The Surgeons will dislike these unpaid Nurses; but, in the long run a firm, discreet woman, _who is an efficient Nurse_, can get on with any Surgeon _who has his sick at heart_. The Matron also will not at all like them, at first, but will find that she can rely upon them and that they quietly and effectually help her with the other Nurses: and, if she has her heart in her work, she will end by being just, though, perhaps, always a little extra strict with and jealous of them. The other Nurses will have, at the first, a strong little touch of republicanism towards them, which will gradually wear off, and, with God’s help, a higher and truer moral tone, and a simpler and more useful kind of habits among them will prevail, than would otherwise be the case. As for the patients, with all their faults, trust them--trust the English soldier, and the peasantry from which he springs. What these poor fellows are we know, and need not discuss. They are worth suffering a good deal for; please God in the long run good will be done. If only we can keep clear of the false, pernicious, and derogatory system of puffery and fuss which others, for their own purposes, and from vague, silly good-feeling have wound around this work--a work essentially unpopular the moment we come to details! We have learnt what reality is and what its presence or absence in this business imports. As for the many and great other difficulties of the work, they must be appreciated, they need not be dreaded. The purpose is a good and noble one, and God grant it success! All we have to do is, to do our utmost, and leave the event to Him. [Sidenote: 9. Nurses--begin with few at first.] 9. As for the Nurses the material must be formed. If a few respectable soldiers’ widows, including, and all the better, non-commissioned officers’ widows, could be found, _cæteris paribus_, a preference should be given to widows of the Service. Except in emergencies Nurses should not be taken under thirty, or above forty[11] years of age. These women are Head Nurses. Most of the Civil Hospitals take no Head Nurse after forty. One caution in engaging Nurses is perhaps not sufficiently attended to. Certificates, without personal inquiry and answers to distinct questions, are not worth the paper on which they are written. As to engaging any Nurses out of the great Hospitals, for sundry reasons, this should be done as little as may be. Let us begin, for the sake of God and this His work, with few women. Extension is easy--to occupy too much ground at first would be, I do in my conscience believe, an irretrievable mistake. No unnecessary Nurses should be suffered in Hospital; and no Nurse in charge of wards should be required to do needlework for the Hospital. There should be no superfluous hands; and the less a Nurse enters another’s ward the better.