observations or impressions, this material is not all of great value. Throughout her subsequent life, Miss Nightingale was screened from the public gaze; a somewhat legendary figure grew up, and it is that which for the most part appears in books about her. This, however, is a subject fully dealt with in an Introductory chapter. In _Appendix B_ I give a short List of Writings about Miss Nightingale. Here, again, the purpose is not bibliographical. There is a great mass of such writing, and a complete list would have been altogether outside the scope of a biography. I have included only first-hand authorities or such other books, etc., as for one reason or another (explained in the notes upon each item) seemed relevant to the Memoir. This second List also serves the purpose of simplifying references in the text. In a third Appendix (_C_) I have enumerated the principal portraits of Miss Nightingale. Notes on those reproduced in this book will there be found. I am indebted to the kindness of Sir William Richmond and Sir Harry Verney for the inclusion of the portrait which forms the frontispiece to the second volume, and to Mrs. Cunliffe for the frontispiece to the present volume. * * * * * To Miss Nightingale's executors I am indebted for the confidence which they have shown in entrusting her Papers to my discretion. A biography is worth nothing unless it is sincere. The aim of the present book has been to tell the truth about the subject of it, and I have done my work under no conscious temptation to suppress, exaggerate, extenuate, or distort. From Miss Nightingale's executors, and from other of her friends and relations, I have received help and information which has been of the greatest assistance. More especially I am indebted to her cousin, Mrs. Vaughan Nash, who has been good enough to read my book, both in manuscript and in proof, and who has favoured me throughout with valuable information, corrections, suggestions, and criticisms. This obligation makes it the more incumbent upon me to add that for any faults in the book, whether of commission or of omission, I alone must bear the blame. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTORY xxiii PART I ASPIRATION (1820-1854) CHAPTER I CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION (1820-1839) Name, ancestry, and parentage. II. Her father's circumstances --Her early homes--Lea Hurst (Derbyshire)--Mrs. Gaskell's description--Embley Park (Hampshire). III. Early years--Country life--Domestic interests--A morbid strain. IV. Mr. Nightingale's education of his daughters--History, the classics, philosophy --Anecdotes of Florence's supposed early vocation to nursing--The date of her "call to God" (1837). V. The Grand Tour (1837-9) --Interest in social and political conditions--Italian refugees at Geneva--Talks with Sismondi--Visit to Florence--Gaieties and music. VI. A winter in Paris (1838-9)--Friendship with Mary Clarke (Madame Mohl)--Madame Récamier's _salon_. Social "temptations" 3 CHAPTER II HOME LIFE (1839-1845) A struggle for freedom. Life in London--Music--The Bedchamber Plot. II. Country-house life--The charm of Embley--Contrast between Florence and her sister. III. The family circle--Florence's "boy" --Florence as "Emergency Man"--Her old nurse--Letter to Miss Clarke on the death of M. Fauriel--Theatricals at Waverley Abbey--Florence as stage-manager. IV. Friends and neighbours--Lord Palmerston --Louisa Lady Ashburton--Mrs. Bracebridge. V. Florence's conversation--Social attractiveness--Personal appearance: descriptions by Lady Lovelace and Mrs. Gaskell. VI. Dissatisfaction in social life--Desultoriness of a girl's life at home--The misery of being read aloud to--Housekeeping. VII. Increasing sense of a vocation--Private studies--Thoughts of nursing--A first dash for liberty (1845): failure 23 CHAPTER III THE SPIRITUAL LIFE Dejection. Friendship with Miss Nicholson: religious experiences and speculations--Letters to Miss Nicholson and Miss Clarke. II. The reality of the unseen world--The conviction of sin--The pains of...