ked in the world about 'born' actors, and
'born' artists, and 'born' nurses. No doubt some are 'born' with greater
gifts in these matters than others, but the most famous artists or
actors or nurses will all tell you that the only work which is lasting
has been wrought by long hours of patient labour. Miss Nightingale knew
this as well as anybody, and as soon as she began to think of doing what
no modern lady had ever done before her, and devoting her life to the
care of the sick, she set about considering how she could best find the
training she needed. She tried, to use her own words, 'to qualify
herself for it as a man does for his work,' and to 'submit herself to
the rules of business as men do.'

So she spent some months among the London hospitals, where her quick eye
and clever fingers, aided by her cottage experience, made her a welcome
help to the doctors. From the first she 'began at the beginning,' which
is the only way to come to a successful end. A sick person cannot get
well where the floor is covered with dirt, and the dust makes him cough;
therefore his nurse must get rid of both dirt and dust before her
treatment can have any effect. After London, Miss Nightingale went to
Edinburgh and Dublin, and then to France and Italy, where the nursing
was done by nuns; and after that she visited Germany, where at the town
of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine, she found what she wanted.

The hospital of Kaiserswerth, where Miss Nightingale had decided to do
her training, had been founded about sixteen years earlier by Pastor
Fliedner, who was a wise man, content with very small beginnings. At the
time of her arrival it was divided into a number of branches, and there
was also a school for the children, who were taught entirely by some of
the sisters, or deaconesses, as they were called. On entering, everyone
had to go through the same work for a certain number of months, whether
they meant to be hospital nurses or school teachers. All must learn to
sew, cook, scrub, and read out clearly and pleasantly; but as Miss
Nightingale had practised most of these things from the time she was a
child, she soon was free to go into the hospital and attend to the sick
people. The other nurses were German peasant women, but when they found
that she could speak their language, and was ready to work as hard as
any of them, they made friends at once. In her spare hours Miss
Nightingale would put on her black cloak and small bonnet, and go r