Letter to Mr. Burton
1895-02-25

[Page 1 of 8]
Feb 25/95
10, South Street,
Park Lane, W.
Dear Mr. Burton
Thank you very much for
your letter. We rejoice
that the Children's Concert
have, under you, answered
so well. It is the due
reward of your efforts.
I do not know how
many or which of the books
on the first List went
to the Institute - & which
to the School Library.
Perhaps you will ask
the Institute Librarian
some day to tell me the
former. It is always
instructive to me.
Hoping that you are both getting over colds, & with a
hearty
God bless
you,
ever
sincerely
yours
F. Nightingale
[Page 2 of 8]
Parish Council. Pray do
not be "pessimistic"
about it. Should we
not always back it up?
I hope that Sanitation
will soon form their
"great work" as you say.
In all the countries
I have staid in or lived
in or know much about,
one of the great differences
between them & England
is this. England's first
& best men (& now I
may say best women) are
always ready to serve
[Page 3 of 8]
their country & fellow
creatures in what
appear drudgery
employment without
reward of any kind
but duty well fulfilled.
Fancy Sir John Lawrence
after having saved India
by his single action in
the Punjab - after his
Vice Royalty - serving,
as soon as he returned
as Lord Lawrence, on the
first London School Board
- a service the most
distasteful to him who
[Page 4 of 8]
has always had to act
"off his own bat" as it
were, & now had to
be interrupted by a
parcel of people who
liked to hear their own
voices. It hastened his
end But it was he
who gave importance & good work to
the first London School
Board.
A Board of Guardians
in London some years
ago which shall be
nameless was redeemed
from corruption by one
thing as much as any other.
[Page 5 of 8]
2
A lady serving on it -
the first woman,
I believe, who ever
served on a Board of
Guardians.
Now all over the
country we see people
willing to serve who
can do good services
who can represent
the various interests
of our population - not
that these are really
various, they are really
the same. The wife
of one of our Lord
Lieutenants, a beautiful
[Page 6 of 8]
& charming woman,
with many duties, is
serving on a District
Council (which is in
effect serving as a
Guardian).
I could multiply
these instances. But I
only quote them to say:
- ought not we to back
with all our mights
an experiment at
Local Self Govt. which
could only succeed in
England?
May I send you
a little printed Preface
[Page 7 of 8]
of mine which I was
asked for ?
Also: Chalmers' Local
Self Govt., which is
reprinting with a
Chapter on Parish
Councils, as soon as it
is ready?
It is delightful to
know of the children
attending so regularly,
thanks to you.
Thrift is, I think,
one of the great questions
of the present day,
[Page 8 of 8]
tho' not a popular one.
Think of many women
who have been earning
not only good but large
wages in different industries for many years,
becoming destitute from
a few weeks' frost -
In the South of England
where wages are
comparatively small,
I believe there is not
the same destitution from
temporary causes. In great
cities there is.
I hope your proposed
"Relief Committee" will not
make jealousy among the
children.