Army Works" men, to whose case I devoted no little time and trouble:--
"I certify that I was labouring under a severe attack of diarrhoea last August, and that I was restored to health through the instrumentality and kindness of Mrs.
Seacole.
"I also certify that my fingers were severely jammed whilst at work at Frenchman"s Hill, and Mrs. Seacole cured me after three doctors had fruitlessly attempted to cure them.
"And I cannot leave the Crimea without testifying to the kindness and skill of Mrs. Seacole, and may G.o.d reward her for it.
"James Wallen,
"5th Division Army Works Corps."
Here are three more letters--and the last I shall print--from a sailor, a soldier, and a civilian:--
"This is to certify that Wm. Adams, caulker, of H.M.S.
"Wasp," and belonging to the Royal Naval Brigade, had a severe attack of cholera, and was cured in a few hours by Mrs. Seacole."
"I certify that I was troubled by a severe inflammation of the chest, caused by exposure in the trenches, for about four months, and that Mrs. Seacole"s medicine completely cured me in one month, and may G.o.d reward her.
"Charles Flinn, Sergt. 3rd Co. R.S.M."
"Upper Clapton, Middles.e.x, March 2, 1856.
"Dear Madam,--Having been informed by my son, Mr. Edward Gill, of St. George"s Store, Crimea, of his recent illness (jaundice), and of your kind attention and advice to him during that illness, and up to the time he was, by the blessing of G.o.d and your a.s.sistance, restored to health, permit me, on behalf of myself, my wife, and my family, to return you our most grateful thanks, trusting you may be spared for many years to come, in health of body and vigour of mind, to carry out your benevolent intention. Believe me, my dear madam, yours most gratefully,
"Edward Gill."
And now that I have made this a chapter of testimonials, I may as well finish them right off, and have done with them altogether. I shall trouble the patient reader with four more only, which I have not the heart to omit.
"Sebastopol, July 1, 1856.
"Mrs. Seacole was with the British army in the Crimea from February, 1855, to this time. This excellent woman has frequently exerted herself in the most praiseworthy manner in attending wounded men, even in positions of great danger, and in a.s.sisting sick soldiers by all means in her power. In addition, she kept a very good store, and supplied us with many comforts at a time we much required them.
"Wm. P----,
"Adjutant-General of the British Army in the Crimea."
"July 1, 1856.
"I have much pleasure in stating that I am acquainted with Mrs. Seacole, and from all that I have seen or heard of her, I believe her to be a useful and good person, kind and charitable.
"C. A. W----,
"Lt.-Gen. Comm. of Sebastopol."
The third is from the pen of one who at that time was more looked to, and better known, than any other man in the Crimea. In the 2nd vol. of Russell"s "Letters from the Seat of War," p. 187, is the following entry:--
"In the hour of their illness these men (Army Works Corps), in common with many others, have found a kind and successful physician. Close to the railway, half-way between the Col de Balaclava and Kadikoi, Mrs.
Seacole, formerly of Kingston and of several other parts of the world, such as Panama and Chagres, has pitched her abode--an iron storehouse with wooden sheds and outlying tributaries--and here she doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success. She is always in attendance near the battle-field to aid the wounded, and has earned many a poor fellow"s blessings."
Yes! I cannot--referring to that time--conscientiously charge myself with doing less for the men who had only thanks to give me, than for the officers whose grat.i.tude gave me the necessaries of life. I think I was ever ready to turn from the latter to help the former, humble as they might be; and they were grateful in their way, and as far as they could be. They would buy me apples and other fruit at Balaclava, and leave them at my store. One made me promise, when I returned home, to send word to his Irish mother, who was to send me a cow in token of her grat.i.tude for the help I had been to her son. I have a book filled with hundreds of the names of those who came to me for medicines and other aids; and never a train of sick or wounded men from the front pa.s.sed the British Hotel but its hostess was awaiting them to offer comforts to the poor fellows, for whose suffering her heart bled.
_Punch_, who allowed my poor name to appear in the pages which had welcomed Miss Nightingale home--_Punch_, that whimsical mouthpiece of some of the n.o.blest hearts that ever beat beneath black coats--shall last of all raise its voice, that never yet pleaded an unworthy cause, for the Mother Seacole that takes shame to herself for speaking thus of the poor part she bore of the trials and hardships endured on that distant sh.o.r.e, where Britain"s best and bravest wrung hardly Sebastopol from the grasp of Britain"s foe:--
"No store she set by the epaulette, Be it worsted or gold lace; For K. C. B. or plain private Smith, She had still one pleasant face.
"And not alone was her kindness shown To the hale and hungry lot Who drank her grog and ate her prog, And paid their honest shot.
"The sick and sorry can tell the story Of her nursing and dosing deeds; Regimental M.D. never worked as she, In helping sick men"s needs.
"Of such work, G.o.d knows, was as much as she chose That dreary winter-tide, When Death hung o"er the damp and pestilent camp, And his scythe swung far and wide.
"She gave her aid to all who prayed, To hungry and sick and cold; Open hand and heart, alike ready to part Kind words and acts, and gold.
"And--be the right man in the right place who can-- The right woman was Dame Seacole."
Reader, now that we have come to the end of this chapter, I can say what I have been all anxiety to tell you from its beginning. Please look back to Chapter VIII., and see how hard the right woman had to struggle to convey herself to the right place.
CHAPTER XIV.
MY CUSTOMERS AT THE BRITISH HOTEL.