Letter to Mrs. Chalmers
1866-10-02

[Page 1 of 12]
Private
Oct 2/66
35 South Street,
Park Lane,
London. W.
Dear Madam
Only a few days ago
was a letter of yours,
of March 9, received
by me.
It was about William
Henry Jones, a young man
who died in the
Consumptive Hospital
early in March, & was
most kindly visited
by you
He had been a terrible
anxiety to me. And, tho'
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I had had most satisfactory
accounts of the "repentance
& faith" he showed on
on his death-bed, (thro' the
kindness of Mr. Dobbin,
the Secretary) - I cannot tell you
how touching & comforting
it was to me to hear from
yourself what he said
to you & what you
thought of his state.
He was a merchant sailor
boy & when he was about
15, he was put on shore
at Balaclava in 1856
& taken into Hospital
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there in a state equally
corrupt of mind & body
(if I may phrase it so).
One leg was amputated -
and for nearly 3 weeks he was
literally kept alive on
Champagne-Wine alone.
[I have never seen such
another case.] When he
recovered, as there was
not a soul to take any
charge of him, I brought
him home with me,
with two other boys,
one a Russian, both of
whom have turned out
admirably.
Alas for poor William
Jones. And yet not alas!
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if the mercy of God has
been shown him, what
better can be said of any
one?
It was touching to me that
he said to you that he
"hoped I had heard no
harm of him". For he
knew well, if I heard
of him at all, there
was nothing but "harm"
to hear.
Not to weary you with a
very sad tale, Wm Jones
was taken in first at
my father's house with
those two other boys - my
father's servants being
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2
of a patriarchal kind,
butler & housekeeper being
husband & wife & with
their own boy living with
them in the house. But
it was found impossible
to keep Wm Jones, from
his inveterate habits
of lying. He was then
apprenticed, at his own
desire, to a watch-maker,
& subsequently to other
trades, & furnished with
a spring cork leg. From
every successive home
he ran away - & from
each I received letters,
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calling upon me to pay
his debts. I am afraid
there was worse behind.
But, not to enter into more
detail, I was quite relieved
to be able to get him at
last a bed in the Consumptive
Hospital - still more
relieved when I heard
(thro' Mr. Dobbin) from
Chaplain, Matron & Nurse
how much "repentance"
he had shown. He told
Mr. Ross (an excellent
man, formerly a Non-
Commissioned Officer, who
never lost sight of poor
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Wm Jones, tho' wearied out
with his backslidings, &
who visited him to the
last,) that he had written
me a letter (in the
Hospital), expressing
"repentance & faith in
"thy Lord & asking my
"forgiveness" - This
letter I never had. But
I think it likely that,
in the weakness of illness,
there may have been
some confusion, & that
this was the message
which you so kindly
conveyed to me, & which
I received only last
week. I cannot tell
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you what a comfort it
was to me.
I blame Wm Jones, poor
fellow, less than myself.
He was quite corrupted
when he came to me.
I think, if I had placed
him in a good Reformatory
he might have been
alive & honest now.
But I thought an honest
trade would be as well.
For, at that time, there
was no overt act by which
he could legally have been
placed, except
by his own will,
in a Reformatory of any
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3
kind.
But God has done
better for him - the best.
The two other boys are now
- one, a steward on an
excellent landlord's estate
in Scotland - the other,
a servant in my father's
house - both steady
& well principled young
men - tho' the Russian
when he first came to
me, a poor little (scalded)
boy of 9 years old, when
he was asked: Who made
you? - by a female
Missionary of mine -
(in English, which he spoke perfectly)
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answered: "Miss Nightingale."
And, after some further
steps by the same lady
in his religious education,
when he was asked: -
- Where shall you go to
when you die? - answered
"To Miss Nightingale's."
I would not have
troubled you with so long
a letter but to show
my gratitude, however
imperfectly, for yours.
You kindly ask after my
health. I am an incurable
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invalid, entirely a prisoner
to my bed (except during
a periodical migration) -
& overwhelmed with
business. I should not
say "overwhelmed" for,
of all the causes I have
for the deepest thankfulness
to God, there is not one
I feel so deeply as that He
still enables me to work
for Him - & leads me so
plainly, tho' by a way I "have
not known."
I have heard with the
greatest interest of
Miss Marsh's good work,
which she has added to
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her many others, for
Convalescents from Cholera.
Might I enclose a small
sum‚ £5, to help in it?
With my most fervent thanks to her for
her kindness to my poor boy.
Pray believe me
dear Madam
ever your faithful & grateful
servt
Florence Nightingale
Mrs. Chalmers