ion is, whether the _soeurs_ are likely to interfere. Of late,
however, their power has been somewhat checked. Under good regulations
they might, no doubt, be rendered serviceable; but every alteration of
their condition, with regard to the hospitals, to be an improvement, must
bring them nearer to the superior condition of responsible nurses, chosen
for their aptitude, and remunerated according to their merits."

"We have been compelled to state thus much of these orders. The
associations connected with persons of their sex and supposed rank, who
have taken the veil; their apparent devotedness to such amiable and
pre-eminently serviceable duties; their solemnity of exterior, and other
incidents--are so calculated to strike the eye and possess the imagination
of the beholder, that we are not surprised to perceive that they have
misled the judgment of the Doctor, since they constantly impose on others,
who have better opportunities for observation. The _soeur de charite_ is
too fine an object for the effusion of sentiment and romance, not to be
made the most of in these worldly and unpoetic times; and were it not that
the illusions thrown around this object might lead to practical errors, we
should have refrained from disturbing them."

Feelings similar to those professed by the reviewer, have induced us to
present the reader with his new light, which we hope is a just one. Of the
little system of plunder carried on in some institutions at home, we can
speak of one instance with certainty:--A relative near and dear to us as
life's blood, had by money and comforts, (which but for this incident
would have been kept secret), for many months relieved an inmate of a
London hospital. The patient was a poor, old female, in the last stage of
decrepitude, and fast sinking beneath the sorrows of life. She had seen
happier days, and the only relic which she possessed of better fortune,
was a pair of silver framed spectacles; which, on her death-bed, she
bequeathed to her benefactress. The poor old woman's relations were dead,
and this guardian-spirit who soothed her path to the grave, was her only
friend. Such an act of gratitude was, therefore, extremely affecting, and
her benefactress was anxious to possess the legacy--heaven knows, not for
its intrinsic value--but as a testimony of rare and unaffected gratitude;
yet, will it be believed, that the tempting bit of silver had not escaped
the clutches of the nurses of the ward, and t