should be made as comfortable as circumstances can admit.'

The little princes and princesses contributed their childish but very
pretty drawings to an exhibition which was opened for the benefit of the
soldiers' widows and children. As the disabled soldiers returned to this
country, the Queen and the prince took the earliest opportunity of
ascertaining by personal observation in what condition they were, and how
they were cared for. And when the war was over, Miss Florence Nightingale,
the soldier's nurse and friend, was an honoured guest in the royal family,
'putting before us,' writes the prince, 'all the defects of our present
military hospital system, and the reforms that are needed.' On 5th March
1855, the Queen wrote to Lord Panmure suggesting the necessity of
hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, which eventually took shape in
the great military hospital at Netley.

[Illustration: Victoria Cross.]

Victoria Crosses were distributed by the Queen in Hyde Park, 26th June
1857, to those soldiers who had performed special acts of bravery in
presence of the enemy. This decoration was instituted at the close of the
Crimean War, and has since been conferred from time to time. It is in the
form of a Maltese cross, and is made of bronze. In the centre are the
royal arms, surmounted by the lion, and below, in a scroll, the words 'For
Valour.' The ribbon is blue for the navy, and red for the army. On the
clasp are two branches of laurel, and from it the cross hangs, supported
by the initial 'V.'

[Illustration: Massacre at Cawnpore.]