Others may do as they please, but though Linton, Cruikshanks, and Lawson have all subscribed, I believe the subscriptions _in the hospital_ are not many or large."[186] But this disgruntlement of the doctors was not shared by the troops, who subscribed nearly £9000 to the Fund. The Commander of the Forces, in sending to the Secretary of the Fund a first remittance of £4000 from "Headquarters, Crimea," wrote (February 5, 1856) that this amount, "the result of voluntary individual offerings, plainly indicates the universal feeling of gratitude which exists among the troops engaged in the Crimea for the care bestowed upon, and the relief administered to, themselves and their comrades, at the period of their greatest sufferings, by the skilful arrangements, and the unwearying, constant personal attention, of Miss Nightingale and the other ladies associated with her." The Navy and the Coastguard Service subscribed also. Nor was "society" all on the side of Lady Palmerston. A concert given by Madame Goldschmidt (Jenny Lind) brought in nearly £2000. The ultimate application of the Fund did not follow precisely the lines originally proposed, but it was the means of enabling Miss Nightingale to do one of the most useful pieces of her life's work.[187] [183] Reports of some of the meetings are collected in the _Report of the Nightingale Fund_. At Manchester (Jan. 17, 1856), in addition to Lord Stanley, Mr. Herbert and Mr. Milnes spoke; at Oxford (Jan. 23), Mr. Herbert again spoke; at Brighton (Jan. 14), Mr. Milnes. [184] _Speeches of the 15th Earl of Derby_, 1894, vol. i. pp. 16, 18. [185] Fitzmaurice, _Life of the Second Earl Granville_, vol. i. p. 136. [186] _Hall_, p. 449. [187] See below, p. 456. The sympathy and interest of the Royal Family in Miss Nightingale's work had been shown by the presence of the Duke of Cambridge in the chair at Willis's Rooms; but the Queen desired to associate herself in some more direct and signal measure with "the grateful recognition" by her people. A few weeks after the Public Meeting the following letter was sent:-- WINDSOR CASTLE [_November_ 1855].[188] DEAR MISS NIGHTINGALE--You are, I know, well aware of the high sense I entertain of the Christian devotion which you have displayed during this great and bloody war, and I need hardly repeat to you how warm my admiration is for your services, which are fully equal to those of my dear and brave soldiers, whose sufferings you have had the _privilege_ of alleviating in so merciful a manner. I am, however, anxious of marking my feelings in a manner which I trust will be agreeable to you, and therefore send you with this letter a brooch, the form and emblems of which commemorate your great and blessed work, and which, I hope, you will wear as a mark of the high approbation of your Sovereign!