She considers it clearly proved that before the establishment of the order of sisters of mercy by St. Vincent de Paul in 1633, the office of deaconess had been recognised by all divisions of Christians, and was therefore not borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church. The reason why such sisterhoods had not flourished among Protestants was owing to the lack of preparatory schools and training homes. This want had been supplied at the Kaiserswerth institution, and she proceeds to give a history of its foundation and growth. There she had found her ideal, and for the next few years her life was devoted to philanthropic and religious work. Military nursing had not as yet dawned upon her horizon. CHAPTER VIII _A PERIOD OF WAITING_ Visits the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris--Illness--Resumes Old Life at Lea Hurst and Embley--Interest in John Smedley’s System of Hydropathy--Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Herbert’s Philanthropies--Work at Harley Street Home for Sick Governesses--Illness and Return Home. They also serve who only stand and wait.--MILTON. Three years had yet to transpire before Florence Nightingale was called to her great life work. After leaving Kaiserswerth, she stayed for a time on her way home with the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris. She was without religious bigotry in the pursuit of knowledge, and sincerely admired the devoted and unselfish work of this Roman Catholic sisterhood. They were indeed sisters of mercy, and the hospitals and schools of their community had obtained world-wide renown. Their institutions had the advantage over Kaiserswerth, at that period, of being in long-established working order. In Paris, too, Miss Nightingale found opportunity for studying surgery in the hospitals. The skill of the Paris surgeons stood remarkably high, and she could scarcely have had a better ground for observation than the French capital. With her good friends the sisters, too, Miss Nightingale visited the homes of the poor and made a minute inspection of their methods of organised charity. [Illustration: SIR WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. (_Photo by Elliott & Fry._) [_To face p. 80._ ] While pursuing this interesting work, Miss Nightingale was taken ill. She had now a personal experience of the skill and tender care of the sisters, who nursed her back to convalesence.