2. The Visiting or Managing Committee of the Guardians, whose authority must not (and need not) in any way be interfered with. 3. The Governor, the Medical Officer, and Chaplain. 4. (And under the Governor) the proposed Superintendent of Nurses and her nursing staff. There is no reason why all these parts of the machine should not work together. The funds are provided to pay the extra nursing for a time. The difficulty is to find the Lady to govern it. When appointed, she must be authorized—indeed appointed—by the Guardians. She must be their Officer; and must be invested by the Governor with authority to superintend her Nurses in conformity with regulations to be agreed upon. So far, I see no more difficulty than there was in settling our relations as Nurses to the government officials in the Crimean War. The cases are somewhat similar. As to the funds, it is just possible that eventually the Guardians might take all the cost on themselves, as soon as they saw the great advantages and economy of good nursing. If Liverpool succeeds, the system is quite sure to extend itself. The Fever Hospital is one of the Workhouse Infirmaries. That is the place to shew what skilful nursing can do. The patients are not all paupers. How many families might be rescued from pauperism by saving the lives of their heads, and by helping the hard-working to more speedy convalescence! Hopefully yours, (Signed) FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE. _Extract from a letter from the_ Right Honourable Sir John M^cNeill, G.C.B., _dated Granton House, Edinburgh, 28th Feb., 1864_. There can be no doubt, I think, that it would be a mistake to have pauper nurses mixed up with paid nurses, and I think I expressed that opinion when we conversed about those things. Paupers might, however, be employed to scrub and to do other menial work, under the orders of the paid nurses. If the paid nurses are to do much good they must have a recognised authority in their wards. Without authority there cannot be due responsibility, and things must get into confusion. A nurse carrying out the instructions of the medical officer must have authority to do so, and resistance to that authority must be treated as a breach of discipline. To put this upon a right footing from the first, would be indispensable to success. The more a nurse does by influence, and kindly influence, the better; but dealing with the promiscuous inmates of a workhouse, the knowledge that there is authority in reserve to be exercised if necessary, prevents the necessity of resorting to it, and makes the patients duly appreciate the kindness which keeps it in reserve.