Then, again, in the homes of the poor, either in towns or villages, who does not know the urgent need that exists of some Christian women to guide and help them at times when the father or mother of the family are laid by through serious sickness, with all the cares of the little household devolving, as they generally do, upon one person? How often precious lives and strength might be saved by the timely aid brought by an active and kindly helper at such seasons of trial we need not pause to prove, because we are quite sure it must be known to every one of our readers, whether rich or poor. And this is a part of the duty undertaken by the sisters of the first institution we have noticed, and more recently by the nurses of St. John's House; and thankfully is their help welcomed in the crowded dwellings amidst which they labour, and where the latter chiefly visit the sick poor who are attended by the medical men of the neighbouring hospital as out patients.
We have spoken of the need of good nurses in hospitals and private families, and of the efforts that are being made to meet it. But there is another class of institutions where vast numbers of our fellow-creatures die annually in utter helplessness and dependence, or else linger out years of misery on beds of suffering, at the mercy of the nurses who tend them; we allude to our workhouses. In one year alone, upwards of 50,000 sick persons passed through the
