What are the qualities which give us authority, which enable us to exercise some charge or control over others with “authority”? It is not the charge or position itself, for we often see persons in a position of authority, who have no authority at all; and on the other hand we sometimes see persons in the very humblest position who exercise a great influence or authority on all around them. The very first element for having control over others is, of course, to have control over oneself. If I cannot take charge of myself, I cannot take charge of others. The next, perhaps, is--not to try to “seem” anything, but to _be_ what we would _seem_. A person in charge must be felt more than she is heard--not heard more than she is felt. She must fulfil her charge without noisy disputes, by the silent power of a consistent life, in which there is no _seeming_, and no hiding, but plenty of discretion. She must exercise authority without appearing to exercise it. A person, but more especially a woman, in charge must have a quieter and more impartial mind than those under her, in order to influence them by the best part of them and not by the worst. We (Sisters) think that we must often make allowances for them, and sometimes put ourselves in their place. And I will appeal to Sisters to say whether we must not observe more than we speak, instead of speaking more than we observe. We must not give an order, much less a reproof, without being fully acquainted with both sides of the case. Else, having scolded wrongfully, we look rather foolish. The person in charge every one must see to be just and candid, looking at both sides, not moved by entreaties or, by likes and dislikes, but only by justice; and always reasonable, remembering and not forgetting the wants of those of whom she is in charge. She must have a keen though generous insight into the characters of those she has to control. They must know that she _cares for_ them even while she is checking them; or rather that she checks them _because_ she cares for them. A woman _thus_ reproved is often made your friend for life; a word dropped in this way by a Sister in charge (I am speaking now solely to Sisters and Head Nurses) may sometimes show a probationer the unspeakable importance of this year of her life, when she must sow the seed of her future nursing in this world, and of her future life through eternity. For although future years are of importance to train the plant and make it come up, yet if there is no seed nothing will come up. Nay, I appeal again to Sisters’ own experience, whether they have not known patients feel the same of words dropped before _them_.