Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/141

125 Florence Nightingale 125 praise which I do not want, and does not give me the real business-Hke efficient standing which I do want. " After this she was given the title ' ' General Superintendent" of the nursing staff, and her authority was defined by the War Office. She always knew, though, that she could have pre- vented many mistakes had she been earlier en- dowed with official status. While in the Crimea she had an acute illness, and this, with her exhausting labours, left her a semi-in- valid for life. She might indeed by rest have recov- ered her strength, but she was inspired by a white flame of intense purpose to remodel and save British armies in the future and would give herself no rest. After the war was over Miss Nightingale main- tained for many years a close contact with the war department, to push for reforma- the Crimea. This period was the most intense and in many ways the most remarkable period of her life. Through a number of adminis- trations she was a power behind the government, and all the reforms in army organization that have been brought about since that time were minutely set forth in her official reports and private papers to ministers. tion of its antiquated methods, the terrible results of which she had seen in Campaign for the soldiers' health