FOOTNOTES: 

[40] Small kettles.

[41] I am allowed to reproduce the foregoing letters by the gracious permission of Their Majesties the King and Queen.

CHAPTER XVII

     THE WORK OF LADY GEORGIANA CURZON, LADY CHESHAM, AND THE
     YEOMANRY HOSPITAL, DURING THE WAR—­THIRD VOYAGE TO THE CAPE,
     1902

     “Fight the good fight.”

On the pages of history is recorded in golden letters the name and deeds of Florence Nightingale, who, as the pioneer of scientific hospital nursing, did so much to mitigate the horrors of war.  Her example was nobly followed half a century later by two other English ladies, who, although they had not to encounter the desperate odds connected with ignorance and old-fashioned ideas which Miss Nightingale successfully combated, did marvellous service by displaying what private enterprise can do in a national emergency—­an emergency with which, in its suddenness, gravity, and scope, no Government could have hoped to deal successfully.  I must go back to the winter of 1899 to call their great work to mind.  War had already been waging some weeks in South Africa when the Government’s proclamation was issued calling for volunteers from the yeomanry for active service at the front, and the lightning response that came to this appeal from all quarters and from all grades was the silver lining shining brightly through the black clouds that hovered over the British Empire during that dread winter.  Thus the loyalty of the men of Britain was proven, and among the women who yearned to be up and doing were Lady Georgiana Curzon and Lady Chesham.  Not theirs was the sentiment that “men must work and women must weep”; to them it seemed but right that they should take their share of the nation’s burden, and, as they could not fight, they could, and did, work.

Filled with pity for all who were so gallantly fighting at the seat of war, it was the yeomen—­called suddenly from peaceful pursuits to serve their country in her day of distress—­who claimed their deepest sympathies, and, with the object of establishing a hospital for this force at the front, Lady Georgiana Curzon and Lady Chesham, on December 29, 1899, appealed to the British public for subscriptions.  The result far exceeded their expectations, and every post brought generous donations in cash and in kind.  Even the children contributed eagerly to the Yeomen’s Fund, and one poor woman gave a shilling towards the cost of providing a bed in the hospital, “in case her son might have to lie on it.”  The Queen—­then Princess of Wales—­allowed herself to be nominated President; the present Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Connaught gave their names as Vice-Presidents of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospitals.  The working committee was composed of the following:  Adeline, Duchess of Bedford, the Duchess of Marlborough, the Countesses of Essex and Dudley, the Ladies Chesham and Tweedmouth, Mesdames S. Neumann, A.G.  Lucas, Blencowe Cookson, Julius Wernher (now Lady Wernher), and Madame von Andre.  Amongst the gentlemen who gave valuable assistance, the most prominent were:  Viscount Curzon, M.P. (now Lord Howe), Hon. Secretary; Mr. Ludwig Neumann, Hon. Treasurer; General Eaton (now Lord Cheylesmore); and Mr. Oliver Williams.