In Smyrna there is also a girls' school, that was opened at the request of some wealthy Protestants residing there. The school is not so needed as formerly, since the government has started girls' high schools, but it is still maintained, and aids in bringing new life into the hopeless society of the East. There is also an orphanage at Smyrna, where some girls of the poorer classes were gathered after the ravages of the cholera had left them without parents or homes. The eastern deaconesses have also their Salem. Just above the little village of Areya, in the Lebanon, on the summit of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean, stands the house of retreat, where, during the summer months, the more than forty sisters stationed in Beirut, Alexandria, Cairo, and Jerusalem can take refuge in seasons of overpowering heat. The deaconess who superintends the house has a school for the native children of the village, which is taught by one of the girls educated at the Beirut orphanage. Prosperous girls' schools are also in existence at Bucharest, and at Florence, Italy. The Italian school was started in 1860 with four girls in the upper floor of a rented house. It now possesses a beautiful house and grounds of its own, and had one hundred and forty-five girls under its charge the past year. Most of these were Italians, but different foreign residents also availed themselves of the opportunity to send their children to an excellent Protestant school. There is also a mission at Rome maintained by deaconesses during the winter months. The large majority of the undertakings outside of Kaiserswerth were initiated personally by Fliedner. When we recall the complex demands of the home field in Germany we marvel at the versatile executive ability of this man, who started life as the humble pastor of an obscure village church. But he loved work. He possessed "iron industry." He was ever hopeful, courageous, and indefatigable. Above all, he trusted completely in the leadings of Divine Providence, and constantly went forward with sure confidence. Then he was a true leader. He knew men. He put the right person in the right place, gave him full liberty of action, and held him to a strict responsibility for results. So, while Fliedner remained the soul of the great institution, he knew how to make himself spared, which was not the least of his qualifications for his calling. [30] _Der Diakonissenberuf_, Emil Wacker, Guetersloh, 1888, p. 116. [31] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London, 1867. [32] _Ein und fuenfzigster Jahres-Bericht_, p. 30. [33] _Achtzehnter Bericht ueber die Diakonissen Stationen im Morgenlande_, 1888. [34] _Vierzehnten Bericht ueber die Diakonissen Stationen am Libanon._ [35] _Der Rheinisch Westfaelische Diakonissen Verein_, p. 64, J. Disselhoff. CHAPTER VI. THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH, AND THE DUTIES AND SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES.