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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Deaconesses in Europe
+ and their Lessons for America
+
+Author: Jane M. Bancroft
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2007 [EBook #20747]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEACONESSES IN EUROPE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, David Wilson, Bill Tozier and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ DEACONESSES IN EUROPE
+
+ AND
+
+ THEIR LESSONS FOR AMERICA
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ JANE M. BANCROFT, Ph.D
+
+
+
+ WITH AN INTRODUCTION
+
+ BY
+
+ EDWARD G. ANDREWS, D.D., LL.D.
+
+ _Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church_
+
+
+ "No life
+ Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife,
+ And all life not be purer and stronger thereby."
+
+
+ _NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON_
+ _CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & STOWE_
+ 1890
+
+
+
+
+ IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION,
+
+ TO
+
+ THE EARNEST AND DEVOTED WOMEN WHO,
+
+ AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON DEACONESS WORK
+
+ OF
+
+ THE WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY,
+
+ HAVE AIDED IN EXTENDING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIACONATE
+ OF WOMEN,
+
+ THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY
+
+ Dedicated
+
+ BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE.
+
+
+The Author has aimed to present an accurate and concise statement of the
+deaconess cause as it exists at the present time.
+
+In all cases where it was possible, original sources of information have
+been consulted.
+
+Many friends, both in Europe and America, have given invaluable aid, for
+which words of thanks are an inadequate recognition.
+
+The excellent Index at the close of the volume was kindly prepared by
+the Rev. J. C. Thomas.
+
+Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Gillett, Librarian of the Union
+Theological Seminary, and to Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard, of the Astor
+Library, for putting not only the facilities of the library, but their
+personal assistance, at the service of the writer.
+
+ JANE M. BANCROFT.
+ NEW YORK CITY, _June 5, 1889_.
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS.
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ THE DIACONATE.
+
+ Compassion a Christian virtue--Brotherhood of all men in
+ Christ--Foreign Missions--Home Missions--Service of
+ ministering compassion gives rise to the diaconate--Diaconate
+ of women--Its qualities--Field of labor Page 9
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.
+
+ Little knowledge of early Church--Pliny's letter--Apostolic
+ Constitutions--Deaconesses, widows, and virgins--Duties of the
+ deaconess--Chrysostom, Olympias--Deaconesses in Western
+ Church--Decline in importance--Extinction--Influences that led
+ to decay 18
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES.
+
+ Béguines--Characteristics--Duties--Gerhard Groot--Sisters of
+ the Common Life--Obligations--Duties--Waldenses--Bohemian
+ Brethren--Luther--Calvin--Reformed Church at Wesel--
+ Deaconesses in Amsterdam--Damsels of Charity--Mennonites and
+ Moravians 34
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS.
+
+ Efforts for the restoration of the office of deaconess made by
+ Klönne--Amalie Sieveking--Von Stein--Count von der Recke--
+ Fliedner--His childhood--Youth--Student life--Pastorate and
+ travels--Marriage--First prison society--Founding of refuge--
+ Need of training schools--Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess
+ Society 46
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+ Opening of hospital training-school--Gertrude Reichardt--The
+ Home-life--Normal school--Fliedner's wife--Publishing house--
+ Orphan asylum--Insane asylum--Dispensary--Farm--"Salem"--House
+ of Evening Rest--Extension of work--Berlin--Foreign lands
+ Jerusalem--Beirut--Smyrna--Bucharest--Florence--Rome 61
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH AND THE DUTIES AND SERVICES
+ OF THE DEACONESSES.
+
+ Two classes of deaconesses--Nurses--Teachers--Qualifications--
+ Probationers--Duties--Service of consecration--Conferences--
+ Table of results--Instances of work--Duisburg--
+ Schleswig-Holstein war--Austrian war--Franco Prussian war 79
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.
+
+ House at Strasburg--Mülhausen--Marthashof at Berlin--
+ Neudettelsau--St. Loup--Riehen--Zürich--Gallneukirchen--
+ Characteristics of institutions--Countries where they exist 93
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.
+
+ Origin of Bethany Society--House at Frankfort--Hamburg--
+ Berlin--St. Gall--Zürich--Sister Myrtha--House of Rest--"God's
+ Fidelity"--House regulations--Training--Results 110
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN PARIS.
+
+ Deaconess Home on Rue de Reuilly--Situation--School--
+ Hospital--House of Correction--Preparatory school--
+ Instruction--Prison mission--Mademoiselle Dumas--Expenses of
+ house--Its founders--Deaconess house on Rue Bridaine--
+ Character of work--Duties of the Sisters--Their consecration--
+ Importance of parish deaconesses 120
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.
+
+ Early beginnings--The Puritans--Cambridge Platform--Southey's
+ complaint--Mrs. Fry--Fliedner--Florence Nightingale--Agnes
+ Jones--Distinction between "sister" and "deaconess"--
+ Institutions in Church of England--Garb--Ceremonies--
+ Self-denying lives--Dr. Laseron's institutions and others--
+ Prison mission of Mrs. Meredith--The Sisters of the People 142
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.
+
+ Rev. W. Pennefather--Sketch of his life--Building of hall and
+ deaconess home at Mildmay--Conference hall--Nursing hall--
+ Mission and hospital at Bethnal Green--The deaconesses--Their
+ training--Expense--Expenses of institution 166
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.
+
+ Church of Scotland--Organization of woman's work--Report of
+ committees--Scheme--Adoption--Women's Guild--Women-workers'
+ Guild--Deaconesses--Training--Syllabus of lectures--
+ Presbyterian Church of England and Ireland Page 189
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.
+
+ German Lutherans--Fliedner visits America--Philadelphia--
+ Mother-house of Deaconesses--Deaconesses in the Episcopal
+ Church--Among the Presbyterians--The Methodist Episcopal
+ Church--Deaconess-home in Chicago--Action of General
+ Conference--Fields of work 204
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR DEACONESSES
+ IN AMERICA.
+
+ Advantages of the Home and Training-school--Field of work--In
+ hospitals--Insane asylums--Infant-schools--Teachers--The
+ Home-mission deaconess--Her work in London--Similar work
+ needed in cities of the United States 228
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.
+
+ Objection that deaconesses resemble Catholic nuns--Their
+ influence--Numbers in different orders--Order of Charles--
+ Objection to garb--Its advantages--Objection to the life
+ answered--Opinion of Bryce concerning American women--Women of
+ Methodism--Advice to candidates--Associates--The Church
+ commended by its deeds 247
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+How far, and in what form, ought woman's work in the Church to be
+organized? What was the deaconess of St. Paul's epistles? What light on
+this subject do the primitive and the mediæval Churches yield us? Can
+"sisterhoods" be established without weakening the sense of personal
+responsibility in those Christian women who are not thus wholly set
+apart to charitable and spiritual work? Can they be multiplied without
+danger of introducing into Protestant communions the evils of the
+conventual life? Are there modern instances of safe and successful
+organizations? What good have they achieved, and what further good do
+they promise? In what relation should such organizations stand to the
+authority and fostering care of the Church? What should be their scope,
+spirit, methods? What regulations are fundamental and indispensable?
+What perils are real and possibly imminent?
+
+To answer these, and other questions associated with them, this book is
+written. Its authoress is a gifted daughter of the Church, well known in
+literary and educational circles. During a protracted sojourn in Europe
+she enjoyed unusual facilities for studying the deaconess work as
+carried on in many places, and particularly in the institutions founded
+by Pastor Fliedner at Kaiserswerth in Prussia, and in those at Mildmay
+in England. She has also made a thorough and discriminating study of the
+subject as developed in the early centuries of the Church and in the
+Middle Ages.
+
+The book itself will amply reveal these facts, and cannot but contribute
+largely to the guidance of the newly revived interest of the American
+churches in the far-reaching question how Christian women may best serve
+their Lord in serving the humanity which he has redeemed.
+
+It appears at an opportune time. The General Conference of the Methodist
+Episcopal Church, at its session in May, 1888, inserted in the law of
+the Church a chapter on deaconesses, defining their duties and
+providing for the appointment and oversight of them through the Annual
+Conferences. This action was the natural outcome of a wide and
+increasing appreciation of the service of Christian women in many
+departments of Church work; and it was greatly furthered by the advocacy
+of Dr. J. M. Thoburn, now the devoted and honored missionary bishop of
+India and Malaysia. But it had not been the subject of any considerable
+previous discussion in the periodicals of the Church, and there was not
+in the Church a widely diffused or an accurate knowledge of the history,
+scope, possibilities, or perils of such an organization. The promptness,
+however, with which the provision thus made by the General Conference
+has been seized upon by the Church in several of our large cities,
+indicates that the time was ripe for the movement. But information is
+still scanty; ideas concerning the aim and place of the deaconess work
+are crude; methods have been very little digested; the foundations of
+local homes evidently may come to be very imperfectly laid; and the
+movement may easily come to naught.
+
+This book, it is hoped, will do a twofold work. It will awaken a lively
+interest in a movement already arrived at large proportions in some
+parts of European Protestantism; and it will guide those among us who
+are studying how best to organize, against the sin and suffering of the
+world, the practically unlimited resources of Christian women. Whenever
+any one shall in some good degree apprehend what helpfulness for the
+lost as yet lies undeveloped in the hearts and hands of the daughters of
+the Church, and what honor may yet come to Christianity by the rightly
+directed use of this power, he will welcome a volume which, like the
+present one, offers such guidance as history, observation, and earnest
+reflection yield on the question at issue.
+
+ EDWARD G. ANDREWS.
+ NEW YORK, _May 10, 1889_.
+
+
+
+
+DEACONESSES IN EUROPE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DIACONATE.
+
+
+In the ruins of the old cities of Greece and Rome we find buildings that
+were used for public purposes of all kinds--forums, theaters,
+amphitheaters, circuses, and temples of worship. Every provision was
+made for the entertainment of the people, and for their political and
+intellectual needs. But nowhere do we find the ruins of structures,
+belonging either to the public or to private individuals, indicating
+that any attempt was ever made to care for the feeble-minded, the
+insane, the deaf, the blind, the sick, or the aged; those that in every
+nation of modern times are the wards of the State and the definite
+objects of religious ministrations.
+
+The ruins cannot be found because such buildings never existed. No
+provision was made for those suffering from bodily infirmities, because
+so far as the State could control circumstances they were not allowed
+to exist. Children who were defective in any way were put to death. In
+Sparta this measure was carried out under government supervision. Even
+Plato in his model republic has all children of wicked men, the
+misshapen, or the illegitimate put out of existence, that they may not
+be a burden to the State.[1]
+
+With the coming of Christ new elements were introduced into the
+civilization of the world; elements of kindliness, of compassion, of
+sympathy of man toward his fellow-man, that up to this time had not been
+known. There was a new revelation of the brotherhood of all men in the
+fatherhood of God: "We are all one in Christ Jesus."
+
+This spirit of compassion and of sympathy has grown with every century
+in the Christian era, and at no time has it been stronger in the history
+of the world than it is to-day. Well has one American historian said:
+
+"To a generation which knows but two crimes worthy of death, that
+against the life of the individual and that against the life of the
+State; which has expended fabulous sums in the erection of
+reformatories, asylums, and penitentiaries, houses of correction,
+houses of refuge, and houses of detention all over the land; which has
+furnished every State prison with a library, with a hospital, with
+workshops, and with schools, the brutal scenes on which our ancestors
+looked with indifference seem scarcely a reality. Yet it is well to
+recall them, for we cannot but turn from the contemplation of so much
+misery and so much suffering with a deep sense of thankfulness that our
+lot has fallen in a pitiful age, when more compassion is felt for a
+galled horse or a dog run over at a street-crossing than our
+great-grandfathers felt for a woman beaten for cursing, or a man
+imprisoned for debt."[2]
+
+The spirit of Christ has penetrated even where his rule is not
+acknowledged, and the humanitarianism of the present day is simply the
+leaven of Christian love working among the masses of men.
+
+In the Christian world the effort to realize the brotherhood of all men
+in Christ is producing large results. Treasures of money, and infinitely
+more precious treasures of men, are every year devoted to this one
+object. The cause of Protestant foreign missions is not yet a century
+old, but the latest available statistics tell us that the following
+sums are being contributed annually for this great work:[3]
+
+ 32 American societies contribute $3,011,027
+ 28 British " " 5,217,385
+ 27 Continental " " 1,083,170
+ -- ----------
+ 87 societies contribute $9,311,582
+
+With this large sum American societies are employing 986 men, and 1,081
+women; British societies, 1,811 men, and 745 women; Continental
+societies, 777 men, and 447 women. Total, 3,574 men, 2,273 women.
+
+Visible results of faithfulness in work:
+
+ Members in American societies 242,733
+ " British " 340,242
+ " Continental " 117,532
+ -------
+ Total membership in foreign lands 700,507
+ Children in the Sunday-schools 626,741
+
+The subject of home missions is to-day attracting greater attention than
+ever before. "Die Innere Mission" of Germany, the various forms the work
+assumes in England, the many societies in the United States occupied by
+the questions of city evangelization, work among the Mormons, the
+treatment of the Indians, care for the colored race, and other phases
+of home work show that Christians are fully understanding that it is
+wise to build over against our own house.
+
+Certainly the reproach cannot justly be made that the Church of Christ
+is neglectful of the precept, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us
+do good unto all men."
+
+This is genuine service of man to man, and the motive of the service is
+love to God. Every revelation of God is of ministering love and
+compassion, and the efforts of his disciples to imitate the divine love
+have indelibly stamped upon modern civilization the Christian impress.
+
+The service of ministering compassion is so clearly one of the duties of
+Christ's Church that of necessity there must be ordinances touching the
+exercise of this duty. So in Acts vi, 3, we read of the appointment of
+the deacons, "men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and of
+wisdom," to see that the service of the tables was not neglected.
+
+But Christian women have ever had special gifts in caring for the poor
+and sick and helpless, and the women of apostolic times must necessarily
+have had their part in these services of love. In addition to the
+diaconate appointed by the apostles recorded in the sixth chapter of
+Acts, we must look for a female diaconate as an office in the Church.
+This we do not fail to find. In Rom. xvi, 1, we read: "I commend unto
+you Phebe, a deacon of the church which is at Cenchrea." Such at least
+would have been the form of the verse if our translators had rendered
+the Greek word here translated servant as they rendered the like word in
+the sixth chapter of Acts, the third of the First Epistle to Timothy,
+and in other passages of the apostolic writings.
+
+"That ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints, and that ye assist
+her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a
+succorer of many, and of myself also." These words of St. Paul are
+especially valuable as an apostolic witness for the existence of the
+office of deaconess at the time when he wrote. They are even more than
+that. They are an apostolic commendation of the office addressed to the
+Christian Church of all times to accept the deaconess in the Lord, and
+to assist her "in whatsoever business she hath need of you."
+
+Whether Priscilla, spoken of with Aquila as "my helpers in Christ
+Jesus," or Tryphena, Tryphosa, and the beloved Persis, who "labored
+much," or Julia and Olympas, all mentioned in the same chapter, were or
+were not deaconesses we have no means of knowing.
+
+Outside of this chapter we do not find other references to the order in
+the New Testament, unless it be in 1 Tim. iii, 11. In the midst of a
+lengthy description of the qualifications of deacons is interjected the
+exhortation: "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober,
+faithful in all things." Now the word _wives_ has no authority from the
+Greek word, which is simply _women_. Bishop Lightfoot remarks, in his
+book on the authorized version of the New Testament, "If the theory of
+the definite article (in the Greek) had been understood our translators
+would have seen that the reference is to deaconesses, not to wives of
+the deacons."
+
+Many eminent scholars are of the same opinion, among whom are
+Chrysostom, Grotius, Bishop Wordsworth, and Dean Alvord. Dean Howson
+adds: "It should be particularly noticed in connection with this that in
+the early part of the chapter no such directions are given concerning
+the wives of the bishops, though they are certainly as important as the
+wives of the deacons; so that it can scarcely be thought otherwise than
+that the apostle's directions were for the deaconesses, an order which
+we find in ecclesiastical records for some centuries side by side with
+that of deacons."[4]
+
+Those mentioned in Tit. ii, 3, and in 1 Tim. v, 9, cannot be considered
+as holding the office of a deaconess. They belong distinctively to the
+class of widows, who held a position of honor in the Church. St. Paul
+had clear conceptions of the administrative needs of the Church, and it
+is not probable that he would set apart to the service of deaconesses,
+which had many difficult duties, those who were already sixty years old.
+
+The many names of faithful women mentioned in his letters as helpers in
+the Church are important witnesses for the great apostle's appreciation
+of woman's co-operation in the work of the Church, although his judgment
+was necessarily limited in some directions by the influence of the times
+in which he lived.
+
+Let us examine the requirements for the diaconate of the early Church.
+The word diaconate means service; helpful service. We use the word to
+designate service for the Church of Christ; service that more
+particularly concerns itself with administering the charities of the
+Church and performing its duties of compassion and mercy. The men who
+were selected for this office were to be men of "honest report." They
+must have led a blameless life. Those who had repented of wrong-doing
+and reformed their lives were excluded from the office, because they
+had lost a good report "of them which are without." Pre-eminently they
+must be men of spiritual experience, proven Christians, "full of the
+Holy Ghost and of wisdom." They were also to have practical gifts that
+would make them efficient and capable in the duties of every-day life.
+1 Tim. iii, 8.
+
+These are some of the qualifications spoken of as belonging to the
+diaconate, and are the same in application to either sex. The woman
+deacon must, however, besides possessing the above qualities, be
+unmarried or a widow. The married woman has her calling at home, and
+cannot combine with that an official calling in the Church, although she
+may be a valuable lay helper.
+
+The field of labor of the women deacons of apostolic times and of the
+present is essentially the same. The conditions of society and of the
+Church, however, are totally dissimilar. We must, therefore, look to see
+new adaptations of the same useful qualities. In other words, we shall
+not expect to take the female diaconate of the days of the apostles and
+transport it unchanged, into nineteenth century environments. We shall
+rather expect to see the invariably useful qualities of the diaconate of
+women adapted to the needs of the sinful, sorrowing, ignorant, and
+helpless of the age in which we live.
+
+
+ [1] _Heidenthum und Judenthum_, von Döllinger, p. 692. Regensburg,
+ 1857.
+ [2] MacMaster's _History of the United States_, vol. i, p. 102.
+ [3] Statistics from _North American Review_, February, 1889, "Why am
+ I a Missionary?"
+ [4] _Deaconesses_, Rev. J. D. Howson, D.D., p. 236.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.
+
+
+To understand the position of the deaconess with respect to the modern
+Church we must know something of the relation in which she stood to the
+early Church. Concisely as may be we must recall the story of the
+intervening centuries to the present, that we may learn the true
+position of deaconesses in modern times.
+
+We have very little knowledge of the early Church. During the first
+century and the first half of the second century continued persecution
+compelled the religious communities of the new faith to live in almost
+complete seclusion. For the same reason little has been left on record
+of those years, and it is impossible to form clear conceptions of Church
+history during the period. The first trace which we find of the
+existence of deaconesses after the times of the apostles comes to us
+from an entirely outside source--from the official records of the Roman
+government. Shortly after the close of the first century the Emperor
+Trajan sent the younger Pliny as prefect to Bithynia in Asia Minor. At
+the imperial command he began a persecution of the Christians, but
+interrupted it for a time to obtain further instructions from the
+emperor. His letter and the reply still exist. In the course of what he
+wrote Pliny says that he had sought to learn from two maids, who were
+called "ministræ" ("ex duabus ancillis, quæ ministræ dicebantur," Book
+x, chap. xcvii), or helpers, the truth of what the Christians had said,
+and had even deemed it necessary to put them to torture, but could
+obtain evidence of nothing save unbounded superstition. Here is
+independent testimony of singular interest that deaconesses, followers
+of Phebe, were found in Christian communities of Asia Minor at the
+beginning of the second century, and that they kept the faith, when put
+to cruel martyrdom.
+
+The clearest conceptions of the characteristics and duties of
+deaconesses of the early Church we obtain from the _Apostolic
+Constitutions_, a collection of ecclesiastical instructions that
+gradually grew up in the Eastern Church, and were gathered into one work
+in the fourth century. These instructions were of unequal antiquity,
+ranging from the earliest usages to the rules and practices last
+determined upon. Whether the _Apostolic Constitutions_ have all the
+authority that some claim for them is a question not here to be
+decided. If not genuine, they must have been written at a very early
+time, and from that fact possess a historical value of their own. "They
+prove beyond a doubt that there was a time in the history of the Church
+when a clear idea was held by some writer of the office of the female
+deacon as essential to the discipline of the Church."[5] From them we
+learn of three distinct types of women connected with the administration
+of the Church--deaconesses, widows, and virgins. Deaconesses and widows
+date from apostolic times, the Church virgins from a somewhat later
+period. The distinction between widows and deaconesses was not at first
+clearly maintained. By some Church fathers widows were called
+deaconesses, and deaconesses widows. It was only after the lapse of time
+that we find the classes clearly distinguished, and when that time is
+reached the deaconesses have become exalted in office, being regarded as
+belonging to the clergy,[6] while the widows have lost somewhat the
+honorable position first accorded to them. The deaconesses are active
+ministering agents, caring for the necessities of others; the widows
+have passed the period of active service, and having won the respect
+and protection of the Church are supported in old age from a fund set
+apart for that purpose. In the _Apostolic Constitutions_ the order of
+deaconesses stands forth independently, its many official activities are
+mentioned, and the importance of its service emphasized.
+
+By combining the different references we obtain a tolerably clear
+picture of the deaconess and her duties. She must be a "pure virgin," or
+"a widow once married, faithful, and worthy" (Book vi, chap. xvii). Her
+special duties were as follows:
+
+(a.) She was a door-keeper at the women's entrance to the church. This
+was an ancient service, dating back to the oldest times.[7] Ignatius
+died a martyr's death not long after the beginning of the second
+century, and in a letter which bears his name is written, "I greet the
+doorkeepers of the holy doors, the deaconesses who are in the Lord."
+
+This guardianship was maintained not only in times of persecution, but
+as a matter of order and discipline in times of peace.
+
+(b.) She showed women their places in the congregation, being especially
+bound to look after the poor and strangers, giving each due attention.
+
+(c.) She instructed the female catechumens. She also visited the
+women's apartments, where male deacons could not enter, carried messages
+to the bishops, and acted as a missionary. Teaching was an important
+part of the duties of the early deaconesses.
+
+(d.) The deaconess had certain duties in connection with the baptism of
+women that were considered important and indispensable.
+
+(e.) In times of persecution she visited those who were oppressed or in
+prison, and ministered to their bodily and spiritual needs. She seems to
+have been less endangered in performing these acts than were men. Lucian
+alludes to the service of these devoted women in prisons. She also cared
+for the sick and sorrowing, being especially "zealous to serve other
+women."
+
+(f.) On occasion she was a mediator when there was strife in families,
+or among friends. Both to deacons and deaconesses "pertain messages,
+journeys to foreign parts, ministrations, services." The
+ever-to-be-remembered journey of Phebe to Rome, when a whole system of
+theology was committed to her keeping, was quite within the sphere of
+her duties. It has also been said that to them was given the
+safe-keeping of the holy books in periods of persecution. The
+enumeration of these principal duties implying so many lesser details
+helps us to understand that "deaconesses are needed for many purposes"
+(Book ii, chapter xv). The deaconess was ordained to her work, as is
+attested by a great number of authorities.[8] "It was because men felt
+still that the Holy Ghost alone could give power to do any work to God's
+glory that they deemed themselves constrained to ask such power of him,
+in setting a woman to do Church service."[9]
+
+The following beautiful prayer of ordination, attributed to the apostle
+Bartholomew, bears within it certain proofs of the very early existence
+of the ceremony, as well as of the order of deaconesses:
+
+"Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of man and women,
+who didst fill Miriam and Deborah and Hannah and Huldah with thy Spirit,
+and didst not disdain to suffer thine only-begotten Son to be born of a
+woman; who also in the tabernacle and temple didst appoint woman-keepers
+of thine holy gates, look down now upon this thine handmaid, who is
+designated to the office of deaconess, and cleanse her from all
+filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, that she may worthily execute
+the work intrusted to her to thine honor, and to the praise of thine
+Anointed, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and adoration
+forever. Amen."
+
+The allusion to the creation of man and woman, to the women in the Old
+Testament who were called to special service, as well as to Mary, the
+mother of the Lord, while no reference is made to the women of the
+apostolic Church who were so highly commended, and held in veneration as
+worthy of all imitation, go to prove that the origin of this prayer was
+so near the time of the apostles as to be almost contemporary with them.
+
+The office of the deaconess, as described by the _Apostolic
+Constitutions_, fitted into the needs of the Eastern Church and the
+requirements of Greek life. It was in the East that the diaconate of
+women originated, and here that it attained its greatest growth. In the
+West custom did not demand the careful separation of the sexes as in the
+East, and church relations were less bound by social usages;
+consequently we meet with fewer references to deaconesses in the works
+of the Latin fathers, and the diaconate of women is not so deeply rooted
+in the affections of the church communities as we have found it in the
+Greek Church.[10]
+
+The fourth century was the blossoming period of woman's diaconate, when
+it attained its highest importance. All the leading Greek fathers and
+Church authorities of the age make mention of it. The office is spoken
+of as worthy of all honor, filled by women of rank from noble families,
+and those of wealth and ability. It found its special advocate and
+protector in Chrysostom, "John of the Golden Mouth," who was Bishop of
+Constantinople from 397 until 407 A.D. He seems to have had the
+ability, rare for that age, of understanding the value of the services
+of Christian women, and through his wise guidance and encouragement had
+over them almost unbounded influence. Forty-six deaconesses were under
+his direction--forty attached to the mother church at Constantinople,
+and six belonging to a small church in the suburbs. A number of these
+were closely identified with his history, either as relatives or
+friends, and through his writings their memory is preserved. Of these
+are Nicarete, of a noble family of Nicomedia. We are told she was of a
+modest, retiring nature, and would not take places of responsibility
+when urged to do so by Chrysostom. We note a strong tendency toward the
+later celibate life of the nuns when we read that she was extolled for
+"her perpetual virginity and holy life." Sabiniana was the aunt of
+Chrysostom. To Amprucla the bishop wrote two letters still extant.[11]
+They are filled with words of consolation for the religious persecution
+she has undergone. In one of them he says: "Greatly did we sympathize
+with your manliness, your steadfast and adamantine understanding, your
+freedom of speech and boldness." "Manliness of soul" seems to have held
+a high place in the bishop's favorite qualities. In another place,
+writing to the same deaconess, he praises "your steadfast soul, true to
+God; yea, rather, your noble and most manly soul."
+
+Pentadia and Procla were closely associated with Olympias. In a letter
+to Pentadia, Chrysostom writes: "For I know your great and lofty soul,
+which can sail as with a fair wind through many tempests, and in the
+midst of the waves enjoy a white calm."[12] Reading such words of
+appreciation, words that in other places approach dangerously near to
+adulation, we better understand the influence Chrysostom exercised over
+the women of his time, and their steadfast devotion to him. They had the
+conviction that all their efforts met with his sincere and profound
+appreciation and quick responsive acknowledgment.
+
+Pre-eminent among the friends of the great bishop was Olympias, of whom
+Dean Howson said, "She is the queenly figure among the deaconesses of
+the primitive Church." To understand her life we must recall the scenes
+by which she was surrounded and the age in which she lived.[13]
+
+In the great capital of the Eastern Empire, where the luxuriance and
+magnificence of the Orient combined with the keen, quick intellectual
+life of the Greeks; in the circle of the imperial court, with its
+intrigues, its fashions, its favoritisms; at a time when outwardly much
+respect was paid to the forms of religious life, but when the great and
+vital dogmas of the Church were made the sport of witty sophistical
+disputations; when those who endeavored to lead an earnest Christian
+life met with nearly as much to oppose them as in periods of active
+persecution; such were her environments. They were little favorable to
+the strength of mind, the fixedness of purpose, the self-denial and
+Christian devotion that marked this noble deaconess. Born in 368 A.D. of
+a heathen family of rank, owing to her parents' early death she was
+educated a Christian. In her seventeenth year she married Nebridius, the
+prefect of the city, but after a married life of twenty months he died,
+leaving her at eighteen years a widow, rich, beautiful, and free to
+decide her future. The Emperor Theodosius desired her to marry one of
+his kinsmen, but she refused, saying, "Had God designed me to lead a
+married life he would not have taken my husband; I will remain a widow,"
+and shortly after she was consecrated a deaconess by Bishop Nectarius.
+The emperor, angered at her refusal, took from her the use of her large
+fortune, and put it under the care of guardians until she should be
+thirty years old, whereupon she only thanked him for relieving her of
+the heavy responsibility of administering her estate, and begged him to
+add to his kindness by dividing it between the poor and the Church.
+
+Shamed out of his anger, the emperor soon restored her rights, and when
+Chrysostom came to Constantinople her lavish and often unwise generosity
+was felt in every direction, being compared to "a stream which flows to
+the end of the world." He reproved her unbounded liberality, and advised
+her to administer alms as a wise steward who must render an account.
+This counsel guided her into safer paths. Finally, when Chrysostom was
+driven forth to banishment, by his advice she remained in the city, and
+became a support for his followers and those who had been dependent upon
+him. She met contemptuous treatment and judicial persecutions, but
+continued her works of charity, and outlived the man whose mind and
+heart had so influenced hers by eleven years. Chrysostom wrote her many
+letters, of which seventeen are extant.[14] They plainly show the
+estimate he set upon the diaconate of women, and his endeavor to wisely
+cherish it. Unfortunately, they also show exaggeration of compliment and
+praise which detract from his words of sincere and honest admiration.
+Too often, also, he gives undue value to works of mercy, and exalts acts
+of ascetic self-denial.
+
+The question of the age at which deaconesses could be received is a
+vexed one. The confusion of apprehension touching deaconesses and widows
+led to differing enactments at different times and places. The
+restriction of age, however, must now have lost its force, as we find
+Olympias a deaconess when not yet twenty years of age, and Makrina, the
+sister of Gregory of Nyssa, was ordained when a young girl. Deaconesses
+retained control of their property. In truth, a law of the State forbade
+them to enrich churches and institutions at the expense of those having
+just claims on them. Deaconesses also existed in the Church of Asia
+Minor. Ignatius mentions them as at Antioch in Syria. They were in Italy
+and Rome. The Church of St. Pudentiana, in the Eternal City, keeps
+alive the memory of two deaconesses whose house is said to have stood on
+this site; Praxedes and Pudentiana, the daughters of a Roman senator,
+who devoted themselves, with all they had, to the service of the Church.
+Deaconesses also penetrated to Ireland, Gaul, and Spain, lingering in
+the last named country many years after they had passed out of knowledge
+elsewhere.
+
+We find very little about this order of Christian workers in the Western
+Church. There is a passage of Origen in a Latin translation which speaks
+of the ministry of women as both existing and necessary, but in the
+great Latin fathers, the contemporaries of Chrysostom, scarcely a
+mention occurs. From the last half of the fifth century the diaconate of
+women declined in importance.[15] It was deprived of its clerical
+character by the decrees passed by the Gallic councils of the fifth and
+sixth centuries. It was finally entirely abolished as a church order by
+the Synod of Orleans, 593 A.D., which forbade any woman henceforth to
+receive the _benedictio diaconalis_, which had been substituted for
+_ordinatio diaconalis_ by a previous council (Synod of Orange, 441). The
+withdrawing of church sanctions made the deaconess cause a private one.
+But as such it existed for hundreds of years, often under the patronage
+and protection of those high in authority. About the year 600 A.D. the
+patriarch of Constantinople, godfather of the Emperor Mauritius, built
+for his sister, who was a deaconess, a church which for centuries was
+called the "Church of the Deaconesses." It is still standing and, only
+slightly changed, is now used for a Turkish mosque.[16]
+
+In the twelfth century there were still deaconesses at Constantinople.
+Balsamon, a distinguished professor of Church law, writing at the time,
+says that deaconesses were still elected in that city and took charge of
+conferences among women members, but in other places the order had
+passed completely away.
+
+There was no historian of the diaconate of the early Church. We learn of
+it only from isolated and occasional references in works devoted to
+other subjects. Yet these references are sufficient to enable us to
+affirm that deaconesses were a factor in the life of the Church for from
+nine to twelve centuries, or two thirds of the Christian era.
+
+The same influences led to its decay that affected the entire life of
+the Church during these centuries. The superior sanctity attached to
+the unmarried state, that brought about the celibacy of the priests,
+gradually changed the active beneficent existence of the old-time
+deaconesses into the cloistral life of nuns. Statutes were passed
+forbidding her to marry. Gradually grew up the dangerous superstition of
+the marriage of the individual soul with Christ, that made of the nun
+the Bride of Christ in an especial sense. It was this false conception
+that led the vow of the nun to be regarded as the vow of marriage, and
+to be guarded from infringement in the same way as the human marriage
+tie, and like it to be lasting for life. The glorious doctrine of
+justification by faith was replaced by ascetic mortifications of the
+flesh based upon the belief in meritorious works. The cell of the monk
+and the nun were esteemed more sacred than the family circle, and in the
+darkness of mediæval times that settled down upon the life of the Church
+we lose sight of the busy, active ministrations of women deacons, who
+had once been esteemed so needful to her usefulness.
+
+There are other minor causes that aided in the downfall of the order;
+the abuses that arose in some cases; the changes in the ceremony of
+baptism by which the aid of women was not so indispensable, and
+especially the fact that since the time of Constantine the care of the
+sick and poor was placed under the charge of the State.[17]
+
+These causes combined removed from the life of the Church a powerful
+agency for good, and for centuries deprived it of the pre-eminent gifts
+of ministration which belong to Christian women.
+
+
+ [5] _Woman's Work in the Church_, J. M. Ludlow, p. 21.
+ [6] _Die Weibliche Diakonie in ihrem ganzen Umfang_, Theodor Schäfer,
+ 3 vols. Stuttgart: D. Gundert, 1887. Vol. i, p. 45.
+ [7] _Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart_,
+ Emil Wacker. Gütersloh: E. Bertelman, 1888. p. 33.
+ [8] Neander, _Hist. of Chr. Religion and Church_, vol. i, p. 188;
+ Schaff, _Hist. of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260; McClintock &
+ Strong's _Encyclopædia_, art. "Deaconesses."
+ [9] J. M. Ludlow, _Woman's Work in the Church_, p. 17.
+ [10] Neander, _Hist. of Chr. Rel. and Church_, vol. i, p. 188; Schaff,
+ _Hist. of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260.
+ [11] _Sancti Johannis Chrysostomi opera om_, t. ii, pp. 659, 662.
+ Paris, 1842.
+ [12] Chrys., _Op._, vol. ii, p. 658.
+ [13] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, Theodor Schäfer, vol. i, p. 8.
+ [14] Chrys., _Op._, vol. ii, p. 600.
+ [15] Schaff's _History of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260.
+ [16] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth, 1880,
+ p. 5.
+ [17] Herzog's _Protestantische Real Enc._, vol. iii, p. 589.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH
+CENTURIES.
+
+
+During these seven centuries whenever there arose a reviving spirit of
+true love to God, whether within the Church of Rome or in any of the
+churches formed from reforming elements that separated from it, then we
+find traces of the diaconate of woman assuming some form of devotion to
+Christ and work for him. One of these movements well worth our study
+originated in Belgium while the last of the Greek deaconesses were still
+daily walking the arched pathway that led to their church in
+Constantinople. Toward the close of the twelfth century great corruption
+of morals and open abuses prevailed in society, and also in the Church.
+One of those who protested against the evils of the times was the priest
+Lambert le Bègue, as he was called, meaning the stutterer. He lived at
+Liège, in Belgium, and just without the city walls owned a large garden.
+He determined to make use of this to found a retreat for godly women,
+where they could lead in common a life of well-doing. Here he built a
+number of little houses, and in the center a church, which was dedicated
+to St. Christopher in 1184. Then he presented the whole to some godly
+women to be used and owned in common. His earnest words of rebuke
+brought persecution upon him from those whose consciences he disturbed,
+but he went to Rome and appealed to the pope, who not only protected him
+from his assailants, but made him the patriarch of the order he had
+founded. Only six months after his return, however, he died, and was
+buried before the high altar of the church he had erected in 1187.
+Whether he was indeed the founder of the Béguine houses has been called
+in question. Be that as it may, fifty years after his death fifteen
+hundred Béguines were living around St. Christopher's Church,[18] and
+Béguine courts were found throughout Belgium, in the Netherlands, south
+along the Rhine, in eastern France, and in Switzerland. The Crusades
+made many widows, and both widows and young girls sought shelter in the
+community life of the Béguines. As a rule they lived alone, in separate
+small houses built closely together and surrounded by a wall. Each house
+bore on its door the sign of the cross, and with every Béguine court
+there were invariably two large buildings--a church and a hospital; the
+one for the worship of the sisters, the other the field of their
+self-denying ministrations. At first they were in no wise distinguished
+in their dress from other women, but in time they wore a habit which
+varied in color with each establishment, but was generally blue, gray,
+or brown. The veil was invariably white. The sisters had to earn, or
+partly earn, their own livelihood. In the time remaining they rendered
+essential service in performing acts of charity. They received orphans
+to bring up and educate, taught little children, nursed the sick,
+performed the last offices for the dead, and bound themselves by good
+deeds closely with the lives of the people. They were in no sense
+isolated from the world, but lived busy, useful lives in the midst of
+the world. They could leave the community at any time, and after
+severing their connection with it were free to marry. They also retained
+control of their own property.
+
+There were certainly many points of resemblance between these women who
+were so active in the sphere of Christian charity in the twelfth and
+thirteenth centuries and the deaconesses of Europe to-day. The most
+prosperous period for the Béguines was the first half of the thirteenth
+century, when they were numbered by thousands.[19] Gradually persecution
+was directed against them. The nuns looked upon them with disfavor, and
+the pope withdrew his protection. In the Netherlands many became
+Protestants at the time of the Reformation, but the Béguines of to-day,
+changed in many respects from the original type, and now, closely
+resembling the other sisterhoods of Catholicism, are frequently to be
+seen in the cities of Belgium and north-eastern France.
+
+A new current of spiritual life swept over the church in the fourteenth
+century, and again we find women living together in community life, and
+devoting themselves to common service in good deeds, and known as the
+Sisters of the Common Life. There was also a Brotherhood of the Common
+Life, as there were Beghards, communities of Christian men corresponding
+to the Béguines. The Brotherhood and the Sisterhood of the Common Life
+honored as their founder Gerhard Groot, of Deventer, who was born in
+1340. Of a singularly attractive personality, a creative mind, and an
+ardent, enthusiastic nature, he was born to influence and command. He
+was already known as a priest of eloquence and wide learning when, in
+1374, he met with a deep spiritual change, and from that year dated his
+conversion. Henceforth, with every power of a rarely gifted nature, he
+sought to lead those who heard him to lives of purity and holiness.
+Gradually there grew up about him a circle of like-minded friends,
+occupied in writing books to spread his ideas, and aiding him as they
+could. His friend Florentius proposed that they live together and form a
+community. "A community!" answered Groot. "The begging orders will never
+permit that." But Florentius, the planner and organizer, persisted,
+offering his own house as a home, and held to the advantages of his plan
+until Groot yielded, and said, "In the name of the Lord begin your
+work."
+
+Such was the origin of the Brotherhood of the Common Life, and from its
+circle proceeded that immortal book, the _Imitation of Christ_, by
+Thomas à Kempis, keeping alive in the hearts of choice spirits of every
+generation the thoughts and sentiments of the men of whom its author was
+the interpreter. For a community of women of similar aims and purposes
+it needed only that Groot should make a few changes in the house that he
+had already set apart from his paternal inheritance as a home for
+destitute women, and the first sister house began. Like the Béguines,
+the Sisters of the Common Life took no obligations binding them to
+life-long service, but they differed from them in living more closely
+together in one family, and had a common purse. They wore a gray
+costume, and also worked for their own support. The special virtues they
+inculcated were obedience to those above them in authority, humility
+that would not shun the meanest task, and friendliness to all. Their
+charitable duties were much the same as the Béguines; they cared for
+children, nursed the sick, and often acted as midwives. In the first
+half of the sixteenth century there were at least eighty-seven
+sister-houses, mostly in the Netherlands.[20]
+
+It will be noticed that these freer communities of religious women, that
+bear so much closer resemblance to the deaconesses of the early Church
+than to the sisterhoods of nuns contemporary with them, mostly existed
+in the great free cities of Germany and the Netherlands, which were the
+cradles of political and religious liberty, the centers of commerce and
+of civilization at that time.
+
+Among the Waldenses, the Poor Men of Lyons, who were already prominent
+in the last half of the twelfth century, we find there were
+deaconesses. We learn of them again, too, among the Bohemian brethren,
+the followers of Huss. With deep Christian faith they endeavored to form
+a Church after the apostolic model, and in 1457 appointed Church
+deaconesses. "They were to form a female council of elder women, who
+were to counsel and care for the married women, widows, and young girls,
+to make peace between quarrelers, to prevent slandering, and to preserve
+purity and good morals,"[21] aims which keep close to the apostolic
+definition of this office.
+
+Luther, the great master-mind of the Reformation, was too clear-sighted
+to fail to appreciate the importance of women for the service of the
+Church. Speaking of the quality which is an inherent part of the
+diaconate of women, he says: "Women who are truly pious are wont to have
+especial grace in comforting others and lessening their sorrows." In his
+exposition of 1 Pet. ii, 5, he uttered truly remarkable words, for the
+age in which he lived, concerning women as members of the holy
+priesthood. He says: "Now, wilt thou say, Is that true that we are all
+priests, and should preach? Where will that lead us? Shall there be no
+difference in persons? shall women also be priests? Answer. If thou
+desirest to behold Christians, so must thou see no differences, and must
+not say, That is a man or a woman, that is a servant or a lord, old or
+young. They are all one, simply Christian people. Therefore are they all
+priests. They may all publish God's word, save that women shall not
+speak in the church, but shall let men preach. But where there are no
+men, but women only, as in the nuns' cloisters, there might a woman be
+chosen who should preach to them. This is the true priesthood, in which
+are the three elements of spiritual offerings, prayer, and preaching for
+the Church. _Whoever does this is a priest. You are all bound to preach
+the Word, to pray for the Church, and to offer yourself to God._"[22]
+
+There is no mention in Luther's writings, however, of the diaconate of
+women. It would be more natural that he should have tried to adjust the
+lives of the monks and nuns as he knew of them to the new relations
+arising from the Reformation rather than to bring to life an office of
+which he had no personal knowledge. This was what he did when he wrote
+to the burghers of Herford in Westphalia. In their new zeal they wanted
+to drive the inmates from the religious houses, although the latter had
+been the means of teaching them the reformed doctrines. In his letter
+of January 31, 1532, Luther says: "If the brothers and sisters who are
+by you truly teach and hold the true word it is my friendly wish that
+you will not allow them to be disturbed or experience bitterness in this
+matter. Let them retain their religious dress and their accustomed
+habits which are not opposed to the Gospel."[23]
+
+Certainly Luther would have seen no harm in allowing deaconesses the
+protection of a special garb.
+
+Passing to another great reformer, Calvin, we find not only references
+to deaconesses as filling a "most honorable and most holy function in
+the Church," but in the Church ordinances of Geneva, which were drawn up
+by him, there is mention of the diaconate as one of the four ordinances
+indispensable to the organization of the Church.
+
+In the Netherlands several attempts were made to revive the ancient
+office. The General Synod of the Reformed Church at Wesel, in 1568,
+first considered the question. A later synod, in 1579, expressly
+occupied itself with the work and office of the deaconess, but the
+measures taken were not adapted to advance the interests of the cause,
+and it was formally abandoned by the Synod of Middleburg in 1581. In
+the city of Wesel, however, there continued to be deaconesses attached
+to the city churches until 1610. In Amsterdam local churches preserved
+the office still later than at Wesel. Already in 1566 we read that in
+the great reformed Church not only deacons but deaconesses were elected.
+The terrible days of the Spanish fury swept away all Church organization
+for a time, but when it was restored in 1578 both classes of Christian
+officers again resumed their duties. From 1582 lists of deaconesses were
+kept, showing at first three; later, in 1704, twenty-eight, and in 1800
+only eight. At the present time there are women directors of hospitals
+and orphanages in Amsterdam who are called by the title of deaconesses.
+The helpless, sick, and neglected children are now gathered in
+institutions instead of being cared for individually as was formerly the
+custom, and women having positions of control in these institutions are
+designated by the name formerly applied to those who had the personal
+care of the same needy classes.
+
+It is interesting to note that there was one association of women in the
+century of the Reformation that bears close resemblance to the Béguines
+and the Sisters of the Common Life. These were the Damsels of Charity,
+established by Prince Henry Robert de la Mark, the sovereign prince of
+Sédan in the Netherlands. In 1559 he, together with the great majority
+of his subjects, embraced the doctrines of the Reformed Church, and
+instead of incorporating former church property with his own
+possessions, as did so many princes of the Reformation, he devoted it to
+founding institutions of learning and of charity. These latter he put
+under the care of the "Damsels of Charity," an association of women
+which he had instituted. The members could live in their own homes or in
+the establishments, but in either case they devoted themselves to the
+protection and succor of the poor and sick and the aged. While taking no
+vows, they were chosen from those not bound by the marriage vow, and
+were subject only to certain rules of living. The Damsels of Charity
+have been held by some to be the first Protestant association of
+deaconesses, although not called by the name.[24]
+
+There are two evangelical societies, small in numbers, but one at least
+powerful in influence, which have retained deaconesses from their origin
+to the present time. These are the Mennonites or Anabaptists, and the
+Moravians. It was among the Mennonites in Holland that Fliedner saw the
+deaconesses, who so interested him in their duties that he obtained the
+convictions which in the end led him to devote his life to their
+restoration in the economy of the Church. Among the Moravians,
+deaconesses were introduced at the instance of Count Zinzendorf in 1745,
+but only as a limited form of woman's service, by no means measuring up
+to the place accorded them to day in Germany.
+
+We have now reached the nineteenth century, and from the early Church to
+the present time we find successive if sporadic attempts to incorporate
+into the Church the active diaconate of women. These constantly
+recurring efforts imply a consciousness, deep, if unexpressed, of the
+need to utilize better the especial gifts of women in Christian service.
+We have reached the moment when this consciousness is to take a suitable
+and enduring form; when the Church machinery, long defective in this
+particular, is to be re-adjusted and made complete.
+
+
+ [18] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 67.
+ [19] _Woman's Work in the Church_, Ludlow, p. 117, note. "Matthew
+ Paris mentions it as one of the wonders of the age, for the
+ year 1250, that in Germany there rose up an innumerable multitude
+ of those continent women who wish to be called Béguines, to that
+ extent that Cologne was inhabited by more than a thousand of
+ them."
+ [20] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, Schäfer, vol. i, p. 70.
+ [21] _Der Diakonissenberuf_ E. Wacker, p. 82.
+ [22] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, p. 5. Gütersloh,
+ 1888.
+ [23] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 73.
+ [24] _Histoire de la principauté de Sédan_, Pasteur Pegran, vol. ii,
+ chaps. i, ii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF
+DEACONESS.
+
+
+The first years of the present century were sad years for Germany. There
+was a life-and-death struggle with an all-powerful conqueror to preserve
+existence as a nation. The Germans still call this "the war for
+freedom." Immediately thereafter followed a period of religious
+awakening, and this proved to be the hour when the diaconate of woman
+rose again to life and power. When the fullness of time arrives for a
+cause or a movement to take its place among the forces of society, many
+hearts become impressed with its importance. So, between the years 1820
+and 1835, there were four several attempts to awaken the Christian
+Church to an enlightened conscience in this matter, the last of which
+obtained a wide and an enduring success. The first was made by Johann
+Adolph Franz Klönne, pastor of the church at Bislich, near Wesel.
+Stirred to admiration by the activity that the women's societies had
+shown in the Napoleonic wars, he lamented the fact that the
+associations had dissolved, and complained that they had not taken a
+permanent form, in which the members might have performed the duties for
+the Church that deaconesses had done in the early years of Christianity.
+In 1820 he published a pamphlet entitled _The Revival of the Deaconesses
+of the Primitive Church in our Women's Associations_. This he sent to
+many persons of influence, trying to win their co-operation for the
+cause. He received a great many answers in reply, among them one from
+the Crown Princess Marianne. But while in a general way his project met
+with approval, no one could suggest a practical method by which his
+thought could be realized.
+
+A distinguished woman, Amalie Sieveking, attempted the same task of
+utilizing the labor of Christian women as deaconesses in the Church. She
+belonged to a well-known patrician family in the old free city of
+Hamburg, and was well known for her philanthropic views and her generous
+deeds. "When I was eighteen years old," she relates, "I first learned
+about the charitable sisterhoods in Catholic lands, and the knowledge
+seized upon me with almost irresistible power. Like a lightning's flash
+came the thought, What if you were appointed to found a similar
+institution for our Protestant Church?"[25] The thought stayed by her,
+and disposed her to receive willingly a similar suggestion coming from
+the great Prussian minister Von Stein, the Bismarck of Germany during
+the first quarter of this century. He had been favorably impressed by
+what he had seen of the Sisters of Mercy in the camp and in hospitals.
+He consulted with one of his councilors about increasing their number,
+so that they could be employed in all the Hospitals, Insane Asylums, and
+Penitentiaries which had women inmates. To another minister he
+complained with warmth that the Protestant Church had no such
+sisterhoods by which the beneficent stream of activities among women
+could be directed into well-regulated channels. "The religious life of
+Protestantism suffers from the want of them," he said. These words were
+repeated to Amalie Sieveking and stirred her to make the endeavor to
+fulfill her own long-cherished wishes, which were those of Stein. Just
+at this time, in 1831, the cholera broke out in her native city. She
+took this as a providential opening, by means of which deaconesses could
+begin their work, and went at once to one of the cholera hospitals,
+offered her services as a nurse, and at the same time issued an appeal
+for sister-women to join her. But no one came. The only outcome of her
+effort was a woman's society which she formed to care for the sick and
+the poor of her native city, and to work for this she devoted the
+remainder of her life. Stein and Amalie Sieveking had in mind an order
+of women closely resembling the Sisters of Charity. That their efforts
+were not crowned with success seemed to the evangelical Protestant
+promoters of the deaconess cause in later times providential.[26]
+
+Shortly after, in 1835, Count von der Recke, already well known as the
+founder of two charitable institutions, issued the first number of a
+magazine called _Deaconesses; or, The Life and Labors of Women Workers
+of the Church in Instruction, Education, and the Care of the Sick_. Only
+a single number appeared, but his earnest plea for deaconesses, and the
+elaborate plan he devised for an institution and officers, aroused wide
+attention, and brought him a letter of warm commendation from the crown
+prince, afterward King Frederick William IV. Evidently the idea was
+ripening, and a near fruition could be anticipated. But neither to
+minister of state, count, nor prince--to no one among the distinguished
+of the earth--was the honor given of reviving the female diaconate. It
+was to a humble pastor of an obscure village church that this work was
+committed.
+
+The little village of Eppstein lies in a beautiful country, full of high
+mountains and deep-lying valleys, about a dozen miles from Wiesbaden. At
+the village parsonage of the little hamlet was born, January 21, 1800, a
+son, the fourth of a family that numbered twelve children. The pastor,
+whose father before him had filled a like office, was a favorite among
+his people for his pleasant speech, sound advice about every-day
+matters, and his faithfulness in instructing the children in the Bible
+and the catechism, and caring for the sick and the afflicted.
+
+The little boy proved to be a strong, healthy child, and as he grew
+older developed a liking for books. His father taught a class composed
+of his children and some boys in the neighborhood, and when Theodor
+became old enough to join it he soon outstripped the rest, giving his
+father no little pride by his fluent rendering of Homer. Theodor
+Fliedner was not quite fourteen years old when the sudden death of the
+father changed the whole life of the family, and left the mother with
+eleven children to maintain and educate. Now began for Fliedner a
+struggle to complete his education. The simple, kindly hospitality that
+had been so generously exercised in the village parsonage met its
+reward. Friends came forward to offer help, and at the beginning of the
+New Year Fliedner and his brother went to the gymnasium at Idstein. Here
+he was obliged to live sparingly, and earned his bread by teaching, but
+he was happy and contented, and found in study his great delight. He was
+fond of reading books of travel and the lives of great men, which
+stirred him to emulation. In 1817 he went to the University of Giessen.
+Here he kept aloof from the political agitations among the students.
+Neither was he affected by the rationalistic teachings of the
+professors. His shy, retired nature aided him in this course, and his
+leisure hours were passed in reading the writings of the Reformers. The
+jubilee festival of the Reformation occurred in 1817, and the lives of
+the heroes of the faith were brought freshly home to him. Their strength
+of faith shamed him, but he had not yet learned the secret of their
+power. He was yet without a deep, spiritual life. From Giessen he went
+to Göttingen, where he devoted himself to a year's study of history,
+philosophy, and theology. During the holidays, as is the custom with
+German students, he made repeated pedestrian tours. In this way he
+visited the great free cities of the north, Bremen, Hamburg, and
+Lubeck. From Göttingen he and his brother went to the theological
+seminary at Herborn, where the following summer he passed with credit
+his theological examination. He was now ready to enter God's great
+school of practical life to be further fitted for the mission he was to
+accomplish. In September he went to Cologne and was employed in the
+house of a wealthy merchant as a private tutor. This was a great change
+for the quiet youth of country habits. He took great pains to
+accommodate himself to his surroundings, and to acquire the truly
+Christian art of becoming all things to all men. In after life, when
+speaking of this period and its usefulness to him, he wrote: "It is a
+great hinderance to a man, even to his progress in the kingdom of God,
+not to have been brought up in gentle and refined manners from his
+childhood." Although a faithful and devoted teacher his life-work was
+not forgotten. He constantly sought to widen his knowledge and
+experience, was made assistant secretary of the local Bible society, and
+formed friendships which led to his appointment to the pastorate at
+Kaiserswerth. This was a Catholic town formerly of some importance. The
+ruins of an imperial palatinate are still to be seen there, but in
+Fliedner's time it had become a little village of workmen dependent on
+a few manufacturers. On January 18, 1822, alone, and on foot, to save
+his poor society the expense of his journey, Fliedner entered the town
+where his life was henceforth to be centered. He was to share the
+parsonage with the widow of a previous pastor, and his sister was to be
+his housekeeper. His income was one hundred and thirty-five dollars a
+year. Only a month after his arrival the great firm of velvet
+manufacturers who provided the work-people with employment failed, and
+the little church community seemed about to be dispersed. The government
+offered him another and better appointment, but he felt that he must be
+a true shepherd, and not a hireling, and would not leave his people. He
+decided to make a journey to collect money to form a permanent endowment
+for his church. A journey over sixty years ago, to a young German of
+quiet habits, was a very different matter from a similar trip taken in
+this day of railroads and steamboats. To Fliedner it seemed a very
+important matter; and so it was in its results, which reached far beyond
+the little congregation he served. With great hesitation he began at
+Elberfeld, a town near at hand. A pastor of the city, to encourage him,
+accompanied him to friends, and on parting gave him a friendly
+suggestion that, in addition to trust in God, such work required
+"patience, impudence, and a ready tongue." Before starting on the longer
+journey to Holland and England he returned to his congregation and
+encouraged them by the sum of nine hundred dollars that he had so far
+secured. He was now absent for nine months, and during that time
+obtained an amount sufficient to put the little church in a position
+where a certain, if modest, annual allowance was assured. The pastor had
+also, in serving others, greatly strengthened and broadened his own
+faith. As he says, "In both these Protestant countries I became
+acquainted with a multitude of charitable institutions for the benefit
+both of body and soul. I saw schools and other educational
+organizations, alms-houses, orphanages, hospitals, prisons, and
+societies for the reformation of prisoners, Bible and missionary
+societies, etc., and at the same time I observed that it was a living
+faith in Christ which had called almost every one of these institutions
+and societies into life, and still preserved them in activity. This
+evidence of the practical power, and fertility of such a principle had a
+most powerful influence in strengthening my own faith, as yet weak." It
+was while in Holland that he wrote to Klönne concerning the deaconesses,
+whose duties he had observed among the Mennonites. After his return he
+applied himself with zeal and success to his pastoral duties. Work was a
+delight to him, and his energy and force of character were constantly
+seeking new ways by which to make his church services more attractive,
+and to increase his influence over each member of his congregation. "He
+never asked himself what he _must_ do, but always what he _might_
+do."[27] But, work as industriously as he would, his small society left
+him time for other activities. While in London he had been profoundly
+impressed by the noble labors of Elizabeth Fry in the prisons of
+England. It was this woman's hand that pointed out the way for Fliedner
+in Germany. The prisons in his own land had remained untouched by any
+spirit of reform. The convicts were crowded together in small, filthy
+cells, and often in damp cellars without light or air; boys, who had
+thoughtlessly committed some trifling misdemeanor, with gray-headed,
+corrupt sinners; young girls with the most vicious old women. There was
+no attempt at classification of prisoners. Some of them might be
+innocent people waiting for trial. Neither was there oversight, save to
+keep the prisoners from escaping. No work was provided, and as for
+schools, where the larger number of convicts could neither read nor
+write, no one thought of such a thing.[28] That such idleness, the
+beginning of all vice, was here especially pernicious and corrupting can
+be readily seen. But few knew of this state of things, and those few
+left it for the government to provide a remedy.
+
+Fliedner, however, could not rest in this indifference. He says: "The
+smallness of my charge left me more leisure than most of my clerical
+brethren, and the opportunities I had enjoyed on my travels of at once
+collecting information and strengthening my faith imposed a more urgent
+obligation on me to try to make up by the help of our God for our long
+neglect." He tried to obtain permission to be imprisoned a few weeks in
+the prison at Düsseldorf, that he might view prison life from within the
+walls, but his request was refused. He then obtained leave to hold
+services every other Sunday afternoon in the prison at Düsseldorf. The
+efforts that he put forth succeeded in waking the interest of a great
+many persons, and at last there was formed by his efforts the first
+society in behalf of prisoners in Germany.
+
+It was while engaged in this work that he met his wife, Frederika
+Münster, who was occupied in bettering the condition of the prisoners in
+the penitentiary at Düsselthal. He married her in 1828, and she became
+a helpful, inspiring co-worker with him in all his undertakings.
+
+In 1832 he was commissioned by the government to revisit England, to
+furnish a report on the various charitable organizations, especially
+those connected with prisons and alms-houses. This brought him into
+closer relations with Elizabeth Fry, as well as with many other noble
+men and women of all ranks who were caring for the poor and neglected of
+England. He extended his journey to Scotland, met Dr. Chalmers, and
+found his heart strangely touched by what he saw. His spiritual
+experience had deepened with the years, and while here he wrote to some
+friends, "The Lord greatly quickens me."
+
+His heart became still more open to works of mercy and love, and he
+gathered rich experiences which were afterward utilized in his work.
+
+Fliedner had now attained a certain reputation of his own as a friend to
+prisoners and outcasts. It was not surprising, therefore, that a poor
+female convict, discharged from the prison at Werden, should have taken
+the weary six miles' walk to Kaiserswerth September 17, 1833, to ask the
+good pastor for help. There stood in the parsonage garden a little
+summer-house twelve feet square, with an attic. This was offered to the
+convict Minna as a temporary refuge, and she became the first inmate of
+the Kaiserswerth institutions. She had arrived at an opportune moment.
+In the previous spring Count Spee, the President of the Prison Society,
+had urged the founding of two institutions, one Lutheran and one
+Catholic, to receive discharged female convicts. Fliedner, who had seen
+such refuges in England, declared himself ready for the plan, and tried
+to induce the pastors of the larger and wealthier communities in the
+neighborhood to locate the Protestant asylum in some one of these
+cities. No one responded to his appeal. His wife, whose courage was
+often greater than his own, urged him to make a beginning in the little
+village where he lived, unpromising as the conditions seemed, and after
+a little hesitation, seeing no one was ready to assume any
+responsibility in a matter that he took so deeply to heart, the good
+pastor decided to follow her advice. The old parsonage was for rent, and
+he secured it on low terms.
+
+Frau Fliedner had a friend of her school-days and early youth, now a
+woman of experience and ability. She sent for her to come and visit them
+to see if she would become the superintendent of the refuge, but shortly
+after her arrival she was taken sick, and her friends sent letters of
+expostulation urging her to return. Just now, when affairs were in
+rather an untoward state, appeared the first inmate. Let Fliedner tell
+the story:
+
+"We at first gave her lodging in my summer-house, and the necessity of
+attending to her did more good to the poor, distressed superintendent
+than all her quinine and mixtures. Countess Spee, the wife of our
+president, had prophesied that our inmates would never remain with us a
+month, they would certainly run away. So when the first month was over I
+marched over to Heltorf and triumphantly announced, 'Minna is yet
+there.' Minna was followed by another, and the garden-house became too
+small."
+
+Finally Fliedner obtained possession of the house he had hired, after
+some delay on the part of the former tenants, and the asylum was opened.
+The number of inmates increased, and Fräulein Göbel soon had more than
+she could manage. She must have an assistant. The need of trained
+Christian workers, who could care for these poor women, grew daily more
+apparent.
+
+Fliedner's thoughts constantly dwelt on the subject; they gave him no
+rest. He had discovered with joyful surprise in 1827 the traces of the
+apostolic deaconesses among the Mennonites, and two years later he
+wrote:
+
+"Does not the experience of this our sister Church, do not the women
+societies in our last war, does not the holy activity of an Elizabeth
+Fry and her helpers in England, and the women's associations of Russia
+and Prussia formed after their model to care for the bodies and souls of
+women prisoners--do all these not show what great power God-fearing,
+pious women possess for the up-building of Christ's kingdom as soon as
+they have opportunity to develop it?"[29]
+
+His practical experience with the work he had in hand brought him to the
+same conclusion; namely, that there must be training-schools where
+Christian women, especially set apart for such service, could have
+instruction and practice in the duties they had undertaken. As a
+consequence there were drawn up in May, 1836, and signed by Fliedner and
+a few friends, the statutes of the Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess
+Society.
+
+Fliedner had now reached the work that was henceforth to be his life
+mission; that is, the restoration of deaconesses to the Christian Church
+of the nineteenth century.
+
+
+ [25] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth,
+ 1886, p. 8.
+ [26] Schäfer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. ii, p. 86; _Denkschrift
+ zur Jubelfeier_, p. 9.
+ [27] T. Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 43.
+ [28] T. Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 48.
+ [29] _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 60.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+
+Fliedner saw clearly that if the office of deaconess were to be planted
+in the Church there must be soil suitable to nourish it: in other words,
+there must be an institution founded which could furnish not only
+instruction, but practice in their duties, and a home for those who
+should offer their services for this office. "But," he says, "could our
+little Kaiserswerth be the right place for a Protestant deaconess house
+for the training of Protestant deaconesses--a village of scarcely
+eighteen hundred people where the large majority of the population were
+Roman Catholics, where sick people could not be expected in sufficient
+numbers for training purposes, and so poor that it could not help defray
+even the yearly expenses of such an institution? And were not older,
+more experienced pastors than I better adapted for this difficult
+undertaking? I went to my clerical brethren in Düsseldorf, Dinsberg,
+Mettmann, Elberfeld, and Barmen, and entreated them to start such an
+institution in their large societies, of which, indeed, there was
+pressing need. But all refused, and urged me to put my hand to the work.
+I had time, with my small congregation, and the quietness of retired
+Kaiserswerth was favorable to such a school. The useful experiences I
+had gained on my journeys had not been given me for naught, and God
+could send money, sick people, and nurses. So we discerned that it was
+his will that we should take the burden on our own shoulders, and we
+willingly stretched them forth to receive it. Quietly we looked around
+for a house for the hospital. Suddenly, the largest and finest house in
+Kaiserswerth was offered for sale. My wife begged me to buy it without
+delay. It is true it would cost twenty-three hundred thalers, and we had
+no money. Yet I bought it with good courage, April 20, 1836. At
+Martinmas the money must be paid."
+
+It is not possible to give here in detail the occurrences by which loans
+were made, and the money that was needed obtained at the required time.
+God gave friends for the cause, and through them provided the means. The
+house was furnished with a little second-hand furniture which had been
+given him, and October, 1836, was opened as a hospital and training
+school for Christian women. Services of praise and thanksgiving
+consecrated this deaconess home yet without deaconesses, this hospital
+without patients. Both, however, soon became inmates of the building.
+The first deaconess was Gertrude Reichardt, the daughter of a physician.
+She had assisted her father in the care of the sick, and had become
+experienced in looking after the welfare of the poor and the destitute.
+She was an invaluable helper in the new enterprise, and shared with the
+doctor the duty of giving instruction in nursing and hospital duties.
+Fliedner's wife was the superintendent. She had the oversight of the
+house, gave the deaconesses practical direction in housekeeping, and in
+their early visits to the sick and poor accompanied them from house to
+house. Fliedner was the director, and took upon himself the religious
+instruction of the sisters. Every effort was taken to make the house a
+home in which a cheerful, loving spirit should prevail. Nearly every
+evening Fliedner or his wife would go over to the home, and read to the
+sisters, or tell them interesting facts outside their lives. When he
+went away on his journeys he would write in full every thing pertaining
+to the interests of the common cause, and the letters would be read
+aloud. This was to be a home in every sense of the word, in which the
+members were to feel themselves belonging to one great family, bound
+together by the common tie of unselfish devotion to others "for Christ's
+sake." The spirit of the founder has permeated the institution even to
+the present time. Those who know any thing of Kaiserswerth testify to
+the strong affection for the common home, the "mother-house," as they
+beautifully term it, felt by all its children. Every pains is taken to
+preserve it. There is correspondence, frequent and regular, from here to
+every sister. No matter in what distant land she may be, her birthday is
+remembered, and she is taught to look to this as a waiting refuge for
+the days of trouble, sickness, and old age.
+
+There was soon arranged a series of house regulations and instructions
+for work which became the basis for after regulations in nearly all
+existing institutions.
+
+Almost contemporary with the mother-house arose the normal school for
+infant-school teachers. It had first started as a child's school, and
+afterward young women who had taste for the care of children were
+received to be taught their duties. Fliedner took great interest in the
+instruction of children. He devised little games for them, and arranged
+stories to be told. His simplicity and his child-like nature led him to
+disregard formalities, and to think solely of the end he had in view.
+On one occasion, when picturing the combat of David and Goliath,
+reaching that point in the narrative when the young shepherd lad slings
+the stone that brings the giant to the ground, he cast himself headlong,
+to the great delight and amazement of his little audience, who enjoyed
+to the full this object-lesson that made the story so vivid to them.
+
+Then he took special pains that his teachers should learn to tell the
+stories of the Bible so as to make them clear and interesting to the
+youngest child. Every day a story was told in school, and each evening
+the teacher whose turn it was to relate the story the following day came
+to Fliedner and rehearsed it to him as though he were a child, afterward
+receiving his suggestions as to how the narrative could be improved. The
+work went along quietly, ever growing, ever advancing. "Among all
+others, and more than all others, was Fliedner's wife his best help. Her
+keen glance, made pure and holy by her Christian faith, preserved him
+from mistakes. With the household virtues of cleanliness, order,
+simplicity, and economy she united large-hearted compassion toward those
+needing help of any kind, yet knowing withal how, with virile sense and
+energy, to prevent the misuse of ministering love. She became a model
+for the deaconesses, as well as a mother to them, and her name deserves
+to be mentioned with honor, as one who had an important part in the
+Protestant renewal of the diaconate of women."[30]
+
+In 1842 a new building was erected for the normal school for
+infant-school teachers. The publishing house of the institution was also
+started, which issues religious books and tracts. The first work sent
+forth was a volume of sermons, presented to the new enterprise by the
+late Professor Lange, which went through several editions.
+
+The same year the _Kaiserswerth Almanac_ appeared and a large picture
+Bible for schools was published. In 1848 the magazine _Der Armen und
+Kranken Freund_ was sent forth as an organ for the deaconess cause, not
+only for Kaiserswerth, but for all the institutions that are represented
+at the triennial Conferences. The publishing house is an important
+source of income, as the institution has little in the way of endowment
+beside the produce of the garden land attached to it. At present about
+three fourths of the expense are met by the sale of publications and the
+fees of patients; the remaining sum is given by friends.
+
+The financial story of Fliedner's life could form a tale of thrilling
+interest, if it were separated from other facts and told by itself. He
+constantly went forward, purchased houses, added lands, and erected new
+homes when he had no money in reserve, but unfailingly when the time
+came for payments to be made the sum was obtained in some way or other
+to meet them. "We have no endowment," he once said, "but the Lord is our
+endowment."
+
+The same year, 1842, the orphan asylum was opened. For a very moderate
+sum this receives children who are both fatherless and motherless, and
+who belong to the educated middle class, having fathers who were pastors
+or professors, or the like. Fliedner hoped not only to provide a home
+for these girls befitting their station in life, but to develop among
+them those who should make a vocation of the care of children and the
+sick, and in this hope he was not disappointed.
+
+In the midst of these successes the hand of God often lay heavily on
+Fliedner's family. Brethren and children passed away, and, sorest
+affliction of all to him, his wife, who had so closely and
+sympathetically shared all his labors, died April 22, 1842. "She was the
+first of the deaconesses to die," writes Fliedner. "As she, their
+mother, had always led the way for her spiritual daughters in life, so
+she was their leader into the valley of the shadow of death."[31] Not
+long after this a normal school for female teachers in the public
+schools was started, for this practical believer in woman's work was one
+of the first to advocate the introduction of women teachers in the
+public schools of Germany, against which there then existed a strong
+prejudice. The Board of Education looked favorably on his project, and
+afterward sent a government commissioner to attend the examinations and
+award the certificates at Kaiserswerth. At a later period provision was
+made for teachers of girls' high schools, as also for those who desired
+to become teachers but were too young to enter the normal school. Over
+two thousand teachers have gone forth from these schools, carrying with
+them a love for the institution which has brought back to it many
+returns in money and service. Fliedner well called them his "light
+skirmishing troops."
+
+In 1849 he resigned his pastorate, and henceforth, with singleness of
+purpose, devoted himself to his one calling. From time to time new
+buildings were added to meet new needs. In 1852 an insane asylum for
+Protestant women was founded, as sisters were often called upon to nurse
+patients of this class. The building set apart for the purpose was
+formerly used as military barracks and was given to Fliedner by King
+Frederick William IV. In 1881 this, as with so many others of the
+original buildings at Kaiserswerth, became too small for the increase in
+numbers, and a new building took its place. It stands on an eminence
+just outside of the village, and is provided with every modern
+appliance. Fliedner's practical good sense and administrative ability
+led him to care for all the minor details that were needed for the
+success of so great an undertaking. He added a dispensary to the
+hospital, where a sister who had passed a regular examination before the
+government medical board made up the medicines required for the
+hospital. Many deaconesses have been trained to the same knowledge,
+which has been an especially valuable acquisition in the hospitals
+situated in Eastern countries. Little by little he secured land for
+farming operations, until there were one hundred and eighty acres in
+garden and meadow land, generally lying close about the various
+buildings, and affording means of recreation as well to the inmates.
+Nearly all of the vegetable and dairy products that are needed are so
+provided. A bakery, bath-houses, homes for laborers and officials, were
+added, and bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths formed part
+of the staff of the great establishment.
+
+Gradually every variety of institution that could furnish active
+practice to the deaconesses took its place here, and the whole might be
+denominated a great normal training-school for Christian women. The
+refuge for discharged female convicts, which was the starting-point of
+the movement, still continued its good work during all these years. The
+last report[32] states that nine hundred and nineteen women of different
+ages and different degrees of wrong-doing have been its inmates. Parents
+send insubordinate girls; societies forward those who profess penitence;
+magistrates sentence degraded creatures often too late for any
+reasonable hope to reform them. The old experience of the refuge is
+repeated in this last report: one third are saved, one third are
+irredeemable, and the judgment as to the remaining third, doubtful.
+There were two buildings erected during the later years of Fliedner's
+life in which he took great interest. One of these was a cottage among
+the neighboring hills, where deaconesses who had become exhausted by
+long days in the sick-room, or whose health was suffering from
+over-toil, could retire for a few weeks of mountain air and quiet rest
+during the summer months. This pleasant retreat was well named Salem.
+Soon afterward was laid the corner-stone of the second building,
+regarded with peculiar favor not only by the good pastor, but by all
+friends of the institution. This was the "Feierabend Haus," the House of
+Evening Rest, where, somewhat apart from the busy activity of the great
+household, those deaconesses whose best strength had been given to
+faithful labor in the service could pass the evening hours of life in
+quiet waiting for the last great change, while using the experience they
+had gathered and the strength still remaining in behalf of the cause
+they had faithfully served.
+
+Such are the main features of the great establishment that year by year
+grew up in this village on the Rhine. But from this as a center had
+gradually branched off manifold lines of service, and many
+daughter-houses both in Germany and foreign lands. It was only a year
+and a half after the home was opened that the first appointment of
+deaconesses to work outside of Kaiserswerth was made.
+
+This was an important victory for the new institution. It took place
+January 21, 1838, on Fliedner's birthday, when he and his wife escorted
+two of the sisters to Elberfeld, where they were to act as trained
+nurses in the city hospital. From that time to the present the hospital
+has continued under the management of the Kaiserswerth deaconesses.
+
+Soon afterward sisters were sent out to nurse in private families, and
+in 1839 two more were sent to superintend the workhouse in Frankfort. As
+the institution became known there was a constant demand for
+superintendents, and matrons for public reformatories, prisons, and
+charitable establishments. Between 1846 and 1850 more than sixty
+deaconesses were at work at twenty-five different stations outside of
+the mother-house. About the same time deaconesses began to work in
+connection with special churches which called for their services, having
+the duties which in England are assigned to those called "parish
+deaconesses."
+
+King Frederick William IV., from the beginning Fliedner's faithful
+friend and supporter, had long desired a deaconess home in Berlin. This
+was finally obtained, and set apart under the name "Bethanien Haus," or
+Bethany House, October 10, 1847, at a special dedicatory service, at
+which the king, with his court, was present. It was while seeking a
+superintendent for this home in Berlin that Fliedner learned to know
+Caroline Bertheau, of Hamburg, a descendant of an old Huguenot family
+that was driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He
+led her home as his wife in May, 1843, and she became to him a true
+helpmeet for his children, his home, and his institution. She is still
+living, having survived her husband over twenty-five years, and in an
+advanced age still retains a place on the Board of Direction at
+Kaiserswerth.
+
+In one place after another deaconess homes arose, sometimes simply
+through Fliedner's advice, more often by his direct co-operation. From
+1849 to 1851 he was chiefly engaged in traveling from one land to
+another, occupied in kindling the zeal of Christian women to devotion to
+the sick and sorrowing, and finding fields of service for their
+priceless ministrations. He visited the United States, England, France,
+and Switzerland, as well as various cities of the East, including
+Jerusalem and Constantinople.
+
+The work in our own land was begun at Pittsburg, where Fliedner came
+with four sisters in the summer of 1849, at the invitation of Pastor
+Passavant, of the German Lutheran Church.
+
+The deaconesses at once entered upon hospital work, and their care of
+the sick met with warm appreciation, but their numbers did not increase.
+An orphanage was afterward started at Rochester, and hospitals under the
+same auspices exist at Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Ill., and Chicago. Still
+the work has not grown, and it has proved the least successful of any
+initiated by Fliedner. Upon his return he aided in opening
+mother-houses in Breslau, Königsberg, Dantzic, Stettin, and Carlsruhe.
+
+We have now come to the period when Kaiserswerth institutions met with a
+notable extension. Fliedner had long been looking toward Jerusalem,
+hoping to found a deaconess home there. "Who would not gladly render
+service on the spot where the feet of the Saviour once brought help and
+healing to the sick?" he had said.
+
+Now, through Dr. Gobat, the Bishop of Jerusalem, the opportunity was
+given. The king offered two small houses in Jerusalem that were his
+private property, and volunteered to pay the expenses of the journey.
+Associations were formed in all parts of Germany to provide an outfit
+for the mission. Gifts flowed in rapidly, and March 17, 1851, Fliedner,
+accompanied by four deaconesses, two of them being teachers, set out on
+this new and peaceful crusade to the holy city. From that beginning has
+resulted a net-work of stations throughout the East.
+
+There is at Jerusalem a hospital[33] where, during 1887, four hundred
+and ninety-three patients were given medical aid and nursing, and seven
+thousand seven hundred and two patients were treated in the dispensary.
+No woman in the city is better known or more justly honored than Sister
+Charlotte, the head-deaconess.
+
+The Mohammedans at first regarded the work of the sisters with fanatical
+distrust, but a glance at the statistics of the last report will show
+how completely they have cast aside their prejudices.
+
+Of the 493 patients in 1887, there were 404 Arabians, 43 Armenians, 30
+Germans, 5 Abyssinians, 4 Greeks, 3 Roumanians, 2 Russians, 1 Italian,
+and 1 Hollander. As to religion, there were 235 Mohammedans, 97
+Protestants, 78 Greeks, 23 Roman Catholics, 45 Armenians, 6 Copts, 3
+Syrian Christians, 4 Proselytes, 1 Jew, and 1 Maronite; so that in all
+nine nations and nine religious faiths were represented in the hospital.
+
+There is also a girls' orphanage, called "Talitha Cumi," just outside
+the city walls at Jerusalem, where one hundred and fourteen native girls
+were last year taught by the Kaiserswerth deaconesses. Over a hundred
+more made application to enter, but there was no room to receive them.
+In Constantinople, Alexandria, Cairo, Beirut, and Pesth there are also
+well-appointed hospitals, some of them of spacious dimensions, and all
+having excellent medical service and nursing that cannot be surpassed.
+
+The orphanage and school at Beirut had a sad foundation. In 1860 came
+the terrible news of the massacre of the Maronite Christians by the
+Druses in the Lebanon mountains.
+
+Kaiserswerth deaconesses were immediately sent out, and were among the
+first to arrive to join the resident Europeans and Americans in caring
+for the sufferers. Numbers of children were left fatherless and
+motherless, and the sisters started the orphanage at Beirut to shelter
+them. When its twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated in 1885 over
+eight hundred girls had received a home and education here, and had gone
+forth to eastern homes, carrying with them the light and knowledge of
+Christian faith into the dark, degraded social life of the Orient.[34]
+
+From the two orphanages at Beirut and Jerusalem over forty have gone out
+as teachers in girls' schools in Palestine and Syria. Twelve others have
+become deaconesses, and are ministering in this capacity to their own
+countrymen and to foreigners in eastern hospitals.[35]
+
+In Smyrna there is also a girls' school, that was opened at the request
+of some wealthy Protestants residing there. The school is not so needed
+as formerly, since the government has started girls' high schools, but
+it is still maintained, and aids in bringing new life into the hopeless
+society of the East. There is also an orphanage at Smyrna, where some
+girls of the poorer classes were gathered after the ravages of the
+cholera had left them without parents or homes.
+
+The eastern deaconesses have also their Salem. Just above the little
+village of Areya, in the Lebanon, on the summit of a hill overlooking
+the Mediterranean, stands the house of retreat, where, during the summer
+months, the more than forty sisters stationed in Beirut, Alexandria,
+Cairo, and Jerusalem can take refuge in seasons of overpowering heat.
+
+The deaconess who superintends the house has a school for the native
+children of the village, which is taught by one of the girls educated at
+the Beirut orphanage.
+
+Prosperous girls' schools are also in existence at Bucharest, and at
+Florence, Italy. The Italian school was started in 1860 with four girls
+in the upper floor of a rented house. It now possesses a beautiful house
+and grounds of its own, and had one hundred and forty-five girls under
+its charge the past year. Most of these were Italians, but different
+foreign residents also availed themselves of the opportunity to send
+their children to an excellent Protestant school. There is also a
+mission at Rome maintained by deaconesses during the winter months.
+
+The large majority of the undertakings outside of Kaiserswerth were
+initiated personally by Fliedner. When we recall the complex demands of
+the home field in Germany we marvel at the versatile executive ability
+of this man, who started life as the humble pastor of an obscure village
+church. But he loved work. He possessed "iron industry." He was ever
+hopeful, courageous, and indefatigable. Above all, he trusted completely
+in the leadings of Divine Providence, and constantly went forward with
+sure confidence. Then he was a true leader. He knew men. He put the
+right person in the right place, gave him full liberty of action, and
+held him to a strict responsibility for results. So, while Fliedner
+remained the soul of the great institution, he knew how to make himself
+spared, which was not the least of his qualifications for his calling.
+
+
+ [30] _Der Diakonissenberuf_, Emil Wacker, Gütersloh, 1888, p. 116.
+ [31] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London,
+ 1867.
+ [32] _Ein und fünfzigster Jahres-Bericht_, p. 30.
+ [33] _Achtzehnter Bericht über die Diakonissen Stationen im
+ Morgenlande_, 1888.
+ [34] _Vierzehnten Bericht über die Diakonissen Stationen am Libanon._
+ [35] _Der Rheinisch Westfälische Diakonissen Verein_, p. 64,
+ J. Disselhoff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH, AND THE
+DUTIES AND SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES.
+
+
+The regulations in daily use at Kaiserswerth are based on those that
+Fliedner drew up in the early days of the institution. They have been
+adopted with few alterations by the larger number of deaconess
+institutions that have since arisen, so that to understand the spirit
+and usages prevailing in them it is well to give these rules some study.
+They are contained in a book numbering one hundred and seven pages,[36]
+treating with great minuteness every question that affects the daily
+lives of the deaconesses. The qualities that the office demands are
+first dwelt upon as they are described in Acts vi, 3, and 1 Tim. iii, 8,
+9. The sisters are reminded that their life is one of service; that they
+serve the Lord Jesus; that they serve the poor and the sick and helpless
+"for Jesus' sake;" and that they are servants one of another.
+
+Special stress is given to the importance of cultivating unity, love,
+and forbearance in the relations of daily life, and the deaconesses are
+enjoined "to protect and further the honor of other sisters," "to form
+one family living unitedly as sisters, through the tie of a heartfelt
+love for the one great object that brings them to this place."
+
+There are two classes of deaconesses formally recognized, nurses and
+teachers; although there is another, deaconess whose work is year by
+year becoming more important, and that is the deaconess who is attached
+to a church in the capacity of a home missionary. She is designated by
+the term "commune-deaconess," or, as the English translate it,
+"parish-deaconess."
+
+Those who desire to become nurse-deaconesses must have the elements of a
+common school education, must be in good health, and, as a general rule,
+be over eighteen and not over forty years of age. Most important of all
+is it that she possess personal knowledge of the salvation of Christ,
+and a living experience of the grace of God. Those who desire to become
+teacher-deaconesses must, in addition, present certain educational
+certificates, and be able to sing. All must pass some months at the
+mother-house, taking care of children and assisting in housework, so
+that their fitness for the office can be proven. A great deal of care
+is taken to test the efficiency of the candidates, and only about one
+half the probationers finally become deaconesses in full connection. The
+teachers have, further, a seminary course of one year for those who are
+to teach in infant schools, of two years to prepare for the elementary
+schools, and of three years for the girls' high schools.
+
+While probationers, they receive, free of charge, board and instruction,
+and the caps, collars, and aprons that are their distinctive badges.
+Their remaining expenses they provide for themselves. Those who have
+completed the full term of probation, and have proved their fitness for
+the office, must pledge themselves to a service of at least five years.
+At the end of the time they may renew the engagement or not, as they
+wish. Should a deaconess be needed at home by aged parents, or should
+she desire to marry, she is free to leave her duties, but is expected to
+give three months' notice of her intention to do so.
+
+The deaconess performs her duties gratuitously. This is a main feature
+of the system. She is not even free to accept personal presents, for
+envy, jealousy, and unworthy motives might then creep into the system.
+She is truly "the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." All of her wants
+are supplied, and her future needs anticipated, so that, literally
+"taking no thought for the morrow," she can give herself with
+single-hearted devotion to the work in hand. The deaconess at
+Kaiserswerth receives from the institution her modest wardrobe,
+consisting of a Sunday suit, a working-dress of dark blue, blue apron,
+white caps and collars. A deaconess attired in her garb, with the
+placid, contented countenance that seems distinctively to belong to her,
+is a pleasant, wholesome sight that is constantly to be seen on the
+streets of German cities. Her deaconess attire is not only a protection,
+assuring her chivalrous treatment from all classes of men, but it is a
+convenient identification that insures her certain privileges on the
+State railroads and steamboats, for the German government recognizes the
+sisters as benefactors of society, and treats them accordingly. For her
+personal expenses the Kaiserswerth deaconess in Germany receives yearly
+twenty-two dollars and fifty cents; sometimes when in foreign lands she
+is paid a slightly larger sum. When she becomes unfitted for service by
+reason of sickness or old age, and has no means of her own, the Board of
+Direction provides for her maintenance.
+
+The rules for probationers are full of practical suggestions touching
+the details of daily life. There is not space to transcribe them here,
+but those who have charge of training schools will find them valuable
+reading. Every kind of house and hospital service is clearly defined.
+The deaconesses are instructed what duties are theirs in hospitals for
+women and in hospitals for men. In the latter the sister undertakes only
+such nursing as is suited to her sex, and for that reason she has a male
+assistant. She must follow strictly the doctor's orders in all matters
+pertaining to diet, medicine, and ventilation, and must inform him daily
+of the patient's state. She also assists the clergyman, if desired, in
+ministering to spiritual needs. But she must not obtrude her religion,
+when it is distasteful to her patients; rather manifest it in her deeds
+and manner of life.
+
+Every portion of the day has definite duties assigned to it. On reading
+them over you say, Can much be accomplished when the hours are
+subdivided into so many portions, and given over to so many objects? But
+the unvarying testimony is that no nurses accomplish more than the
+German deaconesses. No matter how busy they may be, the effort is made
+for each to have a quiet half hour for meditation and private devotion.
+Every afternoon the chapel is opened for this purpose, and all the
+sisters who can be spared meet here. A hymn is sung, and afterward each
+spends the time as she will in meditation, reading the Bible or silent
+prayer, the quietness and stillness being unbroken by words. The "Stille
+halbe Stunde," as it is called, is greatly prized by the sisters, and is
+observed by them in all their institutions, and in all lands. There are
+Bible-classes and prayer-meetings for the deaconesses during the week,
+and the first Sunday of every month there is a special service of prayer
+and thanksgiving for all sisters, all the affiliated houses, and similar
+homes wherever they exist. Fliedner prepared a book of daily Bible
+readings for the use of the sisters, and a hymn-book, used in all the
+Kaiserswerth institutions at home and abroad. "We have no vows," he
+said, "and I will have no vows, but a bond of union we must have, and
+the best bond is the word of God, and our second bond is singing."[37]
+The sisters of each house meet together to give their votes for the
+admission of new deaconesses and the election of the superintendents.
+Each deaconess is expected to obey those who are placed over her, and to
+accept the kind of work assigned her, except in the case of contagious
+diseases, when her permission is asked. What a tribute it is to these
+women that such a refusal has never yet been known! Every effort is made
+to harmonize the right of the individual with the needs of the whole
+body, a marked characteristic of the Protestant sisters of charity.
+
+When a probationer becomes a deaconess she is consecrated to her work by
+a service the main features of which it may be well to indicate. They
+are as follows:
+
+Singing. Address commending the deaconesses for acceptance. Address to
+the deaconesses, recalling the ever-repeated thought, "You are servants
+in a threefold sense: servants of the Lord Jesus; servants of the needy
+for Jesus' sake; servants one of another." Then, having answered the
+question, "Are you determined to fulfill these duties truly in the fear
+of the Lord, and according to his holy will?" the candidate kneels and
+receives the benediction: "May the Triune God, God the Father, Son, and
+Holy Ghost, bless you; may he give you fidelity unto death, and then the
+crown of life." After this is repeated the prayer of the _Apostolical
+Constitutions_, that beautiful prayer which has been said on similar
+occasions in many lands and in many tongues.[38] The service ends with
+the communion.
+
+A similar consecration service is used by nearly all the German
+deaconess houses. The features of those that meet together in the
+triennial Conferences at Kaiserswerth are strikingly similar; the spirit
+of the original founder pervades them all.
+
+The first of the Conferences was held in 1861, just twenty-five years
+after the founding of the first deaconess house at Kaiserswerth. It was
+celebrated as a Thanksgiving festival for the restoration of the
+diaconate of women to the Church. The representatives of twenty-seven
+distinct mother-houses met together to exchange their experiences, and
+to deliberate on matters touching the further usefulness of the order.
+
+Since then the Conferences have been continued at intervals of three and
+four years. The last General Conference assembled at Fliedner's old home
+in September, 1888.
+
+Just before it convened, as is the custom, statistics were obtained from
+the different mother-houses represented in the association, and pains
+were taken to verify their correctness. The results so obtained are
+given in the following table:[39]
+
+ Mother- Fields of
+ Conferences. houses. Sisters. Work.
+ 1861 27 1,197 ?
+ 1864 30 1,592 386
+ 1868 40 2,106 526
+ 1872 48 2,657 648
+ 1875 50 3,239 866
+ 1878 51 3,901 1,093
+ 1881 53 4,748 1,436
+ 1884 54 5,653 1,742
+ 1888 57 7,129 2,263
+
+Five additional houses had made application for entrance at the time the
+table was made, and were received at the ensuing Conference, among which
+was the Philadelphia mother-house of deaconesses in connection with the
+Mary J. Drexel Home.
+
+Over sixty mother-houses now belong to the association, and
+notwithstanding the necessary loss of deaconesses from death or removal
+from work since the preceding Conference, there are 1,476 more in number
+now than then. Surely the deaconess cause is striking deep root in the
+religious life of Protestant Europe. During Fliedner's life-time
+occasions arose which called the deaconesses outside their accustomed
+fields of work, and proved their value in the exceptional emergencies
+that so often arise. Here is an instance that occurred during the early
+days of the establishment:[40]
+
+"An epidemic of nervous fever was raging in two communes of the circle
+of Duisburg, Gartrop, and Gahlen. Its first and most virulent outbreak
+took place at Gartrop, a small, poor, secluded village of scarcely one
+hundred and thirty souls, without a doctor, without an apothecary in the
+neighborhood, while the clergyman was upon the point of leaving for
+another parish, and his successor had not yet been appointed. Four
+deaconesses, including the superior, Pastor Fliedner's wife, and a maid,
+hastened to this scene of wretchedness, and found from twenty to
+twenty-five fever patients in the most alarming condition, a mother and
+four children in one hovel, four other patients in another, and so on,
+all lying on foul straw, or on bed-clothes that had not been washed for
+weeks, almost without food, utterly without help. Many had died already;
+the healthy had fled; the parish doctor lived four German leagues off,
+and could not come every day. The first care of the sisters, who would
+have found no lodging but for the then vacancy of the parsonage, was to
+introduce cleanliness and ventilation into the narrow cabins of the
+peasants; they washed and cooked for the sick, they watched every night
+by turns at their bed-side, and tended them with such success that only
+four died after their arrival, and the rest were only convalescent after
+four weeks' stay. The same epidemic having broken out in the neighboring
+commune of Gahlen, in two families, of whom eight members lay ill at
+once, a single deaconess was able, in three weeks, to restore every
+patient to health, and to prevent the further spread of the disease.
+What would not our doctors give for a few dozen of such hard-working,
+zealous, intelligent ministers in the field of sanitary reform?"
+
+The Schleswig-Holstein war of 1864 was the first in which Protestant
+deaconesses were active as nurses. Already in the Crimean war the Greek
+Sisters of Charity among the Russians, the Sisters of Mercy among the
+French, and Florence Nightingale and Miss Stanley among the English, had
+wakened the liveliest gratitude on the part of the soldiers, and secured
+the respect and approbation of the surgeons.
+
+In the Austrian war of 1866 two hundred and eighty-two deaconesses were
+in the hospitals and on the battle-fields, fifty-eight of whom were from
+Kaiserswerth. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 was on a greater scale,
+and afforded wider opportunities for the unselfish, priceless labors of
+these Christian nurses. Neatly eight hundred deaconesses, sent from more
+than thirty mother-houses, cared for the sick and wounded in the camp
+hospitals or on the field. The willingness of a number of boards of
+administration to release sisters who were in their service, and the
+voluntary offers of other women to take their places, enabled
+Kaiserswerth to send two hundred and twenty of the number. Their
+experience in improvising hospitals, in aiding the surgeon in his
+amputations, and in ministering to the wounded and dying, throws a
+tender glow of compassionate sympathy over the terrible scenes of
+war.[41]
+
+The importance of trained deaconesses in times of war is now well
+understood by the military authorities at Berlin. In the winter of 1887,
+when war seemed imminent, the directors of the German deaconess houses
+were summoned by the government to a conference at the German capital to
+take measures for supplying nurses in case war should be declared.
+
+Deaconesses are now thoroughly incorporated into the religious and
+social features of the German national life, as must be admitted by any
+one who has weighed the facts that have been given.
+
+The example of Kaiserswerth has been far-reaching; the mission of
+Fliedner, that simple-hearted, true-souled, practical, energetic pastor,
+has been wonderfully successful.
+
+In this rapid sketch I have said but little of the hinderances he met,
+nothing of the ridicule which at first attacked him unsparingly. He paid
+no heed to these obstacles, and why should we waste time in detailing
+them? Steadfastly and undeviatingly he went forward toward the end he
+had in view; that is, to restore in all its aspects the devoted
+disciplined services of Christian women to the Church. He passed away
+from life October 5, 1864, leaving the great establishment that he had
+watched over in the charge of his son-in-law, Pastor Disselhoff, and
+other members of his family.
+
+The institution has become an imposing mass of building, forming an
+almost absurd contrast to the little garden house, the cradle of the
+whole establishment, which is still standing in the parsonage garden.
+
+When the fiftieth anniversary of the rise of the deaconess cause was
+celebrated in 1886 the Kaiserswerth sisterhood put their mites together
+and purchased the little house, to hold it in perpetuity as a monument
+of God's providence.
+
+The symbol of Kaiserswerth is a white dove, carrying an olive branch,
+resting against a blue ground. The blue flag floats from the old
+windmill tower on the river-bank, attracting the attention of the
+traveler as he floats up the Rhine.
+
+Other flags bear messages of conquest, of victory, of battles fought and
+won, of storm and stress and endeavor in the conflict of man against his
+fellow-man. But only peace and good-will, the victory of goodness and of
+love--these alone are the messages that are waved forth to the wind by
+the blue flag of Kaiserswerth.
+
+
+ [36] _Haus Ordnung und Dienst-Anweisung für die Diakonissen und
+ Probeschwestern des Diakonissen Mutterhauses zu Kaiserswerth._
+ [37] _Deaconesses_, Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D., p. 81.
+ [38] Refer back to page 23, chapter ii, where it can be found.
+ [39] _Der Armen und Kranken Freund_, August Heft, 1888.
+ [40] _Woman's Work in the Church_, p. 273, J. M. Ludlow. A. Strahan,
+ London, 1866.
+ [41] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, p. 215.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.
+
+
+In a book of these dimensions no exhaustive historical account can be
+given of all the developments of the deaconess movement in the various
+countries on the Continent. Only a few of the leading houses can be
+spoken of, but through a knowledge of these we can gain an insight into
+the life and characteristics of the movement as a whole.
+
+The mother-house at Strasburg is one of the oldest ones, dating from
+1842. It owes its origin to the holy enthusiasm and life experiences of
+Pastor Härter, who exercised a deep religious influence in the city
+where he lived. In 1817, when he was a young man of twenty, the great
+Strasburg hospital was re-organized. The six to eight hundred patients
+were divided according to their religious faith. To the Catholics were
+assigned as nurses Sisters of Charity. For the Protestants there were
+paid women nurses.
+
+The magistrates appealed to the pastors to find at least two Protestant
+women of experience and ability to oversee the nurses, but the most
+persistent search in the various churches of Strasburg failed to procure
+suitable candidates. Years afterward, when death entered Härter's family
+circle, and his life became clouded and darkened, he was called as a
+pastor to the largest church in Strasburg. He entered upon his new
+pastorate with a heart heavy and sad, and not until after ten months of
+struggle, in which the depths of his soul were stirred, did he come
+forth strong, confident, and positive as never before that "Jesus Christ
+came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Henceforth
+there was force to his life, conviction in his words, and never-ceasing
+energy in good works.
+
+When he heard of Fliedner's new undertaking below him on the Rhine he
+remembered the difficulty in finding Protestant nurses for the hospital,
+and declared that Strasburg must have a similar institution. He won the
+support of a number of Christian men and women, and the house was opened
+in October, 1842. From its beginning many branches of charitable and
+religious work were undertaken. Especial attention was at first given to
+preparing Christian teachers, and the schools in connection with the
+deaconess house were filled with pupils. The success in this particular
+aroused apprehension lest the deaconesses should be diverted from their
+legitimate duties in caring for outside interests, so for a time the
+schools were discontinued. They have been resumed, however, and are
+to-day prosperous as of old.[42] There are also a hospital, a home for
+aged women, a servants' training-school and a foundling asylum under the
+charge of the deaconesses. They are, as a class, of higher social rank
+than these of Kaiserswerth, the preponderating number of whom are from
+the lower grade of social life. They are also better educated. This is
+partly a necessity, from the fact that the city is on the border-land
+between two great nations and if the deaconesses are to be effective
+they must be familiar with the spoken and written speech of both
+peoples. Strasburg continues to be a great and powerful center of
+deaconess activities, having a number of branch houses and various
+fields of work.
+
+The affiliated house at Mülhausen has obtained an especially good report
+for its successful use of parish deaconesses. No other house has so
+systematized their labors or developed their possibilities as has the
+deaconess house at Mülhausen. All the authorities on deaconess work
+agree that the office of the parish deaconess is the crown and glory of
+the diaconate, and approaches most nearly the type of the deaconesses of
+the early Church.
+
+The parish deaconess has occasion to use every gift which she can
+possibly acquire in the varied training of the deaconess school. She
+must know how to care for the poor, the weak, the sick, and those
+needing help for either body or soul, as she finds them in her visits
+from house to house. She must be able to pray at the bedside of the rich
+man, and to serve in the kitchen of the poor man; to be motherly to
+children, sympathetic with the sorrowing, and silent with the
+complaining. She must be an intelligent nurse, having some knowledge of
+medicine, able to faithfully carry out the instructions of the
+physician. She must be keen in detecting imposition, and wise in the
+administration of charity, knowing that "to deny is often to help, and
+to give is often to corrupt." Truly, there is no gift of Christian
+womanhood which has not here its use.
+
+For many reasons Mülhausen was well adapted for a field of labor for
+parish deaconesses. It is an old city, dating back to mediæval times,
+having a population of about sixty thousand inhabitants, half of whom
+are workmen. It has long been known for its noble and successful
+endeavors to promote the well-being of the working class. One of the
+first building and loan associations was started here to enable the
+operatives to earn their homes by gradual payments. Other organizations
+whose object is the moral elevation of the employees have united the
+different social circles by strong ties of sympathy. It was an easy
+matter, therefore, to raise a subscription of two hundred thousand
+francs to provide a home for the deaconesses who were invited here from
+Strasburg in 1861. There are now fourteen sisters in the deaconess
+house. Half of the number remain at the home to nurse the sick, and
+perform house duties. The remainder are parish deaconesses, who go forth
+early in the morning, each to her own quarter of the city, where she is
+busy at her labors during the day. In the evening she returns to the
+central home. In each of the seven districts into which the city is
+divided is located a district house; a pleasant, well-kept place. This
+contains a waiting-room for the deaconess and a consultation-room for
+the district physician, who comes at stated hours during the week. The
+poor who are recommended by the sister he treats gratuitously, and, so
+far as the physician directs, she furnishes food gratuitously. She keeps
+on hand a good stock of lint, bandages, and instruments. Each house has
+a kitchen and cellar. Every morning a woman comes in and prepares a
+large kettle of nourishing soup, and at 11 A. M. this is given out to
+the sick and poor.
+
+In the store-room are rice, sugar, coffee, meal, and similar articles of
+food. From here she sends out at noon such portions as are needed for
+the most destitute of the district. In winter she also sells from her
+stores to the poor. Then there is a closet amply provided with sewing
+materials, and when the deaconess obtains work for seamstresses she
+furnishes them at a small price the necessary outfit to begin sewing. At
+two o'clock the deaconess ends her duties at the district house, and
+spends the remainder of the day in making visits in her quarter. To
+provide means to support the constant expenditure, there is in each
+quarter of the city a committee of fifteen ladies and three gentlemen,
+being in all more than one hundred ladies and twenty gentlemen, who are
+responsible for the administration of the charity. Each committee has a
+yearly collection in its district, and in this way about forty thousand
+francs are gathered annually. In each quarter nine hundred francs (one
+hundred and eighty dollars) is set apart for the maintenance of the
+sister and the rent of the district house. The remaining sum is expended
+by the deaconesses in their several districts in caring for the sick and
+destitute. Every month each one receives the sum allotted her from the
+treasurer, and in return reports her expenditure. The ladies on the
+committee often give personal assistance to the deaconess, and sometimes
+assume responsibility for individual cases, or for an entire street. The
+arrangements are constantly being improved upon as knowledge is gained
+by practice. The experience that has been gathered at Mülhausen is very
+practical, and therefore very valuable. Similar work could be undertaken
+in any of our large American cities, with the anticipation of like
+beneficent results. For that reason the above detailed description has
+been ventured upon, with the hope that the Old World example will find
+imitators in the New.[43] Similar institutions, although not so
+carefully perfected, are found in Gorlitz and Magdeburg.
+
+In Berlin are a good many deaconess institutions. Among them is the
+Marthashof, a training-school for servants, and a home for those out of
+employment.
+
+The first impulse to care for the girls who come to large cities to
+obtain work, and to provide them a home where they can have respectable
+surroundings, came from Pastor Vermeil, the founder of the deaconess
+house at Paris. When Fliedner visited the Paris house his heart was
+touched by what he saw. He thought of the thousands of girls coming
+annually to Berlin from the provinces, and of the exposures and
+temptations to which they were subjected. He knew that many of them in
+their ignorance and inexperience were ruined body and soul in the
+lodging-houses to which they resorted, and drifted away on the streets
+of the city, only to find a place eventually in the hopeless wards of
+the great hospital, La Charité.
+
+He determined to do what he could to provide a remedy, and, as was his
+wont, "without money and without noise" he set to work. In the north of
+Berlin, at quite a distance from the railroad stations, he hired a small
+house on a street then called "The Lost Way"--a street well named, as it
+was unlighted and unpaved, and so poorly kept that when the queen came
+to visit the home, shortly after it was opened, her carriage, in spite
+of the strong horses, got stuck in the mud.
+
+By the aid of some ladies in the city the home was furnished with twelve
+beds; three deaconesses were put in charge, and after perplexing
+difficulties the authorization to open a registry for servants was
+obtained. The idea at first met with derision. It was said that such an
+institution was rightly located on "The Lost Way," for no one would ever
+come to it. But they came. In two years the number of beds increased to
+twenty, and the same year Fliedner purchased the entire court in which
+the house stood, containing five houses and a fine garden. Queen
+Elizabeth of Prussia became the patroness of the institution, and it
+grew in favor with the people. A training-school was added in which the
+girls were taught to wash, iron, cook, and sew, and also to work in the
+garden and to care for cows, the last two branches of domestic service
+being required of servant-girls in Germany. Later an infant school was
+added in which nursery girls were practiced in taking charge of
+children, a pleasant, helpful demeanor being made one of the requisites.
+Over two hundred children, mostly coming from the poorest and gloomiest
+homes, are in daily attendance. About three hundred and fifty more
+attend the girls' school for children of the working classes. In the
+home and training-school for servants about eight hundred girls are
+received annually, and sixteen thousand have been sheltered and taught
+during the years it has been open. They readily secure situations, over
+two thousand applications being annually received for the servants of
+the Marthashof. They remain in friendly relation to the home, receive
+good counsel and advice, and are encouraged to spend their free Sundays
+there.
+
+The Marthashof has had a beneficent influence over the moral and
+spiritual welfare of servants throughout Germany. In nearly all the
+cities similar homes are now established, while in the larger cities
+Sunday associations are formed to provide suitable places of meeting for
+the entertainment and instruction of those who are free Sunday
+afternoons and evenings. So far as I am aware, no similar work has been
+attempted for servant-girls in the United States. It is true that
+training-schools exist, but not with religious supervision, and with the
+moral and religious instruction of the inmates made a prominent feature.
+The Marthashof offers us a lesson well worth our learning.
+
+The deaconess house, "Bethanien," in Berlin, was founded by King
+Frederick William IV., who as the Crown Prince took a warm interest in
+Fliedner's undertakings.[44] It still remains under the protection of
+the emperor, and is one of the most important mother-houses. Over three
+thousand patients are annually admitted to the hospital connected with
+the house, and five hundred children are treated at a dispensary devoted
+solely to cases of diphtheria. Outside of the city it has thirty-three
+stations. There are also the Lazarus Hospital and Deaconess Home, the
+Paul Gerhardt Deaconess Home, provided for parish deaconesses, and the
+Elizabeth Hospital and Home, which started independently but is now
+allied to Kaiserswerth.
+
+The deaconess house in Neudettelsau stands in closest union with the
+Lutheran Church. The sisters are mostly from the higher ranks of
+society, and intellectual training is made prominent. Certain liturgical
+forms are used, and in the main deaconesses are employed in preparing
+ecclesiastical vestments and embroideries for church adornment.
+
+In marked contrast to Dettelsau is the deaconess house at Berne. It is
+almost a private institution, having only slight connection with the
+State Church. It owes its origin to Sophie Wurdemberger, a member of one
+of the old patrician families of Berne. A visit to England made her
+acquainted with Elizabeth Fry, with the usual beneficent result of
+increased interest and activity in good works. On her return to Berne
+she gained the support of a society of women, and through their aid
+secured a hospital and deaconess home. It is now fourth in number among
+the largest mother-houses, has two hundred and ninety-seven deaconesses,
+five affiliated houses, and forty-five different fields of work.
+
+The oldest mother-house in Switzerland is at St. Loup, not far from
+Lausanne, standing on one of the beautiful heights of that picturesque
+region. It was founded by Pastor Germond in 1841, through the direct
+influence of the work at Kaiserswerth. There are now seventy-three
+deaconesses, mostly acting as nurses either in private homes or public
+institutions.[45]
+
+There is also a large institution at Riehen near Basel, which sends out
+two hundred deaconesses. The greater number are of the peasant class,
+and are nearly all employed as nurses. The home at Zürich was at first a
+daughter-house of Riehen, but is now an independent institution with
+twenty-seven stations. In Austria there is a mother-house at
+Gallneukirchen from which sisters are sent forth, four of them working
+in as many Vienna parishes. The story of deaconess work in Austria is an
+interesting one, and is told by Miss Williams in a recent number of
+_The Churchman_, from which the following extracts are taken:
+
+"The Protestants of Gallneukirchen were first formed into an independent
+parish in the year 1872, and it is the only one lying between the Danube
+and the Bohemian frontier. It is very widely extended, but numbers only
+three hundred and eighteen souls, and is so poor that with the greatest
+effort it can raise only four hundred florins a year (about one hundred
+and sixty dollars) for church and school. With the aid of those
+interested in the work a parish-house has been secured, where the pastor
+and his wife reside, and in which is the deaconess asylum for the aged,
+infirm, and insane of all classes. It has not as yet been possible to
+clear off the debt on the purchase. Still the sisters strive in every
+way to enlarge their usefulness, so that they now possess extensive
+buildings and farms--only partly paid for, it is true--wherein to house
+the many afflicted who apply to them for aid. In one building, standing
+alone on a hill, they purpose to collect the insane patients, and
+suitable additions are now being made to insure their safety and
+comfort. In another village, two hours' drive from here, is their
+school, where more than sixty boys and girls are taught, fed, and
+clothed, in most cases gratuitously, at worst at a nominal charge."
+
+"The sisters are bright and cheerful, and keep their various dwellings
+so exquisitely neat and clean, with their white-washed walls adorned
+with Scripture texts and pictures. No work, however menial, is beneath
+them. I have myself seen one scrubbing the stairs, and in turns they
+sleep on a hard straw bed on the floor, ready to rise in the night as
+often as a bell summons them to the aid of a suffering invalid or a
+refractory lunatic."
+
+There are a few institutions that exist independently of those
+represented at the Kaiserswerth General Conference. They stand alone for
+various reasons; perhaps they have not met the conditions required of
+those which belong to the association. Any house whose administration
+rests exclusively either in the hands of a man or a woman is excluded
+from the Conference. In every mother-house there represented the
+administrative head is twofold, consisting of a gentleman, who, with
+rare exceptions, is a clergyman, and a lady who is a deaconess. The
+Kaiserswerth authorities regard this joint management as an
+indispensable condition.
+
+The rector, as he is usually called, cares for the intellectual and
+spiritual instruction of the probationers, conducts public services in
+the chapel, and issues the publications and reports of the house.
+
+The oberin, or house-mother, is the direct head of the sisters. She is
+responsible for the interior management, regulates the duties of the
+sisters, and gives practical instruction. The two are jointly
+responsible for the acceptance and dismissal of probationers, for the
+assignment of the sisters to different fields of labor, and the kind of
+labor required. Every mother-house has its own peculiarities. The
+personal characteristics of those who conduct it are naturally impressed
+upon the house.
+
+Then, too, the influence of environment is to be reckoned with. The
+house may be located in a large city or in a small one; in the country
+or in towns. It may be under the influence of a State Church, as in
+Germany, or of Christians of all Churches, as at Mildmay. It will share
+the characteristics of the race of people from which come its workers.
+Doubtless in the Methodist Episcopal Church in America the deaconesses
+that eventually become recognized as set apart to special Christian
+service, through the training that is provided for them, will be women
+who are peculiarly adapted to the needs of that Church, with all the
+distinguishing American traits that will prepare them to understand the
+people whom they are to serve, and that will give them access to the
+hearts of this people.
+
+If the deaconess cause should gain favor with us as it has in Europe,
+and should the deaconesses become as established in the social life of
+the people as they are there, the effective agencies will be largely
+increased that are to deal with the questions that come to the front
+whenever, as in great cities, large numbers of people are massed
+together.
+
+Deaconess institutions now exist in Switzerland, France, Holland,
+Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Austria, England, and Germany, while
+the countries in which these homes have stations are literally too
+numerous to mention. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the countries of
+Northern Africa, and of Asia Minor, as well as isolated mission stations
+throughout the entire world are now served by deaconesses.
+
+If there were ten times the number of sisters, places could be at once
+found for them. It is instructive on this point to read what Pastor
+Disselhoff says[46] in the account he gives of the various demands made
+upon him, which he has been unable to meet. One of the letters he quotes
+was from an English missionary on the Cameron River. "Send us
+deaconesses for our hospital," he says. "It was built for European
+sailors, especially Germans. We hope and trust to overcome the
+superstitions of the natives, and that they too, may come to be healed."
+But there were no sisters to send.
+
+A similar call came from Shanghai, but as it was impossible to return a
+favorable answer, although the hospital was a Protestant institution,
+the Sisters of Mercy were invited in, and given control. From 1870 up to
+1886 over two hundred and twenty-seven places at widely remote
+distances, such as Madras, New Orleans, Port Said, Rio de Janeiro, and
+elsewhere, sent most urgent appeals for Kaiserswerth deaconesses to be
+assigned them, but invariably the same answer must be returned: "There
+are none to send." Disselhoff closes by saying, "How many open doors has
+God given! Whose fault is it that they remain closed?"
+
+
+ [42] Schäfer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 21.
+ [43] The details of the deaconess work at Mülhausen are largely
+ taken from Schäfer's _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. ii.
+ [44] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London,
+ 1867, p. 133. "The favor of the great, especially the
+ condescending kindness of our late Sovereign, he took as a gift
+ from the King of kings, who allowed his own work to be thus
+ promoted. He strenuously avoided all personal distinction, and
+ never wore the order which had been sent him; 'for a servant of
+ the Church,' he said, 'there should be but one order--the Cross
+ of the Lord.'"
+ [45] _Der Armen und Kranken Freund_, August, 1888.
+ [46] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, pp. 248, 249.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.
+
+
+The good results of the work of deaconesses in the other Protestant
+bodies of Germany doubtless had their influence upon German Methodism.
+As far back as 1868 in Wurtemberg, and later in Frankfort, some
+preachers introduced parish deaconesses for the care of the sick; but
+well-directed efforts, and unity in management, were lacking.
+
+The existing association was started July 8, 1874, under the title of
+"Bethanienverein," or the Bethany Society, through the efforts of
+several members of the German Conference, among whom were Rev. G. Weiss,
+who, with two deaconesses, initiated the work in Bremen, Rev. Frederick
+Eilers, the present inspector, and Rev. G. Hausser, who for several
+years was president of the board of direction, and now resides in
+America.[47] A further number of ministers showed themselves inclined to
+stand by the society, both by their influence and through contributions
+taken in their churches, so that in 1876 the first trained deaconesses
+were set at work in the city of Frankfort.
+
+As has been said,[48] the little institution in its early days had to
+pass through a series of critical experiences, as a young child has to
+encounter the series of childhood diseases that assail it; but it
+outlived them all, and is now enjoying a vigorous youth. It was but
+another illustration of the truth that all beginnings are difficult, and
+that successful experience has to be bought by overcoming hinderances
+and obstacles.
+
+To-day there is no branch of German Methodism more successfully and
+substantially incorporated into the Church life than the deaconess
+society, and none that wins greater favor among those outside of
+denominational lines.
+
+The first printed report was issued in October, 1884. In this the
+inspector says: "Our society is now in three cities, Frankfort, Hamburg,
+and Berlin, and our sisters are not able to meet all the demands upon
+them for service." At that time there were thirteen deaconesses and
+twenty probationers. The last report, issued in July, 1888, shows an
+increase in numbers both of deaconesses and their stations. There are
+now eighty-nine deaconesses, eleven of whom are probationers, and there
+are stations in five places. Besides the ones previously mentioned in
+Germany, two additional stations have been started in Switzerland: one
+in Zürich, and one in St. Gall.
+
+Nearly all the Methodist German deaconesses are engaged in caring for
+the sick; it is only recently that attempts have been made in some other
+directions of charitable endeavor. In the last report we are told that
+at Frankfort steps have been taken to reform fallen women. One of the
+sisters seems to be especially endowed with tact and ability for this
+difficult work. She has already induced twenty-two of these girls to
+enter the asylum at Sachsenhausen. The police authorities and city
+magistrates have given this same sister access to the women prisoners,
+which is a decided favor, coming from German officials. Besides her work
+in this particular, she has devoted her remaining time to the care of
+the poor and the sick.
+
+Many deaconesses were called upon to go out as nurses in private
+families, and, in order to obtain room to accommodate the added number
+these services required, it has been necessary to rent an additional
+house. There are two clinics in connection with the institution; one for
+those suffering from nose, throat, or lung diseases, the other for
+diseases of women. In both, the hours of consultation are free, and
+attract numerous visitors. Two hundred and forty-six people were
+received in the hospital last year, and were cared for in four thousand
+one hundred and fifty days of nursing. Spiritual results are also
+anticipated from the seed of God's word sown in the hearts of the sick
+through daily prayer and Sunday services.
+
+The house at Frankfort is too small for its increasing needs, and a
+permanent home of more ample dimensions is greatly to be desired.
+
+In Hamburg the house has been enlarged, and there is now room for
+thirty-five sisters; yet still there are more demands made than can be
+met. In one month ninety requests were handed in for the aid of the
+deaconesses. The city authorities offered them a large lot of land at a
+very moderate sum, which is at present used as a garden, and adds much
+to the enjoyment of the home.
+
+On the 4th of March, 1888, occurred the anniversary of the founding of
+the Hamburg house, at which time six sisters were set apart to their
+life calling by a service of consecration. As in all places where our
+deaconesses are employed, so also in Hamburg their influence is felt in
+the increase of religious life among the families they serve.
+
+In Berlin, again, there is an imperative call for enlarged house
+accommodations, and more sisters are needed to meet the requests for
+help that are constantly coming to them. As the report expresses it,
+"Something must happen!"[49] After six years of activity in Berlin the
+deaconesses find themselves well appreciated, and with a broad field of
+labor. The city authorities gave them permission to take a house
+collection during the months of February and March. One of the German
+ministers said, "This is an unusual favor, only granted in exceptional
+cases, as when a village is swept away, or there is an inundation, or a
+failure of harvests." This collection was no easy task. In the depth of
+winter, in rigorous cold and snow the sisters had to climb weary flights
+of stairs, in houses four and five stories high, arranged in flats; to
+knock at many doors, often meeting with but slight success or a positive
+refusal; yet daily they went with fresh courage to their work,
+encouraged by the thought that they were toiling not for themselves, but
+to serve the needy, "for Jesus' sake." The collection resulted in
+obtaining nearly twenty thousand marks, to which has been added the loan
+of a larger sum at a small rate of interest, so that there is good
+prospect of soon obtaining a permanent home as the property of the
+deaconess society.
+
+St. Gall is one of the newer stations, but from the beginning it has
+been a work of promise. In this old center of missionary operations,
+where Irish missionaries founded one of the most famous monasteries of
+mediæval times, is now to be erected a hospital under the care of
+Methodist deaconesses, who have already begun to collect means for this
+purpose. In Scheffel's famous story of _Ekkehard_ the only way in which
+the Duchess Hadwig could enter the monastery of St. Gall (as there was a
+law that no woman should set her foot upon the threshold) was by the
+ingenious device of a young monk, who lifted her over in his arms. These
+peaceful women of Methodism are finding no obstacle now as did Hadwig of
+old; they do not need even figuratively to be lifted over the entering
+threshold; they are gladly welcomed, and are introducing a new element
+into the life of the old city.
+
+In Zürich seven deaconesses are at work under the protection, and with
+the sympathetic co-operation, of the pastor and the church. I saw
+something of the deaconesses and their duties in this place. The
+inspector, Rev. Fr. Eilers, came with the first deaconesses and
+introduced them to their new field when I was a resident of the city. On
+Sunday morning he occupied the pulpit, preaching from Rom. xvi, 1,
+commending the deaconesses to the kindness and helpful aid of the
+members of the church. I used often to see Sister Myrtha, who was the
+head sister, hastening hither and thither on her errands of mercy. In
+her plain black dress and round shoulder-cape to match, and broad white
+collar and white cap, she was a pleasant and attractive figure. She was
+always happy and contented, ready to answer the many questions with
+which I plied her in my desire to look through the eyes of a deaconess,
+and to obtain her views of the office to which she belonged. She had a
+great love for her work, and believed that she was doing service for
+Christ in a true missionary field. Her simple uniform was a
+distinguishing mark that insured her respect and attention wherever she
+went, and she regarded it as a garb of honor that marked her as
+belonging to the daughters of the great King. You could not call such a
+life an austere or unnatural one. It was too thoroughly filled with
+thoughts of love to others to be either morbid or introspective. I
+obtained my first favorable impressions of the usefulness of deaconesses
+and their importance to the Church from the cheerful, contented labors
+of Sister Myrtha and her associates among the poor and sick of
+Zürich--quiet women, of no particular prominence in the social world,
+and not learned or accomplished; "_nur einfache Mädchen_" (only simple
+maidens, quiet, ordinary women, as we might translate Sister Myrtha's
+own phrase), but living "not to be ministered unto, but to minister,"
+commending their creed by their deeds, and winning sympathy by the
+loving, self-denying spirit that they manifest.
+
+During the last year a house of rest has been opened similar to the
+house Salem at Kaiserswerth. This is called by the beautiful name
+"_Gottestreue_," or "God's Fidelity." The report says that they have
+named it God's Fidelity in recollection of this: "That the Lord has so
+faithfully led us and has cared for us in all storms which, especially
+at the beginning of the work, threatened to overwhelm it, has watched
+over us and upheld us, and has so richly blessed us." The acquisition of
+this house came through the work of the sisters. One of them was caring
+for an aged widow, whose sympathies were so won that she offered to give
+her property, amounting to about ten thousand marks, to the deaconess
+society, asking only that she be cared for for the remainder of her
+life. This sum enabled the house to be built, and last summer it was
+opened for use. It lies upon a mountain, has a pleasant outlook to the
+south, and a beautiful view over the valley of the Main and off to the
+distant forests. Near at hand is a grove of chestnut trees, and farther
+removed are extensive pine forests with pleasant walks. The house is in
+the charge of one of the older sisters.
+
+The regulations touching the training and duties of the sisters are
+similar to those of Kaiserswerth. Two years of probation are required,
+part of which is devoted to practical work under the superintendence of
+an older deaconess. The rules of daily life are much the same; a quiet
+half hour of prayer and meditation is strongly urged, and the same
+freedom in control of personal property and withdrawal from the office
+exists. It is pleasant to record that our deaconesses have secured to
+themselves such good report for their usefulness that the city officials
+in Germany accord to them the free use of steamboats and street-cars;
+and the Prussian government does the same for roads that are under State
+control.
+
+The Bethany Society of the German Methodists is self-supporting and is
+independent of the Conference, save only that the board of direction is
+composed of Methodist preachers chosen by the Conference. Each of the
+homes at the five stations has also its board of control, made up of the
+inspector, the pastor in charge, and the head sister. The inspector is a
+member of the Conference, but has no appointment, as his whole time is
+devoted to the duty of superintendence. Last year the society took the
+further step of deciding that henceforth the deaconesses should not be
+sent, as heretofore, to outside hospitals or other institutions to
+complete their training, but should be given the advantages they require
+at our own homes. Owing to this decision only six probationers can be
+received for the coming year, and others who have made application to
+enter must wait their turn.
+
+The German Methodist Church, the daughter of American Methodism,
+anticipated the parent Church in utilizing the womanly gifts and
+services of deaconesses as members of her aggressive forces, and
+furnished it a very helpful and stimulating example.
+
+
+ [47] _Jahresbericht des Bethanienvereins_, 1884, Bremen.
+ [48] _Der Christliche Apologete_, article by Rev. G. Hausser,
+ September 20, 1888.
+ [49] _Jahresbericht_, 1888, page 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DEACONESSES IN PARIS.
+
+
+When in Paris we visited the deaconess establishment on the Rue de
+Reuilly, and had the pleasure, ever to be remembered, of seeing the
+institution in all its workings under the guidance of Mademoiselle Sara
+Monod, the daughter of Adolphe Monod; members of a family that have been
+Protestants of the Protestants in the annals of France. We examined with
+some degree of thoroughness the different departments, and saw them in
+the busy working hours, when the full activities of the great
+establishment were in exercise.
+
+In addition to the information and reports then secured I am under
+further obligation to Mademoiselle Monod for other material lately
+received, among which is a pamphlet entitled _Une Visite à la Maison de
+Diaconesses_, by Madame W. Monod, "the worthy daughter of one of the
+founders, and the worthy wife of one of the present chaplains of the
+institution." I have translated freely from this in the following pages,
+as it is pervaded by a tone of intimate knowledge, and nothing can take
+the place of the long years of close personal relation that make this
+little book so fresh and attractive in its recital.
+
+The institution is situated on the outskirts of the Faubourg St.
+Antoine, upon an elevation, where the view in one direction is limited
+by Mont St. Geneviève, and on the other embraces a large territory
+intersected by the windings of the Seine and by lines of railroad. The
+space is thickly dotted by the high chimneys of manufactories and
+massive constructions of various forms. A great pile of buildings which
+fronts upon the street forms one of the sides of the court within; two
+long wings extend at right angles, which seem to have been built at
+different intervals of time. That on the right ends with the
+penitentiary, or house of correction; the left wing terminates more
+modestly at the garden entrance; while farther, at the extreme portion
+of the grounds, still to the left, rises the hospital, standing apart
+from the rest. The whole establishment, including the gardens, has an
+extent of fifty-five hundred square meters.
+
+In the little room at the entrance, where the _concierge_ is usually
+found in these French houses, sits one of the sisters, surrounded by
+bell-cords and tubes and bells which are constantly in use, bringing
+messages to and fro in all directions. A sister is always on duty,
+morning, afternoon, and at night when it is necessary, responding with
+discreet politeness to the inquiries made. Adjoining are the little
+reception rooms, where comers and goers are met, and the consulting-room
+of the distinguished oculist, who twice a week gives gratuitously his
+valuable services. Then come the office and reception-room of the
+chaplain of the house, followed by the little "prophet's chamber,"
+occupied by the former directress when she returns upon visits which her
+age and poor health render only too infrequent.
+
+What the French call the "_économat_" or business office, next demands
+our attention. A dozen registers admirably kept, portfolios of all
+kinds, and numberless papers are arranged upon different shelves. The
+sister in charge notes in her journal every entrance and every
+departure, and all the journeys and leaves of absence of the sisters. In
+a safe she has the necessary money for current expenses, the rest being
+deposited in the bank. She provides the stores, examines the accounts of
+the pharmacy and the kitchen, pays the salaried employees, gives or
+sends to each deaconess the modest sum allowed her for personal needs,
+and transacts the daily business of the house. She must also every
+month hand in three reports--one to the Prefect of Police, another to
+the Minister of the Interior, and the third to the Minister of Finance,
+giving detailed statistics concerning the age, occupation, and progress
+of her _protégés_. "How many know how to read? How many to read and
+write? How many to read, write, and cipher? What progress has been made
+since the last report?" These are some of the questions she has to
+answer; and, meanwhile, if a crowd of little children come in, she turns
+from her writing and calculations and plays with them as if she had
+nothing else to do.
+
+Let us see where these children come from. Here is the "Salle d'Asile,"
+as it is called, with its benches and chairs for the little ones, maps
+and historical pictures suspended upon the walls, slates and globes, and
+all the belongings of a school-room. The sister who has directed this
+school for thirty-five years has seen sons and daughters succeed fathers
+and mothers. More than nineteen hundred children have passed through her
+hands. With what pride she showed us the copy-books, and pointed out
+some particularly good compositions. Hers was no perfunctory task; a
+mother could not have displayed greater interest in her children. The
+number of pupils varies from one hundred and ten to one hundred and
+thirty, a little less than half of them being Catholics. All kinds of
+primary instruction are given, including gymnastics, singing, and
+marching. Bible stories hold an important place in this elementary
+teaching, even those which are sometimes considered to be beyond the
+reach of children; for there is nothing in any other book to take their
+place. It is useless to add that not only lessons are given, but shoes,
+aprons, and garments of all kinds, some of the little ones being clothed
+from head to foot by the institution. Every day soup is distributed,
+ostensibly to the poor and the ill-nourished, but practically partaken
+of by all. Even during the siege of Paris the soup continued to appear.
+It gradually became less substantial, it is true, but still it was soup.
+
+From four to six o'clock the mothers and older sisters and brothers, or
+perhaps some old lady who has been engaged to have the care of several
+children, come to take the little ones home. The influence of these
+children is felt beyond the school-room; it is a visible, constant
+force. Such a little girl has persuaded her grandmother not to work on
+Sundays. Another asks for a book that her father can read aloud to the
+family. And similar instances could be multiplied; they are always to be
+obtained where loving Christian hearts are interested in children, and
+when they remember that fine saying of Jacqueline Pascal; "_Parler à
+Dieu des petites âmes plus qu' aux petites âmes de Dieu._"[50]
+
+There used formerly to be attached to this a "_Crèche_," where a mother
+could bring her babe when she went to work in the morning, and could
+come for it at night. But the government has now started a day-home for
+this district of the city, so this part of the work of the deaconesses
+has been discontinued.
+
+Passing by the vegetable garden, which is also a pleasure garden for the
+sick and infirm, we come to the hospital. This was opened in September,
+1873, and can accommodate sixty to seventy patients. There are two large
+wards for women, one for children, a dormitory for aged women, and rooms
+with one, two, and three beds. All are perfectly heated, lighted, and
+ventilated. The medical inspector visits the house every month, and
+gives it due praise for meeting every condition of modern medical
+science.
+
+A committee of ladies takes the hospital as an especial object of its
+care. They have organized a system of patronage, by which beds are
+furnished poor patients at a low rate, in some cases gratuitously.
+Fifteen subscribers give each two francs, or forty cents, a month; the
+sick man or his patron pays a franc a day, to which the Deaconess Home
+adds also a franc daily. These three francs represent the bare expenses
+of a hospital bed. Of course, sixty cents a day is far from meeting the
+entire cost of rent, food, baths, medicine, and service; but those
+patients who have been accustomed to a certain degree of comfort in
+life, when paying three francs, are freed from the painful impression of
+receiving charity.
+
+Many of the patients, when sent forth from the hospital, are directed to
+the Convalescents' Home, at Passy. This is an inestimable benefit; what
+could this poor servant do, whose strength is not yet sufficient to
+undertake fatiguing labor? Or this mother of a family, who would
+certainly fall ill again if obliged to resume the heavy burden of
+housekeeping, accompanied by privations and wearing economies, were it
+not for the home at Passy? Such homes of rest and convalescence are a
+necessity in connection with every well-equipped deaconess institution.
+The pharmacy is in the charge of a deaconess trained especially for her
+duties. A deaconess director, several nurse deaconesses and
+probationers, with one or two aged women, constitute the working force
+of the hospital outside of the physicians. So many denominational
+hospitals are now arising in America that the arrangement of hospitals
+under the care of deaconesses in Germany, France, and England, cannot
+fail to have interest for us.
+
+There are no nurses like the deaconesses. Other nurses, however well
+prepared in the best of training-schools, do not have the same high
+motive that lifts the service onto the plane of religious duty, where
+the question of self-interest is wholly lost sight of. It was the
+perception of this truth that led the authorities of the German Hospital
+in Philadelphia to send to Germany for deaconesses as nurses, and that
+has brought about the erection of the magnificent Mary J. Drexel Home
+for Deaconesses.
+
+But let us return to Paris and our examination of the home on the Rue de
+Reuilly. Leaving the hospital, and turning in the opposite direction
+from that to which we came, we are at the house of correction. Bars of
+iron before the windows apprise us of the character of the building.
+There are two divisions of inmates; the one in which the discipline is
+more rigid is called the _retenue_. Those placed here are generally
+between fourteen and twenty-one years of age, although occasionally a
+child of precocious depravity is met with, who has to be separated from
+those under less restriction even at ten years of age. The
+_disciplinaire_ is the division of milder restraint. The twenty-five or
+twenty-six places in each of the two divisions are ordinarily applied
+for in advance. Pastor Louis Valette said: "We shall not have room
+enough until we have too much room."
+
+There are three classes of inmates: those who are put here by their
+parents for insubordination or other grave faults; those who are sent
+here by order of a judge of the court for a limited period, and those
+who are recognized guilty of a misdemeanor, but are acquitted on account
+of their age, and must remain a certain time, sometimes until they have
+attained their majority, in houses of correction and education.
+
+The Minister of the Interior pays twelve cents a day for pupils of the
+third class; the Prefect of Police four hundred dollars a year for those
+of the second class, whatever their number, only the establishment is
+bound to receive them at any time and at any hour.
+
+There is a system of rewards, to promote good behavior, and those who
+profit by it can accumulate a small sum of money, sometimes amounting to
+sixteen or eighteen dollars, to have when they go out from here. In
+other cases there is a large indebtedness on the opposite side, which
+can never be collected.
+
+The days are occupied in household work, washing, ironing, and sewing,
+and two hours of schooling. When the nature of the work will permit,
+instructive books are read aloud, or the deaconesses give pleasant talks
+on different subjects that will keep the thoughts of the workers busy,
+and give them helpful ideas to store away in their minds. As we went
+about in the sewing-classes, we noticed that the time was invariably
+utilized in some way that was profitable to the girls. Most of them are
+pitiably ignorant of even the commonest knowledge demanded in life.
+There are separate court-yards for the recreations of the two divisions.
+The girls of the _disciplinaire_ are sometimes taken outside the
+institution for walks; those of the _retenue_, never. The work in this
+last division is especially difficult, and requires the utmost patience
+and love. These poor girls have to be watched carefully, and kept
+isolated from one another. Some are greatly influenced by the atmosphere
+of the place, the gentle, firm kindness of the sisters, and the
+restriction they receive. Others go out to take up again the old life of
+immorality, and are dragged away into the meshes of sin, finding their
+place, after brief delay, in the wards of a hospital, or sometimes a
+suicide's grave. It is a singular fact that the numerical appreciation
+of those influenced by this school of reform is precisely the same as
+that given in the report of the similar work at Kaiserswerth, although
+the two reports have no connection with one another, and one in no wise
+supposes the other. Thirty-three years ago one of the founders of the
+institution, Pastor Valette, said in answer to a question as to the
+amount of good accomplished, "Sixteen years ago this question came to my
+ears, and I stated as a principle that one cannot and ought not to
+answer it precisely and absolutely, because no one but God can give an
+appreciation of its real value. However, out of curiosity, I set myself
+at work to gather and register some results; and, matured by the
+experience of six years, I offer them, such as they are: One third of
+the moral results may be considered excellent; another third as offering
+good guarantees, and a final third has no value. It seems to me,
+however, as I am sure it will seem to you, that here is cause for
+rejoicing. Here is something for which to praise the Lord, and to
+encourage those who administer our affairs. For, I ask of the merchants
+who listen to me, if any one were to offer you thirty-three and one
+third per cent. assured, with the hope of a dividend, would you refuse
+the investment?"
+
+In 1871 an occurrence took place worthy of being recorded. On April 13,
+at ten o'clock in the evening, emissaries of the Commune entered the
+house, revolvers in hand. Armed men were posted at all the entrances.
+The deaconesses were summoned to one of the parlors, and held prisoners
+until three o'clock the following morning. Meanwhile an investigation
+took place among the girls in the penitentiary, as they would be the
+most likely of any of the inmates of the house to have complaints. The
+officers of the Commune interrogated them closely. Their answers were
+favorable beyond all expectation. "Are you happy here?" "Oh, yes, very
+happy." "What have you done deserving punishment?" "Nothing that we need
+talk to you about." "How are you punished here?" "The sisters don't
+punish us; they advise us what to do, and warn us." "Now," said the
+chief to one, "just tell me quietly, no one else need hear; if you are
+not contented I will take you away with me." "What a coward you are,"
+she answered, quite scornfully. Not one of them thought of escaping. All
+this time the prison wagon had been waiting in the street, and would
+have been filled with deaconesses had the slightest cause of complaint
+been found; but it went away empty. Later the sisters had occasion to go
+to the head-quarters of the Commune in their ward, and they met with
+polite consideration. This is not the only experience of the troubled
+political life of the great city that the deaconesses have had. The
+Faubourg St. Antoine has been noted ever since the time of the Fronde as
+being the haunt of all that is turbulent and revolutionary. In February
+1848, a great barricade was thrown across the Rue de Reuilly, men,
+women, and children hurrying with bricks and stones to help in building
+it. Then came the moment of storm and attack, and forty-two men lay dead
+in the street. Some of the wounded were received by the sisters, crowded
+as they were with the children whom the mothers had brought for safety.
+Meanwhile the deaconesses went about unmolested, bought food and
+medicine, hunted friends and relatives for the sick, and through all
+that period of excitement and strife kept up their ministrations of
+mercy.
+
+There is no distinct home for women who are left alone and desire
+Christian surroundings, as is the case in several German institutions,
+but about sixty such ladies are received as boarders in the Paris home.
+Frequently also the hospitality of the house is enjoyed by young girls
+who come to Paris alone to earn a livelihood, or who have to stop here
+for some hours on their way to another place; a great advantage for
+inexperienced young women, unversed in the ways of a city, who find
+themselves alone in the great world for the first time.
+
+The preparatory school for deaconesses is on the first floor, below the
+rooms of the sisters. For two years the candidates are under the
+instruction of superior sisters. They are received into the house
+gratuitously, and accept its regulations while they remain. They have to
+pass through all practical duties of house-work, and care of the sick
+and children. They also pursue practical and theoretical courses in
+hygiene, and receive lessons in singing and pedagogics. The chaplains of
+the institution give them courses of religious instruction, and lectures
+on Church history. Some (the larger number) need very elementary
+lessons; others come with a good education. Each is directed according
+to her education and experience. In fact, all classes are represented
+among the deaconesses; servants, teachers, ladies, and shepherdesses.
+They come from different parts of France, but in larger numbers from the
+South.
+
+Deaconesses are constantly in demand to go out in the city as nurses in
+private families. Such requests often meet with refusals, because
+sisters cannot be spared for such duties. Their work is limited by the
+smallness of their numbers. The last report gives sixty deaconesses
+attached to the Home on the Rue de Reuilly.
+
+The work is upon sterile soil as compared to Germany. The Protestants of
+France are in a small minority, surrounded by an overwhelming majority
+of Catholics; while in the beginning of the work some influential
+members of the Protestant faith, having an inadequate comprehension of
+the good in the movement, and a misconception of its plans, exerted a
+powerful influence that for awhile told adversely to the cause. The home
+has now passed beyond the stage when it can be affected by adverse
+criticisms; and it to-day not only has the approbation of Christians,
+but also of those who regard it solely from the point of view of
+philanthropy.[51]
+
+There are but two parish deaconesses who are at work in Belleville and
+Ste. Marie. The directors of the institution would be glad to increase
+the number, as they regard the work of the sisters under the direction
+of the city pastors as that which presents the widest opportunities for
+doing good, while it perpetuates those aspects of the deaconess work
+which most closely resemble those of the early Church. But Calvin's
+reply from Geneva to the Church of France is theirs. When petitioned to
+send more pastors over the boundary into France he replied, "Send us
+wood and we will send you arrows." So the want of deaconesses is a
+continual hinderance to the furtherance of the cause, both in the city
+and the provinces.
+
+The prisons for women in France are under the supervision of women, save
+the office of chief director, which is filled by a man. The great
+majority of the prisoners in France being Catholics, the number of
+Sisters of Charity is naturally much larger than the number of
+deaconesses employed. At the prison of Clermont four of the Paris
+deaconesses are kept constantly at work among the prisoners.
+
+In connection with the old prison of St. Lazare, the women's prison of
+Paris, the deaconesses have a mission especially concerned with caring
+for discharged female convicts. As was the case at Kaiserswerth, this,
+in its initiation, is closely connected with the saintly life of
+Elizabeth Fry. When she came to Paris, in 1835, a drawing-room meeting
+was held at the residence of the Duchess de Broglie, in which she told
+of her efforts to effect a reform in prisons in England. None of the
+ladies of rank and wealth who heard her were stirred to greater effort
+than was demanded by the keen interest with which they listened to her
+words; but a quiet governess was present, Mademoiselle Dumas, and with
+her the seeds of truth fell into prepared ground. She determined to
+attempt for her own country a portion of the work Mrs. Fry had
+accomplished for England. Obtaining permission from the authorities to
+visit the prison of St. Lazare, she went daily to the prisoners shut up
+in the rooms of this great building, formerly the monastery of St.
+Vincent de Paul, the founder of the Sisters of Charity. After the
+deaconess home was established, some deaconesses were set apart to aid
+Mademoiselle Dumas in her work. All these years the mission has
+continued, not interrupted even during the dark days of the Commune. A
+committee of ladies aids in providing shelter and work for the prisoners
+when they are discharged. The great publishing house of Hachette & Co.,
+although the head of the firm is a Catholic, provides employment in
+folding paper for books.
+
+Through the kind offices of Mademoiselle Monod we called on Mademoiselle
+Dumas. She is now an extremely aged woman; but her interest in the
+Christian reformation of prisoners of her sex is as keen as it was over
+fifty years ago, when her labors began. The registers of many years
+stand by her desk, and from these we were shown how the records of the
+mission are kept, and in what way the lives of those assisted are
+watched and followed for years. Narratives of individual reformation
+were related to us, and through the long correspondence of many years
+she was enabled to tell us of those who had turned to a better life and
+held to it permanently. As she talked her eyes brightened, the tones of
+her voice became stronger and clearer, her manner more vivacious, and
+the years seemed to slip from her. Finally, as if overcome by the
+memories that the long retrospect had brought to her, and thrilled by
+the recollections, of all this work meant to her, she ended by
+exclaiming, "O, my dear St. Lazare!" I looked at her astonished. I had
+just come from the walls of the gloomy prison, and the place had chilled
+me with horror as I walked through its corridors, and read the stories
+of shame and guilt in the faces of its inmates; most hopeless looking
+faces, belonging to little children of ten and twelve up to hardened and
+prematurely aged women of fifty and sixty. I could not comprehend a term
+of endearment applied to such a place. But a moment's consideration led
+me to see that this aged saint had there fought and won the best of her
+life's battles, and the place remains glorified in her thoughts by most
+hallowed and Christ-like memories.
+
+Now that Mademoiselle Dumas is kept to her room, the deaconesses still
+come to her weekly, make their reports, and keep up the proper entries
+in her books.
+
+A recent letter from Mademoiselle Monod says: "Mademoiselle Dumas still
+lives, having completed her ninety-sixth year the 26th of last December
+(1888). Only yesterday our prison committee met at her house, she acting
+as presiding officer."
+
+The life of this quiet woman is but little known outside the circle of
+her immediate influence, but it has been more valuable to her country
+than that of many a general or statesman who has been ranked among the
+famous of the earth.
+
+The deaconess home has also branches of work in different parts of
+France. These include nine hospitals, two homes for the aged and infirm,
+four orphanages, two work-rooms for young girls, and a convalescents'
+home. The house has established close connection with the deaconess
+houses at St. Loup in French Switzerland, and with Strasburg. The ties
+of a common language and former memories are strong, and these are the
+homes most akin to the Paris home.
+
+The ordinary expenses of the Paris deaconess home are about thirty
+thousand dollars a year. Nearly seven thousand dollars are collected
+annually by subscriptions, the remaining sum being made up of returns
+arising from service.
+
+The institution was founded in 1841 by Rev. Antoine Vermeil, a
+distinguished minister of the Reformed Church, aided by a devout and
+worthy minister of the Lutheran Church, Rev. Louis Valette. It has grown
+up under the joint and harmonious patronage of these two State Churches.
+
+A later deaconess home, entirely devoted to training and employing
+parish deaconesses, was started in 1874, under the sole control of the
+Lutheran Church. Some pastors secured the co-operation of a few young
+Christian women to consecrate a portion of their strength and time to
+the service of the Church. From this beginning sprang the work that
+exists to-day. The home is located in the Rue de Bridaine. There are now
+sixteen deaconesses, six of whom are probationers. Five of them are
+located in different parishes in Paris, usually at a long distance from
+the central house. Each goes forth early in the morning to her parish,
+where is a room of some kind serving as a center to the work. Materials
+used in nursing and medicines are stored here, and there is an office
+for the physician, who comes at stated periods to give free
+consultation. From the district house the deaconess goes in all
+directions and in all weather to look up families which have fallen away
+from the Church, to gather in children for the Sunday-school, to visit
+the sick, and to collect garments and money from the rich in order to
+distribute them among the poor. Such are some of their duties. Each
+sister is under the direction of a pastor, and is aided by his advice,
+while still remaining a member of the community to which she belongs.
+
+In both of the deaconess houses of Paris, as in the German houses, a
+special service sets apart those sisters who have passed their period of
+probation, and have been received into full connection. As one of the
+deaconess reports beautifully says: "When Christ calls the soul to a
+special vocation he gives it special grace, and those who consecrate
+themselves to him he consecrates to their task by the strength of his
+Spirit. So in conformity with the usages of the primitive Church we give
+consecration to our sisters by the laying on of hands. The consecration
+is not a sacramental act, conferring a particular character, greater
+sanctity, or special powers; neither is it simply a ceremony or pious
+formality. It is a real and efficacious benediction, which the Saviour
+accords to our sisters to consecrate them to their holy work, as he
+accorded it to the deacons who received the imposition of the apostles'
+hands."
+
+The good that can be accomplished by deaconesses working together with
+ministers in behalf of the manifold interests of the Church is
+incalculable. The most faithful pastor can make only short and
+unsatisfactory visits. Many sorrows which he overlooks the deaconess can
+discern and assuage. She knows best how to reach the heart of a
+sorrowing woman, to care for her needs, to discern her wants, and to
+bring solace to the sorrowing and succor to the needy. Deaconesses who
+have been specially trained for service cannot be spared now that the
+world has learned to know of them. For "charity cannot take the place of
+experience, nor good-will replace knowledge;" and trained Christian
+service is the highest of all service.
+
+The old spirit of the Huguenots has not died out of France, and with
+that ready susceptibility to noble ideas which is a marked
+characteristic of the French character, we can expect to see the
+deaconess cause thrive and prosper as it has done in other lands.
+
+
+ [50] Speak to God about the little ones, rather than to the little
+ souls of God.
+ [51] See a sympathetic study of the work by Maxime du Camp, a
+ member of the French Academy, in his book _Paris Bienfaisant_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.
+
+
+To learn the first facts about deaconesses in England, we must go back
+to the early days of the Puritans. In 1576, under Queen Elizabeth, about
+sixty non-conformist ministers of the eastern counties assembled to make
+regulations concerning Church constitution and discipline, and one of
+them was as follows: "Touching deacons of both sorts, namely, both men
+and women, the Church should be admonished what is required by the
+apostle, that they are not to choose men by custom or course, or for
+their riches, but for their faith, zeal, and integrity; and that the
+Church is to pray in the meantime to be so directed that they may choose
+them that are meet. Let the names of those that are thus chosen be
+published the next Lord's Day, and after that their duties to the
+Church, and the Church's duty toward them. Then let them be received
+into their office with the general prayers of the whole Church."[52]
+
+There are other references in the works of the early Puritans that
+indicate that the office of deaconess was as well known and recognized
+as were the other offices that were named in accordance with the usages
+of the primitive Church.
+
+In the early part of the seventeenth century it still survived, as we
+shall see from a quaint and curious picture that is of especial interest
+to all Americans, because it portrays what took place in that community
+of pious souls who furnished us the men we delight to honor as the
+Pilgrim Fathers. A number of these heroic souls, who could give up their
+country, but would not yield their faith, went forth from England in
+1608, and settled in Amsterdam. They preserved in a foreign land their
+own Church usages, as the following words show: "In Amsterdam there were
+about three hundred communicants, and they had for their pastor and
+teacher those two eminent men before named (Johnson and Ainsworth); and
+had at one time four grave men for ruling elders, three able, godly men
+for deacons, and one ancient widow for a deaconess, who did them service
+many years, though she was sixty years of age when she was chosen. She
+honored her place, and was an ornament to the congregation. She usually
+sat in a convenient place in the congregation, with a little birchen rod
+in her hand, and kept little children in awe from disturbing the
+congregation. She did frequently visit the sick and weak, especially
+women, and as there was need called out ladies and young women to watch
+and do them other helps as their necessity should require; and if there
+were poor she would gather relief for them of those that were able, or
+acquaint the deacons. And she was obeyed as a mother in Israel and an
+officer of Christ."[53]
+
+Whether the "ancient widow" with the little "birchen rod" had any
+followers in the early Puritan communities of the Plymouth Colony we
+cannot say, as there are no records that throw light on the subject; but
+the history of early New England Congregationalism gives us one
+indication that the office was recognized in the New World. In the
+Cambridge Platform, a system of Church discipline agreed upon by the
+elders and messengers of the New England churches assembled in synod at
+Cambridge, in 1648, the seventh chapter enumerates the duties of elder
+and deacons, and then adds, "The Lord hath appointed _ancient widdows_,
+where they may be had, to minister in the Church, in giving attendance
+to the sick, and to give succor unto them and others in the like
+necessities." The same confusion of thought concerning the Church widow
+and the deaconess is here seen, but there is evident the recognition of
+the services that women were officially to render the Church.
+
+In the early part of the present century Southey voiced the complaint,
+long reiterated, that Protestantism had no missionaries. We who live in
+the closing years of the same century, surrounded by the multiplied
+evidences of the extent of missions, when the Protestants of the world
+are expending nearly ten millions of dollars annually, and employing
+nearly six thousand men and women as missionaries, cannot realize the
+change that has taken place. In 1830 Southey again wrote: "Thirty years
+hence another reproach may also be effaced, and England may have her
+Sisters of Charity." He had learned to know their value when serving as
+a volunteer in Wellington's army, and a year after the battle of
+Waterloo he had visited the Béguines at Ghent, and what he saw deeply
+impressed him. "We should have such women among us," he said. "It is a
+great loss to England that we have no Sisters of Charity. There is
+nothing Romish, nothing unevangelical in such communities; nothing but
+what is right and holy; nothing but what belongs to that religion which
+the apostle James has described as 'pure and undefiled before God the
+Father.'"[54]
+
+Southey's prophecy has come true. England to-day in her deaconesses
+possesses her Sisters of Charity. How has this change been brought
+about? The acquaintance of Mrs. Fry with Fliedner, and her visit to
+Kaiserswerth, led her to introduce into England the practical training
+of nurses for the sick. The Nursing Sisters' Institution in Devonshire
+Square, Bishop's Gate, was founded through her efforts in 1840, and
+still exists "to train nurses for private families, and to provide
+pensions for aged nurses."[55]
+
+In 1842, Fliedner came to London, accompanied by four sisters, at the
+invitation of the German Hospital at Dalston. These deaconesses won
+golden opinions from the hospital authorities for their quiet, efficient
+manner, and their trained skill. The hospital continues to be served by
+them, but the Sisters now come from the mother house at Darmstadt.
+
+Kaiserswerth and its deaconesses became more widely known through the
+life and inestimable services of Florence Nightingale. When a child,
+one of Fliedner's reports fell into her hands. Its perusal marked an
+era in her life. It made clear to her what she should do. She would go
+to Kaiserswerth, and fit herself for a nurse. Her childish resolve never
+wavered. "Happy is the man who holds fast to the ideals of his youth."
+Florence Nightingale held fast to hers. She went to Kaiserswerth at two
+different times, and through her deeds and her writings the care of the
+sick in England has been completely transformed. She has won a nation's
+gratitude, and now is living in honored old age in one of the London
+institutions founded mainly by the money that she contributed, and which
+she obtained by selling some valuable gifts given her by a foreign
+government in acknowledgment of her care of its wounded soldiers during
+the Crimean war.
+
+Another woman distinguished in England's philanthropies is Agnes Jones,
+who left a home of wealth and refinement to receive her training also at
+Kaiserswerth. Returning to England she gave her time and talents in
+single-hearted devotion to the care of the poor in the Liverpool
+work-house, and met death in the midst of her labors. The training which
+led two such women to accomplish such noble deeds naturally was
+recognized as valuable, and Kaiserswerth soon became an honored name in
+England.
+
+In 1851 Miss Nightingale sent out anonymously her little book entitled
+_An Account of the Institution of Deaconesses_, which added to the
+knowledge already in circulation about the movement in Germany.
+Meanwhile articles were appearing in the reviews. In 1848 one was
+written in the _Edinburgh Review_ by John Malcolm Ludlow, who later, in
+1866, gave the results of the thoughts and studies of a number of years
+in _Woman's Work in the Church_, the best historical study of the
+subject up to the date at which it was written. Since then the Germans
+have pushed their historical investigations further, and the work needs
+to be revised and to be brought down to the present time.
+
+In _Good Words_ for 1861 there were two articles by Dr. Stevenson, of
+the Irish Presbyterian Church, entitled "The Blue Flag of Kaiserswerth,"
+afterward incorporated in his work, _Praying and Working_, a book too
+little known among us.
+
+The great upholder of the deaconess cause in the Church of England was
+the late Dean of Chester, Rev. J. S. Howson. His essay, first published
+in the _Quarterly Review_, was amplified and issued in book form in 1860
+under the title _Deaconesses_. It won many friends. The cause remained a
+favorite one with him, and he constantly advocated it by speech and by
+deed. Since his death his latest thoughts, which remained substantially
+the same as those that he first advanced, have been published in a work
+entitled _The Diaconate of Women_.
+
+Within the Church of England, however, the deaconess cause has not met
+the same prosperous development that it has obtained in connection with
+certain independent institutions, notably that of Mildmay.
+
+Among the institutions on the Continent, as well as in the pages of this
+work up to the present, the terms "sister" and "deaconess" are used
+synonymously, to indicate one and the same person. But when we come to
+consider the deaconess institutions within the Church of England we
+cannot continue to use these two names in the same way. A deaconess is a
+member of a deaconess institution, actively engaged in charitable deeds,
+but, like the deaconess on the Continent, she can sever her connection
+with it when adequate cause presents itself, and return to her family
+and friends. A sister belongs to a sisterhood which closely resembles
+the Roman Catholic sisterhoods in many features. These sisterhoods began
+in 1847 with a number of ladies brought together through the influence
+of Dr. Pusey, who formed themselves into a community to live under its
+rule. Their influence and number increased, and twenty-three
+sisterhoods are mentioned in the last official report.[56]
+
+Doubtless it was the activity and great usefulness of the continental
+deaconess houses that provided the stimulating examples which acted on
+the Church of England and led to the rise of sisterhoods and deaconess
+institutions. But the two opposing tendencies within the Episcopal
+Church--namely, that which desires to approach the Church of Rome, with
+which it feels itself in sympathy on many points, and that which views
+with disfavor any conformity to it, and strives to keep to the landmarks
+set at the great Reformation--these two distinct tendencies are closely
+reflected in the woman's work of the Anglican Church.[57] The
+sisterhoods are distinctly under the fostering care of the former
+element, the deaconesses are manifestly favored by the latter.
+Sisterhoods, again, differ among themselves, some being strongly
+conventual in their life and practice, adopting the three vows of
+poverty, chastity, and obedience, and a few even advocating penance and
+confession. The vows are taken for life, and, in connection with the
+view of the sacred obligation to life-long service, great stress is laid
+upon the position of the sister as the "bride of Christ"--the same
+thought of the mysterious union with the heavenly Bridegroom that is so
+dwelt upon in the nunneries of the Catholic Church. With such views
+Protestants, distinctly such, can have no sympathy. Those who look upon
+the deaconess as a valuable member of the Church economy do so because
+they regard her as a Christian woman, strengthened and disciplined by
+special training to do better service for Christ in the world. This is
+the recognized difference: "The sisterhood exists primarily for the sake
+of forming a religious community, but deaconesses live together for the
+sake of the work itself, attracted to deaconess work by the want which
+in most populous towns is calling loudly for assistance; and with a view
+of being trained, therefore, for spiritual and temporal usefulness among
+the poor."[58]
+
+There are now seven deaconess establishments in the Church of England,
+each having a larger or smaller number of branches, with diocesan
+sanction and under the supervision of clergymen.[59]
+
+The first of these was founded in 1861, and is now known as the London
+Diocesan Deaconess Institution. At that time Kaiserswerth was accepted
+as its model; deaconesses were sent there to be trained; Kaiserswerth
+rules were adopted as far as possible, and a modification of the
+Kaiserswerth dress for the sisters. The house was then represented at
+the triennial Conferences in Germany, and in the list of mother houses
+published at Kaiserswerth[60] the name still appears. It would seem,
+however, that now the Kaiserswerth connection is entirely set aside by
+the London house, for in an historical sketch of the revival of
+deaconesses in the Church, that is found in the organ of the
+institution, called _Ancilla Domini_, for March, 1887, there is no
+mention made of any of the continental houses. The Anglican Church
+apparently dates the entire work from the setting apart of its first
+deaconess, Elizabeth C. Ferard, in 1861, as she was the first to receive
+consecration through the touch of a bishop's hand. The former connection
+with Kaiserswerth and the great work carried on in Germany from 1836 to
+the present time are quite ignored.
+
+Besides the London house already mentioned an East London deaconess home
+was opened in 1880, to provide deaconesses and church-workers for East
+London. Besides the deaconesses and probationers thirty-two associates
+are connected with this home. The associates are ladies who do not
+intend to become deaconesses, but give as much time as they can to the
+work. They live with the deaconesses, conform to the rules, and wear the
+garb, but pay their own expenses. These associates are a highly
+important part of the working force. They form a valuable tie connecting
+the sisters with sources of influence and aid that would otherwise be
+closed to them. Nearly always they are ladies of independent means, and
+come for longer or shorter periods to relieve the deaconesses, their
+zeal often being as great as that of the sisters whose places they take.
+
+Besides these houses there are homes located at Maidstone, Chester,
+Bedford, Salisbury, and Portsmouth, in the respective dioceses of
+Canterbury, Chester, Ely, Salisbury, and Winchester.
+
+In the home at Portsmouth sisters not only engage in nursing and parish
+work, but are also given special training for penitentiary and
+out-of-door rescue work. They also have a home for the rescue of
+neglected children.
+
+The Salisbury Home is beautifully situated in the quiet cathedral city
+of the same name. The house is a picturesque and venerable mansion,
+covered with clinging green vines, opening out into a garden which in
+olden times belonged to the convent. There is in connection with the
+home an institution for training girls for domestic service, supported
+by the funds of a charity given for that purpose. The whole service of
+the house is done by the girls. They attend upon the deaconesses and the
+ladies who board there to receive training in the hospital. Each
+deaconess pays for board and lodging while training, and, if able to do
+so, when she returns for rest, or a visit to her old home.
+
+In other houses the deaconess is expected to keep her own room in order,
+and may have some duties in the house, but servants do the rough work.
+The social status of the English deaconesses is, as a rule, markedly
+different from the German deaconesses. Here ladies of rank and inherited
+social traditions, of refinement, of accomplishments, and of education,
+many of them women of means, defraying their entire expenses and often
+those of their poorer sisters, are largely represented among the
+deaconesses. On the other hand, the German deaconesses, as we have seen,
+are largely of that station in life that furnishes many for domestic
+service. Although of course there are among them women of all ranks and
+all degrees of education, still such women form the larger number; and
+the conditions under which Fliedner began the work, as well as the
+difference of custom and habit in the two countries, incline the German
+houses to maintain the rules of service by which nearly every detail of
+domestic service in their institutions is cared for by the deaconesses.
+There is more of ceremony and formality in the English deaconess
+institutions which are under the direction of the Church of England. At
+Salisbury, for instance, the candidate must reside in the home for three
+months, that her ability and efficiency may be tested. If accepted, she
+then puts on a gray serge habit, a leathern girdle, white cap, black
+bonnet, the veil and cloak of a probationer, and is admitted to the
+"degree" of a probationer at a special service. The year of probation
+having come to an end, she is again presented to the bishop, and is set
+apart as a deaconess by the laying on of hands. This time the habit is
+changed from gray to blue, and a black ebony cross, with one of gold
+inlaid, is hung upon her neck.[61]
+
+This is very different from the way in which Fliedner regarded the dress
+and adornment of the deaconesses for whom he was responsible. The king
+of Prussia desired to present them with a small silver cross as their
+badge of service, but the simple-hearted German pastor dissuaded him,
+saying that the deaconesses needed no ornament save a meek and quiet
+spirit, and they must avoid symbols which would suggest Romish
+imitations.
+
+The Strasburg deaconesses also at first wore a small cross, but Pastor
+Härter discontinued it when he found that the wearing of it gave
+occasion for complaint.
+
+Yet however we may differ in the lesser details, of garb, of rules, and
+of ceremonies, from those accepted by some of the Church of England
+deaconess institutions, we can give unstinted admiration to the lives of
+self-denial, and active, unceasing efforts in behalf of others, that we
+see among their numbers. Take, for instance, the little publication _The
+Deaconess_, issued by the East London Home, and notice the undertakings
+carried on by the members--district-visiting, nursing of the sick,
+mothers' meetings, Sunday-school teaching, Bible classes, and all the
+multitudinous ways of meeting the squalor, poverty, ignorance, sickness,
+and sin of the poor of the east of London. There is no poetic enthusiasm
+that strengthens one for such work, the dirt, the degradation, the
+forlorn condition are so trying. The little children so precociously
+wicked, so preternaturally cunning, that the natural charm and
+attraction of childhood have wholly disappeared; the sights and sounds
+that assail the senses; the dulled, hopeless faces, the apathy, the
+stunted intellectual growth--these are the depressing influences that
+continually beset the deaconesses, and nothing short of God-given
+strength and Christ-like enthusiasm can enable these women to devote
+six, eight, and ten years of service to this worst city district, and to
+come forth with sunshiny, peaceful faces, and sympathetic, loving
+hearts.
+
+Taking the total number of deaconess institutions under the Church of
+England, there are eighty one deaconesses, thirty-four probationers, and
+two hundred and twenty-nine associates.[62]
+
+So far, sisterhoods have proved more attractive to the women of the
+Church of England than have deaconess establishments. The latter do not
+seem to increase largely in numbers. Vexing questions have arisen as to
+how the deaconess should be set apart to her work. Should she be
+consecrated by the imposition of the bishop's hands? What relation
+should she have to the Church? These questions have been partially
+settled by the principles and rules that were drawn up in 1871 and were
+signed by the two archbishops and eighteen bishops. They define a
+deaconess as "a woman set apart by a bishop, under that title, for
+service in the Church;"[63] placing her under the authority of the
+bishop of the diocese. These recommendations have not been formally
+adopted by the Church of England; they hold good only so far as they are
+accepted.
+
+But there are other institutions, lying outside of the boundaries of the
+State Church, which have developed more fully and prosperously than
+those within it. Of these we must speak first of the institution of
+Dr. Laseron, which is more closely connected with Kaiserswerth than any
+other in England. In 1855 Dr. Laseron and his wife lost their only
+child; and as Mrs. Laseron walked through the streets with burdened
+heart she looked at the little children with quickened sympathy, and
+noticed how many were poor and hungry and scantily clothed. She talked
+with her husband, and they opened a "ragged school" for children. This
+increased and branched off, until now there is an orphanage, workhouses
+for boys, and a servants' training school for girls. Requests were
+frequently made for some of the older girls to act as nurses among the
+poor; and, finally, Dr. Laseron, who was a German by birth, determined
+to found a deaconess house and hospital. A small hospital of twelve beds
+was opened, and proved insufficient to meet the demands; and none could
+be accepted as deaconesses, as there was no opportunity to train them in
+so small a place. While waiting to see how the house could be enlarged,
+he mentioned his perplexity to Mr. Samuel Morley. This gentleman heard
+him with interest, and said that he was one of the directors of a large
+hospital; that at a recent meeting of the directors a Catholic bishop
+had offered to send Sisters of Charity who, without compensation, should
+nurse the sick, and he had thought what a fine thing it would be if the
+Protestant Church had also its women of piety who could devote
+themselves to a similar work. The result of the conversation was that
+Mr. Morley contributed forty thousand dollars, with which Dr. Laseron
+purchased a site in Tottenham, built a hospital with fifty beds, and a
+deaconess was called from Kaiserswerth to superintend it. The hospital
+has been again enlarged, so that it now accommodates one hundred
+patients. Sixty-four deaconesses are connected with it, who are at
+service in the hospitals of Cork, Dublin, Scarborough, and Sunderland.
+This institution is unsectarian, and has met with special aid from
+non-conformists. It still keeps in close relation to Kaiserswerth, and
+is represented at the Conferences. It has constantly thriven, and the
+mother-house at Tottenham is a center for various benevolent
+enterprises.
+
+In connection with Dr. Barnardo's Orphanage there is also a deaconess
+house. Harley House, the missionary training-school under the direction
+of Dr. and Mrs. Grattan Guinness in East London, has a deaconess home as
+one of its branches. The Kilburn (St. Augustine's) Orphanage of Mercy,
+and the London Bible-women's Mission are also centers for the training
+and organizing of women's work in London.
+
+We must pause more at length over the prison mission under the care of
+Mrs. Meredith. American women are beginning to occupy themselves with
+questions of philanthropy and religious activity to an extent not before
+equaled. The women's prisons in England are especially fruitful of
+suggestions to us, as many here are interested in having our women
+prisoners separated in prisons by themselves, as has already been
+attempted in a few States. Mrs. Meredith's work is in behalf of the
+prisoners after they have served their sentence and are discharged. She
+is the daughter of General Lloyd, who was formerly governor-general of
+prisons in Ireland. As a little child she was accustomed to go about
+with her father, and the interior of prisons became familiar to her.
+Later in life, when her family ties were broken, and her hands left free
+for service, her interest was engaged in behalf of the women convicts
+who were discharged from prison. She enlisted the support of other
+ladies of like views, able to assist her, and in 1866 the Prison Gate
+Mission began, which has continued to the present day. Every morning, as
+the gate of Millbank prison swings back to allow those who have been
+released from penal bondage to come forth, a sister stands waiting to
+invite those who will go with her to a room near by, where breakfast
+awaits them; there are ladies to inquire about their plans and to offer
+them work. A great laundry was opened in 1867 to provide employment for
+these women. Here washing is done for two classes: for the poor and
+sick, to whom the service is given as a charity, and to those who pay
+for the work and whose money enables the mission to be partly
+self-supporting. Then the ladies extended their plans to take in the
+children of the prisoners. A law was passed by Parliament which enabled
+Mrs. Meredith and her associates to have the care of those children at
+the Princess Mary Village Home until they are sixteen years of age. This
+home was founded at Addlestone in 1870, and was named after the Princess
+Mary, Duchess of Teck, who aided in obtaining funds to build it. The
+institution takes not only the female children of criminal mothers, but
+also little girls who are likely to drift into a career of crime. It is
+conducted on the cottage plan, each little house having ten inmates and
+a house mother to superintend it, and being complete in its own
+arrangements. There are eighteen cottages, a large, generous
+school-room, a small infirmary for the sick, and a little church. About
+two hundred children of criminals and the unfortunate class are here
+cared for. Instead of allowing them to drift away and to perpetuate
+vice, crime, and immorality, they are taken entirely from their old
+surroundings, and new influences of knowledge and purity are thrown
+about them. There is no part of Mrs. Meredith's mission which has such
+hope for the future and is so valuable in results as this preventive
+work among the children.
+
+There are also a woman's medical mission (1882), a Christian woman's
+union, a girls' school, and a deaconess house in Jerusalem under the
+control of the same association. How it arose is well intimated by the
+following extract from a letter from Mrs. Meredith to the author, dated
+March 9, 1889: "You will know that my course has been progressive with
+regard to the mode of congregating the women who joined me in working.
+At first we merely came together daily from our own homes, as those who
+make a business concern do. Then to spare time and money we began to
+live together. The next step was to admit useful and devoted women who
+had no property, and to form an association with degrees of membership.
+When we found ourselves becoming a corporation of importance, and having
+combined to acquire property and to found institutions, we invited the
+help and counsel of some men of known eminence. Our institutions are all
+branches of a parent stock, and are now placed in the charge of these
+good men, and we have taken the name of the Church of England Woman's
+Missionary Association. I am daily persuaded of the value of such
+organizations."
+
+In connection with the London West Central Mission there is an
+association of ladies called the Sisters of the People. "They are
+expected to be worthy of the beautiful name they bear. They are true
+sisters of the unprivileged and the disheartened; as ready to make a
+bed, cook a dinner, or nurse a baby as to minister to the higher need of
+the immortal spirit. The sisters live together in the neighborhood of
+their work, and wear a distinctive dress as a protection and for other
+reasons; but they take no vows, and are at liberty to withdraw from the
+mission at any time. Their work is directed by Mrs. Hughes. Katherine
+House, the residence of the Sisters of the People, was opened early in
+November, 1887, and from that day the work of the sisters dates its
+commencement. Their daily labors are very similar to those of the
+deaconesses of Mildmay, who work among the London parishes. Each sister
+has a district allotted to her, which she visits regularly and
+systematically. The first object which she sets before herself is to get
+to know the people, and to make them feel that she is their true sister
+and friend, irrespective of the fact that they are themselves good or
+bad, respectable or degraded. When once true friendliness is
+established, the way is opened for direct religious influence; and many,
+who in the first instance would never pay any attention to religion,
+will listen to an appeal from one whom they love and respect."[64]
+
+Katherine House accommodates twelve sisters. A second house is urgently
+needed, and a strong plea is made for it in the Report.
+
+There are besides "out sisters," who work with the sisters but reside at
+their own homes. This is a valuable feature of this mission, as it
+interests ladies who are living in their own homes, and yet who can be
+very useful to those who devote their whole work to the sisters' labor.
+In the Report a great many instances are given which show what an
+intimate knowledge of the poor people is obtained by these sisters, and
+in what practical ways they minister to the bodily and spiritual needs
+of those whom they find in their house-to-house visitations. The term
+"sister," as it is used in the report of the London West Central
+Mission, is in all respects a synonym for "deaconess," as the name is
+understood in the large deaconess establishment at Mildmay. To the study
+of this we shall devote the following chapter.
+
+
+ [52] Daniel Neal's _History of the Puritans_, London, 1703, vol. i,
+ pp. 344-346.
+ [53] _Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth,
+ from 1602 to 1625._ By Alex. Young. Second edition. Boston:
+ C. E. Little & J. Brown, 1844, pp. 455, 456.
+ [54] Schäfer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 207.
+ [55] _The Royal Guide to London Churches_ for 1866, 1867. By Herbert
+ Fry, p. 162.
+ [56] _Official Year-book of the Church of England_, 1889.
+ [57] _Andover Review_, June, 1888, art., "European Deaconesses,"
+ p. 578.
+ [58] _Deaconesses in the Church of England._ Griffith & Farran:
+ London, 1880, p. 22.
+ [59] _Official Year-book of the Church of England_, 1889.
+ [60] _Armen und Kranken Freund_, October, 1888.
+ [61] "Deaconess Work in England," _The Churchman_, May 19, 1888.
+ [62] I am indebted to the kindness of the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of
+ Wakefield for these numbers, upon whom the mantle of Dean Howson
+ seems to have fallen in caring for the deaconess cause.
+ [63] _London Diocesan Deaconess District Services._
+ [64] _First Annual Report of the London West Central Mission_,
+ pp. 14-42.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.
+
+
+Valuable suggestions will be obtained from the study of every successful
+deaconess institution, and none will perhaps furnish more practical
+models for American Methodism than does the establishment at Mildmay
+Park in North London. Its methods of work are flexible, and allow place
+for a diversity of talent among the workers, while a wide variety of
+charitable and evangelistic effort is undertaken. These two causes give
+a breadth and vigor to the work at Mildmay that impress every one who
+has knowledge of it.
+
+Whenever we find a good cause carried on successfully and prosperously,
+we know that behind it there must be a strong man or woman who has
+"thought and wrought" to good purpose. So the first question that arises
+in the mind of the visitor who for the first time forms one of the
+audience in the great Conference Hall, or looks about in the adjoining
+building to see the deaconess home, is, "Who first thought this out? Who
+was the founder of this wonderful mission?" And the answer tells us
+that Mildmay originated, as did Kaiserswerth, in the prayerful
+determination of a Christian minister and his wife to reach out to every
+good end that God's spirit of enlightenment could suggest to them. Rev.
+William Pennefather was rector of Christ's Church at Barnet, and while
+devoted to his ministerial duties his sympathies did not end with his
+own people, nor his own denomination. His home was sometimes called the
+"Missing Link," for it was a meeting-place for noblemen and farmers,
+bishops and clergymen of all churches; a place "where nationalities and
+denominations were easily merged in the broad sunshine of Christian
+love."[65] He carried his principle of Christian fellowship further,
+for, after mature deliberation, in 1856, he issued a call for a
+conference to be held at Barnet whose object was "to bring into closer
+social communion the members of various Churches, as children of the one
+Father, animated by the same life, and heirs together of the same
+glory."[66] These conferences have been continued from then to the
+present time, and are known and prized in many lands. I was present at
+the conference of 1888, and representatives were there from nearly
+every Protestant country, while on the platform were leaders of nearly
+every Protestant denomination, furnishing a wonderful illustration of
+the union of the Christian Church in Christ; a spiritual union so real
+and eternal that the minor differences of faith were swallowed up in the
+great fact that in Christ Jesus all are one.
+
+Gradually a variety of missionary and evangelistic agencies grew up
+about the conferences. In 1860 the little Home was opened at Barnet
+which subsequently developed into the deaconess house at Mildmay Park.
+The question of calling into more active exercise the energies of
+educated Christian women, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, was
+one that was attracting attention at the time in England. Mr. and Mrs.
+Pennefather had long desired to do something in this direction, and
+their desire took this practical form. In its beginning it had to battle
+with all the "definite and indefinite objections" that could be advanced
+against any attempt at organizing woman's work. But those days of latent
+suspicion or more open antagonism are long past. The institution has
+justified its right to be by doing a work that otherwise would have
+remained undone.
+
+In 1864 Mr. Pennefather was called to St. Jude's, Mildmay Park, and the
+philanthropic and religious undertakings which he had begun were
+transferred to his new home. He took with him the "iron room" that had
+been erected for the conferences at Barnet, and continued to use it for
+the same purposes at Mildmay; while the missionary training-school and
+home were accommodated in a house which he hired for the purpose.
+
+His new parish was in a part of London where poverty and want abounded.
+There was no adequate provision for the education of the poor and
+neglected children, so he erected a building where elementary
+instruction could be given at a very low price. A soup-kitchen was
+started at the iron room: clubs of various kinds were formed, and other
+agencies were set at work, both for the temporal and spiritual welfare
+of the people. The degraded and miserable neighborhood gradually
+underwent a transformation, and the police testified that there was a
+manifest restraint on the lawless locality. "To many of the waifs of
+life no human hand was stretched in kindness until he came to the
+district and taught them what Christianity was."[67]
+
+A small legacy coming to him, he bought a house with a large garden
+attached, and made it a mission center for the needs of the infirm and
+aged; while the ignorant and careless, who would not enter a church,
+were often induced to attend meetings here.
+
+The training-school had been started at Barnet for the purpose of
+training foreign missionaries; but Mr. Pennefather now saw that there
+was as great a demand for home mission workers in the sorrowful and
+benighted portions of the vast metropolis, so, after much deliberation
+and consultation between himself and his wife, he decided to initiate
+the ministry of Christian women as deaconesses. He hesitated about the
+name to be given to the women whom he employed as Christian workers, but
+no other was suggested conveying the same idea of service to Christ
+among his suffering and needy ones, and, as the appellation had already
+won respect through the good reports of the deaconess houses on the
+Continent, he decided to adopt the same name. They continued to work in
+his parish only until the terrible visitation of the cholera in 1866.
+Then when men were swept into eternity by hundreds, and hundreds more
+were in dire distress, the deaconesses were invited by the minister of
+another parish to come to his assistance. In this way the bounds of the
+work began to enlarge. A small hospital was added to the home and a
+medical-school mission was begun.
+
+It now became necessary to build a large hall; the iron room was too
+small for the conferences, the church too small for the congregation,
+and the missions had outgrown the capacity of the mission room. When the
+plan for a new building was made known money came in unsolicited from
+various sources. The undertaking was pushed rapidly forward, and in
+October, 1870, the hall was opened. It will seat 2,500 people, having a
+platform at the west end, and a gallery running around the sides and
+east end.
+
+Thanksgiving and prayer were built into the walls from the very
+foundation; and before the basement rooms were cleared of rubbish, or
+the floor laid, a prayer-meeting was held to ask for a blessing upon the
+future undertakings of the mission. The basement was divided into five
+rooms, to be used for night-schools and other agencies for the benefit
+of the poor.
+
+Adjoining the hall, at the west end, was built the deaconess house. From
+his home near by Mr. Pennefather had watched the completion of the work
+with great interest. In one of his letters he says:[68] "Sometimes I can
+scarcely believe that it is a reality, and not all a dream--the
+Conference Hall, with its appendages, and the deaconess house actually
+in existence. May the Holy Spirit fill the place, and may he make it a
+center from whence the living waters shall flow forth."
+
+From a letter written to one of these deaconesses, we gain his opinion
+as to the need of deaconesses, and what was his ideal of a Home.[69]
+"The need for such an institution is great indeed. I do not suppose
+there was ever a time in the history of Christianity in which the
+openings for holy, disciplined, intelligent women to labor in God's
+vineyard were so numerous as at present. The population in towns and
+rural districts are waiting for the patient and enduring love that
+dwells in the breast of a truly pious woman, to wake them up to thought
+and feeling. O! if I had the women and had the means, how gladly would I
+send out hundreds, two by two, to carry the river of truth into the
+hamlets of our country, and the streets and lanes of our great cities.
+Will you pray for the Home? Ask for women and for means. I want our Home
+to be such a place of holy, peaceful memories that, when you leave it,
+it may be among the brightest things that come to your mind in a distant
+land, or in a different position; and each inmate can help to make it
+what it should be." But Mr. Pennefather did not live to see the great
+extension in usefulness and importance that the Deaconess Home was to
+obtain in later years. He passed away from life April 28, 1873, leaving
+to his wife, who had ever been his sympathetic and devoted helper, the
+care of continuing the work he had begun. She is still the head of the
+Mildmay Institutions, assisted by a resident superintendent, and aided
+by the counsels of wise, experienced men, who form the board of
+trustees.
+
+From the beginning of the erection of the new building every portion of
+it was put to use. In one of the basement rooms is the invalid kitchen,
+where, daily, puddings, jellies, and little delicacies are prepared and
+sent out to sufferers in the neighborhood, who could not otherwise
+obtain suitable nourishment. From eleven to two o'clock tickets are
+brought in, which have been distributed by the sisters or by the
+district visitors; and those who come to take the dinners, while waiting
+their turn, have a kind word, or sympathetic inquiry about the sick one,
+from the deaconess in charge.
+
+A flower mission occupies another room. Kind friends send here treasures
+from the garden and green-house, field and wood, and children contribute
+bouquets of wild flowers. A deaconess superintends the willing hands
+that tie the bunches, each of which is adorned with a brightly colored
+Scripture text. Ten hospitals and infirmaries were regularly visited
+during 1888; and more than thirty-eight thousand bunches of flowers were
+distributed, each accompanied by an appropriate text.
+
+Near at hand is the Dorcas room, where deaconesses are kept busy in
+cutting out clothing and superintending the sewing classes. During the
+winter of 1887 thirty widows attended this class three times a week,
+glad to earn a sixpence by needlework done in a warm, lighted room,
+while a deaconess entertained them by reading aloud. A large amount of
+sewing is given out from the same room, and the garments that are made
+are often sold to the poor at a low price. A most impressive scene is
+witnessed during the winter months, when, on three evenings of the week,
+all the basement rooms are crowded with the men's night-school, which
+has, it is believed, no rival in England. The ordinary number of names
+on the books exceeds twelve hundred. There are forty-nine classes, all
+taught by ladies, the majority of them being deaconesses. The subjects
+range from the elementary to the higher branches of general and
+practical knowledge, including arithmetic, geography, geometry, freehand
+drawing, and short-hand. The Bible is read in the classes on Monday and
+Friday, and a scriptural address is given by some gentleman on
+Wednesday. The school always closes with prayer and singing. The men
+may purchase coffee and bread and butter before leaving, and of this
+they largely avail themselves. A lending library is also attached to the
+school. The highest attendance during last session was five hundred and
+eighty-one, the lowest two hundred and eighty-seven.
+
+The influence of this school is very great, and many pass on from it to
+the men's Bible-class, which is held on Sunday afternoons in the largest
+basement room.[70]
+
+A servants' registry is attached to the deaconess house, and through its
+means about four hundred servants are annually provided with places.
+
+Nearly fifty deaconesses make their home at this central house, many of
+them having work in the different parts of the city, perhaps at remote
+distances, but returning at night to the home-like surroundings and
+purer air of the central house. The large sitting-room, the common
+living-room of the deaconesses, is a charming place. It is of great
+size, but made cheerful and attractive by pictures, flowers, and bright
+and tasteful decorations that are restful to the eyes. Both Mr. and Mrs.
+Pennefather made it a principle of action to have the home life
+cheerful, pleasant, and attractive, so that when the sisters come in
+toward evening, tired physically, and mentally depressed and exhausted
+by the long strain of hearing tales of misery, and seeing sights of
+wretchedness and squalor the day through, they could be cheered not only
+by the words of sympathy and love of their associates, but by the
+silent, restful influences of their surroundings.
+
+As I looked around the great room with deep-set windows, brightened by
+flowers, and still more by the happy faces of the deaconesses, some of
+whom were young girls with the charms of happy girlhood set off by the
+plain, black dress and wide white collar of the deaconess garb, I could
+but think the founders wise in arranging such pleasant, home-like
+surroundings for their workers.
+
+From the windows you look down into a beautiful garden, a rare luxury
+for a London dwelling. This garden was among the later accessions of Mr.
+Pennefather, being purchased by him shortly before his death. A train of
+circumstances led to its possession which he regarded as markedly
+providential; and the delightful uses to which "that blessed garden," as
+it has been called, has since been put, seem to justify the importance
+he attached to securing it. During the conference times great tents are
+reared here for the refreshments which the weary body needs. A fine old
+mulberry tree extends its branches, and under its ample shade meetings
+of one kind or another are held at all hours of the day. The lawn, with
+its quiet, shady walks, furnished with comfortable garden seats,
+provides a meeting place for friends, where, in the intervals between
+the services, those who perhaps never see each other during any of the
+other fifty-one weeks of the year may walk or sit together. "Here in
+more ordinary times may be seen the children of the Orphanage (where
+thirty-six girls form a happy, busy family) playing together, or the
+deaconesses in their becoming little white caps, who have run out for a
+breath of air. Here, too, during the summer, a succession of tea-parties
+is held for the different classes which have been reached by the
+deaconesses in the more densely populated parts of London, to whom the
+garden is a very paradise."[71]
+
+Before leaving the Central Deaconess Home I must speak of one branch of
+work--the artistic illustration of Scripture texts--because it so
+illustrates the happy freedom and wisdom of the Mildmay methods, which
+seek to develop the strength of each sister in the line of her special
+aptitudes. Two of the deaconesses have marked ability as artists, and
+they devote their time to illuminating texts and adorning Christmas and
+Easter cards with rare and exquisite designs. From the sale of these
+illuminations over five thousand dollars were realized last year for the
+benefit of the institution.
+
+The Conference Hall, too, should have a further word of recommendation
+for the truly catholic spirit in which it serves the interests of a
+myriad of good causes. Besides the crowded meetings of the conference
+there are held Sunday services throughout the year. The hospitality of
+its rooms is readily granted to every good cause with which the mission
+has sympathy. During 1887 "temperance society meetings, railway men and
+their wives, Moravian missions, Pastor Bost's mission at La Force, the
+MacAll Paris missions, the Sunday closing movement, young men's and
+young women's Christian associations, a Christian police association,
+the Children's Special Service mission, the Christmas Letter mission,
+Bible readings for German residents, and various other foreign and home
+missions have all in turn been advocated here."[72]
+
+The larger number of the deaconesses at the central house, as well as
+the twenty-five at the branch house in South London, are employed in
+twenty-one London parishes, where their work has been sought by the
+clergymen; they go to all, undertaking every kind of labor that can
+give them access to the hearts and homes of the people. While
+co-operating with the clergyman in charge of a parish their work is
+superintended from the Deaconess Home. They visit from house to house
+among the sick and poor, hold mothers' meetings, teach night-schools,
+hold Bible-classes separately for men, women, and children; hold special
+classes for working women and girls who are kept busily employed during
+the day, and during the winter months have a weekly average of more than
+nine thousand attendants on their services. They are solving the problem
+of "how to save the masses" by resolving the masses into individuals,
+and then influencing these individuals by the power of personal effort
+and love.
+
+But a few steps from Conference Hall is the Nursing Home, where about
+one hundred "nurse sisters," nurses, and probationers make their home in
+the intervals between their duties, and are presided over by a lady
+superintendent of their own. Adjoining is the Cottage Hospital, a
+beautiful building, the gift of a lady in memory of her son. The walls
+have been painted and decorated throughout by some ladies who delight in
+using their skill to make beautiful the homes of the sick.
+
+A large hospital and medical mission also exist in Bethnal Green, a
+densely populated part of London that in some portions can vie with the
+worst slums of the city. It was so necessary to provide better
+accommodations for nursing the sufferers than could be found in their
+poor homes that a warehouse was fitted up with beds and transformed into
+a small hospital. In 1887 four hundred and thirteen patients were
+received at the hospital, and in the dispensary for outside patients
+sixteen thousand four hundred and eighteen visits were paid during the
+year, nearly two thirds of which number were to patients in their own
+houses. There is no place in which a hospital could be more sorely
+needed than in this destitute part of London, and perhaps no place where
+it could be more appreciated. "I had no idea," said a man of the better
+class who was brought in, "of there being such a place as this; you give
+as much attention to the poorest man you get out of the street as could
+be given to a prince."[73]
+
+Every Christmas some kind of an entertainment is arranged for the
+hospital patients, and, through the gift of friends, articles of warm
+clothing are distributed to protect against the winter's cold.
+
+A variety of mission work is carried on in connection with Bethnal
+Green. There is a Men's Institute, open every evening except Sunday and
+Monday, in connection with which is a savings' bank that is well
+patronized. There is a Lads' Institute, where the deaconesses have
+classes and meet the boys in a friendly way; a men's lodging-house,
+where a comfortable bed and shelter can be had for eight cents a night.
+The latter is an enterprise which could be imitated with profit in all
+our large American cities, where it is very difficult for the homeless
+and poverty-stricken to obtain a decent lodging, or to find any place,
+in fact, where liquor is not sold. There are also evangelistic services
+in the mission here, Sunday-schools, Bible-classes, temperance meetings,
+a soup kitchen, and a coffee bar, where, during Christmas week, between
+four and five hundred men and boys were given light refreshments, and at
+the same time some idea of the kindliness and good-will that are
+associated with this happy season of the year.
+
+There are also two convalescent homes, one at Barnet and one at
+Brighton. The home at Brighton is especially designed for the poor
+patients of the East End mission. The report for the year ending
+December 31, 1887, says that five hundred and fifty men, women, and
+children enjoyed its benefits for a fortnight or longer.[74]
+
+Mildmay nurse deaconesses have also charge of the Doncaster General
+Infirmary, the Nurses' Institute at Malta, and the Medical Mission
+Hospital at Jaffa, where two hundred and nineteen patients were received
+the last year, of whom one hundred and seventy-five were Moslems.
+
+There also exists under the supervision of Mildmay workers a railway
+mission that was begun in 1880 for men on duty at two of the London
+stations. An organized mission has sprung up from this small beginning
+that has now extended over three great lines of railroads which employ
+thousands of men.
+
+The long list of labors given do not exhaust the efforts of Mildmay
+workers, for, besides special teas for policemen and postmen, and the
+mission room and day-school at Ball's Pond, there is also an educational
+branch that is meeting the demand for higher educational advantages for
+women, under distinctly religious influences, by the Clapton House
+School.
+
+The questions involuntarily present themselves, when reading the
+undertakings just enumerated, that involve not only faithfulness and
+devotion in service, but disciplined, practiced faculties, "What class
+of women are these by whom so much has been accomplished? And what is
+the training that has made them so effective?" It is difficult to
+answer the first question. The deaconesses are of all classes, many of
+them being ladies who devote their time, talent, and means to forward
+the cause. There are a good many daughters of clergymen, who are
+carrying out the associations of their life at home. Just how many are
+self-supporting and just how many are maintained by the Institution are
+facts that are never known; as Mrs. Pennefather says in a letter of
+February 11, 1889, "There are certain points we deal with as strictly
+private. While every probationer pays four guineas for her first month,
+the after monetary arrangements are never known except to myself and the
+resident lady superintendent."
+
+
+ NOTE.--There is a further department at Mildmay that has never been
+ named, but is certainly an important and busy one; it might be
+ called the "Department of Inquiry," for certainly the personal
+ visits and letters received, inquiring into the details of the
+ institution, must be very large. My obligations to Mrs. Pennefather
+ are great, who, both by letter and printed matter, has placed a
+ great number of facts at my disposal, of which I have availed myself
+ freely in writing this sketch. Mrs. Pennefather's words, "we are
+ glad when we can help any Christian work with the experience God has
+ permitted us to gather," echo the words of the great apostle, "Let
+ him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in
+ all good things." I remember, too, the gracious patience with which,
+ during one of the crowded days of the last conference, Miss
+ Coventry, the superintendent, spent a long hour with us, answering
+ fully and minutely the many questions which we put when trying to
+ supplement our want of knowledge by her long experience. Indeed, the
+ spirit of Mildmay impressed me as generous and helpful; as has been
+ said, "Over the whole house rules the spirit of love, devotion, and
+ prayer."*
+
+ * "Deaconess Work in England," _The Churchman_, May 12, 1888.
+
+
+The second question is more easy of response. There is a probation
+house, where ladies that present themselves as candidates are received
+for a month, and are given work in teaching orphan children, or go out
+to the city missions and the night-schools under the care of a
+deaconess. If the probation has proved satisfactory the candidate enters
+the training-school called "the Willows," a mile or two from the Central
+House, a pleasant home which about three years ago came into the
+possession of the institution and the inmates of the school, formerly
+accommodated in five small houses, are now gathered, at slightly greater
+expense, under one roof in the larger, pleasanter home. The following
+extracts, taken from a little circular called "A Missionary
+Training-school," will give us a good idea of the life of the embryo
+deaconesses, and the instruction, practical and theoretical, that they
+receive. "The house, which lies a little back from the road, is entered
+through a conservatory passage, and on the other side of the spacious
+hall, with its illuminated motto, 'Peace be to this house,' above the
+fireplace, are the lady superintendent's sitting-room and the large
+dining-room, where, on the day when I visited 'the Willows,' about
+thirty of us sat down to dinner. Several others were absent in
+connection with their medical studies. Both these rooms open on a
+terrace, and beyond stretches a garden which, even in lifeless
+winter-time, looked inviting, and, in its spring beauty and summer
+loveliness, must be in itself a training for the young natures which are
+learning in the slums of Bethnal Green and Hoxton their hard
+acquaintance with sin and sorrow. Perhaps in these days of strain and
+toil too little has been thought of the need of young hearts for some
+gentle relief from the first shock of meeting with the evil with which
+older workers have a mournful familiarity."
+
+The inmates of the Training-school are not deaconesses alone. The school
+was started to prepare workers for the foreign field, but the crying
+need of the vast metropolis turned attention to the home field. The
+Church of England Zenana Society sends its candidates to Mrs.
+Pennefather for training, and she is glad to accept them, believing that
+a variety of companionship is needed by those who, in zeal for their
+personal work, might lose the broad sympathy for all kinds of Christian
+labor, which is an invaluable cultivation for wise and useful laborers.
+
+The several classes who pass through the course of training may be
+designated as follows:
+
+a.) Those who pass on to the deaconess house.
+
+b.) Candidates for (1) the Church of England Zenana Society; (2) the
+Church Missionary Society.
+
+c.) Those who receive medical training for working among the women and
+children of India.
+
+d.) Those who are as yet unconnected with any society.
+
+e.) When vacancies occur some few are received who merely return to home
+or parish work, but who are greatly benefitted by training and
+experience.
+
+"The general routine of life seems to be as follows: Prayers at eight
+o'clock, then breakfast, followed by a certain amount of domestic duty
+which falls to the lot of each. For it is not forgotten that these years
+of training are not for the sake of home life, but as preparation for
+the self-denials of missionary life. Speaking broadly, the mornings seem
+to be chiefly devoted to classes; afternoons to out of door and district
+work; and thus theory and practice pleasantly relieve and support each
+other."
+
+There are regular Bible-classes held by different clergymen, and once a
+fortnight there are lectures on the history of missionary work. There
+are classes in Hindustani, drawing, and singing, and for those whose
+education is defective, elementary classes in arithmetic, geometry, and
+short-hand. The probationers are also given training in the duties of
+the store-room, and the order and method that they are taught in caring
+for the minutest details must certainly form valuable habits in all
+those who have any desire to profit by the instruction they receive.
+
+For those who are destined for medical work among the women of India
+there is a special course of medical training, both theoretical and
+practical.
+
+The age requirement is not so strictly maintained at Mildmay as at many
+other deaconess houses, but, as a rule, ladies from about twenty to
+thirty years of age are preferred as students in the training-school.
+The sum of three hundred dollars is charged for the year's expenses at
+the training-school, medical students paying one hundred dollars
+additional.
+
+Our study of the Mildmay Institutions has been somewhat extensive. As
+was said at the beginning of the chapter, the great freedom and
+simplicity of the Mildmay methods, as well as the happy faculty that its
+directors possess of utilizing all varieties of individual talent, make
+this deaconess establishment one that is full of valuable suggestions to
+the similar institutions that are now arising in American Methodism. No
+working force is wasted; if a deaconess possess a special talent, she is
+given a field in which to exercise it; and if exceptional conditions
+arise workers are found ready to meet them. This training provides
+well-equipped missionaries for the foreign field, and equally
+well-prepared missionaries for the great field of the present hour--the
+home mission work in the crowded wards of great cities.
+
+The annual expenses of the Mildmay Institutions vary from one hundred
+and ten thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Sixty
+thousand dollars are received in voluntary contributions, and the
+remaining sum is generally obtained from friends who are immediately
+concerned in the work.
+
+It is certainly a marvelous tribute to Christian faith, although it is
+never heralded as such, that an establishment of the extent and
+magnitude of Mildmay has been maintained for years with no permanent
+endowment to fall back upon, and that annually the renewed self-denial
+of constant friends has to supply the large amount of money needed to
+meet the entire expenses. Besides those outward and visible services
+which it renders "for the love of Christ, and in his name" Mildmay
+furnishes a constant testimony to the fidelity of the Christian faith in
+the hearts of many believers.
+
+
+ [65] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 279.
+ [66] _Ibid._, p. 305.
+ [67] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 435.
+ [68] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 471.
+ [69] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 471.
+ [70] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 7.
+ [71] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 6.
+ [72] _A Retrospect of Mildmay Work During the Year 1887._
+ [73] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 13.
+ [74] _A Light in a Dark Place_, p. 21.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.
+
+
+When Fliedner went on his second tour to England he extended his journey
+to Scotland, and ventured to Edinburgh at a time when the cholera was
+sweeping with fearful ravages through the city in order to become
+acquainted with Dr. Chalmers. The great Scotch divine and his good
+deeds, that were connected with all kinds of charitable endeavor, moved
+the German pastor to admiration and stirred him to holy emulation. On
+the other hand, that Chalmers was profoundly touched by the work that
+Fliedner had accomplished in Germany there can be no doubt; we have his
+own words to testify to the importance he attached to the diaconate of
+women. In his lectures on Romans, he says: "Here, too, we are presented
+with a most useful indication, the employment of female agency, under
+the eye and with the sanction of an apostle, in the business of the
+Church. It is well to have inspired authority for a practice too little
+known, and too little preached on in modern times. Phebe belonged to
+the order of deaconesses, in which capacity she had been the helper of
+many, including Paul himself. In what respect she served them is not
+particularly specified. Like the women in the gospels who waited on our
+Saviour, she may have ministered to them of her substance, though there
+can be little doubt that, as the holder of an official station in the
+Church, she ministered to them by her services also." It is but
+recently, however, that deaconesses have become incorporated into the
+religious life of Scotland, and, so far, they do not exist in connection
+with the Free Church, of which Chalmers was the able and heroic leader,
+but only in connection with the national Church--the old historic Church
+of Scotland. Within this Church the question has assumed the form, not
+alone of the revival of the apostolic order of deaconesses, but also of
+the organization of all the manifold activities of women within the
+Church into one whole, which is put under the authority and direction of
+the officers of the Church.
+
+Isolated attempts in this direction had previously been made, but in
+1885 the first definite steps were taken when the Committee on Christian
+Life and Work, of which Dr. Charteris was the Convener, presented to the
+General Assembly a report on "The need of an organization of women's
+work in the Church," part of which is as follows: "The organization of
+women's work in the Church has become a subject of pressing interest.
+The Assembly has already sanctioned and regulated the organization of
+women's work in collecting for foreign missions, and in sending out and
+superintending missionaries. The great and growing strength of the
+movement thus recognized is one of the most gratifying things in our
+mission; ... but of still older date, and not less powerful, is the part
+taken by women in the home work of the parish church. Lady visitors are
+carrying messages of divine truth and of human sympathy into the
+dwellings of the poor both in town and country. Many have been trained
+as nurses that they may be skilled ministrants to the suffering and
+sick; and there can be little doubt that the greater part of the actual
+personal help which ministers receive in parishes is from the women of
+the congregations. But those who have done most of the good work are
+most instant in asking from the Church some means of doing still more.
+From ministers and from their female helpers have come many requests to
+the committee for some provision for training; some recognition and
+organization of those who are trained.... In the Church of England are
+many homes for nurses and deaconesses; training institutions for female
+mission work of every kind; and the rapidity with which they are
+multiplying proves of itself how much they are needed; also
+non-conformist institutions of the kind, and some separate from all
+Churches. Your committee believe that the time has fully come for our
+Church's taking steps to supply her own wants in this important
+department of mission work."[75]
+
+The General Assembly then directed the committee to inquire into the
+subject of women's work in the Church, and to bring up a definite report
+to the next assembly. The committee accepted the task, sent out requests
+to every parish for suggestions as to the forms of Christian work to be
+carried on by women, and the best means of making preparation for their
+special training, and prepared themselves by personal inspection of the
+leading institutions for training women workers in England to be able to
+answer intelligently the same questions. A scheme was reported in 1886
+which should incorporate all existing parish organizations, such as
+Sabbath-school teachers' and women's societies of all kinds, and should
+aim at increasing their number and working power. In 1887 regulations
+were perfected for working this scheme, and the approval of this by the
+Assembly of 1887 made the new plan a part of the organized work of the
+Church.
+
+The comprehensive character of the new departure in the Church of
+Scotland is plainly seen from a view of the organization as it now
+exists. The three grades into which the Christian women workers are
+divided embrace every kind of work done in connection with the Church.
+The first grade is general in its character, and forms an association
+called the Women's Guild. In each parish the members of Bible-classes,
+of Young Women's Congregational Associations, of mission working
+parties, of Dorcas societies, as well as tract distributers,
+Sabbath-school teachers, members of the Church choir, and any who are
+engaged in the service of Christ in the Church are all to be accepted as
+members of the guild. The next higher grade is the Women Workers' Guild,
+for which a certain age is required, and an experience of at least three
+years, with the approval of the kirk session which enrolls them. In
+connection with this guild are associates, who have a similar relation
+to the members of the Women Workers' Guild that the associates have to
+deaconesses in the English deaconess houses. They are not pledged to
+regular or constant service, but engage to do some work or contribute
+some money every year. They can go to the deaconess house, put on the
+garb of the deaconess while there, and as long as they remain can assume
+the responsibilities and enjoy the privileges belonging to deaconesses.
+The third higher grade is that of the deaconesses. Any one desiring to
+become a deaconess "must purpose to devote herself, so long as she shall
+occupy the position of a deaconess, especially to Christian work in
+connection with the Church, as the chief object of her life."[76]
+Provision was also made for a training-school and home where deaconesses
+could be prepared for their duties.
+
+There are a great many ladies who for a long time have been engaged in
+doing the practical work of a deaconess without being clothed in the
+garb, or invested with the office. The Church of Scotland recognized
+these workers by providing two classes of deaconesses, who should be
+equal in position, but have different spheres of activity. Those who for
+seven years had been known as active workers, and who have given their
+lives largely to Christian service, are accepted as deaconesses of the
+first class, and are free to work wherever they find themselves most
+useful within the limits of the Church. The second class embraces those
+who shall have received training in the deaconess institution, or have
+been in connection with it for at least two years.
+
+When the measure was finally passed by the General Assembly there was no
+delay in carrying into execution the details indicated by the plan of
+work. The Deaconess Institution and Training Home was at once started.
+It was located at Edinburgh, as the most central and convenient place
+for the institution, and as furnishing the most available advantages for
+the instruction and training of the deaconesses. From here as a center
+the work is expected to penetrate into every part of Scotland by means
+of the trained workers whose services will be available for all parts of
+the country when desired by the ministers and kirk sessions. With true
+Scotch prudence and wisdom it was arranged that the lady who was chosen
+to be the superintendent should fit herself thoroughly for the duties of
+her responsible place by becoming familiar with the workings of similar
+institutions in England. She was accordingly given six months' leave of
+absence, which she spent among the great London Homes, and only assumed
+the duties of her position May 1, 1888. Meanwhile the Home had opened
+under the temporary care of a lady who had been a worker in Mrs.
+Meredith's Prison Mission, and for six years a Mildmay deaconess. It had
+from the beginning the warm co-operation of sympathizing, influential
+friends. Regular courses of lectures were arranged on subjects connected
+with Christian work, and as similar courses will be demanded of like
+institutions in America it may be interesting to give the syllabus in
+full:
+
+
+ SYLLABUS OF LECTURES.
+ (On Tuesdays at 12.)
+
+ 1. B.--Professor Charteris. Four Lectures.
+ "How to Begin a Mission."
+
+ Nov. 29.--1. Whom to visit, and why. The ills we know of, bodily,
+ spiritual, social; and seek to lessen.
+ Dec. 6.--2. How to induce the people who belong to no church--perhaps
+ care for none--to come in.
+ Dec. 13.--3. What to do with the children; (a) to attract, (b) to
+ influence them.
+ Dec. 20.--4. What agencies besides Sunday services prove best.
+
+ 2. C.--Dr. P. A. Young. Six Lectures.
+ "Medical Hygiene for the Use of Visitors."
+
+ Jan. 3.--1. Object and scope of the course of lectures; short sketch
+ of the structure and functions of the human body, including a
+ brief description of the functions of digestion, absorption,
+ circulation, respiration, excretion, secretion, and enervation.
+ Jan. 10.--2. Fractures, how to recognize and treat them temporarily;
+ bleeding, and how to treat it; the use of the triangular bandage.
+ Jan. 17.--3. Treatment of fainting, choking, burns and scalds, bites
+ from animals, bruises and tears from machinery, convulsions,
+ sunstroke, persons found insensible, suspected poisoning and
+ frostbite; how to lift and carry an injured person.
+ Jan. 24.--4. Sick-room, its selection, preparation, cleaning, warming,
+ ventilation, and furnishing, bed and bedding, infection and
+ disinfection.
+ Jan. 31.--5. Washing and dressing patients, bed-making, changing
+ sheets, lifting helpless patients, food administration, medicines
+ and stimulants, what to observe regarding a sick person.
+ Feb. 7.--6. Taking temperature, baths, bedsores, nursing sick
+ children, application of local remedies, poultices, fomentations,
+ blisters, etc.; management of convalescents.
+
+ 3. D.--Rev. George Wilson. Four Lectures.
+ "Difficulties Encountered by District Visitors."
+
+ Feb. 14.--1. Difficulties proceeding from indifference.
+ Feb. 21.--2. Difficulties proceeding from ignorance.
+ Feb. 28.--3. Difficulties proceeding from adversity.
+ Mar. 6.--4. Difficulties proceeding from anxiety.
+ Note.--Questions invited from the ladies.
+
+ 4. E.--Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod. Four Lectures.
+ "Some Qualifications of a Church Worker, especially among the Poor."
+
+ March 13.--1. Motives and aims.
+ March 20.--2. Difficulties and hindrances, how to overcome them.
+ March 27.--3. Conditions of success.
+ April 3.--4. Helps, agencies, etc.
+
+ 5. F.--Rev. John McMurtrie. Two Lectures.
+ "History and Methods of Missions to the Heathen."
+
+ April 10.--1. History of missions.
+ April 17.--2. Methods of missions.
+
+
+Another wise provision in this Scotch home is the arrangement by which
+those who do not wish to become deaconesses, but who want to become
+competent Christian workers in their own homes, can come here and spend
+some months in receiving training and instruction in various methods of
+Christian work. There is no department in life in which many blunders
+and much loss of time and usefulness cannot be prevented by making use
+of the experience of others who have previously overcome the
+difficulties to be encountered. In other words, we need to obtain all
+the preparation and discipline we can possibly have in order to do our
+work well; and especially is this true of Christian work, which demands
+the highest service that the heart and soul of humanity can give. Many
+individuals will come to the home to be trained and fitted to work in
+their own homes, and will start new lines of Christian activity that
+will win the sympathies and efforts of many who are eager to be employed
+in good works, if only they can have competent direction.
+
+A pamphlet entitled _The Deaconess Institution and Training Home_ says:
+"Are there not many parts all over Scotland--mines, quarries,
+etc.--where the population is poor and hard-working? Would it not in
+such places be an advantage both to minister and people to have a
+Christian lady, trained, experienced, and devoted, to live and work
+among them? Or, which would be possible in every parish, would it not be
+a great advantage that in case of need--in a mining accident, an
+outbreak of sickness--a trained Christian nurse should be available
+during the emergency?"
+
+The General Assembly provided that deaconesses should be solemnly
+inducted into their office at a religious service in church. It also
+provided "that along with the application for the admission of any
+person to the office of a deaconess there shall be submitted a
+certificate from a committee of the General Assembly intrusted with that
+duty stating that the candidate is qualified in respect of education,
+and that she has had seven years' experience in Christian work, or two
+years' training in the Deaconess Institution and Training Home." Also,
+"Before granting the application, the kirk session shall intimate to the
+presbytery their intention of doing so, unless objection be offered by
+the presbytery at its first meeting thereafter." On Sunday, December 9,
+1888, the first deaconess was set apart to her duties. The kirk session
+was already in possession of the necessary certificates testifying to
+her "character, education, experience, devotedness, and power to serve
+and co-operate with others." Due intimation had been made to the
+presbytery. The questions were put that were appointed by the General
+Assembly:
+
+"Do you desire to be set apart as a deaconess, and as such to serve the
+Lord Jesus Christ in the Church, which is his body?
+
+"Do you promise, as a deaconess of the Church of Scotland, to work in
+connection with that Church, subject to its courts, and in particular to
+the kirk session of the parish in which you work?
+
+"Do you humbly engage, in the strength and grace of the Lord Jesus
+Christ, our Lord and Master, faithfully and prayerfully to discharge the
+duties of this office?"
+
+The lady who, by answering the above questions, received the sanction of
+the Church as one of its appointed officers was Lady Grisell Baillie, of
+Dryburgh Abbey. She writes to the author of this book: "I count it a
+great honor to be permitted to serve in the Church of my fathers, and I
+pray that I may be enabled faithfully and prayerfully to fulfill the
+duties to which I am called, and that it maybe for the glory of our God
+and Saviour that I am permitted to work in his vineyard."
+
+Miss Davidson, who was temporary superintendent of the home, but who is
+now engaged in organizing branches of the Women's Guild throughout
+Scotland, and Miss Alice Maud Maxwell, the present superintendent of the
+home, have also been set apart to the same office. As has been said,
+"Each represents an old Scottish family, whose members have been
+distinguished for Christian and philanthropic labors;" and "each
+represents a different type of deaconess work." Lady Grisell Baillie is
+engaged in gentle ministrations among the people of her own home. Miss
+Davidson is at the service of every minister who desires aid in
+organizing women's work in his parish. And Miss Maxwell is at the
+training-home, leading a busy life in directing the class labors and
+missionary activities that center around it and in impressing her life
+and spirit upon a band of workers who are to further Christ's cause both
+at home and in the mission field.
+
+The mention of any facts that can bring before us the varied character
+that the deaconess work can assume is valuable. For to be truly useful,
+this cause needs to provide a place for women of very unlike qualities,
+and also to allow a certain degree of freedom which will insure the
+individuality of each worker.
+
+The action of the Church of Scotland has had its influence upon the
+Reformed Churches throughout the world holding the presbyterial system.
+At the session of the London Council of the Alliance of Reformed and
+Presbyterian Churches during the summer of 1888, Dr. Charteris presented
+a report embracing many of the features of the elaborate scheme which
+he had previously devised for the Church of Scotland. And the Council,
+in receiving the report, not only approved it, but "commended the
+details of the scheme stated in the report to the consideration of the
+churches represented in the Alliance." We may regard the Presbyterian
+churches of Great Britain, therefore, as committed, not only to the
+indorsement of deaconesses as officers in the service of the Church, but
+to the organization of the whole work of women in the churches, under
+ecclesiastical authority and direction.
+
+There is one feature of the deaconess cause as it has been developed in
+the Church of Scotland that is of especial interest to the Methodists of
+America. Most of the great deaconess houses of England have sprung from
+the personal faith and works of earnest-souled individuals. Mildmay, for
+example, is a living testimony to the faithfulness and energy of the
+Rev. Mr. Pennefather and those associated with him. Within the Church of
+England the recognition accorded deaconesses is a partial one, resting
+on the principles and rules signed by the archbishops and eighteen
+bishops, and suggested for adoption in 1871. But as yet the English
+Church has not formally accepted this utterance, and made it
+authoritative. The German deaconess houses, while receiving the
+practical indorsement of the State Church of Germany, are not in any
+way officially connected with it. Even Kaiserswerth itself is solely
+responsible to those who contribute to its support for a right use of
+the means placed at its command. The same fact applies to the Paris
+deaconess houses. They are all detached efforts, not parts of a general
+system. But the Scotch deaconesses are responsible to a church, and a
+church is responsible for their work. The Church of Scotland is,
+therefore, justified in its claim when it says that the adoption of the
+scheme of the organization of women's work by the assembly of 1888, "is
+the first attempt since the Reformation to make the organization of
+women's work a branch of the general organization of the Church, under
+the control of her several judicatories."[77] The second attempt was
+made, which was the first also for any Church in America, when, May 18,
+1888, the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States instituted the
+office of deaconess, and made it an inherent part of the Church economy,
+under the direction and control of the Annual Conferences.
+
+
+ [75] _Organization of Women's Work in the Church of Scotland._
+ Notes by A. H. Charteris, D.D.; p. 4.
+ [76] _Report of Committee on Christian Life and Work_, 1888, p. 36.
+ [77] Nearly all of the facts, both printed and personal, concerning
+ the deaconess cause in Scotland have been furnished the writer
+ through the kindness of Lady Grisell Baillie, Dryburgh Abbey,
+ Scotland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.
+
+
+It was no part of the plan of this book, when first projected, to treat
+of the deaconess cause as it is developing within the United States of
+America, but gradually, through the kindness of many friends belonging
+to different denominations, a number of facts have been obtained which
+bear directly upon the question of how the example of European deaconess
+houses has influenced and is influencing the Protestant Churches of
+America; and it seems unwise to omit them from the consideration of the
+subject.
+
+Naturally the German Lutherans, who were well acquainted with the
+deaconess work in their native land, were the first to try to introduce
+it among their churches. In the yearly report sent out from
+Kaiserswerth, January 1, 1847, Fliedner mentions that an urgent appeal
+had been made to him to send deaconesses to an important city in the
+United States, there to have the oversight of a hospital, and to found a
+mother-house for the training of deaconesses. In the report for the
+following year Fliedner again refers to the call from America, and
+states his intention to extend his travels to the New World, and to take
+with him sisters who shall aid in founding a mother-house. In the summer
+of 1849 he was enabled to carry out his intention, and July 14, 1849,
+accompanied by four deaconesses, he reached Pittsburg, Pa., where Rev.
+Dr. W. A. Passavant, who had written so many urgent appeals for his aid,
+was awaiting him. The building had already been secured for a hospital
+and deaconess home, and, July 17, was solemnly dedicated at a service
+where Fliedner delivered the principal address, and a large audience
+testified to their interest.
+
+Before his return to Europe Fliedner visited the New York Synod, and, in
+an English discourse, described the character and aims of Kaiserswerth,
+and commended the newly founded institution at Pittsburg to the sympathy
+and aid of the German Lutheran Church in America. No further results
+were reached, as the synod contented itself with resolving that "this
+Ministerium awaits with deep interest the result of the work made in
+behalf of the institution of Protestant deaconesses at Pittsburg."[78]
+
+The institution is occasionally heard of afterward in the proceedings
+of the Pittsburg Synod, and in the paper, _The Missionary_, published
+under the auspices of the same Church. Urgent appeals were also sent out
+for devoted Christian women to come to the aid of the sisters and to
+join their numbers; but although the hospital, commended by their
+skillful and able ministrations as nurses, had the full approval of the
+public, there were few, if any, who came to join them, and they were
+unduly burdened by a task too great for their small number.
+
+In 1854 Dr. Passavant resigned his pastoral charge, and devoted his
+entire time to the furtherance of the cause, but, up to the present, it
+has not attained the complete organization and wide extension that its
+friends in the German Lutheran Church have desired.
+
+The institutions which owe their existence to Dr. Passavant's efforts
+are the infirmary at Pittsburg; the hospital and deaconess home in
+Milwaukee; the hospital in Jacksonville, Ill.; the orphanages for girls
+in Rochester and Mount Vernon, N. Y., and one for boys in Pennsylvania.
+
+There is, at the present time, only one of the original Kaiserswerth
+sisters left, and that is Sister Elizabeth, the head deaconess at
+Rochester. Dr. Passavant still continues to labor at forming a complete
+organization on the basis of the Kaiserswerth system, and, to quote the
+words of Dr. A. Spaeth, "As he succeeded forty years ago in bringing the
+first sisters over from Kaiserswerth to Pittsburg, I have no doubt that
+now, when the Church is at last awakening to the importance of this
+work, he will succeed in the completion of his undertaking."
+
+A more recent development of the deaconess work in the German Lutheran
+Church has arisen in connection with the German hospital in
+Philadelphia. The hospital was well equipped for its work, but there was
+much dissatisfaction with the nursing, which was inefficient and
+unskillful. In the fall of 1882 the hospital authorities turned for
+advice and co-operation to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and other
+clergymen of the denomination in Philadelphia. It was determined to
+secure German deaconesses as nurses. Several attempts were made to
+induce Kaiserswerth, or some other large mother-house in Germany, to
+give up a few sisters to the hospital, but on all sides the applications
+were refused. The deaconesses were too greatly needed in the Old World
+to be spared for work in the New. At length, through the unremitting
+efforts of Consul Meyer, and of John D. Lankenau, president of the board
+of managers, a small independent community of sisters under the
+direction of Marie Krueger, who had herself been trained in
+Kaiserswerth, acceded to the proposal, and the head-deaconess, with six
+sisters, arrived in Philadelphia June 19, 1884. They left the field of
+their self-denying work in the hospital and poor-house at Iserlohn, in
+Westphalia, sadly to the regret of the authorities and citizens of the
+place, but to the hospital at Philadelphia they gave invaluable aid.
+From the first their good services met with appreciation. The efficiency
+of the hospital service was greatly increased; and from physicians and
+hospital authorities there was only one testimony, and that a most
+favorable one, to the value of deaconesses as trained nurses. Mr.
+Lankenau, who has ever been the wise and munificent patron of the
+institution, determined to insure a succession of these admirable nurses
+for the service of the hospital, and, at an expense of over five hundred
+thousand dollars, he built an edifice of palace-like proportions, and
+made over this munificent gift to the hospital corporation. It was
+accepted by them January 10, 1887. The western wing of the building is
+used as a home for aged men and women; the eastern wing is a residence
+and training-school for the deaconesses, the chapel uniting the two, and
+the whole being known as the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia
+Mother-house of Deaconesses.
+
+A visit to the Home convinced me that the regulations of the house, the
+work of the sisters, and the devotion to duty that characterize the
+mother-houses in Germany rule also in this home in the New World. The
+imposing entrance hall with the great stair-way, the floor and stairs of
+white marble, the wide halls and spacious reception-rooms and offices
+seemed at first almost incongruous surroundings for the modest active
+deaconesses, some of whom were busy in the hospital wards, others
+hanging clothes on the line, and others occupied in duties within the
+building. But place and environments are only incidental matters; the
+spirit within is the determining quality; and a conversation with the
+_Oberin_ (head deaconess) and the rector left me with the persuasion
+that the spirit of earnest devotion to God and humanity is the
+main-spring of duty in this house.
+
+The arrangement of the rooms for the sisters is similar to that at
+Kaiserswerth; each consecrated sister has a small apartment simply
+furnished for her own use. The older probationers are divided two and
+three in a room. Those who have recently entered are placed in two large
+rooms, but here every one has her own four walls--even if they are only
+made by linen curtains. When Elizabeth Fry first visited Kaiserswerth,
+among the arrangements that she at once recognized and commended was
+that by which each deaconess was given the privacy of her own apartment.
+In the deaconess houses that are so rapidly springing up in different
+parts of the United States this provision ought to be guarded with care,
+for a life that is so constantly drawn out in ministrations to others
+should have some moments of absolute privacy upon which no one can
+intrude.
+
+There are at present thirty-two deaconesses at the Philadelphia
+Mother-house, twenty of whom are probationers. The house was admitted to
+the Kaiserswerth Association, and will henceforth be represented at the
+Conferences. The direction is vested in a rector and head deaconess,
+neither of whom can be removed except on just cause of complaint. The
+distinctive dress is black, with blue or white aprons, white caps and
+collars. There is one addition to their garb which Fliedner would have
+looked upon with disfavor, and that is a cross--worn by the sisters from
+the time they are fully accepted as deaconesses.
+
+The first consecration took place in the beautiful chapel of the Home,
+January 13, 1889, when three deaconesses were accepted as members of the
+order.
+
+For those who desire to form a good conception of the deaconess
+institutions as they are conducted in Germany, a visit to the
+Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses will be fruitful of valuable
+suggestions.[79]
+
+In July, 1887, a Swedish Lutheran pastor in Omaha sent a probationer to
+Philadelphia to be trained as a sister for a deaconess house to be
+established in that central city of the United States. In 1888 four
+others joined her, and the building of a hospital and deaconess home is
+now progressing by the generous support of all classes of
+philanthropists in Omaha. A deaconess home has also recently been
+founded by Norwegian Lutherans in South Brooklyn, L. I.
+
+In the German Reformed Church a layman endeavored in 1866 to arouse
+interest in the deaconess office. The Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of
+Hagerstown, Md., at Christmas gave five thousand dollars to the
+congregation, and with it sent a proposition to the consistory that
+three ladies of the congregation should be chosen and ordained to the
+order of deaconesses, with absolute control of the income of said fund
+for the purposes and duties as practiced in the early days of the
+Church.[80] This, and the action of the Lebanon Classis in 1867,
+requesting the synod "to take into consideration the propriety of
+restoring the apostolic society of deaconesses," seem to have been the
+only steps taken by those connected with this denomination.
+
+In the Protestant Episcopal Church of America the bishop of Maryland
+first instituted an order of deaconesses in connection with St. Andrew's
+Parish, Baltimore, Md. Two ladies gave themselves to ministering to the
+poor, and, with the sanction and approval of the bishop, a house was
+obtained and given the name of St. Andrew's Infirmary. In 1873 there
+were four resident deaconesses and four associates.[81] An early report
+of the infirmary says: "The deaconesses look to no organization of
+persons to furnish the pecuniary aid required by the demands of their
+position. Their first efforts have been for the destitute and sick. At
+the home they minister daily to the suffering and destitute sick
+wherever found; some requiring only temporary medical aid and nursing;
+others, whom God has chastened with more continuous suffering,
+requiring, in their penury, constant care and continual ministration."
+There is also under their charge a church school for vagrant children,
+and one also for the children of those comfortably situated in life.
+
+The "Forms for Setting Apart Deaconesses," the "Rules for
+Self-Examination," and the "Rules of Discipline" in the order of
+deaconesses in Maryland are largely patterned after the Kaiserswerth
+rules. In truth, the general questions for self-examination in regard to
+external duties, spiritual duties to the sick, the conduct of the
+deaconesses or sisters to those whom they meet, and the means for
+improving in the duties of the office are in many cases selected, and
+but slightly altered, from the series prepared by Pastor Fliedner.[82]
+The influence of the devout German pastor is indelibly stamped upon the
+deaconess cause in whatever denomination it has developed during the
+nineteenth century.
+
+In 1864 the deaconesses of the Diocese of Alabama were organized by
+Bishop Wilmer. Under the supervision of the bishop the three deaconesses
+with whom the order originated were associated in taking charge of an
+orphanage and boarding-school for girls. In 1873 there were five
+deaconesses, one probationer, and two resident associates.[83]
+
+In the Church Home all of the work is done by the inmates. As in the
+foreign Homes, the deaconesses are provided with food and raiment, and
+during sickness or old age they are cared for at the expense of the
+order. They are forbidden to receive fee or compensation for their
+services. Any remuneration that is made is paid to the order. In one
+feature, however, the deaconesses of Alabama differ from either their
+German or English sisters, and that is in the care of their individual
+means. The "Constitution and Rules" says: "The private funds of
+deaconesses shall not be expended without the approval of the chief
+deaconess or the bishop."[84] This usage prevails in sisterhoods, but,
+outside of this instance, so far as the author has been able to learn is
+not known in deaconess institutions.
+
+The rules for the associates in connection with the order are given
+somewhat at length, from which the following are taken. After defining
+an associate as a Christian woman desiring to aid the work of the
+deaconesses, and admonishing her that, although not bound by the rules
+of the Community, yet she must be careful to lead such a life as is
+becoming one associated in a work of religion and charity, she is
+requested "to state what kind of work she will undertake, under the
+direction of the chief deaconess, and to report the result to her at
+such intervals as may be agreed upon." The following modes of assistance
+are suggested as most useful; namely, "to provide and make clothing for
+the poor; to collect alms; to procure work, or promote its sale; to
+teach in the school; to assist in music or other classes; to relieve the
+destitute; to minister to the sick; to visit and instruct the ignorant;
+to attend the funeral arrangements for the poor; and to take charge of
+or assist in the decoration of the church."
+
+The feature of the union of the associates with the deaconesses is one
+whose importance can scarcely be exaggerated. There are many who would
+be able to serve for a short time in this relation whose valuable aid
+would be entirely lost if none but deaconesses who give all their time
+and strength could work in the order.
+
+In the Diocese of Long Island Bishop Littlejohn instituted an
+association of deaconesses by publicly admitting six women to the office
+of deaconess in St. Mary's Church, Brooklyn, February 11, 1872. The
+association has not continued in the form in which it originated, but
+has now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist. Still
+this sisterhood retains many of the distinctive deaconess features. A
+sister may, for instance, withdraw from the sisterhood for proper
+cause. She labors without remuneration, and the sisters live together in
+a home, or singly, as they may please, in any place where their work is
+located.
+
+In the Diocese of Western New York there are five deaconesses, with
+their associates and helpers, under the direction of the bishop of the
+diocese.
+
+In America, however, as in England, within the Episcopal Church
+sisterhoods are more influential and more rapid in their growth than are
+deaconess institutions. In a list of the sisterhoods of the Episcopal
+Church in America, given in the monthly magazine devoted to women's work
+in the Church,[85] fourteen sisterhoods are named, one religious order
+of widows, and two orders of deaconesses, one of which is that which is
+now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist.
+
+In 1871 the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church
+discussed at some length the relation of women's work to the Church, and
+there resulted increased interest in the subject of sisterhoods and
+deaconess institutions. An effort has been made to obtain for the order
+of deaconesses a wider recognition than it now enjoys, as it simply has
+the support of the bishop within whose diocese the deaconesses are at
+work. To this end, in the General Convention of 1880, a canon was
+presented to the House of Bishops, and accepted by a large vote. But it
+reached the Lower House too late for consideration, and no further
+action has been taken since that time.
+
+In the Presbyterian Church of America the question of the revival of the
+office of deaconess has already claimed some attention. The late Dr.
+A. T. McGill for many successive years earnestly recommended the revival
+of the office to the members of his classes in the theological seminary
+at Princeton; and his views, matured by years of reflection, were given
+for publication in an article published in the _Presbyterian Review_,
+1880.
+
+In the Minutes of the General Assembly for 1884, page 114, and of 1888,
+page 640, we find an overture asking if the education of deaconesses is
+consistent with Presbyterian polity, and, if so, should they be
+ordained, answered in the negative in the following words: "_The Form of
+Government_ declares that in all cases the persons elected [deacons]
+must be male members. (Chap. 13. 2.) In all ages of the Church godly
+women have been appointed to aid the officers of the Church in their
+labors, especially for the relief of the poor and the infirm. They
+rendered important service in the Apostolic Church, but they do not
+appear to have occupied a separate office, to have been elected by the
+people, to have been ordained or installed. There is nothing in our
+constitution, in the practice of our Church, or in any present
+emergency, to justify the creation of a new office." The next year an
+explanation of this action, which so obviously contradicts the facts of
+history, was asked, but the committee declined to say any thing more.
+
+The Southern Presbyterian Church has proceeded further, and in the
+direction of the female diaconate, as it is characterized in its main
+features wherever it has existed, when it declares in its _Book of
+Church Order_, adopted in 1879, that "where it shall appear needful, the
+church session may select and appoint godly women for the care of the
+sick, of prisoners, of poor widows and orphans, and, in general, in the
+relief of the sick."[86]
+
+In isolated Presbyterian congregations deaconesses have already obtained
+recognition. At the Pan-Presbyterian Council, held in Philadelphia in
+1880, Fritz Fliedner, the son of Dr. Theodor Fliedner, was present as a
+member, and through the influence of his words the Corinthian Avenue
+Presbyterian Church set apart five deaconesses, whose duty it should be
+to care for the poor and sick belonging to the congregation.
+
+"More recently the Third Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, Cal.,
+empowered its three deacons to choose three women from the congregation
+to co-operate with them in their work, granting them seats and votes in
+the board's monthly meeting."[87]
+
+The very interesting article from which the quotation has just been made
+seems to think the term "deaconess" a misnomer for the Kaiserswerth
+deaconess, as she belongs to a community, whereas the deaconess of the
+early Church was attached to a congregation and belonged to a single
+church as an officer; but it may well be questioned whether the class of
+duties assigned to the deaconess of the early Church and of modern times
+alike, that is, the nursing of the sick, the care of the infirm in body
+and mind, the succoring of the unfortunate, and the education of
+children, are not the main characteristics of the office of a deaconess,
+while the fact of her connection with a number of like-minded women in
+community life is merely an external feature of the office as it has
+developed in the nineteenth century. Whatever form the question may
+assume, with the Presbyterian churches of Scotland and England so far
+committed to the adoption of the office of the deaconess as an effective
+part of the organization of the Church, it seems inevitable that the
+Presbyterian Church of America will have to meet this question in the
+near future.
+
+The Methodist Episcopal Church of America, although occupying itself
+with the question of the diaconate of women later than any of the
+denominations previously mentioned, by its acceptance of the office and
+by making it an inherent part of its ecclesiastical organization has
+taken a higher ground than any Protestant body, with the exception of
+the Church of Scotland. The Methodist Episcopal Church has ever offered
+a freer scope for the activities of its women members than any other
+body of Christians save the Quakers, who are still the leaders in this
+respect; but it may be questioned if any furnishes a larger number who
+are actively engaged in promoting philanthropic and religious measures.
+
+The honor of practically beginning the deaconess work in connection with
+the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States belongs to Mrs. Lucy
+Rider Meyer, of the Chicago Training-school, who, during the summer
+months of 1887, aided by eight earnest Christian women, worked among the
+poor, the sick, and the needy of that great city without any reward of
+man's giving. In the autumn the Home opened in a few hired rooms, and
+Miss Thoburn came to be its first superintendent. The story of the
+growth of the work, the securing of a permanent home, and the
+enlargement of its resources is a most interesting one.[88]
+
+The Rock River Conference, within whose boundaries the Chicago Home is
+situated, had from the beginning an earnest sympathy and confidence in
+the work as it was developing in its midst. A memorial was prepared, and
+was presented to the General Conference in May, 1888, by the Rock River
+Conference, through its Conference delegates, asking for Church
+legislation with reference to deaconesses. At the same time the Bengal
+Annual Conference, through Dr. J. M. Thoburn, also presented a memorial
+asking for the institution of an order of deaconesses who should have
+authority to administer the sacrament to the women of India. Our
+missionaries in India have long felt the need of some way of ministering
+to the converted women who are closely secluded in zenana life, and who,
+though sick and dying, are precluded by the customs of the country from
+any religious service of comfort or consolation that male missionaries
+can render. If it had been possible for our women missionaries to
+administer the sacrament many Indian women could have been received into
+the Church. All of the papers and memorials on this subject were put
+into the hands of a committee, of which Dr. J. M. Thoburn (afterward
+made missionary bishop to India and Malaysia) was chairman; and the
+report of the committee was as follows:
+
+
+ "THE NEW OFFICE OF DEACONESSES IN THE
+ METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
+
+ "For some years past our people in Germany have employed this class
+ of workers with the most blessed results, and we rejoice to learn
+ that a successful beginning has recently been made in the same
+ direction in this country. A home for deaconesses has been
+ established in Chicago, and others of a similar character are
+ proposed in other cities. There are also a goodly number of similar
+ workers in various places; women who are deaconesses in all but
+ name, and whose number might be largely increased if a systematic
+ effort were made to accomplish this result. Your committee believes
+ that God is in this movement, and that the Church should recognize
+ the fact and provide some simple plan for formally connecting the
+ work of these excellent women with the Church and directing their
+ labors to the best possible results. They therefore recommend the
+ insertion of the following paragraphs in the Discipline, immediately
+ after ¶ 198, relating to exhorters:
+
+
+ "DEACONESSES.
+
+ "1. The duties of the deaconesses are to minister to the poor, visit
+ the sick, pray with the dying, care for the orphan, seek the
+ wandering, comfort the sorrowing, save the sinning, and,
+ relinquishing wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves in a
+ general way to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to
+ their abilities.
+
+ "2. No vow shall be exacted from any deaconess, and any one of their
+ number shall be at liberty to relinquish her position as a deaconess
+ at any time.
+
+ "3. In every Annual Conference within which deaconesses may be
+ employed, a Conference board of nine members, at least three of whom
+ shall be women, shall be appointed by the Conference to exercise a
+ general control of the interests of this form of work.
+
+ "4. This board shall be empowered to issue certificates to duly
+ qualified persons, authorizing them to perform the duties of
+ deaconesses in connection with the Church, provided that no person
+ shall receive such certificate until she shall have served a
+ probation of two years of continuous service, and shall be over
+ twenty-five years of age.
+
+ "5. No person shall be licensed by the board of deaconesses except
+ on the recommendation of a Quarterly Conference, and said board of
+ deaconesses shall be appointed by the Annual Conference for such
+ term of service as the Annual Conference shall decide, and said
+ board shall report both the names and work of such deaconesses
+ annually, and the approval of the Annual Conference shall be
+ necessary for the continuance of any deaconess in her work.
+
+ "6. When working singly each deaconess shall be under the direction
+ of the pastor of the church with which she is connected. When
+ associated together in a home all the members of the home shall be
+ subordinate to and directed by the superintendent placed in charge.
+
+ "J. M. THOBURN, _Chairman_.
+ "A. B. LEONARD, _Secretary_."
+
+
+The adoption of this report made its contents a portion of the organic
+law of the Church.
+
+It is doubtful if there was any measure taken at the General Conference
+of 1888 that will be more far-reaching in its results than that which
+instituted the office of deaconess. The full and complete recognition
+accorded by the highest authority of the Church commended it to the
+people, who showed a remarkable readiness to accept the provisions.
+Nearly simultaneously, at important points distinct from each other,
+steps were taken to establish deaconess homes, and to provide lectures
+and practical training to educate deaconesses for their work.
+
+The terms of the law in which the Conference action was expressed were
+not closely defined. It was felt that in establishing a new office for a
+great Church there must be room for a wide interpretation, to meet the
+various exigencies that will arise. It is true, also, that there can be
+no final interpretation until there shall be a basis of experience wide
+enough and varied enough to furnish facts that will justify us in
+forming conclusions from them. Still it was thought by those who were
+practically engaged in the work that there should be a common agreement
+on certain practical points: What was to be the training that the
+deaconesses were to receive during the two years of "continuous
+service?" What was to be their distinctive garb? What was to be the
+relation of the deaconess homes, that were arising, to the Conference
+board appointed by the Annual Conference? To discuss these and other
+questions a Conference was held in Chicago, December 20 and 21, 1888, of
+those who were actively engaged in the work. The outcome of the
+deliberations was the "Plan for Securing Uniformity in the Deaconess
+Movement." Regulations were suggested concerning homes and their
+connection with the Conference boards, conditions of admission were
+agreed upon, and a Course of Study and Plan for Training
+recommended.[89] Of course the recommendations set forth in the "Plan"
+are not obligatory, but there has been remarkable unanimity so far in
+accepting them.
+
+In addition to the Chicago Deaconess Home, and the branch in New
+Orleans, there is the Elizabeth Gamble House in Cincinnati, of which
+Miss Thoburn is superintendent; the Home in New York city, instituted by
+the Board of the Church Extension and Missionary Society, under the
+superintendence of Miss Layton; the home in Detroit, under the auspices
+of the Home Missionary Society; and homes under way or projected in
+Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Minneapolis; while individually deaconesses
+are employed in Kansas City, Jersey City, Troy, and Albany. It is also
+well to add that since his return to India, Bishop Thoburn has opened a
+deaconess house in Calcutta, with four American ladies as deaconesses,
+while at Muttra a second home has been opened, of which Miss Sparkes, so
+long connected with our mission work in India, is superintendent.
+
+Pastor Fliedner thought it strange that in the New World where there is
+such ceaseless activity in good works, the deaconess cause should make
+such slow progress; but the season of sowing had to precede that of
+reaping, and it seems now as though the fullness of time had arrived for
+the incorporation into the agencies of the churches of America of the
+priceless activities of Christian deaconesses.
+
+
+ [78] _Phöbe die Diakonissen_, Dr. A. Spaeth, p. 31.
+ [79] For facts concerning the Philadelphia Mother-house of
+ Deaconesses, and other important assistance rendered me, I desire
+ to express acknowledgements to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and
+ Rev. A. Cordes, the rector of the house.
+ [80] McClintock and Strong's _Cyclopedia_, vol. ii, art.
+ "Deaconesses."
+ [81] _Sisterhoods and Deaconesses_, Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D.. 1873,
+ p. 118.
+ [82] _Sisterhoods and Deaconesses_, p. 105.
+ [83] _Ibid._, p. 181.
+ [84] Constitution and Rules for the Order of Deaconesses of Alabama,
+ Art. vi.
+ [85] _Church Work_, May, 1888.
+ [86] For this and other suggestions regarding the deaconess question
+ in the Presbyterian Church, I am greatly indebted to the kindness
+ of Dr. Hastings, President of the Union Theological Seminary.
+ [87] _Presbyterian Review_, April, 1889, art. "Presbyterian
+ Deaconesses."
+ [88] Mrs. Meyer's book on _Deaconesses_, containing also the story of
+ the Chicago Training-school and Deaconess Home, gives the best
+ description to be obtained of the rise of the work in Chicago.
+ [89] A more extended and elaborate course of study has been prepared
+ by the Rev. Alfred A. Wright, D.D., Cambridge, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK
+FOR DEACONESSES IN AMERICA.
+
+
+The deaconesses of the early Church differed from those of modern times,
+as we have seen, in being directly responsible to a church society, and
+in belonging to a church congregation in numbers of two or more. Modern
+life shows a strong tendency to organization. Wherever there are workers
+in a common cause they are banded together in societies and
+associations. It was in accordance with the spirit of the age in which
+he lived that Fliedner united his workers in the Rhenish-Westphalian
+Deaconess Society, in 1836. It was a happy inspiration--shall we not say
+a _providential_ one?--that furnished a convenient organization for the
+office under present conditions. The mother-houses in Germany offered
+good working-models, and their practical advantages were so obvious that
+in whatever Protestant denomination the diaconate of women has revived,
+it has been in connection with these homes. There is no place where the
+training of a deaconess in all its aspects can be so well obtained as in
+the deaconess home and training-school, which is our synonym for the
+German mother-house.
+
+Besides the advantages of a permanent home, under careful supervision,
+to which the probationers and deaconesses have access, in such a home
+care is taken to train the deaconesses in the doctrines of the Church,
+and there is an atmosphere favorable to the virtues of faith and
+devotion that the work demands. The deaconesses are never allowed to
+forget that they serve in a threefold capacity: "Servants of the Lord
+Jesus; servants of the sick and poor, 'for Jesus' sake;' servants one to
+another." The motto of the indomitable little republic of Switzerland,
+"All for each and each for all," might well be accepted as that
+characteristically belonging to them.
+
+Then, too, there is a tradition of service in such a home. One deaconess
+learns from another. The physician is at hand to give his suggestions
+and medical instruction, and the lectures on Church history, on the
+history of missions, and on methods of evangelization make the home a
+center of information on all questions that affect the usefulness of the
+office. There is no other one place in which to obtain the practical and
+theoretical instruction that is needed for the education of a deaconess
+well equipped for her work.
+
+Furthermore, the deaconess home offers a wide and varied field for those
+possessing different gifts. None can be so highly educated and
+cultivated that places cannot be found to utilize their talents to good
+advantage; while those who are sadly lacking in the education of the
+schools can, by talent, untiring industry, and energy make up for
+defects in early training.
+
+The field of work of the deaconess in modern times is a large one. It
+would be easier to define what it is not than what it is. In orphanages,
+in asylums for fallen women, in women's prisons, in reform schools, in
+Sunday-schools, infant schools, and higher schools, in classes among
+working-girls and servants, in industrial homes, in asylums for the
+blind and deaf and dumb, in hospitals of various kinds, and in churches,
+working under the direction of the pastor--in all of these relations and
+many others we find deaconesses in Germany, France, England, and other
+European countries.
+
+The service in hospitals seems especially incumbent upon Christian
+women, and in the early history of these institutions we find
+deaconesses mentioned in connection with them.
+
+Before the birth of Christ hospitals were unknown. It is true that in
+Rome and Athens a certain provision was made for the poor, and largesses
+were given them from time to time. But this was done from motives of
+political expediency, and not from sympathy or commiseration with their
+ills. But as soon as the early Christians were free to practice their
+religion openly, hospitals arose in all the great cities. In the latter
+half of the fourth century the distinguished Christian teacher, Ephrem
+the Syrian, in Edessa, placed rows of beds for the sick and starving.
+His contemporary, Basil, the great bishop of Cæsarea, founded a number
+of institutions for strangers, the poor, and the sick, caring especially
+for the lepers.[90] Little houses were built closely together, but so
+that the patients could be separated one from another, and cared for
+separately. Even at that early date the hospitals were arranged into
+divisions for either sex, as they are at the present time. To use a
+modern phrase, the wards of the men patients were placed under the
+charge of a deacon while the deaconesses ministered to the sick of their
+own sex, according as their services were required. "It was a rule for
+the deacons and deaconesses to seek for the unfortunate day by day, and
+to inform the bishops, who in turn, accompanied by a priest, visited
+the sick and needy of all classes."[91]
+
+In the Middle Ages there were orders of Hospitallers, consisting of
+laymen, monks, and knights, who devoted themselves entirely to the care
+of the sick. Under their influence great and splendid hospitals were
+built, of which the old Hôtel Dieu in Paris was a conspicuous example.
+The Hospital of the Holy Ghost in Rome, and the service of the same
+order, originated like hospitals all over Europe. In late years, with
+the development of medical and surgical art, hospital arrangements have
+arrived at a degree of perfection never before known; and the care of
+the sick, as it has been studied and practiced by Protestant deaconesses
+and Catholic Sisters of Mercy, has also greatly improved.
+
+The state to which the hospitals had degenerated in Fliedner's time, and
+the need of experienced nurses who should be actuated by the highest
+Christian motives, were among the strong reasons he advanced for
+providing the Church with deaconesses as helpers. Here are his
+words:[92] "The poor sick people lay heavily on my mind. How often had
+I seen them neglected, their bodily wants miserably provided for, their
+spiritual needs quite forgotten, withering away in their often unhealthy
+rooms like leaves in autumn; for how many cities, even those having
+large populations, were without hospitals! And I have seen many on my
+travels in Holland, Brabant, England, and Scotland, as in our own
+Germany; I often found the portals of glittering marble, but the nursing
+and care were wretched. Physicians complained bitterly of the
+drunkenness and immorality of the attendants, and what shall I say of
+the spiritual care? In many hospitals preachers we're no longer found;
+hospital chaplains yet more seldom. In the pious olden time these men
+were always in such institutions, especially in the Netherlands, where
+evangelical hospitals bore the beautiful name of "God's house," because
+it was recognized that God especially visits the inmates of such houses,
+to draw them to himself. Do not such wrongs cry to heaven? Is not our
+Lord's reproachful word addressed to us, 'I was sick and in prison and
+ye visited me not?' And shall not our Christian women be capable and
+willing to undertake the care of the sick for Christ's sake?" It was by
+such words, and similar ones, as in his famous appeal "Freiwillige vor"
+(Volunteers to the front!) which he sent out from Wurtemberg to Basel
+in 1842, that he aroused the Christian women of Germany to give
+themselves to this service. By their aid he instituted a system of
+nursing that has changed the aspect of every hospital ward in Germany;
+and, through the training that Florence Nightingale enjoyed at
+Kaiserswerth, the reform that was there instituted passed to England,
+and has effected a transformation in the entire hospital system of
+England.
+
+In Germany deaconesses are often trained to special duties that are
+required in hospitals for certain diseases or certain classes of
+patients, and they are becoming so skillful in their duties that the
+present system of hospital nursing could not be continued without their
+aid.
+
+The nursing care of deaconesses in insane asylums is especially
+valuable. The large and well-ordered Insane Asylum for Female Patients
+in Kaiserswerth, with its long lists of cases soundly cured, shows how
+healthful and important is the quiet, constant influence of intelligent
+Christian attendance upon those who are mentally unsound.
+
+The usefulness of deaconesses as care-takers in all kinds of hospitals
+and homes for the aged, and asylums of every description, is so apparent
+that it does not need to be dwelt upon. The _crèche_, or day home,
+where infants and young children can be sheltered and watched during the
+day while their mothers are at work, is an institution that started in
+Paris in 1834, through the efforts of M. Marbeau, one of the mayors of a
+district of the city. This is now incorporated into the government
+system of Paris, and the idea has spread to neighboring lands, so that
+such homes are found in many of the cities in South Germany and
+Switzerland. It is true that there are no nurses that can care for
+children as the true mother, but where mothers have to be absent from
+morning until night engaged at hard work, and the little ones are left
+neglected at home, or in the care of other children who are themselves
+young enough to need very nearly the same attention that is bestowed on
+the infants; or where the mothers are such in name, but in reality are
+failing in every quality which we attach to that sacred office; or where
+the foundling hospital is the only alternative to which the real mother,
+confronted by the necessity of earning bread for herself and child, can
+turn--in such cases the _crèche_ is a real benefaction whose existence
+has enabled families to keep together, and children to be given a chance
+in life who otherwise would have had small prospect of keeping soul and
+body together.
+
+There is another institution, called the waiting-school, where children
+from two to four years of age are received, whose parents both go daily
+to work, and who would be left to wander about the streets unless this
+place of refuge were opened to them. The _crèche_, or day home, seeks
+only to watch over the infants who are put in its care, or to amuse them
+and keep them contented; the waiting-school goes further, and tries to
+give the little ones some ideas of discipline and the elementary
+beginnings of instruction. Fliedner, who was a lover of children, took
+great interest in both these institutions, and in his school for
+infant-school teachers prepared deaconesses especially for the duties
+that are required in teachers of this class. The motherly heart, the
+gift of story-telling and singing, a pleasant and unruffled demeanor,
+the quiet but firm inculcation of order and obedience--these and other
+qualities Fliedner sought to develop in instructors for these schools.
+
+The day homes have already been introduced into many places in the
+United States, and often cover the field of both the _crèche_ and
+waiting-school, but there is a wide opportunity for the extension of
+their usefulness; and whether in the future, when the demands upon
+Christian deaconesses shall be much more multiplex than they are now, it
+may be necessary to provide special training for Christian teachers in
+America for such special work, time alone can decide. The question of
+Christian education is one that has not yet been determined in its full
+extent. In the year 1800 Mother Barat, of the Catholic Church, founded
+the order of Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which is especially devoted to
+the education of daughters belonging to the higher social ranks. At her
+death it numbered three thousand five hundred members, and had over
+seventy establishments, which are located in every civilized land. It
+cannot be maintained that the education given in these schools is either
+extensive or profound, but the influence of the order upon the women
+whom it has reached has been both. Fliedner, at Kaiserswerth, went as
+far as his age and environments would permit him to go. He provided
+schools where teachers were prepared as instructors for all grades of
+schools, from the most elementary up to the girls' high-schools; and no
+other institution in Germany, with one or two exceptions, such as the
+Victoria Institute at Berlin, yet offers positions to women teachers of
+a higher grade than is afforded by these schools. But in other lands,
+where the educational facilities for women are far beyond those that
+Germany can offer at the present time, positions of higher importance
+and wider influence are held by women; and it is an important question
+for the future what class of women shall fill these places. If Fliedner
+had had to meet the problem we can imagine he would have done so with
+the boldness and energy that he showed in solving those that his times
+and circumstances afforded him. He would, doubtless, have enlisted among
+his deaconesses those whose talents gave him reason to provide them with
+the widest training the schools can offer; and then he would have
+endeavored to place them where they could do the most effective service
+for Christ and his Church. It may be that in the future which opens
+before the women of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America there will
+be just such questions seeking and finding solution.
+
+Doubtless at the present time the deaconess who will answer to the
+greatest number of immediate wants is the "parish-deaconess," or the
+home mission deaconess, as we may call her. Her usefulness has been well
+tested in the great cities of Germany, France, and England, as we have
+seen. Perhaps nowhere is her work better appreciated than in London, the
+greatest city of modern times. The tendency of this age of manufactures
+and commerce is to attract laborers and workers from country homes,
+where work has become less open to them through the increased use of
+agricultural machines of all kinds, into cities, where factories,
+shops, counting-rooms, and offices constantly afford openings. London
+has felt the full force of this movement. In 1836 her population was
+about equal to that of New York, including Brooklyn and Jersey City. Now
+the great city contains 5,500,000 inhabitants. It is growing at the rate
+of over 100,000 a year, nor is there any influence at work to stop its
+growth. The same causes that produce it are constantly at work. The
+great massing of the population together, with the unequaled increase in
+the wealth of the people, make the contrast of riches and poverty
+striking and obvious. The west of London, with its vast wealth, its
+homes of refinement and elegance, and its appliances for the enjoyment
+of art, science, and literature, is separated from the poverty, the
+degradation, the misery, and the sorrow of the East End by a gulf as
+great as that which separated Lazarus from Dives. It is difficult for
+those who are at ease, whose lives, to use Wordsworth's felicitous
+phrase, are made up "of cheerful yesterdays and confident
+to-morrows"--it is difficult for such even faintly to apprehend the
+dullness, the drudgery, and the hardships of those who, even at the best
+estate, are obliged to live in such surroundings. The vast metropolis a
+few years ago was for a short time shaken out of its lethargy by a
+voice that would be heard, when _The Bitter Cry of Outcast London_ was
+published. "Few who will read these pages have any conception of what
+these pestilential human rookeries are, where tens of thousands are
+crowded together amid horrors which call to mind what we have heard of
+the middle passage of the slave-ship. To go into them you have to
+penetrate courts reeking with poisonous malodorous gases arising from
+accumulations of sewerage, refuse scattered in all directions, and often
+flowing beneath your feet; courts, many of them, which the sun never
+penetrates, which are never visited by a breath of fresh air. You have
+to ascend rotten stair-cases, grope your way along dark and filthy
+passages swarming with vermin. Then, if you are not driven back by the
+intolerable stench, you may gain admittance into the dens in which these
+thousands of beings herd together. Eight feet square! That is about the
+average size of many of these rooms.... Where there are beds they are
+simply heaps of dirty rags, shavings, or straw, but for the most part
+the miserable beings find rest only upon the filthy boards.... There are
+men and women who lie and die day by day in their wretched single room,
+sharing all the family trouble, enduring the hunger and the cold,
+without hope, without a single ray of comfort, until God curtains their
+staring eyes with the merciful film of death."[93]
+
+Such are the places where the deaconesses of East London go in and out
+from morn to eve, like angels of mercy, succoring the miserable and
+unhappy, often rebuking vice, and encouraging with friendly words those
+who are worn and discouraged in the battle of life. Here they nurse the
+sick, hold mothers' meetings, start evening classes for working young
+men, and gather the children of all ages in every kind of class that can
+interest and instruct them. They are always ready to provide for
+individual cases that they meet. If they find a friendless young
+servant-girl who is out of work, they send her to the servants' home,
+where, for very little payment, sometimes nothing at all, she can be
+taken care of long enough to give her fresh courage and strength. Then
+she is aided in seeking a situation, and so she is saved from the
+innumerable temptations to vice and misery that are sure to assail her
+if she stands alone.
+
+Many of these deaconesses are educated women, gladly devoting their
+whole life and energies to the work, and who with "food and raiment" are
+quite content. Nothing but a strong indomitable faith in God's love and
+promises can stand the strain of such work. But if there is the faith
+and love to deny self and dare all "for the love of Christ and in His
+name," where can such rewards for labor be found? The dull streets
+become filled with friends, sodden countenances brighten, the little
+children come with loving faces and gladdened hearts, and the deaconess
+is recognized as interpreting to the hearts of these weary, forlorn,
+helpless people the love of God who, when He came upon earth, shared the
+burdens that belonged to His humanity. He came as a Man of Sorrows and
+acquainted with grief, and it was the "common people" that heard Him
+gladly. The deaconess, in her distinctive dress, is becoming a
+well-known figure in the east of London, and not only protected but
+recommended by her garb, she visits the lowest parts of the city without
+danger. Just such deaconesses are needed in the cities of America. The
+cities of the United States are increasing as wonderfully as the great
+cities of the Old World. With the surplus population of Europe pouring
+in upon us by the hundreds of thousands annually our country is doubling
+in numbers every twenty-five years; and the growth of the towns absorbs
+a larger proportion of this multitude than does the country. The cities
+attract the immigrants because there they find others of their own
+nationality. In some cities there are whole foreign colonies where the
+people speak a foreign tongue, read foreign newspapers, and have very
+few interests in common with the people of the land in which they live.
+They continue the same customs and the same habits of thought that
+belonged to them in the Old World. Examples of such colonies are found
+in the thirty thousand Poles in Buffalo, and the sixty thousand
+Bohemians in Chicago.
+
+Then the cities offer attractions that are irresistible to the young men
+and women from the country. Thousands leave quiet country homes every
+year, and, with no certain prospects before them, cast themselves into
+the busy life of the nearest great metropolis. In many places,
+especially in New England, the villages number less, and farm land is
+much less valuable than it was fifty years ago. It is this massing of
+population that is causing us already to experience some of the evils
+that are old problems in the great cities of Europe. There is the same
+gulf between the rich and the poor, with the added element that the
+great mass of the poor are composed of foreigners and their children.
+And the difference in race is a hinderance to a common ground of
+sympathy. A greater hinderance is the difference in religious faith. The
+preponderating number of native Americans are Protestants, and their
+thoughts and beliefs are permeated with the principles that their
+fathers held so dear, and which they sacrificed home and country to
+preserve. They hold a faith that is inseparably connected with free
+institutions, personal liberty, and personal responsibility. But the
+mass of foreigners that are in the great cities largely belong to the
+working-class, and, with the large proportion of the poor who are the
+wards of the city, are Roman Catholic in faith, a faith that has little
+in sympathy with republican institutions, and which least prepares its
+followers to exercise the duties of citizens of a republic. Keeping
+these facts in mind, the statistics contained in the following extracts
+are of telling force: "If the laboring class should contribute its due
+proportion to the congregations, the churches, many of which are now
+half empty, would not begin to hold the people. In 1880 there was in the
+United States one evangelical organization to every 516 of the
+population; in Boston, _counting churches of all kinds_, there was but
+one to every 1,600 of the population; in Chicago, one to every 2,081; in
+New York, one to every 2,468; in St. Louis, one to every 2,800." "The
+worst of it is that, instead of improving, the condition of things has
+been growing worse every year. While the prosperous classes are moving
+away to the suburbs, and the laborers are being more densely massed
+together in the heart of the city, the church accommodations, even if
+fully used, are becoming more inadequate to the needs of the community.
+Including religious organizations of all sorts, New York had in 1830 one
+place of worship for every 1,853 of its inhabitants; in 1840, one for
+every 1,840; in 1850, one for every 2,095; in 1860, one for every 2,344;
+in 1870, one for every 2,004; in 1880, one for every 2,468; and the
+religious history of Chicago is even more noteworthy in this respect:
+Chicago had in 1840 one church for every 747 of its population; in 1851
+there was one for every 1,009; in 1862, one for every 1,301; in 1870,
+one for 1,593; in 1880, one for 2,081; in 1885, one for 2,254. All the
+large cities have districts which are destitute of church
+accommodations, and have not seats in Sunday-school for more than one
+tenth of their children."[94]
+
+Have we not as great need of deaconesses as any of the cities of the Old
+World? Most of our pastors stand alone. They do not have the assistant
+curates and pastors that are connected with large city churches in
+Berlin and London. When the minister makes pastoral calls, and, entering
+working-men's homes, finds sickness and scanty resources, he has no
+deaconess to call to his aid with her cheerful words of encouragement
+and her loving sympathy, that are better than money and medicine. It is
+not charity alone that is wanted in such cases; it is the knowledge of
+how to use proper means to make the sick one comfortable, how to lessen
+the burden on the family that a small additional call for work and care
+has so sadly taxed; how to enlighten the ignorance that is so common
+without wounding the susceptibilities that are so human. For, to quote
+the words of the Christ in the _Vision of Sir Launfal_:
+
+ "Not what we give, but what we share,
+ For the gift without the giver is bare;
+ Who gives himself with his alms feeds three:--
+ Himself, his hungry neighbor, and Me."
+
+It is for such ministrations that we need deaconesses in every
+evangelical church of the United States; may the women that are ready to
+"publish the tidings" be "a great host."
+
+
+ [90] _Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart._
+ Emil Wacker, Gütersloh, 1888, p. 196.
+ [91] McClintock and Strong's _Cyclopedia_, vol. iv, art. "Hospitals."
+ The editors give as authority for this statement, Augustine, _De
+ Civit. Dei_, i, xxii, c. 8.
+ [92] Theodor Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_. Kaiserswerth,
+ 1886, p. 60.
+ [93] _The Bitter Cry of Outcast London_, pp. 3-10.
+ [94] _Modern Cities_, by S. L. Loomis, New York, 1887, pp. 88, 89.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.
+
+
+"Success and glory are the children of hard work and God's favor," is
+the inscription upon the tablet erected in Christ's Hospital, London, to
+the memory of Sir Henry Maine.
+
+Upon these two elements depends the future of the deaconess cause in
+America. We are assured of the one; will the other be forthcoming? Will
+the individual members of the Church give this cause their hearty
+support? Surely the facts that have been stated must have convinced the
+judgment, but perhaps there are certain prejudices to be overcome. "I
+fear that deaconesses too closely resemble Catholic nuns for Protestants
+to accept them," says one. No; these helpful Christian women are
+thoroughly Protestant. Deaconesses are no Catholic institution. Wherever
+they have appeared they have been met by open antagonism from the
+Catholic Church. Witness the calumnies with which the papers of that
+capital have constantly assailed the deaconess home of Paris.
+
+There is good in the Catholic sisterhoods, but mingled with much that we
+disapprove. The deaconess institutions have the good features, but have
+avoided the ill. Much of the success of the Catholic Church in winning
+the poor and in retaining its influence over the lowly is due to the
+power exerted by the sisters who go about from house to house among the
+poor, and are received as friends.
+
+There is a great army of Catholic sisters. It is calculated that there
+are about 28,000 Sisters of Vincent de Paul, 22,000 Franciscan Sisters
+caring for the sick, 6,000 Sisters of the Holy Cross, 5,000 Sisters of
+Charles, making a total of about 60,000 sisters of various orders
+belonging to the Catholic Church[95] who are occupied with works of
+mercy. The sisters engaged in education are often well-trained and
+accomplished. The order of Charles will not accept widows, orphans
+without property, girls from asylums, or those that have served as
+maids. As a rule, those that join it must make some contribution of
+money to the order when they are received. This order is small, but one
+of the most active and aggressive of any. The great number of the
+sisters, however, are women of few advantages, taken from poor homes and
+lives of toil. There is wisdom in this course, for a great deal of the
+work to be done depends upon qualities that can be developed by
+training, while the exceptional education and talents are employed in
+the exceptional places.
+
+A contemplation of these facts just recorded causes us better to
+understand the importance that the co-operation of women has for the
+Catholic Church. It causes us, too, to appreciate better the opening
+before the Protestant women of all evangelical churches, so wide, so
+all-embracing that every variety of talent can find a place.
+
+Gifts of clothes or food or fuel are not so well appreciated as the
+respectful hearing which clothes the teller with self-respect, the kind
+word and loving sympathy that feed the heart, the inspiring consolations
+of religious faith that animate and warm the soul, and such gifts women
+of sympathetic Christian hearts can ever render. As has been well said,
+"Shall the advantages of such a system be monopolized by those who have
+so little else to offer?"[96]
+
+You may say, "I do not object to the deaconess and her work, but I do
+object to her distinctive dress. I do not believe in a uniform of
+charity." But let us consider the arguments that can be brought forward
+in favor of it. It is a distinctive garb because its wearer is a
+distinctive officer of the Church. Unless she were "set apart" by some
+uniform immediately and widely recognized how could she have the
+protection that is accorded her? Alike in every land where she is known,
+as we have seen, the deaconess can venture into any part of the great
+cities at any hour, and is invariably treated with respect. There is in
+the heart of the rudest and most lawless some trace of chivalry which
+recognizes the self-denying lives of these women. Then, in making her
+visits, the deaconess finds her dress an introduction that opens doors
+that would otherwise remain closed to her. It certainly is a convenient
+and economical garb, that saves a great deal of time and money to the
+wearer.
+
+Are not these advantages more than an offset to an ill-defined objection
+to the dress because it has been associated with women who are alien to
+our Protestant faith? This is a minor matter, however, and one that can
+be adjusted at liking.
+
+You may say, "I do not like to think of a woman who is dear to me cut
+off from the pleasures of home life, and devoted to a life-time of work
+among those who, in many respects, must be repugnant to her tastes. It
+does not seem so high and beautiful a life as that which makes home a
+center, and carries on its activities from there."
+
+But there are many women debarred from the pleasures of home life by
+God's direct providence to whom other duties and responsibilities have
+been allotted. And then this work may not necessarily be for life. It is
+true that when a Christian woman occupies the position of a deaconess
+she must relinquish wholly all other pursuits so long as she holds this
+office. Neither without grave and weighty reasons should she seek to
+leave it. It is her calling. The period of probation has its uses, not
+only in making the probationer familiar with the duties and tasks
+demanded of her, but in giving her time to test the strength of her call
+to service, that she may not, through enthusiasm, lightly assume the
+duties of the office, nor as lightly throw them aside.
+
+But if a deaconess is called away to perform her duties as a sister or
+daughter, or if she desires to marry, she is free to do so, after giving
+due information to those with whom she is connected in work. Freedom and
+liberty are in every phase of this office.
+
+As to the highest life for a woman, an archbishop of England well said
+some years ago, "that whatever life God gives to any woman is the
+highest life for that woman," and that "in becoming a deaconess a woman
+devoting herself to this life must believe that it is the highest life
+for her, and that in it she gives herself wholly to the Lord."[97]
+
+There should be no country like America for the favorable development of
+the deaconess cause, because in no other have women such large freedom
+of action, and, if we may believe our friends, they have improved it
+well. A distinguished English historian has just given us what we are
+fain to accept as words of just and discriminating praise. "In no other
+country have women borne so conspicuous a part in the promotion of moral
+and philanthropic causes.... Their services in dealing with charities
+and reformatory institutions have been inestimable.... The nation, as a
+whole, owes to the active benevolence of its women, and their zeal in
+promoting social reforms, benefits which the customs of continental
+Europe would scarcely have permitted women to confer.... Those who know
+the work they have done and are doing in many a noble cause will admire
+still more their energy, their courage, their devotion. No country seems
+to owe more to its women than America does, nor to owe to them so much
+of what is best in social institutions, and in the beliefs that govern
+conduct."[98]
+
+Nor in any denomination should we expect women to be more ready to adopt
+this work than in the Methodist Episcopal Church, because women members
+have been accustomed to exercise nearly all the obligations and duties,
+and many of the privileges, that are accorded the laity of the great
+connection, and they are prepared to accept new duties in new relations.
+This Church has over a million women enrolled as members, able to serve
+it in every capacity, from the lady in her home dispensing gracious
+Christian hospitality, to the one standing quite alone, who will
+welcome, as a brevet of rank, this new call to service. There are many
+such women ready to respond. Many, too, whose hearts have been left
+desolate by bereavement, who will be glad to fill the empty hands and
+vacant life by work for God and humanity. To such a woman the wide world
+is her home; the dear ones of her family are the poor and sick and needy
+who crave her aid.
+
+The beautiful Mildmay motto is: "They dwell with the King for his work."
+There are thousands of women all over the land who are ready to become
+"King's Daughters" in this additional sense of the word. The
+possibility of what such women can accomplish in the furtherance of
+God's kingdom upon earth has not begun to be fathomed.
+
+Think of a great city church, with the manifold interests clustering
+around it, left to the care of a single pastor! He has not only the
+preparation of his weekly sermons, the care of the social meetings of
+the church, but a long line of other duties that are equally important
+to maintain. He must perform pastoral duties, push forward aggressive
+movements in behalf of the masses not touched by the church services,
+and fulfill public duties in connection with great charities,
+philanthropies, and moral reforms that he cannot neglect without injury.
+If the efforts of such a pastor could be furthered by one, two, or more
+deaconesses, as are many of the pastors of the London churches, how
+greatly would the working force of such a Church be increased!
+
+It is true that we must develop the work in accordance with our American
+ideas and institutions. Through the study of the methods that have been
+adopted in European institutions, and the experience that has been there
+won through long years of patient toil, we are prepared in a measure to
+start where their work leaves off. But we shall find that our
+circumstances require new adjustments, and that we shall have our own
+problems to solve, so that eventually our work will assume a
+distinctively American form.
+
+We have only to plant the seed and to give it favorable conditions for
+growth. The outcome is not ours: "In the morning sow thy seed, and in
+the evening withhold not thy hand." The results are with Him who giveth
+the increase.
+
+The practical question may occur to some one who reads these pages,
+"What shall I do to become a deaconess?" Write to the superintendent of
+the nearest deaconess home, and ask for directions. It is best not to
+multiply homes until we have a larger number of trained deaconesses that
+are ready to take charge of them, and until the number of applicants
+desiring to enter them is much greater than at present.
+
+Many churches that need the services of a deaconess will doubtless
+select one of their number whose heart God has inclined to this service,
+and will provide the means by which she can secure the necessary
+training at a home and training-school. There are many devout Christian
+women in every community who have for years been deaconesses in labors,
+if not in title and prerogatives. It is very important for such women to
+give their sympathies and fostering care to this new institution. If not
+deaconesses by office, they can ally themselves as associates. The
+associate is a real officer in many of the deaconess establishments in
+London. Ladies who have great sympathy with the cause, and an earnest
+desire to do what they can to advance it, give some portion of their
+time, their labor, or their means to promote its interests. They will go
+to the home and reside there for some weeks or months, being under the
+direction of the superintendent and filling all the duties of a sister.
+Or, if such duties are not practicable, they will work in behalf of the
+home, often securing the aid of those whose assistance is most valuable.
+In some places it is arranged that a woman who earns her bread by daily
+toil shall be assigned to labor at her regular vocation, consecrating a
+certain portion of her wages (perhaps one twenty-fourth) to the cause
+with which she is allied.
+
+The Church has been accused of being too abstract, too ideal, too far
+removed from the life of the people in its every-day aspects. It is well
+for Church members to examine themselves, and the Church communities to
+which they belong, to judge how much ground there is for such criticism.
+None are so sharp-sighted as hostile critics, and from none can such
+good lessons be learned. But this accusation is not a new one, and the
+only effectual way to meet it is to point to what the Church has
+accomplished. Over eighteen hundred years ago, when John the Baptist was
+in danger of mistaking our Lord, he sent to him, saying: "Art thou he
+that should come? or look we for another?" and the answer was: "Go your
+way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the
+blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
+dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."
+
+Let us be prepared to make a similar answer to-day, and the Church need
+fear no accusation of holding aloof from the needs of the daily life of
+the people.
+
+"Christianity, as it stands in the Bible and in our creeds, will neither
+be read nor understood by millions; Christianity as it is revealed in
+the loving service of deaconesses will be recognized by the dullest
+eyes."[99]
+
+We have reached a new departure in Methodism. The Church has added
+another to its aggressive forces. How is it to be received? What welcome
+will be given it? May pastors and people, one and all, be in that
+attitude of spirit where we shall respond readily to the command:
+"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."
+
+
+ [95] _Die Diakonissenberuf nach seine Vergangenheit und gegenwart._
+ Emil Wacker. Gütersloh, 1888, chap. vi.
+ [96] _Modern Cities._ S. L. Loomis, The Baker & Taylor Co., New York,
+ 1887, p. 192.
+ [97] _Deaconesses in the Church of England_, Griffith & Farran, 1880,
+ p. 31.
+ [98] _The American Commonwealth_, James Bryce. MacMillan & Co., 1889,
+ vol. ii, pp. 586, 589.
+ [99] _Phöbe die Diakonissen_, p. 8.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.
+
+YEARLY EXPENDITURES AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+
+While the book is in press the following interesting statistics are
+received, which are deemed of sufficient importance to insert here.
+
+Receipts and expenditures of Kaiserswerth for the three years from 1885
+to 1888:
+
+ Year. Receipts. Expenses.
+
+ 1885-1886 333,476 m. 74 pf. 331,812 m. 12 pf.
+ 1886-1887 371,523 m. 46 pf. 370,626 m. 45 pf.
+ 1887-1888 337,508 m. 14 pf. 492,384 m. 21 pf.
+
+In the year 1887-1888, the excess of expenses over receipts was caused
+by the construction of a new building, and special funds were
+contributed which more than met the deficit.
+
+Rev. F. Fliedner, the son of Pastor Fliedner further writes: "This does
+not include the expenses in the East and other foreign stations. In
+truth, about six hundred thousand marks pass yearly through our
+treasury." What an amount of good accomplished by the yearly expenditure
+of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+ Acts vi, 3, 13, 79.
+ Addlestone, 161.
+ Africa, Northern, 108.
+ Age requirements, 29, 187.
+ Alabama, 213.
+ America, 73, 107, 252.
+ AMERICA, THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN, 204: German Lutherans, 204;
+ W. A. Passavant, Pittsburg, 205; Mary J. Drexel Home and
+ Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses, 208; Swedish
+ Lutherans, Omaha, 211; Norwegian Lutherans, Brooklyn, 211;
+ German Reformed, Hagerstown, 211; Protestant Episcopal
+ Church, Baltimore, 212; Alabama, 213; Long Island, 215;
+ Western New York, 216; Presbyterian Church, 217; Southern
+ Presbyterian Church, 218; Methodist Episcopal Church, Lucy
+ Rider Meyer, 220; Rock River Conference, Bengal Conference,
+ 221; General Conference action, 222; Conference, "Plan,"
+ Homes, 226.
+ AMERICA, THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR
+ DEACONESSES IN, 228: threefold service, 229; hospitals, 230;
+ day-homes, 236; home-mission deaconesses, 238; London, 239;
+ cities, 242; parish deaconesses, 245.
+ Amprucla, a deaconess, 25.
+ Amsterdam, 43, 143.
+ Andrews, Edward G., 6.
+ _Andover Review_, 150.
+ Apostolic Constitutions, 19, 21, 24, 85.
+ _Armen und Kranken Freund_, 66.
+ "Associates," 193, 213-215, 256.
+ Asia Minor, 76, 108.
+ Austria, 104, 108.
+ Author's facilities, 4.
+
+ Baillie, Lady Grisell, 200, 201, 203.
+ Ball's Pond, 182.
+ Balsamon, Professor, 31.
+ Baltimore, St. Andrew's, 212.
+ Baptism, 22, 32.
+ Barat, Mother, 237.
+ Barnet, 167, 181.
+ Bartholomew's prayer, 23.
+ Basil, of Cæsarea, 231.
+ Beghards, The, 37.
+ Béguines, The, 35-37, 145.
+ Beirut, Syria, 76.
+ Belgium, 34, 37.
+ Belleville, France, 134.
+ Bengal Conference, 221.
+ Berlin, 72, 99, 102, 111, 113, 114, 237, 245.
+ Barnardo, Dr., 159.
+ Berne, Switzerland, 103.
+ Bertheau, Caroline, 72.
+ Bethany House, 72, 102.
+ Bethany Society, 110, 118.
+ Bethnal Green, 180, 185.
+ Bible-classes, 175, 186.
+ Bible stories, 65, 124.
+ Bible study, 84.
+ Birthdays, 64, 71.
+ Boarders in Home, 132.
+ Bohemian brethren, 40.
+ Bohemians, Chicago, 243.
+ Boston churches, 244.
+ Bremen, Germany, 110.
+ Brighton, England, 181.
+ Brooklyn, N. Y., 211, 215.
+ Brotherhood in Christ, 10, 11.
+ Brotherhood of the Common Life, 37.
+ Buffalo, Poles in, 243.
+
+ Calcutta, India, 227.
+ Calvin, John, 42, 134.
+ Cambridge Platform, 144.
+ Catechumens, female, 21.
+ Celibacy. See Monks, Nuns.
+ Chalmers, Thomas, 57, 189.
+ Charitable institutions, 9, 54, 57.
+ Charité, La, 100.
+ Charlotte, Sister, 75.
+ Charteris, A. H., 190, 192, 201.
+ Chicago, Ill., 73, 243-245.
+ Chicago Training-school, 220, 221.
+ Children, 10, 64, 123.
+ Cholera, 48, 170.
+ Christ, 246.
+ Christianity, 257.
+ Christmas, 178, 180, 181.
+ Chrysostom, 25, 26.
+ Church of England, 149, 150, 157, 191.
+ Church of England Woman's Missionary Association, 163.
+ Church of England Zenana Society, 185.
+ Church of Scotland, 190, 193, 195, 201, 203.
+ Church of the Deaconesses, 31.
+ _Churchman, The_, 105, 155.
+ Cincinnati, O., 226.
+ Cities, 242, 243, 245.
+ Clapton House School, 182.
+ Classes of deaconesses, 186, 194.
+ Collecting money, 53, 54, 114.
+ Commune, 131.
+ Commune deaconess. See Parish deaconesses.
+ Compassion, Christian, 11, 13.
+ Conference, Chicago, 226.
+ Kaiserswerth, 86, 106, 152.
+ Mildmay, 167.
+ Conference Hall, 171, 178.
+ Consecration, 23, 29, 85, 140, 199, 210, 211, 217.
+ Contagious diseases, 84, 88, 170.
+ CONTINENT, OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE, 93: Strasburg,
+ Pastor Härter, 93; Mülhausen, parish deaconesses, 95;
+ Berlin servants, 99; Bethany House, 102; Dettelsau, Berne,
+ Sophie Wurdemberger, 103; Saint Loup, Pastor Germond, 104;
+ Riehen, Zürich, Gallneukirchen, 104; joint management, 106;
+ environment, 107; many deaconesses, more needed, 108.
+ Convalescent homes, 181.
+ Convalescents' home, 126.
+ Cordes, A., 211.
+ Constantinople, 25, 28, 31.
+ Cottage Hospital, 179.
+ Coventry, Miss, 183.
+ Crèche, 125, 234, 236.
+
+ Dalston, 146.
+ Damsels of Charity, 43.
+ Darmstadt, 146.
+ Daughter-houses, 71, 138.
+ Davidson, Miss, 200, 201.
+ Day homes, 235, 236.
+ "Deaconess," 149.
+ how become? 255.
+ Deaconess Institution and Training-home, 195, 198.
+ Deaconesses, numerous, 107.
+ world-wide demand, 108.
+ See "Associates," America, Consecration, Continent,
+ Diaconate, Early, England, Fliedner, German, Kaiserswerth,
+ Literature, Methodist Episcopal Church, Mildmay,
+ Objections, Paris, Scotland, Twelfth, etc.
+ Deacons appointed, 13.
+ De la Mark, Henry Robert, 44.
+ Denmark, 108.
+ Detroit, Mich., 226.
+ Devonshire Square, 146.
+ Devotions, 83, 118.
+ DIACONATE, THE, 9: brotherhood of all in Christ, 10; foreign
+ missions, 11; home missions, 12; diaconate, 13; female
+ diaconate, 14; meaning, 16; qualities, field, 17.
+ Diaconate, female, 13, 17, 20, 24, 30, 34, 45, 46, 189.
+ organic, 203.
+ Discipline, 127, 129.
+ Dispensary, 69, 75, 103, 180.
+ Disselhoff, J., 31, 41, 48, 76, 91, 108, 109.
+ Döllinger, 10.
+ Doncaster General Infirmary, 182.
+ Dorcas room, 174.
+ Dove, symbol, 91.
+ Dress, distinctive, 36, 82, 116, 155, 156, 210, 242, 249.
+ Du Camp, Maxime, 134.
+ Dumas, Mademoiselle, 135, 138.
+ Düsseldorf, 56.
+ Düsselthal, 56.
+
+ Early Church, 231.
+ EARLY CHURCH, DEACONESSES IN THE, 18: Pliny's letter, 19;
+ apostolic constitutions, 19; deaconesses, widows, virgins,
+ 20; deaconess' duties, 21; prayer of ordination, 23;
+ greatest growth in Eastern Church, 24; Chrysostom, 25;
+ Olympias, 27; age, property, 29; in Western Church, 30;
+ decay, extinction, 32.
+ East London Deaconess Home, 152, 156.
+ Easter cards, 178.
+ Eastern Church, 24.
+ Eccl. xi, 6, 255.
+ Edinburgh, Scotland, 189.
+ Eilers, Frederick, 110, 115.
+ Elberfeld, 58, 71.
+ Elizabeth of Prussia, 101.
+ Endowment, 67.
+ England. See London.
+ ENGLAND, DEACONESSES IN, 142: Puritans, 142; Amsterdam, 143;
+ Plymouth colony, widows, 144; Southey, Protestants, 145;
+ Mrs. Fry, Fliedner, Florence Nightingale, 146; Agnes Jones,
+ 147; Ludlow, Stevenson, Howson, 148; "sister," "deaconess,"
+ 149; Church of England, 150; outside institutions, 158;
+ Tottenham, 159; Prison Gate Mission, 161; London West
+ Central Mission, 163. See Mildmay.
+ Environment, 107.
+ Eppstein, 50.
+ Epidemic, 87.
+ Ephrem the Syrian, 231.
+ Europe. See Continent.
+ Expenses, 82, 187, 188, 258.
+
+ Faith and works, 202, 230.
+ Fallen women, 112.
+ Farming, 69.
+ Faubourg Saint Antoine, 121, 132.
+ Feierabend Haus, 71.
+ Ferard, Elizabeth C., 152.
+ Flag at Kaiserswerth, 91.
+ FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS, 46:
+ Klönne, 46; Amalie Sieveking, 47; Count von der Recke, 49;
+ Theodor Fliedner, 50; Idstein, Giessen, Göttingen, 51;
+ Herborn, Cologne, Kaiserswerth, 52; collecting money, 53;
+ Elizabeth Fry, 55; Prison Society, Frederika Münster, 56;
+ convict Minna, refuge, 57; Fräulein Göbel, deaconesses, 59;
+ Rhenish Westphalian Deaconess Society, 60.
+ Fliedner, Theodor, 44, 50, 55, 56, 60, 61, 66, 68, 73, 74,
+ 90, 100, 102, 146, 155, 189, 205, 213, 232, 237, 238.
+ wife of, 56, 58, 62, 63, 65-67.
+ wife, second, 72.
+ Fliedner, Fritz, 218, 258.
+ Florence, Italy, 77.
+ Florentius, 38.
+ Flower mission, 173.
+ Foreign missions, 170.
+ France, 67. See Paris.
+ Frankfort, 72, 110, 111, 113.
+ Frederick William IV., 49, 69, 72, 102.
+ Free Church of Scotland, 190.
+ Friends, The, 220.
+ Fry, Elizabeth, 55, 57, 60, 103, 135, 146, 209.
+ Fry, Herbert, 146.
+
+ Gal. vi, 6, 183.
+ vi, 10, 13.
+ Gallneukirchen, 104, 105.
+ Gamble, Elizabeth, 226.
+ Garden 57, 125, 176.
+ General Conference, 221.
+ action, 4, 222.
+ German hospital, 127, 146.
+ German Lutherans, 204, 205, 206, 207.
+ GERMAN METHODISM, DEACONESSES IN, 110: Bethany Society, 110;
+ reports, 111; fallen women, nurses, 112; Frankfort, Hamburg,
+ Berlin, 113; collection, 114; Saint Gall, Zürich, 115;
+ Sister Myrtha, 116; "God's Fidelity," 117; regulations,
+ Bethany Society, 118; home training, 119.
+ German Reformed Church, 211.
+ Germany, 46, 118, 202, 235.
+ See Berlin.
+ Germond, Pastor, 104.
+ Giessen, University, 51.
+ Gobat, Dr., 74.
+ Göbel, 59.
+ Gottestreue, or God's Fidelity, 117.
+ Göttingen, University, 51.
+ Greece, 108.
+ Greek Church, 24.
+ Groot, Gerhard, 37, 38.
+ Guinness, Grattan, 160.
+
+ Hachette & Co., 136.
+ Hadwig, Duchess, 115.
+ Hagerstown, Md., 211.
+ Hamburg, 111, 113.
+ Harley House, 160.
+ Härter, Pastor, 93.
+ Hastings, President, 218.
+ Hausser, G., 110, 111.
+ Headship, twofold, 106.
+ Herborn, 52.
+ Herford, 41.
+ Herzog, 32.
+ Holland, 108.
+ Home, pleasures of, 250.
+ Home missionary. See Parish deaconess.
+ Home missions, 170.
+ Hospitals. 48, 62, 69, 71, 73-75, 83, 93, 100, 103, 115,
+ 125, 127, 146, 158, 170, 179, 180, 206, 207, 230, 232.
+ House-mother, 106.
+ House of correction, 127.
+ House of Evening Rest, 71.
+ Howson, J. D., 15, 27, 84, 148, 157.
+ Hoxton, 185.
+ Hughes, Mrs., 163.
+ Huguenots, 141.
+ Humanitarianism, 11.
+ Huss, John, 40.
+
+ Idstein, gymnasium, 51.
+ Ignatius, 21, 29.
+ Infirmary, 206.
+ _Imitation of Christ_, 38.
+ Immigrants, 242.
+ India, 186, 187, 221, 227.
+ Inquiry, Department of, 183.
+ Insane, 68, 105, 234.
+ Introduction, 3.
+ Invalid kitchen, 173.
+ Iserlohn, Westphalia, 208.
+ Italy, 77, 78, 108, 232.
+
+ Jacksonville, Ill., 73, 206.
+ Jaffa, 182.
+ Jerusalem, 74, 162.
+ John ii, 5, 257.
+ John the Baptist, 257.
+ Jones, Agnes, 147.
+ Jubilee anniversary, 91.
+
+ Kaiserswerth, 52, 57, 147, 152, 203, 234.
+ yearly expenses, 258.
+ KAISERSWERTH, THE INSTITUTIONS AT, 61: deaconess home,
+ hospital, first deaconess, 63; normal-school for
+ infant-school teachers, 64; Bible stories, 65; Fliedner's
+ wife, 65; publishing house, _Kaiserswerth Almanac_, _The
+ Poor and Sick Friend_, finance, 66; orphan asylum, 67;
+ normal-school for female teachers, insane asylum, 68; farm,
+ 69; refuge, Salem, 70; House of Evening Rest,
+ daughter-houses, 71; Berlin, 72; Pittsburg, 73; Jerusalem,
+ 74; Beirut, Smyrna, 76; Salem in the Lebanon, 77.
+ KAISERSWERTH, THE REGULATIONS AT, AND THE DUTIES AND
+ SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES, 79; service, 79; nurses,
+ teachers, visitors, 80; probation, 81; dress, expenses, 82;
+ duties, quiet half-hour, 83; union, obedience, 84;
+ consecration, 85; conferences, statistics, 86; emergencies,
+ 87; wars, 89; Fliedner's death, successors, 91.
+ _Kaiserswerth Almanac_, 86.
+ Katherine Home, 163.
+ Kempis, Thomas à, 38.
+ Kilburn Orphanage, 160.
+ King's Daughters, 253.
+ Klönne, Johann Adolph Franz, 46, 54.
+ Krueger, Marie, 207.
+
+ Lads' Institute, 181.
+ Lambert le Bègue, 34.
+ Lankenau, John D., 207, 208.
+ Laseron, Dr. and Mrs., 157, 158.
+ Laundry, 161.
+ Layton, M. E., 226.
+ Lectures, syllabus of, 196.
+ Leonard, A. B., 224.
+ Library, lending, 175.
+ Life, the highest, 251.
+ Lightfoot, Bishop, 15.
+ Literature referred to, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26,
+ 31, 33, 44, 47, 49, 55, 66, 68, 70, 76, 79, 110, 111, 120,
+ 134, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150-152, 155-157, 164, 167, 175,
+ 178, 181, 192, 194, 205, 212, 214, 216, 217, 221, 226, 232,
+ 241, 245, 253.
+ Littlejohn, Bishop, 215.
+ Liverpool work-house, 147.
+ London, 166, 238-241, 245, 256.
+ See Mildmay.
+ London Diocesan Deaconess Institution, 151.
+ London Bible-women's Mission, 160.
+ London West Central Mission, 163, 164.
+ Loomis, S. L., 245.
+ Los Angeles, Cal., 219.
+ "Lost Way, The," 100.
+ Love, Christian, 11, 13.
+ Lucian, 22.
+ Ludlow, John Malcolm, 20, 23, 37, 87, 148.
+ Luke x, 5, 184.
+ Luther, Martin, 40, 42.
+
+ McClintock & Strong, 23, 232.
+ McGill, A. T., 217.
+ MacMaster, 11.
+ Makrina ordained, 29.
+ Maine, Henry, 247.
+ Malta, 182.
+ Mann, W. J., 207, 211.
+ Marbeau, M. 235.
+ Marthashof, 99, 102.
+ Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Mother-house of
+ Deaconesses, 87, 127, 210, 211.
+ Matt. xi, 3-5, 257.
+ Maxwell, Alice Maud, 200, 201.
+ Medical mission, 179.
+ Medical training, 186, 187.
+ Mennonites, 44, 54, 59.
+ Men's Bible-class, 175.
+ Men's Institute, 180.
+ Men's Night-school, 174.
+ Meredith, Mrs., 160, 162.
+ Methodism, German, 110.
+ Methodist Episcopal Church, 107, 203, 220, 253, 257.
+ Meyer, Consul, 207.
+ Meyer, Lucy Rider, 220, 221.
+ Middle Ages, 232.
+ Middleburg, 42.
+ Mildmay, 202, 253.
+ MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS, 166: William Pennefather, Barnet,
+ Conferences, 167; Mildmay Park, 168; missionary
+ training-school and home, 169; deaconesses, 170; conference
+ hall, deaconess house, 171; Pennefather's death, successor,
+ 173; invalid kitchen, flower mission, 173; Dorcas room,
+ men's night school, 174; lending library, men's Bible-class,
+ servants' registry, 175; sitting-room, 175; garden, 176;
+ orphanage, Scripture texts, 177; conference hall, parish
+ deaconesses, 178; nursery home, cottage hospital, medical
+ mission, 179; Bethnal Green, 180; convalescent homes, 181;
+ nurses, railway mission, 182; deaconesses of all classes,
+ 183; missionary training-school, 184; classes trained, 186;
+ expenses, 188.
+ Milwaukee, Wis., 73, 206.
+ Ministræ, 19.
+ Minna, convict, 57.
+ Minneapolis, Minn., 226.
+ Missionary training school, 169, 170, 184, 185, 186.
+ Missions, 11, 12.
+ Mohammedans, 75.
+ Monks, 32, 41, 136.
+ Monod, Sara, 120, 136, 138.
+ Monod, W., 120.
+ Moravians, 44, 45.
+ Morley, Samuel, 159.
+ Mother-houses, 64, 72, 74, 80, 86, 106.
+ Mothers, 235.
+ Mount Vernon, N. Y., 206.
+ Mülhausen, 95.
+ Münster, Frederika, 56.
+ Muttra, India, 227.
+ Myrtha, Sister, 116.
+
+ Neal, Daniel, 142.
+ Neander, 23, 24.
+ Nectarius, Bishop, 28.
+ Netherlands, 35, 37, 39, 42, 44.
+ Neudettelsau, 103.
+ New Orleans, La., 226.
+ New York, N. Y., 226, 244, 245.
+ Nicarete, deaconess, 25.
+ Night-school, 174.
+ Nightingale, Florence, 146-148, 234.
+ Normal school, 64, 66, 68.
+ _North American Review_, 12.
+ Norway, 108.
+ Norwegian Lutherans, 211.
+ Nuns, 32, 37, 41, 151, 247.
+ Nursery girls, 101.
+ Nursery home, 179.
+ Nurses, 68, 71, 80, 83, 89, 90, 93, 104, 112, 113, 127, 133,
+ 182, 191, 208.
+ Nursing sisters' institution, 146.
+
+ OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED, 247: hard work and
+ God's favor, 247; not nuns, 247; Roman Catholic sisters,
+ 248; distinctive dress, 249; cut off from home life, 250;
+ America favorable, 252; Methodist Episcopal Church
+ favorable, 253; how become deaconess? 255; "do it," 257.
+ Orleans, Synod of, 30.
+ Olympias, 26, 27.
+ Omaha, Neb., 211.
+ Ordination. See Consecration.
+ Origen, 30.
+ Orphanages, 67, 73, 75-77, 159, 177, 206.
+ "Outsiders," 164.
+
+ Palestine, 76.
+ Paris, 232, 235.
+ PARIS, DEACONESSES IN, 120: Sara Monod, W. Monod, 120;
+ deaconess establishment, 121; reports, children, 123;
+ crèche, hospital, 125; convalescents' home, 126; house of
+ correction, 127; moral results, 130; Commune investigation,
+ 131; wounded, boarders, 132; preparatory school, nurses,
+ 133; success, parish deaconesses, 134; prisons for women,
+ 135; Mademoiselle Dumas, 136; branches, 138; parish
+ deaconesses, 139; consecration, 140.
+ Paris, Matthew, 37.
+ Parish Deaconesses, 72, 80, 96, 103, 110, 134, 139, 191,
+ 238, 254.
+ Pascal, Jacqueline, 125.
+ Passavant, W. A., 73, 205, 206.
+ Passy, 126.
+ Pastors, 245, 254.
+ Pegran, Pasteur, 44.
+ Pentadia, 26.
+ Pennefather, William, 167, 173, 202.
+ wife of, 173.
+ 1 Pet. ii, 5, 40.
+ iii, 4, 155.
+ Pharmacy, 126.
+ Philadelphia, Pa., 87, 127, 207, 210, 218, 226.
+ Phoebe, 14, 22, 189, 205.
+ Pilgrim fathers, 143, 144.
+ Pittsburg, Pa., 73, 205.
+ Plan for securing uniformity, 226.
+ Plato, 10.
+ Pliny, letter, ministræ, 19.
+ Poles in Buffalo, 243, 244.
+ Poor Men of Lyons, 39.
+ _Poor and Sick Friend_, 66, 104, 152.
+ Portsmouth, 153.
+ Potter, H. C. 212.
+ Prayer, 23, 83, 84, 118.
+ Presbyterian Church, 202, 217.
+ _Presbyterian Review_, 217, 219.
+ Preparatory school, 133.
+ Princess Mary Village Home, 161.
+ Prison Gate Mission, 161.
+ Prisoners, 55-58, 60, 70, 112, 135, 160, 161.
+ Probation, 81, 118, 184, 187.
+ Procla, deaconess, 26.
+ Protestant Episcopal Church, 212.
+ Protestants, 48, 105, 145, 151.
+ Psa. lxviii, 11, 246.
+ Publishing House, 66, 136.
+ Pudentiana, deaconess, 30.
+ Puritans, 142, 144.
+ Pusey, Dr., 149.
+
+ Railway mission, 182.
+ Recke, Count von der, 49.
+ Rector, 106.
+ Reformed Church, 42.
+ Regulations, 79, 118, 193, 213.
+ Reichardt, Gertrude, 63.
+ Rest, 70, 71, 117.
+ Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess Society, 228.
+ Riehen, near Basel, 104.
+ Rochester, N. Y., 73, 206.
+ Rock River Conference, 221.
+ Roman, J. Dixon, 211.
+ Roman Catholic Church, 30, 34, 244, 248, 249.
+ Rom. xvi, 1, 14, 115, 189.
+ Rome, 30, 78, 232.
+ Rue de Bridaine, 139.
+ Rue de Reuilly, 120, 127, 132.
+ Russia, 108.
+
+ Sabiniana, 25.
+ Sachsenhausen, 112.
+ St. Christopher's Church, 35.
+ St. Gaul, 112, 115.
+ St. Louis, Mo., 226.
+ St. Loup, 104.
+ St. Marie, 134.
+ Salem, 70, 77, 117.
+ Salisbury Home, 153.
+ Salle d'Asile, 123.
+ Savings Bank, 181.
+ Schäfer, Theodor, 22, 27, 39, 42, 49, 95, 99, 146.
+ Schaff, Philip, 23, 24, 30.
+ Scheffel, 115.
+ SCOTLAND, DEACONESSES IN, 189: Church of Scotland, A. H.
+ Charteris's report, 190; three grades of women workers, 193;
+ Deaconess Institution and Training-home, 195; syllabus of
+ lectures, 196; consecration, seven years' experience or two
+ years' training, 199; Presbyterian Churches of Great
+ Britain, 202; office of deaconess made organic, 203.
+ Scripture texts, illustration of, 177.
+ Servants, 85, 99, 101, 102.
+ Servants Home, 241.
+ Servants' Registry, 175.
+ Service, threefold, 79, 229.
+ Shanghai, 109.
+ Sieveking, Amalie, 47.
+ Singing, 84, 85.
+ "Sister," 149, 165.
+ Sisterhoods, 47, 150, 157, 212, 215, 216, 248.
+ Sisters of Charity, 93, 136, 145.
+ Sisters of the Common Life, 37, 39.
+ Sisters of the People, 163, 164.
+ Sisters of the Sacred Heart, 237.
+ Smyrna, 76.
+ Soup Kitchen, 169.
+ Southern Presbyterian Church, 218.
+ Southey, 145, 146.
+ Spaeth, A., 205, 207, 211.
+ Spain, 108.
+ Sparkes, Miss, 227.
+ Sparta, 10.
+ Spee, Count, 58.
+ Spee, Countess, 59.
+ Statistics, 86, 87.
+ Stevenson. Dr., 148.
+ "Stille halbe Stunde," 84.
+ Strasburg, 93.
+ Success and glory, 247.
+ Superintendent, 72, 195.
+ Support. See Expenses.
+ Sweden, 108.
+ Swedish Lutherans, 211.
+ Switzerland, 104, 112, 235.
+ Syllabus of Lectures, 196.
+ Syria, 76.
+
+ Talitha Cumi, 75.
+ Teachers, 68, 76, 80.
+ See Normal.
+ Theodosius, Emperor, 28.
+ Thoburn, Isabella, 226.
+ Thoburn, J. M., 5, 221, 222, 224, 227.
+ 1 Tim. iii, 8, 17.
+ iii, 8, 9, 79.
+ iii, 11, 15.
+ v, 9, 16.
+ Tit. ii, 3, 16.
+ Tottenham, 159.
+ Training-school, 62, 70, 229.
+ Turkey, 108.
+ TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES, DEACONESSES FROM THE,
+ 34; Belgium, Lambert le Bègue, 34; Béguines, 35; Sisters
+ and Brothers of the Common Life, Gerhard Groot, 37; Thomas à
+ Kempis, 38; Waldenses, 39; Bohemians, Huss, 40; Luther, 40;
+ Calvin, 42; Netherlands, 42; Damsels of Charity, 43;
+ Mennonites, Moravians, 44; Zinzendorf, 45.
+
+ Uniformity, Plan, 226.
+ United States. See America.
+
+ Valette, Pastor, 130, 139.
+ Vermeil, Pastor, 100, 139.
+ Vienna, 104.
+ Virgins, 20, 21, 25.
+ Von Stein, 48.
+
+ Wacker, Emil, 21, 40, 66, 231, 248.
+ Waiting-school, 235, 236.
+ Wakefield, Bishop of, 157.
+ Waldenses, 39.
+ Wars, nurses in, 89.
+ Weiss, G., 110.
+ Wesel, 42.
+ Western Church, 30.
+ Western New York, 216.
+ Widows, 16, 20, 21, 144.
+ Williams, Miss, 104.
+ "Willows, The," 184.
+ Wilmer, Bishop, 213.
+ Winckworth, C., 102.
+ Women, Old Testament, 24.
+ Apostolic times, 13, 16.
+ Early Church, 20.
+ Methodist, 6.
+ Women's Guild, 193, 200.
+ Women Workers' Guild, 193.
+ Wordsworth, 15, 239.
+ Work, hard, 247.
+ Wounded, 89, 131.
+ Wurdemberger, Sophie, 103.
+ Wurtemberg, 110.
+ Work-house, 72, 147.
+
+ Young, Alexander, 144.
+
+ Zinzendorf, Count, 45.
+ Zürich, 104, 112, 115, 116.
+
+
+
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | Transcriber's notes: Obvious spelling/typographical and |
+ | punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison |
+ | with other occurrences within the text and consultation of |
+ | external sources. |
+ | |
+ | The original book was published by HUNT & EATON at New York, and |
+ | by CRANSTON & STOWE at Cincinnati. The copyright date was 1889. |
+ | |
+ | Occasional discrepancies between index and text (for example, |
+ | "Harter" in the index but "Härter" in the text) have been |
+ | corrected to match the text. |
+ | |
+ | Some inconsistent mid-line hyphenations have been retained: |
+ | "bedside" and "bed-side" occur once each |
+ | "housework" and "house-work" occur once each |
+ | "workhouse[s]" occurs twice and "work-house" occurs three times |
+ | |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
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+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Deaconesses in Europe
+ and their Lessons for America
+
+Author: Jane M. Bancroft
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2007 [EBook #20747]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEACONESSES IN EUROPE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, David Wilson, Bill Tozier and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr class="pg" noshade="noshade" />
+
+<div class="main">
+<a id="png.001" name="png.001"></a>
+<h1 class="tp">DEACONESSES IN EUROPE</h1>
+
+<h5 class="tp">AND</h5>
+
+<h2 class="tp">Their Lessons for America</h2>
+
+<h5 class="tp">BY</h5>
+
+<h3 class="tp">JANE M.&nbsp;BANCROFT, Ph.D</h3>
+
+<h3 class="tp" style="text-transform: lowercase; margin-top: 2.5em;">WITH AN INTRODUCTION</h3>
+
+<h5 class="tp">BY</h5>
+
+<h3 class="tp">EDWARD G.&nbsp;ANDREWS, D.D., LL.D.</h3>
+
+<h5 class="tpi" style="margin-bottom: 4em;">Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church</h5>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+<table summary=""><tr><td>
+<p class="epigraph"> &ldquo;No life<br />
+Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife,<br />
+And all life not be purer and stronger thereby.&rdquo;
+</p></td></tr></table>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h5 class="tpi">NEW YORK and
+CINCINNATI</h5>
+<h5><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: the original book was published by HUNT &amp; EATON at New York,
+and by CRANSTON &amp; STOWE at Cincinatti. The copyright date was 1889.">1890</ins></h5>
+<a id="png.002" name="png.002"></a>
+<a id="png.003" name="png.003"></a>
+
+
+<h3 class="tv newchap" style="margin-top: 8em;">IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION,</h3>
+
+<h5 class="tp">TO</h5>
+
+<h3 class="tv">THE EARNEST AND DEVOTED WOMEN WHO,</h3>
+<h3 class="tv">AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON DEACONESS WORK</h3>
+
+<h5 class="tp">OF</h5>
+
+<h3 class="tvss">THE WOMAN&#8217;S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY,</h3>
+
+<h4 class="tv">HAVE AIDED IN EXTENDING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIACONATE
+OF WOMEN,</h4>
+
+<h6>THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY</h6>
+
+<h5><img src="images/dedicated.png" style="width: 7.5em; height: 2.5em;" alt="Dedicated" /></h5>
+
+<h5 style="margin-bottom: 8em;">BY THE AUTHOR.</h5>
+
+<a id="png.004" name="png.004"></a>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 class="newchap">AUTHOR&#8217;S NOTE.</h2>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+<p>The Author has aimed to present an accurate and
+concise statement of the deaconess cause as it exists at
+the present time.</p>
+
+<p>In all cases where it was possible, original sources of
+information have been consulted.</p>
+
+<p>Many friends, both in Europe and America, have
+given invaluable aid, for which words of thanks are an
+inadequate recognition.</p>
+
+<p>The excellent Index at the close of the volume was
+kindly prepared by the Rev. J.&nbsp;C. Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Gillett, Librarian
+of the Union Theological Seminary, and to Mr.
+C.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;A. Bjerregaard, of the Astor Library, for putting
+not only the facilities of the library, but their personal
+assistance, at the service of the writer.</p>
+
+
+<p class="right smc rindent nobrk">Jane M. Bancroft.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smc nobrk">New York city</span>, <i>June</i> 5, 1889.</p>
+<a id="png.005" name="png.005"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">005/</span>1</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 class="newchap">CONTENTS.</h2>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4>
+
+<h5>THE DIACONATE.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Compassion a Christian virtue&mdash;Brotherhood of all men in Christ&mdash;Foreign
+Missions&mdash;Home Missions&mdash;Service of ministering compassion
+gives rise to the diaconate&mdash;Diaconate of women&mdash;Its qualities&mdash;Field
+of labor
+ <a href="#png.013">Page 9</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Little knowledge of early Church&mdash;Pliny&#8217;s letter&mdash;Apostolic Constitutions&mdash;Deaconesses,
+widows, and virgins&mdash;Duties of the deaconess&mdash;Chrysostom,
+Olympias&mdash;Deaconesses in Western Church&mdash;Decline
+in importance&mdash;Extinction&mdash;Influences that led to decay
+ <a href="#png.022">18</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Béguines&mdash;Characteristics&mdash;Duties&mdash;Gerhard Groot&mdash;Sisters of the
+Common Life&mdash;Obligations&mdash;Duties&mdash;Waldenses&mdash;Bohemian Brethren&mdash;Luther&mdash;Calvin&mdash;Reformed
+Church at Wesel&mdash;Deaconesses in
+Amsterdam&mdash;Damsels of Charity&mdash;Mennonites and Moravians
+ <a href="#png.038">34</a></p>
+
+<a id="png.006" name="png.006"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">006/</span>2</samp>
+
+
+<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4>
+
+<h5>FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Efforts for the restoration of the office of deaconess made by
+Klönne&mdash;Amalie Sieveking&mdash;Von Stein&mdash;Count von der Recke&mdash;Fliedner&mdash;His
+childhood&mdash;Youth&mdash;Student life&mdash;Pastorate and travels&mdash;Marriage&mdash;First
+prison society&mdash;Founding of refuge&mdash;Need of
+training schools&mdash;Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess Society
+ <a href="#png.050">46</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4>
+
+<h5>THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Opening of hospital training-school&mdash;Gertrude Reichardt&mdash;The
+Home-life&mdash;Normal school&mdash;Fliedner&#8217;s wife&mdash;Publishing house&mdash;Orphan
+asylum&mdash;Insane asylum&mdash;Dispensary&mdash;Farm&mdash;&ldquo;Salem&rdquo;&mdash;House
+of Evening Rest&mdash;Extension of work&mdash;Berlin&mdash;Foreign lands
+Jerusalem&mdash;Beirut&mdash;Smyrna&mdash;Bucharest&mdash;Florence&mdash;Rome
+ <a href="#png.065">61</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4>
+
+<h5>THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH AND THE DUTIES AND SERVICES
+OF THE DEACONESSES.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Two classes of deaconesses&mdash;Nurses&mdash;Teachers&mdash;Qualifications&mdash;Probationers&mdash;Duties&mdash;Service
+of consecration&mdash;Conferences&mdash;Table
+of results&mdash;Instances of work&mdash;Duisburg&mdash;Schleswig-Holstein
+war&mdash;Austrian war&mdash;Franco Prussian war
+ <a href="#png.083">79</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4>
+
+<h5>OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">House at Strasburg&mdash;Mülhausen&mdash;Marthashof at Berlin&mdash;Neudettelsau&mdash;St.
+Loup&mdash;Riehen&mdash;Zürich&mdash;Gallneukirchen&mdash;Characteristics
+of institutions&mdash;Countries where they exist
+ <a href="#png.097">93</a></p>
+
+
+<a id="png.007" name="png.007"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">007/</span>3</samp>
+
+
+<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Origin of Bethany Society&mdash;House at Frankfort&mdash;Hamburg&mdash;Berlin&mdash;St.
+Gall&mdash;Zürich&mdash;Sister Myrtha&mdash;House of Rest&mdash;&ldquo;God&#8217;s Fidelity&rdquo;&mdash;House
+regulations&mdash;Training&mdash;Results
+ <a href="#png.114">110</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES IN PARIS.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Deaconess Home on Rue de Reuilly&mdash;Situation&mdash;School&mdash;Hospital&mdash;House
+of Correction&mdash;Preparatory school&mdash;Instruction&mdash;Prison
+mission&mdash;Mademoiselle Dumas&mdash;Expenses of house&mdash;Its founders&mdash;Deaconess
+house on Rue Bridaine&mdash;Character of work&mdash;Duties
+of the Sisters&mdash;Their consecration&mdash;Importance of parish deaconesses
+ <a href="#png.124">120</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Early beginnings&mdash;The Puritans&mdash;Cambridge Platform&mdash;Southey&#8217;s
+complaint&mdash;Mrs. Fry&mdash;Fliedner&mdash;Florence Nightingale&mdash;Agnes
+Jones&mdash;Distinction between &ldquo;sister&rdquo; and &ldquo;deaconess&rdquo;&mdash;Institutions
+in Church of England&mdash;Garb&mdash;Ceremonies&mdash;Self-denying lives&mdash;Dr.
+Laseron&#8217;s institutions and others&mdash;Prison mission of Mrs. Meredith&mdash;The
+Sisters of the People
+ <a href="#png.146">142</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4>
+
+<h5>MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Rev. W. Pennefather&mdash;Sketch of his life&mdash;Building of hall and
+deaconess home at Mildmay&mdash;Conference hall&mdash;Nursing hall&mdash;Mission
+and hospital at Bethnal Green&mdash;The deaconesses&mdash;Their
+training&mdash;Expense&mdash;Expenses of institution
+ <a href="#png.170">166</a></p>
+
+<a id="png.008" name="png.008"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">008/</span>4</samp>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4>
+
+<h5>DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Church of Scotland&mdash;Organization of woman&#8217;s work&mdash;Report of
+committees&mdash;Scheme&mdash;Adoption&mdash;Women&#8217;s Guild&mdash;Women-workers&#8217;
+Guild&mdash;Deaconesses&mdash;Training&mdash;Syllabus of lectures&mdash;Presbyterian
+Church of England and Ireland
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4>
+
+<h5>THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">German Lutherans&mdash;Fliedner visits America&mdash;Philadelphia&mdash;Mother-house
+of Deaconesses&mdash;Deaconesses in the Episcopal
+Church&mdash;Among the Presbyterians&mdash;The Methodist Episcopal
+Church&mdash;Deaconess-home in Chicago&mdash;Action of General Conference&mdash;Fields
+of work
+ <a href="#png.208">204</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4>
+
+<h5>THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR DEACONESSES
+IN AMERICA.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Advantages of the Home and Training-school&mdash;Field of work&mdash;In
+hospitals&mdash;Insane asylums&mdash;Infant-schools&mdash;Teachers&mdash;The
+Home-mission deaconess&mdash;Her work in London&mdash;Similar work
+needed in cities of the United States
+ <a href="#png.232">228</a></p>
+
+<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4>
+
+<h5>OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.</h5>
+
+<p class="toc">Objection that deaconesses resemble Catholic nuns&mdash;Their influence&mdash;Numbers
+in different orders&mdash;Order of Charles&mdash;Objection to
+garb&mdash;Its advantages&mdash;Objection to the life answered&mdash;Opinion of
+Bryce concerning American women&mdash;Women of Methodism&mdash;Advice
+to candidates&mdash;Associates&mdash;The Church commended by its
+deeds
+ <a href="#png.251">247</a></p>
+
+<a id="png.009" name="png.009"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">009/</span>5</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 class="newchap">INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="smc">How</span> far, and in what form, ought woman&#8217;s work
+in the Church to be organized? What was the
+deaconess of St. Paul&#8217;s epistles? What light on
+this subject do the primitive and the medi&aelig;val
+Churches yield us? Can &ldquo;sisterhoods&rdquo; be established
+without weakening the sense of personal responsibility
+in those Christian women who are not
+thus wholly set apart to charitable and spiritual
+work? Can they be multiplied without danger of
+introducing into Protestant communions the evils
+of the conventual life? Are there modern instances
+of safe and successful organizations? What
+good have they achieved, and what further good
+do they promise? In what relation should such
+organizations stand to the authority and fostering
+care of the Church? What should be their scope,
+spirit, methods? What regulations are fundamental<a
+ id="png.010" name="png.010"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">010/</span>6</samp>
+and indispensable? What perils are real
+and possibly imminent?</p>
+
+<p>To answer these, and other questions associated
+with them, this book is written. Its authoress is a
+gifted daughter of the Church, well known in literary
+and educational circles. During a protracted
+sojourn in Europe she enjoyed unusual facilities for
+studying the deaconess work as carried on in many
+places, and particularly in the institutions founded
+by Pastor Fliedner at Kaiserswerth in Prussia, and
+in those at Mildmay in England. She has also
+made a thorough and discriminating study of the
+subject as developed in the early centuries of the
+Church and in the Middle Ages.</p>
+
+<p>The book itself will amply reveal these facts,
+and cannot but contribute largely to the guidance
+of the newly revived interest of the American
+churches in the far-reaching question how Christian
+women may best serve their Lord in serving the
+humanity which he has redeemed.</p>
+
+<p>It appears at an opportune time. The General
+Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at
+its session in May, 1888, inserted in the law of the
+Church a chapter on deaconesses, defining their<a
+ id="png.011" name="png.011"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">011/</span>7</samp>
+duties and providing for the appointment and
+oversight of them through the Annual Conferences.
+This action was the natural outcome of a wide and
+increasing appreciation of the service of Christian
+women in many departments of Church work; and
+it was greatly furthered by the advocacy of Dr. J.&nbsp;M.
+Thoburn, now the devoted and honored missionary
+bishop of India and Malaysia. But it had
+not been the subject of any considerable previous
+discussion in the periodicals of the Church, and
+there was not in the Church a widely diffused or an
+accurate knowledge of the history, scope, possibilities,
+or perils of such an organization. The promptness,
+however, with which the provision thus made
+by the General Conference has been seized upon by
+the Church in several of our large cities, indicates
+that the time was ripe for the movement. But
+information is still scanty; ideas concerning the
+aim and place of the deaconess work are crude;
+methods have been very little digested; the foundations
+of local homes evidently may come to be
+very imperfectly laid; and the movement may
+easily come to naught.</p>
+
+<p>This book, it is hoped, will do a twofold work.<a
+ id="png.012" name="png.012"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">012/</span>8</samp>
+It will awaken a lively interest in a movement
+already arrived at large proportions in some parts
+of European Protestantism; and it will guide those
+among us who are studying how best to organize,
+against the sin and suffering of the world, the practically
+unlimited resources of Christian women.
+Whenever any one shall in some good degree apprehend
+what helpfulness for the lost as yet lies
+undeveloped in the hearts and hands of the daughters
+of the Church, and what honor may yet come
+to Christianity by the rightly directed use of this
+power, he will welcome a volume which, like the
+present one, offers such guidance as history, observation,
+and earnest reflection yield on the question
+at issue.</p>
+
+<p class="right smc rindent">Edward G. Andrews.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smc">New York</span>, <i>May</i> 10, 1889.</p>
+<a id="png.013" name="png.013"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">013/</span>9</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h1 class="newchap">DEACONESSES IN EUROPE.</h1>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE DIACONATE.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">In</span> the ruins of the old cities of Greece and Rome
+we find buildings that were used for public purposes
+of all kinds&mdash;forums, theaters, amphitheaters, circuses,
+and temples of worship. Every provision
+was made for the entertainment of the people, and
+for their political and intellectual needs. But nowhere
+do we find the ruins of structures, belonging
+either to the public or to private individuals, indicating
+that any attempt was ever made to care for
+the feeble-minded, the insane, the deaf, the blind,
+the sick, or the aged; those that in every nation
+of modern times are the wards of the State and the
+definite objects of religious ministrations.</p>
+
+<p>The ruins cannot be found because such buildings
+never existed. No provision was made for those
+suffering from bodily infirmities, because so far as<a
+ id="png.014" name="png.014"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">014/</span>10</samp>
+the State could control circumstances they were
+not allowed to exist. Children who were defective
+in any way were put to death. In Sparta this
+measure was carried out under government supervision.
+Even Plato in his model republic has all
+children of wicked men, the misshapen, or the illegitimate
+put out of existence, that they may not
+be a burden to the State.<sup><a href="#fn.i.1" name="fna.i.1" id="fna.i.1">1</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>With the coming of Christ new elements were
+introduced into the civilization of the world; elements
+of kindliness, of compassion, of sympathy of
+man toward his fellow-man, that up to this time
+had not been known. There was a new revelation
+of the brotherhood of all men in the fatherhood of
+God: &ldquo;We are all one in Christ Jesus.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This spirit of compassion and of sympathy has
+grown with every century in the Christian era, and
+at no time has it been stronger in the history of the
+world than it is to-day. Well has one American
+historian said:</p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;To a generation which knows but two crimes
+worthy of death, that against the life of the individual
+and that against the life of the State; which
+has expended fabulous sums in the erection of reformatories,
+asylums, and penitentiaries, houses of<a
+ id="png.015" name="png.015"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">015/</span>11</samp>
+correction, houses of refuge, and houses of detention
+all over the land; which has furnished every
+State prison with a library, with a hospital, with
+workshops, and with schools, the brutal scenes on
+which our ancestors looked with indifference seem
+scarcely a reality. Yet it is well to recall them,
+for we cannot but turn from the contemplation
+of so much misery and so much suffering with a
+deep sense of thankfulness that our lot has fallen
+in a pitiful age, when more compassion is felt
+for a galled horse or a dog run over at a street-crossing
+than our great-grandfathers felt for a
+woman beaten for cursing, or a man imprisoned for
+debt.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.i.2" name="fna.i.2" id="fna.i.2">2</a></sup></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The spirit of Christ has penetrated even where
+his rule is not acknowledged, and the humanitarianism
+of the present day is simply the leaven
+of Christian love working among the masses of
+men.</p>
+
+<p>In the Christian world the effort to realize the
+brotherhood of all men in Christ is producing large
+results. Treasures of money, and infinitely more
+precious treasures of men, are every year devoted
+to this one object. The cause of Protestant foreign
+missions is not yet a century old, but the
+latest available statistics tell us that the following<a
+ id="png.016" name="png.016"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">016/</span>12</samp>
+sums are being contributed annually for this great
+work:<sup><a href="#fn.i.3" name="fna.i.3" id="fna.i.3">3</a></sup></p>
+
+<table summary="">
+<tr><td>32</td><td colspan="3">American societies contribute</td><td class="right">$3,011,027</td></tr>
+<tr><td>28</td><td>British</td><td class="ditto">&nbsp; " </td><td class="ditto"> " </td><td class="right">5,217,385</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="total">27</td><td>Continental</td><td class="ditto">&nbsp; " </td><td class="ditto"> " </td><td class="total">1,083,170</td></tr>
+<tr><td>87</td><td colspan="3">societies contribute </td><td class="right">$9,311,582</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>With this large sum American societies are employing
+986 men, and 1,081 women; British societies,
+1,811 men, and 745 women; Continental
+societies, 777 men, and 447 women. Total, 3,574
+men, 2,273 women.</p>
+
+<p>Visible results of faithfulness in work:</p>
+
+<table summary="">
+<tr><td style="white-space: nowrap;">Members in</td><td colspan="2">American societies</td><td class="right"> 242,733</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="ditto" style="text-align: center;"> " </td><td>British </td><td class="ditto">&nbsp; " </td><td class="right"> 340,242</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="ditto" style="text-align: center;"> " </td><td>Continental</td><td class="ditto">&nbsp; " </td><td class="total">117,532</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="3">Total membership in foreign lands </td><td class="right"> 700,507</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="3">Children in the Sunday-schools </td><td class="right"> 626,741</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The subject of home missions is to-day attracting
+greater attention than ever before. &ldquo;Die Innere
+Mission&rdquo; of Germany, the various forms the work
+assumes in England, the many societies in the
+United States occupied by the questions of city
+evangelization, work among the Mormons, the treatment
+of the Indians, care for the colored race, and<a
+ id="png.017" name="png.017"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">017/</span>13</samp>
+other phases of home work show that Christians
+are fully understanding that it is wise to build over
+against our own house.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly the reproach cannot justly be made
+that the Church of Christ is neglectful of the precept,
+&ldquo;As we have therefore opportunity, let us do
+good unto all men.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This is genuine service of man to man, and the
+motive of the service is love to God. Every revelation
+of God is of ministering love and compassion,
+and the efforts of his disciples to imitate the divine
+love have indelibly stamped upon modern civilization
+the Christian impress.</p>
+
+<p>The service of ministering compassion is so
+clearly one of the duties of Christ&#8217;s Church that of
+necessity there must be ordinances touching the
+exercise of this duty. So in Acts vi, 3, we read of
+the appointment of the deacons, &ldquo;men of honest
+report, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom,&rdquo; to
+see that the service of the tables was not neglected.</p>
+
+<p>But Christian women have ever had special gifts
+in caring for the poor and sick and helpless, and
+the women of apostolic times must necessarily have
+had their part in these services of love. In addition
+to the diaconate appointed by the apostles recorded
+in the sixth chapter of Acts, we must look
+for a female diaconate as an office in the Church.<a
+ id="png.018" name="png.018"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">018/</span>14</samp>
+This we do not fail to find. In Rom.&nbsp;xvi, 1, we
+read: &ldquo;I commend unto you Phebe, a deacon of
+the church which is at Cenchrea.&rdquo; Such at least
+would have been the form of the verse if our translators
+had rendered the Greek word here translated
+servant as they rendered the like word in the sixth
+chapter of Acts, the third of the First Epistle to
+Timothy, and in other passages of the apostolic
+writings.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That ye receive her in the Lord as becometh
+saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever
+business she hath need of you: for she hath
+been a succorer of many, and of myself also.&rdquo;
+These words of St. Paul are especially valuable
+as an apostolic witness for the existence of the
+office of deaconess at the time when he wrote.
+They are even more than that. They are an apostolic
+commendation of the office addressed to the
+Christian Church of all times to accept the deaconess
+in the Lord, and to assist her &ldquo;in whatsoever
+business she hath need of you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Whether Priscilla, spoken of with Aquila as &ldquo;my
+helpers in Christ Jesus,&rdquo; or Tryphena, Tryphosa,
+and the beloved Persis, who &ldquo;labored much,&rdquo; or
+Julia and Olympas, all mentioned in the same
+chapter, were or were not deaconesses we have
+no means of knowing.</p>
+<a id="png.019" name="png.019"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">019/</span>15</samp>
+
+<p>Outside of this chapter we do not find other
+references to the order in the New Testament,
+unless it be in 1&nbsp;Tim. iii, 11. In the midst of a
+lengthy description of the qualifications of deacons
+is interjected the exhortation: &ldquo;Even so must
+their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful
+in all things.&rdquo; Now the word <i>wives</i> has no authority
+from the Greek word, which is simply <i>women</i>.
+Bishop Lightfoot remarks, in his book on the authorized
+version of the New Testament, &ldquo;If the
+theory of the definite article (in the Greek) had
+been understood our translators would have seen
+that the reference is to deaconesses, not to wives
+of the deacons.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Many eminent scholars are of the same opinion,
+among whom are Chrysostom, Grotius, Bishop
+Wordsworth, and Dean Alvord. Dean Howson
+adds: &ldquo;It should be particularly noticed in connection
+with this that in the early part of the chapter
+no such directions are given concerning the wives
+of the bishops, though they are certainly as important
+as the wives of the deacons; so that it can
+scarcely be thought otherwise than that the apostle&#8217;s
+directions were for the deaconesses, an order
+which we find in ecclesiastical records for some
+centuries side by side with that of deacons.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.i.4" name="fna.i.4" id="fna.i.4">4</a></sup></p>
+<a id="png.020" name="png.020"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">020/</span>16</samp>
+
+<p>Those mentioned in Tit. ii, 3, and in 1&nbsp;Tim. v, 9,
+cannot be considered as holding the office of a deaconess.
+They belong distinctively to the class of
+widows, who held a position of honor in the Church.
+St. Paul had clear conceptions of the administrative
+needs of the Church, and it is not probable that
+he would set apart to the service of deaconesses,
+which had many difficult duties, those who were
+already sixty years old.</p>
+
+<p>The many names of faithful women mentioned
+in his letters as helpers in the Church are important
+witnesses for the great apostle&#8217;s appreciation
+of woman&#8217;s co-operation in the work of the Church,
+although his judgment was necessarily limited in
+some directions by the influence of the times in
+which he lived.</p>
+
+<p>Let us examine the requirements for the diaconate
+of the early Church. The word diaconate means
+service; helpful service. We use the word to designate
+service for the Church of Christ; service that
+more particularly concerns itself with administering
+the charities of the Church and performing its duties
+of compassion and mercy. The men who were
+selected for this office were to be men of &ldquo;honest
+report.&rdquo; They must have led a blameless life.
+Those who had repented of wrong-doing and reformed
+their lives were excluded from the office,<a
+ id="png.021" name="png.021"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">021/</span>17</samp>
+because they had lost a good report &ldquo;of them
+which are without.&rdquo; Pre-eminently they must be
+men of spiritual experience, proven Christians,
+&ldquo;full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom.&rdquo; They
+were also to have practical gifts that would make
+them efficient and capable in the duties of every-day
+life. 1&nbsp;Tim. iii,&nbsp;8.</p>
+
+<p>These are some of the qualifications spoken of as
+belonging to the diaconate, and are the same in
+application to either sex. The woman deacon must,
+however, besides possessing the above qualities, be
+unmarried or a widow. The married woman has
+her calling at home, and cannot combine with that
+an official calling in the Church, although she may
+be a valuable lay helper.</p>
+
+<p>The field of labor of the women deacons of apostolic
+times and of the present is essentially the
+same. The conditions of society and of the Church,
+however, are totally dissimilar. We must, therefore,
+look to see new adaptations of the same useful
+qualities. In other words, we shall not expect to take
+the female diaconate of the days of the apostles
+and transport it unchanged, into nineteenth century
+environments. We shall rather expect to see
+the invariably useful qualities of the diaconate of
+women adapted to the needs of the sinful, sorrowing,
+ignorant, and helpless of the age in which we live.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.i.1" id="fn.i.1" href="#fna.i.1">1</a>
+<i>Heidenthum und Judenthum</i>, von Döllinger, p.&nbsp;692. Regensburg,
+1857.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.i.2" id="fn.i.2" href="#fna.i.2">2</a>
+MacMaster&#8217;s <i>History of the United States</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;102.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.i.3" id="fn.i.3" href="#fna.i.3">3</a>
+Statistics from <i>North American Review</i>, February, 1889, &ldquo;Why
+am I a Missionary?&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.i.4" id="fn.i.4" href="#fna.i.4">4</a>
+<i>Deaconesses</i>, Rev. J.&nbsp;D. Howson, D.D., p.&nbsp;236.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.022" name="png.022"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">022/</span>18</samp>
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.</h4>
+
+
+<p>To understand the position of the deaconess with
+respect to the modern Church we must know something
+of the relation in which she stood to the early
+Church. Concisely as may be we must recall the
+story of the intervening centuries to the present,
+that we may learn the true position of deaconesses
+in modern times.</p>
+
+<p>We have very little knowledge of the early
+Church. During the first century and the first
+half of the second century continued persecution
+compelled the religious communities of the new
+faith to live in almost complete seclusion. For the
+same reason little has been left on record of those
+years, and it is impossible to form clear conceptions
+of Church history during the period. The first
+trace which we find of the existence of deaconesses
+after the times of the apostles comes to us from an
+entirely outside source&mdash;from the official records of
+the Roman government. Shortly after the close of
+the first century the Emperor Trajan sent the<a
+ id="png.023" name="png.023"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">023/</span>19</samp>
+younger Pliny as prefect to Bithynia in Asia Minor.
+At the imperial command he began a persecution
+of the Christians, but interrupted it for a time to
+obtain further instructions from the emperor. His
+letter and the reply still exist. In the course of
+what he wrote Pliny says that he had sought to
+learn from two maids, who were called &ldquo;ministr&aelig;&rdquo;
+(&ldquo;ex duabus ancillis, qu&aelig; ministr&aelig; dicebantur,&rdquo;
+Book&nbsp;x, chap. xcvii), or helpers, the truth of what
+the Christians had said, and had even deemed it
+necessary to put them to torture, but could obtain
+evidence of nothing save unbounded superstition.
+Here is independent testimony of singular interest
+that deaconesses, followers of Phebe, were found in
+Christian communities of Asia Minor at the beginning
+of the second century, and that they kept the
+faith, when put to cruel martyrdom.</p>
+
+<p>The clearest conceptions of the characteristics
+and duties of deaconesses of the early Church we
+obtain from the <i>Apostolic Constitutions</i>, a collection
+of ecclesiastical instructions that gradually grew
+up in the Eastern Church, and were gathered into
+one work in the fourth century. These instructions
+were of unequal antiquity, ranging from the earliest
+usages to the rules and practices last determined
+upon. Whether the <i>Apostolic Constitutions</i> have
+all the authority that some claim for them is a<a
+ id="png.024" name="png.024"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">024/</span>20</samp>
+question not here to be decided. If not genuine,
+they must have been written at a very early time,
+and from that fact possess a historical value of their
+own. &ldquo;They prove beyond a doubt that there was
+a time in the history of the Church when a clear
+idea was held by some writer of the office of the
+female deacon as essential to the discipline of the
+Church.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.ii.1" name="fna.ii.1" id="fna.ii.1">1</a></sup> From them we learn of three distinct
+types of women connected with the administration
+of the Church&mdash;deaconesses, widows, and virgins.
+Deaconesses and widows date from apostolic times,
+the Church virgins from a somewhat later period.
+The distinction between widows and deaconesses
+was not at first clearly maintained. By some
+Church fathers widows were called deaconesses,
+and deaconesses widows. It was only after the
+lapse of time that we find the classes clearly distinguished,
+and when that time is reached the
+deaconesses have become exalted in office, being
+regarded as belonging to the clergy,<sup><a href="#fn.ii.2" name="fna.ii.2" id="fna.ii.2">2</a></sup> while the widows
+have lost somewhat the honorable position first
+accorded to them. The deaconesses are active ministering
+agents, caring for the necessities of others;
+the widows have passed the period of active service,<a
+ id="png.025" name="png.025"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">025/</span>21</samp>
+and having won the respect and protection of the
+Church are supported in old age from a fund set
+apart for that purpose. In the <i>Apostolic Constitutions</i>
+the order of deaconesses stands forth independently,
+its many official activities are mentioned,
+and the importance of its service emphasized.</p>
+
+<p>By combining the different references we obtain
+a tolerably clear picture of the deaconess and her
+duties. She must be a &ldquo;pure virgin,&rdquo; or &ldquo;a widow
+once married, faithful, and worthy&rdquo; (Book vi, chap.
+xvii). Her special duties were as follows:</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a.</i>) She was a door-keeper at the women&#8217;s entrance
+to the church. This was an ancient service,
+dating back to the oldest times.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.3" name="fna.ii.3" id="fna.ii.3">3</a></sup> Ignatius died a
+martyr&#8217;s death not long after the beginning of the
+second century, and in a letter which bears his
+name is written, &ldquo;I greet the doorkeepers of the
+holy doors, the deaconesses who are in the Lord.&rdquo;
+
+This guardianship was maintained not only in
+times of persecution, but as a matter of order and
+discipline in times of peace.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b.</i>) She showed women their places in the congregation,
+being especially bound to look after the
+poor and strangers, giving each due attention.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c.</i>) She instructed the female catechumens. She<a
+ id="png.026" name="png.026"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">026/</span>22</samp>
+also visited the women&#8217;s apartments, where male deacons
+could not enter, carried messages to the bishops,
+and acted as a missionary. Teaching was an important
+part of the duties of the early deaconesses.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d.</i>) The deaconess had certain duties in connection
+with the baptism of women that were considered
+important and indispensable.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e.</i>) In times of persecution she visited those who
+were oppressed or in prison, and ministered to their
+bodily and spiritual needs. She seems to have been
+less endangered in performing these acts than were
+men. Lucian alludes to the service of these devoted
+women in prisons. She also cared for the
+sick and sorrowing, being especially &ldquo;zealous to
+serve other women.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f.</i>) On occasion she was a mediator when there
+was strife in families, or among friends. Both to
+deacons and deaconesses &ldquo;pertain messages, journeys
+to foreign parts, ministrations, services.&rdquo; The
+ever-to-be-remembered journey of Phebe to Rome,
+when a whole system of theology was committed
+to her keeping, was quite within the sphere of her
+duties. It has also been said that to them was
+given the safe-keeping of the holy books in periods
+of persecution. The enumeration of these principal
+duties implying so many lesser details helps us
+to understand that &ldquo;deaconesses are needed for<a
+ id="png.027" name="png.027"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">027/</span>23</samp>
+many purposes&rdquo; (Book ii, chapter xv). The deaconess
+was ordained to her work, as is attested by
+a great number of authorities.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.4" name="fna.ii.4" id="fna.ii.4">4</a></sup> &ldquo;It was because
+men felt still that the Holy Ghost alone could give
+power to do any work to God&#8217;s glory that they
+deemed themselves constrained to ask such power
+of him, in setting a woman to do Church service.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.ii.5" name="fna.ii.5" id="fna.ii.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The following beautiful prayer of ordination, attributed
+to the apostle Bartholomew, bears within
+it certain proofs of the very early existence of the
+ceremony, as well as of the order of deaconesses:</p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
+Creator of man and women, who didst fill Miriam
+and Deborah and Hannah and Huldah with thy
+Spirit, and didst not disdain to suffer thine only-begotten
+Son to be born of a woman; who also in
+the tabernacle and temple didst appoint woman-keepers
+of thine holy gates, look down now upon this
+thine handmaid, who is designated to the office of
+deaconess, and cleanse her from all filthiness of the
+flesh and of the spirit, that she may worthily execute
+the work intrusted to her to thine honor, and
+to the praise of thine Anointed, to whom, with thee<a
+ id="png.028" name="png.028"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">028/</span>24</samp>
+and the Holy Ghost, be honor and adoration forever.
+Amen.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The allusion to the creation of man and woman,
+to the women in the Old Testament who were
+called to special service, as well as to Mary, the
+mother of the Lord, while no reference is made to
+the women of the apostolic Church who were so
+highly commended, and held in veneration as
+worthy of all imitation, go to prove that the origin
+of this prayer was so near the time of the apostles
+as to be almost contemporary with them.</p>
+
+<p>The office of the deaconess, as described by the
+<i>Apostolic Constitutions</i>, fitted into the needs of the
+Eastern Church and the requirements of Greek life.
+It was in the East that the diaconate of women originated,
+and here that it attained its greatest growth.
+In the West custom did not demand the careful
+separation of the sexes as in the East, and church
+relations were less bound by social usages; consequently
+we meet with fewer references to deaconesses
+in the works of the Latin fathers, and the
+diaconate of women is not so deeply rooted in the
+affections of the church communities as we have
+found it in the Greek Church.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.6" name="fna.ii.6" id="fna.ii.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The fourth century was the blossoming period of<a
+ id="png.029" name="png.029"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">029/</span>25</samp>
+woman&#8217;s diaconate, when it attained its highest importance.
+All the leading Greek fathers and Church
+authorities of the age make mention of it. The
+office is spoken of as worthy of all honor, filled by
+women of rank from noble families, and those of
+wealth and ability. It found its special advocate
+and protector in Chrysostom, &ldquo;John of the Golden
+Mouth,&rdquo; who was Bishop of Constantinople from
+397 until 407&nbsp;A.D. He seems to have had the
+ability, rare for that age, of understanding the value
+of the services of Christian women, and through his
+wise guidance and encouragement had over them
+almost unbounded influence. Forty-six deaconesses
+were under his direction&mdash;forty attached to
+the mother church at Constantinople, and six belonging
+to a small church in the suburbs. A number
+of these were closely identified with his history,
+either as relatives or friends, and through his writings
+their memory is preserved. Of these are
+Nicarete, of a noble family of Nicomedia. We are
+told she was of a modest, retiring nature, and
+would not take places of responsibility when urged
+to do so by Chrysostom. We note a strong tendency
+toward the later celibate life of the nuns
+when we read that she was extolled for &ldquo;her perpetual
+virginity and holy life.&rdquo; Sabiniana was the
+aunt of Chrysostom. To Amprucla the bishop<a
+ id="png.030" name="png.030"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">030/</span>26</samp>
+wrote two letters still extant.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.7" name="fna.ii.7" id="fna.ii.7">7</a></sup> They are filled
+with words of consolation for the religious persecution
+she has undergone. In one of them he says:
+&ldquo;Greatly did we sympathize with your manliness,
+your steadfast and adamantine understanding, your
+freedom of speech and boldness.&rdquo; &ldquo;Manliness of
+soul&rdquo; seems to have held a high place in the bishop&#8217;s
+favorite qualities. In another place, writing
+to the same deaconess, he praises &ldquo;your steadfast
+soul, true to God; yea, rather, your noble and most
+manly soul.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Pentadia and Procla were closely associated with
+Olympias. In a letter to Pentadia, Chrysostom
+writes: &ldquo;For I know your great and lofty soul,
+which can sail as with a fair wind through many
+tempests, and in the midst of the waves enjoy a
+white calm.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.ii.8" name="fna.ii.8" id="fna.ii.8">8</a></sup> Reading such words of appreciation,
+words that in other places approach dangerously
+near to adulation, we better understand the
+influence Chrysostom exercised over the women
+of his time, and their steadfast devotion to him.
+They had the conviction that all their efforts met
+with his sincere and profound appreciation and
+quick responsive acknowledgment.</p>
+<a id="png.031" name="png.031"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">031/</span>27</samp>
+
+<p>Pre-eminent among the friends of the great bishop
+was Olympias, of whom Dean Howson said, &ldquo;She
+is the queenly figure among the deaconesses of the
+primitive Church.&rdquo; To understand her life we
+must recall the scenes by which she was surrounded
+and the age in which she lived.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.9" name="fna.ii.9" id="fna.ii.9">9</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In the great capital of the Eastern Empire, where
+the luxuriance and magnificence of the Orient combined
+with the keen, quick intellectual life of the
+Greeks; in the circle of the imperial court, with its
+intrigues, its fashions, its favoritisms; at a time
+when outwardly much respect was paid to the
+forms of religious life, but when the great and vital
+dogmas of the Church were made the sport of witty
+sophistical disputations; when those who endeavored
+to lead an earnest Christian life met with
+nearly as much to oppose them as in periods of active
+persecution; such were her environments.
+They were little favorable to the strength of mind,
+the fixedness of purpose, the self-denial and Christian
+devotion that marked this noble deaconess.
+Born in 368&nbsp;A.D. of a heathen family of rank, owing
+to her parents&#8217; early death she was educated a Christian.
+In her seventeenth year she married Nebridius,
+the prefect of the city, but after a married life
+of twenty months he died, leaving her at eighteen<a
+ id="png.032" name="png.032"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">032/</span>28</samp>
+years a widow, rich, beautiful, and free to decide
+her future. The Emperor Theodosius desired her
+to marry one of his kinsmen, but she refused, saying,
+&ldquo;Had God designed me to lead a married life
+he would not have taken my husband; I will remain
+a widow,&rdquo; and shortly after she was consecrated a
+deaconess by Bishop Nectarius. The emperor, angered
+at her refusal, took from her the use of her
+large fortune, and put it under the care of guardians
+until she should be thirty years old, whereupon
+she only thanked him for relieving her of the heavy
+responsibility of administering her estate, and begged
+him to add to his kindness by dividing it between
+the poor and the Church.</p>
+
+<p>Shamed out of his anger, the emperor soon restored
+her rights, and when Chrysostom came to Constantinople
+her lavish and often unwise generosity was
+felt in every direction, being compared to &ldquo;a stream
+which flows to the end of the world.&rdquo; He reproved
+her unbounded liberality, and advised her to administer
+alms as a wise steward who must render
+an account. This counsel guided her into safer
+paths. Finally, when Chrysostom was driven forth
+to banishment, by his advice she remained in the
+city, and became a support for his followers and
+those who had been dependent upon him. She
+met contemptuous treatment and judicial persecutions,<a
+ id="png.033" name="png.033"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">033/</span>29</samp>
+but continued her works of charity, and outlived
+the man whose mind and heart had so influenced
+hers by eleven years. Chrysostom wrote
+her many letters, of which seventeen are extant.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.10" name="fna.ii.10" id="fna.ii.10">10</a></sup>
+They plainly show the estimate he set upon the
+diaconate of women, and his endeavor to wisely
+cherish it. Unfortunately, they also show exaggeration
+of compliment and praise which detract
+from his words of sincere and honest admiration.
+Too often, also, he gives undue value to works of
+mercy, and exalts acts of ascetic self-denial.</p>
+
+<p>The question of the age at which deaconesses
+could be received is a vexed one. The confusion
+of apprehension touching deaconesses and widows
+led to differing enactments at different times and
+places. The restriction of age, however, must
+now have lost its force, as we find Olympias a
+deaconess when not yet twenty years of age, and
+Makrina, the sister of Gregory of Nyssa, was ordained
+when a young girl. Deaconesses retained
+control of their property. In truth, a law of the
+State forbade them to enrich churches and institutions
+at the expense of those having just claims on
+them. Deaconesses also existed in the Church of
+Asia Minor. Ignatius mentions them as at Antioch
+in Syria. They were in Italy and Rome. The<a
+ id="png.034" name="png.034"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">034/</span>30</samp>
+Church of St. Pudentiana, in the Eternal City, keeps
+alive the memory of two deaconesses whose house
+is said to have stood on this site; Praxedes and Pudentiana,
+the daughters of a Roman senator, who
+devoted themselves, with all they had, to the service
+of the Church. Deaconesses also penetrated to Ireland,
+Gaul, and Spain, lingering in the last named
+country many years after they had passed out of
+knowledge elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>We find very little about this order of Christian
+workers in the Western Church. There is a passage
+of Origen in a Latin translation which speaks of the
+ministry of women as both existing and necessary,
+but in the great Latin fathers, the contemporaries
+of Chrysostom, scarcely a mention occurs. From
+the last half of the fifth century the diaconate of
+women declined in importance.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.11" name="fna.ii.11" id="fna.ii.11">11</a></sup> It was deprived
+of its clerical character by the decrees passed by
+the Gallic councils of the fifth and sixth centuries.
+It was finally entirely abolished as a church order
+by the Synod of Orleans, 593&nbsp;A.D., which forbade
+any woman henceforth to receive the <i>benedictio diaconalis</i>,
+which had been substituted for <i>ordinatio
+diaconalis</i> by a previous council (Synod of Orange,
+441). The withdrawing of church sanctions made
+the deaconess cause a private one. But as such it<a
+ id="png.035" name="png.035"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">035/</span>31</samp>
+existed for hundreds of years, often under the
+patronage and protection of those high in authority.
+About the year 600&nbsp;A.D. the patriarch of
+Constantinople, godfather of the Emperor Mauritius,
+built for his sister, who was a deaconess, a
+church which for centuries was called the &ldquo;Church
+of the Deaconesses.&rdquo; It is still standing and,
+only slightly changed, is now used for a Turkish
+mosque.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.12" name="fna.ii.12" id="fna.ii.12">12</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In the twelfth century there were still deaconesses
+at Constantinople. Balsamon, a distinguished
+professor of Church law, writing at the time, says
+that deaconesses were still elected in that city and
+took charge of conferences among women members,
+but in other places the order had passed completely
+away.</p>
+
+<p>There was no historian of the diaconate of the
+early Church. We learn of it only from isolated
+and occasional references in works devoted to other
+subjects. Yet these references are sufficient to
+enable us to affirm that deaconesses were a factor
+in the life of the Church for from nine to twelve
+centuries, or two thirds of the Christian era.</p>
+
+<p>The same influences led to its decay that affected
+the entire life of the Church during these centuries.<a
+ id="png.036" name="png.036"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">036/</span>32</samp>
+The superior sanctity attached to the unmarried
+state, that brought about the celibacy of the priests,
+gradually changed the active beneficent existence
+of the old-time deaconesses into the cloistral life of
+nuns. Statutes were passed forbidding her to marry.
+Gradually grew up the dangerous superstition of the
+marriage of the individual soul with Christ, that
+made of the nun the Bride of Christ in an especial
+sense. It was this false conception that led the vow
+of the nun to be regarded as the vow of marriage,
+and to be guarded from infringement in the same
+way as the human marriage tie, and like it to be
+lasting for life. The glorious doctrine of justification
+by faith was replaced by ascetic mortifications
+of the flesh based upon the belief in meritorious
+works. The cell of the monk and the nun were
+esteemed more sacred than the family circle, and
+in the darkness of medi&aelig;val times that settled
+down upon the life of the Church we lose sight
+of the busy, active ministrations of women deacons,
+who had once been esteemed so needful to her
+usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>There are other minor causes that aided in the
+downfall of the order; the abuses that arose in
+some cases; the changes in the ceremony of baptism
+by which the aid of women was not so indispensable,
+and especially the fact that since the time<a
+ id="png.037" name="png.037"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">037/</span>33</samp>
+of Constantine the care of the sick and poor was
+placed under the charge of the State.<sup><a href="#fn.ii.13" name="fna.ii.13" id="fna.ii.13">13</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>These causes combined removed from the life of
+the Church a powerful agency for good, and for
+centuries deprived it of the pre-eminent gifts of
+ministration which belong to Christian women.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.ii.1" id="fn.ii.1" href="#fna.ii.1">1</a>
+<i>Woman&#8217;s Work in the Church</i>, J.&nbsp;M. Ludlow, p.&nbsp;21.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.2" id="fn.ii.2" href="#fna.ii.2">2</a>
+<i>Die Weibliche Diakonie in ihrem ganzen Umfang</i>, Theodor
+Schäfer, 3 vols. Stuttgart: D.&nbsp;Gundert, 1887. Vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;45.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.3" id="fn.ii.3" href="#fna.ii.3">3</a>
+<i>Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart</i>,
+Emil Wacker. <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Guterslöh'">Gütersloh</ins>: E. Bertelman, 1888. <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'P. 33'">p.&nbsp;33</ins>.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.4" id="fn.ii.4" href="#fna.ii.4">4</a>
+Neander, <i>Hist. of Chr. Religion and Church</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;188;
+Schaff, <i>Hist. of Chr. Church</i>, vol. iii, p.&nbsp;260; McClintock &amp; Strong&#8217;s
+<i>Encyclop&aelig;dia</i>, art. &ldquo;Deaconesses.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.5" id="fn.ii.5" href="#fna.ii.5">5</a>
+J.&nbsp;M. Ludlow, <i>Woman&#8217;s Work in the Church</i>, p.&nbsp;17.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.6" id="fn.ii.6" href="#fna.ii.6">6</a>
+Neander, <i>Hist. of Chr. Rel. and Church</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;188; Schaff,
+<i>Hist. of Chr. Church</i>, vol. iii, p.&nbsp;260.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.7" id="fn.ii.7" href="#fna.ii.7">7</a>
+<i>Sancti Johannis Chrysostomi opera om</i>, t.&nbsp;ii, pp. 659, 662.
+Paris, 1842.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.8" id="fn.ii.8" href="#fna.ii.8">8</a>
+Chrys., <i>Op.</i>, vol.&nbsp;ii, p.&nbsp;658.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.9" id="fn.ii.9" href="#fna.ii.9">9</a>
+<i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, Theodor Schäfer, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;8.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.10" id="fn.ii.10" href="#fna.ii.10">10</a>
+Chrys., <i>Op.</i>, vol.&nbsp;ii, p.&nbsp;600.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.11" id="fn.ii.11" href="#fna.ii.11">11</a>
+Schaff&#8217;s <i>History of Chr. Church</i>, vol.&nbsp;iii, p.&nbsp;260.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.12" id="fn.ii.12" href="#fna.ii.12">12</a>
+<i>Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier</i>, J.&nbsp;Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth, 1880,
+p.&nbsp;5.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ii.13" id="fn.ii.13" href="#fna.ii.13">13</a>
+Herzog&#8217;s <i>Protestantische Real Enc.</i>, vol.&nbsp;iii, p.&nbsp;589.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.038" name="png.038"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">038/</span>34</samp>
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH
+CENTURIES.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">During</span> these seven centuries whenever there
+arose a reviving spirit of true love to God, whether
+within the Church of Rome or in any of the churches
+formed from reforming elements that separated from
+it, then we find traces of the diaconate of woman assuming
+some form of devotion to Christ and work
+for him. One of these movements well worth our
+study originated in Belgium while the last of the
+Greek deaconesses were still daily walking the
+arched pathway that led to their church in Constantinople.
+Toward the close of the twelfth century
+great corruption of morals and open abuses
+prevailed in society, and also in the Church. One
+of those who protested against the evils of the
+times was the priest Lambert le Bègue, as he was
+called, meaning the stutterer. He lived at Liège,
+in Belgium, and just without the city walls owned a
+large garden. He determined to make use of this
+to found a retreat for godly women, where they<a
+ id="png.039" name="png.039"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">039/</span>35</samp>
+could lead in common a life of well-doing. Here
+he built a number of little houses, and in the center
+a church, which was dedicated to St. Christopher
+in 1184. Then he presented the whole to some
+godly women to be used and owned in common.
+His earnest words of rebuke brought persecution
+upon him from those whose consciences he disturbed,
+but he went to Rome and appealed to the
+pope, who not only protected him from his assailants,
+but made him the patriarch of the order he
+had founded. Only six months after his return,
+however, he died, and was buried before the
+high altar of the church he had erected in 1187.
+Whether he was indeed the founder of the Béguine
+houses has been called in question. Be that as it
+may, fifty years after his death fifteen hundred Béguines
+were living around St. Christopher&#8217;s Church,<sup><a href="#fn.iii.1" name="fna.iii.1" id="fna.iii.1">1</a></sup>
+and Béguine courts were found throughout Belgium,
+in the Netherlands, south along the Rhine,
+in eastern France, and in Switzerland. The Crusades
+made many widows, and both widows and young
+girls sought shelter in the community life of the
+Béguines. As a rule they lived alone, in separate
+small houses built closely together and surrounded
+by a wall. Each house bore on its door the sign
+of the cross, and with every Béguine court there<a
+ id="png.040" name="png.040"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">040/</span>36</samp>
+were invariably two large buildings&mdash;a church and a
+hospital; the one for the worship of the sisters,
+the other the field of their self-denying ministrations.
+At first they were in no wise distinguished
+in their dress from other women, but in time they
+wore a habit which varied in color with each establishment,
+but was generally blue, gray, or brown.
+The veil was invariably white. The sisters had to
+earn, or partly earn, their own livelihood. In the
+time remaining they rendered essential service in
+performing acts of charity. They received orphans
+to bring up and educate, taught little children,
+nursed the sick, performed the last offices for
+the dead, and bound themselves by good deeds
+closely with the lives of the people. They were
+in no sense isolated from the world, but lived
+busy, useful lives in the midst of the world. They
+could leave the community at any time, and after
+severing their connection with it were free to
+marry. They also retained control of their own
+property.</p>
+
+<p>There were certainly many points of resemblance
+between these women who were so active in the
+sphere of Christian charity in the twelfth and
+thirteenth centuries and the deaconesses of Europe
+to-day. The most prosperous period for the
+Béguines was the first half of the thirteenth<a
+ id="png.041" name="png.041"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">041/</span>37</samp>
+century, when they were numbered by thousands.<sup><a href="#fn.iii.2" name="fna.iii.2" id="fna.iii.2">2</a></sup>
+Gradually persecution was directed against them.
+The nuns looked upon them with disfavor, and the
+pope withdrew his protection. In the Netherlands
+many became Protestants at the time of the Reformation,
+but the Béguines of to-day, changed in many
+respects from the original type, and now, closely
+resembling the other sisterhoods of Catholicism, are
+frequently to be seen in the cities of Belgium and
+north-eastern France.</p>
+
+<p>A new current of spiritual life swept over the
+church in the fourteenth century, and again we
+find women living together in community life, and
+devoting themselves to common service in good
+deeds, and known as the Sisters of the Common
+Life. There was also a Brotherhood of the Common
+Life, as there were Beghards, communities of Christian
+men corresponding to the Béguines. The
+Brotherhood and the Sisterhood of the Common
+Life honored as their founder Gerhard Groot, of
+Deventer, who was born in 1340. Of a singularly
+attractive personality, a creative mind, and an<a
+ id="png.042" name="png.042"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">042/</span>38</samp>
+ardent, enthusiastic nature, he was born to influence
+and command. He was already known as a
+priest of eloquence and wide learning when, in 1374,
+he met with a deep spiritual change, and from that
+year dated his conversion. Henceforth, with every
+power of a rarely gifted nature, he sought to lead
+those who heard him to lives of purity and holiness.
+Gradually there grew up about him a circle of like-minded
+friends, occupied in writing books to spread
+his ideas, and aiding him as they could. His friend
+Florentius proposed that they live together and
+form a community. &ldquo;A community!&rdquo; answered
+Groot. &ldquo;The begging orders will never permit
+that.&rdquo; But Florentius, the planner and organizer,
+persisted, offering his own house as a home, and
+held to the advantages of his plan until Groot
+yielded, and said, &ldquo;In the name of the Lord begin
+your work.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Such was the origin of the Brotherhood of the
+Common Life, and from its circle proceeded that
+immortal book, the <i>Imitation of Christ</i>, by Thomas
+à Kempis, keeping alive in the hearts of choice
+spirits of every generation the thoughts and sentiments
+of the men of whom its author was the interpreter.
+For a community of women of similar
+aims and purposes it needed only that Groot should
+make a few changes in the house that he had already<a
+ id="png.043" name="png.043"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">043/</span>39</samp>
+set apart from his paternal inheritance as a
+home for destitute women, and the first sister house
+began. Like the Béguines, the Sisters of the Common
+Life took no obligations binding them to life-long
+service, but they differed from them in living
+more closely together in one family, and had a
+common purse. They wore a gray costume, and
+also worked for their own support. The special
+virtues they inculcated were obedience to those
+above them in authority, humility that would not
+shun the meanest task, and friendliness to all.
+Their charitable duties were much the same as the
+Béguines; they cared for children, nursed the sick,
+and often acted as midwives. In the first half of
+the sixteenth century there were at least eighty-seven
+sister-houses, mostly in the Netherlands.<sup><a href="#fn.iii.3" name="fna.iii.3" id="fna.iii.3">3</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>It will be noticed that these freer communities of
+religious women, that bear so much closer resemblance
+to the deaconesses of the early Church than
+to the sisterhoods of nuns contemporary with them,
+mostly existed in the great free cities of Germany
+and the Netherlands, which were the cradles of political
+and religious liberty, the centers of commerce
+and of civilization at that time.</p>
+
+<p>Among the Waldenses, the Poor Men of Lyons,
+who were already prominent in the last half of the<a
+ id="png.044" name="png.044"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">044/</span>40</samp>
+twelfth century, we find there were deaconesses.
+We learn of them again, too, among the Bohemian
+brethren, the followers of Huss. With deep Christian
+faith they endeavored to form a Church after
+the apostolic model, and in 1457 appointed Church
+deaconesses. &ldquo;They were to form a female council
+of elder women, who were to counsel and care
+for the married women, widows, and young girls, to
+make peace between quarrelers, to prevent slandering,
+and to preserve purity and good morals,&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iii.4" name="fna.iii.4" id="fna.iii.4">4</a></sup> aims
+which keep close to the apostolic definition of this
+office.</p>
+
+<p>Luther, the great master-mind of the Reformation,
+was too clear-sighted to fail to appreciate the
+importance of women for the service of the Church.
+Speaking of the quality which is an inherent part
+of the diaconate of women, he says: &ldquo;Women who
+are truly pious are wont to have especial grace in
+comforting others and lessening their sorrows.&rdquo; In
+his exposition of 1&nbsp;Pet. ii, 5, he uttered truly remarkable
+words, for the age in which he lived, concerning
+women as members of the holy priesthood.
+He says: &ldquo;Now, wilt thou say, Is that true that
+we are all priests, and should preach? Where will
+that lead us? Shall there be no difference in
+persons? shall women also be priests? Answer.<a
+ id="png.045" name="png.045"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">045/</span>41</samp>
+If thou desirest to behold Christians, so must
+thou see no differences, and must not say, That is
+a man or a woman, that is a servant or a lord, old
+or young. They are all one, simply Christian people.
+Therefore are they all priests. They may all
+publish God&#8217;s word, save that women shall not
+speak in the church, but shall let men preach.
+But where there are no men, but women only, as
+in the nuns&#8217; cloisters, there might a woman be
+chosen who should preach to them. This is the
+true priesthood, in which are the three elements
+of spiritual offerings, prayer, and preaching for the
+Church. <i>Whoever does this is a priest. You are
+all bound to preach the Word, to pray for the Church,
+and to offer yourself to God.</i>&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iii.5" name="fna.iii.5" id="fna.iii.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There is no mention in Luther&#8217;s writings, however,
+of the diaconate of women. It would be
+more natural that he should have tried to adjust
+the lives of the monks and nuns as he knew of
+them to the new relations arising from the Reformation
+rather than to bring to life an office of which he
+had no personal knowledge. This was what he did
+when he wrote to the burghers of Herford in Westphalia.
+In their new zeal they wanted to drive the
+inmates from the religious houses, although the
+latter had been the means of teaching them the<a
+ id="png.046" name="png.046"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">046/</span>42</samp>
+reformed doctrines. In his letter of January 31, 1532,
+Luther says: &ldquo;If the brothers and sisters who are
+by you truly teach and hold the true word it is my
+friendly wish that you will not allow them to be
+disturbed or experience bitterness in this matter.
+Let them retain their religious dress and their accustomed
+habits which are not opposed to the
+Gospel.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iii.6" name="fna.iii.6" id="fna.iii.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Certainly Luther would have seen no harm in
+allowing deaconesses the protection of a special
+garb.</p>
+
+<p>Passing to another great reformer, Calvin, we
+find not only references to deaconesses as filling
+a &ldquo;most honorable and most holy function in the
+Church,&rdquo; but in the Church ordinances of Geneva,
+which were drawn up by him, there is mention of the
+diaconate as one of the four ordinances indispensable
+to the organization of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>In the Netherlands several attempts were made
+to revive the ancient office. The General Synod of
+the Reformed Church at Wesel, in 1568, first considered
+the question. A later synod, in 1579, expressly
+occupied itself with the work and office of
+the deaconess, but the measures taken were not
+adapted to advance the interests of the cause, and
+it was formally abandoned by the Synod of Middleburg<a
+ id="png.047" name="png.047"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">047/</span>43</samp>
+in 1581. In the city of Wesel, however,
+there continued to be deaconesses attached to the
+city churches until 1610. In Amsterdam local
+churches preserved the office still later than at
+Wesel. Already in 1566 we read that in the great
+reformed Church not only deacons but deaconesses
+were elected. The terrible days of the Spanish
+fury swept away all Church organization for a time,
+but when it was restored in 1578 both classes of
+Christian officers again resumed their duties. From
+1582 lists of deaconesses were kept, showing at first
+three; later, in 1704, twenty-eight, and in 1800 only
+eight. At the present time there are women directors
+of hospitals and orphanages in Amsterdam
+who are called by the title of deaconesses. The
+helpless, sick, and neglected children are now gathered
+in institutions instead of being cared for individually
+as was formerly the custom, and women
+having positions of control in these institutions
+are designated by the name formerly applied to
+those who had the personal care of the same needy
+classes.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to note that there was one association
+of women in the century of the Reformation
+that bears close resemblance to the Béguines
+and the Sisters of the Common Life. These were
+the Damsels of Charity, established by Prince<a
+ id="png.048" name="png.048"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">048/</span>44</samp>
+Henry Robert de la Mark, the sovereign prince of
+Sédan in the Netherlands. In 1559 he, together
+with the great majority of his subjects, embraced
+the doctrines of the Reformed Church, and instead
+of incorporating former church property with his
+own possessions, as did so many princes of the Reformation,
+he devoted it to founding institutions of
+learning and of charity. These latter he put under
+the care of the &ldquo;Damsels of Charity,&rdquo; an association
+of women which he had instituted. The members
+could live in their own homes or in the establishments,
+but in either case they devoted themselves
+to the protection and succor of the poor and sick and
+the aged. While taking no vows, they were chosen
+from those not bound by the marriage vow, and
+were subject only to certain rules of living. The
+Damsels of Charity have been held by some to be
+the first Protestant association of deaconesses, although
+not called by the name.<sup><a href="#fn.iii.7" name="fna.iii.7" id="fna.iii.7">7</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There are two evangelical societies, small in numbers,
+but one at least powerful in influence, which
+have retained deaconesses from their origin to the
+present time. These are the Mennonites or Anabaptists,
+and the Moravians. It was among the
+Mennonites in Holland that Fliedner saw the<a
+ id="png.049" name="png.049"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">049/</span>45</samp>
+deaconesses, who so interested him in their duties that
+he obtained the convictions which in the end led
+him to devote his life to their restoration in the
+economy of the Church. Among the Moravians,
+deaconesses were introduced at the instance of Count
+Zinzendorf in 1745, but only as a limited form of
+woman&#8217;s service, by no means measuring up to the
+place accorded them to day in Germany.</p>
+
+<p>We have now reached the nineteenth century,
+and from the early Church to the present time we
+find successive if sporadic attempts to incorporate
+into the Church the active diaconate of women.
+These constantly recurring efforts imply a consciousness,
+deep, if unexpressed, of the need to utilize better
+the especial gifts of women in Christian service.
+We have reached the moment when this consciousness
+is to take a suitable and enduring form; when
+the Church machinery, long defective in this particular,
+is to be re-adjusted and made complete.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.iii.1" id="fn.iii.1" href="#fna.iii.1">1</a>
+<i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;67.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.2" id="fn.iii.2" href="#fna.iii.2">2</a>
+<i>Woman&#8217;s Work in the Church</i>, Ludlow, p.&nbsp;117, note. &ldquo;Matthew
+Paris mentions it as one of the wonders of the age, for the
+year 1250, that in Germany there rose up an innumerable multitude
+of those continent women who wish to be called Béguines, to that
+extent that Cologne was inhabited by more than a thousand of
+them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.3" id="fn.iii.3" href="#fna.iii.3">3</a>
+<i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, Schäfer, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;70.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.4" id="fn.iii.4" href="#fna.iii.4">4</a>
+<i>Der Diakonissenberuf</i> E.&nbsp;Wacker, p.&nbsp;82.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.5" id="fn.iii.5" href="#fna.iii.5">5</a>
+<i>Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier</i>, J.&nbsp;Disselhoff, p.&nbsp;5. Gütersloh, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.6" id="fn.iii.6" href="#fna.iii.6">6</a>
+<i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;73.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iii.7" id="fn.iii.7" href="#fna.iii.7">7</a>
+<i>Histoire de la principauté de Sédan</i>, Pasteur Pegran, vol.&nbsp;ii,
+chaps. i, ii.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.050" name="png.050"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">050/</span>46</samp>
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<h4>FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF
+DEACONESS.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">The</span> first years of the present century were sad
+years for Germany. There was a life-and-death
+struggle with an all-powerful conqueror to preserve
+existence as a nation. The Germans still call this
+&ldquo;the war for freedom.&rdquo; Immediately thereafter
+followed a period of religious awakening, and this
+proved to be the hour when the diaconate of woman
+rose again to life and power. When the fullness
+of time arrives for a cause or a movement to take
+its place among the forces of society, many hearts
+become impressed with its importance. So, between
+the years 1820 and 1835, there were four several
+attempts to awaken the Christian Church to an enlightened
+conscience in this matter, the last of which
+obtained a wide and an enduring success. The
+first was made by Johann Adolph Franz Klönne,
+pastor of the church at Bislich, near Wesel.
+Stirred to admiration by the activity that the
+women&#8217;s societies had shown in the Napoleonic<a
+ id="png.051" name="png.051"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">051/</span>47</samp>
+wars, he lamented the fact that the associations had
+dissolved, and complained that they had not taken
+a permanent form, in which the members might
+have performed the duties for the Church that deaconesses
+had done in the early years of Christianity.
+In 1820 he published a pamphlet entitled <i>The
+Revival of the Deaconesses of the Primitive Church
+in our Women&#8217;s Associations</i>. This he sent to
+many persons of influence, trying to win their co-operation
+for the cause. He received a great many
+answers in reply, among them one from the Crown
+Princess Marianne. But while in a general way
+his project met with approval, no one could suggest
+a practical method by which his thought could be
+realized.</p>
+
+<p>A distinguished woman, Amalie Sieveking, attempted
+the same task of utilizing the labor of Christian
+women as deaconesses in the Church. She belonged
+to a well-known patrician family in the old
+free city of Hamburg, and was well known for her
+philanthropic views and her generous deeds. &ldquo;When
+I was eighteen years old,&rdquo; she relates, &ldquo;I first
+learned about the charitable sisterhoods in Catholic
+lands, and the knowledge seized upon me with almost
+irresistible power. Like a lightning&#8217;s flash
+came the thought, What if you were appointed
+to found a similar institution for our Protestant<a
+ id="png.052" name="png.052"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">052/</span>48</samp>
+Church?&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iv.1" name="fna.iv.1" id="fna.iv.1">1</a></sup> The thought stayed by her, and disposed
+her to receive willingly a similar suggestion
+coming from the great Prussian minister Von
+Stein, the Bismarck of Germany during the first
+quarter of this century. He had been favorably
+impressed by what he had seen of the Sisters of
+Mercy in the camp and in hospitals. He consulted
+with one of his councilors about increasing their
+number, so that they could be employed in all the
+Hospitals, Insane Asylums, and Penitentiaries which
+had women inmates. To another minister he complained
+with warmth that the Protestant Church had
+no such sisterhoods by which the beneficent stream
+of activities among women could be directed into
+well-regulated channels. &ldquo;The religious life of
+Protestantism suffers from the want of them,&rdquo; he
+said. These words were repeated to Amalie Sieveking
+and stirred her to make the endeavor to fulfill
+her own long-cherished wishes, which were those of
+Stein. Just at this time, in 1831, the cholera broke
+out in her native city. She took this as a providential
+opening, by means of which deaconesses could begin
+their work, and went at once to one of the cholera
+hospitals, offered her services as a nurse, and at the
+same time issued an appeal for sister-women to<a
+ id="png.053" name="png.053"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">053/</span>51</samp>
+join her. But no one came. The only outcome of
+her effort was a woman&#8217;s society which she formed
+to care for the sick and the poor of her native city,
+and to work for this she devoted the remainder of
+her life. Stein and Amalie Sieveking had in mind
+an order of women closely resembling the Sisters
+of Charity. That their efforts were not crowned
+with success seemed to the evangelical Protestant
+promoters of the deaconess cause in later times
+providential.<sup><a href="#fn.iv.2" name="fna.iv.2" id="fna.iv.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Shortly after, in 1835, Count von der Recke, already
+well known as the founder of two charitable
+institutions, issued the first number of a magazine
+called <i>Deaconesses; or, The Life and Labors of
+Women Workers of the Church in Instruction, Education,
+and the Care of the Sick</i>. Only a single number
+appeared, but his earnest plea for deaconesses,
+and the elaborate plan he devised for an institution
+and officers, aroused wide attention, and brought
+him a letter of warm commendation from the crown
+prince, afterward King Frederick William IV. Evidently
+the idea was ripening, and a near fruition
+could be anticipated. But neither to minister of
+state, count, nor prince&mdash;to no one among the distinguished
+of the earth&mdash;was the honor given of<a
+ id="png.054" name="png.054"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">054/</span>50</samp>
+reviving the female diaconate. It was to a humble
+pastor of an obscure village church that this work
+was committed.</p>
+
+<p>The little village of Eppstein lies in a beautiful
+country, full of high mountains and deep-lying valleys,
+about a dozen miles from Wiesbaden. At the
+village parsonage of the little hamlet was born,
+January 21, 1800, a son, the fourth of a family that
+numbered twelve children. The pastor, whose
+father before him had filled a like office, was a
+favorite among his people for his pleasant speech,
+sound advice about every-day matters, and his
+faithfulness in instructing the children in the Bible
+and the catechism, and caring for the sick and the
+afflicted.</p>
+
+<p>The little boy proved to be a strong, healthy
+child, and as he grew older developed a liking for
+books. His father taught a class composed of his
+children and some boys in the neighborhood, and
+when Theodor became old enough to join it he
+soon outstripped the rest, giving his father no
+little pride by his fluent rendering of Homer.
+Theodor Fliedner was not quite fourteen years
+old when the sudden death of the father changed
+the whole life of the family, and left the mother
+with eleven children to maintain and educate.
+Now began for Fliedner a struggle to complete his<a
+ id="png.055" name="png.055"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">055/</span>51</samp>
+education. The simple, kindly hospitality that had
+been so generously exercised in the village parsonage
+met its reward. Friends came forward to offer help,
+and at the beginning of the New Year Fliedner and
+his brother went to the gymnasium at Idstein.
+Here he was obliged to live sparingly, and earned
+his bread by teaching, but he was happy and contented,
+and found in study his great delight. He
+was fond of reading books of travel and the lives of
+great men, which stirred him to emulation. In
+1817 he went to the University of Giessen. Here
+he kept aloof from the political agitations among
+the students. Neither was he affected by the rationalistic
+teachings of the professors. His shy,
+retired nature aided him in this course, and his
+leisure hours were passed in reading the writings of
+the Reformers. The jubilee festival of the Reformation
+occurred in 1817, and the lives of the heroes of
+the faith were brought freshly home to him.
+Their strength of faith shamed him, but he had not
+yet learned the secret of their power. He was yet
+without a deep, spiritual life. From Giessen he
+went to Göttingen, where he devoted himself to a
+year&#8217;s study of history, philosophy, and theology.
+During the holidays, as is the custom with German
+students, he made repeated pedestrian tours. In
+this way he visited the great free cities of the north,<a
+ id="png.056" name="png.056"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">056/</span>52</samp>
+Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck. From Göttingen
+he and his brother went to the theological
+seminary at Herborn, where the following summer
+he passed with credit his theological examination.
+He was now ready to enter God&#8217;s great school of practical
+life to be further fitted for the mission he was
+to accomplish. In September he went to Cologne
+and was employed in the house of a wealthy merchant
+as a private tutor. This was a great change
+for the quiet youth of country habits. He took
+great pains to accommodate himself to his surroundings,
+and to acquire the truly Christian art of
+becoming all things to all men. In after life, when
+speaking of this period and its usefulness to him, he
+wrote: &ldquo;It is a great hinderance to a man, even
+to his progress in the kingdom of God, not to have
+been brought up in gentle and refined manners
+from his childhood.&rdquo; Although a faithful and
+devoted teacher his life-work was not forgotten.
+He constantly sought to widen his knowledge and
+experience, was made assistant secretary of the
+local Bible society, and formed friendships which
+led to his appointment to the pastorate at Kaiserswerth.
+This was a Catholic town formerly of some
+importance. The ruins of an imperial palatinate are
+still to be seen there, but in Fliedner&#8217;s time it
+had become a little village of workmen dependent<a
+ id="png.057" name="png.057"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">057/</span>53</samp>
+on a few manufacturers. On January 18, 1822,
+alone, and on foot, to save his poor society the
+expense of his journey, Fliedner entered the town
+where his life was henceforth to be centered. He
+was to share the parsonage with the widow of
+a previous pastor, and his sister was to be his
+housekeeper. His income was one hundred and
+thirty-five dollars a year. Only a month after
+his arrival the great firm of velvet manufacturers
+who provided the work-people with employment
+failed, and the little church community seemed
+about to be dispersed. The government offered
+him another and better appointment, but he
+felt that he must be a true shepherd, and not a
+hireling, and would not leave his people. He
+decided to make a journey to collect money to
+form a permanent endowment for his church. A
+journey over sixty years ago, to a young German
+of quiet habits, was a very different matter from a
+similar trip taken in this day of railroads and steamboats.
+To Fliedner it seemed a very important matter;
+and so it was in its results, which reached far
+beyond the little congregation he served. With
+great hesitation he began at Elberfeld, a town near
+at hand. A pastor of the city, to encourage him,
+accompanied him to friends, and on parting gave
+him a friendly suggestion that, in addition to trust<a
+ id="png.058" name="png.058"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">058/</span>54</samp>
+in God, such work required &ldquo;patience, impudence,
+and a ready tongue.&rdquo; Before starting on the longer
+journey to Holland and England he returned
+to his congregation and encouraged them by the
+sum of nine hundred dollars that he had so far
+secured. He was now absent for nine months, and
+during that time obtained an amount sufficient to
+put the little church in a position where a certain,
+if modest, annual allowance was assured. The pastor
+had also, in serving others, greatly strengthened
+and broadened his own faith. As he says, &ldquo;In
+both these Protestant countries I became acquainted
+with a multitude of charitable institutions
+for the benefit both of body and soul. I
+saw schools and other educational organizations,
+alms-houses, orphanages, hospitals, prisons, and
+societies for the reformation of prisoners, Bible and
+missionary societies, etc., and at the same time I
+observed that it was a living faith in Christ which
+had called almost every one of these institutions and
+societies into life, and still preserved them in activity.
+This evidence of the practical power, and fertility
+of such a principle had a most powerful influence
+in strengthening my own faith, as yet weak.&rdquo;
+It was while in Holland that he wrote to Klönne
+concerning the deaconesses, whose duties he had
+observed among the Mennonites. After his return<a
+ id="png.059" name="png.059"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">059/</span>55</samp>
+he applied himself with zeal and success to his pastoral
+duties. Work was a delight to him, and his
+energy and force of character were constantly
+seeking new ways by which to make his church
+services more attractive, and to increase his influence
+over each member of his congregation.
+&ldquo;He never asked himself what he <i>must</i> do, but
+always what he <i>might</i> do.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iv.3" name="fna.iv.3" id="fna.iv.3">3</a></sup> But, work as industriously
+as he would, his small society left him time
+for other activities. While in London he had
+been profoundly impressed by the noble labors of
+Elizabeth Fry in the prisons of England. It was
+this woman&#8217;s hand that pointed out the way for
+Fliedner in Germany. The prisons in his own land
+had remained untouched by any spirit of reform.
+The convicts were crowded together in small, filthy
+cells, and often in damp cellars without light or
+air; boys, who had thoughtlessly committed some
+trifling misdemeanor, with gray-headed, corrupt sinners;
+young girls with the most vicious old women.
+There was no attempt at classification of prisoners.
+Some of them might be innocent people waiting
+for trial. Neither was there oversight, save to
+keep the prisoners from escaping. No work was
+provided, and as for schools, where the larger number
+of convicts could neither read nor write, no one<a
+ id="png.060" name="png.060"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">060/</span>56</samp>
+thought of such a thing.<sup><a href="#fn.iv.4" name="fna.iv.4" id="fna.iv.4">4</a></sup> That such idleness, the
+beginning of all vice, was here especially pernicious
+and corrupting can be readily seen. But few knew
+of this state of things, and those few left it for the
+government to provide a remedy.</p>
+
+<p>Fliedner, however, could not rest in this indifference.
+He says: &ldquo;The smallness of my charge
+left me more leisure than most of my clerical
+brethren, and the opportunities I had enjoyed on
+my travels of at once collecting information and
+strengthening my faith imposed a more urgent obligation
+on me to try to make up by the help of
+our God for our long neglect.&rdquo; He tried to obtain
+permission to be imprisoned a few weeks in the
+prison at Düsseldorf, that he might view prison life
+from within the walls, but his request was refused.
+He then obtained leave to hold services every other
+Sunday afternoon in the prison at Düsseldorf. The
+efforts that he put forth succeeded in waking the
+interest of a great many persons, and at last there
+was formed by his efforts the first society in behalf
+of prisoners in Germany.</p>
+
+<p>It was while engaged in this work that he met
+his wife, Frederika Münster, who was occupied in
+bettering the condition of the prisoners in the penitentiary
+at Düsselthal. He married her in 1828,<a
+ id="png.061" name="png.061"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">061/</span>57</samp>
+and she became a helpful, inspiring co-worker with
+him in all his undertakings.</p>
+
+<p>In 1832 he was commissioned by the government
+to revisit England, to furnish a report on the various
+charitable organizations, especially those connected
+with prisons and alms-houses. This brought
+him into closer relations with Elizabeth Fry, as well
+as with many other noble men and women of all
+ranks who were caring for the poor and neglected
+of England. He extended his journey to Scotland,
+met Dr. Chalmers, and found his heart strangely
+touched by what he saw. His spiritual experience
+had deepened with the years, and while here he
+wrote to some friends, &ldquo;The Lord greatly quickens
+me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>His heart became still more open to works of
+mercy and love, and he gathered rich experiences
+which were afterward utilized in his work.</p>
+
+<p>Fliedner had now attained a certain reputation
+of his own as a friend to prisoners and outcasts.
+It was not surprising, therefore, that a poor female
+convict, discharged from the prison at Werden,
+should have taken the weary six miles&#8217; walk to Kaiserswerth
+September 17, 1833, to ask the good pastor
+for help. There stood in the parsonage garden a
+little summer-house twelve feet square, with an
+attic. This was offered to the convict Minna as<a
+ id="png.062" name="png.062"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">062/</span>58</samp>
+a temporary refuge, and she became the first inmate
+of the Kaiserswerth institutions. She had
+arrived at an opportune moment. In the previous
+spring Count Spee, the President of the Prison Society,
+had urged the founding of two institutions,
+one Lutheran and one Catholic, to receive discharged
+female convicts. Fliedner, who had seen
+such refuges in England, declared himself ready for
+the plan, and tried to induce the pastors of the
+larger and wealthier communities in the neighborhood
+to locate the Protestant asylum in some one
+of these cities. No one responded to his appeal.
+His wife, whose courage was often greater than his
+own, urged him to make a beginning in the little
+village where he lived, unpromising as the conditions
+seemed, and after a little hesitation, seeing no
+one was ready to assume any responsibility in a
+matter that he took so deeply to heart, the good
+pastor decided to follow her advice. The old parsonage
+was for rent, and he secured it on low
+terms.</p>
+
+<p>Frau Fliedner had a friend of her school-days
+and early youth, now a woman of experience and
+ability. She sent for her to come and visit them
+to see if she would become the superintendent of
+the refuge, but shortly after her arrival she was
+taken sick, and her friends sent letters of expostulation<a
+ id="png.063" name="png.063"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">063/</span>59</samp>
+urging her to return. Just now, when affairs
+were in rather an untoward state, appeared the first
+inmate. Let Fliedner tell the story:</p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;We at first gave her lodging in my summer-house,
+and the necessity of attending to her did
+more good to the poor, distressed superintendent
+than all her quinine and mixtures. Countess Spee,
+the wife of our president, had prophesied that our
+inmates would never remain with us a month, they
+would certainly run away. So when the first month
+was over I marched over to Heltorf and triumphantly
+announced, &lsquo;Minna is yet there.&rsquo; Minna was
+followed by another, and the garden-house became
+too small.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Finally Fliedner obtained possession of the house
+he had hired, after some delay on the part of the
+former tenants, and the asylum was opened. The
+number of inmates increased, and Fräulein Göbel
+soon had more than she could manage. She must
+have an assistant. The need of trained Christian
+workers, who could care for these poor women,
+grew daily more apparent.</p>
+
+<p>Fliedner&#8217;s thoughts constantly dwelt on the subject;
+they gave him no rest. He had discovered
+with joyful surprise in 1827 the traces of the apostolic
+deaconesses among the Mennonites, and two
+years later he wrote:</p>
+<a id="png.064" name="png.064"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">064/</span>60</samp>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;Does not the experience of this our sister
+Church, do not the women societies in our last
+war, does not the holy activity of an Elizabeth Fry
+and her helpers in England, and the women&#8217;s associations
+of Russia and Prussia formed after their
+model to care for the bodies and souls of women
+prisoners&mdash;do all these not show what great power
+God-fearing, pious women possess for the up-building
+of Christ&#8217;s kingdom as soon as they have opportunity
+to develop it?&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.iv.5" name="fna.iv.5" id="fna.iv.5">5</a></sup></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>His practical experience with the work he had in
+hand brought him to the same conclusion; namely,
+that there must be training-schools where Christian
+women, especially set apart for such service, could
+have instruction and practice in the duties they had
+undertaken. As a consequence there were drawn
+up in May, 1836, and signed by Fliedner and a few
+friends, the statutes of the Rhenish-Westphalian
+Deaconess Society.</p>
+
+<p>Fliedner had now reached the work that was
+henceforth to be his life mission; that is, the restoration
+of deaconesses to the Christian Church of the
+nineteenth century.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.iv.1" id="fn.iv.1" href="#fna.iv.1">1</a>
+<i>Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier</i>, J.&nbsp;Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth, 1886,
+p.&nbsp;8.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iv.2" id="fn.iv.2" href="#fna.iv.2">2</a>
+Schäfer, <i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;ii, p.&nbsp;86; <i>Denkschrift zur
+Jubelfeier</i>, p.&nbsp;9.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iv.3" id="fn.iv.3" href="#fna.iv.3">3</a>
+T.&nbsp;Fliedner, <i>Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens</i>, p.&nbsp;43.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iv.4" id="fn.iv.4" href="#fna.iv.4">4</a>
+T.&nbsp;Fliedner, <i>Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens</i>, p.&nbsp;48.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.iv.5" id="fn.iv.5" href="#fna.iv.5">5</a>
+<i>Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens</i>, p.&nbsp;60.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.065" name="png.065"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">065/</span>61</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">Fliedner</span> saw clearly that if the office of deaconess
+were to be planted in the Church there must be
+soil suitable to nourish it: in other words, there
+must be an institution founded which could furnish
+not only instruction, but practice in their duties,
+and a home for those who should offer their services
+for this office. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;could our little
+Kaiserswerth be the right place for a Protestant
+deaconess house for the training of Protestant
+deaconesses&mdash;a village of scarcely eighteen hundred
+people where the large majority of the
+population were Roman Catholics, where sick
+people could not be expected in sufficient numbers
+for training purposes, and so poor that it
+could not help defray even the yearly expenses
+of such an institution? And were not older, more
+experienced pastors than I better adapted for
+this difficult undertaking? I went to my clerical
+brethren in Düsseldorf, Dinsberg, Mettmann, Elberfeld,
+and Barmen, and entreated them to start<a
+ id="png.066" name="png.066"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">066/</span>62</samp>
+such an institution in their large societies, of
+which, indeed, there was pressing need. But all
+refused, and urged me to put my hand to the work.
+I had time, with my small congregation, and the
+quietness of retired Kaiserswerth was favorable to
+such a school. The useful experiences I had
+gained on my journeys had not been given me for
+naught, and God could send money, sick people,
+and nurses. So we discerned that it was his will
+that we should take the burden on our own shoulders,
+and we willingly stretched them forth to receive
+it. Quietly we looked around for a house for the
+hospital. Suddenly, the largest and finest house in
+Kaiserswerth was offered for sale. My wife begged
+me to buy it without delay. It is true it would
+cost twenty-three hundred thalers, and we had
+no money. Yet I bought it with good courage,
+April 20, 1836. At Martinmas the money must be
+paid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is not possible to give here in detail the occurrences
+by which loans were made, and the money
+that was needed obtained at the required time.
+God gave friends for the cause, and through them
+provided the means. The house was furnished
+with a little second-hand furniture which had been
+given him, and October, 1836, was opened as a hospital
+and training school for Christian women. Services<a
+ id="png.067" name="png.067"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">067/</span>63</samp>
+of praise and thanksgiving consecrated this
+deaconess home yet without deaconesses, this hospital
+without patients. Both, however, soon became
+inmates of the building. The first deaconess
+was Gertrude Reichardt, the daughter of a physician.
+She had assisted her father in the care of the
+sick, and had become experienced in looking after
+the welfare of the poor and the destitute. She
+was an invaluable helper in the new enterprise, and
+shared with the doctor the duty of giving instruction
+in nursing and hospital duties. Fliedner&#8217;s
+wife was the superintendent. She had the oversight
+of the house, gave the deaconesses practical
+direction in housekeeping, and in their early visits
+to the sick and poor accompanied them from house
+to house. Fliedner was the director, and took upon
+himself the religious instruction of the sisters.
+Every effort was taken to make the house a home
+in which a cheerful, loving spirit should prevail.
+Nearly every evening Fliedner or his wife would go
+over to the home, and read to the sisters, or tell
+them interesting facts outside their lives. When
+he went away on his journeys he would write in
+full every thing pertaining to the interests of the
+common cause, and the letters would be read aloud.
+This was to be a home in every sense of the word,
+in which the members were to feel themselves<a
+ id="png.068" name="png.068"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">068/</span>64</samp>
+belonging to one great family, bound together by the
+common tie of unselfish devotion to others &ldquo;for
+Christ&#8217;s sake.&rdquo; The spirit of the founder has permeated
+the institution even to the present time.
+Those who know any thing of Kaiserswerth testify
+to the strong affection for the common home, the
+&ldquo;mother-house,&rdquo; as they beautifully term it, felt
+by all its children. Every pains is taken to preserve
+it. There is correspondence, frequent and
+regular, from here to every sister. No matter in
+what distant land she may be, her birthday is remembered,
+and she is taught to look to this as a
+waiting refuge for the days of trouble, sickness, and
+old age.</p>
+
+<p>There was soon arranged a series of house regulations
+and instructions for work which became the
+basis for after regulations in nearly all existing
+institutions.</p>
+
+<p>Almost contemporary with the mother-house
+arose the normal school for infant-school teachers.
+It had first started as a child&#8217;s school, and afterward
+young women who had taste for the care of
+children were received to be taught their duties.
+Fliedner took great interest in the instruction of
+children. He devised little games for them, and
+arranged stories to be told. His simplicity and his
+child-like nature led him to disregard formalities, and<a
+ id="png.069" name="png.069"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">069/</span>65</samp>
+to think solely of the end he had in view. On one
+occasion, when picturing the combat of David and
+Goliath, reaching that point in the narrative when
+the young shepherd lad slings the stone that brings
+the giant to the ground, he cast himself headlong,
+to the great delight and amazement of his little
+audience, who enjoyed to the full this object-lesson
+that made the story so vivid to them.</p>
+
+<p>Then he took special pains that his teachers
+should learn to tell the stories of the Bible so as to
+make them clear and interesting to the youngest
+child. Every day a story was told in school, and each
+evening the teacher whose turn it was to relate the
+story the following day came to Fliedner and rehearsed
+it to him as though he were a child, afterward
+receiving his suggestions as to how the narrative
+could be improved. The work went along
+quietly, ever growing, ever advancing. &ldquo;Among
+all others, and more than all others, was Fliedner&#8217;s
+wife his best help. Her keen glance, made pure
+and holy by her Christian faith, preserved him from
+mistakes. With the household virtues of cleanliness,
+order, simplicity, and economy she united
+large-hearted compassion toward those needing
+help of any kind, yet knowing withal how, with
+virile sense and energy, to prevent the misuse of
+ministering love. She became a model for the<a
+ id="png.070" name="png.070"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">070/</span>66</samp>
+deaconesses, as well as a mother to them, and her
+name deserves to be mentioned with honor, as one
+who had an important part in the Protestant renewal
+of the diaconate of women.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.v.1" name="fna.v.1" id="fna.v.1">1</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In 1842 a new building was erected for the
+normal school for infant-school teachers. The publishing
+house of the institution was also started,
+which issues religious books and tracts. The first
+work sent forth was a volume of sermons, presented
+to the new enterprise by the late Professor Lange,
+which went through several editions.</p>
+
+<p>The same year the <i>Kaiserswerth Almanac</i> appeared
+and a large picture Bible for schools was
+published. In 1848 the magazine <i>Der Armen und
+Kranken Freund</i> was sent forth as an organ for the
+deaconess cause, not only for Kaiserswerth, but for
+all the institutions that are represented at the
+triennial Conferences. The publishing house is an
+important source of income, as the institution has
+little in the way of endowment beside the produce
+of the garden land attached to it. At present
+about three fourths of the expense are met by the
+sale of publications and the fees of patients; the
+remaining sum is given by friends.</p>
+
+<p>The financial story of Fliedner&#8217;s life could form
+a tale of thrilling interest, if it were separated from<a
+ id="png.071" name="png.071"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">071/</span>67</samp>
+other facts and told by itself. He constantly
+went forward, purchased houses, added lands, and
+erected new homes when he had no money in
+reserve, but unfailingly when the time came for
+payments to be made the sum was obtained in
+some way or other to meet them. &ldquo;We have no
+endowment,&rdquo; he once said, &ldquo;but the Lord is our
+endowment.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The same year, 1842, the orphan asylum was
+opened. For a very moderate sum this receives
+children who are both fatherless and motherless,
+and who belong to the educated middle class, having
+fathers who were pastors or professors, or the like.
+Fliedner hoped not only to provide a home for
+these girls befitting their station in life, but to develop
+among them those who should make a vocation
+of the care of children and the sick, and in
+this hope he was not disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of these successes the hand of God
+often lay heavily on Fliedner&#8217;s family. Brethren
+and children passed away, and, sorest affliction of
+all to him, his wife, who had so closely and sympathetically
+shared all his labors, died April 22, 1842.
+&ldquo;She was the first of the deaconesses to die,&rdquo; writes
+Fliedner. &ldquo;As she, their mother, had always led
+the way for her spiritual daughters in life, so she
+was their leader into the valley of the shadow of<a
+ id="png.072" name="png.072"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">072/</span>68</samp>
+death.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.v.2" name="fna.v.2" id="fna.v.2">2</a></sup> Not long after this a normal school for
+female teachers in the public schools was started,
+for this practical believer in woman&#8217;s work was one
+of the first to advocate the introduction of women
+teachers in the public schools of Germany, against
+which there then existed a strong prejudice. The
+Board of Education looked favorably on his project,
+and afterward sent a government commissioner
+to attend the examinations and award the certificates
+at Kaiserswerth. At a later period provision
+was made for teachers of girls&#8217; high schools, as also
+for those who desired to become teachers but were
+too young to enter the normal school. Over two
+thousand teachers have gone forth from these
+schools, carrying with them a love for the institution
+which has brought back to it many returns in
+money and service. Fliedner well called them his
+&ldquo;light skirmishing troops.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In 1849 he resigned his pastorate, and henceforth,
+with singleness of purpose, devoted himself to his
+one calling. From time to time new buildings were
+added to meet new needs. In 1852 an insane asylum
+for Protestant women was founded, as sisters
+were often called upon to nurse patients of this
+class. The building set apart for the purpose was<a
+ id="png.073" name="png.073"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">073/</span>69</samp>
+formerly used as military barracks and was given
+to Fliedner by King Frederick William IV. In
+1881 this, as with so many others of the original
+buildings at Kaiserswerth, became too small for the
+increase in numbers, and a new building took its
+place. It stands on an eminence just outside of the
+village, and is provided with every modern appliance.
+Fliedner&#8217;s practical good sense and administrative
+ability led him to care for all the minor details
+that were needed for the success of so great
+an undertaking. He added a dispensary to the hospital,
+where a sister who had passed a regular examination
+before the government medical board
+made up the medicines required for the hospital.
+Many deaconesses have been trained to the same
+knowledge, which has been an especially valuable
+acquisition in the hospitals situated in Eastern
+countries. Little by little he secured land for
+farming operations, until there were one hundred
+and eighty acres in garden and meadow land, generally
+lying close about the various buildings, and
+affording means of recreation as well to the inmates.
+Nearly all of the vegetable and dairy products that
+are needed are so provided. A bakery, bath-houses,
+homes for laborers and officials, were added, and
+bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths
+formed part of the staff of the great establishment.</p>
+<a id="png.074" name="png.074"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">074/</span>70</samp>
+
+<p>Gradually every variety of institution that could
+furnish active practice to the deaconesses took its
+place here, and the whole might be denominated a
+great normal training-school for Christian women.
+The refuge for discharged female convicts, which
+was the starting-point of the movement, still
+continued its good work during all these years.
+The last report<sup><a href="#fn.v.3" name="fna.v.3" id="fna.v.3">3</a></sup> states that nine hundred and
+nineteen women of different ages and different
+degrees of wrong-doing have been its inmates.
+Parents send insubordinate girls; societies forward
+those who profess penitence; magistrates
+sentence degraded creatures often too late for any
+reasonable hope to reform them. The old experience
+of the refuge is repeated in this last report:
+one third are saved, one third are irredeemable, and
+the judgment as to the remaining third, doubtful.
+There were two buildings erected during the later
+years of Fliedner&#8217;s life in which he took great interest.
+One of these was a cottage among the
+neighboring hills, where deaconesses who had become
+exhausted by long days in the sick-room, or
+whose health was suffering from over-toil, could
+retire for a few weeks of mountain air and quiet
+rest during the summer months. This pleasant retreat
+was well named Salem. Soon afterward was<a
+ id="png.075" name="png.075"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">075/</span>71</samp>
+laid the corner-stone of the second building, regarded
+with peculiar favor not only by the good
+pastor, but by all friends of the institution. This
+was the &ldquo;Feierabend Haus,&rdquo; the House of Evening
+Rest, where, somewhat apart from the busy
+activity of the great household, those deaconesses
+whose best strength had been given to faithful labor
+in the service could pass the evening hours of life
+in quiet waiting for the last great change, while
+using the experience they had gathered and the
+strength still remaining in behalf of the cause they
+had faithfully served.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the main features of the great establishment
+that year by year grew up in this village on
+the Rhine. But from this as a center had gradually
+branched off manifold lines of service, and many
+daughter-houses both in Germany and foreign lands.
+It was only a year and a half after the home was
+opened that the first appointment of deaconesses
+to work outside of Kaiserswerth was made.</p>
+
+<p>This was an important victory for the new institution.
+It took place January 21, 1838, on Fliedner&#8217;s
+birthday, when he and his wife escorted two of the
+sisters to Elberfeld, where they were to act as trained
+nurses in the city hospital. From that time to
+the present the hospital has continued under the
+management of the Kaiserswerth deaconesses.</p>
+<a id="png.076" name="png.076"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">076/</span>72</samp>
+
+<p>Soon afterward sisters were sent out to nurse in
+private families, and in 1839 two more were sent to
+superintend the workhouse in Frankfort. As the
+institution became known there was a constant demand
+for superintendents, and matrons for public
+reformatories, prisons, and charitable establishments.
+Between 1846 and 1850 more than sixty deaconesses
+were at work at twenty-five different stations outside
+of the mother-house. About the same time
+deaconesses began to work in connection with special
+churches which called for their services, having
+the duties which in England are assigned to those
+called &ldquo;parish deaconesses.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>King Frederick William IV., from the beginning
+Fliedner&#8217;s faithful friend and supporter, had long
+desired a deaconess home in Berlin. This was
+finally obtained, and set apart under the name
+&ldquo;Bethanien Haus,&rdquo; or Bethany House, October 10,
+1847, at a special dedicatory service, at which the
+king, with his court, was present. It was while
+seeking a superintendent for this home in Berlin
+that Fliedner learned to know Caroline Bertheau,
+of Hamburg, a descendant of an old Huguenot
+family that was driven from France by the revocation
+of the Edict of Nantes. He led her home as
+his wife in May, 1843, and she became to him a
+true helpmeet for his children, his home, and his<a
+ id="png.077" name="png.077"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">077/</span>73</samp>
+institution. She is still living, having survived her
+husband over twenty-five years, and in an advanced
+age still retains a place on the Board of Direction
+at Kaiserswerth.</p>
+
+<p>In one place after another deaconess homes
+arose, sometimes simply through Fliedner&#8217;s advice,
+more often by his direct co-operation. From 1849
+to 1851 he was chiefly engaged in traveling from
+one land to another, occupied in kindling the zeal
+of Christian women to devotion to the sick and sorrowing,
+and finding fields of service for their priceless
+ministrations. He visited the United States,
+England, France, and Switzerland, as well as various
+cities of the East, including Jerusalem and
+Constantinople.</p>
+
+<p>The work in our own land was begun at Pittsburg,
+where Fliedner came with four sisters in the
+summer of 1849, at the invitation of Pastor Passavant,
+of the German Lutheran Church.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconesses at once entered upon hospital
+work, and their care of the sick met with warm appreciation,
+but their numbers did not increase. An
+orphanage was afterward started at Rochester, and
+hospitals under the same auspices exist at Milwaukee,
+Jacksonville, Ill., and Chicago. Still the
+work has not grown, and it has proved the least
+successful of any initiated by Fliedner. Upon his<a
+ id="png.078" name="png.078"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">078/</span>74</samp>
+return he aided in opening mother-houses in Breslau,
+Königsberg, Dantzic, Stettin, and Carlsruhe.</p>
+
+<p>We have now come to the period when Kaiserswerth
+institutions met with a notable extension.
+Fliedner had long been looking toward Jerusalem,
+hoping to found a deaconess home there. &ldquo;Who
+would not gladly render service on the spot where
+the feet of the Saviour once brought help and healing
+to the sick?&rdquo; he had said.</p>
+
+<p>Now, through Dr. Gobat, the Bishop of Jerusalem,
+the opportunity was given. The king offered
+two small houses in Jerusalem that were his private
+property, and volunteered to pay the expenses of
+the journey. Associations were formed in all parts
+of Germany to provide an outfit for the mission.
+Gifts flowed in rapidly, and March 17, 1851, Fliedner,
+accompanied by four deaconesses, two of them
+being teachers, set out on this new and peaceful
+crusade to the holy city. From that beginning
+has resulted a net-work of stations throughout the
+East.</p>
+
+<p>There is at Jerusalem a hospital<sup><a href="#fn.v.4" name="fna.v.4" id="fna.v.4">4</a></sup> where, during
+1887, four hundred and ninety-three patients were
+given medical aid and nursing, and seven thousand
+seven hundred and two patients were treated in the<a
+ id="png.079" name="png.079"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">079/</span>75</samp>
+dispensary. No woman in the city is better known
+or more justly honored than Sister Charlotte, the
+head-deaconess.</p>
+
+<p>The Mohammedans at first regarded the work of
+the sisters with fanatical distrust, but a glance at
+the statistics of the last report will show how completely
+they have cast aside their prejudices.</p>
+
+<p>Of the 493 patients in 1887, there were 404 Arabians,
+43 Armenians, 30 Germans, 5 Abyssinians, 4
+Greeks, 3 Roumanians, 2 Russians, 1 Italian, and 1
+Hollander. As to religion, there were 235 Mohammedans,
+97 Protestants, 78 Greeks, 23 Roman Catholics,
+45 Armenians, 6 Copts, 3 Syrian Christians, 4
+Proselytes, 1 Jew, and 1 Maronite; so that in all
+nine nations and nine religious faiths were represented
+in the hospital.</p>
+
+<p>There is also a girls&#8217; orphanage, called &ldquo;Talitha
+Cumi,&rdquo; just outside the city walls at Jerusalem,
+where one hundred and fourteen native girls were
+last year taught by the Kaiserswerth deaconesses.
+Over a hundred more made application to enter,
+but there was no room to receive them. In Constantinople,
+Alexandria, Cairo, Beirut, and Pesth
+there are also well-appointed hospitals, some of
+them of spacious dimensions, and all having excellent
+medical service and nursing that cannot be
+surpassed.</p>
+<a id="png.080" name="png.080"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">080/</span>76</samp>
+
+<p>The orphanage and school at Beirut had a sad
+foundation. In 1860 came the terrible news of the
+massacre of the Maronite Christians by the Druses
+in the Lebanon mountains.</p>
+
+<p>Kaiserswerth deaconesses were immediately sent
+out, and were among the first to arrive to join the
+resident Europeans and Americans in caring for the
+sufferers. Numbers of children were left fatherless
+and motherless, and the sisters started the orphanage
+at Beirut to shelter them. When its twenty-fifth
+anniversary was celebrated in 1885 over eight
+hundred girls had received a home and education
+here, and had gone forth to eastern homes, carrying
+with them the light and knowledge of Christian
+faith into the dark, degraded social life of the
+Orient.<sup><a href="#fn.v.5" name="fna.v.5" id="fna.v.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>From the two orphanages at Beirut and Jerusalem
+over forty have gone out as teachers in girls&#8217;
+schools in Palestine and Syria. Twelve others
+have become deaconesses, and are ministering in
+this capacity to their own countrymen and to foreigners
+in eastern hospitals.<sup><a href="#fn.v.6" name="fna.v.6" id="fna.v.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In Smyrna there is also a girls&#8217; school, that was
+opened at the request of some wealthy Protestants<a
+ id="png.081" name="png.081"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">081/</span>77</samp>
+residing there. The school is not so needed as
+formerly, since the government has started girls&#8217;
+high schools, but it is still maintained, and aids in
+bringing new life into the hopeless society of the
+East. There is also an orphanage at Smyrna,
+where some girls of the poorer classes were gathered
+after the ravages of the cholera had left them
+without parents or homes.</p>
+
+<p>The eastern deaconesses have also their Salem.
+Just above the little village of Areya, in the Lebanon,
+on the summit of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean,
+stands the house of retreat, where, during
+the summer months, the more than forty sisters
+stationed in Beirut, Alexandria, Cairo, and Jerusalem
+can take refuge in seasons of overpowering
+heat.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconess who superintends the house has a
+school for the native children of the village, which
+is taught by one of the girls educated at the Beirut
+orphanage.</p>
+
+<p>Prosperous girls&#8217; schools are also in existence at
+Bucharest, and at Florence, Italy. The Italian
+school was started in 1860 with four girls in the
+upper floor of a rented house. It now possesses a
+beautiful house and grounds of its own, and had
+one hundred and forty-five girls under its charge
+the past year. Most of these were Italians, but<a
+ id="png.082" name="png.082"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">082/</span>78</samp>
+different foreign residents also availed themselves
+of the opportunity to send their children to an excellent
+Protestant school. There is also a mission
+at Rome maintained by deaconesses during the
+winter months.</p>
+
+<p>The large majority of the undertakings outside
+of Kaiserswerth were initiated personally by Fliedner.
+When we recall the complex demands of the
+home field in Germany we marvel at the versatile
+executive ability of this man, who started life as the
+humble pastor of an obscure village church. But
+he loved work. He possessed &ldquo;iron industry.&rdquo;
+He was ever hopeful, courageous, and indefatigable.
+Above all, he trusted completely in the leadings of
+Divine Providence, and constantly went forward
+with sure confidence. Then he was a true leader.
+He knew men. He put the right person in the
+right place, gave him full liberty of action, and held
+him to a strict responsibility for results. So, while
+Fliedner remained the soul of the great institution,
+he knew how to make himself spared, which was
+not the least of his qualifications for his calling.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.v.1" id="fn.v.1" href="#fna.v.1">1</a>
+<i>Der Diakonissenberuf</i>, Emil Wacker, Gütersloh, 1888, p.&nbsp;116.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.v.2" id="fn.v.2" href="#fna.v.2">2</a>
+<i>Life of Pastor Fliedner</i>, translated by C.&nbsp;Winckworth, London,
+1867.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.v.3" id="fn.v.3" href="#fna.v.3">3</a>
+<i>Ein und fünfzigster Jahres-Bericht</i>, p.&nbsp;30.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.v.4" id="fn.v.4" href="#fna.v.4">4</a>
+<i>Achtzehnter Bericht über die Diakonissen Stationen im Morgenlande</i>,
+1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.v.5" id="fn.v.5" href="#fna.v.5">5</a>
+<i>Vierzehnten Bericht über die Diakonissen Stationen am Libanon</i>.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.v.6" id="fn.v.6" href="#fna.v.6">6</a>
+<i>Der Rheinisch Westfälische Diakonissen Verein</i>, p.&nbsp;64, J.&nbsp;Disselhoff.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.083" name="png.083"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">083/</span>79</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH, AND THE
+DUTIES AND SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">The</span> regulations in daily use at Kaiserswerth are
+based on those that Fliedner drew up in the early
+days of the institution. They have been adopted
+with few alterations by the larger number of deaconess
+institutions that have since arisen, so that to
+understand the spirit and usages prevailing in them
+it is well to give these rules some study. They are
+contained in a book numbering one hundred and
+seven pages,<sup><a href="#fn.vi.1" name="fna.vi.1" id="fna.vi.1">1</a></sup> treating with great minuteness every
+question that affects the daily lives of the deaconesses.
+The qualities that the office demands are
+first dwelt upon as they are described in Acts vi, 3,
+and 1&nbsp;Tim. iii, 8, 9. The sisters are reminded that
+their life is one of service; that they serve the Lord
+Jesus; that they serve the poor and the sick and
+helpless &ldquo;for Jesus&#8217; sake;&rdquo; and that they are servants
+one of another.</p>
+<a id="png.084" name="png.084"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">084/</span>80</samp>
+
+<p>Special stress is given to the importance of cultivating
+unity, love, and forbearance in the relations
+of daily life, and the deaconesses are enjoined &ldquo;to
+protect and further the honor of other sisters,&rdquo; &ldquo;to
+form one family living unitedly as sisters, through
+the tie of a heartfelt love for the one great object
+that brings them to this place.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There are two classes of deaconesses formally
+recognized, nurses and teachers; although there is
+another, deaconess whose work is year by year becoming
+more important, and that is the deaconess
+who is attached to a church in the capacity of a
+home missionary. She is designated by the term
+&ldquo;commune-deaconess,&rdquo; or, as the English translate
+it, &ldquo;parish-deaconess.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Those who desire to become nurse-deaconesses
+must have the elements of a common school education,
+must be in good health, and, as a general rule,
+be over eighteen and not over forty years of age.
+Most important of all is it that she possess personal
+knowledge of the salvation of Christ, and a
+living experience of the grace of God. Those who
+desire to become teacher-deaconesses must, in addition,
+present certain educational certificates, and be
+able to sing. All must pass some months at the
+mother-house, taking care of children and assisting
+in housework, so that their fitness for the office can<a
+ id="png.085" name="png.085"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">085/</span>81</samp>
+be proven. A great deal of care is taken to test
+the efficiency of the candidates, and only about one
+half the probationers finally become deaconesses in
+full connection. The teachers have, further, a seminary
+course of one year for those who are to teach
+in infant schools, of two years to prepare for the
+elementary schools, and of three years for the girls&#8217;
+high schools.</p>
+
+<p>While probationers, they receive, free of charge,
+board and instruction, and the caps, collars, and
+aprons that are their distinctive badges. Their
+remaining expenses they provide for themselves.
+Those who have completed the full term of probation,
+and have proved their fitness for the office,
+must pledge themselves to a service of at least five
+years. At the end of the time they may renew the
+engagement or not, as they wish. Should a deaconess
+be needed at home by aged parents, or
+should she desire to marry, she is free to leave her
+duties, but is expected to give three months&#8217; notice
+of her intention to do so.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconess performs her duties gratuitously.
+This is a main feature of the system. She is not
+even free to accept personal presents, for envy, jealousy,
+and unworthy motives might then creep into
+the system. She is truly &ldquo;the servant of the Lord
+Jesus Christ.&rdquo; All of her wants are supplied, and<a
+ id="png.086" name="png.086"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">086/</span>82</samp>
+her future needs anticipated, so that, literally &ldquo;taking
+no thought for the morrow,&rdquo; she can give herself
+with single-hearted devotion to the work in
+hand. The deaconess at Kaiserswerth receives from
+the institution her modest wardrobe, consisting of a
+Sunday suit, a working-dress of dark blue, blue
+apron, white caps and collars. A deaconess attired in
+her garb, with the placid, contented countenance that
+seems distinctively to belong to her, is a pleasant,
+wholesome sight that is constantly to be seen on
+the streets of German cities. Her deaconess attire
+is not only a protection, assuring her chivalrous
+treatment from all classes of men, but it is a convenient
+identification that insures her certain privileges
+on the State railroads and steamboats, for the
+German government recognizes the sisters as benefactors
+of society, and treats them accordingly.
+For her personal expenses the Kaiserswerth deaconess
+in Germany receives yearly twenty-two dollars
+and fifty cents; sometimes when in foreign lands
+she is paid a slightly larger sum. When she becomes
+unfitted for service by reason of sickness or
+old age, and has no means of her own, the Board of
+Direction provides for her maintenance.</p>
+
+<p>The rules for probationers are full of practical
+suggestions touching the details of daily life. There
+is not space to transcribe them here, but those who<a
+ id="png.087" name="png.087"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">087/</span>83</samp>
+have charge of training schools will find them valuable
+reading. Every kind of house and hospital
+service is clearly defined. The deaconesses are instructed
+what duties are theirs in hospitals for
+women and in hospitals for men. In the latter
+the sister undertakes only such nursing as is suited
+to her sex, and for that reason she has a male
+assistant. She must follow strictly the doctor&#8217;s
+orders in all matters pertaining to diet, medicine,
+and ventilation, and must inform him daily of the
+patient&#8217;s state. She also assists the clergyman, if
+desired, in ministering to spiritual needs. But she
+must not obtrude her religion, when it is distasteful
+to her patients; rather manifest it in her deeds and
+manner of life.</p>
+
+<p>Every portion of the day has definite duties
+assigned to it. On reading them over you say,
+Can much be accomplished when the hours are
+subdivided into so many portions, and given over
+to so many objects? But the unvarying testimony
+is that no nurses accomplish more than
+the German deaconesses. No matter how busy they
+may be, the effort is made for each to have a quiet
+half hour for meditation and private devotion.
+Every afternoon the chapel is opened for this purpose,
+and all the sisters who can be spared meet here.
+A hymn is sung, and afterward each spends the<a
+ id="png.088" name="png.088"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">088/</span>84</samp>
+time as she will in meditation, reading the Bible or
+silent prayer, the quietness and stillness being unbroken
+by words. The &ldquo;Stille halbe Stunde,&rdquo; as
+it is called, is greatly prized by the sisters, and is
+observed by them in all their institutions, and
+in all lands. There are Bible-classes and prayer-meetings
+for the deaconesses during the week,
+and the first Sunday of every month there is a
+special service of prayer and thanksgiving for all
+sisters, all the affiliated houses, and similar homes
+wherever they exist. Fliedner prepared a book of
+daily Bible readings for the use of the sisters, and
+a hymn-book, used in all the Kaiserswerth institutions
+at home and abroad. &ldquo;We have no vows,&rdquo;
+he said, &ldquo;and I will have no vows, but a bond of
+union we must have, and the best bond is the word
+of God, and our second bond is singing.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.vi.2" name="fna.vi.2" id="fna.vi.2">2</a></sup> The
+sisters of each house meet together to give their
+votes for the admission of new deaconesses and the
+election of the superintendents. Each deaconess
+is expected to obey those who are placed over her,
+and to accept the kind of work assigned her, except
+in the case of contagious diseases, when her permission
+is asked. What a tribute it is to these
+women that such a refusal has never yet been
+known! Every effort is made to harmonize the<a
+ id="png.089" name="png.089"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">089/</span>85</samp>
+right of the individual with the needs of the whole
+body, a marked characteristic of the Protestant
+sisters of charity.</p>
+
+<p>When a probationer becomes a deaconess she
+is consecrated to her work by a service the main
+features of which it may be well to indicate. They
+are as follows:</p>
+
+<p>Singing. Address commending the deaconesses
+for acceptance. Address to the deaconesses, recalling
+the ever-repeated thought, &ldquo;You are servants in a
+threefold sense: servants of the Lord Jesus; servants
+of the needy for Jesus&#8217; sake; servants one of
+another.&rdquo; Then, having answered the question,
+&ldquo;Are you determined to fulfill these duties truly in
+the fear of the Lord, and according to his holy
+will?&rdquo; the candidate kneels and receives the benediction:
+&ldquo;May the Triune God, God the Father,
+Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you; may he give you
+fidelity unto death, and then the crown of life.&rdquo;
+After this is repeated the prayer of the <i>Apostolical
+Constitutions</i>, that beautiful prayer which has been
+said on similar occasions in many lands and in
+many tongues.<sup><a href="#fn.vi.3" name="fna.vi.3" id="fna.vi.3">3</a></sup> The service ends with the communion.</p>
+
+<p>A similar consecration service is used by nearly
+all the German deaconess houses. The features of<a
+ id="png.090" name="png.090"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">090/</span>86</samp>
+those that meet together in the triennial Conferences
+at Kaiserswerth are strikingly similar; the
+spirit of the original founder pervades them all.</p>
+
+<p>The first of the Conferences was held in 1861,
+just twenty-five years after the founding of the first
+deaconess house at Kaiserswerth. It was celebrated
+as a Thanksgiving festival for the restoration of the
+diaconate of women to the Church. The representatives
+of twenty-seven distinct mother-houses met
+together to exchange their experiences, and to deliberate
+on matters touching the further usefulness
+of the order.</p>
+
+<p>Since then the Conferences have been continued
+at intervals of three and four years. The last General
+Conference assembled at Fliedner&#8217;s old home
+in September, 1888.</p>
+
+<p>Just before it convened, as is the custom, statistics
+were obtained from the different mother-houses
+represented in the association, and pains were taken
+to verify their correctness. The results so obtained
+are given in the following table:<sup><a href="#fn.vi.4" name="fna.vi.4" id="fna.vi.4">4</a></sup></p>
+
+<a id="png.091" name="png.091"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">091/</span>87</samp>
+<table class="center" summary="">
+<tr>
+<th>Conferences.</th><th>Mother-houses.</th><th style="width:5em;">Sisters.</th><th>Fields of Work.</th></tr>
+<tr><td>1861</td><td> 27 </td><td> 1,197 </td><td class="ctr"> ?</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1864</td><td> 30 </td><td> 1,592 </td><td class="ctr"> 386</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1868</td><td> 40 </td><td> 2,106 </td><td class="ctr"> 526</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1872</td><td> 48 </td><td> 2,657 </td><td class="ctr"> 648</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1875</td><td> 50 </td><td> 3,239 </td><td class="ctr"> 866</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1878</td><td> 51 </td><td> 3,901 </td><td class="ctr"> 1,093</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1881</td><td> 53 </td><td> 4,748 </td><td class="ctr"> 1,436</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1884</td><td> 54 </td><td> 5,653 </td><td class="ctr"> 1,742</td></tr>
+<tr><td>1888</td><td> 57 </td><td> 7,129 </td><td class="ctr"> 2,263</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Five additional houses had made application for
+entrance at the time the table was made, and were
+received at the ensuing Conference, among which
+was the Philadelphia mother-house of deaconesses
+in connection with the Mary J. Drexel Home.</p>
+
+<p>Over sixty mother-houses now belong to the association,
+and notwithstanding the necessary loss of
+deaconesses from death or removal from work since
+the preceding Conference, there are 1,476 more in
+number now than then. Surely the deaconess cause
+is striking deep root in the religious life of Protestant
+Europe. During Fliedner&#8217;s life-time occasions
+arose which called the deaconesses outside their accustomed
+fields of work, and proved their value in
+the exceptional emergencies that so often arise.
+Here is an instance that occurred during the early
+days of the establishment:<sup><a href="#fn.vi.5" name="fna.vi.5" id="fna.vi.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;An epidemic of nervous fever was raging in two
+communes of the circle of Duisburg, Gartrop, and<a
+ id="png.092" name="png.092"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">092/</span>88</samp>
+Gahlen. Its first and most virulent outbreak took
+place at Gartrop, a small, poor, secluded village of
+scarcely one hundred and thirty souls, without a
+doctor, without an apothecary in the neighborhood,
+while the clergyman was upon the point of
+leaving for another parish, and his successor had
+not yet been appointed. Four deaconesses, including
+the superior, Pastor Fliedner&#8217;s wife, and a maid,
+hastened to this scene of wretchedness, and found
+from twenty to twenty-five fever patients in the
+most alarming condition, a mother and four children
+in one hovel, four other patients in another,
+and so on, all lying on foul straw, or on bed-clothes
+that had not been washed for weeks, almost without
+food, utterly without help. Many had died already;
+the healthy had fled; the parish doctor
+lived four German leagues off, and could not come
+every day. The first care of the sisters, who would
+have found no lodging but for the then vacancy
+of the parsonage, was to introduce cleanliness and
+ventilation into the narrow cabins of the peasants;
+they washed and cooked for the sick, they watched
+every night by turns at their bed-side, and tended
+them with such success that only four died after
+their arrival, and the rest were only convalescent
+after four weeks&#8217; stay. The same epidemic having
+broken out in the neighboring commune of Gahlen,<a
+ id="png.093" name="png.093"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">093/</span>89</samp>
+in two families, of whom eight members lay ill at
+once, a single deaconess was able, in three weeks,
+to restore every patient to health, and to prevent
+the further spread of the disease. What would not
+our doctors give for a few dozen of such hard-working,
+zealous, intelligent ministers in the field of
+sanitary reform?&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Schleswig-Holstein war of 1864 was the
+first in which Protestant deaconesses were active
+as nurses. Already in the Crimean war the Greek
+Sisters of Charity among the Russians, the Sisters
+of Mercy among the French, and Florence Nightingale
+and Miss Stanley among the English, had
+wakened the liveliest gratitude on the part of the
+soldiers, and secured the respect and approbation
+of the surgeons.</p>
+
+<p>In the Austrian war of 1866 two hundred and
+eighty-two deaconesses were in the hospitals and
+on the battle-fields, fifty-eight of whom were from
+Kaiserswerth. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 was
+on a greater scale, and afforded wider opportunities
+for the unselfish, priceless labors of these Christian
+nurses. Neatly eight hundred deaconesses, sent
+from more than thirty mother-houses, cared for the
+sick and wounded in the camp hospitals or on the
+field. The willingness of a number of boards of
+administration to release sisters who were in their<a
+ id="png.094" name="png.094"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">094/</span>90</samp>
+service, and the voluntary offers of other women to
+take their places, enabled Kaiserswerth to send two
+hundred and twenty of the number. Their experience
+in improvising hospitals, in aiding the surgeon
+in his amputations, and in ministering to the
+wounded and dying, throws a tender glow of compassionate
+sympathy over the terrible scenes of
+war.<sup><a href="#fn.vi.6" name="fna.vi.6" id="fna.vi.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The importance of trained deaconesses in times
+of war is now well understood by the military authorities
+at Berlin. In the winter of 1887, when
+war seemed imminent, the directors of the German
+deaconess houses were summoned by the government
+to a conference at the German capital to take
+measures for supplying nurses in case war should
+be declared.</p>
+
+<p>Deaconesses are now thoroughly incorporated
+into the religious and social features of the German
+national life, as must be admitted by any
+one who has weighed the facts that have been
+given.</p>
+
+<p>The example of Kaiserswerth has been far-reaching;
+the mission of Fliedner, that simple-hearted,
+true-souled, practical, energetic pastor, has been
+wonderfully successful.</p>
+
+<p>In this rapid sketch I have said but little of the<a
+ id="png.095" name="png.095"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">095/</span>91</samp>
+hinderances he met, nothing of the ridicule which
+at first attacked him unsparingly. He paid no
+heed to these obstacles, and why should we waste
+time in detailing them? Steadfastly and undeviatingly
+he went forward toward the end he had in
+view; that is, to restore in all its aspects the
+devoted disciplined services of Christian women
+to the Church. He passed away from life October
+5, 1864, leaving the great establishment that
+he had watched over in the charge of his son-in-law,
+Pastor Disselhoff, and other members of his
+family.</p>
+
+<p>The institution has become an imposing mass of
+building, forming an almost absurd contrast to the
+little garden house, the cradle of the whole establishment,
+which is still standing in the parsonage
+garden.</p>
+
+<p>When the fiftieth anniversary of the rise of the
+deaconess cause was celebrated in 1886 the Kaiserswerth
+sisterhood put their mites together and purchased
+the little house, to hold it in perpetuity as a
+monument of God&#8217;s providence.</p>
+
+<p>The symbol of Kaiserswerth is a white dove, carrying
+an olive branch, resting against a blue ground.
+The blue flag floats from the old windmill tower
+on the river-bank, attracting the attention of the
+traveler as he floats up the Rhine.</p>
+<a id="png.096" name="png.096"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">096/</span>92</samp>
+
+<p>Other flags bear messages of conquest, of victory,
+of battles fought and won, of storm and stress and
+endeavor in the conflict of man against his fellow-man.
+But only peace and good-will, the victory of
+goodness and of love&mdash;these alone are the messages
+that are waved forth to the wind by the blue flag
+of Kaiserswerth.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.vi.1" id="fn.vi.1" href="#fna.vi.1">1</a>
+<i>Haus Ordnung und Dienst-Anweisung für die Diakonissen
+und Probeschwestern des Diakonissen Mutterhauses zu Kaiserswerth</i>.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vi.2" id="fn.vi.2" href="#fna.vi.2">2</a>
+<i>Deaconesses</i>, Rev. J.&nbsp;S. Howson, D.D., p.&nbsp;81.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vi.3" id="fn.vi.3" href="#fna.vi.3">3</a>
+Refer back to <a href="#png.027">page 23</a>, chapter ii, where it can be found.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vi.4" id="fn.vi.4" href="#fna.vi.4">4</a>
+<i>Der Armen und Kranken Freund</i>, August Heft, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vi.5" id="fn.vi.5" href="#fna.vi.5">5</a>
+<i>Woman&#8217;s Work in the Church</i>, p.&nbsp;273, J.&nbsp;M. Ludlow. A.
+Strahan, London, 1866.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vi.6" id="fn.vi.6" href="#fna.vi.6">6</a>
+<i>Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier</i>, p.&nbsp;215.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.097" name="png.097"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">097/</span>93</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<h4>OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">In</span> a book of these dimensions no exhaustive
+historical account can be given of all the developments
+of the deaconess movement in the various
+countries on the Continent. Only a few of the
+leading houses can be spoken of, but through a
+knowledge of these we can gain an insight into
+the life and characteristics of the movement as a
+whole.</p>
+
+<p>The mother-house at Strasburg is one of the
+oldest ones, dating from 1842. It owes its origin
+to the holy enthusiasm and life experiences of
+Pastor Härter, who exercised a deep religious influence
+in the city where he lived. In 1817, when
+he was a young man of twenty, the great Strasburg
+hospital was re-organized. The six to eight hundred
+patients were divided according to their religious
+faith. To the Catholics were assigned as nurses
+Sisters of Charity. For the Protestants there were
+paid women nurses.</p>
+
+<p>The magistrates appealed to the pastors to find<a
+ id="png.098" name="png.098"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">098/</span>94</samp>
+at least two Protestant women of experience and
+ability to oversee the nurses, but the most persistent
+search in the various churches of Strasburg
+failed to procure suitable candidates. Years afterward,
+when death entered Härter&#8217;s family circle,
+and his life became clouded and darkened, he was
+called as a pastor to the largest church in Strasburg.
+He entered upon his new pastorate with a
+heart heavy and sad, and not until after ten months
+of struggle, in which the depths of his soul were
+stirred, did he come forth strong, confident, and
+positive as never before that &ldquo;Jesus Christ came
+into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.&rdquo;
+Henceforth there was force to his life, conviction
+in his words, and never-ceasing energy in good
+works.</p>
+
+<p>When he heard of Fliedner&#8217;s new undertaking
+below him on the Rhine he remembered the difficulty
+in finding Protestant nurses for the hospital, and
+declared that Strasburg must have a similar institution.
+He won the support of a number of Christian
+men and women, and the house was opened in
+October, 1842. From its beginning many branches
+of charitable and religious work were undertaken.
+Especial attention was at first given to preparing
+Christian teachers, and the schools in connection with
+the deaconess house were filled with pupils. The<a
+ id="png.099" name="png.099"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">099/</span>95</samp>
+success in this particular aroused apprehension lest
+the deaconesses should be diverted from their legitimate
+duties in caring for outside interests, so for a
+time the schools were discontinued. They have
+been resumed, however, and are to-day prosperous
+as of old.<sup><a href="#fn.vii.1" name="fna.vii.1" id="fna.vii.1">1</a></sup> There are also a hospital, a home for
+aged women, a servants&#8217; training-school and a
+foundling asylum under the charge of the deaconesses.
+They are, as a class, of higher social rank
+than these of Kaiserswerth, the preponderating
+number of whom are from the lower grade of social
+life. They are also better educated. This is
+partly a necessity, from the fact that the city is on
+the border-land between two great nations and if
+the deaconesses are to be effective they must be
+familiar with the spoken and written speech of both
+peoples. Strasburg continues to be a great and
+powerful center of deaconess activities, having a
+number of branch houses and various fields of
+work.</p>
+
+<p>The affiliated house at Mülhausen has obtained
+an especially good report for its successful use of
+parish deaconesses. No other house has so systematized
+their labors or developed their possibilities
+as has the deaconess house at Mülhausen. All
+the authorities on deaconess work agree that the<a
+ id="png.100" name="png.100"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">100/</span>96</samp>
+office of the parish deaconess is the crown and
+glory of the diaconate, and approaches most nearly
+the type of the deaconesses of the early Church.</p>
+
+<p>The parish deaconess has occasion to use every
+gift which she can possibly acquire in the varied
+training of the deaconess school. She must know
+how to care for the poor, the weak, the sick, and those
+needing help for either body or soul, as she finds
+them in her visits from house to house. She must
+be able to pray at the bedside of the rich man,
+and to serve in the kitchen of the poor man;
+to be motherly to children, sympathetic with
+the sorrowing, and silent with the complaining.
+She must be an intelligent nurse, having some
+knowledge of medicine, able to faithfully carry out
+the instructions of the physician. She must be
+keen in detecting imposition, and wise in the administration
+of charity, knowing that &ldquo;to deny is
+often to help, and to give is often to corrupt.&rdquo;
+Truly, there is no gift of Christian womanhood
+which has not here its use.</p>
+
+<p>For many reasons Mülhausen was well adapted
+for a field of labor for parish deaconesses. It is
+an old city, dating back to medi&aelig;val times, having a
+population of about sixty thousand inhabitants, half
+of whom are workmen. It has long been known
+for its noble and successful endeavors to promote<a
+ id="png.101" name="png.101"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">101/</span>97</samp>
+the well-being of the working class. One of the
+first building and loan associations was started here
+to enable the operatives to earn their homes by
+gradual payments. Other organizations whose object
+is the moral elevation of the employees have
+united the different social circles by strong ties of
+sympathy. It was an easy matter, therefore, to
+raise a subscription of two hundred thousand francs
+to provide a home for the deaconesses who were
+invited here from Strasburg in 1861. There are
+now fourteen sisters in the deaconess house. Half
+of the number remain at the home to nurse the
+sick, and perform house duties. The remainder
+are parish deaconesses, who go forth early in the
+morning, each to her own quarter of the city, where
+she is busy at her labors during the day. In the
+evening she returns to the central home. In each of
+the seven districts into which the city is divided is
+located a district house; a pleasant, well-kept place.
+This contains a waiting-room for the deaconess
+and a consultation-room for the district physician,
+who comes at stated hours during the week. The
+poor who are recommended by the sister he treats
+gratuitously, and, so far as the physician directs, she
+furnishes food gratuitously. She keeps on hand a
+good stock of lint, bandages, and instruments.
+Each house has a kitchen and cellar. Every morning<a
+ id="png.102" name="png.102"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">102/</span>98</samp>
+a woman comes in and prepares a large kettle
+of nourishing soup, and at 11 A.&nbsp;M. this is given
+out to the sick and poor.</p>
+
+<p>In the store-room are rice, sugar, coffee, meal,
+and similar articles of food. From here she sends
+out at noon such portions as are needed for the
+most destitute of the district. In winter she also
+sells from her stores to the poor. Then there is a
+closet amply provided with sewing materials, and
+when the deaconess obtains work for seamstresses
+she furnishes them at a small price the necessary
+outfit to begin sewing. At two o&#8217;clock the deaconess
+ends her duties at the district house, and spends
+the remainder of the day in making visits in her
+quarter. To provide means to support the constant
+expenditure, there is in each quarter of the
+city a committee of fifteen ladies and three gentlemen,
+being in all more than one hundred ladies and
+twenty gentlemen, who are responsible for the administration
+of the charity. Each committee has a
+yearly collection in its district, and in this way about
+forty thousand francs are gathered annually. In
+each quarter nine hundred francs (one hundred and
+eighty dollars) is set apart for the maintenance of
+the sister and the rent of the district house. The
+remaining sum is expended by the deaconesses in
+their several districts in caring for the sick and<a
+ id="png.103" name="png.103"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">103/</span>99</samp>
+destitute. Every month each one receives the sum
+allotted her from the treasurer, and in return reports
+her expenditure. The ladies on the committee
+often give personal assistance to the deaconess,
+and sometimes assume responsibility for
+individual cases, or for an entire street. The arrangements
+are constantly being improved upon
+as knowledge is gained by practice. The experience
+that has been gathered at Mülhausen is very
+practical, and therefore very valuable. Similar
+work could be undertaken in any of our large
+American cities, with the anticipation of like
+beneficent results. For that reason the above detailed
+description has been ventured upon, with the
+hope that the Old World example will find imitators
+in the New.<sup><a href="#fn.vii.2" name="fna.vii.2" id="fna.vii.2">2</a></sup> Similar institutions, although
+not so carefully perfected, are found in Gorlitz and
+Magdeburg.</p>
+
+<p>In Berlin are a good many deaconess institutions.
+Among them is the Marthashof, a training-school
+for servants, and a home for those out of employment.</p>
+
+<p>The first impulse to care for the girls who come
+to large cities to obtain work, and to provide them
+a home where they can have respectable surroundings,<a
+ id="png.104" name="png.104"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">104/</span>100</samp>
+came from Pastor Vermeil, the founder of the
+deaconess house at Paris. When Fliedner visited
+the Paris house his heart was touched by what he
+saw. He thought of the thousands of girls coming
+annually to Berlin from the provinces, and of the
+exposures and temptations to which they were subjected.
+He knew that many of them in their ignorance
+and inexperience were ruined body and soul
+in the lodging-houses to which they resorted, and
+drifted away on the streets of the city, only to find
+a place eventually in the hopeless wards of the great
+hospital, La Charité.</p>
+
+<p>He determined to do what he could to provide a
+remedy, and, as was his wont, &ldquo;without money and
+without noise&rdquo; he set to work. In the north of
+Berlin, at quite a distance from the railroad stations,
+he hired a small house on a street then called &ldquo;The
+Lost Way&rdquo;&mdash;a street well named, as it was unlighted
+and unpaved, and so poorly kept that when
+the queen came to visit the home, shortly after it
+was opened, her carriage, in spite of the strong
+horses, got stuck in the mud.</p>
+
+<p>By the aid of some ladies in the city the home
+was furnished with twelve beds; three deaconesses
+were put in charge, and after perplexing difficulties
+the authorization to open a registry for servants
+was obtained. The idea at first met with<a
+ id="png.105" name="png.105"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">105/</span>101</samp>
+derision. It was said that such an institution was
+rightly located on &ldquo;The Lost Way,&rdquo; for no one
+would ever come to it. But they came. In two
+years the number of beds increased to twenty, and
+the same year Fliedner purchased the entire court
+in which the house stood, containing five houses
+and a fine garden. Queen Elizabeth of Prussia became
+the patroness of the institution, and it grew
+in favor with the people. A training-school was
+added in which the girls were taught to wash, iron,
+cook, and sew, and also to work in the garden and
+to care for cows, the last two branches of domestic
+service being required of servant-girls in Germany.
+Later an infant school was added in which nursery
+girls were practiced in taking charge of children, a
+pleasant, helpful demeanor being made one of the
+requisites. Over two hundred children, mostly
+coming from the poorest and gloomiest homes, are
+in daily attendance. About three hundred and
+fifty more attend the girls&#8217; school for children of
+the working classes. In the home and training-school
+for servants about eight hundred girls are
+received annually, and sixteen thousand have been
+sheltered and taught during the years it has been
+open. They readily secure situations, over two
+thousand applications being annually received for
+the servants of the Marthashof. They remain in<a
+ id="png.106" name="png.106"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">106/</span>102</samp>
+friendly relation to the home, receive good counsel
+and advice, and are encouraged to spend their free
+Sundays there.</p>
+
+<p>The Marthashof has had a beneficent influence
+over the moral and spiritual welfare of servants
+throughout Germany. In nearly all the cities similar
+homes are now established, while in the larger
+cities Sunday associations are formed to provide
+suitable places of meeting for the entertainment
+and instruction of those who are free Sunday afternoons
+and evenings. So far as I am aware, no similar
+work has been attempted for servant-girls in
+the United States. It is true that training-schools
+exist, but not with religious supervision, and with
+the moral and religious instruction of the inmates
+made a prominent feature. The Marthashof offers
+us a lesson well worth our learning.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconess house, &ldquo;Bethanien,&rdquo; in Berlin, was
+founded by King Frederick William IV., who as the
+Crown Prince took a warm interest in Fliedner&#8217;s
+undertakings.<sup><a href="#fn.vii.3" name="fna.vii.3" id="fna.vii.3">3</a></sup>
+It still remains under the protection<a
+ id="png.107" name="png.107"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">107/</span>103</samp>
+of the emperor, and is one of the most important
+mother-houses. Over three thousand patients are
+annually admitted to the hospital connected with
+the house, and five hundred children are treated at
+a dispensary devoted solely to cases of diphtheria.
+Outside of the city it has thirty-three stations.
+There are also the Lazarus Hospital and Deaconess
+Home, the Paul Gerhardt Deaconess Home, provided
+for parish deaconesses, and the Elizabeth
+Hospital and Home, which started independently
+but is now allied to Kaiserswerth.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconess house in Neudettelsau stands in
+closest union with the Lutheran Church. The sisters
+are mostly from the higher ranks of society,
+and intellectual training is made prominent. Certain
+liturgical forms are used, and in the main
+deaconesses are employed in preparing ecclesiastical
+vestments and embroideries for church
+adornment.</p>
+
+<p>In marked contrast to Dettelsau is the deaconess
+house at Berne. It is almost a private
+institution, having only slight connection with
+the State Church. It owes its origin to Sophie
+Wurdemberger, a member of one of the old patrician
+families of Berne. A visit to England made
+her acquainted with Elizabeth Fry, with the usual
+beneficent result of increased interest and activity<a
+ id="png.108" name="png.108"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">108/</span>104</samp>
+in good works. On her return to Berne she gained
+the support of a society of women, and through
+their aid secured a hospital and deaconess home.
+It is now fourth in number among the largest
+mother-houses, has two hundred and ninety-seven
+deaconesses, five affiliated houses, and forty-five
+different fields of work.</p>
+
+<p>The oldest mother-house in Switzerland is at St.
+Loup, not far from Lausanne, standing on one of
+the beautiful heights of that picturesque region.
+It was founded by Pastor Germond in 1841, through
+the direct influence of the work at Kaiserswerth.
+There are now seventy-three deaconesses, mostly
+acting as nurses either in private homes or public
+institutions.<sup><a href="#fn.vii.4" name="fna.vii.4" id="fna.vii.4">4</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There is also a large institution at Riehen near
+Basel, which sends out two hundred deaconesses.
+The greater number are of the peasant class, and are
+nearly all employed as nurses. The home at <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Zurich'">Zürich</ins>
+was at first a daughter-house of Riehen, but is now
+an independent institution with twenty-seven stations.
+In Austria there is a mother-house at Gallneukirchen
+from which sisters are sent forth, four
+of them working in as many Vienna parishes. The
+story of deaconess work in Austria is an interesting
+one, and is told by Miss Williams in a recent<a
+ id="png.109" name="png.109"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">109/</span>105</samp>
+number of <i>The Churchman</i>, from which the following
+extracts are taken:</p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;The Protestants of Gallneukirchen were first
+formed into an independent parish in the year
+1872, and it is the only one lying between the
+Danube and the Bohemian frontier. It is very
+widely extended, but numbers only three hundred
+and eighteen souls, and is so poor that with the
+greatest effort it can raise only four hundred florins
+a year (about one hundred and sixty dollars) for
+church and school. With the aid of those interested
+in the work a parish-house has been secured,
+where the pastor and his wife reside, and in which
+is the deaconess asylum for the aged, infirm, and
+insane of all classes. It has not as yet been possible
+to clear off the debt on the purchase. Still the
+sisters strive in every way to enlarge their usefulness,
+so that they now possess extensive buildings
+and farms&mdash;only partly paid for, it is true&mdash;wherein
+to house the many afflicted who apply to them for
+aid. In one building, standing alone on a hill, they
+purpose to collect the insane patients, and suitable
+additions are now being made to insure their safety
+and comfort. In another village, two hours&#8217; drive
+from here, is their school, where more than sixty
+boys and girls are taught, fed, and clothed, in most
+cases gratuitously, at worst at a nominal charge.&rdquo;</p>
+<a id="png.110" name="png.110"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">110/</span>106</samp>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The sisters are bright and cheerful, and keep
+their various dwellings so exquisitely neat and clean,
+with their white-washed walls adorned with Scripture
+texts and pictures. No work, however menial,
+is beneath them. I have myself seen one scrubbing
+the stairs, and in turns they sleep on a hard
+straw bed on the floor, ready to rise in the night
+as often as a bell summons them to the aid of a
+suffering invalid or a refractory lunatic.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>There are a few institutions that exist independently
+of those represented at the Kaiserswerth
+General Conference. They stand alone for various
+reasons; perhaps they have not met the conditions
+required of those which belong to the association.
+Any house whose administration rests exclusively
+either in the hands of a man or a woman is excluded
+from the Conference. In every mother-house there
+represented the administrative head is twofold,
+consisting of a gentleman, who, with rare exceptions,
+is a clergyman, and a lady who is a deaconess.
+The Kaiserswerth authorities regard this joint
+management as an indispensable condition.</p>
+
+<p>The rector, as he is usually called, cares for the
+intellectual and spiritual instruction of the probationers,
+conducts public services in the chapel, and
+issues the publications and reports of the house.</p>
+
+<p>The oberin, or house-mother, is the direct head<a
+ id="png.111" name="png.111"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">111/</span>107</samp>
+of the sisters. She is responsible for the interior
+management, regulates the duties of the sisters, and
+gives practical instruction. The two are jointly
+responsible for the acceptance and dismissal of probationers,
+for the assignment of the sisters to different
+fields of labor, and the kind of labor required.
+Every mother-house has its own peculiarities. The
+personal characteristics of those who conduct it are
+naturally impressed upon the house.</p>
+
+<p>Then, too, the influence of environment is to be
+reckoned with. The house may be located in a
+large city or in a small one; in the country or in
+towns. It may be under the influence of a State
+Church, as in Germany, or of Christians of all
+Churches, as at Mildmay. It will share the characteristics
+of the race of people from which come its
+workers. Doubtless in the Methodist Episcopal
+Church in America the deaconesses that eventually
+become recognized as set apart to special Christian
+service, through the training that is provided for
+them, will be women who are peculiarly adapted to
+the needs of that Church, with all the distinguishing
+American traits that will prepare them to understand
+the people whom they are to serve, and that
+will give them access to the hearts of this people.</p>
+
+<p>If the deaconess cause should gain favor with us
+as it has in Europe, and should the deaconesses<a
+ id="png.112" name="png.112"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">112/</span>108</samp>
+become as established in the social life of the
+people as they are there, the effective agencies will
+be largely increased that are to deal with the questions
+that come to the front whenever, as in great
+cities, large numbers of people are massed together.</p>
+
+<p>Deaconess institutions now exist in Switzerland,
+France, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia,
+Austria, England, and Germany, while the countries
+in which these homes have stations are literally
+too numerous to mention. Spain, Italy,
+Greece, Turkey, the countries of Northern Africa,
+and of Asia Minor, as well as isolated mission stations
+throughout the entire world are now served
+by deaconesses.</p>
+
+<p>If there were ten times the number of sisters,
+places could be at once found for them. It is instructive
+on this point to read what Pastor Disselhoff
+says<sup><a href="#fn.vii.5" name="fna.vii.5" id="fna.vii.5">5</a></sup> in the account he gives of the various
+demands made upon him, which he has been unable
+to meet. One of the letters he quotes was from an
+English missionary on the Cameron River. &ldquo;Send
+us deaconesses for our hospital,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It was
+built for European sailors, especially Germans.
+We hope and trust to overcome the superstitions
+of the natives, and that they too, may come to be
+healed.&rdquo; But there were no sisters to send.</p>
+<a id="png.113" name="png.113"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">113/</span>109</samp>
+
+<p>A similar call came from Shanghai, but as it was
+impossible to return a favorable answer, although
+the hospital was a Protestant institution, the Sisters
+of Mercy were invited in, and given control.
+From 1870 up to 1886 over two hundred and twenty-seven
+places at widely remote distances, such as
+Madras, New Orleans, Port Said, Rio de Janeiro,
+and elsewhere, sent most urgent appeals for Kaiserswerth
+deaconesses to be assigned them, but
+invariably the same answer must be returned:
+&ldquo;There are none to send.&rdquo; Disselhoff closes by
+saying, &ldquo;How many open doors has God given!
+Whose fault is it that they remain closed?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.vii.1" id="fn.vii.1" href="#fna.vii.1">1</a>
+Schäfer, <i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;21.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vii.2" id="fn.vii.2" href="#fna.vii.2">2</a>
+The details of the deaconess work at Mülhausen are largely
+taken from Schäfer&#8217;s <i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;ii.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vii.3" id="fn.vii.3" href="#fna.vii.3">3</a>
+<i>Life of Pastor Fliedner</i>, translated by C.&nbsp;Winckworth, London,
+1867, p.&nbsp;133. &ldquo;The favor of the great, especially the condescending
+kindness of our late Sovereign, he took as a gift from the King
+of kings, who allowed his own work to be thus promoted. He
+strenuously avoided all personal distinction, and never wore the order
+which had been sent him; &lsquo;for a servant of the Church,&rsquo; he
+said, &lsquo;there should be but one order&mdash;the Cross of the Lord.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vii.4" id="fn.vii.4" href="#fna.vii.4">4</a>
+<i>Der Armen und Kranken Freund</i>, August, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.vii.5" id="fn.vii.5" href="#fna.vii.5">5</a>
+<i>Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier</i>, pp.&nbsp;248, 249.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.114" name="png.114"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">114/</span>110</samp>
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">The</span> good results of the work of deaconesses in
+the other Protestant bodies of Germany doubtless
+had their influence upon German Methodism. As
+far back as 1868 in Wurtemberg, and later in
+Frankfort, some preachers introduced parish deaconesses
+for the care of the sick; but well-directed
+efforts, and unity in management, were lacking.</p>
+
+<p>The existing association was started July 8, 1874,
+under the title of &ldquo;Bethanienverein,&rdquo; or the Bethany
+Society, through the efforts of several members
+of the German Conference, among whom were Rev.
+G. Weiss, who, with two deaconesses, initiated the
+work in Bremen, Rev. Frederick Eilers, the present
+inspector, and Rev. G. Hausser, who for several
+years was president of the board of direction, and
+now resides in America.<sup><a href="#fn.viii.1" name="fna.viii.1" id="fna.viii.1">1</a></sup> A further number of
+ministers showed themselves inclined to stand by
+the society, both by their influence and through
+contributions taken in their churches, so that in<a
+ id="png.115" name="png.115"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">115/</span>111</samp>
+1876 the first trained deaconesses were set at work
+in the city of Frankfort.</p>
+
+<p>As has been said,<sup><a href="#fn.viii.2" name="fna.viii.2" id="fna.viii.2">2</a></sup> the little institution in its
+early days had to pass through a series of critical
+experiences, as a young child has to encounter the
+series of childhood diseases that assail it; but it
+outlived them all, and is now enjoying a vigorous
+youth. It was but another illustration of the truth
+that all beginnings are difficult, and that successful
+experience has to be bought by overcoming hinderances
+and obstacles.</p>
+
+<p>To-day there is no branch of German Methodism
+more successfully and substantially incorporated
+into the Church life than the deaconess society,
+and none that wins greater favor among those outside
+of denominational lines.</p>
+
+<p>The first printed report was issued in October,
+1884. In this the inspector says: &ldquo;Our society is
+now in three cities, Frankfort, Hamburg, and Berlin,
+and our sisters are not able to meet all the demands
+upon them for service.&rdquo; At that time there
+were thirteen deaconesses and twenty probationers.
+The last report, issued in July, 1888, shows an
+increase in numbers both of deaconesses and their
+stations. There are now eighty-nine deaconesses,<a
+ id="png.116" name="png.116"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">116/</span>112</samp>
+eleven of whom are probationers, and there are
+stations in five places. Besides the ones previously
+mentioned in Germany, two additional stations
+have been started in Switzerland: one in Zürich,
+and one in St. Gall.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all the Methodist German deaconesses
+are engaged in caring for the sick; it is only
+recently that attempts have been made in some
+other directions of charitable endeavor. In the last
+report we are told that at Frankfort steps have
+been taken to reform fallen women. One of the
+sisters seems to be especially endowed with tact
+and ability for this difficult work. She has already
+induced twenty-two of these girls to enter the
+asylum at Sachsenhausen. The police authorities
+and city magistrates have given this same sister
+access to the women prisoners, which is a decided
+favor, coming from German officials. Besides her
+work in this particular, she has devoted her remaining
+time to the care of the poor and the sick.</p>
+
+<p>Many deaconesses were called upon to go out as
+nurses in private families, and, in order to obtain
+room to accommodate the added number these services
+required, it has been necessary to rent an additional
+house. There are two clinics in connection
+with the institution; one for those suffering from
+nose, throat, or lung diseases, the other for diseases<a
+ id="png.117" name="png.117"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">117/</span>113</samp>
+of women. In both, the hours of consultation
+are free, and attract numerous visitors. Two
+hundred and forty-six people were received in the
+hospital last year, and were cared for in four thousand
+one hundred and fifty days of nursing. Spiritual
+results are also anticipated from the seed of
+God&#8217;s word sown in the hearts of the sick through
+daily prayer and Sunday services.</p>
+
+<p>The house at Frankfort is too small for its increasing
+needs, and a permanent home of more
+ample dimensions is greatly to be desired.</p>
+
+<p>In Hamburg the house has been enlarged, and
+there is now room for thirty-five sisters; yet still
+there are more demands made than can be met.
+In one month ninety requests were handed in for
+the aid of the deaconesses. The city authorities
+offered them a large lot of land at a very moderate
+sum, which is at present used as a garden,
+and adds much to the enjoyment of the home.</p>
+
+<p>On the 4th of March, 1888, occurred the anniversary
+of the founding of the Hamburg house, at
+which time six sisters were set apart to their life
+calling by a service of consecration. As in all
+places where our deaconesses are employed, so also
+in Hamburg their influence is felt in the increase of
+religious life among the families they serve.</p>
+
+<p>In Berlin, again, there is an imperative call for<a
+ id="png.118" name="png.118"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">118/</span>114</samp>
+enlarged house accommodations, and more sisters
+are needed to meet the requests for help that are
+constantly coming to them. As the report expresses
+it, &ldquo;Something must happen!&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.viii.3" name="fna.viii.3" id="fna.viii.3">3</a></sup> After six years
+of activity in Berlin the deaconesses find themselves
+well appreciated, and with a broad field of
+labor. The city authorities gave them permission
+to take a house collection during the months of
+February and March. One of the German ministers
+said, &ldquo;This is an unusual favor, only granted in
+exceptional cases, as when a village is swept away,
+or there is an inundation, or a failure of harvests.&rdquo;
+This collection was no easy task. In the depth of
+winter, in rigorous cold and snow the sisters had
+to climb weary flights of stairs, in houses four and
+five stories high, arranged in flats; to knock at
+many doors, often meeting with but slight success
+or a positive refusal; yet daily they went with
+fresh courage to their work, encouraged by the
+thought that they were toiling not for themselves,
+but to serve the needy, &ldquo;for Jesus&#8217; sake.&rdquo; The
+collection resulted in obtaining nearly twenty
+thousand marks, to which has been added the loan
+of a larger sum at a small rate of interest, so that
+there is good prospect of soon obtaining a permanent
+home as the property of the deaconess society.</p>
+<a id="png.119" name="png.119"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">119/</span>115</samp>
+
+<p>St. Gall is one of the newer stations, but from
+the beginning it has been a work of promise. In
+this old center of missionary operations, where
+Irish missionaries founded one of the most famous
+monasteries of medi&aelig;val times, is now to be erected
+a hospital under the care of Methodist deaconesses,
+who have already begun to collect means for this
+purpose. In Scheffel&#8217;s famous story of <i>Ekkehard</i>
+the only way in which the Duchess Hadwig could
+enter the monastery of St. Gall (as there was a law
+that no woman should set her foot upon the threshold)
+was by the ingenious device of a young monk,
+who lifted her over in his arms. These peaceful
+women of Methodism are finding no obstacle now
+as did Hadwig of old; they do not need even figuratively
+to be lifted over the entering threshold;
+they are gladly welcomed, and are introducing a
+new element into the life of the old city.</p>
+
+<p>In Zürich seven deaconesses are at work under
+the protection, and with the sympathetic co-operation,
+of the pastor and the church. I saw something
+of the deaconesses and their duties in this place.
+The inspector, Rev. Fr. Eilers, came with the first
+deaconesses and introduced them to their new field
+when I was a resident of the city. On Sunday
+morning he occupied the pulpit, preaching from
+Rom. xvi, 1, commending the deaconesses to the<a
+ id="png.120" name="png.120"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">120/</span>116</samp>
+kindness and helpful aid of the members of the
+church. I used often to see Sister Myrtha, who was
+the head sister, hastening hither and thither on her
+errands of mercy. In her plain black dress and
+round shoulder-cape to match, and broad white collar
+and white cap, she was a pleasant and attractive
+figure. She was always happy and contented, ready
+to answer the many questions with which I plied
+her in my desire to look through the eyes of a deaconess,
+and to obtain her views of the office to which
+she belonged. She had a great love for her work,
+and believed that she was doing service for Christ
+in a true missionary field. Her simple uniform was
+a distinguishing mark that insured her respect and
+attention wherever she went, and she regarded it as
+a garb of honor that marked her as belonging to
+the daughters of the great King. You could not
+call such a life an austere or unnatural one. It was
+too thoroughly filled with thoughts of love to others
+to be either morbid or introspective. I obtained
+my first favorable impressions of the usefulness of
+deaconesses and their importance to the Church
+from the cheerful, contented labors of Sister Myrtha
+and her associates among the poor and sick of Zürich&mdash;quiet
+women, of no particular prominence in
+the social world, and not learned or accomplished;
+&ldquo;<i>nur einfache Mädchen</i>&rdquo; (only simple maidens,<a
+ id="png.121" name="png.121"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">121/</span>117</samp>
+quiet, ordinary women, as we might translate Sister
+Myrtha&#8217;s own phrase), but living &ldquo;not to be ministered
+unto, but to minister,&rdquo; commending their
+creed by their deeds, and winning sympathy by the
+loving, self-denying spirit that they manifest.</p>
+
+<p>During the last year a house of rest has been
+opened similar to the house Salem at Kaiserswerth.
+This is called by the beautiful name &ldquo;<i>Gottestreue</i>,&rdquo;
+or &ldquo;God&#8217;s Fidelity.&rdquo; The report says that they
+have named it God&#8217;s Fidelity in recollection of this:
+&ldquo;That the Lord has so faithfully led us and has
+cared for us in all storms which, especially at the
+beginning of the work, threatened to overwhelm it,
+has watched over us and upheld us, and has so
+richly blessed us.&rdquo; The acquisition of this house
+came through the work of the sisters. One of
+them was caring for an aged widow, whose sympathies
+were so won that she offered to give her property,
+amounting to about ten thousand marks, to
+the deaconess society, asking only that she be
+cared for for the remainder of her life. This sum
+enabled the house to be built, and last summer it
+was opened for use. It lies upon a mountain, has
+a pleasant outlook to the south, and a beautiful view
+over the valley of the Main and off to the distant
+forests. Near at hand is a grove of chestnut trees,
+and farther removed are extensive pine forests with<a
+ id="png.122" name="png.122"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">122/</span>118</samp>
+pleasant walks. The house is in the charge of one
+of the older sisters.</p>
+
+<p>The regulations touching the training and duties
+of the sisters are similar to those of Kaiserswerth.
+Two years of probation are required, part of which
+is devoted to practical work under the superintendence
+of an older deaconess. The rules of daily life
+are much the same; a quiet half hour of prayer and
+meditation is strongly urged, and the same freedom
+in control of personal property and withdrawal from
+the office exists. It is pleasant to record that our
+deaconesses have secured to themselves such good
+report for their usefulness that the city officials in
+Germany accord to them the free use of steamboats
+and street-cars; and the Prussian government does
+the same for roads that are under State control.</p>
+
+<p>The Bethany Society of the German Methodists is
+self-supporting and is independent of the Conference,
+save only that the board of direction is composed
+of Methodist preachers chosen by the Conference.
+Each of the homes at the five stations has also its
+board of control, made up of the inspector, the pastor
+in charge, and the head sister. The inspector is a
+member of the Conference, but has no appointment,
+as his whole time is devoted to the duty of superintendence.
+Last year the society took the further
+step of deciding that henceforth the deaconesses<a
+ id="png.123" name="png.123"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">123/</span>119</samp>
+should not be sent, as heretofore, to outside hospitals
+or other institutions to complete their training,
+but should be given the advantages they require
+at our own homes. Owing to this decision only six
+probationers can be received for the coming year,
+and others who have made application to enter
+must wait their turn.</p>
+
+<p>The German Methodist Church, the daughter of
+American Methodism, anticipated the parent Church
+in utilizing the womanly gifts and services of deaconesses
+as members of her aggressive forces, and
+furnished it a very helpful and stimulating example.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.viii.1" id="fn.viii.1" href="#fna.viii.1">1</a>
+<i>Jahresbericht des Bethanienvereins</i>, 1884, Bremen.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.viii.2" id="fn.viii.2" href="#fna.viii.2">2</a>
+<i>Der Christliche Apologete</i>, article by Rev. G. Hausser, September
+20, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.viii.3" id="fn.viii.3" href="#fna.viii.3">3</a>
+<i>Jahresbericht</i>, 1888, page 8.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.124" name="png.124"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">124/</span>120</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES IN PARIS.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">When</span> in Paris we visited the deaconess establishment
+on the Rue de Reuilly, and had the pleasure,
+ever to be remembered, of seeing the institution
+in all its workings under the guidance of Mademoiselle
+Sara Monod, the daughter of Adolphe
+Monod; members of a family that have been Protestants
+of the Protestants in the annals of France.
+We examined with some degree of thoroughness
+the different departments, and saw them in the
+busy working hours, when the full activities of the
+great establishment were in exercise.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the information and reports then
+secured I am under further obligation to Mademoiselle
+Monod for other material lately received,
+among which is a pamphlet entitled <i>Une Visite à la
+Maison de Diaconesses</i>, by Madame W. Monod, &ldquo;the
+worthy daughter of one of the founders, and the
+worthy wife of one of the present chaplains of the
+institution.&rdquo; I have translated freely from this
+in the following pages, as it is pervaded by a tone<a
+ id="png.125" name="png.125"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">125/</span>121</samp>
+of intimate knowledge, and nothing can take the
+place of the long years of close personal relation
+that make this little book so fresh and attractive
+in its recital.</p>
+
+<p>The institution is situated on the outskirts of the
+Faubourg St. Antoine, upon an elevation, where the
+view in one direction is limited by Mont St. Geneviève,
+and on the other embraces a large territory
+intersected by the windings of the Seine and by
+lines of railroad. The space is thickly dotted by the
+high chimneys of manufactories and massive constructions
+of various forms. A great pile of buildings
+which fronts upon the street forms one of the
+sides of the court within; two long wings extend
+at right angles, which seem to have been built at
+different intervals of time. That on the right ends
+with the penitentiary, or house of correction; the
+left wing terminates more modestly at the garden
+entrance; while farther, at the extreme portion of
+the grounds, still to the left, rises the hospital,
+standing apart from the rest. The whole establishment,
+including the gardens, has an extent of fifty-five
+hundred square meters.</p>
+
+<p>In the little room at the entrance, where the
+<i>concierge</i> is usually found in these French houses,
+sits one of the sisters, surrounded by bell-cords and
+tubes and bells which are constantly in use, bringing<a
+ id="png.126" name="png.126"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">126/</span>122</samp>
+messages to and fro in all directions. A sister
+is always on duty, morning, afternoon, and at night
+when it is necessary, responding with discreet politeness
+to the inquiries made. Adjoining are the
+little reception rooms, where comers and goers are
+met, and the consulting-room of the distinguished
+oculist, who twice a week gives gratuitously his
+valuable services. Then come the office and reception-room
+of the chaplain of the house, followed by
+the little &ldquo;prophet&#8217;s chamber,&rdquo; occupied by the
+former directress when she returns upon visits
+which her age and poor health render only too infrequent.</p>
+
+<p>What the French call the &ldquo;<i>économat</i>&rdquo; or business
+office, next demands our attention. A dozen
+registers admirably kept, portfolios of all kinds, and
+numberless papers are arranged upon different
+shelves. The sister in charge notes in her journal
+every entrance and every departure, and all the journeys
+and leaves of absence of the sisters. In a safe
+she has the necessary money for current expenses,
+the rest being deposited in the bank. She provides
+the stores, examines the accounts of the pharmacy
+and the kitchen, pays the salaried employees, gives
+or sends to each deaconess the modest sum allowed
+her for personal needs, and transacts the daily
+business of the house. She must also every month<a
+ id="png.127" name="png.127"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">127/</span>123</samp>
+hand in three reports&mdash;one to the Prefect of Police,
+another to the Minister of the Interior, and
+the third to the Minister of Finance, giving detailed
+statistics concerning the age, occupation, and progress
+of her <i>protégés</i>. &ldquo;How many know how to
+read? How many to read and write? How many
+to read, write, and cipher? What progress has
+been made since the last report?&rdquo; These are
+some of the questions she has to answer; and,
+meanwhile, if a crowd of little children come in, she
+turns from her writing and calculations and plays
+with them as if she had nothing else to do.</p>
+
+<p>Let us see where these children come from.
+Here is the &ldquo;Salle d&#8217;Asile,&rdquo; as it is called, with its
+benches and chairs for the little ones, maps and
+historical pictures suspended upon the walls, slates
+and globes, and all the belongings of a school-room.
+The sister who has directed this school
+for thirty-five years has seen sons and daughters
+succeed fathers and mothers. More than nineteen
+hundred children have passed through her hands.
+With what pride she showed us the copy-books,
+and pointed out some particularly good compositions.
+Hers was no perfunctory task; a mother
+could not have displayed greater interest in her
+children. The number of pupils varies from one
+hundred and ten to one hundred and thirty, a little<a
+ id="png.128" name="png.128"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">128/</span>124</samp>
+less than half of them being Catholics. All kinds
+of primary instruction are given, including gymnastics,
+singing, and marching. Bible stories hold an
+important place in this elementary teaching, even
+those which are sometimes considered to be beyond
+the reach of children; for there is nothing in any
+other book to take their place. It is useless to
+add that not only lessons are given, but shoes,
+aprons, and garments of all kinds, some of the little
+ones being clothed from head to foot by the institution.
+Every day soup is distributed, ostensibly
+to the poor and the ill-nourished, but practically
+partaken of by all. Even during the siege of Paris
+the soup continued to appear. It gradually became
+less substantial, it is true, but still it was
+soup.</p>
+
+<p>From four to six o&#8217;clock the mothers and older sisters
+and brothers, or perhaps some old lady who has
+been engaged to have the care of several children,
+come to take the little ones home. The influence of
+these children is felt beyond the school-room; it is
+a visible, constant force. Such a little girl has persuaded
+her grandmother not to work on Sundays.
+Another asks for a book that her father can read
+aloud to the family. And similar instances could
+be multiplied; they are always to be obtained
+where loving Christian hearts are interested in<a
+ id="png.129" name="png.129"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">129/</span>125</samp>
+children, and when they remember that fine saying
+of Jacqueline Pascal; &ldquo;<i>Parler à Dieu des petites
+âmes plus qu&#8217; aux petites âmes de
+Dieu.</i>&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.ix.1" name="fna.ix.1" id="fna.ix.1">1</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There used formerly to be attached to this a
+&ldquo;<i>Crèche</i>,&rdquo; where a mother could bring her babe
+when she went to work in the morning, and could
+come for it at night. But the government has now
+started a day-home for this district of the city, so
+this part of the work of the deaconesses has been
+discontinued.</p>
+
+<p>Passing by the vegetable garden, which is also a
+pleasure garden for the sick and infirm, we come to
+the hospital. This was opened in September, 1873,
+and can accommodate sixty to seventy patients.
+There are two large wards for women, one for children,
+a dormitory for aged women, and rooms with
+one, two, and three beds. All are perfectly heated,
+lighted, and ventilated. The medical inspector
+visits the house every month, and gives it due
+praise for meeting every condition of modern medical
+science.</p>
+
+<p>A committee of ladies takes the hospital as an
+especial object of its care. They have organized a
+system of patronage, by which beds are furnished
+poor patients at a low rate, in some cases<a
+ id="png.130" name="png.130"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">130/</span>126</samp>
+gratuitously. Fifteen subscribers give each two francs,
+or forty cents, a month; the sick man or his patron
+pays a franc a day, to which the Deaconess Home
+adds also a franc daily. These three francs represent
+the bare expenses of a hospital bed. Of course,
+sixty cents a day is far from meeting the entire
+cost of rent, food, baths, medicine, and service;
+but those patients who have been accustomed to a
+certain degree of comfort in life, when paying three
+francs, are freed from the painful impression of receiving
+charity.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the patients, when sent forth from the
+hospital, are directed to the Convalescents&#8217; Home,
+at Passy. This is an inestimable benefit; what
+could this poor servant do, whose strength is not
+yet sufficient to undertake fatiguing labor? Or
+this mother of a family, who would certainly fall ill
+again if obliged to resume the heavy burden of
+housekeeping, accompanied by privations and wearing
+economies, were it not for the home at Passy?
+Such homes of rest and convalescence are a necessity
+in connection with every well-equipped
+deaconess institution. The pharmacy is in the
+charge of a deaconess trained especially for her
+duties. A deaconess director, several nurse deaconesses
+and probationers, with one or two aged
+women, constitute the working force of the<a
+ id="png.131" name="png.131"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">131/</span>127</samp>
+hospital outside of the physicians. So many denominational
+hospitals are now arising in America that
+the arrangement of hospitals under the care of deaconesses
+in Germany, France, and England, cannot
+fail to have interest for us.</p>
+
+<p>There are no nurses like the deaconesses. Other
+nurses, however well prepared in the best of training-schools,
+do not have the same high motive that
+lifts the service onto the plane of religious duty,
+where the question of self-interest is wholly lost
+sight of. It was the perception of this truth that
+led the authorities of the German Hospital in Philadelphia
+to send to Germany for deaconesses as
+nurses, and that has brought about the erection of
+the magnificent Mary J. Drexel Home for Deaconesses.</p>
+
+<p>But let us return to Paris and our examination
+of the home on the Rue de Reuilly. Leaving the
+hospital, and turning in the opposite direction from
+that to which we came, we are at the house of
+correction. Bars of iron before the windows apprise
+us of the character of the building. There
+are two divisions of inmates; the one in which the
+discipline is more rigid is called the <i>retenue</i>.
+Those placed here are generally between fourteen
+and twenty-one years of age, although occasionally
+a child of precocious depravity is met with, who has<a
+ id="png.132" name="png.132"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">132/</span>128</samp>
+to be separated from those under less restriction
+even at ten years of age. The <i>disciplinaire</i> is
+the division of milder restraint. The twenty-five
+or twenty-six places in each of the two divisions
+are ordinarily applied for in advance. Pastor Louis
+Valette said: &ldquo;We shall not have room enough
+until we have too much room.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There are three classes of inmates: those who
+are put here by their parents for insubordination
+or other grave faults; those who are sent here by
+order of a judge of the court for a limited period,
+and those who are recognized guilty of a misdemeanor,
+but are acquitted on account of their age,
+and must remain a certain time, sometimes until
+they have attained their majority, in houses of correction
+and education.</p>
+
+<p>The Minister of the Interior pays twelve cents a
+day for pupils of the third class; the Prefect of Police
+four hundred dollars a year for those of the
+second class, whatever their number, only the establishment
+is bound to receive them at any time
+and at any hour.</p>
+
+<p>There is a system of rewards, to promote good
+behavior, and those who profit by it can accumulate
+a small sum of money, sometimes amounting to
+sixteen or eighteen dollars, to have when they go
+out from here. In other cases there is a large<a
+ id="png.133" name="png.133"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">133/</span>129</samp>
+indebtedness on the opposite side, which can never
+be collected.</p>
+
+<p>The days are occupied in household work, washing,
+ironing, and sewing, and two hours of schooling.
+When the nature of the work will permit, instructive
+books are read aloud, or the deaconesses
+give pleasant talks on different subjects that will
+keep the thoughts of the workers busy, and give
+them helpful ideas to store away in their minds.
+As we went about in the sewing-classes, we noticed
+that the time was invariably utilized in some way
+that was profitable to the girls. Most of them are
+pitiably ignorant of even the commonest knowledge
+demanded in life. There are separate court-yards
+for the recreations of the two divisions. The girls
+of the <i>disciplinaire</i> are sometimes taken outside the
+institution for walks; those of the <i>retenue</i>, never.
+The work in this last division is especially difficult,
+and requires the utmost patience and love. These
+poor girls have to be watched carefully, and kept
+isolated from one another. Some are greatly influenced
+by the atmosphere of the place, the gentle,
+firm kindness of the sisters, and the restriction they
+receive. Others go out to take up again the old life
+of immorality, and are dragged away into the meshes
+of sin, finding their place, after brief delay, in the
+wards of a hospital, or sometimes a suicide&#8217;s grave.<a
+ id="png.134" name="png.134"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">134/</span>130</samp>
+It is a singular fact that the numerical appreciation
+of those influenced by this school of reform is precisely
+the same as that given in the report of the
+similar work at Kaiserswerth, although the two reports
+have no connection with one another, and one
+in no wise supposes the other. Thirty-three years
+ago one of the founders of the institution, Pastor
+Valette, said in answer to a question as to the
+amount of good accomplished, &ldquo;Sixteen years ago
+this question came to my ears, and I stated as a principle
+that one cannot and ought not to answer it
+precisely and absolutely, because no one but God
+can give an appreciation of its real value. However,
+out of curiosity, I set myself at work to gather
+and register some results; and, matured by the experience
+of six years, I offer them, such as they are:
+One third of the moral results may be considered
+excellent; another third as offering good guarantees,
+and a final third has no value. It seems to
+me, however, as I am sure it will seem to you, that
+here is cause for rejoicing. Here is something for
+which to praise the Lord, and to encourage those
+who administer our affairs. For, I ask of the merchants
+who listen to me, if any one were to offer
+you thirty-three and one third per cent. assured,
+with the hope of a dividend, would you refuse the
+investment?&rdquo;</p>
+<a id="png.135" name="png.135"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">135/</span>131</samp>
+
+<p>In 1871 an occurrence took place worthy of being
+recorded. On April 13, at ten o&#8217;clock in the evening,
+emissaries of the Commune entered the house,
+revolvers in hand. Armed men were posted at all
+the entrances. The deaconesses were summoned
+to one of the parlors, and held prisoners until three
+o&#8217;clock the following morning. Meanwhile an investigation
+took place among the girls in the penitentiary,
+as they would be the most likely of any of
+the inmates of the house to have complaints. The
+officers of the Commune interrogated them closely.
+Their answers were favorable beyond all expectation.
+&ldquo;Are you happy here?&rdquo; &ldquo;Oh, yes, very
+happy.&rdquo; &ldquo;What have you done deserving punishment?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Nothing that we need talk to you
+about.&rdquo; &ldquo;How are you punished here?&rdquo; &ldquo;The
+sisters don&#8217;t punish us; they advise us what to do,
+and warn us.&rdquo; &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said the chief to one, &ldquo;just
+tell me quietly, no one else need hear; if you are
+not contented I will take you away with me.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;What a coward you are,&rdquo; she answered, quite
+scornfully. Not one of them thought of escaping.
+All this time the prison wagon had been waiting in
+the street, and would have been filled with deaconesses
+had the slightest cause of complaint been
+found; but it went away empty. Later the sisters
+had occasion to go to the head-quarters of the<a
+ id="png.136" name="png.136"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">136/</span>132</samp>
+Commune in their ward, and they met with polite
+consideration. This is not the only experience of
+the troubled <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'polititical'">political</ins> life of the great city that the
+deaconesses have had. The Faubourg St. Antoine
+has been noted ever since the time of the Fronde
+as being the haunt of all that is turbulent and revolutionary.
+In February 1848, a great barricade was
+thrown across the Rue de Reuilly, men, women,
+and children hurrying with bricks and stones to
+help in building it. Then came the moment of
+storm and attack, and forty-two men lay dead in
+the <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: period missing in original">street.</ins>
+ Some of the wounded were received by
+the sisters, crowded as they were with the children
+whom the mothers had brought for safety. Meanwhile
+the deaconesses went about unmolested,
+bought food and medicine, hunted friends and relatives
+for the sick, and through all that period of
+excitement and strife kept up their ministrations of
+mercy.</p>
+
+<p>There is no distinct home for women who are left
+alone and desire Christian surroundings, as is the
+case in several German institutions, but about sixty
+such ladies are received as boarders in the Paris
+home. Frequently also the hospitality of the
+house is enjoyed by young girls who come to Paris
+alone to earn a livelihood, or who have to stop here
+for some hours on their way to another place; a<a
+ id="png.137" name="png.137"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">137/</span>133</samp>
+great advantage for inexperienced young women,
+unversed in the ways of a city, who find themselves
+alone in the great world for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>The preparatory school for deaconesses is on the
+first floor, below the rooms of the sisters. For two
+years the candidates are under the instruction of
+superior sisters. They are received into the house
+gratuitously, and accept its regulations while they remain.
+They have to pass through all practical duties
+of house-work, and care of the sick and children.
+They also pursue practical and theoretical courses
+in hygiene, and receive lessons in singing and pedagogics.
+The chaplains of the institution give them
+courses of religious instruction, and lectures on
+Church history. Some (the larger number) need
+very elementary lessons; others come with a good
+education. Each is directed according to her education
+and experience. In fact, all classes are represented
+among the deaconesses; servants, teachers,
+ladies, and shepherdesses. They come from
+different parts of France, but in larger numbers
+from the South.</p>
+
+<p>Deaconesses are constantly in demand to go out
+in the city as nurses in private families. Such requests
+often meet with refusals, because sisters cannot
+be spared for such duties. Their work is limited
+by the smallness of their numbers. The last<a
+ id="png.138" name="png.138"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">138/</span>134</samp>
+report gives sixty deaconesses attached to the Home
+on the Rue de Reuilly.</p>
+
+<p>The work is upon sterile soil as compared to Germany.
+The Protestants of France are in a small
+minority, surrounded by an overwhelming majority
+of Catholics; while in the beginning of the work
+some influential members of the Protestant faith,
+having an inadequate comprehension of the good in
+the movement, and a misconception of its plans,
+exerted a powerful influence that for awhile told
+adversely to the cause. The home has now passed
+beyond the stage when it can be affected by adverse
+criticisms; and it to-day not only has the approbation
+of Christians, but also of those who regard it
+solely from the point of view of
+philanthropy.<sup><a href="#fn.ix.2" name="fna.ix.2" id="fna.ix.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There are but two parish deaconesses who are at
+work in Belleville and Ste. Marie. The directors
+of the institution would be glad to increase the
+number, as they regard the work of the sisters
+under the direction of the city pastors as that
+which presents the widest opportunities for doing
+good, while it perpetuates those aspects of the deaconess
+work which most closely resemble those of
+the early Church. But Calvin&#8217;s reply from Geneva
+to the Church of France is theirs. When petitioned<a
+ id="png.139" name="png.139"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">139/</span>135</samp>
+to send more pastors over the boundary into France
+he replied, &ldquo;Send us wood and we will send you
+arrows.&rdquo; So the want of deaconesses is a continual
+hinderance to the furtherance of the cause, both in
+the city and the provinces.</p>
+
+<p>The prisons for women in France are under the
+supervision of women, save the office of chief director,
+which is filled by a man. The great majority
+of the prisoners in France being Catholics, the number
+of Sisters of Charity is naturally much larger
+than the number of deaconesses employed. At the
+prison of Clermont four of the Paris deaconesses
+are kept constantly at work among the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with the old prison of St. Lazare,
+the women&#8217;s prison of Paris, the deaconesses have
+a mission especially concerned with caring for discharged
+female convicts. As was the case at Kaiserswerth,
+this, in its initiation, is closely connected
+with the saintly life of Elizabeth Fry. When she
+came to Paris, in 1835, a drawing-room meeting was
+held at the residence of the Duchess de Broglie, in
+which she told of her efforts to effect a reform in
+prisons in England. None of the ladies of rank and
+wealth who heard her were stirred to greater effort
+than was demanded by the keen interest with which
+they listened to her words; but a quiet governess
+was present, Mademoiselle Dumas, and with her<a
+ id="png.140" name="png.140"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">140/</span>136</samp>
+the seeds of truth fell into prepared ground. She
+determined to attempt for her own country a portion
+of the work Mrs. Fry had accomplished for
+England. Obtaining permission from the authorities
+to visit the prison of St. Lazare, she went daily
+to the prisoners shut up in the rooms of this great
+building, formerly the monastery of St. Vincent de
+Paul, the founder of the Sisters of Charity. After
+the deaconess home was established, some deaconesses
+were set apart to aid Mademoiselle Dumas in
+her work. All these years the mission has continued,
+not interrupted even during the dark days of
+the Commune. A committee of ladies aids in
+providing shelter and work for the prisoners when
+they are discharged. The great publishing house
+of Hachette &amp; Co., although the head of the firm
+is a Catholic, provides employment in folding paper
+for books.</p>
+
+<p>Through the kind offices of Mademoiselle Monod
+we called on Mademoiselle Dumas. She is now an
+extremely aged woman; but her interest in the
+Christian reformation of prisoners of her sex is as
+keen as it was over fifty years ago, when her labors
+began. The registers of many years stand by her
+desk, and from these we were shown how the records
+of the mission are kept, and in what way the
+lives of those assisted are watched and followed for<a
+ id="png.141" name="png.141"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">141/</span>137</samp>
+years. Narratives of individual reformation were
+related to us, and through the long correspondence
+of many years she was enabled to tell us of those
+who had turned to a better life and held to it permanently.
+As she talked her eyes brightened, the
+tones of her voice became stronger and clearer, her
+manner more vivacious, and the years seemed to
+slip from her. Finally, as if overcome by the memories
+that the long retrospect had brought to her,
+and thrilled by the recollections, of all this work
+meant to her, she ended by exclaiming, &ldquo;O, my
+dear St. Lazare!&rdquo; I looked at her astonished. I
+had just come from the walls of the gloomy prison,
+and the place had chilled me with horror as I walked
+through its corridors, and read the stories of shame
+and guilt in the faces of its inmates; most hopeless
+looking faces, belonging to little children of ten and
+twelve up to hardened and prematurely aged women
+of fifty and sixty. I could not comprehend a term
+of endearment applied to such a place. But a moment&#8217;s
+consideration led me to see that this aged
+saint had there fought and won the best of her
+life&#8217;s battles, and the place remains glorified in her
+thoughts by most hallowed and Christ-like memories.</p>
+
+<p>Now that Mademoiselle Dumas is kept to her
+room, the deaconesses still come to her weekly,<a
+ id="png.142" name="png.142"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">142/</span>138</samp>
+make their reports, and keep up the proper entries
+in her books.</p>
+
+<p>A recent letter from Mademoiselle Monod says:
+&ldquo;Mademoiselle Dumas still lives, having completed
+her ninety-sixth year the 26th of last December
+(1888). Only yesterday our prison committee met
+at her house, she acting as presiding officer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The life of this quiet woman is but little known
+outside the circle of her immediate influence, but it
+has been more valuable to her country than that of
+many a general or statesman who has been ranked
+among the famous of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>The deaconess home has also branches of work
+in different parts of France. These include nine
+hospitals, two homes for the aged and infirm, four
+orphanages, two work-rooms for young girls, and
+a convalescents&#8217; home. The house has established
+close connection with the deaconess houses at
+St. Loup in French Switzerland, and with Strasburg.
+The ties of a common language and former
+memories are strong, and these are the homes most
+akin to the Paris home.</p>
+
+<p>The ordinary expenses of the Paris deaconess
+home are about thirty thousand dollars a year.
+Nearly seven thousand dollars are collected annually
+by subscriptions, the remaining sum being
+made up of returns arising from service.</p>
+<a id="png.143" name="png.143"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">143/</span>139</samp>
+
+<p>The institution was founded in 1841 by Rev.
+Antoine Vermeil, a distinguished minister of the
+Reformed Church, aided by a devout and worthy
+minister of the Lutheran Church, Rev. Louis
+Valette. It has grown up under the joint and harmonious
+patronage of these two State Churches.</p>
+
+<p>A later deaconess home, entirely devoted to training
+and employing parish deaconesses, was started
+in 1874, under the sole control of the Lutheran
+Church. Some pastors secured the co-operation of
+a few young Christian women to consecrate a portion
+of their strength and time to the service of the
+Church. From this beginning sprang the work that
+exists to-day. The home is located in the Rue de
+Bridaine. There are now sixteen deaconesses, six
+of whom are probationers. Five of them are located
+in different parishes in Paris, usually at a long distance
+from the central house. Each goes forth
+early in the morning to her parish, where is a room
+of some kind serving as a center to the work. Materials
+used in nursing and medicines are stored here,
+and there is an office for the physician, who comes
+at stated periods to give free consultation. From
+the district house the deaconess goes in all directions
+and in all weather to look up families which
+have fallen away from the Church, to gather in children
+for the Sunday-school, to visit the sick, and to<a
+ id="png.144" name="png.144"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">144/</span>140</samp>
+collect garments and money from the rich in order to
+distribute them among the poor. Such are some
+of their duties. Each sister is under the direction
+of a pastor, and is aided by his advice, while still
+remaining a member of the community to which
+she belongs.</p>
+
+<p>In both of the deaconess houses of Paris, as in
+the German houses, a special service sets <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'aparts'">apart</ins>
+those sisters who have passed their period of probation,
+and have been received into full connection.
+As one of the deaconess reports beautifully says:
+&ldquo;When Christ calls the soul to a special vocation
+he gives it special grace, and those who consecrate
+themselves to him he consecrates to their task by
+the strength of his Spirit. So in conformity with
+the usages of the primitive Church we give consecration
+to our sisters by the laying on of hands.
+The consecration is not a sacramental act, conferring
+a particular character, greater sanctity, or special
+powers; neither is it simply a ceremony or pious
+formality. It is a real and efficacious benediction,
+which the Saviour accords to our sisters to consecrate
+them to their holy work, as he accorded it to
+the deacons who received the imposition of the
+apostles&#8217; hands.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The good that can be accomplished by deaconesses
+working together with ministers in behalf of<a
+ id="png.145" name="png.145"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">145/</span>141</samp>
+the manifold interests of the Church is incalculable.
+The most faithful pastor can make only short and
+unsatisfactory visits. Many sorrows which he overlooks
+the deaconess can discern and assuage. She
+knows best how to reach the heart of a sorrowing
+woman, to care for her needs, to discern her wants,
+and to bring solace to the sorrowing and succor to
+the needy. Deaconesses who have been specially
+trained for service cannot be spared now that the
+world has learned to know of them. For &ldquo;charity
+cannot take the place of experience, nor good-will
+replace knowledge;&rdquo; and trained Christian service
+is the highest of all service.</p>
+
+<p>The old spirit of the Huguenots has not died out
+of France, and with that ready susceptibility to noble
+ideas which is a marked characteristic of the
+French character, we can expect to see the deaconess
+cause thrive and prosper as it has done in other
+lands.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.ix.1" id="fn.ix.1" href="#fna.ix.1">1</a>
+Speak to God about the little ones, rather than to the little souls
+of God.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.ix.2" id="fn.ix.2" href="#fna.ix.2">2</a>
+See a sympathetic study of the work by Maxime du Camp, a
+member of the French Academy, in his book <i>Paris Bienfaisant</i>.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.146" name="png.146"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">146/</span>142</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">To</span> learn the first facts about deaconesses in England,
+we must go back to the early days of the
+Puritans. In 1576, under Queen Elizabeth, about
+sixty non-conformist ministers of the eastern counties
+assembled to make regulations concerning
+Church constitution and discipline, and one of
+them was as follows: &ldquo;Touching deacons of both
+sorts, namely, both men and women, the Church
+should be admonished what is required by the apostle,
+that they are not to choose men by custom or
+course, or for their riches, but for their faith, zeal,
+and integrity; and that the Church is to pray in the
+meantime to be so directed that they may choose
+them that are meet. Let the names of those that
+are thus chosen be published the next Lord&#8217;s Day,
+and after that their duties to the Church, and the
+Church&#8217;s duty toward them. Then let them be received
+into their office with the general prayers of
+the whole Church.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.1" name="fna.x.1" id="fna.x.1">1</a></sup></p>
+<a id="png.147" name="png.147"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">147/</span>143</samp>
+
+<p>There are other references in the works of the
+early Puritans that indicate that the office of deaconess
+was as well known and recognized as were
+the other offices that were named in accordance
+with the usages of the primitive Church.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of the seventeenth century it still
+survived, as we shall see from a quaint and curious
+picture that is of especial interest to all Americans,
+because it portrays what took place in that community
+of pious souls who furnished us the men we
+delight to honor as the Pilgrim Fathers. A number
+of these heroic souls, who could give up their country,
+but would not yield their faith, went forth from
+England in 1608, and settled in Amsterdam. They
+preserved in a foreign land their own Church usages,
+as the following words show: &ldquo;In Amsterdam there
+were about three hundred communicants, and they
+had for their pastor and teacher those two eminent
+men before named (Johnson and Ainsworth); and
+had at one time four grave men for ruling elders,
+three able, godly men for deacons, and one ancient
+widow for a deaconess, who did them service many
+years, though she was sixty years of age when she
+was chosen. She honored her place, and was an
+ornament to the congregation. She usually sat in
+a convenient place in the congregation, with a little
+birchen rod in her hand, and kept little children in<a
+ id="png.148" name="png.148"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">148/</span>144</samp>
+awe from disturbing the congregation. She did
+frequently visit the sick and weak, especially
+women, and as there was need called out ladies and
+young women to watch and do them other helps
+as their necessity should require; and if there
+were poor she would gather relief for them of those
+that were able, or acquaint the deacons. And she
+was obeyed as a mother in Israel and an officer of
+Christ.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.2" name="fna.x.2" id="fna.x.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Whether the &ldquo;ancient widow&rdquo; with the little
+&ldquo;birchen rod&rdquo; had any followers in the early Puritan
+communities of the Plymouth Colony we cannot
+say, as there are no records that throw light on
+the subject; but the history of early New England
+Congregationalism gives us one indication that the
+office was recognized in the New World. In the
+Cambridge Platform, a system of Church discipline
+agreed upon by the elders and messengers of the
+New England churches assembled in synod at Cambridge,
+in 1648, the seventh chapter enumerates the
+duties of elder and deacons, and then adds, &ldquo;The
+Lord hath appointed <i>ancient widdows</i>, where they
+may be had, to minister in the Church, in giving
+attendance to the sick, and to give succor unto<a
+ id="png.149" name="png.149"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">149/</span>145</samp>
+them and others in the like <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'necessties'">necessities</ins>.&rdquo; The same
+confusion of thought concerning the Church widow
+and the deaconess is here seen, but there is evident
+the recognition of the services that women were
+officially to render the Church.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of the present century Southey
+voiced the complaint, long reiterated, that Protestantism
+had no missionaries. We who live in the
+closing years of the same century, surrounded by
+the multiplied evidences of the extent of missions,
+when the Protestants of the world are expending
+nearly ten millions of dollars annually, and employing
+nearly six thousand men and women as missionaries,
+cannot realize the change that has taken
+place. In 1830 Southey again wrote: &ldquo;Thirty
+years hence another reproach may also be effaced,
+and England may have her Sisters of Charity.&rdquo;
+He had learned to know their value when serving
+as a volunteer in Wellington&#8217;s army, and a year
+after the battle of Waterloo he had visited the Béguines
+at Ghent, and what he saw deeply impressed
+him. &ldquo;We should have such women among us,&rdquo;
+he said. &ldquo;It is a great loss to England that we
+have no Sisters of Charity. There is nothing Romish,
+nothing unevangelical in such communities;
+nothing but what is right and holy; nothing but
+what belongs to that religion which the apostle<a
+ id="png.150" name="png.150"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">150/</span>146</samp>
+James has described as &lsquo;pure and undefiled before
+God the Father.&rsquo;&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.3" name="fna.x.3" id="fna.x.3">3</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Southey&#8217;s prophecy has come true. England to-day
+in her deaconesses possesses her Sisters of
+Charity. How has this change been brought about?
+The acquaintance of Mrs. Fry with Fliedner, and
+her visit to Kaiserswerth, led her to introduce into
+England the practical training of nurses for the sick.
+The Nursing Sisters&#8217; Institution in Devonshire
+Square, Bishop&#8217;s Gate, was founded through her
+efforts in 1840, and still exists &ldquo;to train nurses for
+private families, and to provide pensions for aged
+nurses.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.4" name="fna.x.4" id="fna.x.4">4</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In 1842, Fliedner came to London, accompanied
+by four sisters, at the invitation of the German
+Hospital at Dalston. These deaconesses won
+golden opinions from the hospital authorities for
+their quiet, efficient manner, and their trained skill.
+The hospital continues to be served by them, but
+the Sisters now come from the mother house at
+Darmstadt.</p>
+
+<p>Kaiserswerth and its deaconesses became more
+widely known through the life and inestimable services
+of Florence Nightingale. When a child, one<a
+ id="png.151" name="png.151"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">151/</span>147</samp>
+of Fliedner&#8217;s reports fell into her hands. Its perusal
+marked an era in her life. It made clear to her what
+she should do. She would go to Kaiserswerth, and
+fit herself for a nurse. Her childish resolve never
+wavered. &ldquo;Happy is the man who holds fast to
+the ideals of his youth.&rdquo; Florence Nightingale held
+fast to hers. She went to Kaiserswerth at two different
+times, and through her deeds and her writings
+the care of the sick in England has been completely
+transformed. She has won a nation&#8217;s gratitude,
+and now is living in honored old age in one
+of the London institutions founded mainly by the
+money that she contributed, and which she obtained
+by selling some valuable gifts given her by a foreign
+government in acknowledgment of her care of its
+wounded soldiers during the Crimean war.</p>
+
+<p>Another woman distinguished in England&#8217;s philanthropies
+is Agnes Jones, who left a home of
+wealth and refinement to receive her training also
+at Kaiserswerth. Returning to England she gave
+her time and talents in single-hearted devotion to
+the care of the poor in the Liverpool work-house,
+and met death in the midst of her labors. The
+training which led two such women to accomplish
+such noble deeds naturally was recognized as valuable,
+and Kaiserswerth soon became an honored
+name in England.</p>
+<a id="png.152" name="png.152"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">152/</span>148</samp>
+
+<p>In 1851 Miss Nightingale sent out anonymously
+her little book entitled <i>An Account of the Institution
+of Deaconesses</i>, which added to the knowledge already
+in circulation about the movement in Germany.
+Meanwhile articles were appearing in the
+reviews. In 1848 one was written in the <i>Edinburgh
+Review</i> by John Malcolm Ludlow, who later,
+in 1866, gave the results of the thoughts and studies
+of a number of years in <i>Woman&#8217;s Work in the
+Church</i>, the best historical study of the subject up
+to the date at which it was written. Since then the
+Germans have pushed their historical investigations
+further, and the work needs to be revised and to be
+brought down to the present time.</p>
+
+<p>In <i>Good Words</i> for 1861 there were two articles by
+Dr. Stevenson, of the Irish Presbyterian Church,
+entitled &ldquo;The Blue Flag of Kaiserswerth,&rdquo; afterward
+incorporated in his work, <i>Praying and Working</i>, a
+book too little known among us.</p>
+
+<p>The great upholder of the deaconess cause in the
+Church of England was the late Dean of Chester,
+Rev. J. S. Howson. His essay, first published in
+the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, was amplified and issued
+in book form in 1860 under the title <i>Deaconesses</i>.
+It won many friends. The cause remained a
+favorite one with him, and he constantly advocated
+it by speech and by deed. Since his death<a
+ id="png.153" name="png.153"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">153/</span>149</samp>
+his latest thoughts, which remained substantially
+the same as those that he first advanced, have
+been published in a work entitled <i>The Diaconate of
+Women</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Within the Church of England, however, the deaconess
+cause has not met the same prosperous development
+that it has obtained in connection with
+certain independent institutions, notably that of
+Mildmay.</p>
+
+<p>Among the institutions on the Continent, as well
+as in the pages of this work up to the present, the
+terms &ldquo;sister&rdquo; and &ldquo;deaconess&rdquo; are used synonymously,
+to indicate one and the same person. But
+when we come to consider the deaconess institutions
+within the Church of England we cannot continue
+to use these two names in the same way. A deaconess
+is a member of a deaconess institution, actively
+engaged in charitable deeds, but, like the deaconess
+on the Continent, she can sever her connection
+with it when adequate cause presents itself, and return
+to her family and friends. A sister belongs to
+a sisterhood which closely resembles the Roman
+Catholic sisterhoods in many features. These sisterhoods
+began in 1847 with a number of ladies
+brought together through the influence of Dr. Pusey,
+who formed themselves into a community to
+live under its rule. Their influence and number<a
+ id="png.154" name="png.154"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">154/</span>150</samp>
+increased, and twenty-three sisterhoods are mentioned
+in the last official report.<sup><a href="#fn.x.5" name="fna.x.5" id="fna.x.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Doubtless it was the activity and great usefulness
+of the continental deaconess houses that provided
+the stimulating examples which acted on the Church
+of England and led to the rise of sisterhoods and
+deaconess institutions. But the two opposing tendencies
+within the Episcopal Church&mdash;namely, that
+which desires to approach the Church of Rome,
+with which it feels itself in sympathy on many
+points, and that which views with disfavor any conformity
+to it, and strives to keep to the landmarks set
+at the great Reformation&mdash;these two distinct tendencies
+are closely reflected in the woman&#8217;s work of
+the Anglican Church.<sup><a href="#fn.x.6" name="fna.x.6" id="fna.x.6">6</a></sup>
+The sisterhoods are distinctly
+under the fostering care of the former element,
+the deaconesses are manifestly favored by the
+latter. Sisterhoods, again, differ among themselves,
+some being strongly conventual in their life and
+practice, adopting the three vows of poverty, chastity,
+and obedience, and a few even advocating penance
+and confession. The vows are taken for life,
+and, in connection with the view of the sacred obligation
+to life-long service, great stress is laid upon
+the position of the sister as the &ldquo;bride of Christ&rdquo;&mdash;the<a
+ id="png.155" name="png.155"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">155/</span>151</samp>
+same thought of the mysterious union with
+the heavenly Bridegroom that is so dwelt upon in
+the nunneries of the Catholic Church. With such
+views Protestants, distinctly such, can have no
+sympathy. Those who look upon the deaconess
+as a valuable member of the Church economy do
+so because they regard her as a Christian woman,
+strengthened and disciplined by special training to
+do better service for Christ in the world. This is
+the recognized difference: &ldquo;The sisterhood exists
+primarily for the sake of forming a religious community,
+but deaconesses live together for the sake
+of the work itself, attracted to deaconess work by
+the want which in most populous towns is calling
+loudly for assistance; and with a view of being
+trained, therefore, for spiritual and temporal usefulness
+among the poor.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.7" name="fna.x.7" id="fna.x.7">7</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There are now seven deaconess establishments in
+the Church of England, each having a larger or
+smaller number of branches, with diocesan sanction
+and under the supervision of clergymen.<sup><a href="#fn.x.8" name="fna.x.8" id="fna.x.8">8</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The first of these was founded in 1861, and is
+now known as the London Diocesan Deaconess
+Institution. At that time Kaiserswerth was<a
+ id="png.156" name="png.156"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">156/</span>152</samp>
+accepted as its model; deaconesses were sent there
+to be trained; Kaiserswerth rules were adopted as
+far as possible, and a modification of the Kaiserswerth
+dress for the sisters. The house was then
+represented at the triennial Conferences in Germany,
+and in the list of mother houses published
+at Kaiserswerth<sup><a href="#fn.x.9" name="fna.x.9" id="fna.x.9">9</a></sup>
+the name still appears. It would
+seem, however, that now the Kaiserswerth connection
+is entirely set aside by the London house, for in
+an historical sketch of the revival of deaconesses in
+the Church, that is found in the organ of the institution,
+called <i>Ancilla Domini</i>, for March, 1887, there
+is no mention made of any of the continental houses.
+The Anglican Church apparently dates the entire
+work from the setting apart of its first deaconess,
+Elizabeth C. Ferard, in 1861, as she was the first to
+receive consecration through the touch of a bishop&#8217;s
+hand. The former connection with Kaiserswerth
+and the great work carried on in Germany
+from 1836 to the present time are quite ignored.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the London house already mentioned an
+East London deaconess home was opened in 1880,
+to provide deaconesses and church-workers for East
+London. Besides the deaconesses and probationers
+thirty-two associates are connected with this home.
+The associates are ladies who do not intend to<a
+ id="png.157" name="png.157"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">157/</span>153</samp>
+become deaconesses, but give as much time as they
+can to the work. They live with the deaconesses,
+conform to the rules, and wear the garb, but pay
+their own expenses. These associates are a highly
+important part of the working force. They form a
+valuable tie connecting the sisters with sources of
+influence and aid that would otherwise be closed to
+them. Nearly always they are ladies of independent
+means, and come for longer or shorter periods
+to relieve the deaconesses, their zeal often being as
+great as that of the sisters whose places they take.</p>
+
+<p>Besides these houses there are homes located at
+Maidstone, Chester, Bedford, Salisbury, and Portsmouth,
+in the respective dioceses of Canterbury,
+Chester, Ely, Salisbury, and Winchester.</p>
+
+<p>In the home at Portsmouth sisters not only engage
+in nursing and parish work, but are also given
+special training for penitentiary and out-of-door
+rescue work. They also have a home for the rescue
+of neglected children.</p>
+
+<p>The Salisbury Home is beautifully situated in
+the quiet cathedral city of the same name. The
+house is a picturesque and venerable mansion, covered
+with clinging green vines, opening out into a
+garden which in olden times belonged to the convent.
+There is in connection with the home an institution
+for training girls for domestic service,<a
+ id="png.158" name="png.158"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">158/</span>154</samp>
+supported by the funds of a charity given for that purpose.
+The whole service of the house is done by
+the girls. They attend upon the deaconesses and
+the ladies who board there to receive training in
+the hospital. Each deaconess pays for board and
+lodging while training, and, if able to do so, when
+she returns for rest, or a visit to her old home.</p>
+
+<p>In other houses the deaconess is expected to
+keep her own room in order, and may have some
+duties in the house, but servants do the rough
+work. The social status of the English deaconesses
+is, as a rule, markedly different from the
+German deaconesses. Here ladies of rank and
+inherited social traditions, of refinement, of accomplishments,
+and of education, many of them women
+of means, defraying their entire expenses and often
+those of their poorer sisters, are largely represented
+among the deaconesses. On the other hand, the
+German deaconesses, as we have seen, are largely
+of that station in life that furnishes many for domestic
+service. Although of course there are among
+them women of all ranks and all degrees of education,
+still such women form the larger number;
+and the conditions under which Fliedner began the
+work, as well as the difference of custom and habit
+in the two countries, incline the German houses
+to maintain the rules of service by which nearly<a
+ id="png.159" name="png.159"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">159/</span>155</samp>
+every detail of domestic service in their institutions
+is cared for by the deaconesses. There is
+more of ceremony and formality in the English
+deaconess institutions which are under the direction
+of the Church of England. At Salisbury, for instance,
+the candidate must reside in the home for
+three months, that her ability and efficiency may be
+tested. If accepted, she then puts on a gray serge
+habit, a leathern girdle, white cap, black bonnet,
+the veil and cloak of a probationer, and is admitted
+to the &ldquo;degree&rdquo; of a probationer at a special service.
+The year of probation having come to an
+end, she is again presented to the bishop, and is
+set apart as a deaconess by the laying on of hands.
+This time the habit is changed from gray to blue,
+and a black ebony cross, with one of gold inlaid, is
+hung upon her neck.<sup><a href="#fn.x.10" name="fna.x.10" id="fna.x.10">10</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>This is very different from the way in which
+Fliedner regarded the dress and adornment of the
+deaconesses for whom he was responsible. The
+king of Prussia desired to present them with a
+small silver cross as their badge of service, but the
+simple-hearted German pastor dissuaded him, saying
+that the deaconesses needed no ornament save
+a meek and quiet spirit, and they must avoid symbols
+which would suggest Romish imitations.</p>
+<a id="png.160" name="png.160"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">160/</span>156</samp>
+
+<p>The Strasburg deaconesses also at first wore a
+small cross, but Pastor Härter discontinued it when
+he found that the wearing of it gave occasion for
+complaint.</p>
+
+<p>Yet however we may differ in the lesser details,
+of garb, of rules, and of ceremonies, from those
+accepted by some of the Church of England deaconess
+institutions, we can give unstinted admiration
+to the lives of self-denial, and active, unceasing
+efforts in behalf of others, that we see among their
+numbers. Take, for instance, the little publication
+<i>The Deaconess</i>, issued by the East London Home,
+and notice the undertakings carried on by the
+members&mdash;district-visiting, nursing of the sick,
+mothers&#8217; meetings, Sunday-school teaching, Bible
+classes, and all the multitudinous ways of meeting
+the squalor, poverty, ignorance, sickness, and
+sin of the poor of the east of London. There is
+no poetic enthusiasm that strengthens one for such
+work, the dirt, the degradation, the forlorn condition
+are so trying. The little children so precociously
+wicked, so preternaturally cunning, that the
+natural charm and attraction of childhood have
+wholly disappeared; the sights and sounds that
+assail the senses; the dulled, hopeless faces, the
+apathy, the stunted intellectual growth&mdash;these are
+the depressing influences that continually beset the<a
+ id="png.161" name="png.161"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">161/</span>157</samp>
+deaconesses, and nothing short of God-given
+strength and Christ-like enthusiasm can enable these
+women to devote six, eight, and ten years of service
+to this worst city district, and to come forth with sunshiny,
+peaceful faces, and sympathetic, loving hearts.</p>
+
+<p>Taking the total number of deaconess institutions
+under the Church of England, there are
+eighty one deaconesses, thirty-four probationers,
+and two hundred and twenty-nine associates.<sup><a href="#fn.x.11" name="fna.x.11" id="fna.x.11">11</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>So far, sisterhoods have proved more attractive
+to the women of the Church of England than have
+deaconess establishments. The latter do not seem
+to increase largely in numbers. Vexing questions
+have arisen as to how the deaconess should be set
+apart to her work. Should she be consecrated
+by the imposition of the bishop&#8217;s hands? What
+relation should she have to the Church? These
+questions have been partially settled by the principles
+and rules that were drawn up in 1871 and
+were signed by the two archbishops and eighteen
+bishops. They define a deaconess as &ldquo;a woman
+set apart by a bishop, under that title, for service
+in the Church;&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.12" name="fna.x.12" id="fna.x.12">12</a></sup>
+placing her under the authority<a
+ id="png.162" name="png.162"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">162/</span>158</samp>
+of the bishop of the diocese. These recommendations
+have not been formally adopted by the
+Church of England; they hold good only so far as
+they are accepted.</p>
+
+<p>But there are other institutions, lying outside
+of the boundaries of the State Church, which have
+developed more fully and prosperously than those
+within it. Of these we must speak first of the institution
+of Dr. Laseron, which is more closely connected
+with Kaiserswerth than any other in England.
+In 1855 Dr. Laseron and his wife lost their only
+child; and as Mrs. Laseron walked through the
+streets with burdened heart she looked at the little
+children with quickened sympathy, and noticed how
+many were poor and hungry and scantily clothed.
+She talked with her husband, and they opened a
+&ldquo;ragged school&rdquo; for children. This increased and
+branched off, until now there is an orphanage,
+workhouses for boys, and a servants&#8217; training school
+for girls. Requests were frequently made for some
+of the older girls to act as nurses among the poor;
+and, finally, Dr. Laseron, who was a German by
+birth, determined to found a deaconess house and
+hospital. A small hospital of twelve beds was
+opened, and proved insufficient to meet the demands;
+and none could be accepted as deaconesses,
+as there was no opportunity to train them in so<a
+ id="png.163" name="png.163"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">163/</span>159</samp>
+small a place. While waiting to see how the house
+could be enlarged, he mentioned his perplexity to
+Mr. Samuel Morley. This gentleman heard him
+with interest, and said that he was one of the directors
+of a large hospital; that at a recent meeting
+of the directors a Catholic bishop had offered to
+send Sisters of Charity who, without compensation,
+should nurse the sick, and he had thought what
+a fine thing it would be if the Protestant Church
+had also its women of piety who could devote themselves
+to a similar work. The result of the conversation
+was that Mr. Morley contributed forty
+thousand dollars, with which Dr. Laseron purchased
+a site in Tottenham, built a hospital with fifty beds,
+and a deaconess was called from Kaiserswerth to
+superintend it. The hospital has been again enlarged,
+so that it now accommodates one hundred
+patients. Sixty-four deaconesses are connected
+with it, who are at service in the hospitals of Cork,
+Dublin, Scarborough, and Sunderland. This institution
+is unsectarian, and has met with special aid
+from non-conformists. It still keeps in close relation
+to Kaiserswerth, and is represented at the
+Conferences. It has constantly thriven, and the
+mother-house at Tottenham is a center for various
+benevolent enterprises.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with Dr. Barnardo&#8217;s Orphanage<a
+ id="png.164" name="png.164"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">164/</span>160</samp>
+there is also a deaconess house. Harley House,
+the missionary training-school under the direction
+of Dr. and Mrs. Grattan Guinness in East London,
+has a deaconess home as one of its branches.
+The Kilburn (St. Augustine&#8217;s) Orphanage of Mercy,
+and the London Bible-women&#8217;s Mission are also
+centers for the training and organizing of women&#8217;s
+work in London.</p>
+
+<p>We must pause more at length over the prison
+mission under the care of Mrs. Meredith. American
+women are beginning to occupy themselves
+with questions of philanthropy and religious activity
+to an extent not before equaled. The women&#8217;s
+prisons in England are especially fruitful of suggestions
+to us, as many here are interested in having
+our women prisoners separated in prisons by
+themselves, as has already been attempted in a few
+States. Mrs. Meredith&#8217;s work is in behalf of the
+prisoners after they have served their sentence and
+are discharged. She is the daughter of General
+Lloyd, who was formerly governor-general of prisons
+in Ireland. As a little child she was accustomed
+to go about with her father, and the interior
+of prisons became familiar to her. Later in life,
+when her family ties were broken, and her hands
+left free for service, her interest was engaged in behalf
+of the women convicts who were discharged<a
+ id="png.165" name="png.165"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">165/</span>161</samp>
+from prison. She enlisted the support of other
+ladies of like views, able to assist her, and in 1866
+the Prison Gate Mission began, which has continued
+to the present day. Every morning, as the gate of
+Millbank prison swings back to allow those who have
+been released from penal bondage to come forth, a
+sister stands waiting to invite those who will go
+with her to a room near by, where breakfast awaits
+them; there are ladies to inquire about their plans
+and to offer them work. A great laundry was
+opened in 1867 to provide employment for these
+women. Here washing is done for two classes: for
+the poor and sick, to whom the service is given as
+a charity, and to those who pay for the work and
+whose money enables the mission to be partly self-supporting.
+Then the ladies extended their plans
+to take in the children of the prisoners. A law was
+passed by Parliament which enabled Mrs. Meredith
+and her associates to have the care of those children
+at the Princess Mary Village Home until they are
+sixteen years of age. This home was founded at
+Addlestone in 1870, and was named after the Princess
+Mary, Duchess of Teck, who aided in obtaining
+funds to build it. The institution takes not
+only the female children of criminal mothers, but
+also little girls who are likely to drift into a career
+of crime. It is conducted on the cottage plan, each<a
+ id="png.166" name="png.166"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">166/</span>162</samp>
+little house having ten inmates and a house mother
+to superintend it, and being complete in its own
+arrangements. There are eighteen cottages, a large,
+generous school-room, a small infirmary for the sick,
+and a little church. About two hundred children of
+criminals and the unfortunate class are here cared
+for. Instead of allowing them to drift away and to
+perpetuate vice, crime, and immorality, they are
+taken entirely from their old surroundings, and new
+influences of knowledge and purity are thrown
+about them. There is no part of Mrs. Meredith&#8217;s
+mission which has such hope for the future and is
+so valuable in results as this preventive work among
+the children.</p>
+
+<p>There are also a woman&#8217;s medical mission (1882), a
+Christian woman&#8217;s union, a girls&#8217; school, and a deaconess
+house in Jerusalem under the control of the
+same association. How it arose is well intimated by
+the following extract from a letter from Mrs. Meredith
+to the author, dated March 9, 1889: &ldquo;You will
+know that my course has been progressive with regard
+to the mode of congregating the women who
+joined me in working. At first we merely came together
+daily from our own homes, as those who
+make a business concern do. Then to spare time
+and money we began to live together. The next
+step was to admit useful and devoted women who<a
+ id="png.167" name="png.167"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">167/</span>163</samp>
+had no property, and to form an association with
+degrees of membership. When we found ourselves
+becoming a corporation of importance, and having
+combined to acquire property and to found institutions,
+we invited the help and counsel of some
+men of known eminence. Our institutions are all
+branches of a parent stock, and are now placed
+in the charge of these good men, and we have
+taken the name of the Church of England Woman&#8217;s
+Missionary Association. I am daily persuaded of
+the value of such organizations.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In connection with the London West Central
+Mission there is an association of ladies called the
+Sisters of the People. &ldquo;They are expected to be
+worthy of the beautiful name they bear. They are
+true sisters of the unprivileged and the disheartened;
+as ready to make a bed, cook a dinner, or
+nurse a baby as to minister to the higher need of
+the immortal spirit. The sisters live together in
+the neighborhood of their work, and wear a distinctive
+dress as a protection and for other reasons; but
+they take no vows, and are at liberty to withdraw
+from the mission at any time. Their work is directed
+by Mrs. Hughes. Katherine House, the
+residence of the Sisters of the People, was opened
+early in November, 1887, and from that day the
+work of the sisters dates its commencement. Their<a
+ id="png.168" name="png.168"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">168/</span>164</samp>
+daily labors are very similar to those of the deaconesses
+of Mildmay, who work among the London
+parishes. Each sister has a district allotted to her,
+which she visits regularly and systematically. The
+first object which she sets before herself is to get
+to know the people, and to make them feel that she
+is their true sister and friend, irrespective of the
+fact that they are themselves good or bad, respectable
+or degraded. When once true friendliness is
+established, the way is opened for direct religious
+influence; and many, who in the first instance would
+never pay any attention to religion, will listen to
+an appeal from one whom they love and
+respect.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.x.13" name="fna.x.13" id="fna.x.13">13</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Katherine House accommodates twelve sisters.
+A second house is urgently needed, and a strong
+plea is made for it in the Report.</p>
+
+<p>There are besides &ldquo;out sisters,&rdquo; who work with the
+sisters but reside at their own homes. This is a
+valuable feature of this mission, as it interests ladies
+who are living in their own homes, and yet who can
+be very useful to those who devote their whole
+work to the sisters&#8217; labor. In the Report a great
+many instances are given which show what an intimate
+knowledge of the poor people is obtained by
+these sisters, and in what practical ways they<a
+ id="png.169" name="png.169"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">169/</span>165</samp>
+minister to the bodily and spiritual needs of those
+whom they find in their house-to-house visitations.
+The term &ldquo;sister,&rdquo; as it is used in the report of
+the London West Central Mission, is in all respects
+a synonym for &ldquo;deaconess,&rdquo; as the name is understood
+in the large deaconess establishment at
+Mildmay. To the study of this we shall devote
+the following chapter.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.x.1" id="fn.x.1" href="#fna.x.1">1</a>
+Daniel Neal&#8217;s <i>History of the Puritans</i>, London, 1703, vol.&nbsp;i,
+pp. 344&ndash;346.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.2" id="fn.x.2" href="#fna.x.2">2</a>
+<i>Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth,
+from 1602 to 1625</i>. By Alex. Young. Second edition. Boston:
+C.&nbsp;E. Little &amp; J.&nbsp;Brown, 1844, <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: Original has 'pp,'">pp.</ins> 455, 456.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.3" id="fn.x.3" href="#fna.x.3">3</a>
+Schäfer, <i>Die Weibliche Diakonie</i>, vol.&nbsp;i, p.&nbsp;207.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.4" id="fn.x.4" href="#fna.x.4">4</a>
+<i>The Royal Guide to London Churches</i> for 1866, 1867. By Herbert
+Fry, p.&nbsp;162.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.5" id="fn.x.5" href="#fna.x.5">5</a>
+<i>Official Year-book of the Church of England</i>, 1889.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.6" id="fn.x.6" href="#fna.x.6">6</a>
+<i>Andover Review</i>, June, 1888, art., &ldquo;European Deaconesses,&rdquo; p.&nbsp;578.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.7" id="fn.x.7" href="#fna.x.7">7</a>
+<i>Deaconesses in the Church of England</i>. Griffith &amp; Farran:
+London, 1880, p.&nbsp;22.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.8" id="fn.x.8" href="#fna.x.8">8</a>
+<i>Official Year-book of the Church of England</i>, 1889.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.9" id="fn.x.9" href="#fna.x.9">9</a>
+<i>Armen und Kranken Freund</i>, October, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.10" id="fn.x.10" href="#fna.x.10">10</a>
+&ldquo;Deaconess Work in England,&rdquo; <i>The Churchman</i>, May 19, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.11" id="fn.x.11" href="#fna.x.11">11</a>
+I am indebted to the kindness of the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of
+Wakefield for these numbers, upon whom the mantle of Dean Howson
+seems to have fallen in caring for the deaconess cause.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.12" id="fn.x.12" href="#fna.x.12">12</a>
+<i>London Diocesan Deaconess District Services</i>.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.x.13" id="fn.x.13" href="#fna.x.13">13</a>
+<i>First Annual Report of the London West Central Mission</i>, pp.
+14&ndash;42.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.170" name="png.170"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">170/</span>166</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<h4>MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">Valuable</span> suggestions will be obtained from the
+study of every successful deaconess institution, and
+none will perhaps furnish more practical models for
+American Methodism than does the establishment
+at Mildmay Park in North London. Its methods
+of work are flexible, and allow place for a diversity
+of talent among the workers, while a wide variety
+of charitable and evangelistic effort is undertaken.
+These two causes give a breadth and vigor to the
+work at Mildmay that impress every one who has
+knowledge of it.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever we find a good cause carried on successfully
+and prosperously, we know that behind it
+there must be a strong man or woman who has
+&ldquo;thought and wrought&rdquo; to good purpose. So the
+first question that arises in the mind of the visitor
+who for the first time forms one of the audience in
+the great Conference Hall, or looks about in the
+adjoining building to see the deaconess home, is,
+&ldquo;Who first thought this out? Who was the founder<a
+ id="png.171" name="png.171"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">171/</span>167</samp>
+of this wonderful mission?&rdquo; And the answer tells
+us that Mildmay originated, as did Kaiserswerth, in
+the prayerful determination of a Christian minister
+and his wife to reach out to every good end that
+God&#8217;s spirit of enlightenment could suggest to
+them. Rev. William Pennefather was rector of
+Christ&#8217;s Church at Barnet, and while devoted to his
+ministerial duties his sympathies did not end with
+his own people, nor his own denomination. His
+home was sometimes called the &ldquo;Missing Link,&rdquo; for
+it was a meeting-place for noblemen and farmers,
+bishops and clergymen of all churches; a place
+&ldquo;where nationalities and denominations were easily
+merged in the broad sunshine of Christian
+love.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.1" name="fna.xi.1" id="fna.xi.1">1</a></sup>
+He carried his principle of Christian fellowship
+further, for, after mature deliberation, in 1856, he
+issued a call for a conference to be held at Barnet
+whose object was &ldquo;to bring into closer social communion
+the members of various Churches, as children
+of the one Father, animated by the same life,
+and heirs together of the same glory.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.2" name="fna.xi.2" id="fna.xi.2">2</a></sup> These conferences
+have been continued from then to the
+present time, and are known and prized in many
+lands. I was present at the conference of 1888,
+and representatives were there from nearly every<a
+ id="png.172" name="png.172"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">172/</span>168</samp>
+Protestant country, while on the platform were
+leaders of nearly every Protestant denomination,
+furnishing a wonderful illustration of the union
+of the Christian Church in Christ; a spiritual union
+so real and eternal that the minor differences of
+faith were swallowed up in the great fact that in
+Christ Jesus all are one.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually a variety of missionary and evangelistic
+agencies grew up about the conferences. In 1860
+the little Home was opened at Barnet which subsequently
+developed into the deaconess house at
+Mildmay Park. The question of calling into more
+active exercise the energies of educated Christian
+women, as we have seen in the preceding chapter,
+was one that was attracting attention at the time
+in England. Mr. and Mrs. Pennefather had long
+desired to do something in this direction, and their
+desire took this practical form. In its beginning it
+had to battle with all the &ldquo;definite and indefinite
+objections&rdquo; that could be advanced against any
+attempt at organizing woman&#8217;s work. But those
+days of latent suspicion or more open antagonism
+are long past. The institution has justified its
+right to be by doing a work that otherwise would
+have remained undone.</p>
+
+<p>In 1864 Mr. Pennefather was called to St. Jude&#8217;s,
+Mildmay Park, and the philanthropic and religious<a
+ id="png.173" name="png.173"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">173/</span>169</samp>
+undertakings which he had begun were transferred
+to his new home. He took with him the &ldquo;iron
+room&rdquo; that had been erected for the conferences
+at Barnet, and continued to use it for the same purposes
+at Mildmay; while the missionary training-school
+and home were accommodated in a house
+which he hired for the purpose.</p>
+
+<p>His new parish was in a part of London where
+poverty and want abounded. There was no adequate
+provision for the education of the poor and
+neglected children, so he erected a building where
+elementary instruction could be given at a very low
+price. A soup-kitchen was started at the iron
+room: clubs of various kinds were formed, and
+other agencies were set at work, both for the temporal
+and spiritual welfare of the people. The
+degraded and miserable neighborhood gradually
+underwent a transformation, and the police testified
+that there was a manifest restraint on the lawless
+locality. &ldquo;To many of the waifs of life no human
+hand was stretched in kindness until he came to
+the district and taught them what Christianity
+was.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.3" name="fna.xi.3" id="fna.xi.3">3</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>A small legacy coming to him, he bought a house
+with a large garden attached, and made it a mission
+center for the needs of the infirm and aged; while<a
+ id="png.174" name="png.174"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">174/</span>170</samp>
+the ignorant and careless, who would not enter a
+church, were often induced to attend meetings
+here.</p>
+
+<p>The training-school had been started at Barnet
+for the purpose of training foreign missionaries;
+but Mr. Pennefather now saw that there was as
+great a demand for home mission workers in the
+sorrowful and benighted portions of the vast metropolis,
+so, after much deliberation and consultation
+between himself and his wife, he decided to
+initiate the ministry of Christian women as deaconesses.
+He hesitated about the name to be given to
+the women whom he employed as Christian workers,
+but no other was suggested conveying the
+same idea of service to Christ among his suffering
+and needy ones, and, as the appellation had already
+won respect through the good reports of the deaconess
+houses on the Continent, he decided to adopt
+the same name. They continued to work in his
+parish only until the terrible visitation of the
+cholera in 1866. Then when men were swept into
+eternity by hundreds, and hundreds more were in
+dire distress, the deaconesses were invited by the
+minister of another parish to come to his assistance.
+In this way the bounds of the work began to
+enlarge. A small hospital was added to the home
+and a medical-school mission was begun.</p>
+<a id="png.175" name="png.175"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">175/</span>171</samp>
+
+<p>It now became necessary to build a large hall;
+the iron room was too small for the conferences,
+the church too small for the congregation, and the
+missions had outgrown the capacity of the mission
+room. When the plan for a new building was made
+known money came in unsolicited from various
+sources. The undertaking was pushed rapidly forward,
+and in October, 1870, the hall was opened.
+It will seat 2,500 people, having a platform at the
+west end, and a gallery running around the sides
+and east end.</p>
+
+<p>Thanksgiving and prayer were built into the walls
+from the very foundation; and before the basement
+rooms were cleared of rubbish, or the floor laid, a
+prayer-meeting was held to ask for a blessing upon
+the future undertakings of the mission. The basement
+was divided into five rooms, to be used for
+night-schools and other agencies for the benefit of
+the poor.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the hall, at the west end, was built the
+deaconess house. From his home near by Mr.
+Pennefather had watched the completion of the
+work with great interest. In one of his letters he
+says:<sup><a href="#fn.xi.4" name="fna.xi.4" id="fna.xi.4">4</a></sup>
+&ldquo;Sometimes I can scarcely believe that it
+is a reality, and not all a dream&mdash;the Conference
+Hall, with its appendages, and the deaconess house<a
+ id="png.176" name="png.176"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">176/</span>172</samp>
+actually in existence. May the Holy Spirit fill the
+place, and may he make it a center from whence the
+living waters shall flow forth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>From a letter written to one of these deaconesses,
+we gain his opinion as to the need of deaconesses,
+and what was his ideal of a Home.<sup><a href="#fn.xi.5" name="fna.xi.5" id="fna.xi.5">5</a></sup>
+&ldquo;The need
+for such an institution is great indeed. I do not
+suppose there was ever a time in the history of
+Christianity in which the openings for holy, disciplined,
+intelligent women to labor in God&#8217;s vineyard
+were so numerous as at present. The population
+in towns and rural districts are waiting for
+the patient and enduring love that dwells in the
+breast of a truly pious woman, to wake them up to
+thought and feeling. O! if I had the women and
+had the means, how gladly would I send out hundreds,
+two by two, to carry the river of truth into
+the hamlets of our country, and the streets and
+lanes of our great cities. Will you pray for the
+Home? Ask for women and for means. I want
+our Home to be such a place of holy, peaceful memories
+that, when you leave it, it may be among the
+brightest things that come to your mind in a distant
+land, or in a different position; and each inmate
+can help to make it what it should be.&rdquo; But Mr.
+Pennefather did not live to see the great extension<a
+ id="png.177" name="png.177"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">177/</span>173</samp>
+in usefulness and importance that the Deaconess
+Home was to obtain in later years. He passed
+away from life April 28, 1873, leaving to his wife,
+who had ever been his sympathetic and devoted
+helper, the care of continuing the work he had begun.
+She is still the head of the Mildmay Institutions,
+assisted by a resident superintendent, and
+aided by the counsels of wise, experienced men, who
+form the board of trustees.</p>
+
+<p>From the beginning of the erection of the new
+building every portion of it was put to use. In one
+of the basement rooms is the invalid kitchen, where,
+daily, puddings, jellies, and little delicacies are prepared
+and sent out to sufferers in the neighborhood,
+who could not otherwise obtain suitable nourishment.
+From eleven to two o&#8217;clock tickets are
+brought in, which have been distributed by the sisters
+or by the district visitors; and those who come
+to take the dinners, while waiting their turn, have
+a kind word, or sympathetic inquiry about the sick
+one, from the deaconess in charge.</p>
+
+<p>A flower mission occupies another room. Kind
+friends send here treasures from the garden and
+green-house, field and wood, and children contribute
+bouquets of wild flowers. A deaconess superintends
+the willing hands that tie the bunches, each
+of which is adorned with a brightly colored Scripture<a
+ id="png.178" name="png.178"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">178/</span>174</samp>
+text. Ten hospitals and infirmaries were regularly
+visited during 1888; and more than thirty-eight
+thousand bunches of flowers were distributed,
+each accompanied by an appropriate text.</p>
+
+<p>Near at hand is the Dorcas room, where deaconesses
+are kept busy in cutting out clothing and superintending
+the sewing classes. During the winter
+of 1887 thirty widows attended this class three
+times a week, glad to earn a sixpence by needlework
+done in a warm, lighted room, while a deaconess
+entertained them by reading aloud. A large
+amount of sewing is given out from the same room,
+and the garments that are made are often sold to
+the poor at a low price. A most impressive scene
+is witnessed during the winter months, when, on
+three evenings of the week, all the basement rooms
+are crowded with the men&#8217;s night-school, which has,
+it is believed, no rival in England. The ordinary
+number of names on the books exceeds twelve hundred.
+There are forty-nine classes, all taught by
+ladies, the majority of them being deaconesses.
+The subjects range from the elementary to the
+higher branches of general and practical knowledge,
+including arithmetic, geography, geometry, freehand
+drawing, and short-hand. The Bible is read in
+the classes on Monday and Friday, and a scriptural
+address is given by some gentleman on Wednesday.<a
+ id="png.179" name="png.179"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">179/</span>175</samp>
+The school always closes with prayer and singing.
+The men may purchase coffee and bread and butter
+before leaving, and of this they largely avail
+themselves. A lending library is also attached to
+the school. The highest attendance during last
+session was five hundred and eighty-one, the lowest
+two hundred and eighty-seven.</p>
+
+<p>The influence of this school is very great, and
+many pass on from it to the men&#8217;s Bible-class,
+which is held on Sunday afternoons in the largest
+basement room.<sup><a href="#fn.xi.6" name="fna.xi.6" id="fna.xi.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>A servants&#8217; registry is attached to the deaconess
+house, and through its means about four hundred
+servants are annually provided with places.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly fifty deaconesses make their home at this
+central house, many of them having work in the
+different parts of the city, perhaps at remote distances,
+but returning at night to the home-like surroundings
+and purer air of the central house. The
+large sitting-room, the common living-room of the
+deaconesses, is a charming place. It is of great
+size, but made cheerful and attractive by pictures,
+flowers, and bright and tasteful decorations that are
+restful to the eyes. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pennefather
+made it a principle of action to have the home life
+cheerful, pleasant, and attractive, so that when the<a
+ id="png.180" name="png.180"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">180/</span>176</samp>
+sisters come in toward evening, tired physically, and
+mentally depressed and exhausted by the long strain
+of hearing tales of misery, and seeing sights of
+wretchedness and squalor the day through, they
+could be cheered not only by the words of sympathy
+and love of their associates, but by the silent,
+restful influences of their surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>As I looked around the great room with deep-set
+windows, brightened by flowers, and still more by
+the happy faces of the deaconesses, some of whom
+were young girls with the charms of happy girlhood
+set off by the plain, black dress and wide white collar
+of the deaconess garb, I could but think the
+founders wise in arranging such pleasant, home-like
+surroundings for their workers.</p>
+
+<p>From the windows you look down into a beautiful
+garden, a rare luxury for a London dwelling.
+This garden was among the later accessions of Mr.
+Pennefather, being purchased by him shortly before
+his death. A train of circumstances led to its possession
+which he regarded as markedly providential;
+and the delightful uses to which &ldquo;that blessed garden,&rdquo;
+as it has been called, has since been put,
+seem to justify the importance he attached to securing
+it. During the conference times great tents
+are reared here for the refreshments which the
+weary body needs. A fine old mulberry tree<a
+ id="png.181" name="png.181"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">181/</span>177</samp>
+extends its branches, and under its ample shade
+meetings of one kind or another are held at all
+hours of the day. The lawn, with its quiet, shady
+walks, furnished with comfortable garden seats, provides
+a meeting place for friends, where, in the intervals
+between the services, those who perhaps
+never see each other during any of the other fifty-one
+weeks of the year may walk or sit together.
+&ldquo;Here in more ordinary times may be seen the
+children of the Orphanage (where thirty-six girls
+form a happy, busy family) playing together, or
+the deaconesses in their becoming little white caps,
+who have run out for a breath of air. Here, too,
+during the summer, a succession of tea-parties is
+held for the different classes which have been
+reached by the deaconesses in the more densely
+populated parts of London, to whom the garden is
+a very paradise.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.7" name="fna.xi.7" id="fna.xi.7">7</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Before leaving the Central Deaconess Home I
+must speak of one branch of work&mdash;the artistic
+illustration of Scripture texts&mdash;because it so illustrates
+the happy freedom and wisdom of the
+Mildmay methods, which seek to develop the strength
+of each sister in the line of her special aptitudes.
+Two of the deaconesses have marked ability as
+artists, and they devote their time to illuminating<a
+ id="png.182" name="png.182"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">182/</span>178</samp>
+texts and adorning Christmas and Easter cards with
+rare and exquisite designs. From the sale of these
+illuminations over five thousand dollars were realized
+last year for the benefit of the institution.</p>
+
+<p>The Conference Hall, too, should have a further
+word of recommendation for the truly catholic spirit
+in which it serves the interests of a myriad of good
+causes. Besides the crowded meetings of the conference
+there are held Sunday services throughout
+the year. The hospitality of its rooms is readily
+granted to every good cause with which the mission
+has sympathy. During 1887 &ldquo;temperance society
+meetings, railway men and their wives, Moravian
+missions, Pastor Bost&#8217;s mission at La Force, the
+MacAll Paris missions, the Sunday closing movement,
+young men&#8217;s and young women&#8217;s Christian
+associations, a Christian police association, the Children&#8217;s
+Special Service mission, the Christmas Letter
+mission, Bible readings for German residents, and
+various other foreign and home missions have all in
+turn been advocated here.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.8" name="fna.xi.8" id="fna.xi.8">8</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The larger number of the deaconesses at the
+central house, as well as the twenty-five at the
+branch house in South London, are employed in
+twenty-one London parishes, where their work has
+been sought by the clergymen; they go to all,<a
+ id="png.183" name="png.183"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">183/</span>179</samp>
+undertaking every kind of labor that can give them
+access to the hearts and homes of the people.
+While co-operating with the clergyman in charge of
+a parish their work is superintended from the Deaconess
+Home. They visit from house to house
+among the sick and poor, hold mothers&#8217; meetings,
+teach night-schools, hold Bible-classes separately
+for men, women, and children; hold special classes
+for working women and girls who are kept busily
+employed during the day, and during the winter
+months have a weekly average of more than nine
+thousand attendants on their services. They are
+solving the problem of &ldquo;how to save the masses&rdquo;
+by resolving the masses into individuals, and then
+influencing these individuals by the power of personal
+effort and love.</p>
+
+<p>But a few steps from Conference Hall is the Nursing
+Home, where about one hundred &ldquo;nurse sisters,&rdquo;
+nurses, and probationers make their home in the intervals
+between their duties, and are presided over
+by a lady superintendent of their own. Adjoining
+is the Cottage Hospital, a beautiful building, the
+gift of a lady in memory of her son. The walls
+have been painted and decorated throughout by
+some ladies who delight in using their skill to make
+beautiful the homes of the sick.</p>
+
+<p>A large hospital and medical mission also exist<a
+ id="png.184" name="png.184"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">184/</span>180</samp>
+in Bethnal Green, a densely populated part of London
+that in some portions can vie with the worst
+slums of the city. It was so necessary to provide
+better accommodations for nursing the sufferers
+than could be found in their poor homes that a
+warehouse was fitted up with beds and transformed
+into a small hospital. In 1887 four hundred and
+thirteen patients were received at the hospital, and
+in the dispensary for outside patients sixteen thousand
+four hundred and eighteen visits were paid
+during the year, nearly two thirds of which number
+were to patients in their own houses. There is no
+place in which a hospital could be more sorely
+needed than in this destitute part of London, and
+perhaps no place where it could be more appreciated.
+&ldquo;I had no idea,&rdquo; said a man of the better
+class who was brought in, &ldquo;of there being such a
+place as this; you give as much attention to the
+poorest man you get out of the street as could be
+given to a prince.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xi.9" name="fna.xi.9" id="fna.xi.9">9</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Every Christmas some kind of an entertainment
+is arranged for the hospital patients, and, through
+the gift of friends, articles of warm clothing are
+distributed to protect against the winter&#8217;s cold.</p>
+
+<p>A variety of mission work is carried on in connection
+with Bethnal Green. There is a Men&#8217;s<a
+ id="png.185" name="png.185"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">185/</span>181</samp>
+Institute, open every evening except Sunday and
+Monday, in connection with which is a savings&#8217;
+bank that is well patronized. There is a Lads&#8217; Institute,
+where the deaconesses have classes and
+meet the boys in a friendly way; a men&#8217;s lodging-house,
+where a comfortable bed and shelter can be
+had for eight cents a night. The latter is an enterprise
+which could be imitated with profit in all our
+large American cities, where it is very difficult for
+the homeless and poverty-stricken to obtain a decent
+lodging, or to find any place, in fact, where
+liquor is not sold. There are also evangelistic services
+in the mission here, Sunday-schools, Bible-classes,
+temperance meetings, a soup kitchen, and a
+coffee bar, where, during Christmas week, between
+four and five hundred men and boys were given
+light refreshments, and at the same time some idea
+of the kindliness and good-will that are associated
+with this happy season of the year.</p>
+
+<p>There are also two convalescent homes, one at
+Barnet and one at Brighton. The home at Brighton
+is especially designed for the poor patients of the
+East End mission. The report for the year ending
+December 31, 1887, says that five hundred and fifty
+men, women, and children enjoyed its benefits for
+a fortnight or longer.<sup><a href="#fn.xi.10" name="fna.xi.10" id="fna.xi.10">10</a></sup></p>
+<a id="png.186" name="png.186"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">186/</span>182</samp>
+
+<p>Mildmay nurse deaconesses have also charge of
+the Doncaster General Infirmary, the Nurses&#8217; Institute
+at Malta, and the Medical Mission Hospital at
+Jaffa, where two hundred and nineteen patients
+were received the last year, of whom one hundred
+and seventy-five were Moslems.</p>
+
+<p>There also exists under the supervision of Mildmay
+workers a railway mission that was begun in
+1880 for men on duty at two of the London stations.
+An organized mission has sprung up from
+this small beginning that has now extended over
+three great lines of railroads which employ thousands
+of men.</p>
+
+<p>The long list of labors given do not exhaust the
+efforts of Mildmay workers, for, besides special teas
+for policemen and postmen, and the mission room
+and day-school at Ball&#8217;s Pond, there is also an educational
+branch that is meeting the demand for
+higher educational advantages for women, under
+distinctly religious influences, by the Clapton House
+School.</p>
+
+<p>The questions involuntarily present themselves,
+when reading the undertakings just enumerated,
+that involve not only faithfulness and devotion in
+service, but disciplined, practiced faculties, &ldquo;What
+class of women are these by whom so much has
+been accomplished? And what is the training that<a
+ id="png.187" name="png.187"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">187/</span>183</samp>
+has made them so effective?&rdquo; It is difficult to answer
+the first question. The deaconesses are of all
+classes, many of them being ladies who devote their
+time, talent, and means to forward the cause. There
+are a good many daughters of clergymen, who are
+carrying out the associations of their life at home.
+Just how many are self-supporting and just how
+many are maintained by the Institution are facts
+that are never known; as Mrs. Pennefather says in a
+letter of February 11, 1889, &ldquo;There are certain<a
+ id="png.188" name="png.188"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">188/</span>184</samp>
+points we deal with as strictly private. While every
+probationer pays four guineas for her first month,
+the after monetary arrangements are never known
+except to myself and the resident lady superintendent.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="sidebar">
+<p><span class="smc">Note.</span>&mdash;There is a further department at Mildmay that has
+never been named, but is certainly an important and busy one;
+it might be called the &ldquo;Department of Inquiry,&rdquo; for certainly
+the personal visits and letters received, inquiring into the details
+of the institution, must be very large. My obligations to Mrs.
+Pennefather are great, who, both by letter and printed matter,
+has placed a great number of facts at my disposal, of which I
+have availed myself freely in writing this sketch. Mrs. Pennefather&#8217;s
+words, &ldquo;we are glad when we can help any Christian
+work with the experience God has permitted us to gather,&rdquo;
+echo the words of the great apostle, <a name="gal66" id="gal66">&ldquo;Let him that is taught
+in the word communicate to him that teacheth in all good
+things.&rdquo;</a> I remember, too, the gracious patience with which,
+during one of the crowded days of the last conference, Miss
+Coventry, the superintendent, spent a long hour with us, answering
+fully and minutely the many questions which we put
+when trying to supplement our want of knowledge by her long
+experience. Indeed, the spirit of Mildmay impressed me as
+generous and helpful; as has been said, &ldquo;Over the whole
+house rules the spirit of love, devotion, and prayer.&rdquo;<sup>*</sup>
+</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<p style="font-size: x-small;">*
+&ldquo;Deaconess Work in England,&rdquo; <i>The Churchman</i>, May 12, 1888.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The second question is more easy of response.
+There is a probation house, where ladies that present
+themselves as candidates are received for a
+month, and are given work in teaching orphan
+children, or go out to the city missions and the
+night-schools under the care of a deaconess. If the
+probation has proved satisfactory the candidate enters
+the training-school called &ldquo;the Willows,&rdquo; a mile
+or two from the Central House, a pleasant home
+which about three years ago came into the possession
+of the institution and the inmates of the
+school, formerly accommodated in five small houses,
+are now gathered, at slightly greater expense,
+under one roof in the larger, pleasanter home. The
+following extracts, taken from a little circular called
+&ldquo;A Missionary Training-school,&rdquo; will give us a good
+idea of the life of the embryo deaconesses, and the
+instruction, practical and theoretical, that they receive.
+&ldquo;The house, which lies a little back from
+the road, is entered through a conservatory passage,
+and on the other side of the spacious hall, with its
+illuminated motto, &lsquo;Peace be to this house,&rsquo; above<a
+ id="png.189" name="png.189"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">189/</span>185</samp>
+the fireplace, are the lady superintendent&#8217;s sitting-room
+and the large dining-room, where, on the day
+when I visited &lsquo;the Willows,&rsquo; about thirty of us sat
+down to dinner. Several others were absent in connection
+with their medical studies. Both these
+rooms open on a terrace, and beyond stretches a
+garden which, even in lifeless winter-time, looked
+inviting, and, in its spring beauty and summer loveliness,
+must be in itself a training for the young
+natures which are learning in the slums of Bethnal
+Green and Hoxton their hard acquaintance with
+sin and sorrow. Perhaps in these days of strain and
+toil too little has been thought of the need of young
+hearts for some gentle relief from the first shock of
+meeting with the evil with which older workers
+have a mournful familiarity.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The inmates of the Training-school are not deaconesses
+alone. The school was started to prepare
+workers for the foreign field, but the crying need of
+the vast metropolis turned attention to the home
+field. The Church of England Zenana Society sends
+its candidates to Mrs. Pennefather for training,
+and she is glad to accept them, believing that a variety
+of companionship is needed by those who, in
+zeal for their personal work, might lose the broad
+sympathy for all kinds of Christian labor, which is an
+invaluable cultivation for wise and useful laborers.</p>
+<a id="png.190" name="png.190"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">190/</span>186</samp>
+
+<p>The several classes who pass through the course
+of training may be designated as follows:</p>
+
+<p><i>a</i>.) Those who pass on to the deaconess house.</p>
+
+<p><i>b</i>.) Candidates for (1)&nbsp;the Church of England
+Zenana Society; (2)&nbsp;the Church Missionary Society.</p>
+
+<p><i>c</i>.) Those who receive medical training for working
+among the women and children of India.</p>
+
+<p><i>d</i>.) Those who are as yet unconnected with any
+society.</p>
+
+<p><i>e</i>.) When vacancies occur some few are received
+who merely return to home or parish work, but who
+are greatly benefitted by training and experience.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The general routine of life seems to be as follows:
+Prayers at eight o&#8217;clock, then breakfast, followed
+by a certain amount of domestic duty which
+falls to the lot of each. For it is not forgotten that
+these years of training are not for the sake of home
+life, but as preparation for the self-denials of missionary
+life. Speaking broadly, the mornings seem
+to be chiefly devoted to classes; afternoons to out
+of door and district work; and thus theory and practice
+pleasantly relieve and support each other.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There are regular Bible-classes held by different
+clergymen, and once a fortnight there are lectures
+on the history of missionary work. There are
+classes in Hindustani, drawing, and singing, and<a
+ id="png.191" name="png.191"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">191/</span>187</samp>
+for those whose education is defective, elementary
+classes in arithmetic, geometry, and short-hand.
+The probationers are also given training in the
+duties of the store-room, and the order and method
+that they are taught in caring for the minutest
+details must certainly form valuable habits in all
+those who have any desire to profit by the instruction
+they receive.</p>
+
+<p>For those who are destined for medical work
+among the women of India there is a special course
+of medical training, both theoretical and practical.</p>
+
+<p>The age requirement is not so strictly maintained
+at Mildmay as at many other deaconess houses,
+but, as a rule, ladies from about twenty to thirty
+years of age are preferred as students in the training-school.
+The sum of three hundred dollars is
+charged for the year&#8217;s expenses at the training-school,
+medical students paying one hundred dollars
+additional.</p>
+
+<p>Our study of the Mildmay Institutions has been
+somewhat extensive. As was said at the beginning
+of the chapter, the great freedom and simplicity of
+the Mildmay methods, as well as the happy faculty
+that its directors possess of utilizing all varieties of
+individual talent, make this deaconess establishment
+one that is full of valuable suggestions to the similar
+institutions that are now arising in American<a
+ id="png.192" name="png.192"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">192/</span>188</samp>
+Methodism. No working force is wasted; if a deaconess
+possess a special talent, she is given a field in
+which to exercise it; and if exceptional conditions
+arise workers are found ready to meet them. This
+training provides well-equipped missionaries for the
+foreign field, and equally well-prepared missionaries
+for the great field of the present hour&mdash;the home
+mission work in the crowded wards of great cities.</p>
+
+<p>The annual expenses of the Mildmay Institutions
+vary from one hundred and ten thousand to one
+hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Sixty thousand
+dollars are received in voluntary contributions,
+and the remaining sum is generally obtained
+from friends who are immediately concerned in the
+work.</p>
+
+<p>It is certainly a marvelous tribute to Christian
+faith, although it is never heralded as such, that an
+establishment of the extent and magnitude of Mildmay
+has been maintained for years with no permanent
+endowment to fall back upon, and that annually
+the renewed self-denial of constant friends has to
+supply the large amount of money needed to meet
+the entire expenses. Besides those outward and
+visible services which it renders &ldquo;for the love of
+Christ, and in his name&rdquo; Mildmay furnishes a constant
+testimony to the fidelity of the Christian faith
+in the hearts of many believers.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.xi.1" id="fn.xi.1" href="#fna.xi.1">1</a>
+<i>Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather</i>, p.&nbsp;279.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.2" id="fn.xi.2" href="#fna.xi.2">2</a>
+<i>Ibid.</i>, p.&nbsp;305.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.3" id="fn.xi.3" href="#fna.xi.3">3</a>
+<i>Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather</i>, p.&nbsp;435.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.4" id="fn.xi.4" href="#fna.xi.4">4</a>
+<i>Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather</i>, p.&nbsp;471.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.5" id="fn.xi.5" href="#fna.xi.5">5</a>
+<i>Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather</i>, p.&nbsp;471.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.6" id="fn.xi.6" href="#fna.xi.6">6</a>
+<i>Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work</i>, p.&nbsp;7.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.7" id="fn.xi.7" href="#fna.xi.7">7</a>
+<i>Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work</i>, p.&nbsp;6.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.8" id="fn.xi.8" href="#fna.xi.8">8</a>
+<i>A Retrospect of Mildmay Work During the Year 1887.</i></p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.9" id="fn.xi.9" href="#fna.xi.9">9</a>
+<i>Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work</i>, p.&nbsp;13.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xi.10" id="fn.xi.10" href="#fna.xi.10">10</a>
+<i>A Light in a Dark Place</i>, p.&nbsp;21.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.193" name="png.193"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">193/</span>189</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">When</span> Fliedner went on his second tour to England
+he extended his journey to Scotland, and
+ventured to Edinburgh at a time when the cholera
+was sweeping with fearful ravages through the city
+in order to become acquainted with Dr. Chalmers.
+The great Scotch divine and his good deeds, that
+were connected with all kinds of charitable endeavor,
+moved the German pastor to admiration
+and stirred him to holy emulation. On the other
+hand, that Chalmers was profoundly touched by the
+work that Fliedner had accomplished in Germany
+there can be no doubt; we have his own words to
+testify to the importance he attached to the diaconate
+of women. In his lectures on Romans, he
+says: &ldquo;Here, too, we are presented with a most
+useful indication, the employment of female agency,
+under the eye and with the sanction of an apostle,
+in the business of the Church. It is well to have
+inspired authority for a practice too little known,
+and too little preached on in modern times. Phebe<a
+ id="png.194" name="png.194"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">194/</span>190</samp>
+belonged to the order of deaconesses, in which capacity
+she had been the helper of many, including
+Paul himself. In what respect she served them is
+not particularly specified. Like the women in the
+gospels who waited on our Saviour, she may have
+ministered to them of her substance, though there
+can be little doubt that, as the holder of an official
+station in the Church, she ministered to them by
+her services also.&rdquo; It is but recently, however, that
+deaconesses have become incorporated into the religious
+life of Scotland, and, so far, they do not exist
+in connection with the Free Church, of which Chalmers
+was the able and heroic leader, but only in
+connection with the national Church&mdash;the old historic
+Church of Scotland. Within this Church the
+question has assumed the form, not alone of the revival
+of the apostolic order of deaconesses, but also
+of the organization of all the manifold activities of
+women within the Church into one whole, which
+is put under the authority and direction of the officers
+of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>Isolated attempts in this direction had previously
+been made, but in 1885 the first definite steps were
+taken when the Committee on Christian Life and
+Work, of which Dr. Charteris was the Convener, presented
+to the General Assembly a report on &ldquo;The
+need of an organization of women&#8217;s work in the<a
+ id="png.195" name="png.195"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">195/</span>191</samp>
+Church,&rdquo; part of which is as follows: &ldquo;The organization
+of women&#8217;s work in the Church has become
+a subject of pressing interest. The Assembly has
+already sanctioned and regulated the organization
+of women&#8217;s work in collecting for foreign missions,
+and in sending out and superintending missionaries.
+The great and growing strength of the movement
+thus recognized is one of the most gratifying things
+in our mission; ... but of still older date, and
+not less powerful, is the part taken by women in
+the home work of the parish church. Lady visitors
+are carrying messages of divine truth and of human
+sympathy into the dwellings of the poor both
+in town and country. Many have been trained as
+nurses that they may be skilled ministrants to the
+suffering and sick; and there can be little doubt
+that the greater part of the actual personal help
+which ministers receive in parishes is from the
+women of the congregations. But those who have
+done most of the good work are most instant in
+asking from the Church some means of doing still
+more. From ministers and from their female helpers
+have come many requests to the committee for
+some provision for training; some recognition and
+organization of those who are trained&hellip;. In the
+Church of England are many homes for nurses and
+deaconesses; training institutions for female<a
+ id="png.196" name="png.196"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">196/</span>192</samp>
+mission work of every kind; and the rapidity with
+which they are multiplying proves of itself how
+much they are needed; also non-conformist institutions
+of the kind, and some separate from all
+Churches. Your committee believe that the time
+has fully come for our Church&#8217;s taking steps to supply
+her own wants in this important department of
+mission work.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xii.1" name="fna.xii.1" id="fna.xii.1">1</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The General Assembly then directed the committee
+to inquire into the subject of women&#8217;s work in
+the Church, and to bring up a definite report to the
+next assembly. The committee accepted the task,
+sent out requests to every parish for suggestions as
+to the forms of Christian work to be carried on by
+women, and the best means of making preparation
+for their special training, and prepared themselves
+by personal inspection of the leading institutions
+for training women workers in England to be able to
+answer intelligently the same questions. A scheme
+was reported in 1886 which should incorporate all
+existing parish organizations, such as Sabbath-school
+teachers&#8217; and women&#8217;s societies of all kinds,
+and should aim at increasing their number and
+working power. In 1887 regulations were perfected
+for working this scheme, and the approval of<a
+ id="png.197" name="png.197"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">197/</span>193</samp>
+this by the Assembly of 1887 made the new plan a
+part of the organized work of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>The comprehensive character of the new departure
+in the Church of Scotland is plainly seen from
+a view of the organization as it now exists. The
+three grades into which the Christian women workers
+are divided embrace every kind of work done
+in connection with the Church. The first grade is
+general in its character, and forms an association
+called the Women&#8217;s Guild. In each parish the
+members of Bible-classes, of Young Women&#8217;s Congregational
+Associations, of mission working parties,
+of Dorcas societies, as well as tract distributers,
+Sabbath-school teachers, members of the Church
+choir, and any who are engaged in the service of
+Christ in the Church are all to be accepted as
+members of the guild. The next higher grade is
+the Women Workers&#8217; Guild, for which a certain age
+is required, and an experience of at least three
+years, with the approval of the kirk session which
+enrolls them. In connection with this guild are
+associates, who have a similar relation to the members
+of the Women Workers&#8217; Guild that the associates
+have to deaconesses in the English deaconess
+houses. They are not pledged to regular or constant
+service, but engage to do some work or contribute
+some money every year. They can go to<a
+ id="png.198" name="png.198"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">198/</span>194</samp>
+the deaconess house, put on the garb of the deaconess
+while there, and as long as they remain can
+assume the responsibilities and enjoy the privileges
+belonging to deaconesses. The third higher grade
+is that of the deaconesses. Any one desiring to
+become a deaconess &ldquo;must purpose to devote herself,
+so long as she shall occupy the position of a
+deaconess, especially to Christian work in connection
+with the Church, as the chief object of her
+life.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xii.2" name="fna.xii.2" id="fna.xii.2">2</a></sup>
+Provision was also made for a training-school
+and home where deaconesses could be prepared
+for their duties.</p>
+
+<p>There are a great many ladies who for a long
+time have been engaged in doing the practical work
+of a deaconess without being clothed in the garb,
+or invested with the office. The Church of Scotland
+recognized these workers by providing two
+classes of deaconesses, who should be equal in position,
+but have different spheres of activity. Those
+who for seven years had been known as active
+workers, and who have given their lives largely to
+Christian service, are accepted as deaconesses of
+the first class, and are free to work wherever they
+find themselves most useful within the limits of
+the Church. The second class embraces those who
+shall have received training in the deaconess<a
+ id="png.199" name="png.199"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">199/</span>195</samp>
+institution, or have been in connection with it for at
+least two years.</p>
+
+<p>When the measure was finally passed by the
+General Assembly there was no delay in carrying
+into execution the details indicated by the plan of
+work. The Deaconess Institution and Training
+Home was at once started. It was located at Edinburgh,
+as the most central and convenient place
+for the institution, and as furnishing the most available
+advantages for the instruction and training of
+the deaconesses. From here as a center the work
+is expected to penetrate into every part of Scotland
+by means of the trained workers whose services will
+be available for all parts of the country when desired
+by the ministers and kirk sessions. With true
+Scotch prudence and wisdom it was arranged that
+the lady who was chosen to be the superintendent
+should fit herself thoroughly for the duties of
+her responsible place by becoming familiar with
+the workings of similar institutions in England.
+She was accordingly given six months&#8217; leave of absence,
+which she spent among the great London
+Homes, and only assumed the duties of her position
+May 1, 1888. Meanwhile the Home had opened
+under the temporary care of a lady who had been
+a worker in Mrs. Meredith&#8217;s Prison Mission, and for
+six years a Mildmay deaconess. It had from the<a
+ id="png.200" name="png.200"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">200/</span>196</samp>
+beginning the warm co-operation of sympathizing,
+influential friends. Regular courses of lectures were
+arranged on subjects connected with Christian work,
+and as similar courses will be demanded of like institutions
+in America it may be interesting to give
+the syllabus in full:</p>
+
+<div class="syllabus">
+<h4>SYLLABUS OF LECTURES.</h4>
+
+<h5>(On Tuesdays at 12.)</h5>
+
+<h4 style="margin-top: 0;">1. B.&mdash;Professor Charteris. Four Lectures.</h4>
+<h5>&ldquo;How to Begin a Mission.&rdquo;</h5>
+
+<p>Nov.&nbsp;29.&mdash;1.&nbsp;Whom to visit, and why. The ills we know of, bodily,
+spiritual, social; and seek to lessen.</p>
+
+<p>Dec.&nbsp;<span class="phantom">0</span>6.&mdash;2.&nbsp;How to induce the people who belong to no church&mdash;perhaps
+care for none&mdash;to come in.</p>
+
+<p>Dec.&nbsp;13.&mdash;3.&nbsp;What to do with the children; (<i>a</i>) to attract, (<i>b</i>) to influence
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Dec.&nbsp;20.&mdash;4.&nbsp;What agencies besides Sunday services prove best.</p>
+
+<h4>2. C.&mdash;Dr. P.&nbsp;A. Young. Six Lectures.</h4>
+<h5>&ldquo;Medical Hygiene for the Use of Visitors.&rdquo;</h5>
+
+<p>Jan.&nbsp;<span class="phantom">0</span>3.&mdash;1.&nbsp;Object and scope of the course of lectures; short sketch
+of the structure and functions of the human body, including a
+brief description of the functions of digestion, absorption, circulation,
+respiration, excretion, secretion, and enervation.</p>
+
+<p>Jan.&nbsp;10.&mdash;2.&nbsp;Fractures, how to recognize and treat them temporarily;
+bleeding, and how to treat it; the use of the triangular
+bandage.</p>
+
+<p>Jan.&nbsp;17.&mdash;3.&nbsp;Treatment of fainting, choking, burns and scalds, bites
+from animals, bruises and tears from machinery, convulsions,
+sunstroke, persons found insensible, suspected poisoning and
+frostbite; how to lift and carry an injured person.</p>
+
+<p>Jan.&nbsp;24.&mdash;4.&nbsp;Sick-room, its selection, preparation, cleaning, warming,<a
+ id="png.201" name="png.201"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">201/</span>197</samp>
+ventilation, and furnishing, bed and bedding, infection and disinfection.</p>
+
+<p>Jan.&nbsp;31.&mdash;5.&nbsp;Washing and dressing patients, bed-making, changing
+sheets, lifting helpless patients, food administration, medicines
+and stimulants, what to observe regarding a sick person.</p>
+
+<p>Feb.&nbsp;&nbsp;7.&mdash;6.&nbsp;Taking temperature, baths, bedsores, nursing sick children,
+application of local remedies, poultices, fomentations,
+blisters, etc.; management of convalescents.</p>
+
+<h4>3. D.&mdash;Rev. George Wilson. Four Lectures.</h4>
+<h5>&ldquo;Difficulties Encountered by District Visitors.&rdquo;</h5>
+
+<p>Feb.&nbsp;14.&mdash;1.&nbsp;Difficulties proceeding from indifference.</p>
+
+<p>Feb.&nbsp;21.&mdash;2.&nbsp;Difficulties proceeding from ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>Feb.&nbsp;28.&mdash;3.&nbsp;Difficulties proceeding from adversity.</p>
+
+<p>Mar.&nbsp;&nbsp;6.&mdash;4.&nbsp;Difficulties proceeding from anxiety.</p>
+<p><span class="phantom">Mar.&nbsp;&nbsp;6.&mdash;4.&nbsp;</span>Note.&mdash;Questions invited from the ladies.</p>
+
+<h4>4. E.&mdash;Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod. Four Lectures.</h4>
+<h5>&ldquo;Some Qualifications of a Church Worker, especially among the
+Poor.&rdquo;</h5>
+
+<p>March&nbsp;13.&mdash;1.&nbsp;Motives and aims.</p>
+
+<p>March&nbsp;20.&mdash;2.&nbsp;Difficulties and hindrances, how to overcome them.</p>
+
+<p>March 27.&mdash;3. Conditions of success.</p>
+
+<p>April<span class="phantom">h&nbsp;0</span>3.&mdash;4.&nbsp;Helps, agencies, etc.</p>
+
+<h4>5. F.&mdash;Rev. John McMurtrie. Two Lectures.</h4>
+<h5>&ldquo;History and Methods of Missions to the Heathen.&rdquo;</h5>
+
+<p>April&nbsp;10.&mdash;1.&nbsp;History of missions.</p>
+
+<p>April&nbsp;17.&mdash;2.&nbsp;Methods of missions.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Another wise provision in this Scotch home is
+the arrangement by which those who do not wish to
+become deaconesses, but who want to become competent
+Christian workers in their own homes, can<a
+ id="png.202" name="png.202"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">202/</span>198</samp>
+come here and spend some months in receiving
+training and instruction in various methods of Christian
+work. There is no department in life in which
+many blunders and much loss of time and usefulness
+cannot be prevented by making use of the experience
+of others who have previously overcome the
+difficulties to be encountered. In other words, we
+need to obtain all the preparation and discipline we
+can possibly have in order to do our work well; and
+especially is this true of Christian work, which demands
+the highest service that the heart and soul
+of humanity can give. Many individuals will come
+to the home to be trained and fitted to work in
+their own homes, and will start new lines of
+Christian activity that will win the sympathies and
+efforts of many who are eager to be employed
+in good works, if only they can have competent
+direction.</p>
+
+<p>A pamphlet entitled <i>The Deaconess Institution
+and Training Home</i> says: &ldquo;Are there not many
+parts all over Scotland&mdash;mines, quarries, etc.&mdash;where
+the population is poor and hard-working?
+Would it not in such places be an advantage both
+to minister and people to have a Christian lady,
+trained, experienced, and devoted, to live and work
+among them? Or, which would be possible in
+every parish, would it not be a great advantage that<a
+ id="png.203" name="png.203"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">203/</span>199</samp>
+in case of need&mdash;in a mining accident, an outbreak
+of sickness&mdash;a trained Christian nurse should be
+available during the emergency?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The General Assembly provided that deaconesses
+should be solemnly inducted into their office at a
+religious service in church. It also provided &ldquo;that
+along with the application for the admission of any
+person to the office of a deaconess there shall be
+submitted a certificate from a committee of the
+General Assembly intrusted with that duty stating
+that the candidate is qualified in respect of education,
+and that she has had seven years&#8217; experience
+in Christian work, or two years&#8217; training in the
+Deaconess Institution and Training Home.&rdquo; Also,
+&ldquo;Before granting the application, the kirk session
+shall intimate to the presbytery their intention of
+doing so, unless objection be offered by the presbytery
+at its first meeting thereafter.&rdquo; On Sunday,
+December 9, 1888, the first deaconess was set apart
+to her duties. The kirk session was already in possession
+of the necessary certificates testifying to her
+&ldquo;character, education, experience, devotedness, and
+power to serve and co-operate with others.&rdquo; Due
+intimation had been made to the presbytery. The
+questions were put that were appointed by the General
+Assembly:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you desire to be set apart as a deaconess,<a
+ id="png.204" name="png.204"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">204/</span>200</samp>
+and as such to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in the
+Church, which is his body?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you promise, as a deaconess of the Church
+of Scotland, to work in connection with that Church,
+subject to its courts, and in particular to the kirk
+session of the parish in which you work?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you humbly engage, in the strength and
+grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master,
+faithfully and prayerfully to discharge the duties
+of this office?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The lady who, by answering the above questions,
+received the sanction of the Church as one of its
+appointed officers was Lady Grisell Baillie, of Dryburgh
+Abbey. She writes to the author of this
+book: &ldquo;I count it a great honor to be permitted to
+serve in the Church of my fathers, and I pray that
+I may be enabled faithfully and prayerfully to fulfill
+the duties to which I am called, and that it maybe
+for the glory of our God and Saviour that I am
+permitted to work in his vineyard.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Miss Davidson, who was temporary superintendent
+of the home, but who is now engaged in organizing
+branches of the Women&#8217;s Guild throughout
+Scotland, and Miss Alice Maud Maxwell, the present
+superintendent of the home, have also been set
+apart to the same office. As has been said, &ldquo;Each
+represents an old Scottish family, whose members<a
+ id="png.205" name="png.205"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">205/</span>201</samp>
+have been distinguished for Christian and philanthropic
+labors;&rdquo; and &ldquo;each represents a different
+type of deaconess work.&rdquo; Lady Grisell Baillie is
+engaged in gentle ministrations among the people
+of her own home. Miss Davidson is at the service
+of every minister who desires aid in organizing
+women&#8217;s work in his parish. And Miss Maxwell
+is at the training-home, leading a busy life
+in directing the class labors and missionary activities
+that center around it and in impressing her life
+and spirit upon a band of workers who are to
+further Christ&#8217;s cause both at home and in the
+mission field.</p>
+
+<p>The mention of any facts that can bring before
+us the varied character that the deaconess work can
+assume is valuable. For to be truly useful, this
+cause needs to provide a place for women of very
+unlike qualities, and also to allow a certain degree
+of freedom which will insure the individuality of
+each worker.</p>
+
+<p>The action of the Church of Scotland has had its
+influence upon the Reformed Churches throughout
+the world holding the presbyterial system. At the
+session of the London Council of the Alliance of Reformed
+and Presbyterian Churches during the summer
+of 1888, Dr. Charteris presented a report embracing
+many of the features of the elaborate scheme<a
+ id="png.206" name="png.206"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">206/</span>202</samp>
+which he had previously devised for the Church of
+Scotland. And the Council, in receiving the report,
+not only approved it, but &ldquo;commended the details of
+the scheme stated in the report to the consideration
+of the churches represented in the Alliance.&rdquo; We
+may regard the Presbyterian churches of Great
+Britain, therefore, as committed, not only to the
+indorsement of deaconesses as officers in the service
+of the Church, but to the organization of the
+whole work of women in the churches, under ecclesiastical
+authority and direction.</p>
+
+<p>There is one feature of the deaconess cause as it
+has been developed in the Church of Scotland that
+is of especial interest to the Methodists of America.
+Most of the great deaconess houses of England
+have sprung from the personal faith and works of
+earnest-souled individuals. Mildmay, for example,
+is a living testimony to the faithfulness and energy
+of the Rev. Mr. Pennefather and those associated
+with him. Within the Church of England the recognition
+accorded deaconesses is a partial one, resting
+on the principles and rules signed by the archbishops
+and eighteen bishops, and suggested for
+adoption in 1871. But as yet the English Church
+has not formally accepted this utterance, and made
+it authoritative. The German deaconess houses,
+while receiving the practical indorsement of the<a
+ id="png.207" name="png.207"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">207/</span>203</samp>
+State Church of Germany, are not in any way officially
+connected with it. Even Kaiserswerth itself
+is solely responsible to those who contribute to its
+support for a right use of the means placed at its
+command. The same fact applies to the Paris deaconess
+houses. They are all detached efforts, not
+parts of a general system. But the Scotch deaconesses
+are responsible to a church, and a church is
+responsible for their work. The Church of Scotland
+is, therefore, justified in its claim when it says that
+the adoption of the scheme of the organization of
+women&#8217;s work by the assembly of 1888, &ldquo;is the
+first attempt since the Reformation to make the
+organization of women&#8217;s work a branch of the <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: Original has 'geneneral'">general</ins>
+organization of the Church, under the control
+of her several judicatories.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xii.3" name="fna.xii.3" id="fna.xii.3">3</a></sup>
+The second attempt
+was made, which was the first also for any Church
+in America, when, May 18, 1888, the Methodist
+Episcopal Church of the United States instituted
+the office of deaconess, and made it an inherent
+part of the Church economy, under the direction
+and control of the Annual Conferences.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.xii.1" id="fn.xii.1" href="#fna.xii.1">1</a>
+<i>Organization of Women&#8217;s Work in the Church of Scotland</i>.
+Notes by A.&nbsp;H. Charteris, D.D.; p.&nbsp;4.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xii.2" id="fn.xii.2" href="#fna.xii.2">2</a>
+<i>Report of Committee on Christian Life and Work</i>, 1888, p.&nbsp;36.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xii.3" id="fn.xii.3" href="#fna.xii.3">3</a>
+Nearly all of the facts, both printed and personal, concerning
+the deaconess cause in Scotland have been furnished the writer
+through the kindness of Lady Grisell Baillie, Dryburgh Abbey,
+Scotland.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.208" name="png.208"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">208/</span>204</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">It</span> was no part of the plan of this book, when
+first projected, to treat of the deaconess cause as
+it is developing within the United States of America,
+but gradually, through the kindness of many
+friends belonging to different denominations, a number
+of facts have been obtained which bear directly
+upon the question of how the example of European
+deaconess houses has influenced and is influencing
+the Protestant Churches of America; and it seems
+unwise to omit them from the consideration of the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally the German Lutherans, who were well
+acquainted with the deaconess work in their native
+land, were the first to try to introduce it among
+their churches. In the yearly report sent out
+from Kaiserswerth, January 1, 1847, Fliedner mentions
+that an urgent appeal had been made to him
+to send deaconesses to an important city in the
+United States, there to have the oversight of a hospital,
+and to found a mother-house for the training<a
+ id="png.209" name="png.209"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">209/</span>205</samp>
+of deaconesses. In the report for the following
+year Fliedner again refers to the call from America,
+and states his intention to extend his travels to the
+New World, and to take with him sisters who shall
+aid in founding a mother-house. In the summer
+of 1849 he was enabled to carry out his intention,
+and July 14, 1849, accompanied by four deaconesses,
+he reached Pittsburg, Pa., where Rev.
+Dr. W. A. Passavant, who had written so many
+urgent appeals for his aid, was awaiting him. The
+building had already been secured for a hospital
+and deaconess home, and, July 17, was solemnly
+dedicated at a service where Fliedner delivered the
+principal address, and a large audience testified to
+their interest.</p>
+
+<p>Before his return to Europe Fliedner visited the
+New York Synod, and, in an English discourse,
+described the character and aims of Kaiserswerth,
+and commended the newly founded institution at
+Pittsburg to the sympathy and aid of the German
+Lutheran Church in America. No further results
+were reached, as the synod contented itself with
+resolving that &ldquo;this Ministerium awaits with deep
+interest the result of the work made in behalf of the
+institution of Protestant deaconesses at
+Pittsburg.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.1" name="fna.xiii.1" id="fna.xiii.1">1</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The institution is occasionally heard of afterward<a
+ id="png.210" name="png.210"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">210/</span>206</samp>
+in the proceedings of the Pittsburg Synod,
+and in the paper, <i>The Missionary</i>, published under
+the auspices of the same Church. Urgent appeals
+were also sent out for devoted Christian women to
+come to the aid of the sisters and to join their numbers;
+but although the hospital, commended by their
+skillful and able ministrations as nurses, had the full
+approval of the public, there were few, if any, who
+came to join them, and they were unduly burdened
+by a task too great for their small number.</p>
+
+<p>In 1854 Dr. Passavant resigned his pastoral
+charge, and devoted his entire time to the furtherance
+of the cause, but, up to the present, it has not
+attained the complete organization and wide extension
+that its friends in the German Lutheran Church
+have desired.</p>
+
+<p>The institutions which owe their existence to Dr.
+Passavant&#8217;s efforts are the infirmary at Pittsburg;
+the hospital and deaconess home in Milwaukee;
+the hospital in Jacksonville, Ill.; the orphanages
+for girls in Rochester and Mount Vernon, N. Y.,
+and one for boys in Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>There is, at the present time, only one of the
+original Kaiserswerth sisters left, and that is Sister
+Elizabeth, the head deaconess at Rochester. Dr.
+Passavant still continues to labor at forming a complete
+organization on the basis of the Kaiserswerth<a
+ id="png.211" name="png.211"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">211/</span>207</samp>
+system, and, to quote the words of Dr. A. Spaeth,
+&ldquo;As he succeeded forty years ago in bringing
+the first sisters over from Kaiserswerth to Pittsburg,
+I have no doubt that now, when the Church
+is at last awakening to the importance of this
+work, he will succeed in the completion of his
+undertaking.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A more recent development of the deaconess
+work in the German Lutheran Church has arisen
+in connection with the German hospital in Philadelphia.
+The hospital was well equipped for its
+work, but there was much dissatisfaction with the
+nursing, which was inefficient and unskillful. In
+the fall of 1882 the hospital authorities turned for
+advice and co-operation to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A.
+Spaeth, and other clergymen of the denomination
+in Philadelphia. It was determined to secure German
+deaconesses as nurses. Several attempts were
+made to induce Kaiserswerth, or some other large
+mother-house in Germany, to give up a few sisters to
+the hospital, but on all sides the applications were
+refused. The deaconesses were too greatly needed
+in the Old World to be spared for work in the
+New. At length, through the unremitting efforts of
+Consul Meyer, and of John D. Lankenau, president
+of the board of managers, a small independent community
+of sisters under the direction of Marie Krueger,<a
+ id="png.212" name="png.212"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">212/</span>208</samp>
+who had herself been trained in Kaiserswerth,
+acceded to the proposal, and the head-deaconess,
+with six sisters, arrived in Philadelphia June 19,
+1884. They left the field of their self-denying work
+in the hospital and poor-house at Iserlohn, in Westphalia,
+sadly to the regret of the authorities and
+citizens of the place, but to the hospital at Philadelphia
+they gave invaluable aid. From the first
+their good services met with appreciation. The
+efficiency of the hospital service was greatly increased;
+and from physicians and hospital authorities
+there was only one testimony, and that a most
+favorable one, to the value of deaconesses as trained
+nurses. Mr. Lankenau, who has ever been the wise
+and munificent patron of the institution, determined
+to insure a succession of these admirable nurses for
+the service of the hospital, and, at an expense of
+over five hundred thousand dollars, he built an edifice
+of palace-like proportions, and made over this
+munificent gift to the hospital corporation. It was
+accepted by them January 10, 1887. The western
+wing of the building is used as a home for aged
+men and women; the eastern wing is a residence
+and training-school for the deaconesses, the chapel
+uniting the two, and the whole being known as the
+Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Mother-house
+of Deaconesses.</p>
+<a id="png.213" name="png.213"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">213/</span>209</samp>
+
+<p>A visit to the Home convinced me that the regulations
+of the house, the work of the sisters, and
+the devotion to duty that characterize the mother-houses
+in Germany rule also in this home in the New
+World. The imposing entrance hall with the great
+stair-way, the floor and stairs of white marble, the
+wide halls and spacious reception-rooms and offices
+seemed at first almost incongruous surroundings for
+the modest active deaconesses, some of whom were
+busy in the hospital wards, others hanging clothes
+on the line, and others occupied in duties within
+the building. But place and environments are only
+incidental matters; the spirit within is the determining
+quality; and a conversation with the <i>Oberin</i>
+(head deaconess) and the rector left me with the
+persuasion that the spirit of earnest devotion to
+God and humanity is the main-spring of duty in
+this house.</p>
+
+<p>The arrangement of the rooms for the sisters is
+similar to that at Kaiserswerth; each consecrated
+sister has a small apartment simply furnished for
+her own use. The older probationers are divided
+two and three in a room. Those who have recently
+entered are placed in two large rooms, but here
+every one has her own four walls&mdash;even if they are
+only made by linen curtains. When Elizabeth
+Fry first visited Kaiserswerth, among the arrangements<a
+ id="png.214" name="png.214"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">214/</span>210</samp>
+that she at once recognized and commended
+was that by which each deaconess was
+given the privacy of her own apartment. In the
+deaconess houses that are so rapidly springing
+up in different parts of the United States this
+provision ought to be guarded with care, for a life
+that is so constantly drawn out in ministrations to
+others should have some moments of absolute privacy
+upon which no one can intrude.</p>
+
+<p>There are at present thirty-two deaconesses at
+the Philadelphia Mother-house, twenty of whom
+are probationers. The house was admitted to the
+Kaiserswerth Association, and will henceforth be
+represented at the Conferences. The direction is
+vested in a rector and head deaconess, neither of
+whom can be removed except on just cause of
+complaint. The distinctive dress is black, with
+blue or white aprons, white caps and collars.
+There is one addition to their garb which Fliedner
+would have looked upon with disfavor, and that
+is a cross&mdash;worn by the sisters from the time they
+are fully accepted as deaconesses.</p>
+
+<p>The first consecration took place in the beautiful
+chapel of the Home, January 13, 1889, when three
+deaconesses were accepted as members of the order.</p>
+
+<p>For those who desire to form a good conception
+of the deaconess institutions as they are conducted<a
+ id="png.215" name="png.215"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">215/</span>211</samp>
+in Germany, a visit to the Philadelphia Mother-house
+of Deaconesses will be fruitful of valuable
+suggestions.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.2" name="fna.xiii.2" id="fna.xiii.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In July, 1887, a Swedish Lutheran pastor in
+Omaha sent a probationer to Philadelphia to be
+trained as a sister for a deaconess house to be established
+in that central city of the United States.
+In 1888 four others joined her, and the building of
+a hospital and deaconess home is now progressing
+by the generous support of all classes of philanthropists
+in Omaha. A deaconess home has also
+recently been founded by Norwegian Lutherans in
+South Brooklyn, L.&nbsp;I.</p>
+
+<p>In the German Reformed Church a layman
+endeavored in 1866 to arouse interest in the deaconess
+office. The Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of Hagerstown,
+Md., at Christmas gave five thousand
+dollars to the congregation, and with it sent a
+proposition to the consistory that three ladies of
+the congregation should be chosen and ordained to
+the order of deaconesses, with absolute control of
+the income of said fund for the purposes and duties
+as practiced in the early days of the
+Church.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.3" name="fna.xiii.3" id="fna.xiii.3">3</a></sup><a
+ id="png.216" name="png.216"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">216/</span>212</samp>
+This, and the action of the Lebanon Classis in
+1867, requesting the synod &ldquo;to take into consideration
+the propriety of restoring the apostolic
+society of deaconesses,&rdquo; seem to have been
+the only steps taken by those connected with this
+denomination.</p>
+
+<p>In the Protestant Episcopal Church of America
+the bishop of Maryland first instituted an order
+of deaconesses in connection with St. Andrew&#8217;s
+Parish, Baltimore, Md. Two ladies gave themselves
+to ministering to the poor, and, with the
+sanction and approval of the bishop, a house was
+obtained and given the name of St. Andrew&#8217;s Infirmary.
+In 1873 there were four resident deaconesses
+and four associates.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.4" name="fna.xiii.4" id="fna.xiii.4">4</a></sup>
+An early report of the
+infirmary says: &ldquo;The deaconesses look to no organization
+of persons to furnish the pecuniary aid
+required by the demands of their position. Their
+first efforts have been for the destitute and sick.
+At the home they minister daily to the suffering
+and destitute sick wherever found; some requiring
+only temporary medical aid and nursing; others,
+whom God has chastened with more continuous
+suffering, requiring, in their penury, constant care
+and continual ministration.&rdquo; There is also under<a
+ id="png.217" name="png.217"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">217/</span>213</samp>
+their charge a church school for vagrant children,
+and one also for the children of those comfortably
+situated in life.</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;Forms for Setting Apart Deaconesses,&rdquo; the
+&ldquo;Rules for Self-Examination,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Rules of
+Discipline&rdquo; in the order of deaconesses in Maryland
+are largely patterned after the Kaiserswerth
+rules. In truth, the general questions for self-examination
+in regard to external duties, spiritual
+duties to the sick, the conduct of the deaconesses
+or sisters to those whom they meet, and the
+means for improving in the duties of the office are
+in many cases selected, and but slightly altered,
+from the series prepared by Pastor
+Fliedner.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.5" name="fna.xiii.5" id="fna.xiii.5">5</a></sup>
+The influence of the devout German pastor is indelibly
+stamped upon the deaconess cause in whatever denomination
+it has developed during the nineteenth
+century.</p>
+
+<p>In 1864 the deaconesses of the Diocese of Alabama
+were organized by Bishop Wilmer. Under
+the supervision of the bishop the three deaconesses
+with whom the order originated were associated in
+taking charge of an orphanage and boarding-school
+for girls. In 1873 there were five deaconesses, one
+probationer, and two resident
+associates.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.6" name="fna.xiii.6" id="fna.xiii.6">6</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In the Church Home all of the work is done by<a
+ id="png.218" name="png.218"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">218/</span>214</samp>
+the inmates. As in the foreign Homes, the deaconesses
+are provided with food and raiment, and during
+sickness or old age they are cared for at the
+expense of the order. They are forbidden to receive
+fee or compensation for their services. Any
+remuneration that is made is paid to the order. In
+one feature, however, the deaconesses of Alabama
+differ from either their German or English sisters,
+and that is in the care of their individual means.
+The &ldquo;Constitution and Rules&rdquo; says: &ldquo;The private
+funds of deaconesses shall not be expended without
+the approval of the chief deaconess or the
+bishop.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.7" name="fna.xiii.7" id="fna.xiii.7">7</a></sup>
+This usage prevails in sisterhoods, but, outside of
+this instance, so far as the author has been able to
+learn is not known in deaconess institutions.</p>
+
+<p>The rules for the associates in connection with
+the order are given somewhat at length, from which
+the following are taken. After defining an associate
+as a Christian woman desiring to aid the work
+of the deaconesses, and admonishing her that, although
+not bound by the rules of the Community,
+yet she must be careful to lead such a life as is
+becoming one associated in a work of religion
+and charity, she is requested &ldquo;to state what kind
+of work she will undertake, under the direction of<a
+ id="png.219" name="png.219"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">219/</span>215</samp>
+the chief deaconess, and to report the result to
+her at such intervals as may be agreed upon.&rdquo; The
+following modes of assistance are suggested as most
+useful; namely, &ldquo;to provide and make clothing for
+the poor; to collect alms; to procure work, or promote
+its sale; to teach in the school; to assist in
+music or other classes; to relieve the destitute; to
+minister to the sick; to visit and instruct the ignorant;
+to attend the funeral arrangements for the
+poor; and to take charge of or assist in the decoration
+of the church.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The feature of the union of the associates with
+the deaconesses is one whose importance can
+scarcely be exaggerated. There are many who
+would be able to serve for a short time in this relation
+whose valuable aid would be entirely lost if
+none but deaconesses who give all their time and
+strength could work in the order.</p>
+
+<p>In the Diocese of Long Island Bishop Littlejohn
+instituted an association of deaconesses by publicly
+admitting six women to the office of deaconess
+in St. Mary&#8217;s Church, Brooklyn, February 11, 1872.
+The association has not continued in the form in
+which it originated, but has now changed into the
+Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist. Still this
+sisterhood retains many of the distinctive deaconess
+features. A sister may, for instance, withdraw<a
+ id="png.220" name="png.220"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">220/</span>216</samp>
+from the sisterhood for proper cause. She labors
+without remuneration, and the sisters live together
+in a home, or singly, as they may please, in any
+place where their work is located.</p>
+
+<p>In the Diocese of Western New York there are
+five deaconesses, with their associates and helpers,
+under the direction of the bishop of the diocese.</p>
+
+<p>In America, however, as in England, within the
+Episcopal Church sisterhoods are more influential
+and more rapid in their growth than are deaconess
+institutions. In a list of the sisterhoods of the
+Episcopal Church in America, given in the monthly
+magazine devoted to women&#8217;s work in the
+Church,<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.8" name="fna.xiii.8" id="fna.xiii.8">8</a></sup>
+fourteen sisterhoods are named, one religious order
+of widows, and two orders of deaconesses, one of
+which is that which is now changed into the Sisterhood
+of St. John the Evangelist.</p>
+
+<p>In 1871 the Board of Missions of the Protestant
+Episcopal Church discussed at some length the
+relation of women&#8217;s work to the Church, and there
+resulted increased interest in the subject of sisterhoods
+and deaconess institutions. An effort has
+been made to obtain for the order of deaconesses
+a wider recognition than it now enjoys, as it simply
+has the support of the bishop within whose diocese
+the deaconesses are at work. To this end, in the<a
+ id="png.221" name="png.221"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">221/</span>217</samp>
+General Convention of 1880, a canon was presented
+to the House of Bishops, and accepted by a large
+vote. But it reached the Lower House too late for
+consideration, and no further action has been taken
+since that time.</p>
+
+<p>In the Presbyterian Church of America the question
+of the revival of the office of deaconess has
+already claimed some attention. The late Dr. A. T.
+McGill for many successive years earnestly
+recommended the revival of the office to the members
+of his classes in the theological seminary at
+Princeton; and his views, matured by years of reflection,
+were given for publication in an article
+published in the <i>Presbyterian Review</i>, 1880.</p>
+
+<p>In the Minutes of the General Assembly for 1884,
+page 114, and of 1888, page 640, we find an overture
+asking if the education of deaconesses is consistent
+with Presbyterian polity, and, if so, should
+they be ordained, answered in the negative in the following
+words: &ldquo;<i>The Form of Government</i> declares
+that in all cases the persons elected [deacons] must
+be male members. (Chap. 13. 2.) In all ages of
+the Church godly women have been appointed to
+aid the officers of the Church in their labors, especially
+for the relief of the poor and the infirm.
+They rendered important service in the Apostolic
+Church, but they do not appear to have occupied a<a
+ id="png.222" name="png.222"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">222/</span>218</samp>
+separate office, to have been elected by the people,
+to have been ordained or installed. There is nothing
+in our constitution, in the practice of our
+Church, or in any present emergency, to justify the
+creation of a new office.&rdquo; The next year an explanation
+of this action, which so obviously contradicts
+the facts of history, was asked, but the
+committee declined to say any thing more.</p>
+
+<p>The Southern Presbyterian Church has proceeded
+further, and in the direction of the female diaconate,
+as it is characterized in its main features wherever
+it has existed, when it declares in its <i>Book of Church
+Order</i>, adopted in 1879, that &ldquo;where it shall appear
+needful, the church session may select and appoint
+godly women for the care of the sick, of prisoners,
+of poor widows and orphans, and, in general, in the
+relief of the sick.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.9" name="fna.xiii.9" id="fna.xiii.9">9</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In isolated Presbyterian congregations deaconesses
+have already obtained recognition. At the
+Pan-Presbyterian Council, held in Philadelphia in
+1880, Fritz Fliedner, the son of Dr. Theodor Fliedner,
+was present as a member, and through the influence
+of his words the Corinthian Avenue Presbyterian
+Church set apart five deaconesses, whose<a
+ id="png.223" name="png.223"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">223/</span>219</samp>
+duty it should be to care for the poor and sick belonging
+to the congregation.</p>
+
+<div class="longquote">
+<p>&ldquo;More recently the Third Presbyterian Church
+of Los Angeles, Cal., empowered its three deacons
+to choose three women from the congregation to
+co-operate with them in their work, granting them
+seats and votes in the board&#8217;s monthly
+meeting.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.10" name="fna.xiii.10" id="fna.xiii.10">10</a></sup>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The very interesting article from which the quotation
+has just been made seems to think the term
+&ldquo;deaconess&rdquo; a misnomer for the Kaiserswerth
+deaconess, as she belongs to a community, whereas
+the deaconess of the early Church was attached
+to a congregation and belonged to a single church
+as an officer; but it may well be questioned
+whether the class of duties assigned to the deaconess
+of the early Church and of modern times
+alike, that is, the nursing of the sick, the care of the
+infirm in body and mind, the succoring of the unfortunate,
+and the education of children, are not the
+main characteristics of the office of a deaconess,
+while the fact of her connection with a number of
+like-minded women in community life is merely an
+external feature of the office as it has developed in
+the nineteenth century. Whatever form the question<a
+ id="png.224" name="png.224"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">224/</span>220</samp>
+may assume, with the Presbyterian churches
+of Scotland and England so far committed to the
+adoption of the office of the deaconess as an
+effective part of the organization of the Church, it
+seems inevitable that the Presbyterian Church of
+America will have to meet this question in the near
+future.</p>
+
+<p>The Methodist Episcopal Church of America,
+although occupying itself with the question of the
+diaconate of women later than any of the denominations
+previously mentioned, by its acceptance of
+the office and by making it an inherent part of its
+ecclesiastical organization has taken a higher ground
+than any Protestant body, with the exception of the
+Church of Scotland. The Methodist Episcopal
+Church has ever offered a freer scope for the activities
+of its women members than any other body of
+Christians save the Quakers, who are still the leaders
+in this respect; but it may be questioned if any
+furnishes a larger number who are actively engaged
+in promoting philanthropic and religious measures.</p>
+
+<p>The honor of practically beginning the deaconess
+work in connection with the Methodist Episcopal
+Church in the United States belongs to Mrs. Lucy
+Rider Meyer, of the Chicago Training-school, who,
+during the summer months of 1887, aided by eight
+earnest Christian women, worked among the poor,<a
+ id="png.225" name="png.225"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">225/</span>221</samp>
+the sick, and the needy of that great city without
+any reward of man&#8217;s giving. In the autumn the
+Home opened in a few hired rooms, and Miss Thoburn
+came to be its first superintendent. The story
+of the growth of the work, the securing of a permanent
+home, and the enlargement of its resources
+is a most interesting one.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.11" name="fna.xiii.11" id="fna.xiii.11">11</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>The Rock River Conference, within whose boundaries
+the Chicago Home is situated, had from the
+beginning an earnest sympathy and confidence in
+the work as it was developing in its midst. A memorial
+was prepared, and was presented to the General
+Conference in May, 1888, by the Rock River
+Conference, through its Conference delegates, asking
+for Church legislation with reference to deaconesses.
+At the same time the Bengal Annual Conference,
+through Dr. J.&nbsp;M. Thoburn, also presented
+a memorial asking for the institution of an order
+of deaconesses who should have authority to administer
+the sacrament to the women of India. Our
+missionaries in India have long felt the need of
+some way of ministering to the converted women
+who are closely secluded in zenana life, and who,
+though sick and dying, are precluded by the customs<a
+ id="png.226" name="png.226"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">226/</span>222</samp>
+of the country from any religious service of
+comfort or consolation that male missionaries can
+render. If it had been possible for our women missionaries
+to administer the sacrament many Indian
+women could have been received into the Church.
+All of the papers and memorials on this subject
+were put into the hands of a committee, of which
+Dr. J.&nbsp;M. Thoburn (afterward made missionary
+bishop to India and Malaysia) was chairman; and
+the report of the committee was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="bigquote">
+<h5><span style="font-variant: normal;">&ldquo;</span>THE NEW OFFICE OF DEACONESSES IN THE
+METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.</h5>
+
+<p>&ldquo;For some years past our people in Germany
+have employed this class of workers with the most
+blessed results, and we rejoice to learn that a successful
+beginning has recently been made in the
+same direction in this country. A home for deaconesses
+has been established in Chicago, and
+others of a similar character are proposed in other
+cities. There are also a goodly number of similar
+workers in various places; women who are deaconesses
+in all but name, and whose number might be
+largely increased if a systematic effort were made
+to accomplish this result. Your committee believes
+that God is in this movement, and that the Church<a
+ id="png.227" name="png.227"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">227/</span>223</samp>
+should recognize the fact and provide some simple
+plan for formally connecting the work of these excellent
+women with the Church and directing their
+labors to the best possible results. They therefore
+recommend the insertion of the following paragraphs
+in the Discipline, immediately after &para;&nbsp;198,
+relating to exhorters:</p>
+
+
+<h5><span style="font-variant: normal;">&ldquo;</span>DEACONESSES.</h5>
+
+<p>&ldquo;1. The duties of the deaconesses are to minister
+to the poor, visit the sick, pray with the dying,
+care for the orphan, seek the wandering, comfort the
+sorrowing, save the sinning, and, relinquishing
+wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves in a
+general way to such forms of Christian labor as may
+be suited to their abilities.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;2. No vow shall be exacted from any deaconess,
+and any one of their number shall be at liberty to
+relinquish her position as a deaconess at any time.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;3. In every Annual Conference within which
+deaconesses may be employed, a Conference board
+of nine members, at least three of whom shall be
+women, shall be appointed by the Conference to
+exercise a general control of the interests of this form
+of work.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;4. This board shall be empowered to issue certificates
+to duly qualified persons, authorizing them<a
+ id="png.228" name="png.228"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">228/</span>224</samp>
+to perform the duties of deaconesses in connection
+with the Church, provided that no person shall receive
+such certificate until she shall have served a
+probation of two years of continuous service, and shall
+be over twenty-five years of age.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;5. No person shall be licensed by the board of
+deaconesses except on the recommendation of a
+Quarterly Conference, and said board of deaconesses
+shall be appointed by the Annual Conference
+for such term of service as the Annual Conference
+shall decide, and said board shall report both the
+names and work of such deaconesses annually, and
+the approval of the Annual Conference shall be
+necessary for the continuance of any deaconess in
+her work.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;6. When working singly each deaconess shall be
+under the direction of the pastor of the church with
+which she is connected. When associated together
+in a home all the members of the home shall be
+subordinate to and directed by the superintendent
+placed in charge.<span style="float: right;">&ldquo;<span class="smc">J.&nbsp;M. Thoburn</span>, <i>Chairman</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="right nobrk" style="clear: both;">&ldquo;<span class="smc">A.&nbsp;B. Leonard</span>, <i>Secretary</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>The adoption of this report made its contents a
+portion of the organic law of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>It is doubtful if there was any measure taken at
+the General Conference of 1888 that will be more<a
+ id="png.229" name="png.229"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">229/</span>225</samp>
+far-reaching in its results than that which instituted
+the office of deaconess. The full and complete
+recognition accorded by the highest authority of
+the Church commended it to the people, who
+showed a remarkable readiness to accept the provisions.
+Nearly simultaneously, at important points
+distinct from each other, steps were taken to establish
+deaconess homes, and to provide lectures and
+practical training to educate deaconesses for their
+work.</p>
+
+<p>The terms of the law in which the Conference
+action was expressed were not closely defined. It
+was felt that in establishing a new office for a great
+Church there must be room for a wide interpretation,
+to meet the various exigencies that will arise.
+It is true, also, that there can be no final interpretation
+until there shall be a basis of experience
+wide enough and varied enough to furnish facts
+that will justify us in forming conclusions from
+them. Still it was thought by those who were
+practically engaged in the work that there should
+be a common agreement on certain practical
+points: What was to be the training that the deaconesses
+were to receive during the two years
+of &ldquo;continuous service?&rdquo; What was to be their
+distinctive garb? What was to be the relation
+of the deaconess homes, that were arising, to the<a
+ id="png.230" name="png.230"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">230/</span>226</samp>
+Conference board appointed by the Annual Conference?
+To discuss these and other questions a
+Conference was held in Chicago, December 20 and
+21, 1888, of those who were actively engaged in the
+work. The outcome of the deliberations was the
+&ldquo;Plan for Securing Uniformity in the Deaconess
+Movement.&rdquo; Regulations were suggested concerning
+homes and their connection with the Conference
+boards, conditions of admission were agreed upon,
+and a Course of Study and Plan for Training
+recommended.<sup><a href="#fn.xiii.12" name="fna.xiii.12" id="fna.xiii.12">12</a></sup>
+Of course the recommendations set
+forth in the &ldquo;Plan&rdquo; are not obligatory, but there
+has been remarkable unanimity so far in accepting
+them.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the Chicago Deaconess Home, and
+the branch in New Orleans, there is the Elizabeth
+Gamble House in Cincinnati, of which Miss Thoburn
+is superintendent; the Home in New York
+city, instituted by the Board of the Church Extension
+and Missionary Society, under the superintendence
+of Miss Layton; the home in Detroit,
+under the auspices of the Home Missionary Society;
+and homes under way or projected in Philadelphia,
+St. Louis, and Minneapolis; while individually
+deaconesses are employed in Kansas City,<a
+ id="png.231" name="png.231"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">231/</span>227</samp>
+Jersey City, Troy, and Albany. It is also well to
+add that since his return to India, Bishop Thoburn
+has opened a deaconess house in Calcutta, with
+four American ladies as deaconesses, while at
+Muttra a second home has been opened, of which
+Miss Sparkes, so long connected with our mission
+work in India, is superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>Pastor Fliedner thought it strange that in the
+New World where there is such ceaseless activity in
+good works, the deaconess cause should make such
+slow progress; but the season of sowing had to
+precede that of reaping, and it seems now as though
+the fullness of time had arrived for the incorporation
+into the agencies of the churches of America of the
+priceless activities of Christian deaconesses.</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.1" id="fn.xiii.1" href="#fna.xiii.1">1</a>
+<i>Phöbe die Diakonissen</i>, Dr. A. Spaeth, p.&nbsp;31.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.2" id="fn.xiii.2" href="#fna.xiii.2">2</a>
+For facts concerning the Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses,
+and other important assistance rendered me, I desire to express
+acknowledgements to Dr. W.&nbsp;J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and Rev. A.
+Cordes, the rector of the house.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.3" id="fn.xiii.3" href="#fna.xiii.3">3</a>
+McClintock and Strong&#8217;s <i>Cyclopedia</i>, vol.&nbsp;ii, art. &ldquo;Deaconesses.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.4" id="fn.xiii.4" href="#fna.xiii.4">4</a>
+<i>Sisterhoods and Deaconesses</i>, Rev. H.&nbsp;C. Potter, D.D.. 1873,
+p.&nbsp;118.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.5" id="fn.xiii.5" href="#fna.xiii.5">5</a>
+<i>Sisterhoods and Deaconesses</i>, p.&nbsp;105.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.6" id="fn.xiii.6" href="#fna.xiii.6">6</a>
+<i>Ibid.</i>, <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: Original has 'p'">p.</ins>&nbsp;181.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.7" id="fn.xiii.7" href="#fna.xiii.7">7</a>
+Constitution and Rules for the Order of Deaconesses of Alabama,
+Art.&nbsp;vi.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.8" id="fn.xiii.8" href="#fna.xiii.8">8</a>
+<i>Church Work</i>, May, 1888.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.9" id="fn.xiii.9" href="#fna.xiii.9">9</a>
+For this and other suggestions regarding the deaconess question
+in the Presbyterian Church, I am greatly indebted to the kindness
+of Dr. Hastings, President of the Union Theological Seminary.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.10" id="fn.xiii.10" href="#fna.xiii.10">10</a>
+<i>Presbyterian Review</i>, April, 1889, art. &ldquo;Presbyterian Deaconesses.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.11" id="fn.xiii.11" href="#fna.xiii.11">11</a>
+Mrs. Meyer&#8217;s book on <i>Deaconesses</i>, containing also the story of
+the Chicago Training-school and Deaconess Home, gives the best
+description to be obtained of the rise of the work in Chicago.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiii.12" id="fn.xiii.12" href="#fna.xiii.12">12</a>
+A more extended and elaborate course of study has been prepared
+by the Rev. Alfred A. Wright, D.D., Cambridge, Mass.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.232" name="png.232"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">232/</span>228</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK
+FOR DEACONESSES IN AMERICA.</h4>
+
+
+<p><span class="smc">The</span> deaconesses of the early Church differed
+from those of modern times, as we have seen, in
+being directly responsible to a church society, and
+in belonging to a church congregation in numbers
+of two or more. Modern life shows a strong tendency
+to organization. Wherever there are workers
+in a common cause they are banded together
+in societies and associations. It was in accordance
+with the spirit of the age in which he lived that
+Fliedner united his workers in the Rhenish-Westphalian
+Deaconess Society, in 1836. It was a
+happy inspiration&mdash;shall we not say a <i>providential</i>
+one?&mdash;that furnished a convenient organization for
+the office under present conditions. The mother-houses
+in Germany offered good working-models,
+and their practical advantages were so obvious that
+in whatever Protestant denomination the diaconate
+of women has revived, it has been in connection
+with these homes. There is no place where the<a
+ id="png.233" name="png.233"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">233/</span>229</samp>
+training of a deaconess in all its aspects can be so
+well obtained as in the deaconess home and training-school,
+which is our synonym for the German
+mother-house.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the advantages of a permanent home, under
+careful supervision, to which the probationers
+and deaconesses have access, in such a home care
+is taken to train the deaconesses in the doctrines
+of the Church, and there is an atmosphere favorable
+to the virtues of faith and devotion that the work
+demands. The deaconesses are never allowed to
+forget that they serve in a threefold capacity:
+&ldquo;Servants of the Lord Jesus; servants of the sick
+and poor, &lsquo;for Jesus&#8217; sake;&rsquo; servants one to another.&rdquo;
+The motto of the indomitable little republic
+of Switzerland, &ldquo;All for each and each for all,&rdquo;
+might well be accepted as that characteristically
+belonging to them.</p>
+
+<p>Then, too, there is a tradition of service in such
+a home. One deaconess learns from another. The
+physician is at hand to give his suggestions and
+medical instruction, and the lectures on Church
+history, on the history of missions, and on methods
+of evangelization make the home a center of information
+on all questions that affect the usefulness
+of the office. There is no other one place in which
+to obtain the practical and theoretical instruction<a
+ id="png.234" name="png.234"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">234/</span>230</samp>
+that is needed for the education of a deaconess
+well equipped for her work.</p>
+
+<p>Furthermore, the deaconess home offers a wide
+and varied field for those possessing different gifts.
+None can be so highly educated and cultivated that
+places cannot be found to utilize their talents to
+good advantage; while those who are sadly lacking
+in the education of the schools can, by talent, untiring
+industry, and energy make up for defects in
+early training.</p>
+
+<p>The field of work of the deaconess in modern
+times is a large one. It would be easier to define
+what it is not than what it is. In orphanages, in
+asylums for fallen women, in women&#8217;s prisons, in
+reform schools, in Sunday-schools, infant schools,
+and higher schools, in classes among working-girls
+and servants, in industrial homes, in asylums for
+the blind and deaf and dumb, in hospitals of various
+kinds, and in churches, working under the direction
+of the pastor&mdash;in all of these relations and many
+others we find deaconesses in Germany, France,
+England, and other European countries.</p>
+
+<p>The service in hospitals seems especially incumbent
+upon Christian women, and in the early history
+of these institutions we find deaconesses mentioned
+in connection with them.</p>
+
+<p>Before the birth of Christ hospitals were unknown.<a
+ id="png.235" name="png.235"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">235/</span>231</samp>
+It is true that in Rome and Athens a certain provision
+was made for the poor, and largesses were
+given them from time to time. But this was done
+from motives of political expediency, and not from
+sympathy or commiseration with their ills. But as
+soon as the early Christians were free to practice
+their religion openly, hospitals arose in all the great
+cities. In the latter half of the fourth century the
+distinguished Christian teacher, Ephrem the Syrian,
+in Edessa, placed rows of beds for the sick and
+starving. His contemporary, Basil, the great bishop
+of C&aelig;sarea, founded a number of institutions for
+strangers, the poor, and the sick, caring especially
+for the lepers.<sup><a href="#fn.xiv.1" name="fna.xiv.1" id="fna.xiv.1">1</a></sup>
+Little houses were built closely
+together, but so that the patients could be separated
+one from another, and cared for separately. Even
+at that early date the hospitals were arranged into
+divisions for either sex, as they are at the present
+time. To use a modern phrase, the wards of the
+men patients were placed under the charge of a
+deacon while the deaconesses ministered to the sick
+of their own sex, according as their services were
+required. &ldquo;It was a rule for the deacons and deaconesses
+to seek for the unfortunate day by day, and
+to inform the bishops, who in turn, accompanied<a
+ id="png.236" name="png.236"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">236/</span>232</samp>
+by a priest, visited the sick and needy of all
+classes.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiv.2" name="fna.xiv.2" id="fna.xiv.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>In the Middle Ages there were orders of Hospitallers,
+consisting of laymen, monks, and knights,
+who devoted themselves entirely to the care of the
+sick. Under their influence great and splendid
+hospitals were built, of which the old Hôtel Dieu
+in Paris was a conspicuous example. The Hospital
+of the Holy Ghost in Rome, and the service of the
+same order, originated like hospitals all over Europe.
+In late years, with the development of medical
+and surgical art, hospital arrangements have
+arrived at a degree of perfection never before
+known; and the care of the sick, as it has been
+studied and practiced by Protestant deaconesses
+and Catholic Sisters of Mercy, has also greatly improved.</p>
+
+<p>The state to which the hospitals had degenerated
+in Fliedner&#8217;s time, and the need of experienced
+nurses who should be actuated by the highest
+Christian motives, were among the strong reasons
+he advanced for providing the Church with deaconesses
+as helpers. Here are his words:<sup><a href="#fn.xiv.3" name="fna.xiv.3" id="fna.xiv.3">3</a></sup>
+&ldquo;The poor<a
+ id="png.237" name="png.237"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">237/</span>233</samp>
+sick people lay heavily on my mind. How often
+had I seen them neglected, their bodily wants miserably
+provided for, their spiritual needs quite forgotten,
+withering away in their often unhealthy
+rooms like leaves in autumn; for how many cities,
+even those having large populations, were without
+hospitals! And I have seen many on my travels in
+Holland, Brabant, England, and Scotland, as in our
+own Germany; I often found the portals of glittering
+marble, but the nursing and care were wretched.
+Physicians complained bitterly of the drunkenness
+and immorality of the attendants, and what shall I
+say of the spiritual care? In many hospitals preachers
+we&#8217;re no longer found; hospital chaplains yet
+more seldom. In the pious olden time these men
+were always in such institutions, especially in the
+Netherlands, where evangelical hospitals bore the
+beautiful name of &ldquo;God&#8217;s house,&rdquo; because it was
+recognized that God especially visits the inmates of
+such houses, to draw them to himself. Do not such
+wrongs cry to heaven? Is not our Lord&#8217;s reproachful
+word addressed to us, &lsquo;I was sick and in prison
+and ye visited me not?&rsquo; And shall not our Christian
+women be capable and willing to undertake
+the care of the sick for Christ&#8217;s sake?&rdquo; It was by
+such words, and similar ones, as in his famous appeal
+&ldquo;Freiwillige vor&rdquo; (Volunteers to the front!)<a
+ id="png.238" name="png.238"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">238/</span>234</samp>
+which he sent out from <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Würtemberg'">Wurtemberg</ins> to Basel in
+1842, that he aroused the Christian women of Germany
+to give themselves to this service. By their
+aid he instituted a system of nursing that has
+changed the aspect of every hospital ward in Germany;
+and, through the training that Florence
+Nightingale enjoyed at Kaiserswerth, the reform
+that was there instituted passed to England, and
+has effected a transformation in the entire hospital
+system of England.</p>
+
+<p>In Germany deaconesses are often trained to special
+duties that are required in hospitals for certain
+diseases or certain classes of patients, and they
+are becoming so skillful in their duties that the
+present system of hospital nursing could not be
+continued without their aid.</p>
+
+<p>The nursing care of deaconesses in insane asylums
+is especially valuable. The large and well-ordered
+Insane Asylum for Female Patients in
+Kaiserswerth, with its long lists of cases soundly
+cured, shows how healthful and important is the
+quiet, constant influence of intelligent Christian attendance
+upon those who are mentally unsound.</p>
+
+<p>The usefulness of deaconesses as care-takers in
+all kinds of hospitals and homes for the aged, and
+asylums of every description, is so apparent that it
+does not need to be dwelt upon. The <i>crèche</i>, or<a
+ id="png.239" name="png.239"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">239/</span>235</samp>
+day home, where infants and young children can
+be sheltered and watched during the day while their
+mothers are at work, is an institution that started
+in Paris in 1834, through the efforts of M. Marbeau,
+one of the mayors of a district of the city. This
+is now incorporated into the government system of
+Paris, and the idea has spread to neighboring lands,
+so that such homes are found in many of the cities
+in South Germany and Switzerland. It is true that
+there are no nurses that can care for children as the
+true mother, but where mothers have to be absent
+from morning until night engaged at hard work, and
+the little ones are left neglected at home, or in the
+care of other children who are themselves young
+enough to need very nearly the same attention that
+is bestowed on the infants; or where the mothers
+are such in name, but in reality are failing in every
+quality which we attach to that sacred office; or
+where the foundling hospital is the only alternative
+to which the real mother, confronted by the necessity
+of earning bread for herself and child, can
+turn&mdash;in such cases the <i>crèche</i> is a real benefaction
+whose existence has enabled families to keep together,
+and children to be given a chance in life who
+otherwise would have had small prospect of keeping
+soul and body together.</p>
+
+<p>There is another institution, called the waiting-school,<a
+ id="png.240" name="png.240"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">240/</span>236</samp>
+where children from two to four years of
+age are received, whose parents both go daily to
+work, and who would be left to wander about the
+streets unless this place of refuge were opened to
+them. The <i>crèche</i>, or day home, seeks only to
+watch over the infants who are put in its care, or
+to amuse them and keep them contented; the waiting-school
+goes further, and tries to give the little
+ones some ideas of discipline and the elementary
+beginnings of instruction. Fliedner, who was a
+lover of children, took great interest in both these
+institutions, and in his school for infant-school teachers
+prepared deaconesses especially for the duties
+that are required in teachers of this class. The
+motherly heart, the gift of story-telling and singing,
+a pleasant and unruffled demeanor, the quiet but
+firm inculcation of order and obedience&mdash;these and
+other qualities Fliedner sought to develop in instructors
+for these schools.</p>
+
+<p>The day homes have already been introduced
+into many places in the United States, and often
+cover the field of both the <i>crèche</i> and waiting-school,
+but there is a wide opportunity for the extension
+of their usefulness; and whether in the future,
+when the demands upon Christian deaconesses
+shall be much more multiplex than they are now, it
+may be necessary to provide special training for<a
+ id="png.241" name="png.241"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">241/</span>237</samp>
+Christian teachers in America for such special work,
+time alone can decide. The question of Christian
+education is one that has not yet been determined
+in its full extent. In the year 1800 Mother Barat,
+of the Catholic Church, founded the order of Sisters
+of the Sacred Heart, which is especially devoted to
+the education of daughters belonging to the higher
+social ranks. At her death it numbered three
+thousand five hundred members, and had over seventy
+establishments, which are located in every civilized
+land. It cannot be maintained that the education
+given in these schools is either extensive or
+profound, but the influence of the order upon the
+women whom it has reached has been both. Fliedner,
+at Kaiserswerth, went as far as his age and
+environments would permit him to go. He provided
+schools where teachers were prepared as instructors
+for all grades of schools, from the most
+elementary up to the girls&#8217; high-schools; and no
+other institution in Germany, with one or two exceptions,
+such as the Victoria Institute at Berlin,
+yet offers positions to women teachers of a higher
+grade than is afforded by these schools. But in
+other lands, where the educational facilities for
+women are far beyond those that Germany can offer
+at the present time, positions of higher importance
+and wider influence are held by women; and<a
+ id="png.242" name="png.242"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">242/</span>238</samp>
+it is an important question for the future what class
+of women shall fill these places. If Fliedner had
+had to meet the problem we can imagine he would
+have done so with the boldness and energy that he
+showed in solving those that his times and circumstances
+afforded him. He would, doubtless, have
+enlisted among his deaconesses those whose talents
+gave him reason to provide them with the widest
+training the schools can offer; and then he would
+have endeavored to place them where they could do
+the most effective service for Christ and his Church.
+It may be that in the future which opens before the
+women of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America
+there will be just such questions seeking and
+finding solution.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless at the present time the deaconess
+who will answer to the greatest number of immediate
+wants is the &ldquo;parish-deaconess,&rdquo; or the
+home mission deaconess, as we may call her. Her
+usefulness has been well tested in the great cities
+of Germany, France, and England, as we have
+seen. Perhaps nowhere is her work better appreciated
+than in London, the greatest city of modern
+times. The tendency of this age of manufactures
+and commerce is to attract laborers and workers
+from country homes, where work has become less
+open to them through the increased use of agricultural<a
+ id="png.243" name="png.243"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">243/</span>239</samp>
+machines of all kinds, into cities, where factories,
+shops, counting-rooms, and offices constantly
+afford openings. London has felt the full force of
+this movement. In 1836 her population was about
+equal to that of New York, including Brooklyn and
+Jersey City. Now the great city contains 5,500,000
+inhabitants. It is growing at the rate of over
+100,000 a year, nor is there any influence at work
+to stop its growth. The same causes that produce
+it are constantly at work. The great massing of the
+population together, with the unequaled increase
+in the wealth of the people, make the contrast of
+riches and poverty striking and obvious. The west
+of London, with its vast wealth, its homes of refinement
+and elegance, and its appliances for the
+enjoyment of art, science, and literature, is separated
+from the poverty, the degradation, the misery, and
+the sorrow of the East End by a gulf as great as that
+which separated Lazarus from Dives. It is difficult for
+those who are at ease, whose lives, to use Wordsworth&#8217;s
+felicitous phrase, are made up &ldquo;of cheerful
+yesterdays and confident to-morrows&rdquo;&mdash;it is difficult
+for such even faintly to apprehend the dullness,
+the drudgery, and the hardships of those who, even
+at the best estate, are obliged to live in such surroundings.
+The vast metropolis a few years ago
+was for a short time shaken out of its lethargy by<a
+ id="png.244" name="png.244"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">244/</span>240</samp>
+a voice that would be heard, when <i>The Bitter Cry
+of Outcast London</i> was published. &ldquo;Few who will
+read these pages have any conception of what these
+pestilential human rookeries are, where tens of
+thousands are crowded together amid horrors which
+call to mind what we have heard of the middle passage
+of the slave-ship. To go into them you have
+to penetrate courts reeking with poisonous malodorous
+gases arising from accumulations of sewerage,
+refuse scattered in all directions, and often flowing
+beneath your feet; courts, many of them, which the
+sun never penetrates, which are never visited by a
+breath of fresh air. You have to ascend rotten
+stair-cases, grope your way along dark and filthy
+passages swarming with vermin. Then, if you are
+not driven back by the intolerable stench, you may
+gain admittance into the dens in which these thousands
+of beings herd together. Eight feet square!
+That is about the average size of many of these
+rooms&hellip;. Where there are beds they are simply
+heaps of dirty rags, shavings, or straw, but for
+the most part the miserable beings find rest only
+upon the filthy boards&hellip;. There are men and
+women who lie and die day by day in their
+wretched single room, sharing all the family
+trouble, enduring the hunger and the cold, without
+hope, without a single ray of comfort, until God<a
+ id="png.245" name="png.245"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">245/</span>241</samp>
+curtains their staring eyes with the merciful film of
+death.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiv.4" name="fna.xiv.4" id="fna.xiv.4">4</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Such are the places where the deaconesses of
+East London go in and out from morn to eve, like
+angels of mercy, succoring the miserable and unhappy,
+often rebuking vice, and encouraging with
+friendly words those who are worn and discouraged
+in the battle of life. Here they nurse the
+sick, hold mothers&#8217; meetings, start evening classes
+for working young men, and gather the children
+of all ages in every kind of class that can interest
+and instruct them. They are always ready to provide
+for individual cases that they meet. If they
+find a friendless young servant-girl who is out of
+work, they send her to the servants&#8217; home, where,
+for very little payment, sometimes nothing at all,
+she can be taken care of long enough to give her
+fresh courage and strength. Then she is aided in
+seeking a situation, and so she is saved from the
+innumerable temptations to vice and misery that
+are sure to assail her if she stands alone.</p>
+
+<p>Many of these deaconesses are educated women,
+gladly devoting their whole life and energies to the
+work, and who with &ldquo;food and raiment&rdquo; are quite
+content. Nothing but a strong indomitable faith
+in God&#8217;s love and promises can stand the strain of<a
+ id="png.246" name="png.246"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">246/</span>242</samp>
+such work. But if there is the faith and love to
+deny self and dare all &ldquo;for the love of Christ and in
+His name,&rdquo; where can such rewards for labor be
+found? The dull streets become filled with friends,
+sodden countenances brighten, the little children
+come with loving faces and gladdened hearts, and
+the deaconess is recognized as interpreting to the
+hearts of these weary, forlorn, helpless people the
+love of God who, when He came upon earth, shared
+the burdens that belonged to His humanity. He came
+as a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief,
+and it was the &ldquo;common people&rdquo; that heard Him
+gladly. The deaconess, in her distinctive dress, is
+becoming a well-known figure in the east of London,
+and not only protected but recommended by
+her garb, she visits the lowest parts of the city
+without danger. Just such deaconesses are needed
+in the cities of America. The cities of the United
+States are increasing as wonderfully as the great
+cities of the Old World. With the surplus population
+of Europe pouring in upon us by the hundreds
+of thousands annually our country is doubling in
+numbers every twenty-five years; and the growth
+of the towns absorbs a larger proportion of this multitude
+than does the country. The cities attract
+the immigrants because there they find others of
+their own nationality. In some cities there are<a
+ id="png.247" name="png.247"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">247/</span>243</samp>
+whole foreign colonies where the people speak a
+foreign tongue, read foreign newspapers, and have
+very few interests in common with the people of the
+land in which they live. They continue the same
+customs and the same habits of thought that belonged
+to them in the Old World. Examples of
+such colonies are found in the thirty thousand
+Poles in Buffalo, and the sixty thousand Bohemians
+in Chicago.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cities offer attractions that are irresistible
+to the young men and women from the country.
+Thousands leave quiet country homes every
+year, and, with no certain prospects before them,
+cast themselves into the busy life of the nearest
+great metropolis. In many places, especially in
+New England, the villages number less, and farm
+land is much less valuable than it was fifty years
+ago. It is this massing of population that is causing
+us already to experience some of the evils that
+are old problems in the great cities of Europe.
+There is the same gulf between the rich and the
+poor, with the added element that the great mass
+of the poor are composed of foreigners and their
+children. And the difference in race is a hinderance
+to a common ground of sympathy. A greater hinderance
+is the difference in religious faith. The preponderating
+number of native Americans are Protestants,<a
+ id="png.248" name="png.248"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">248/</span>244</samp>
+and their thoughts and beliefs are permeated
+with the principles that their fathers held so
+dear, and which they sacrificed home and country
+to preserve. They hold a faith that is inseparably
+connected with free institutions, personal liberty,
+and personal responsibility. But the mass of foreigners
+that are in the great cities largely belong to
+the working-class, and, with the large proportion of
+the poor who are the wards of the city, are Roman
+Catholic in faith, a faith that has little in sympathy
+with republican institutions, and which least prepares
+its followers to exercise the duties of citizens
+of a republic. Keeping these facts in mind, the
+statistics contained in the following extracts are of
+telling force: &ldquo;If the laboring class should contribute
+its due proportion to the congregations, the
+churches, many of which are now half empty, would
+not begin to hold the people. In 1880 there was
+in the United States one evangelical organization
+to every 516 of the population; in Boston, <i>counting
+churches of all kinds</i>, there was but one to every
+1,600 of the population; in Chicago, one to every
+2,081; in New York, one to every 2,468; in St.
+Louis, one to every 2,800.&rdquo; &ldquo;The worst of it is
+that, instead of improving, the condition of things
+has been growing worse every year. While the
+prosperous classes are moving away to the suburbs,<a
+ id="png.249" name="png.249"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">249/</span>245</samp>
+and the laborers are being more densely
+massed together in the heart of the city, the church
+accommodations, even if fully used, are becoming
+more inadequate to the needs of the community.
+Including religious organizations of all sorts, New
+York had in 1830 one place of worship for every
+1,853 of its inhabitants; in 1840, one for every 1,840;
+in 1850, one for every 2,095; in 1860, one for every
+2,344; in 1870, one for every 2,004; in 1880, one
+for every 2,468; and the religious history of Chicago
+is even more noteworthy in this respect:
+Chicago had in 1840 one church for every 747 of its
+population; in 1851 there was one for every 1,009;
+in 1862, one for every 1,301; in 1870, one for 1,593;
+in 1880, one for 2,081; in 1885, one for 2,254.
+All the large cities have districts which are destitute
+of church accommodations, and have not seats
+in Sunday-school for more than one tenth of their
+children.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xiv.5" name="fna.xiv.5" id="fna.xiv.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Have we not as great need of deaconesses as any
+of the cities of the Old World? Most of our pastors
+stand alone. They do not have the assistant
+curates and pastors that are connected with large
+city churches in Berlin and London. When the
+minister makes pastoral calls, and, entering working-men&#8217;s
+homes, finds sickness and scanty resources,<a
+ id="png.250" name="png.250"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">250/</span>246</samp>
+he has no deaconess to call to his aid with her
+cheerful words of encouragement and her loving
+sympathy, that are better than money and medicine.
+It is not charity alone that is wanted in such cases;
+it is the knowledge of how to use proper means to
+make the sick one comfortable, how to lessen the
+burden on the family that a small additional call
+for work and care has so sadly taxed; how to
+enlighten the ignorance that is so common without
+wounding the susceptibilities that are so human.
+For, to quote the words of the Christ in the <i>Vision
+of Sir Launfal</i>:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+&ldquo;Not what we give, but what we share,<br />
+For the gift without the giver is bare;<br />
+Who gives himself with his alms feeds three:&mdash;<br />
+Himself, his hungry neighbor, and Me.&rdquo;
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>It is for such ministrations that we need deaconesses
+in every evangelical church of the United
+States; may the women that are ready to &ldquo;publish
+the tidings&rdquo; be &ldquo;a great host.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.xiv.1" id="fn.xiv.1" href="#fna.xiv.1">1</a>
+<i>Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart</i>.
+Emil Wacker, Gütersloh, 1888, p.&nbsp;196.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiv.2" id="fn.xiv.2" href="#fna.xiv.2">2</a>
+McClintock and Strong&#8217;s <i>Cyclopedia</i>, vol. iv, art. &ldquo;Hospitals.&rdquo;
+The editors give as authority for this statement, Augustine, <i>De Civit.
+Dei</i>, i, xxii, c.&nbsp;8.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiv.3" id="fn.xiv.3" href="#fna.xiv.3">3</a>
+Theodor Fliedner, <i>Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens</i>. Kaiserswerth,
+1886, p.&nbsp;60.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiv.4" id="fn.xiv.4" href="#fna.xiv.4">4</a>
+<i>The Bitter Cry of Outcast London</i>, pp. 3&ndash;10.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xiv.5" id="fn.xiv.5" href="#fna.xiv.5">5</a>
+<i>Modern Cities</i>, by S.&nbsp;L. Loomis, New York, 1887, pp. 88, 89.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.251" name="png.251"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">251/</span>247</samp>
+
+
+
+
+<h3 class="newchap">CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<h4>OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.</h4>
+
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smc">Success</span> and glory are the children of hard
+work and God&#8217;s favor,&rdquo; is the inscription upon the
+tablet erected in Christ&#8217;s Hospital, London, to the
+memory of Sir Henry Maine.</p>
+
+<p>Upon these two elements depends the future of
+the deaconess cause in America. We are assured of
+the one; will the other be forthcoming? Will the
+individual members of the Church give this cause
+their hearty support? Surely the facts that have
+been stated must have convinced the judgment, but
+perhaps there are certain prejudices to be overcome.
+&ldquo;I fear that deaconesses too closely resemble
+Catholic nuns for Protestants to accept them,&rdquo;
+says one. No; these helpful Christian women are
+thoroughly Protestant. Deaconesses are no Catholic
+institution. Wherever they have appeared they
+have been met by open antagonism from the Catholic
+Church. Witness the calumnies with which
+the papers of that capital have constantly assailed
+the deaconess home of Paris.<a
+ id="png.252" name="png.252"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">252/</span>248</samp></p>
+
+<p>There is good in the Catholic sisterhoods, but
+mingled with much that we disapprove. The deaconess
+institutions have the good features, but have
+avoided the ill. Much of the success of the Catholic
+Church in winning the poor and in retaining its
+influence over the lowly is due to the power exerted
+by the sisters who go about from house to
+house among the poor, and are received as friends.</p>
+
+<p>There is a great army of Catholic sisters. It
+is calculated that there are about 28,000 Sisters
+of Vincent de Paul, 22,000 Franciscan Sisters caring
+for the sick, 6,000 Sisters of the Holy Cross, 5,000
+Sisters of Charles, making a total of about 60,000
+sisters of various orders belonging to the Catholic
+Church<sup><a href="#fn.xv.1" name="fna.xv.1" id="fna.xv.1">1</a></sup>
+who are occupied with works of mercy.
+The sisters engaged in education are often well-trained
+and accomplished. The order of Charles
+will not accept widows, orphans without property,
+girls from asylums, or those that have served as
+maids. As a rule, those that join it must make
+some contribution of money to the order when
+they are received. This order is small, but one of
+the most active and aggressive of any. The great
+number of the sisters, however, are women of few
+advantages, taken from poor homes and lives of toil.<a
+ id="png.253" name="png.253"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">253/</span>249</samp>
+There is wisdom in this course, for a great deal of
+the work to be done depends upon qualities that
+can be developed by training, while the exceptional
+education and talents are employed in the exceptional
+places.</p>
+
+<p>A contemplation of these facts just recorded
+causes us better to understand the importance that
+the co-operation of women has for the Catholic
+Church. It causes us, too, to appreciate better the
+opening before the Protestant women of all evangelical
+churches, so wide, so all-embracing that every
+variety of talent can find a place.</p>
+
+<p>Gifts of clothes or food or fuel are not so well
+appreciated as the respectful hearing which clothes
+the teller with self-respect, the kind word and loving
+sympathy that feed the heart, the inspiring consolations
+of religious faith that animate and warm
+the soul, and such gifts women of sympathetic
+Christian hearts can ever render. As has been well
+said, &ldquo;Shall the advantages of such a system be
+monopolized by those who have so little else to
+offer?&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xv.2" name="fna.xv.2" id="fna.xv.2">2</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>You may say, &ldquo;I do not object to the deaconess
+and her work, but I do object to her distinctive
+dress. I do not believe in a uniform of charity.&rdquo;<a
+ id="png.254" name="png.254"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">254/</span>250</samp>
+But let us consider the arguments that can be
+brought forward in favor of it. It is a distinctive
+garb because its wearer is a distinctive officer of the
+Church. Unless she were &ldquo;set apart&rdquo; by some
+uniform immediately and widely recognized how
+could she have the protection that is accorded her?
+Alike in every land where she is known, as we have
+seen, the deaconess can venture into any part of
+the great cities at any hour, and is invariably treated
+with respect. There is in the heart of the rudest
+and most lawless some trace of chivalry which
+recognizes the self-denying lives of these women.
+Then, in making her visits, the deaconess
+finds her dress an introduction that opens doors
+that would otherwise remain closed to her. It certainly
+is a convenient and economical garb, that
+saves a great deal of time and money to the wearer.</p>
+
+<p>Are not these advantages more than an offset to
+an ill-defined objection to the dress because it has
+been associated with women who are alien to our
+Protestant faith? This is a minor matter, however,
+and one that can be adjusted at liking.</p>
+
+<p>You may say, &ldquo;I do not like to think of a woman
+who is dear to me cut off from the pleasures of
+home life, and devoted to a life-time of work among
+those who, in many respects, must be repugnant to
+her tastes. It does not seem so high and beautiful<a
+ id="png.255" name="png.255"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">255/</span>251</samp>
+a life as that which makes home a center, and carries
+on its activities from there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But there are many women debarred from the
+pleasures of home life by God&#8217;s direct providence
+to whom other duties and responsibilities have been
+allotted. And then this work may not necessarily be
+for life. It is true that when a Christian woman occupies
+the position of a deaconess she must relinquish
+wholly all other pursuits so long as she holds this
+office. Neither without grave and weighty reasons
+should she seek to leave it. It is her calling. The
+period of probation has its uses, not only in making
+the probationer familiar with the duties and tasks
+demanded of her, but in giving her time to test the
+strength of her call to service, that she may not,
+through enthusiasm, lightly assume the duties of
+the office, nor as lightly throw them aside.</p>
+
+<p>But if a deaconess is called away to perform her
+duties as a sister or daughter, or if she desires to
+marry, she is free to do so, after giving due information
+to those with whom she is connected in work.
+Freedom and liberty are in every phase of this
+office.</p>
+
+<p>As to the highest life for a woman, an archbishop
+of England well said some years ago, &ldquo;that
+whatever life God gives to any woman is the
+highest life for that woman,&rdquo; and that &ldquo;in<a
+ id="png.256" name="png.256"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">256/</span>252</samp>
+becoming a deaconess a woman devoting herself to
+this life must believe that it is the highest life for
+her, and that in it she gives herself wholly to the
+Lord.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xv.3" name="fna.xv.3" id="fna.xv.3">3</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>There should be no country like America for the
+favorable development of the deaconess cause, because
+in no other have women such large freedom
+of action, and, if we may believe our friends, they
+have improved it well. A distinguished English
+historian has just given us what we are fain to accept
+as words of just and discriminating praise. &ldquo;In
+no other country have women borne so conspicuous
+a part in the promotion of moral and philanthropic
+causes&hellip;. Their services in dealing with charities
+and reformatory institutions have been inestimable&hellip;. The
+nation, as a whole, owes to the active
+benevolence of its women, and their zeal in promoting
+social reforms, benefits which the customs
+of continental Europe would scarcely have permitted
+women to confer&hellip;. Those who know the
+work they have done and are doing in many a
+noble cause will admire still more their energy,
+their courage, their devotion. No country seems
+to owe more to its women than America does,
+nor to owe to them so much of what is best in<a
+ id="png.257" name="png.257"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">257/</span>253</samp>
+social institutions, and in the beliefs that govern
+conduct.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xv.4" name="fna.xv.4" id="fna.xv.4">4</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>Nor in any denomination should we expect women
+to be more ready to adopt this work than in the
+Methodist Episcopal Church, because women members
+have been accustomed to exercise nearly all the
+obligations and duties, and many of the privileges,
+that are accorded the laity of the great connection,
+and they are prepared to accept new duties in new
+relations. This Church has over a million women
+enrolled as members, able to serve it in every capacity,
+from the lady in her home dispensing gracious
+Christian hospitality, to the one standing quite
+alone, who will welcome, as a brevet of rank, this
+new call to service. There are many such women
+ready to respond. Many, too, whose hearts have
+been left desolate by bereavement, who will be glad
+to fill the empty hands and vacant life by work for
+God and humanity. To such a woman the wide
+world is her home; the dear ones of her family are
+the poor and sick and needy who crave her aid.</p>
+
+<p>The beautiful Mildmay motto is: &ldquo;They dwell
+with the King for his work.&rdquo; There are thousands
+of women all over the land who are ready to become
+&ldquo;King&#8217;s Daughters&rdquo; in this additional sense<a
+ id="png.258" name="png.258"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">258/</span>254</samp>
+of the word. The possibility of what such women
+can accomplish in the furtherance of God&#8217;s kingdom
+upon earth has not begun to be fathomed.</p>
+
+<p>Think of a great city church, with the manifold
+interests clustering around it, left to the care of a
+single pastor! He has not only the preparation of
+his weekly sermons, the care of the social meetings
+of the church, but a long line of other duties that
+are equally important to maintain. He must perform
+pastoral duties, push forward aggressive movements
+in behalf of the masses not touched by the
+church services, and fulfill public duties in connection
+with great charities, philanthropies, and moral
+reforms that he cannot neglect without injury. If
+the efforts of such a pastor could be furthered by
+one, two, or more deaconesses, as are many of the
+pastors of the London churches, how greatly would
+the working force of such a Church be increased!</p>
+
+<p>It is true that we must develop the work in accordance
+with our American ideas and institutions.
+Through the study of the methods that have been
+adopted in European institutions, and the experience
+that has been there won through long years
+of patient toil, we are prepared in a measure to start
+where their work leaves off. But we shall find that
+our circumstances require new adjustments, and
+that we shall have our own problems to solve, so<a
+ id="png.259" name="png.259"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">259/</span>255</samp>
+that eventually our work will assume a distinctively
+American form.</p>
+
+<p>We have only to plant the seed and to give it
+favorable conditions for growth. The outcome is
+not ours: &ldquo;In the morning sow thy seed, and in
+the evening withhold not thy hand.&rdquo; The results
+are with Him who giveth the increase.</p>
+
+<p>The practical question may occur to some one
+who reads these pages, &ldquo;What shall I do to become
+a deaconess?&rdquo; Write to the superintendent of the
+nearest deaconess home, and ask for directions.
+It is best not to multiply homes until we have a
+larger number of trained deaconesses that are ready
+to take charge of them, and until the number of
+applicants desiring to enter them is much greater
+than at present.</p>
+
+<p>Many churches that need the services of a deaconess
+will doubtless select one of their number
+whose heart God has inclined to this service, and
+will provide the means by which she can secure the
+necessary training at a home and training-school.
+There are many devout Christian women in every
+community who have for years been deaconesses
+in labors, if not in title and prerogatives. It is very
+important for such women to give their sympathies
+and fostering care to this new institution. If not
+deaconesses by office, they can ally themselves as<a
+ id="png.260" name="png.260"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">260/</span>256</samp>
+associates. The associate is a real officer in many
+of the deaconess establishments in London. Ladies
+who have great sympathy with the cause, and
+an earnest desire to do what they can to advance
+it, give some portion of their time, their labor, or
+their means to promote its interests. They will go
+to the home and reside there for some weeks or
+months, being under the direction of the superintendent
+and filling all the duties of a sister. Or, if
+such duties are not practicable, they will work in
+behalf of the home, often securing the aid of those
+whose assistance is most valuable. In some places
+it is arranged that a woman who earns her bread
+by daily toil shall be assigned to labor at her regular
+vocation, consecrating a certain portion of her
+wages (perhaps one twenty-fourth) to the cause with
+which she is allied.</p>
+
+<p>The Church has been accused of being too abstract,
+too ideal, too far removed from the life of
+the people in its every-day aspects. It is well for
+Church members to examine themselves, and the
+Church communities to which they belong, to judge
+how much ground there is for such criticism.
+None are so sharp-sighted as hostile critics, and
+from none can such good lessons be learned. But
+this accusation is not a new one, and the only effectual
+way to meet it is to point to what the Church<a
+ id="png.261" name="png.261"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">261/</span>257</samp>
+has accomplished. Over eighteen hundred years
+ago, when John the Baptist was in danger of mistaking
+our Lord, he sent to him, saying: &ldquo;Art
+thou he that should come? or look we for another?&rdquo;
+and the answer was: &ldquo;Go your way, and tell John
+what things ye have seen and heard; how that the
+blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
+the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the
+gospel is preached.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let us be prepared to make a similar answer to-day,
+and the Church need fear no accusation of holding
+aloof from the needs of the daily life of the
+people.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Christianity, as it stands in the Bible and in our
+creeds, will neither be read nor understood by millions;
+Christianity as it is revealed in the loving
+service of deaconesses will be recognized by the
+dullest eyes.&rdquo;<sup><a href="#fn.xv.5" name="fna.xv.5" id="fna.xv.5">5</a></sup></p>
+
+<p>We have reached a new departure in Methodism.
+The Church has added another to its aggressive
+forces. How is it to be received? What welcome
+will be given it? May pastors and people, one and
+all, be in that attitude of spirit where we shall respond
+readily to the command: &ldquo;Whatsoever he
+saith unto you, do it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="footnote" />
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="fn.xv.1" id="fn.xv.1" href="#fna.xv.1">1</a>
+<i>Die Diakonissenberuf nach seine Vergangenheit und gegenwart</i>.
+Emil Wacker. Gütersloh, 1888, chap.&nbsp;vi.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xv.2" id="fn.xv.2" href="#fna.xv.2">2</a>
+<i>Modern Cities</i>. S.&nbsp;L. Loomis, The Baker &amp; Taylor Co., New
+York, 1887, p.&nbsp;192.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xv.3" id="fn.xv.3" href="#fna.xv.3">3</a>
+<i>Deaconesses in the Church of England</i>, Griffith &amp; Farran, 1880,
+p.&nbsp;31.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xv.4" id="fn.xv.4" href="#fna.xv.4">4</a>
+<i>The American Commonwealth</i>, James Bryce. MacMillan &amp;&nbsp;Co.,
+1889, vol.&nbsp;ii, pp.&nbsp;586, 589.</p>
+<p><a name="fn.xv.5" id="fn.xv.5" href="#fna.xv.5">5</a>
+<i>Phöbe die Diakonissen</i>, p.&nbsp;8.</p>
+</div>
+<a id="png.262" name="png.262"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">262/</span>258</samp>
+
+
+
+<h2 class="newchap">NOTE.</h2>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h4 class="smc">Yearly Expenditures at Kaiserswerth</h4>.
+
+
+<p>While the book is in press the following interesting
+statistics are received, which are deemed of
+sufficient importance to insert here.</p>
+
+<p>Receipts and expenditures of Kaiserswerth for
+the three years from 1885 to 1888:</p>
+
+<table summary="Receipts and expenditures of Kaiserswerth for
+the three years from 1885 to 1888">
+<tr>
+<th> Year. </th><th></th><th> Receipts. </th><th></th><th> Expenses. </th></tr>
+<tr>
+<td>1885&ndash;1886</td><td>&hellip;&hellip;</td><td>333,476 m. 74 pf.</td><td style="width: 2em;">&nbsp;</td><td>331,812 m. 12 pf.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+<td>1886&ndash;1887</td><td>&hellip;&hellip;</td><td>371,523 m. 46 pf.</td><td></td><td>370,626 m. 45 pf.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+<td>1887&ndash;1888</td><td>&hellip;&hellip;</td><td>337,508 m. 14 pf.</td><td></td><td>492,384 m. 21 pf.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>In the year 1887&ndash;1888, the excess of expenses
+over receipts was caused by the construction of a
+new building, and special funds were contributed
+which more than met the deficit.</p>
+
+<p>Rev. F.&nbsp;Fliedner, the son of Pastor Fliedner
+further writes: &ldquo;This does not include the expenses
+in the East and other foreign stations. In
+truth, about six hundred thousand marks pass
+yearly through our treasury.&rdquo; What an amount of
+good accomplished by the yearly expenditure of
+one hundred and fifty thousand dollars!</p>
+
+<a id="png.263" name="png.263"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">263/</span>259</samp>
+
+
+
+<div class="index">
+<h2>INDEX.</h2>
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p>Acts vi, <a href="#png.007">3</a>,
+ <a href="#png.017">13</a>,
+ <a href="#png.083">79</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Addlestone, <a href="#png.165">161</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Africa, Northern, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Age requirements, <a href="#png.033">29</a>,
+ <a href="#png.191">187</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Alabama, <a href="#png.217">213</a>.</p>
+
+<p>America, <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.111">107</a>,
+ <a href="#png.256">252</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.america" id="i.america"><span class="smc">America, The Deaconess Cause in</span></a>,
+ <a href="#png.208">204</a>:
+ German Lutherans, <a href="#png.208">204</a>;
+ W. A. Passavant, Pittsburg, <a href="#png.209">205</a>;
+ Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses, <a href="#png.212">208</a>;
+ Swedish Lutherans, Omaha, <a href="#png.215">211</a>;
+ Norwegian Lutherans, Brooklyn, <a href="#png.215">211</a>;
+ German Reformed, Hagerstown, <a href="#png.215">211</a>;
+ Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore, <a href="#png.216">212</a>;
+ Alabama, <a href="#png.217">213</a>;
+ Long Island, <a href="#png.219">215</a>;
+ Western New York, <a href="#png.220">216</a>;
+ Presbyterian Church, <a href="#png.221">217</a>;
+ Southern Presbyterian Church, <a href="#png.222">218</a>;
+ Methodist Episcopal Church, Lucy Rider Meyer, <a href="#png.224">220</a>;
+ Rock River Conference, Bengal Conference, <a href="#png.225">221</a>;
+ General Conference action, <a href="#png.226">222</a>;
+ Conference, &ldquo;Plan,&rdquo; Homes, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smc">America, The Means of Training and
+ the Field of Work for Deaconesses in</span>, <a href="#png.232">228</a>:
+ threefold service, <a href="#png.233">229</a>;
+ hospitals, <a href="#png.234">230</a>;
+ day-homes, <a href="#png.240">236</a>;
+ home-mission deaconesses, <a href="#png.242">238</a>;
+ London, <a href="#png.243">239</a>;
+ cities, <a href="#png.246">242</a>;
+ parish deaconesses, <a href="#png.249">245</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Amprucla, a deaconess, <a href="#png.029">25</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Amsterdam, <a href="#png.047">43</a>,
+ <a href="#png.147">143</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Andrews, Edward G., <a href="#png.010">6</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Andover Review</i>, <a href="#png.154">150</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Apostolic Constitutions, <a href="#png.023">19</a>,
+ <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.028">24</a>,
+ <a href="#png.089">85</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Armen und Kranken Freund</i>, <a href="#png.070">66</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.assoc" id="i.assoc">&ldquo;Associates,&rdquo;</a> <a href="#png.197">193</a>,
+ <a href="#png.217">213</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.219">215</a>,
+ <a href="#png.260">256</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Asia Minor, <a href="#png.080">76</a>,
+ <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Austria, <a href="#png.108">104</a>,
+ <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Author&#8217;s facilities, <a href="#png.008">4</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Baillie, Lady Grisell, <a href="#png.204">200</a>,
+ <a href="#png.205">201</a>,
+ <a href="#png.207">203</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ball&#8217;s Pond, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Balsamon, Professor, <a href="#png.035">31</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Baltimore, St. Andrew&#8217;s, <a href="#png.216">212</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Baptism, <a href="#png.026">22</a>,
+ <a href="#png.036">32</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Barat, Mother, <a href="#png.241">237</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Barnet, <a href="#png.171">167</a>,
+ <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bartholomew&#8217;s prayer, <a href="#png.027">23</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Basil, of C&aelig;sarea, <a href="#png.235">231</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Beghards, The, <a href="#png.041">37</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Béguines, The, <a href="#png.039">35</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.149">145</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Beirut, Syria, <a href="#png.080">76</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Belgium, <a href="#png.038">34</a>,
+ <a href="#png.041">37</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Belleville, France, <a href="#png.138">134</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bengal Conference, <a href="#png.225">221</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.berlin" id="i.berlin">Berlin</a>, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.103">99</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>,
+ <a href="#png.115">111</a>,
+ <a href="#png.117">113</a>,
+ <a href="#png.118">114</a>,
+ <a href="#png.241">237</a>,
+ <a href="#png.249">245</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Barnardo, Dr., <a href="#png.163">159</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Berne, Switzerland, <a href="#png.107">103</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bertheau, Caroline, <a href="#png.076">72</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bethany House, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bethany Society, <a href="#png.111">115</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bethnal Green, <a href="#png.184">180</a>,
+ <a href="#png.189">185</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bible-classes, <a href="#png.179">175</a>,
+ <a href="#png.190">186</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bible stories, <a href="#png.069">65</a>,
+ <a href="#png.128">124</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bible study, <a href="#png.088">84</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Birthdays, <a href="#png.068">64</a>,
+ <a href="#png.075">71</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Boarders in Home, <a href="#png.136">132</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bohemian brethren, <a href="#png.044">40</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bohemians, Chicago, <a href="#png.247">243</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Boston churches, <a href="#png.248">244</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Bremen, Germany, <a href="#png.114">110</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Brighton, England, <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Brooklyn, N.&nbsp;Y., <a href="#png.215">211</a>,
+ <a href="#png.219">215</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Brotherhood in Christ, <a href="#png.014">10</a>,
+ <a href="#png.015">11</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Brotherhood of the Common Life, <a href="#png.041">37</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo, Poles in, <a href="#png.247">243</a>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="first">
+Calcutta, India, <a href="#png.231">227</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Calvin, John, <a href="#png.046">42</a>,
+ <a href="#png.138">134</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cambridge Platform, <a href="#png.148">144</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Catechumens, female, <a href="#png.025">21</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Celibacy. See <a href="#i.monks">Monks</a>,
+ <a href="#i.nuns">Nuns</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Chalmers, Thomas, <a href="#png.061">57</a>,
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Charitable institutions, <a href="#png.013">9</a>,
+ <a href="#png.058">54</a>,
+ <a href="#png.061">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Charité, La, <a href="#png.104">100</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte, Sister, <a href="#png.079">75</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Charteris, A.&nbsp;H., <a href="#png.194">190</a>,
+ <a href="#png.196">192</a>,
+ <a href="#png.205">201</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Chicago, Ill., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.247">243</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.253">249</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Chicago Training-school, <a href="#png.224">220</a>,
+ <a href="#png.225">221</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Children, <a href="#png.014">10</a>,
+ <a href="#png.068">64</a>,
+ <a href="#png.127">123</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cholera, <a href="#png.052">48</a>,
+ <a href="#png.174">170</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Christ, <a href="#png.250">246</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Christianity, <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Christmas, <a href="#png.182">178</a>,
+ <a href="#png.184">180</a>,
+ <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Chrysostom, <a href="#png.029">25</a>,
+ <a href="#png.030">26</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Church of England, <a href="#png.153">149</a>,
+ <a href="#png.154">150</a>,
+ <a href="#png.161">157</a>,
+ <a href="#png.195">191</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Church of England Woman&#8217;s Missionary Association, <a href="#png.167">163</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Church of England Zenana Society, <a href="#png.189">185</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Church of Scotland, <a href="#png.194">190</a>,
+ <a href="#png.197">193</a>,
+ <a href="#png.199">195</a>,
+ <a href="#png.205">201</a>,
+ <a href="#png.207">203</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Church of the Deaconesses, <a href="#png.035">31</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Churchman, The</i>, <a href="#png.109">105</a>,
+ <a href="#png.159">155</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cincinnati, O., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cities, <a href="#png.246">242</a>,
+ <a href="#png.247">243</a>,
+ <a href="#png.249">245</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Clapton House School, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Classes of deaconesses, <a href="#png.190">186</a>,
+ <a href="#png.198">194</a>.</p>
+
+<a id="png.264" name="png.264"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">264/</span>260</samp>
+
+<p>Collecting money, <a href="#png.057">53</a>,
+ <a href="#png.058">54</a>,
+ <a href="#png.118">114</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Commune, <a href="#png.135">131</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Commune deaconess. See <a href="#i.parish">Parish deaconesses</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Compassion, Christian, <a href="#png.015">11</a>,
+ <a href="#png.017">13</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Conference, Chicago, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> Kaiserswerth, <a href="#png.090">86</a>,
+ <a href="#png.110">106</a>,
+ <a href="#png.156">152</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> Mildmay, <a href="#png.171">167</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Conference Hall, <a href="#png.175">171</a>,
+ <a href="#png.182">178</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.cons" id="i.cons">Consecration</a>, <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.033">29</a>,
+ <a href="#png.089">85</a>,
+ <a href="#png.144">140</a>,
+ <a href="#png.203">199</a>,
+ <a href="#png.214">210</a>,
+ <a href="#png.215">211</a>,
+ <a href="#png.221">217</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Contagious diseases, <a href="#png.088">84</a>,
+ <a href="#png.092">88</a>,
+ <a href="#png.174">170</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smc"><a name="i.continent" id="i.continent">Continent</a>,
+ Other Establishments on the</span>, <a href="#png.097">93</a>:
+ Strasburg, Pastor <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Harter'">Härter</ins>, <a href="#png.097">93</a>;
+ <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Mülhaussen'">Mülhausen</ins>, parish deaconesses, <a href="#png.099">95</a>;
+ Berlin servants, <a href="#png.103">99</a>;
+ Bethany House, <a href="#png.106">102</a>;
+ <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Dettlesau'">Dettelsau</ins>, Berne, Sophie Wurdemberger, <a href="#png.107">103</a>;
+ Saint Loup, Pastor Germond, <a href="#png.108">104</a>;
+ Riehen, Zürich, Gallneukirchen, <a href="#png.108">104</a>;
+ joint management, <a href="#png.110">106</a>;
+ environment, <a href="#png.111">107</a>;
+ many deaconesses, more needed, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Convalescent homes, <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Convalescents&#8217; home, <a href="#png.130">126</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cordes, <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original lacks period">A.</ins>, <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Constantinople, <a href="#png.029">25</a>,
+ <a href="#png.032">28</a>,
+ <a href="#png.035">31</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Cottage Hospital, <a href="#png.183">179</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Coventry, Miss, <a href="#png.187">183</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Crèche, <a href="#png.129">125</a>,
+ <a href="#png.238">234</a>,
+ <a href="#png.240">236</a>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="first">
+Dalston, <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Damsels of Charity, <a href="#png.047">43</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Darmstadt, <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Daughter-houses, <a href="#png.075">71</a>,
+ <a href="#png.142">138</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Davidson, Miss, <a href="#png.204">200</a>,
+ <a href="#png.205">201</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Day homes, <a href="#png.239">235</a>,
+ <a href="#png.240">236</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> &ldquo;Deaconess,&rdquo; <a href="#png.153">149</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> how become? <a href="#png.259">255</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Deaconess Institution and Training-home, <a href="#png.199">195</a>,
+ <a href="#png.202">198</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Deaconesses, numerous, <a href="#png.111">107</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> world-wide demand, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> See &ldquo;<a href="#i.assoc">Associates</a>,&rdquo;
+ <a href="#i.america">America</a>,
+ <a href="#i.cons">Consecration</a>,
+ <a href="#i.continent">Continent</a>,
+ <a href="#i.diaconate">Diaconate</a>,
+ <a href="#i.early">Early</a>,
+ <a href="#i.england">England</a>,
+ <a href="#i.fliedner">Fliedner</a>,
+ <a href="#i.german">German</a>,
+ <a href="#i.kaisers">Kaiserswerth</a>,
+ <a href="#i.literature">Literature</a>,
+ <a href="#i.methodist">Methodist Episcopal Church</a>,
+ <a href="#i.mildmay">Mildmay</a>,
+ <a href="#i.objections">Objections</a>,
+ <a href="#i.paris">Paris</a>,
+ <a href="#i.scots">Scotland</a>,
+ <a href="#i.12th">Twelfth</a>, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Deacons appointed, <a href="#png.017">13</a>.</p>
+
+<p>De la Mark, Henry Robert, <a href="#png.048">44</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Denmark, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Detroit, Mich., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Devonshire Square, <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Devotions, <a href="#png.087">83</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.diaconate" id="i.diaconate"><span class="smc">Diaconate, The</span></a>,
+ <a href="#png.013">9</a>:
+ brotherhood of all in Christ, <a href="#png.014">10</a>;
+ foreign missions, <a href="#png.015">11</a>;
+ home missions, <a href="#png.016">12</a>;
+ diaconate, <a href="#png.017">13</a>;
+ female diaconate, <a href="#png.018">14</a>;
+ meaning, <a href="#png.020">16</a>;
+ qualities, field, <a href="#png.021">17</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Diaconate, female, <a href="#png.017">13</a>,
+ <a href="#png.021">17</a>,
+ <a href="#png.024">20</a>,
+ <a href="#png.028">24</a>,
+ <a href="#png.034">30</a>,
+ <a href="#png.038">34</a>,
+ <a href="#png.049">45</a>,
+ <a href="#png.050">46</a>,
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> organic, <a href="#png.207">203</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Discipline, <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.133">129</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Dispensary, <a href="#png.073">69</a>,
+ <a href="#png.079">75</a>,
+ <a href="#png.107">103</a>,
+ <a href="#png.184">180</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Disselhoff, J., <a href="#png.035">31</a>,
+ <a href="#png.045">41</a>,
+ <a href="#png.052">48</a>,
+ <a href="#png.080">76</a>,
+ <a href="#png.095">91</a>,
+ <a href="#png.112">108</a>,
+ <a href="#png.113">109</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Dollinger'">Döllinger</ins>, <a href="#png.014">10</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Doncaster General Infirmary, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Dorcas room, <a href="#png.178">174</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Dove, symbol, <a href="#png.095">91</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Dress, distinctive, <a href="#png.040">36</a>,
+ <a href="#png.086">82</a>,
+ <a href="#png.120">116</a>,
+ <a href="#png.159">155</a>,
+ <a href="#png.160">156</a>,
+ <a href="#png.214">210</a>,
+ <a href="#png.246">242</a>,
+ <a href="#png.253">249</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Du Camp, Maxime, <a href="#png.138">134</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Dumas, Mademoiselle, <a href="#png.139">135</a>,
+ <a href="#png.142">138</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Dusseldorf'">Düsseldorf</ins>, <a href="#png.060">56</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Dusselthal'">Düsselthal</ins>, <a href="#png.060">56</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Early Church, <a href="#png.235">231</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.early" id="i.early"><span class="smc">Early Church,
+ Deaconesses in the</span></a>, <a href="#png.022">18</a>:
+ Pliny&#8217;s letter, <a href="#png.023">19</a>;
+ apostolic constitutions, <a href="#png.023">19</a>;
+ deaconesses, widows, virgins, <a href="#png.024">20</a>;
+ deaconess&#8217; duties, <a href="#png.025">21</a>;
+ prayer of ordination, <a href="#png.027">23</a>;
+ greatest growth in Eastern Church, <a href="#png.028">24</a>;
+ Chrysostom, <a href="#png.029">25</a>;
+ Olympias, <a href="#png.031">27</a>;
+ age, property, <a href="#png.033">29</a>;
+ in Western Church, <a href="#png.034">30</a>;
+ decay, extinction, <a href="#png.036">32</a>.</p>
+
+<p>East London Deaconess Home, <a href="#png.156">152</a>,
+ <a href="#png.160">156</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Easter cards, <a href="#png.182">178</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Eastern Church, <a href="#png.028">24</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Eccl. xi, <a href="#png.010">6</a>,
+ <a href="#png.259">255</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Edinburgh, Scotland, <a href="#png.193">189</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Eilers, Frederick, <a href="#png.114">110</a>,
+ <a href="#png.119">115</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Elberfeld, <a href="#png.062">58</a>,
+ <a href="#png.075">71</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth of Prussia, <a href="#png.105">101</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Endowment, <a href="#png.071">67</a>.</p>
+
+<p>England. See <a href="#i.london">London</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.england" id="i.england"><span class="smc">England,
+ Deaconesses in</span></a>, <a href="#png.146">142</a>:
+ Puritans, <a href="#png.146">142</a>;
+ Amsterdam, <a href="#png.147">143</a>;
+ Plymouth colony, widows, <a href="#png.148">144</a>;
+ Southey, Protestants, <a href="#png.149">145</a>;
+ Mrs. Fry, Fliedner, Florence Nightingale, <a href="#png.150">146</a>;
+ Agnes Jones, <a href="#png.151">147</a>;
+ Ludlow, Stevenson, Howson, <a href="#png.152">148</a>;
+ &ldquo;sister,&rdquo; &ldquo;deaconess,&rdquo; <a href="#png.153">149</a>;
+ Church of England, <a href="#png.154">150</a>;
+ outside institutions, <a href="#png.162">158</a>;
+ Tottenham, <a href="#png.163">159</a>;
+ Prison Gate Mission, <a href="#png.165">161</a>;
+ London West Central Mission, <a href="#png.167">163</a>.
+ See <a href="#i.mildmay">Mildmay</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Environment, <a href="#png.111">107</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Eppstein, <a href="#png.054">50</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Epidemic, <a href="#png.091">87</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ephrem the Syrian, <a href="#png.235">231</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Europe. See <a href="#i.continent">Continent</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.expenses" id="i.expenses">Expenses</a>, <a href="#png.086">82</a>,
+ <a href="#png.191">187</a>,
+ <a href="#png.192">188</a>,
+ <a href="#png.262">258</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Faith and works, <a href="#png.206">202</a>,
+ <a href="#png.234">230</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Fallen women, <a href="#png.116">112</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Farming, <a href="#png.073">69</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Faubourg Saint Antoine, <a href="#png.125">121</a>,
+ <a href="#png.136">132</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Feierabend Haus, <a href="#png.075">71</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ferard, Elizabeth C., <a href="#png.156">152</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Flag at Kaiserswerth, <a href="#png.095">91</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.fliedner" id="i.fliedner"><span class="smc">Fliedner,
+ the Restorer of the Office of Deaconess</span></a>, <a href="#png.050">46</a>:
+ Klönne, <a href="#png.050">46</a>;
+ Amalie Sieveking, <a href="#png.051">47</a>;
+ Count von der Recke, <a href="#png.053">49</a>;
+ Theodor Fliedner, <a href="#png.054">50</a>;
+ Idstein, Giessen, Göttingen, <a href="#png.055">51</a>;
+ Herborn, Cologne, Kaiserswerth, <a href="#png.056">52</a>;
+ collecting money, <a href="#png.057">53</a>;
+ Elizabeth Fry, <a href="#png.059">55</a>;
+ Prison Society, Frederika Münster, <a href="#png.060">56</a>;
+ convict Minna, refuge, <a href="#png.061">57</a>;
+ Fräulein Göbel, <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'deaconessses'">deaconesses</ins>, <a href="#png.063">59</a>;
+ Rhenish Westphalian Deaconess Society, <a href="#png.064">60</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Fliedner, Theodor, <a href="#png.018">44</a>,
+ <a href="#png.054">50</a>,
+ <a href="#png.059">55</a>,
+ <a href="#png.060">56</a>,
+ <a href="#png.064">60</a>,
+ <a href="#png.065">61</a>,
+ <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.072">68</a>,
+ <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.078">74</a>,
+ <a href="#png.094">90</a>,
+ <a href="#png.104">100</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>,
+ <a href="#png.159">155</a>,
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>,
+ <a href="#png.217">213</a>,<a
+ id="png.265" name="png.265"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">265/</span>261</samp>
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>,
+ <a href="#png.241">237</a>,
+ <a href="#png.242">238</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> wife of, <a href="#png.060">56</a>,
+ <a href="#png.062">58</a>,
+ <a href="#png.066">62</a>,
+ <a href="#png.067">63</a>,
+ <a href="#png.069">65</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.071">67</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> wife, second, <a href="#png.076">72</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Fliedner, Fritz, <a href="#png.222">218</a>,
+ <a href="#png.262">258</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Florence, Italy, <a href="#png.081">77</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Florentius, <a href="#png.042">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Flower mission, <a href="#png.177">173</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Foreign missions, <a href="#png.174">170</a>.</p>
+
+<p>France, <a href="#png.071">67</a>. See <a href="#i.paris">Paris</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Frankfort, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.114">110</a>,
+ <a href="#png.115">111</a>,
+ <a href="#png.117">113</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick William IV., <a href="#png.053">49</a>,
+ <a href="#png.073">69</a>,
+ <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Free Church of Scotland, <a href="#png.194">190</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Friends, The, <a href="#png.224">220</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Fry, Elizabeth, <a href="#png.059">55</a>,
+ <a href="#png.061">57</a>,
+ <a href="#png.064">60</a>,
+ <a href="#png.107">103</a>,
+ <a href="#png.139">135</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>,
+ <a href="#png.213">209</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Fry, Herbert, <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="firstmaj">
+Gal. vi, 6, <a href="#gal66">183</a>.</p>
+<p class="min">vi, 10, <a href="#png.017">13</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Gallneukirchen, <a href="#png.108">104</a>,
+ <a href="#png.109">105</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Gamble, Elizabeth, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Garden, <a href="#png.061">57</a>,
+ <a href="#png.129">125</a>,
+ <a href="#png.180">176</a>.</p>
+
+<p>General Conference, <a href="#png.225">221</a>.
+ action, <a href="#png.008">4</a>,
+ <a href="#png.226">222</a>.</p>
+
+<p>German hospital, <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>German Lutherans, <a href="#png.208">204</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>,
+ <a href="#png.211">207</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.german" id="i.german"><span class="smc">German Methodism,
+ Deaconesses in</span></a>, <a href="#png.114">110</a>:
+ Bethany Society, <a href="#png.114">110</a>;
+ reports, <a href="#png.115">111</a>;
+ fallen women, nurses, <a href="#png.116">112</a>;
+ Frankfort, Hamburg, Berlin, <a href="#png.117">113</a>;
+ collection, <a href="#png.118">114</a>;
+ Saint Gall, Zürich, <a href="#png.119">115</a>;
+ Sister Myrtha, <a href="#png.120">116</a>;
+ &ldquo;God&#8217;s Fidelity,&rdquo; <a href="#png.121">117</a>;
+ regulations, Bethany Society, <a href="#png.122">118</a>;
+ home training, <a href="#png.123">119</a>.</p>
+
+<p>German Reformed Church, <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Germany, <a href="#png.050">46</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>,
+ <a href="#png.206">202</a>,
+ <a href="#png.239">235</a>.
+ See <a href="#i.berlin">Berlin</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Germond, Pastor, <a href="#png.108">104</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Giessen, University, <a href="#png.055">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Gobat, Dr., <a href="#png.078">74</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Göbel, <a href="#png.063">59</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Gottestreue, or God&#8217;s Fidelity, <a href="#png.121">117</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Göttingen, University, <a href="#png.055">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Greece, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Greek Church, <a href="#png.028">24</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Groot, Gerhard, <a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.042">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Guinness, Grattan, <a href="#png.164">160</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Hachette &amp; Co., <a href="#png.140">136</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hadwig, Duchess, <a href="#png.119">115</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hagerstown, Md., <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hamburg, <a href="#png.115">111</a>,
+ <a href="#png.117">113</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Harley House, <a href="#png.164">160</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Harter'">Härter</ins>, Pastor, <a href="#png.097">93</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hastings, President, <a href="#png.222">218</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hausser, G., <a href="#png.114">110</a>,
+ <a href="#png.115">111</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Headship, twofold, <a href="#png.110">106</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Herborn, <a href="#png.056">52</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Herford, <a href="#png.045">41</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Herzog, <a href="#png.036">32</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Holland, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Home, pleasures of, <a href="#png.254">250</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Home missionary. See <a href="#i.parish">Parish deaconess</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Home missions, <a href="#png.174">170</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hospitals. <a href="#png.052">48</a>,
+ <a href="#png.066">62</a>,
+ <a href="#png.073">69</a>,
+ <a href="#png.075">71</a>,
+ <a href="#png.077">73</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.079">75</a>,
+ <a href="#png.087">83</a>,
+ <a href="#png.097">93</a>,
+ <a href="#png.104">100</a>,
+ <a href="#png.107">103</a>,
+ <a href="#png.119">115</a>,
+ <a href="#png.129">125</a>,
+ <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>,
+ <a href="#png.162">158</a>,
+ <a href="#png.174">170</a>,
+ <a href="#png.183">179</a>,
+ <a href="#png.184">180</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>,
+ <a href="#png.211">207</a>,
+ <a href="#png.234">230</a>,
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>.</p>
+
+<p>House-mother, <a href="#png.110">106</a>.</p>
+
+<p>House of correction, <a href="#png.131">127</a>.</p>
+
+<p>House of Evening Rest, <a href="#png.075">71</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Howson, J.&nbsp;D., <a href="#png.019">15</a>,
+ <a href="#png.031">27</a>,
+ <a href="#png.088">84</a>,
+ <a href="#png.152">148</a>,
+ <a href="#png.161">157</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hoxton, <a href="#png.189">185</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Hughes, Mrs., <a href="#png.167">163</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Huguenots, <a href="#png.145">141</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Humanitarianism, <a href="#png.015">11</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Huss, John, <a href="#png.044">40</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Idstein, gymnasium, <a href="#png.055">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ignatius, <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.033">29</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Infirmary, <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Imitation of Christ</i>, <a href="#png.042">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Immigrants, <a href="#png.246">242</a>.</p>
+
+<p>India, <a href="#png.190">186</a>,
+ <a href="#png.191">187</a>,
+ <a href="#png.225">221</a>,
+ <a href="#png.231">227</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Inquiry, Department of, <a href="#png.187">183</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Insane, <a href="#png.072">68</a>,
+ <a href="#png.109">105</a>,
+ <a href="#png.238">234</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Introduction, <a href="#png.007">3</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Invalid kitchen, <a href="#png.177">173</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Iserlohn, Westphalia, <a href="#png.212">208</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Italy, <a href="#png.081">77</a>,
+ <a href="#png.082">78</a>,
+ <a href="#png.112">108</a>,
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Jacksonville, Ill., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Jaffa, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Jerusalem, <a href="#png.078">74</a>,
+ <a href="#png.166">162</a>.</p>
+
+<p>John ii, 5, <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>John the Baptist, <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Jones, Agnes, <a href="#png.151">147</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Jubilee anniversary, <a href="#png.095">91</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="firstmaj">
+Kaiserswerth, <a href="#png.056">52</a>,
+ <a href="#png.061">57</a>,
+ <a href="#png.151">147</a>,
+ <a href="#png.156">152</a>,
+ <a href="#png.207">203</a>,
+ <a href="#png.238">234</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> yearly expenses, <a href="#png.262">258</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.kaisers" id="i.kaisers"><span class="smc">Kaiserswerth,
+ The Institutions at</span></a>, <a href="#png.065">61</a>:
+ deaconess home, hospital, first deaconess, <a href="#png.067">63</a>;
+ normal-school for infant-school teachers, <a href="#png.068">64</a>;
+ Bible stories, <a href="#png.069">65</a>;
+ Fliedner&#8217;s wife, <a href="#png.069">65</a>;
+ publishing house, <i>Kaiserswerth Almanac</i>, <i>The Poor and Sick Friend</i>, finance, <a href="#png.070">66</a>;
+ orphan asylum, <a href="#png.071">67</a>;
+ normal-school for female teachers, insane asylum, <a href="#png.072">68</a>;
+ farm, <a href="#png.073">69</a>;
+ refuge, Salem, <a href="#png.074">70</a>;
+ House of Evening Rest, daughter-houses, <a href="#png.075">71</a>;
+ Berlin, <a href="#png.076">72</a>;
+ Pittsburg, <a href="#png.077">73</a>;
+ Jerusalem, <a href="#png.078">74</a>;
+ Beirut, Smyrna, <a href="#png.080">76</a>;
+ Salem in the Lebanon, <a href="#png.081">77</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smc">Kaiserswerth, The Regulations at,
+ and the Duties and Services of the Deaconesses</span>, <a href="#png.083">79</a>;
+ service, <a href="#png.083">79</a>;
+ nurses, teachers, visitors, <a href="#png.084">80</a>;
+ probation, <a href="#png.085">81</a>;
+ dress, expenses, <a href="#png.086">82</a>;
+ duties, quiet half-hour, <a href="#png.087">83</a>;
+ union, obedience, <a href="#png.088">84</a>;
+ consecration, <a href="#png.089">85</a>;
+ conferences, statistics, <a href="#png.090">86</a>;
+ emergencies, <a href="#png.091">87</a>;
+ wars, <a href="#png.093">89</a>;
+ Fliedner&#8217;s death, successors, <a href="#png.095">91</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Kaiserswerth Almanac</i>, <a href="#png.090">86</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine Home, <a href="#png.197">163</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Kempis, Thomas à, <a href="#png.042">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Kilburn Orphanage, <a href="#png.164">160</a>.</p>
+
+<p>King&#8217;s Daughters, <a href="#png.257">253</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Klönne, Johann Adolph Franz, <a href="#png.050">46</a>,
+ <a href="#png.058">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Krueger, Marie, <a href="#png.211">207</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Lads&#8217; Institute, <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Lambert le Bègue, <a href="#png.038">34</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Lankenau, John D., <a href="#png.211">207</a>,
+ <a href="#png.212">208</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Laseron, Dr. and Mrs., <a href="#png.161">157</a>,
+ <a href="#png.162">158</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Laundry, <a href="#png.165">161</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Layton, M.&nbsp;E., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Lectures, syllabus of, <a href="#png.200">196</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Leonard, A.&nbsp;B., <a href="#png.228">224</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Library, lending, <a href="#png.179">175</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Life, the highest, <a href="#png.255">251</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Lightfoot, Bishop, <a href="#png.019">15</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.literature" id="i.literature">Literature referred to</a>, <a href="#png.014">10</a>,
+ <a href="#png.015">11</a>,
+ <a href="#png.016">12</a>,
+ <a href="#png.019">15</a>,
+ <a href="#png.024">20</a>,
+ <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.028">24</a>,
+ <a href="#png.030">26</a>,
+ <a href="#png.035">31</a>,
+ <a href="#png.037">33</a>,
+ <a href="#png.048">44</a>,
+ <a href="#png.051">47</a>,
+ <a href="#png.053">49</a>,
+ <a href="#png.059">55</a>,
+ <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.072">68</a>,
+ <a href="#png.074">70</a>,
+ <a href="#png.080">76</a>,
+ <a href="#png.083">79</a>,
+ <a href="#png.114">110</a>,
+ <a href="#png.115">111</a>,<a
+ id="png.266" name="png.266"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">266/</span>262</samp>
+ <a href="#png.124">120</a>,
+ <a href="#png.138">134</a>,
+ <a href="#png.146">142</a>,
+ <a href="#png.148">144</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>,
+ <a href="#png.152">148</a>,
+ <a href="#png.154">150</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.156">152</a>,
+ <a href="#png.159">155</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.161">157</a>,
+ <a href="#png.168">164</a>,
+ <a href="#png.171">167</a>,
+ <a href="#png.179">175</a>,
+ <a href="#png.182">178</a>,
+ <a href="#png.185">181</a>,
+ <a href="#png.196">192</a>,
+ <a href="#png.198">194</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>,
+ <a href="#png.216">212</a>,
+ <a href="#png.218">214</a>,
+ <a href="#png.220">216</a>,
+ <a href="#png.221">217</a>,
+ <a href="#png.225">221</a>,
+ <a href="#png.230">226</a>,
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>,
+ <a href="#png.245">241</a>,
+ <a href="#png.249">245</a>,
+ <a href="#png.257">253</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Littlejohn, Bishop, <a href="#png.219">215</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Liverpool work-house, <a href="#png.151">147</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'London.'"><a name="i.london" id="i.london">London</a>,</ins> <a href="#png.170">166</a>,
+ <a href="#png.242">238</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.245">241</a>,
+ <a href="#png.249">245</a>,
+ <a href="#png.260">256</a>.
+ See <a href="#i.mildmay">Mildmay</a>.</p>
+
+<p>London Diocesan Deaconess Institution, <a href="#png.155">151</a>.</p>
+
+<p>London Bible-women&#8217;s Mission, <a href="#png.164">160</a>.</p>
+
+<p>London West Central Mission, <a href="#png.167">163</a>,
+ <a href="#png.168">164</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Loomis, S.&nbsp;L., <a href="#png.249">245</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Los Angeles, Cal., <a href="#png.223">219</a>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lost Way, The,&rdquo; <a href="#png.104">100</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Love, Christian, <a href="#png.015">11</a>,
+ <a href="#png.017">13</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Lucian, <a href="#png.026">22</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ludlow, John Malcolm, <a href="#png.024">20</a>,
+ <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.091">87</a>,
+ <a href="#png.152">148</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Luke x, <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has '5.'">5,</ins> <a href="#png.189">184</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Luther, Martin, <a href="#png.044">40</a>,
+ <a href="#png.046">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+McClintock &amp; Strong, <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>.</p>
+
+<p>McGill, A.&nbsp;T., <a href="#png.221">217</a>.</p>
+
+<p>MacMaster, <a href="#png.015">11</a>.</p>
+
+<p><ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Macrina'">Makrina</ins> ordained, <a href="#png.033">29</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Maine, Henry, <a href="#png.251">247</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Malta, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mann, W.&nbsp;J., <a href="#png.211">207</a>,
+ <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Marbeau, M. <a href="#png.239">235</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Marthashof, <a href="#png.103">99</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses, <a href="#png.091">87</a>,
+ <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.214">210</a>,
+ <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Matt. xi, 3&ndash;5, <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Maxwell, Alice Maud, <a href="#png.204">200</a>,
+ <a href="#png.205">201</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Medical mission, <a href="#png.183">179</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Medical training, <a href="#png.190">186</a>,
+ <a href="#png.191">187</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mennonites, <a href="#png.048">44</a>,
+ <a href="#png.058">54</a>,
+ <a href="#png.063">59</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Men&#8217;s Bible-class, <a href="#png.179">175</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Men&#8217;s Institute, <a href="#png.184">180</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Men&#8217;s Night-school, <a href="#png.178">174</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Meredith, Mrs., <a href="#png.164">160</a>,
+ <a href="#png.166">162</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Methodism, German, <a href="#png.114">110</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.methodist" id="i.methodist">Methodist Episcopal Church</a>, <a href="#png.111">107</a>,
+ <a href="#png.207">203</a>,
+ <a href="#png.224">220</a>,
+ <a href="#png.257">253</a>,
+ <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Meyer, Consul, <a href="#png.211">207</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Meyer, Lucy Rider, <a href="#png.224">220</a>,
+ <a href="#png.225">221</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Middle Ages, <a href="#png.236">232</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Middleburg, <a href="#png.046">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mildmay, <a href="#png.206">202</a>,
+ <a href="#png.257">253</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.mildmay" id="i.mildmay"><span class="smc">Mildmay Institutions</span></a>, <a href="#png.170">166</a>:
+ William Pennefather, Barnet, Conferences, <a href="#png.171">167</a>;
+ Mildmay Park, <a href="#png.172">168</a>;
+ missionary training-school and home, <a href="#png.173">169</a>;
+ deaconesses, <a href="#png.174">170</a>; conference hall,
+ deaconess house, <a href="#png.175">171</a>;
+ Pennefather&#8217;s death, successor, <a href="#png.177">173</a>;
+ invalid kitchen, flower mission, <a href="#png.177">173</a>;
+ Dorcas room, men&#8217;s night school, <a href="#png.178">174</a>;
+ lending library, men&#8217;s Bible-class, servants&#8217; registry, <a href="#png.179">175</a>;
+ sitting-room, <a href="#png.179">175</a>;
+ garden, <a href="#png.180">176</a>;
+ orphanage, Scripture texts, <a href="#png.181">177</a>;
+ conference hall, parish deaconesses, <a href="#png.182">178</a>;
+ nursery home, cottage hospital, medical mission, <a href="#png.183">179</a>;
+ Bethnal Green, <a href="#png.184">180</a>;
+ convalescent homes, <a href="#png.185">181</a>;
+ nurses, railway mission, <a href="#png.186">182</a>;
+ deaconesses of all classes, <a href="#png.187">183</a>;
+ missionary training-school, <a href="#png.188">184</a>;
+ classes trained, <a href="#png.190">186</a>;
+ expenses, <a href="#png.192">188</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Milwaukee, Wis., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ministr&aelig;, <a href="#png.023">19</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Minna, convict, <a href="#png.061">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Minneapolis, Minn., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Missionary training school, <a href="#png.173">169</a>,
+ <a href="#png.174">170</a>,
+ <a href="#png.188">184</a>,
+ <a href="#png.189">185</a>,
+ <a href="#png.190">186</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Missions, <a href="#png.015">11</a>,
+ <a href="#png.016">12</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mohammedans, <a href="#png.079">75</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.monks" id="i.monks">Monks</a>, <a href="#png.036">32</a>,
+ <a href="#png.045">41</a>,
+ <a href="#png.140">136</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Monod, Sara, <a href="#png.124">120</a>,
+ <a href="#png.140">136</a>,
+ <a href="#png.142">138</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Monod, W., <a href="#png.124">120</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Moravians, <a href="#png.048">44</a>,
+ <a href="#png.049">45</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Morley, Samuel, <a href="#png.163">159</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mother-houses, <a href="#png.068">64</a>,
+ <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.078">74</a>,
+ <a href="#png.084">80</a>,
+ <a href="#png.090">86</a>,
+ <a href="#png.110">106</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mothers, <a href="#png.239">235</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mount Vernon, N.&nbsp;Y., <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Mülhausen, <a href="#png.099">95</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Münster, Frederika, <a href="#png.060">56</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Muttra, India, <a href="#png.231">227</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Myrtha, Sister, <a href="#png.120">116</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Neal, Daniel, <a href="#png.146">142</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Neander, <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.028">24</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nectarius, Bishop, <a href="#png.032">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Netherlands, <a href="#png.039">35</a>,
+ <a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.043">39</a>,
+ <a href="#png.046">42</a>,
+ <a href="#png.048">44</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Neudettelsau, <a href="#png.107">103</a>.</p>
+
+<p>New Orleans, La., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>New York, N.&nbsp;Y., <a href="#png.230">226</a>,
+ <a href="#png.248">244</a>,
+ <a href="#png.249">245</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nicarete, deaconess, <a href="#png.029">25</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Night-school, <a href="#png.178">174</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nightingale, Florence, <a href="#png.150">146</a>-<a href="#png.152">148</a>,
+ <a href="#png.238">234</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.normal" id="i.normal">Normal</a> school, <a href="#png.068">64</a>,
+ <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.072">68</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>North American Review</i>, <a href="#png.016">12</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Norway, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Norwegian Lutherans, <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.nuns" id="i.nuns">Nuns</a>, <a href="#png.036">32</a>,
+ <a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.045">41</a>,
+ <a href="#png.155">151</a>,
+ <a href="#png.251">247</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nursery girls, <a href="#png.105">101</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nursery home, <a href="#png.183">179</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nurses, <a href="#png.072">68</a>,
+ <a href="#png.075">71</a>,
+ <a href="#png.084">80</a>,
+ <a href="#png.087">83</a>,
+ <a href="#png.093">89</a>,
+ <a href="#png.094">90</a>,
+ <a href="#png.097">93</a>,
+ <a href="#png.108">104</a>,
+ <a href="#png.116">112</a>,
+ <a href="#png.117">113</a>,
+ <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.137">133</a>,
+ <a href="#png.186">182</a>,
+ <a href="#png.195">191</a>,
+ <a href="#png.212">208</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nursing sisters&#8217; institution, <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first"><a
+ name="i.objections" id="i.objections"><span class="smc">Objections met
+ and Suggestions offered</span></a>, <a href="#png.251">247</a>:
+ hard work and God&#8217;s favor, <a href="#png.251">247</a>;
+ not nuns, <a href="#png.251">247</a>;
+ Roman Catholic sisters, <a href="#png.252">248</a>;
+ distinctive dress, <a href="#png.253">249</a>;
+ cut off from home life, <a href="#png.254">250</a>;
+ America favorable, <a href="#png.256">252</a>;
+ Methodist Episcopal Church favorable, <a href="#png.257">253</a>;
+ how become deaconess? <a href="#png.259">255</a>;
+ &ldquo;do it,&rdquo; <a href="#png.261">257</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Orleans, Synod of, <a href="#png.034">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Olympias, <a href="#png.030">26</a>,
+ <a href="#png.031">27</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Omaha, Neb., <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ordination. See <a href="#i.cons">Consecration</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Origen, <a href="#png.034">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Orphanages, <a href="#png.071">67</a>,
+ <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.079">75</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.081">77</a>,
+ <a href="#png.163">159</a>,
+ <a href="#png.181">177</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Outsiders,&rdquo; <a href="#png.168">164</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Palestine, <a href="#png.080">76</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Paris, <a href="#png.236">232</a>,
+ <a href="#png.239">235</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.paris" id="i.paris"><span class="smc">Paris,
+ Deaconesses in</span></a>, <a href="#png.124">120</a>:
+ Sara Monod, W. Monod, <a href="#png.124">120</a>;
+ deaconess establishment, <a href="#png.125">121</a>;
+ reports, children, <a href="#png.127">123</a>;
+ crèche, hospital, <a href="#png.129">125</a>;
+ convalescents&#8217; home, <a href="#png.130">126</a>;
+ house of correction, <a href="#png.131">127</a>;
+ moral results, <a href="#png.134">130</a>;
+ Commune investigation, <a href="#png.135">131</a>;
+ wounded, boarders, <a href="#png.136">132</a>;
+ preparatory school, nurses, <a href="#png.137">133</a>;
+ success, parish<a
+ id="png.267" name="png.267"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">267/</span>263</samp>
+ deaconesses, <a href="#png.138">134</a>;
+ prisons for women, <a href="#png.139">135</a>;
+ Mademoiselle Dumas, <a href="#png.140">136</a>;
+ branches, <a href="#png.142">138</a>;
+ parish deaconesses, <a href="#png.143">139</a>;
+ consecration, <a href="#png.144">140</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Paris, Matthew, <a href="#png.041">37</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.parish" id="i.parish">Parish Deaconesses</a>, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.084">80</a>,
+ <a href="#png.100">96</a>,
+ <a href="#png.107">103</a>,
+ <a href="#png.114">110</a>,
+ <a href="#png.138">134</a>,
+ <a href="#png.143">139</a>,
+ <a href="#png.195">191</a>,
+ <a href="#png.242">238</a>,
+ <a href="#png.258">254</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pascal, Jacqueline, <a href="#png.129">125</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Passavant, W.&nbsp;A., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Passy, <a href="#png.130">126</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pastors, <a href="#png.249">245</a>,
+ <a href="#png.258">254</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pegran, Pasteur, <a href="#png.048">44</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pentadia, <a href="#png.030">26</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Pennefather, William, <a href="#png.171">167</a>,
+ <a href="#png.177">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.206">202</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> wife of, <a href="#png.177">173</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">1&nbsp;Pet. ii, 5, <a href="#png.044">40</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> iii, 4, <a href="#png.159">155</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pharmacy, <a href="#png.130">126</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Philadelphia, Pa., <a href="#png.091">87</a>,
+ <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.211">207</a>,
+ <a href="#png.214">210</a>,
+ <a href="#png.222">218</a>,
+ <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Ph&oelig;be, <a href="#png.018">14</a>,
+ <a href="#png.026">22</a>,
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pilgrim fathers, <a href="#png.147">143</a>,
+ <a href="#png.148">144</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pittsburg, Pa., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.209">205</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Plan for securing uniformity, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Plato, <a href="#png.014">10</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pliny, letter, ministr&aelig;, <a href="#png.023">19</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Poles in Buffalo, <a href="#png.247">243</a>,
+ <a href="#png.248">244</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Men of <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber's note: original has 'Lyons.'">Lyons,</ins> <a href="#png.043">39</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Poor and Sick Friend</i>, <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.108">104</a>,
+ <a href="#png.156">152</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Portsmouth, <a href="#png.157">153</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Potter, H.&nbsp;C. <a href="#png.216">212</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Prayer, <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.087">83</a>,
+ <a href="#png.088">84</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Presbyterian Church, <a href="#png.206">202</a>,
+ <a href="#png.221">217</a>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Presbyterian Review</i>, <a href="#png.221">217</a>,
+ <a href="#png.223">219</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Preparatory school, <a href="#png.137">133</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Princess Mary Village Home, <a href="#png.165">161</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Prison Gate Mission, <a href="#png.165">161</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Prisoners, <a href="#png.059">55</a>&ndash;<a href="#png.062">58</a>,
+ <a href="#png.064">60</a>,
+ <a href="#png.074">70</a>,
+ <a href="#png.116">112</a>,
+ <a href="#png.139">135</a>,
+ <a href="#png.164">160</a>,
+ <a href="#png.165">161</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Probation, <a href="#png.085">81</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>,
+ <a href="#png.188">184</a>,
+ <a href="#png.191">187</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Procla, deaconess, <a href="#png.030">26</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Protestant Episcopal Church, <a href="#png.216">212</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Protestants, <a href="#png.052">48</a>,
+ <a href="#png.109">105</a>,
+ <a href="#png.149">145</a>,
+ <a href="#png.155">151.</a></p>
+
+<p>Psa. lxviii, 11, <a href="#png.250">246</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Publishing House, <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.140">136</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pudentiana, deaconess, <a href="#png.034">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Puritans, <a href="#png.146">142</a>,
+ <a href="#png.148">144</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Pusey, Dr., <a href="#png.153">149</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Railway mission, <a href="#png.186">182</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Recke, Count von der, <a href="#png.053">49</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rector, <a href="#png.110">106</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Reformed Church, <a href="#png.046">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Regulations, <a href="#png.083">79</a>,
+ <a href="#png.122">118</a>,
+ <a href="#png.197">193</a>,
+ <a href="#png.217">213</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Reichardt, Gertrude, <a href="#png.067">63</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rest, <a href="#png.074">70</a>,
+ <a href="#png.075">71</a>,
+ <a href="#png.121">117</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess Society, <a href="#png.232">228</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Riehen, near Basel, <a href="#png.108">104</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rochester, N.&nbsp;Y., <a href="#png.077">73</a>,
+ <a href="#png.210">206</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rock River Conference, <a href="#png.225">221</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Roman, J. Dixon, <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Roman Catholic Church, <a href="#png.034">30</a>,
+ <a href="#png.038">34</a>,
+ <a href="#png.248">244</a>,
+ <a href="#png.252">248</a>,
+ <a href="#png.253">249</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rom. xvi, 1, <a href="#png.018">14</a>,
+ <a href="#png.119">115</a>,
+ <a href="#png.193">189</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rome, <a href="#png.034">30</a>,
+ <a href="#png.082">78</a>,
+ <a href="#png.236">232</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rue de Bridaine, <a href="#png.143">139</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Rue de Reuilly, <a href="#png.124">120</a>,
+ <a href="#png.131">127</a>,
+ <a href="#png.136">132</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Russia, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Sabiniana, <a href="#png.029">25</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sachsenhausen, <a href="#png.116">112</a>.</p>
+
+<p>St. Christopher&#8217;s Church, <a href="#png.039">35</a>.</p>
+
+<p>St. Gaul, <a href="#png.116">112</a>,
+ <a href="#png.119">115</a>.</p>
+
+<p>St. Louis, Mo., <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>St. Loup, <a href="#png.108">104</a>.</p>
+
+<p>St. Marie, <a href="#png.138">134</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Salem, <a href="#png.074">70</a>,
+ <a href="#png.081">77</a>,
+ <a href="#png.121">117</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Salisbury Home, <a href="#png.157">153</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Salle d&#8217;Asile, <a href="#png.127">123</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Savings Bank, <a href="#png.185">181</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Schäfer, Theodor, <a href="#png.026">22</a>,
+ <a href="#png.031">27</a>,
+ <a href="#png.043">39</a>,
+ <a href="#png.046">42</a>,
+ <a href="#png.053">49</a>,
+ <a href="#png.099">95</a>,
+ <a href="#png.103">99</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Schaff, Philip, <a href="#png.027">23</a>,
+ <a href="#png.028">24</a>,
+ <a href="#png.034">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Scheffel, <a href="#png.119">115</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.scots" id="i.scots"><span class="smc">Scotland,
+ Deaconesses in</span></a>, <a href="#png.193">189</a>:
+ Church of Scotland, A.&nbsp;H. Charteris&#8217;s report, <a href="#png.194">190</a>;
+ three grades of women workers, <a href="#png.197">193</a>;
+ Deaconess Institution and Training-home, <a href="#png.199">195</a>;
+ syllabus of lectures, <a href="#png.200">196</a>;
+ consecration, seven years&#8217; experience or two years&#8217; training, <a href="#png.203">199</a>;
+ Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain, <a href="#png.206">202</a>;
+ office of deaconess made organic, <a href="#png.207">203</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Scripture texts, illustration of, <a href="#png.181">177</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Servants, <a href="#png.089">85</a>,
+ <a href="#png.103">99</a>,
+ <a href="#png.105">101</a>,
+ <a href="#png.106">102</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Servants Home, <a href="#png.245">241</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Servants&#8217; Registry, <a href="#png.179">175</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Service, threefold, <a href="#png.083">79</a>,
+ <a href="#png.233">229</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Shanghai, <a href="#png.113">109</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sieveking, Amalie, <a href="#png.051">47</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Singing, <a href="#png.088">84</a>,
+ <a href="#png.089">85</a>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sister,&rdquo; <a href="#png.153">149</a>,
+ <a href="#png.169">165</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sisterhoods, <a href="#png.051">47</a>,
+ <a href="#png.154">150</a>,
+ <a href="#png.161">157</a>,
+ <a href="#png.216">212</a>,
+ <a href="#png.219">215</a>,
+ <a href="#png.220">216</a>,
+ <a href="#png.252">248</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sisters of Charity, <a href="#png.097">93</a>,
+ <a href="#png.140">136</a>,
+ <a href="#png.149">145</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sisters of the Common Life, <a href="#png.041">37</a>,
+ <a href="#png.043">39</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sisters of the People, <a href="#png.167">163</a>,
+ <a href="#png.168">164</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sisters of the Sacred Heart, <a href="#png.241">237</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Smyrna, <a href="#png.080">76</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Soup Kitchen, <a href="#png.173">169</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Southern Presbyterian Church, <a href="#png.222">218</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Southey, <a href="#png.149">145</a>,
+ <a href="#png.150">146</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Spaeth, A., <a href="#png.209">205</a>,
+ <a href="#png.211">207</a>,
+ <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Spain, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sparkes, Miss, <a href="#png.231">227</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sparta, <a href="#png.014">10</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Spee, Count, <a href="#png.062">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Spee, Countess, <a href="#png.063">59</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Statistics, <a href="#png.090">86</a>,
+ <a href="#png.091">87</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Stevenson. Dr., <a href="#png.152">148</a>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stille halbe Stunde,&rdquo; <a href="#png.088">84</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Strasburg, <a href="#png.097">93</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Success and glory, <a href="#png.251">247</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Superintendent, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.199">195</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Support. See <a href="#i.expenses">Expenses</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Sweden, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Swedish Lutherans, <a href="#png.215">211</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Switzerland, <a href="#png.108">104</a>,
+ <a href="#png.116">112</a>,
+ <a href="#png.239">235</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Syllabus of Lectures, <a href="#png.200">196</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Syria, <a href="#png.080">76</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Talitha Cumi, <a href="#png.079">75</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Teachers, <a href="#png.072">68</a>,
+ <a href="#png.080">76</a>,
+ <a href="#png.084">80</a>.
+ See <a href="#i.normal">Normal</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Theodosius, Emperor, <a href="#png.032">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Thoburn, Isabella, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Thoburn, J.&nbsp;M., <a href="#png.009">5</a>,
+ <a href="#png.225">221</a>,
+ <a href="#png.226">222</a>,
+ <a href="#png.228">224</a>,
+ <a href="#png.231">227</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">1&nbsp;Tim. iii, 8, <a href="#png.021">17</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> iii, 8, 9, <a href="#png.083">79</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> iii, 11, <a href="#png.019">15</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> v, 9, <a href="#png.020">16</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Tit. ii, 3, <a href="#png.020">16</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Tottenham, <a href="#png.163">159</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Training-school, <a href="#png.066">62</a>,
+ <a href="#png.074">70</a>,
+ <a href="#png.233">229</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Turkey, <a href="#png.112">108</a>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="i.12th" id="i.12th"><span class="smc">Twelfth to the nineteenth centuries,
+ Deaconesses from the</span></a>, <a href="#png.038">34</a>;
+ Belgium, Lambert le Bègue, <a href="#png.038">34</a>;
+ Béguines, <a href="#png.039">35</a>;<a
+ id="png.268" name="png.268"></a><samp class="pgmark"
+ ><span class="png">268/</span>264</samp>
+ Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life, Gerhard Groot, <a href="#png.041">37</a>;
+ Thomas à Kempis, <a href="#png.042">38</a>;
+ Waldenses, <a href="#png.043">39</a>;
+ Bohemians, Huss, <a href="#png.044">40</a>;
+ Luther, <a href="#png.044">40</a>;
+ Calvin, <a href="#png.046">42</a>;
+ Netherlands, <a href="#png.046">42</a>;
+ Damsels of Charity, <a href="#png.047">43</a>;
+ Mennonites, Moravians, <a href="#png.048">44</a>;
+ Zinzendorf, <a href="#png.049">45</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Uniformity, Plan, <a href="#png.230">226</a>.</p>
+
+<p>United States. See <a href="#i.america">America</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Valette, Pastor, <a href="#png.134">130</a>,
+ <a href="#png.143">139</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Vermeil, Pastor, <a href="#png.104">100</a>,
+ <a href="#png.143">139</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Vienna, <a href="#png.108">104</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Virgins, <a href="#png.024">20</a>,
+ <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.029">25</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Von Stein, <a href="#png.052">48</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Wacker, Emil, <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.044">40</a>,
+ <a href="#png.070">66</a>,
+ <a href="#png.235">231</a>,
+ <a href="#png.252">248</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Waiting-school, <a href="#png.239">235</a>,
+ <a href="#png.240">236</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wakefield, Bishop of, <a href="#png.161">157</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Waldenses, <a href="#png.043">39</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wars, nurses in, <a href="#png.093">89</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Weiss, G., <a href="#png.114">110</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wesel, <a href="#png.046">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Western Church, <a href="#png.034">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Western New York, <a href="#png.220">216</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Widows, <a href="#png.020">16</a>,
+ <a href="#png.024">20</a>,
+ <a href="#png.025">21</a>,
+ <a href="#png.148">144</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Williams, Miss, <a href="#png.108">104</a>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Willows, The,&rdquo; <a href="#png.188">184</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wilmer, Bishop, <a href="#png.217">213</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Winckworth, C., <a href="#png.106">102</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="maj">Women, Old Testament, <a href="#png.028">24</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> Apostolic times, <a href="#png.017">13</a>,
+ <a href="#png.020">16</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> Early Church, <a href="#png.024">20</a>.</p>
+<p class="min"> Methodist, <a href="#png.010">6</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Women&#8217;s Guild, <a href="#png.197">193</a>,
+ <a href="#png.204">200</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Women Workers&#8217; Guild, <a href="#png.197">193</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wordsworth, <a href="#png.019">15</a>,
+ <a href="#png.243">239</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Work, hard, <a href="#png.251">247</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wounded, <a href="#png.093">89</a>,
+ <a href="#png.135">131</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wurdemberger, Sophie, <a href="#png.107">103</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Wurtemberg, <a href="#png.114">110</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Work-house, <a href="#png.076">72</a>,
+ <a href="#png.151">147</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Young, Alexander, <a href="#fn.x.2">144</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="first">
+Zinzendorf, Count, <a href="#png.049">45</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Zürich, <a href="#png.108">104</a>, <a href="#png.116">112</a>,
+ <a href="#png.119">115</a>, <a href="#png.120">116</a>.</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="tnote">
+<h3>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:</h3>
+
+<p>Obvious spelling/typographical and punctuation
+errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other
+occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.</p>
+
+<p>Transcriber&#8217;s notes in text&mdash;mostly detailing corrections&mdash;are
+indicated by faint dotted underlining.
+Scroll the mouse over the word and the note will <ins class="transcriber"
+ title="Transcriber&#8217;s note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p>
+
+<p>The original book was published by HUNT &amp; EATON at New York,
+and by CRANSTON &amp; STOWE at Cincinnati. The copyright date was 1889.</p>
+
+<p>Occasional discrepancies between index and text (for example,
+&ldquo;Harter&rdquo; in the index but &ldquo;Härter&rdquo; in the text) have been corrected to
+match the text.</p>
+
+<p>Some inconsistent mid-line hyphenations have been retained:</p>
+<ul>
+<li>&ldquo;bedside&rdquo; and &ldquo;bed-side&rdquo; occur once each</li>
+<li>&ldquo;housework&rdquo; and &ldquo;house-work&rdquo; occur once each</li>
+<li>&ldquo;workhouse[s]&rdquo; occurs twice and &ldquo;work-house&rdquo; occurs three times</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="pg" noshade="noshade" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Deaconesses in Europe
+ and their Lessons for America
+
+Author: Jane M. Bancroft
+
+Release Date: March 6, 2007 [EBook #20747]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEACONESSES IN EUROPE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, David Wilson, Bill Tozier and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ DEACONESSES IN EUROPE
+
+ AND
+
+ THEIR LESSONS FOR AMERICA
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ JANE M. BANCROFT, Ph.D
+
+
+
+ WITH AN INTRODUCTION
+
+ BY
+
+ EDWARD G. ANDREWS, D.D., LL.D.
+
+ _Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church_
+
+
+ "No life
+ Can be pure in its purpose and strong in its strife,
+ And all life not be purer and stronger thereby."
+
+
+ _NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON_
+ _CINCINNATI: CRANSTON & STOWE_
+ 1890
+
+
+
+
+ IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION,
+
+ TO
+
+ THE EARNEST AND DEVOTED WOMEN WHO,
+
+ AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON DEACONESS WORK
+
+ OF
+
+ THE WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY,
+
+ HAVE AIDED IN EXTENDING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIACONATE
+ OF WOMEN,
+
+ THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY
+
+ Dedicated
+
+ BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE.
+
+
+The Author has aimed to present an accurate and concise statement of the
+deaconess cause as it exists at the present time.
+
+In all cases where it was possible, original sources of information have
+been consulted.
+
+Many friends, both in Europe and America, have given invaluable aid, for
+which words of thanks are an inadequate recognition.
+
+The excellent Index at the close of the volume was kindly prepared by
+the Rev. J. C. Thomas.
+
+Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. Gillett, Librarian of the Union
+Theological Seminary, and to Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard, of the Astor
+Library, for putting not only the facilities of the library, but their
+personal assistance, at the service of the writer.
+
+ JANE M. BANCROFT.
+ NEW YORK CITY, _June 5, 1889_.
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS.
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+ THE DIACONATE.
+
+ Compassion a Christian virtue--Brotherhood of all men in
+ Christ--Foreign Missions--Home Missions--Service of
+ ministering compassion gives rise to the diaconate--Diaconate
+ of women--Its qualities--Field of labor Page 9
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.
+
+ Little knowledge of early Church--Pliny's letter--Apostolic
+ Constitutions--Deaconesses, widows, and virgins--Duties of the
+ deaconess--Chrysostom, Olympias--Deaconesses in Western
+ Church--Decline in importance--Extinction--Influences that led
+ to decay 18
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+ DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES.
+
+ Beguines--Characteristics--Duties--Gerhard Groot--Sisters of
+ the Common Life--Obligations--Duties--Waldenses--Bohemian
+ Brethren--Luther--Calvin--Reformed Church at Wesel--
+ Deaconesses in Amsterdam--Damsels of Charity--Mennonites and
+ Moravians 34
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+ FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS.
+
+ Efforts for the restoration of the office of deaconess made by
+ Kloenne--Amalie Sieveking--Von Stein--Count von der Recke--
+ Fliedner--His childhood--Youth--Student life--Pastorate and
+ travels--Marriage--First prison society--Founding of refuge--
+ Need of training schools--Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess
+ Society 46
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+ THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+ Opening of hospital training-school--Gertrude Reichardt--The
+ Home-life--Normal school--Fliedner's wife--Publishing house--
+ Orphan asylum--Insane asylum--Dispensary--Farm--"Salem"--House
+ of Evening Rest--Extension of work--Berlin--Foreign lands
+ Jerusalem--Beirut--Smyrna--Bucharest--Florence--Rome 61
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+ THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH AND THE DUTIES AND SERVICES
+ OF THE DEACONESSES.
+
+ Two classes of deaconesses--Nurses--Teachers--Qualifications--
+ Probationers--Duties--Service of consecration--Conferences--
+ Table of results--Instances of work--Duisburg--
+ Schleswig-Holstein war--Austrian war--Franco Prussian war 79
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+ OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.
+
+ House at Strasburg--Muelhausen--Marthashof at Berlin--
+ Neudettelsau--St. Loup--Riehen--Zuerich--Gallneukirchen--
+ Characteristics of institutions--Countries where they exist 93
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.
+
+ Origin of Bethany Society--House at Frankfort--Hamburg--
+ Berlin--St. Gall--Zuerich--Sister Myrtha--House of Rest--"God's
+ Fidelity"--House regulations--Training--Results 110
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN PARIS.
+
+ Deaconess Home on Rue de Reuilly--Situation--School--
+ Hospital--House of Correction--Preparatory school--
+ Instruction--Prison mission--Mademoiselle Dumas--Expenses of
+ house--Its founders--Deaconess house on Rue Bridaine--
+ Character of work--Duties of the Sisters--Their consecration--
+ Importance of parish deaconesses 120
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.
+
+ Early beginnings--The Puritans--Cambridge Platform--Southey's
+ complaint--Mrs. Fry--Fliedner--Florence Nightingale--Agnes
+ Jones--Distinction between "sister" and "deaconess"--
+ Institutions in Church of England--Garb--Ceremonies--
+ Self-denying lives--Dr. Laseron's institutions and others--
+ Prison mission of Mrs. Meredith--The Sisters of the People 142
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+ MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.
+
+ Rev. W. Pennefather--Sketch of his life--Building of hall and
+ deaconess home at Mildmay--Conference hall--Nursing hall--
+ Mission and hospital at Bethnal Green--The deaconesses--Their
+ training--Expense--Expenses of institution 166
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+ DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.
+
+ Church of Scotland--Organization of woman's work--Report of
+ committees--Scheme--Adoption--Women's Guild--Women-workers'
+ Guild--Deaconesses--Training--Syllabus of lectures--
+ Presbyterian Church of England and Ireland Page 189
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.
+
+ German Lutherans--Fliedner visits America--Philadelphia--
+ Mother-house of Deaconesses--Deaconesses in the Episcopal
+ Church--Among the Presbyterians--The Methodist Episcopal
+ Church--Deaconess-home in Chicago--Action of General
+ Conference--Fields of work 204
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+ THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR DEACONESSES
+ IN AMERICA.
+
+ Advantages of the Home and Training-school--Field of work--In
+ hospitals--Insane asylums--Infant-schools--Teachers--The
+ Home-mission deaconess--Her work in London--Similar work
+ needed in cities of the United States 228
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+ OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.
+
+ Objection that deaconesses resemble Catholic nuns--Their
+ influence--Numbers in different orders--Order of Charles--
+ Objection to garb--Its advantages--Objection to the life
+ answered--Opinion of Bryce concerning American women--Women of
+ Methodism--Advice to candidates--Associates--The Church
+ commended by its deeds 247
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+How far, and in what form, ought woman's work in the Church to be
+organized? What was the deaconess of St. Paul's epistles? What light on
+this subject do the primitive and the mediaeval Churches yield us? Can
+"sisterhoods" be established without weakening the sense of personal
+responsibility in those Christian women who are not thus wholly set
+apart to charitable and spiritual work? Can they be multiplied without
+danger of introducing into Protestant communions the evils of the
+conventual life? Are there modern instances of safe and successful
+organizations? What good have they achieved, and what further good do
+they promise? In what relation should such organizations stand to the
+authority and fostering care of the Church? What should be their scope,
+spirit, methods? What regulations are fundamental and indispensable?
+What perils are real and possibly imminent?
+
+To answer these, and other questions associated with them, this book is
+written. Its authoress is a gifted daughter of the Church, well known in
+literary and educational circles. During a protracted sojourn in Europe
+she enjoyed unusual facilities for studying the deaconess work as
+carried on in many places, and particularly in the institutions founded
+by Pastor Fliedner at Kaiserswerth in Prussia, and in those at Mildmay
+in England. She has also made a thorough and discriminating study of the
+subject as developed in the early centuries of the Church and in the
+Middle Ages.
+
+The book itself will amply reveal these facts, and cannot but contribute
+largely to the guidance of the newly revived interest of the American
+churches in the far-reaching question how Christian women may best serve
+their Lord in serving the humanity which he has redeemed.
+
+It appears at an opportune time. The General Conference of the Methodist
+Episcopal Church, at its session in May, 1888, inserted in the law of
+the Church a chapter on deaconesses, defining their duties and
+providing for the appointment and oversight of them through the Annual
+Conferences. This action was the natural outcome of a wide and
+increasing appreciation of the service of Christian women in many
+departments of Church work; and it was greatly furthered by the advocacy
+of Dr. J. M. Thoburn, now the devoted and honored missionary bishop of
+India and Malaysia. But it had not been the subject of any considerable
+previous discussion in the periodicals of the Church, and there was not
+in the Church a widely diffused or an accurate knowledge of the history,
+scope, possibilities, or perils of such an organization. The promptness,
+however, with which the provision thus made by the General Conference
+has been seized upon by the Church in several of our large cities,
+indicates that the time was ripe for the movement. But information is
+still scanty; ideas concerning the aim and place of the deaconess work
+are crude; methods have been very little digested; the foundations of
+local homes evidently may come to be very imperfectly laid; and the
+movement may easily come to naught.
+
+This book, it is hoped, will do a twofold work. It will awaken a lively
+interest in a movement already arrived at large proportions in some
+parts of European Protestantism; and it will guide those among us who
+are studying how best to organize, against the sin and suffering of the
+world, the practically unlimited resources of Christian women. Whenever
+any one shall in some good degree apprehend what helpfulness for the
+lost as yet lies undeveloped in the hearts and hands of the daughters of
+the Church, and what honor may yet come to Christianity by the rightly
+directed use of this power, he will welcome a volume which, like the
+present one, offers such guidance as history, observation, and earnest
+reflection yield on the question at issue.
+
+ EDWARD G. ANDREWS.
+ NEW YORK, _May 10, 1889_.
+
+
+
+
+DEACONESSES IN EUROPE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE DIACONATE.
+
+
+In the ruins of the old cities of Greece and Rome we find buildings that
+were used for public purposes of all kinds--forums, theaters,
+amphitheaters, circuses, and temples of worship. Every provision was
+made for the entertainment of the people, and for their political and
+intellectual needs. But nowhere do we find the ruins of structures,
+belonging either to the public or to private individuals, indicating
+that any attempt was ever made to care for the feeble-minded, the
+insane, the deaf, the blind, the sick, or the aged; those that in every
+nation of modern times are the wards of the State and the definite
+objects of religious ministrations.
+
+The ruins cannot be found because such buildings never existed. No
+provision was made for those suffering from bodily infirmities, because
+so far as the State could control circumstances they were not allowed
+to exist. Children who were defective in any way were put to death. In
+Sparta this measure was carried out under government supervision. Even
+Plato in his model republic has all children of wicked men, the
+misshapen, or the illegitimate put out of existence, that they may not
+be a burden to the State.[1]
+
+With the coming of Christ new elements were introduced into the
+civilization of the world; elements of kindliness, of compassion, of
+sympathy of man toward his fellow-man, that up to this time had not been
+known. There was a new revelation of the brotherhood of all men in the
+fatherhood of God: "We are all one in Christ Jesus."
+
+This spirit of compassion and of sympathy has grown with every century
+in the Christian era, and at no time has it been stronger in the history
+of the world than it is to-day. Well has one American historian said:
+
+"To a generation which knows but two crimes worthy of death, that
+against the life of the individual and that against the life of the
+State; which has expended fabulous sums in the erection of
+reformatories, asylums, and penitentiaries, houses of correction,
+houses of refuge, and houses of detention all over the land; which has
+furnished every State prison with a library, with a hospital, with
+workshops, and with schools, the brutal scenes on which our ancestors
+looked with indifference seem scarcely a reality. Yet it is well to
+recall them, for we cannot but turn from the contemplation of so much
+misery and so much suffering with a deep sense of thankfulness that our
+lot has fallen in a pitiful age, when more compassion is felt for a
+galled horse or a dog run over at a street-crossing than our
+great-grandfathers felt for a woman beaten for cursing, or a man
+imprisoned for debt."[2]
+
+The spirit of Christ has penetrated even where his rule is not
+acknowledged, and the humanitarianism of the present day is simply the
+leaven of Christian love working among the masses of men.
+
+In the Christian world the effort to realize the brotherhood of all men
+in Christ is producing large results. Treasures of money, and infinitely
+more precious treasures of men, are every year devoted to this one
+object. The cause of Protestant foreign missions is not yet a century
+old, but the latest available statistics tell us that the following
+sums are being contributed annually for this great work:[3]
+
+ 32 American societies contribute $3,011,027
+ 28 British " " 5,217,385
+ 27 Continental " " 1,083,170
+ -- ----------
+ 87 societies contribute $9,311,582
+
+With this large sum American societies are employing 986 men, and 1,081
+women; British societies, 1,811 men, and 745 women; Continental
+societies, 777 men, and 447 women. Total, 3,574 men, 2,273 women.
+
+Visible results of faithfulness in work:
+
+ Members in American societies 242,733
+ " British " 340,242
+ " Continental " 117,532
+ -------
+ Total membership in foreign lands 700,507
+ Children in the Sunday-schools 626,741
+
+The subject of home missions is to-day attracting greater attention than
+ever before. "Die Innere Mission" of Germany, the various forms the work
+assumes in England, the many societies in the United States occupied by
+the questions of city evangelization, work among the Mormons, the
+treatment of the Indians, care for the colored race, and other phases
+of home work show that Christians are fully understanding that it is
+wise to build over against our own house.
+
+Certainly the reproach cannot justly be made that the Church of Christ
+is neglectful of the precept, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us
+do good unto all men."
+
+This is genuine service of man to man, and the motive of the service is
+love to God. Every revelation of God is of ministering love and
+compassion, and the efforts of his disciples to imitate the divine love
+have indelibly stamped upon modern civilization the Christian impress.
+
+The service of ministering compassion is so clearly one of the duties of
+Christ's Church that of necessity there must be ordinances touching the
+exercise of this duty. So in Acts vi, 3, we read of the appointment of
+the deacons, "men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and of
+wisdom," to see that the service of the tables was not neglected.
+
+But Christian women have ever had special gifts in caring for the poor
+and sick and helpless, and the women of apostolic times must necessarily
+have had their part in these services of love. In addition to the
+diaconate appointed by the apostles recorded in the sixth chapter of
+Acts, we must look for a female diaconate as an office in the Church.
+This we do not fail to find. In Rom. xvi, 1, we read: "I commend unto
+you Phebe, a deacon of the church which is at Cenchrea." Such at least
+would have been the form of the verse if our translators had rendered
+the Greek word here translated servant as they rendered the like word in
+the sixth chapter of Acts, the third of the First Epistle to Timothy,
+and in other passages of the apostolic writings.
+
+"That ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints, and that ye assist
+her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a
+succorer of many, and of myself also." These words of St. Paul are
+especially valuable as an apostolic witness for the existence of the
+office of deaconess at the time when he wrote. They are even more than
+that. They are an apostolic commendation of the office addressed to the
+Christian Church of all times to accept the deaconess in the Lord, and
+to assist her "in whatsoever business she hath need of you."
+
+Whether Priscilla, spoken of with Aquila as "my helpers in Christ
+Jesus," or Tryphena, Tryphosa, and the beloved Persis, who "labored
+much," or Julia and Olympas, all mentioned in the same chapter, were or
+were not deaconesses we have no means of knowing.
+
+Outside of this chapter we do not find other references to the order in
+the New Testament, unless it be in 1 Tim. iii, 11. In the midst of a
+lengthy description of the qualifications of deacons is interjected the
+exhortation: "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober,
+faithful in all things." Now the word _wives_ has no authority from the
+Greek word, which is simply _women_. Bishop Lightfoot remarks, in his
+book on the authorized version of the New Testament, "If the theory of
+the definite article (in the Greek) had been understood our translators
+would have seen that the reference is to deaconesses, not to wives of
+the deacons."
+
+Many eminent scholars are of the same opinion, among whom are
+Chrysostom, Grotius, Bishop Wordsworth, and Dean Alvord. Dean Howson
+adds: "It should be particularly noticed in connection with this that in
+the early part of the chapter no such directions are given concerning
+the wives of the bishops, though they are certainly as important as the
+wives of the deacons; so that it can scarcely be thought otherwise than
+that the apostle's directions were for the deaconesses, an order which
+we find in ecclesiastical records for some centuries side by side with
+that of deacons."[4]
+
+Those mentioned in Tit. ii, 3, and in 1 Tim. v, 9, cannot be considered
+as holding the office of a deaconess. They belong distinctively to the
+class of widows, who held a position of honor in the Church. St. Paul
+had clear conceptions of the administrative needs of the Church, and it
+is not probable that he would set apart to the service of deaconesses,
+which had many difficult duties, those who were already sixty years old.
+
+The many names of faithful women mentioned in his letters as helpers in
+the Church are important witnesses for the great apostle's appreciation
+of woman's co-operation in the work of the Church, although his judgment
+was necessarily limited in some directions by the influence of the times
+in which he lived.
+
+Let us examine the requirements for the diaconate of the early Church.
+The word diaconate means service; helpful service. We use the word to
+designate service for the Church of Christ; service that more
+particularly concerns itself with administering the charities of the
+Church and performing its duties of compassion and mercy. The men who
+were selected for this office were to be men of "honest report." They
+must have led a blameless life. Those who had repented of wrong-doing
+and reformed their lives were excluded from the office, because they
+had lost a good report "of them which are without." Pre-eminently they
+must be men of spiritual experience, proven Christians, "full of the
+Holy Ghost and of wisdom." They were also to have practical gifts that
+would make them efficient and capable in the duties of every-day life.
+1 Tim. iii, 8.
+
+These are some of the qualifications spoken of as belonging to the
+diaconate, and are the same in application to either sex. The woman
+deacon must, however, besides possessing the above qualities, be
+unmarried or a widow. The married woman has her calling at home, and
+cannot combine with that an official calling in the Church, although she
+may be a valuable lay helper.
+
+The field of labor of the women deacons of apostolic times and of the
+present is essentially the same. The conditions of society and of the
+Church, however, are totally dissimilar. We must, therefore, look to see
+new adaptations of the same useful qualities. In other words, we shall
+not expect to take the female diaconate of the days of the apostles and
+transport it unchanged, into nineteenth century environments. We shall
+rather expect to see the invariably useful qualities of the diaconate of
+women adapted to the needs of the sinful, sorrowing, ignorant, and
+helpless of the age in which we live.
+
+
+ [1] _Heidenthum und Judenthum_, von Doellinger, p. 692. Regensburg,
+ 1857.
+ [2] MacMaster's _History of the United States_, vol. i, p. 102.
+ [3] Statistics from _North American Review_, February, 1889, "Why am
+ I a Missionary?"
+ [4] _Deaconesses_, Rev. J. D. Howson, D.D., p. 236.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DEACONESSES IN THE EARLY CHURCH.
+
+
+To understand the position of the deaconess with respect to the modern
+Church we must know something of the relation in which she stood to the
+early Church. Concisely as may be we must recall the story of the
+intervening centuries to the present, that we may learn the true
+position of deaconesses in modern times.
+
+We have very little knowledge of the early Church. During the first
+century and the first half of the second century continued persecution
+compelled the religious communities of the new faith to live in almost
+complete seclusion. For the same reason little has been left on record
+of those years, and it is impossible to form clear conceptions of Church
+history during the period. The first trace which we find of the
+existence of deaconesses after the times of the apostles comes to us
+from an entirely outside source--from the official records of the Roman
+government. Shortly after the close of the first century the Emperor
+Trajan sent the younger Pliny as prefect to Bithynia in Asia Minor. At
+the imperial command he began a persecution of the Christians, but
+interrupted it for a time to obtain further instructions from the
+emperor. His letter and the reply still exist. In the course of what he
+wrote Pliny says that he had sought to learn from two maids, who were
+called "ministrae" ("ex duabus ancillis, quae ministrae dicebantur," Book
+x, chap. xcvii), or helpers, the truth of what the Christians had said,
+and had even deemed it necessary to put them to torture, but could
+obtain evidence of nothing save unbounded superstition. Here is
+independent testimony of singular interest that deaconesses, followers
+of Phebe, were found in Christian communities of Asia Minor at the
+beginning of the second century, and that they kept the faith, when put
+to cruel martyrdom.
+
+The clearest conceptions of the characteristics and duties of
+deaconesses of the early Church we obtain from the _Apostolic
+Constitutions_, a collection of ecclesiastical instructions that
+gradually grew up in the Eastern Church, and were gathered into one work
+in the fourth century. These instructions were of unequal antiquity,
+ranging from the earliest usages to the rules and practices last
+determined upon. Whether the _Apostolic Constitutions_ have all the
+authority that some claim for them is a question not here to be
+decided. If not genuine, they must have been written at a very early
+time, and from that fact possess a historical value of their own. "They
+prove beyond a doubt that there was a time in the history of the Church
+when a clear idea was held by some writer of the office of the female
+deacon as essential to the discipline of the Church."[5] From them we
+learn of three distinct types of women connected with the administration
+of the Church--deaconesses, widows, and virgins. Deaconesses and widows
+date from apostolic times, the Church virgins from a somewhat later
+period. The distinction between widows and deaconesses was not at first
+clearly maintained. By some Church fathers widows were called
+deaconesses, and deaconesses widows. It was only after the lapse of time
+that we find the classes clearly distinguished, and when that time is
+reached the deaconesses have become exalted in office, being regarded as
+belonging to the clergy,[6] while the widows have lost somewhat the
+honorable position first accorded to them. The deaconesses are active
+ministering agents, caring for the necessities of others; the widows
+have passed the period of active service, and having won the respect
+and protection of the Church are supported in old age from a fund set
+apart for that purpose. In the _Apostolic Constitutions_ the order of
+deaconesses stands forth independently, its many official activities are
+mentioned, and the importance of its service emphasized.
+
+By combining the different references we obtain a tolerably clear
+picture of the deaconess and her duties. She must be a "pure virgin," or
+"a widow once married, faithful, and worthy" (Book vi, chap. xvii). Her
+special duties were as follows:
+
+(a.) She was a door-keeper at the women's entrance to the church. This
+was an ancient service, dating back to the oldest times.[7] Ignatius
+died a martyr's death not long after the beginning of the second
+century, and in a letter which bears his name is written, "I greet the
+doorkeepers of the holy doors, the deaconesses who are in the Lord."
+
+This guardianship was maintained not only in times of persecution, but
+as a matter of order and discipline in times of peace.
+
+(b.) She showed women their places in the congregation, being especially
+bound to look after the poor and strangers, giving each due attention.
+
+(c.) She instructed the female catechumens. She also visited the
+women's apartments, where male deacons could not enter, carried messages
+to the bishops, and acted as a missionary. Teaching was an important
+part of the duties of the early deaconesses.
+
+(d.) The deaconess had certain duties in connection with the baptism of
+women that were considered important and indispensable.
+
+(e.) In times of persecution she visited those who were oppressed or in
+prison, and ministered to their bodily and spiritual needs. She seems to
+have been less endangered in performing these acts than were men. Lucian
+alludes to the service of these devoted women in prisons. She also cared
+for the sick and sorrowing, being especially "zealous to serve other
+women."
+
+(f.) On occasion she was a mediator when there was strife in families,
+or among friends. Both to deacons and deaconesses "pertain messages,
+journeys to foreign parts, ministrations, services." The
+ever-to-be-remembered journey of Phebe to Rome, when a whole system of
+theology was committed to her keeping, was quite within the sphere of
+her duties. It has also been said that to them was given the
+safe-keeping of the holy books in periods of persecution. The
+enumeration of these principal duties implying so many lesser details
+helps us to understand that "deaconesses are needed for many purposes"
+(Book ii, chapter xv). The deaconess was ordained to her work, as is
+attested by a great number of authorities.[8] "It was because men felt
+still that the Holy Ghost alone could give power to do any work to God's
+glory that they deemed themselves constrained to ask such power of him,
+in setting a woman to do Church service."[9]
+
+The following beautiful prayer of ordination, attributed to the apostle
+Bartholomew, bears within it certain proofs of the very early existence
+of the ceremony, as well as of the order of deaconesses:
+
+"Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of man and women,
+who didst fill Miriam and Deborah and Hannah and Huldah with thy Spirit,
+and didst not disdain to suffer thine only-begotten Son to be born of a
+woman; who also in the tabernacle and temple didst appoint woman-keepers
+of thine holy gates, look down now upon this thine handmaid, who is
+designated to the office of deaconess, and cleanse her from all
+filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, that she may worthily execute
+the work intrusted to her to thine honor, and to the praise of thine
+Anointed, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and adoration
+forever. Amen."
+
+The allusion to the creation of man and woman, to the women in the Old
+Testament who were called to special service, as well as to Mary, the
+mother of the Lord, while no reference is made to the women of the
+apostolic Church who were so highly commended, and held in veneration as
+worthy of all imitation, go to prove that the origin of this prayer was
+so near the time of the apostles as to be almost contemporary with them.
+
+The office of the deaconess, as described by the _Apostolic
+Constitutions_, fitted into the needs of the Eastern Church and the
+requirements of Greek life. It was in the East that the diaconate of
+women originated, and here that it attained its greatest growth. In the
+West custom did not demand the careful separation of the sexes as in the
+East, and church relations were less bound by social usages;
+consequently we meet with fewer references to deaconesses in the works
+of the Latin fathers, and the diaconate of women is not so deeply rooted
+in the affections of the church communities as we have found it in the
+Greek Church.[10]
+
+The fourth century was the blossoming period of woman's diaconate, when
+it attained its highest importance. All the leading Greek fathers and
+Church authorities of the age make mention of it. The office is spoken
+of as worthy of all honor, filled by women of rank from noble families,
+and those of wealth and ability. It found its special advocate and
+protector in Chrysostom, "John of the Golden Mouth," who was Bishop of
+Constantinople from 397 until 407 A.D. He seems to have had the
+ability, rare for that age, of understanding the value of the services
+of Christian women, and through his wise guidance and encouragement had
+over them almost unbounded influence. Forty-six deaconesses were under
+his direction--forty attached to the mother church at Constantinople,
+and six belonging to a small church in the suburbs. A number of these
+were closely identified with his history, either as relatives or
+friends, and through his writings their memory is preserved. Of these
+are Nicarete, of a noble family of Nicomedia. We are told she was of a
+modest, retiring nature, and would not take places of responsibility
+when urged to do so by Chrysostom. We note a strong tendency toward the
+later celibate life of the nuns when we read that she was extolled for
+"her perpetual virginity and holy life." Sabiniana was the aunt of
+Chrysostom. To Amprucla the bishop wrote two letters still extant.[11]
+They are filled with words of consolation for the religious persecution
+she has undergone. In one of them he says: "Greatly did we sympathize
+with your manliness, your steadfast and adamantine understanding, your
+freedom of speech and boldness." "Manliness of soul" seems to have held
+a high place in the bishop's favorite qualities. In another place,
+writing to the same deaconess, he praises "your steadfast soul, true to
+God; yea, rather, your noble and most manly soul."
+
+Pentadia and Procla were closely associated with Olympias. In a letter
+to Pentadia, Chrysostom writes: "For I know your great and lofty soul,
+which can sail as with a fair wind through many tempests, and in the
+midst of the waves enjoy a white calm."[12] Reading such words of
+appreciation, words that in other places approach dangerously near to
+adulation, we better understand the influence Chrysostom exercised over
+the women of his time, and their steadfast devotion to him. They had the
+conviction that all their efforts met with his sincere and profound
+appreciation and quick responsive acknowledgment.
+
+Pre-eminent among the friends of the great bishop was Olympias, of whom
+Dean Howson said, "She is the queenly figure among the deaconesses of
+the primitive Church." To understand her life we must recall the scenes
+by which she was surrounded and the age in which she lived.[13]
+
+In the great capital of the Eastern Empire, where the luxuriance and
+magnificence of the Orient combined with the keen, quick intellectual
+life of the Greeks; in the circle of the imperial court, with its
+intrigues, its fashions, its favoritisms; at a time when outwardly much
+respect was paid to the forms of religious life, but when the great and
+vital dogmas of the Church were made the sport of witty sophistical
+disputations; when those who endeavored to lead an earnest Christian
+life met with nearly as much to oppose them as in periods of active
+persecution; such were her environments. They were little favorable to
+the strength of mind, the fixedness of purpose, the self-denial and
+Christian devotion that marked this noble deaconess. Born in 368 A.D. of
+a heathen family of rank, owing to her parents' early death she was
+educated a Christian. In her seventeenth year she married Nebridius, the
+prefect of the city, but after a married life of twenty months he died,
+leaving her at eighteen years a widow, rich, beautiful, and free to
+decide her future. The Emperor Theodosius desired her to marry one of
+his kinsmen, but she refused, saying, "Had God designed me to lead a
+married life he would not have taken my husband; I will remain a widow,"
+and shortly after she was consecrated a deaconess by Bishop Nectarius.
+The emperor, angered at her refusal, took from her the use of her large
+fortune, and put it under the care of guardians until she should be
+thirty years old, whereupon she only thanked him for relieving her of
+the heavy responsibility of administering her estate, and begged him to
+add to his kindness by dividing it between the poor and the Church.
+
+Shamed out of his anger, the emperor soon restored her rights, and when
+Chrysostom came to Constantinople her lavish and often unwise generosity
+was felt in every direction, being compared to "a stream which flows to
+the end of the world." He reproved her unbounded liberality, and advised
+her to administer alms as a wise steward who must render an account.
+This counsel guided her into safer paths. Finally, when Chrysostom was
+driven forth to banishment, by his advice she remained in the city, and
+became a support for his followers and those who had been dependent upon
+him. She met contemptuous treatment and judicial persecutions, but
+continued her works of charity, and outlived the man whose mind and
+heart had so influenced hers by eleven years. Chrysostom wrote her many
+letters, of which seventeen are extant.[14] They plainly show the
+estimate he set upon the diaconate of women, and his endeavor to wisely
+cherish it. Unfortunately, they also show exaggeration of compliment and
+praise which detract from his words of sincere and honest admiration.
+Too often, also, he gives undue value to works of mercy, and exalts acts
+of ascetic self-denial.
+
+The question of the age at which deaconesses could be received is a
+vexed one. The confusion of apprehension touching deaconesses and widows
+led to differing enactments at different times and places. The
+restriction of age, however, must now have lost its force, as we find
+Olympias a deaconess when not yet twenty years of age, and Makrina, the
+sister of Gregory of Nyssa, was ordained when a young girl. Deaconesses
+retained control of their property. In truth, a law of the State forbade
+them to enrich churches and institutions at the expense of those having
+just claims on them. Deaconesses also existed in the Church of Asia
+Minor. Ignatius mentions them as at Antioch in Syria. They were in Italy
+and Rome. The Church of St. Pudentiana, in the Eternal City, keeps
+alive the memory of two deaconesses whose house is said to have stood on
+this site; Praxedes and Pudentiana, the daughters of a Roman senator,
+who devoted themselves, with all they had, to the service of the Church.
+Deaconesses also penetrated to Ireland, Gaul, and Spain, lingering in
+the last named country many years after they had passed out of knowledge
+elsewhere.
+
+We find very little about this order of Christian workers in the Western
+Church. There is a passage of Origen in a Latin translation which speaks
+of the ministry of women as both existing and necessary, but in the
+great Latin fathers, the contemporaries of Chrysostom, scarcely a
+mention occurs. From the last half of the fifth century the diaconate of
+women declined in importance.[15] It was deprived of its clerical
+character by the decrees passed by the Gallic councils of the fifth and
+sixth centuries. It was finally entirely abolished as a church order by
+the Synod of Orleans, 593 A.D., which forbade any woman henceforth to
+receive the _benedictio diaconalis_, which had been substituted for
+_ordinatio diaconalis_ by a previous council (Synod of Orange, 441). The
+withdrawing of church sanctions made the deaconess cause a private one.
+But as such it existed for hundreds of years, often under the patronage
+and protection of those high in authority. About the year 600 A.D. the
+patriarch of Constantinople, godfather of the Emperor Mauritius, built
+for his sister, who was a deaconess, a church which for centuries was
+called the "Church of the Deaconesses." It is still standing and, only
+slightly changed, is now used for a Turkish mosque.[16]
+
+In the twelfth century there were still deaconesses at Constantinople.
+Balsamon, a distinguished professor of Church law, writing at the time,
+says that deaconesses were still elected in that city and took charge of
+conferences among women members, but in other places the order had
+passed completely away.
+
+There was no historian of the diaconate of the early Church. We learn of
+it only from isolated and occasional references in works devoted to
+other subjects. Yet these references are sufficient to enable us to
+affirm that deaconesses were a factor in the life of the Church for from
+nine to twelve centuries, or two thirds of the Christian era.
+
+The same influences led to its decay that affected the entire life of
+the Church during these centuries. The superior sanctity attached to
+the unmarried state, that brought about the celibacy of the priests,
+gradually changed the active beneficent existence of the old-time
+deaconesses into the cloistral life of nuns. Statutes were passed
+forbidding her to marry. Gradually grew up the dangerous superstition of
+the marriage of the individual soul with Christ, that made of the nun
+the Bride of Christ in an especial sense. It was this false conception
+that led the vow of the nun to be regarded as the vow of marriage, and
+to be guarded from infringement in the same way as the human marriage
+tie, and like it to be lasting for life. The glorious doctrine of
+justification by faith was replaced by ascetic mortifications of the
+flesh based upon the belief in meritorious works. The cell of the monk
+and the nun were esteemed more sacred than the family circle, and in the
+darkness of mediaeval times that settled down upon the life of the Church
+we lose sight of the busy, active ministrations of women deacons, who
+had once been esteemed so needful to her usefulness.
+
+There are other minor causes that aided in the downfall of the order;
+the abuses that arose in some cases; the changes in the ceremony of
+baptism by which the aid of women was not so indispensable, and
+especially the fact that since the time of Constantine the care of the
+sick and poor was placed under the charge of the State.[17]
+
+These causes combined removed from the life of the Church a powerful
+agency for good, and for centuries deprived it of the pre-eminent gifts
+of ministration which belong to Christian women.
+
+
+ [5] _Woman's Work in the Church_, J. M. Ludlow, p. 21.
+ [6] _Die Weibliche Diakonie in ihrem ganzen Umfang_, Theodor Schaefer,
+ 3 vols. Stuttgart: D. Gundert, 1887. Vol. i, p. 45.
+ [7] _Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart_,
+ Emil Wacker. Guetersloh: E. Bertelman, 1888. p. 33.
+ [8] Neander, _Hist. of Chr. Religion and Church_, vol. i, p. 188;
+ Schaff, _Hist. of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260; McClintock &
+ Strong's _Encyclopaedia_, art. "Deaconesses."
+ [9] J. M. Ludlow, _Woman's Work in the Church_, p. 17.
+ [10] Neander, _Hist. of Chr. Rel. and Church_, vol. i, p. 188; Schaff,
+ _Hist. of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260.
+ [11] _Sancti Johannis Chrysostomi opera om_, t. ii, pp. 659, 662.
+ Paris, 1842.
+ [12] Chrys., _Op._, vol. ii, p. 658.
+ [13] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, Theodor Schaefer, vol. i, p. 8.
+ [14] Chrys., _Op._, vol. ii, p. 600.
+ [15] Schaff's _History of Chr. Church_, vol. iii, p. 260.
+ [16] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth, 1880,
+ p. 5.
+ [17] Herzog's _Protestantische Real Enc._, vol. iii, p. 589.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+DEACONESSES FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH
+CENTURIES.
+
+
+During these seven centuries whenever there arose a reviving spirit of
+true love to God, whether within the Church of Rome or in any of the
+churches formed from reforming elements that separated from it, then we
+find traces of the diaconate of woman assuming some form of devotion to
+Christ and work for him. One of these movements well worth our study
+originated in Belgium while the last of the Greek deaconesses were still
+daily walking the arched pathway that led to their church in
+Constantinople. Toward the close of the twelfth century great corruption
+of morals and open abuses prevailed in society, and also in the Church.
+One of those who protested against the evils of the times was the priest
+Lambert le Begue, as he was called, meaning the stutterer. He lived at
+Liege, in Belgium, and just without the city walls owned a large garden.
+He determined to make use of this to found a retreat for godly women,
+where they could lead in common a life of well-doing. Here he built a
+number of little houses, and in the center a church, which was dedicated
+to St. Christopher in 1184. Then he presented the whole to some godly
+women to be used and owned in common. His earnest words of rebuke
+brought persecution upon him from those whose consciences he disturbed,
+but he went to Rome and appealed to the pope, who not only protected him
+from his assailants, but made him the patriarch of the order he had
+founded. Only six months after his return, however, he died, and was
+buried before the high altar of the church he had erected in 1187.
+Whether he was indeed the founder of the Beguine houses has been called
+in question. Be that as it may, fifty years after his death fifteen
+hundred Beguines were living around St. Christopher's Church,[18] and
+Beguine courts were found throughout Belgium, in the Netherlands, south
+along the Rhine, in eastern France, and in Switzerland. The Crusades
+made many widows, and both widows and young girls sought shelter in the
+community life of the Beguines. As a rule they lived alone, in separate
+small houses built closely together and surrounded by a wall. Each house
+bore on its door the sign of the cross, and with every Beguine court
+there were invariably two large buildings--a church and a hospital; the
+one for the worship of the sisters, the other the field of their
+self-denying ministrations. At first they were in no wise distinguished
+in their dress from other women, but in time they wore a habit which
+varied in color with each establishment, but was generally blue, gray,
+or brown. The veil was invariably white. The sisters had to earn, or
+partly earn, their own livelihood. In the time remaining they rendered
+essential service in performing acts of charity. They received orphans
+to bring up and educate, taught little children, nursed the sick,
+performed the last offices for the dead, and bound themselves by good
+deeds closely with the lives of the people. They were in no sense
+isolated from the world, but lived busy, useful lives in the midst of
+the world. They could leave the community at any time, and after
+severing their connection with it were free to marry. They also retained
+control of their own property.
+
+There were certainly many points of resemblance between these women who
+were so active in the sphere of Christian charity in the twelfth and
+thirteenth centuries and the deaconesses of Europe to-day. The most
+prosperous period for the Beguines was the first half of the thirteenth
+century, when they were numbered by thousands.[19] Gradually persecution
+was directed against them. The nuns looked upon them with disfavor, and
+the pope withdrew his protection. In the Netherlands many became
+Protestants at the time of the Reformation, but the Beguines of to-day,
+changed in many respects from the original type, and now, closely
+resembling the other sisterhoods of Catholicism, are frequently to be
+seen in the cities of Belgium and north-eastern France.
+
+A new current of spiritual life swept over the church in the fourteenth
+century, and again we find women living together in community life, and
+devoting themselves to common service in good deeds, and known as the
+Sisters of the Common Life. There was also a Brotherhood of the Common
+Life, as there were Beghards, communities of Christian men corresponding
+to the Beguines. The Brotherhood and the Sisterhood of the Common Life
+honored as their founder Gerhard Groot, of Deventer, who was born in
+1340. Of a singularly attractive personality, a creative mind, and an
+ardent, enthusiastic nature, he was born to influence and command. He
+was already known as a priest of eloquence and wide learning when, in
+1374, he met with a deep spiritual change, and from that year dated his
+conversion. Henceforth, with every power of a rarely gifted nature, he
+sought to lead those who heard him to lives of purity and holiness.
+Gradually there grew up about him a circle of like-minded friends,
+occupied in writing books to spread his ideas, and aiding him as they
+could. His friend Florentius proposed that they live together and form a
+community. "A community!" answered Groot. "The begging orders will never
+permit that." But Florentius, the planner and organizer, persisted,
+offering his own house as a home, and held to the advantages of his plan
+until Groot yielded, and said, "In the name of the Lord begin your
+work."
+
+Such was the origin of the Brotherhood of the Common Life, and from its
+circle proceeded that immortal book, the _Imitation of Christ_, by
+Thomas a Kempis, keeping alive in the hearts of choice spirits of every
+generation the thoughts and sentiments of the men of whom its author was
+the interpreter. For a community of women of similar aims and purposes
+it needed only that Groot should make a few changes in the house that he
+had already set apart from his paternal inheritance as a home for
+destitute women, and the first sister house began. Like the Beguines,
+the Sisters of the Common Life took no obligations binding them to
+life-long service, but they differed from them in living more closely
+together in one family, and had a common purse. They wore a gray
+costume, and also worked for their own support. The special virtues they
+inculcated were obedience to those above them in authority, humility
+that would not shun the meanest task, and friendliness to all. Their
+charitable duties were much the same as the Beguines; they cared for
+children, nursed the sick, and often acted as midwives. In the first
+half of the sixteenth century there were at least eighty-seven
+sister-houses, mostly in the Netherlands.[20]
+
+It will be noticed that these freer communities of religious women, that
+bear so much closer resemblance to the deaconesses of the early Church
+than to the sisterhoods of nuns contemporary with them, mostly existed
+in the great free cities of Germany and the Netherlands, which were the
+cradles of political and religious liberty, the centers of commerce and
+of civilization at that time.
+
+Among the Waldenses, the Poor Men of Lyons, who were already prominent
+in the last half of the twelfth century, we find there were
+deaconesses. We learn of them again, too, among the Bohemian brethren,
+the followers of Huss. With deep Christian faith they endeavored to form
+a Church after the apostolic model, and in 1457 appointed Church
+deaconesses. "They were to form a female council of elder women, who
+were to counsel and care for the married women, widows, and young girls,
+to make peace between quarrelers, to prevent slandering, and to preserve
+purity and good morals,"[21] aims which keep close to the apostolic
+definition of this office.
+
+Luther, the great master-mind of the Reformation, was too clear-sighted
+to fail to appreciate the importance of women for the service of the
+Church. Speaking of the quality which is an inherent part of the
+diaconate of women, he says: "Women who are truly pious are wont to have
+especial grace in comforting others and lessening their sorrows." In his
+exposition of 1 Pet. ii, 5, he uttered truly remarkable words, for the
+age in which he lived, concerning women as members of the holy
+priesthood. He says: "Now, wilt thou say, Is that true that we are all
+priests, and should preach? Where will that lead us? Shall there be no
+difference in persons? shall women also be priests? Answer. If thou
+desirest to behold Christians, so must thou see no differences, and must
+not say, That is a man or a woman, that is a servant or a lord, old or
+young. They are all one, simply Christian people. Therefore are they all
+priests. They may all publish God's word, save that women shall not
+speak in the church, but shall let men preach. But where there are no
+men, but women only, as in the nuns' cloisters, there might a woman be
+chosen who should preach to them. This is the true priesthood, in which
+are the three elements of spiritual offerings, prayer, and preaching for
+the Church. _Whoever does this is a priest. You are all bound to preach
+the Word, to pray for the Church, and to offer yourself to God._"[22]
+
+There is no mention in Luther's writings, however, of the diaconate of
+women. It would be more natural that he should have tried to adjust the
+lives of the monks and nuns as he knew of them to the new relations
+arising from the Reformation rather than to bring to life an office of
+which he had no personal knowledge. This was what he did when he wrote
+to the burghers of Herford in Westphalia. In their new zeal they wanted
+to drive the inmates from the religious houses, although the latter had
+been the means of teaching them the reformed doctrines. In his letter
+of January 31, 1532, Luther says: "If the brothers and sisters who are
+by you truly teach and hold the true word it is my friendly wish that
+you will not allow them to be disturbed or experience bitterness in this
+matter. Let them retain their religious dress and their accustomed
+habits which are not opposed to the Gospel."[23]
+
+Certainly Luther would have seen no harm in allowing deaconesses the
+protection of a special garb.
+
+Passing to another great reformer, Calvin, we find not only references
+to deaconesses as filling a "most honorable and most holy function in
+the Church," but in the Church ordinances of Geneva, which were drawn up
+by him, there is mention of the diaconate as one of the four ordinances
+indispensable to the organization of the Church.
+
+In the Netherlands several attempts were made to revive the ancient
+office. The General Synod of the Reformed Church at Wesel, in 1568,
+first considered the question. A later synod, in 1579, expressly
+occupied itself with the work and office of the deaconess, but the
+measures taken were not adapted to advance the interests of the cause,
+and it was formally abandoned by the Synod of Middleburg in 1581. In
+the city of Wesel, however, there continued to be deaconesses attached
+to the city churches until 1610. In Amsterdam local churches preserved
+the office still later than at Wesel. Already in 1566 we read that in
+the great reformed Church not only deacons but deaconesses were elected.
+The terrible days of the Spanish fury swept away all Church organization
+for a time, but when it was restored in 1578 both classes of Christian
+officers again resumed their duties. From 1582 lists of deaconesses were
+kept, showing at first three; later, in 1704, twenty-eight, and in 1800
+only eight. At the present time there are women directors of hospitals
+and orphanages in Amsterdam who are called by the title of deaconesses.
+The helpless, sick, and neglected children are now gathered in
+institutions instead of being cared for individually as was formerly the
+custom, and women having positions of control in these institutions are
+designated by the name formerly applied to those who had the personal
+care of the same needy classes.
+
+It is interesting to note that there was one association of women in the
+century of the Reformation that bears close resemblance to the Beguines
+and the Sisters of the Common Life. These were the Damsels of Charity,
+established by Prince Henry Robert de la Mark, the sovereign prince of
+Sedan in the Netherlands. In 1559 he, together with the great majority
+of his subjects, embraced the doctrines of the Reformed Church, and
+instead of incorporating former church property with his own
+possessions, as did so many princes of the Reformation, he devoted it to
+founding institutions of learning and of charity. These latter he put
+under the care of the "Damsels of Charity," an association of women
+which he had instituted. The members could live in their own homes or in
+the establishments, but in either case they devoted themselves to the
+protection and succor of the poor and sick and the aged. While taking no
+vows, they were chosen from those not bound by the marriage vow, and
+were subject only to certain rules of living. The Damsels of Charity
+have been held by some to be the first Protestant association of
+deaconesses, although not called by the name.[24]
+
+There are two evangelical societies, small in numbers, but one at least
+powerful in influence, which have retained deaconesses from their origin
+to the present time. These are the Mennonites or Anabaptists, and the
+Moravians. It was among the Mennonites in Holland that Fliedner saw the
+deaconesses, who so interested him in their duties that he obtained the
+convictions which in the end led him to devote his life to their
+restoration in the economy of the Church. Among the Moravians,
+deaconesses were introduced at the instance of Count Zinzendorf in 1745,
+but only as a limited form of woman's service, by no means measuring up
+to the place accorded them to day in Germany.
+
+We have now reached the nineteenth century, and from the early Church to
+the present time we find successive if sporadic attempts to incorporate
+into the Church the active diaconate of women. These constantly
+recurring efforts imply a consciousness, deep, if unexpressed, of the
+need to utilize better the especial gifts of women in Christian service.
+We have reached the moment when this consciousness is to take a suitable
+and enduring form; when the Church machinery, long defective in this
+particular, is to be re-adjusted and made complete.
+
+
+ [18] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 67.
+ [19] _Woman's Work in the Church_, Ludlow, p. 117, note. "Matthew
+ Paris mentions it as one of the wonders of the age, for the
+ year 1250, that in Germany there rose up an innumerable multitude
+ of those continent women who wish to be called Beguines, to that
+ extent that Cologne was inhabited by more than a thousand of
+ them."
+ [20] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, Schaefer, vol. i, p. 70.
+ [21] _Der Diakonissenberuf_ E. Wacker, p. 82.
+ [22] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, p. 5. Guetersloh,
+ 1888.
+ [23] _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 73.
+ [24] _Histoire de la principaute de Sedan_, Pasteur Pegran, vol. ii,
+ chaps. i, ii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF
+DEACONESS.
+
+
+The first years of the present century were sad years for Germany. There
+was a life-and-death struggle with an all-powerful conqueror to preserve
+existence as a nation. The Germans still call this "the war for
+freedom." Immediately thereafter followed a period of religious
+awakening, and this proved to be the hour when the diaconate of woman
+rose again to life and power. When the fullness of time arrives for a
+cause or a movement to take its place among the forces of society, many
+hearts become impressed with its importance. So, between the years 1820
+and 1835, there were four several attempts to awaken the Christian
+Church to an enlightened conscience in this matter, the last of which
+obtained a wide and an enduring success. The first was made by Johann
+Adolph Franz Kloenne, pastor of the church at Bislich, near Wesel.
+Stirred to admiration by the activity that the women's societies had
+shown in the Napoleonic wars, he lamented the fact that the
+associations had dissolved, and complained that they had not taken a
+permanent form, in which the members might have performed the duties for
+the Church that deaconesses had done in the early years of Christianity.
+In 1820 he published a pamphlet entitled _The Revival of the Deaconesses
+of the Primitive Church in our Women's Associations_. This he sent to
+many persons of influence, trying to win their co-operation for the
+cause. He received a great many answers in reply, among them one from
+the Crown Princess Marianne. But while in a general way his project met
+with approval, no one could suggest a practical method by which his
+thought could be realized.
+
+A distinguished woman, Amalie Sieveking, attempted the same task of
+utilizing the labor of Christian women as deaconesses in the Church. She
+belonged to a well-known patrician family in the old free city of
+Hamburg, and was well known for her philanthropic views and her generous
+deeds. "When I was eighteen years old," she relates, "I first learned
+about the charitable sisterhoods in Catholic lands, and the knowledge
+seized upon me with almost irresistible power. Like a lightning's flash
+came the thought, What if you were appointed to found a similar
+institution for our Protestant Church?"[25] The thought stayed by her,
+and disposed her to receive willingly a similar suggestion coming from
+the great Prussian minister Von Stein, the Bismarck of Germany during
+the first quarter of this century. He had been favorably impressed by
+what he had seen of the Sisters of Mercy in the camp and in hospitals.
+He consulted with one of his councilors about increasing their number,
+so that they could be employed in all the Hospitals, Insane Asylums, and
+Penitentiaries which had women inmates. To another minister he
+complained with warmth that the Protestant Church had no such
+sisterhoods by which the beneficent stream of activities among women
+could be directed into well-regulated channels. "The religious life of
+Protestantism suffers from the want of them," he said. These words were
+repeated to Amalie Sieveking and stirred her to make the endeavor to
+fulfill her own long-cherished wishes, which were those of Stein. Just
+at this time, in 1831, the cholera broke out in her native city. She
+took this as a providential opening, by means of which deaconesses could
+begin their work, and went at once to one of the cholera hospitals,
+offered her services as a nurse, and at the same time issued an appeal
+for sister-women to join her. But no one came. The only outcome of her
+effort was a woman's society which she formed to care for the sick and
+the poor of her native city, and to work for this she devoted the
+remainder of her life. Stein and Amalie Sieveking had in mind an order
+of women closely resembling the Sisters of Charity. That their efforts
+were not crowned with success seemed to the evangelical Protestant
+promoters of the deaconess cause in later times providential.[26]
+
+Shortly after, in 1835, Count von der Recke, already well known as the
+founder of two charitable institutions, issued the first number of a
+magazine called _Deaconesses; or, The Life and Labors of Women Workers
+of the Church in Instruction, Education, and the Care of the Sick_. Only
+a single number appeared, but his earnest plea for deaconesses, and the
+elaborate plan he devised for an institution and officers, aroused wide
+attention, and brought him a letter of warm commendation from the crown
+prince, afterward King Frederick William IV. Evidently the idea was
+ripening, and a near fruition could be anticipated. But neither to
+minister of state, count, nor prince--to no one among the distinguished
+of the earth--was the honor given of reviving the female diaconate. It
+was to a humble pastor of an obscure village church that this work was
+committed.
+
+The little village of Eppstein lies in a beautiful country, full of high
+mountains and deep-lying valleys, about a dozen miles from Wiesbaden. At
+the village parsonage of the little hamlet was born, January 21, 1800, a
+son, the fourth of a family that numbered twelve children. The pastor,
+whose father before him had filled a like office, was a favorite among
+his people for his pleasant speech, sound advice about every-day
+matters, and his faithfulness in instructing the children in the Bible
+and the catechism, and caring for the sick and the afflicted.
+
+The little boy proved to be a strong, healthy child, and as he grew
+older developed a liking for books. His father taught a class composed
+of his children and some boys in the neighborhood, and when Theodor
+became old enough to join it he soon outstripped the rest, giving his
+father no little pride by his fluent rendering of Homer. Theodor
+Fliedner was not quite fourteen years old when the sudden death of the
+father changed the whole life of the family, and left the mother with
+eleven children to maintain and educate. Now began for Fliedner a
+struggle to complete his education. The simple, kindly hospitality that
+had been so generously exercised in the village parsonage met its
+reward. Friends came forward to offer help, and at the beginning of the
+New Year Fliedner and his brother went to the gymnasium at Idstein. Here
+he was obliged to live sparingly, and earned his bread by teaching, but
+he was happy and contented, and found in study his great delight. He was
+fond of reading books of travel and the lives of great men, which
+stirred him to emulation. In 1817 he went to the University of Giessen.
+Here he kept aloof from the political agitations among the students.
+Neither was he affected by the rationalistic teachings of the
+professors. His shy, retired nature aided him in this course, and his
+leisure hours were passed in reading the writings of the Reformers. The
+jubilee festival of the Reformation occurred in 1817, and the lives of
+the heroes of the faith were brought freshly home to him. Their strength
+of faith shamed him, but he had not yet learned the secret of their
+power. He was yet without a deep, spiritual life. From Giessen he went
+to Goettingen, where he devoted himself to a year's study of history,
+philosophy, and theology. During the holidays, as is the custom with
+German students, he made repeated pedestrian tours. In this way he
+visited the great free cities of the north, Bremen, Hamburg, and
+Lubeck. From Goettingen he and his brother went to the theological
+seminary at Herborn, where the following summer he passed with credit
+his theological examination. He was now ready to enter God's great
+school of practical life to be further fitted for the mission he was to
+accomplish. In September he went to Cologne and was employed in the
+house of a wealthy merchant as a private tutor. This was a great change
+for the quiet youth of country habits. He took great pains to
+accommodate himself to his surroundings, and to acquire the truly
+Christian art of becoming all things to all men. In after life, when
+speaking of this period and its usefulness to him, he wrote: "It is a
+great hinderance to a man, even to his progress in the kingdom of God,
+not to have been brought up in gentle and refined manners from his
+childhood." Although a faithful and devoted teacher his life-work was
+not forgotten. He constantly sought to widen his knowledge and
+experience, was made assistant secretary of the local Bible society, and
+formed friendships which led to his appointment to the pastorate at
+Kaiserswerth. This was a Catholic town formerly of some importance. The
+ruins of an imperial palatinate are still to be seen there, but in
+Fliedner's time it had become a little village of workmen dependent on
+a few manufacturers. On January 18, 1822, alone, and on foot, to save
+his poor society the expense of his journey, Fliedner entered the town
+where his life was henceforth to be centered. He was to share the
+parsonage with the widow of a previous pastor, and his sister was to be
+his housekeeper. His income was one hundred and thirty-five dollars a
+year. Only a month after his arrival the great firm of velvet
+manufacturers who provided the work-people with employment failed, and
+the little church community seemed about to be dispersed. The government
+offered him another and better appointment, but he felt that he must be
+a true shepherd, and not a hireling, and would not leave his people. He
+decided to make a journey to collect money to form a permanent endowment
+for his church. A journey over sixty years ago, to a young German of
+quiet habits, was a very different matter from a similar trip taken in
+this day of railroads and steamboats. To Fliedner it seemed a very
+important matter; and so it was in its results, which reached far beyond
+the little congregation he served. With great hesitation he began at
+Elberfeld, a town near at hand. A pastor of the city, to encourage him,
+accompanied him to friends, and on parting gave him a friendly
+suggestion that, in addition to trust in God, such work required
+"patience, impudence, and a ready tongue." Before starting on the longer
+journey to Holland and England he returned to his congregation and
+encouraged them by the sum of nine hundred dollars that he had so far
+secured. He was now absent for nine months, and during that time
+obtained an amount sufficient to put the little church in a position
+where a certain, if modest, annual allowance was assured. The pastor had
+also, in serving others, greatly strengthened and broadened his own
+faith. As he says, "In both these Protestant countries I became
+acquainted with a multitude of charitable institutions for the benefit
+both of body and soul. I saw schools and other educational
+organizations, alms-houses, orphanages, hospitals, prisons, and
+societies for the reformation of prisoners, Bible and missionary
+societies, etc., and at the same time I observed that it was a living
+faith in Christ which had called almost every one of these institutions
+and societies into life, and still preserved them in activity. This
+evidence of the practical power, and fertility of such a principle had a
+most powerful influence in strengthening my own faith, as yet weak." It
+was while in Holland that he wrote to Kloenne concerning the deaconesses,
+whose duties he had observed among the Mennonites. After his return he
+applied himself with zeal and success to his pastoral duties. Work was a
+delight to him, and his energy and force of character were constantly
+seeking new ways by which to make his church services more attractive,
+and to increase his influence over each member of his congregation. "He
+never asked himself what he _must_ do, but always what he _might_
+do."[27] But, work as industriously as he would, his small society left
+him time for other activities. While in London he had been profoundly
+impressed by the noble labors of Elizabeth Fry in the prisons of
+England. It was this woman's hand that pointed out the way for Fliedner
+in Germany. The prisons in his own land had remained untouched by any
+spirit of reform. The convicts were crowded together in small, filthy
+cells, and often in damp cellars without light or air; boys, who had
+thoughtlessly committed some trifling misdemeanor, with gray-headed,
+corrupt sinners; young girls with the most vicious old women. There was
+no attempt at classification of prisoners. Some of them might be
+innocent people waiting for trial. Neither was there oversight, save to
+keep the prisoners from escaping. No work was provided, and as for
+schools, where the larger number of convicts could neither read nor
+write, no one thought of such a thing.[28] That such idleness, the
+beginning of all vice, was here especially pernicious and corrupting can
+be readily seen. But few knew of this state of things, and those few
+left it for the government to provide a remedy.
+
+Fliedner, however, could not rest in this indifference. He says: "The
+smallness of my charge left me more leisure than most of my clerical
+brethren, and the opportunities I had enjoyed on my travels of at once
+collecting information and strengthening my faith imposed a more urgent
+obligation on me to try to make up by the help of our God for our long
+neglect." He tried to obtain permission to be imprisoned a few weeks in
+the prison at Duesseldorf, that he might view prison life from within the
+walls, but his request was refused. He then obtained leave to hold
+services every other Sunday afternoon in the prison at Duesseldorf. The
+efforts that he put forth succeeded in waking the interest of a great
+many persons, and at last there was formed by his efforts the first
+society in behalf of prisoners in Germany.
+
+It was while engaged in this work that he met his wife, Frederika
+Muenster, who was occupied in bettering the condition of the prisoners in
+the penitentiary at Duesselthal. He married her in 1828, and she became
+a helpful, inspiring co-worker with him in all his undertakings.
+
+In 1832 he was commissioned by the government to revisit England, to
+furnish a report on the various charitable organizations, especially
+those connected with prisons and alms-houses. This brought him into
+closer relations with Elizabeth Fry, as well as with many other noble
+men and women of all ranks who were caring for the poor and neglected of
+England. He extended his journey to Scotland, met Dr. Chalmers, and
+found his heart strangely touched by what he saw. His spiritual
+experience had deepened with the years, and while here he wrote to some
+friends, "The Lord greatly quickens me."
+
+His heart became still more open to works of mercy and love, and he
+gathered rich experiences which were afterward utilized in his work.
+
+Fliedner had now attained a certain reputation of his own as a friend to
+prisoners and outcasts. It was not surprising, therefore, that a poor
+female convict, discharged from the prison at Werden, should have taken
+the weary six miles' walk to Kaiserswerth September 17, 1833, to ask the
+good pastor for help. There stood in the parsonage garden a little
+summer-house twelve feet square, with an attic. This was offered to the
+convict Minna as a temporary refuge, and she became the first inmate of
+the Kaiserswerth institutions. She had arrived at an opportune moment.
+In the previous spring Count Spee, the President of the Prison Society,
+had urged the founding of two institutions, one Lutheran and one
+Catholic, to receive discharged female convicts. Fliedner, who had seen
+such refuges in England, declared himself ready for the plan, and tried
+to induce the pastors of the larger and wealthier communities in the
+neighborhood to locate the Protestant asylum in some one of these
+cities. No one responded to his appeal. His wife, whose courage was
+often greater than his own, urged him to make a beginning in the little
+village where he lived, unpromising as the conditions seemed, and after
+a little hesitation, seeing no one was ready to assume any
+responsibility in a matter that he took so deeply to heart, the good
+pastor decided to follow her advice. The old parsonage was for rent, and
+he secured it on low terms.
+
+Frau Fliedner had a friend of her school-days and early youth, now a
+woman of experience and ability. She sent for her to come and visit them
+to see if she would become the superintendent of the refuge, but shortly
+after her arrival she was taken sick, and her friends sent letters of
+expostulation urging her to return. Just now, when affairs were in
+rather an untoward state, appeared the first inmate. Let Fliedner tell
+the story:
+
+"We at first gave her lodging in my summer-house, and the necessity of
+attending to her did more good to the poor, distressed superintendent
+than all her quinine and mixtures. Countess Spee, the wife of our
+president, had prophesied that our inmates would never remain with us a
+month, they would certainly run away. So when the first month was over I
+marched over to Heltorf and triumphantly announced, 'Minna is yet
+there.' Minna was followed by another, and the garden-house became too
+small."
+
+Finally Fliedner obtained possession of the house he had hired, after
+some delay on the part of the former tenants, and the asylum was opened.
+The number of inmates increased, and Fraeulein Goebel soon had more than
+she could manage. She must have an assistant. The need of trained
+Christian workers, who could care for these poor women, grew daily more
+apparent.
+
+Fliedner's thoughts constantly dwelt on the subject; they gave him no
+rest. He had discovered with joyful surprise in 1827 the traces of the
+apostolic deaconesses among the Mennonites, and two years later he
+wrote:
+
+"Does not the experience of this our sister Church, do not the women
+societies in our last war, does not the holy activity of an Elizabeth
+Fry and her helpers in England, and the women's associations of Russia
+and Prussia formed after their model to care for the bodies and souls of
+women prisoners--do all these not show what great power God-fearing,
+pious women possess for the up-building of Christ's kingdom as soon as
+they have opportunity to develop it?"[29]
+
+His practical experience with the work he had in hand brought him to the
+same conclusion; namely, that there must be training-schools where
+Christian women, especially set apart for such service, could have
+instruction and practice in the duties they had undertaken. As a
+consequence there were drawn up in May, 1836, and signed by Fliedner and
+a few friends, the statutes of the Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess
+Society.
+
+Fliedner had now reached the work that was henceforth to be his life
+mission; that is, the restoration of deaconesses to the Christian Church
+of the nineteenth century.
+
+
+ [25] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, J. Disselhoff, Kaiserswerth,
+ 1886, p. 8.
+ [26] Schaefer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. ii, p. 86; _Denkschrift
+ zur Jubelfeier_, p. 9.
+ [27] T. Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 43.
+ [28] T. Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 48.
+ [29] _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_, p. 60.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE INSTITUTIONS AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+
+Fliedner saw clearly that if the office of deaconess were to be planted
+in the Church there must be soil suitable to nourish it: in other words,
+there must be an institution founded which could furnish not only
+instruction, but practice in their duties, and a home for those who
+should offer their services for this office. "But," he says, "could our
+little Kaiserswerth be the right place for a Protestant deaconess house
+for the training of Protestant deaconesses--a village of scarcely
+eighteen hundred people where the large majority of the population were
+Roman Catholics, where sick people could not be expected in sufficient
+numbers for training purposes, and so poor that it could not help defray
+even the yearly expenses of such an institution? And were not older,
+more experienced pastors than I better adapted for this difficult
+undertaking? I went to my clerical brethren in Duesseldorf, Dinsberg,
+Mettmann, Elberfeld, and Barmen, and entreated them to start such an
+institution in their large societies, of which, indeed, there was
+pressing need. But all refused, and urged me to put my hand to the work.
+I had time, with my small congregation, and the quietness of retired
+Kaiserswerth was favorable to such a school. The useful experiences I
+had gained on my journeys had not been given me for naught, and God
+could send money, sick people, and nurses. So we discerned that it was
+his will that we should take the burden on our own shoulders, and we
+willingly stretched them forth to receive it. Quietly we looked around
+for a house for the hospital. Suddenly, the largest and finest house in
+Kaiserswerth was offered for sale. My wife begged me to buy it without
+delay. It is true it would cost twenty-three hundred thalers, and we had
+no money. Yet I bought it with good courage, April 20, 1836. At
+Martinmas the money must be paid."
+
+It is not possible to give here in detail the occurrences by which loans
+were made, and the money that was needed obtained at the required time.
+God gave friends for the cause, and through them provided the means. The
+house was furnished with a little second-hand furniture which had been
+given him, and October, 1836, was opened as a hospital and training
+school for Christian women. Services of praise and thanksgiving
+consecrated this deaconess home yet without deaconesses, this hospital
+without patients. Both, however, soon became inmates of the building.
+The first deaconess was Gertrude Reichardt, the daughter of a physician.
+She had assisted her father in the care of the sick, and had become
+experienced in looking after the welfare of the poor and the destitute.
+She was an invaluable helper in the new enterprise, and shared with the
+doctor the duty of giving instruction in nursing and hospital duties.
+Fliedner's wife was the superintendent. She had the oversight of the
+house, gave the deaconesses practical direction in housekeeping, and in
+their early visits to the sick and poor accompanied them from house to
+house. Fliedner was the director, and took upon himself the religious
+instruction of the sisters. Every effort was taken to make the house a
+home in which a cheerful, loving spirit should prevail. Nearly every
+evening Fliedner or his wife would go over to the home, and read to the
+sisters, or tell them interesting facts outside their lives. When he
+went away on his journeys he would write in full every thing pertaining
+to the interests of the common cause, and the letters would be read
+aloud. This was to be a home in every sense of the word, in which the
+members were to feel themselves belonging to one great family, bound
+together by the common tie of unselfish devotion to others "for Christ's
+sake." The spirit of the founder has permeated the institution even to
+the present time. Those who know any thing of Kaiserswerth testify to
+the strong affection for the common home, the "mother-house," as they
+beautifully term it, felt by all its children. Every pains is taken to
+preserve it. There is correspondence, frequent and regular, from here to
+every sister. No matter in what distant land she may be, her birthday is
+remembered, and she is taught to look to this as a waiting refuge for
+the days of trouble, sickness, and old age.
+
+There was soon arranged a series of house regulations and instructions
+for work which became the basis for after regulations in nearly all
+existing institutions.
+
+Almost contemporary with the mother-house arose the normal school for
+infant-school teachers. It had first started as a child's school, and
+afterward young women who had taste for the care of children were
+received to be taught their duties. Fliedner took great interest in the
+instruction of children. He devised little games for them, and arranged
+stories to be told. His simplicity and his child-like nature led him to
+disregard formalities, and to think solely of the end he had in view.
+On one occasion, when picturing the combat of David and Goliath,
+reaching that point in the narrative when the young shepherd lad slings
+the stone that brings the giant to the ground, he cast himself headlong,
+to the great delight and amazement of his little audience, who enjoyed
+to the full this object-lesson that made the story so vivid to them.
+
+Then he took special pains that his teachers should learn to tell the
+stories of the Bible so as to make them clear and interesting to the
+youngest child. Every day a story was told in school, and each evening
+the teacher whose turn it was to relate the story the following day came
+to Fliedner and rehearsed it to him as though he were a child, afterward
+receiving his suggestions as to how the narrative could be improved. The
+work went along quietly, ever growing, ever advancing. "Among all
+others, and more than all others, was Fliedner's wife his best help. Her
+keen glance, made pure and holy by her Christian faith, preserved him
+from mistakes. With the household virtues of cleanliness, order,
+simplicity, and economy she united large-hearted compassion toward those
+needing help of any kind, yet knowing withal how, with virile sense and
+energy, to prevent the misuse of ministering love. She became a model
+for the deaconesses, as well as a mother to them, and her name deserves
+to be mentioned with honor, as one who had an important part in the
+Protestant renewal of the diaconate of women."[30]
+
+In 1842 a new building was erected for the normal school for
+infant-school teachers. The publishing house of the institution was also
+started, which issues religious books and tracts. The first work sent
+forth was a volume of sermons, presented to the new enterprise by the
+late Professor Lange, which went through several editions.
+
+The same year the _Kaiserswerth Almanac_ appeared and a large picture
+Bible for schools was published. In 1848 the magazine _Der Armen und
+Kranken Freund_ was sent forth as an organ for the deaconess cause, not
+only for Kaiserswerth, but for all the institutions that are represented
+at the triennial Conferences. The publishing house is an important
+source of income, as the institution has little in the way of endowment
+beside the produce of the garden land attached to it. At present about
+three fourths of the expense are met by the sale of publications and the
+fees of patients; the remaining sum is given by friends.
+
+The financial story of Fliedner's life could form a tale of thrilling
+interest, if it were separated from other facts and told by itself. He
+constantly went forward, purchased houses, added lands, and erected new
+homes when he had no money in reserve, but unfailingly when the time
+came for payments to be made the sum was obtained in some way or other
+to meet them. "We have no endowment," he once said, "but the Lord is our
+endowment."
+
+The same year, 1842, the orphan asylum was opened. For a very moderate
+sum this receives children who are both fatherless and motherless, and
+who belong to the educated middle class, having fathers who were pastors
+or professors, or the like. Fliedner hoped not only to provide a home
+for these girls befitting their station in life, but to develop among
+them those who should make a vocation of the care of children and the
+sick, and in this hope he was not disappointed.
+
+In the midst of these successes the hand of God often lay heavily on
+Fliedner's family. Brethren and children passed away, and, sorest
+affliction of all to him, his wife, who had so closely and
+sympathetically shared all his labors, died April 22, 1842. "She was the
+first of the deaconesses to die," writes Fliedner. "As she, their
+mother, had always led the way for her spiritual daughters in life, so
+she was their leader into the valley of the shadow of death."[31] Not
+long after this a normal school for female teachers in the public
+schools was started, for this practical believer in woman's work was one
+of the first to advocate the introduction of women teachers in the
+public schools of Germany, against which there then existed a strong
+prejudice. The Board of Education looked favorably on his project, and
+afterward sent a government commissioner to attend the examinations and
+award the certificates at Kaiserswerth. At a later period provision was
+made for teachers of girls' high schools, as also for those who desired
+to become teachers but were too young to enter the normal school. Over
+two thousand teachers have gone forth from these schools, carrying with
+them a love for the institution which has brought back to it many
+returns in money and service. Fliedner well called them his "light
+skirmishing troops."
+
+In 1849 he resigned his pastorate, and henceforth, with singleness of
+purpose, devoted himself to his one calling. From time to time new
+buildings were added to meet new needs. In 1852 an insane asylum for
+Protestant women was founded, as sisters were often called upon to nurse
+patients of this class. The building set apart for the purpose was
+formerly used as military barracks and was given to Fliedner by King
+Frederick William IV. In 1881 this, as with so many others of the
+original buildings at Kaiserswerth, became too small for the increase in
+numbers, and a new building took its place. It stands on an eminence
+just outside of the village, and is provided with every modern
+appliance. Fliedner's practical good sense and administrative ability
+led him to care for all the minor details that were needed for the
+success of so great an undertaking. He added a dispensary to the
+hospital, where a sister who had passed a regular examination before the
+government medical board made up the medicines required for the
+hospital. Many deaconesses have been trained to the same knowledge,
+which has been an especially valuable acquisition in the hospitals
+situated in Eastern countries. Little by little he secured land for
+farming operations, until there were one hundred and eighty acres in
+garden and meadow land, generally lying close about the various
+buildings, and affording means of recreation as well to the inmates.
+Nearly all of the vegetable and dairy products that are needed are so
+provided. A bakery, bath-houses, homes for laborers and officials, were
+added, and bakers, shoemakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths formed part
+of the staff of the great establishment.
+
+Gradually every variety of institution that could furnish active
+practice to the deaconesses took its place here, and the whole might be
+denominated a great normal training-school for Christian women. The
+refuge for discharged female convicts, which was the starting-point of
+the movement, still continued its good work during all these years. The
+last report[32] states that nine hundred and nineteen women of different
+ages and different degrees of wrong-doing have been its inmates. Parents
+send insubordinate girls; societies forward those who profess penitence;
+magistrates sentence degraded creatures often too late for any
+reasonable hope to reform them. The old experience of the refuge is
+repeated in this last report: one third are saved, one third are
+irredeemable, and the judgment as to the remaining third, doubtful.
+There were two buildings erected during the later years of Fliedner's
+life in which he took great interest. One of these was a cottage among
+the neighboring hills, where deaconesses who had become exhausted by
+long days in the sick-room, or whose health was suffering from
+over-toil, could retire for a few weeks of mountain air and quiet rest
+during the summer months. This pleasant retreat was well named Salem.
+Soon afterward was laid the corner-stone of the second building,
+regarded with peculiar favor not only by the good pastor, but by all
+friends of the institution. This was the "Feierabend Haus," the House of
+Evening Rest, where, somewhat apart from the busy activity of the great
+household, those deaconesses whose best strength had been given to
+faithful labor in the service could pass the evening hours of life in
+quiet waiting for the last great change, while using the experience they
+had gathered and the strength still remaining in behalf of the cause
+they had faithfully served.
+
+Such are the main features of the great establishment that year by year
+grew up in this village on the Rhine. But from this as a center had
+gradually branched off manifold lines of service, and many
+daughter-houses both in Germany and foreign lands. It was only a year
+and a half after the home was opened that the first appointment of
+deaconesses to work outside of Kaiserswerth was made.
+
+This was an important victory for the new institution. It took place
+January 21, 1838, on Fliedner's birthday, when he and his wife escorted
+two of the sisters to Elberfeld, where they were to act as trained
+nurses in the city hospital. From that time to the present the hospital
+has continued under the management of the Kaiserswerth deaconesses.
+
+Soon afterward sisters were sent out to nurse in private families, and
+in 1839 two more were sent to superintend the workhouse in Frankfort. As
+the institution became known there was a constant demand for
+superintendents, and matrons for public reformatories, prisons, and
+charitable establishments. Between 1846 and 1850 more than sixty
+deaconesses were at work at twenty-five different stations outside of
+the mother-house. About the same time deaconesses began to work in
+connection with special churches which called for their services, having
+the duties which in England are assigned to those called "parish
+deaconesses."
+
+King Frederick William IV., from the beginning Fliedner's faithful
+friend and supporter, had long desired a deaconess home in Berlin. This
+was finally obtained, and set apart under the name "Bethanien Haus," or
+Bethany House, October 10, 1847, at a special dedicatory service, at
+which the king, with his court, was present. It was while seeking a
+superintendent for this home in Berlin that Fliedner learned to know
+Caroline Bertheau, of Hamburg, a descendant of an old Huguenot family
+that was driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He
+led her home as his wife in May, 1843, and she became to him a true
+helpmeet for his children, his home, and his institution. She is still
+living, having survived her husband over twenty-five years, and in an
+advanced age still retains a place on the Board of Direction at
+Kaiserswerth.
+
+In one place after another deaconess homes arose, sometimes simply
+through Fliedner's advice, more often by his direct co-operation. From
+1849 to 1851 he was chiefly engaged in traveling from one land to
+another, occupied in kindling the zeal of Christian women to devotion to
+the sick and sorrowing, and finding fields of service for their
+priceless ministrations. He visited the United States, England, France,
+and Switzerland, as well as various cities of the East, including
+Jerusalem and Constantinople.
+
+The work in our own land was begun at Pittsburg, where Fliedner came
+with four sisters in the summer of 1849, at the invitation of Pastor
+Passavant, of the German Lutheran Church.
+
+The deaconesses at once entered upon hospital work, and their care of
+the sick met with warm appreciation, but their numbers did not increase.
+An orphanage was afterward started at Rochester, and hospitals under the
+same auspices exist at Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Ill., and Chicago. Still
+the work has not grown, and it has proved the least successful of any
+initiated by Fliedner. Upon his return he aided in opening
+mother-houses in Breslau, Koenigsberg, Dantzic, Stettin, and Carlsruhe.
+
+We have now come to the period when Kaiserswerth institutions met with a
+notable extension. Fliedner had long been looking toward Jerusalem,
+hoping to found a deaconess home there. "Who would not gladly render
+service on the spot where the feet of the Saviour once brought help and
+healing to the sick?" he had said.
+
+Now, through Dr. Gobat, the Bishop of Jerusalem, the opportunity was
+given. The king offered two small houses in Jerusalem that were his
+private property, and volunteered to pay the expenses of the journey.
+Associations were formed in all parts of Germany to provide an outfit
+for the mission. Gifts flowed in rapidly, and March 17, 1851, Fliedner,
+accompanied by four deaconesses, two of them being teachers, set out on
+this new and peaceful crusade to the holy city. From that beginning has
+resulted a net-work of stations throughout the East.
+
+There is at Jerusalem a hospital[33] where, during 1887, four hundred
+and ninety-three patients were given medical aid and nursing, and seven
+thousand seven hundred and two patients were treated in the dispensary.
+No woman in the city is better known or more justly honored than Sister
+Charlotte, the head-deaconess.
+
+The Mohammedans at first regarded the work of the sisters with fanatical
+distrust, but a glance at the statistics of the last report will show
+how completely they have cast aside their prejudices.
+
+Of the 493 patients in 1887, there were 404 Arabians, 43 Armenians, 30
+Germans, 5 Abyssinians, 4 Greeks, 3 Roumanians, 2 Russians, 1 Italian,
+and 1 Hollander. As to religion, there were 235 Mohammedans, 97
+Protestants, 78 Greeks, 23 Roman Catholics, 45 Armenians, 6 Copts, 3
+Syrian Christians, 4 Proselytes, 1 Jew, and 1 Maronite; so that in all
+nine nations and nine religious faiths were represented in the hospital.
+
+There is also a girls' orphanage, called "Talitha Cumi," just outside
+the city walls at Jerusalem, where one hundred and fourteen native girls
+were last year taught by the Kaiserswerth deaconesses. Over a hundred
+more made application to enter, but there was no room to receive them.
+In Constantinople, Alexandria, Cairo, Beirut, and Pesth there are also
+well-appointed hospitals, some of them of spacious dimensions, and all
+having excellent medical service and nursing that cannot be surpassed.
+
+The orphanage and school at Beirut had a sad foundation. In 1860 came
+the terrible news of the massacre of the Maronite Christians by the
+Druses in the Lebanon mountains.
+
+Kaiserswerth deaconesses were immediately sent out, and were among the
+first to arrive to join the resident Europeans and Americans in caring
+for the sufferers. Numbers of children were left fatherless and
+motherless, and the sisters started the orphanage at Beirut to shelter
+them. When its twenty-fifth anniversary was celebrated in 1885 over
+eight hundred girls had received a home and education here, and had gone
+forth to eastern homes, carrying with them the light and knowledge of
+Christian faith into the dark, degraded social life of the Orient.[34]
+
+From the two orphanages at Beirut and Jerusalem over forty have gone out
+as teachers in girls' schools in Palestine and Syria. Twelve others have
+become deaconesses, and are ministering in this capacity to their own
+countrymen and to foreigners in eastern hospitals.[35]
+
+In Smyrna there is also a girls' school, that was opened at the request
+of some wealthy Protestants residing there. The school is not so needed
+as formerly, since the government has started girls' high schools, but
+it is still maintained, and aids in bringing new life into the hopeless
+society of the East. There is also an orphanage at Smyrna, where some
+girls of the poorer classes were gathered after the ravages of the
+cholera had left them without parents or homes.
+
+The eastern deaconesses have also their Salem. Just above the little
+village of Areya, in the Lebanon, on the summit of a hill overlooking
+the Mediterranean, stands the house of retreat, where, during the summer
+months, the more than forty sisters stationed in Beirut, Alexandria,
+Cairo, and Jerusalem can take refuge in seasons of overpowering heat.
+
+The deaconess who superintends the house has a school for the native
+children of the village, which is taught by one of the girls educated at
+the Beirut orphanage.
+
+Prosperous girls' schools are also in existence at Bucharest, and at
+Florence, Italy. The Italian school was started in 1860 with four girls
+in the upper floor of a rented house. It now possesses a beautiful house
+and grounds of its own, and had one hundred and forty-five girls under
+its charge the past year. Most of these were Italians, but different
+foreign residents also availed themselves of the opportunity to send
+their children to an excellent Protestant school. There is also a
+mission at Rome maintained by deaconesses during the winter months.
+
+The large majority of the undertakings outside of Kaiserswerth were
+initiated personally by Fliedner. When we recall the complex demands of
+the home field in Germany we marvel at the versatile executive ability
+of this man, who started life as the humble pastor of an obscure village
+church. But he loved work. He possessed "iron industry." He was ever
+hopeful, courageous, and indefatigable. Above all, he trusted completely
+in the leadings of Divine Providence, and constantly went forward with
+sure confidence. Then he was a true leader. He knew men. He put the
+right person in the right place, gave him full liberty of action, and
+held him to a strict responsibility for results. So, while Fliedner
+remained the soul of the great institution, he knew how to make himself
+spared, which was not the least of his qualifications for his calling.
+
+
+ [30] _Der Diakonissenberuf_, Emil Wacker, Guetersloh, 1888, p. 116.
+ [31] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London,
+ 1867.
+ [32] _Ein und fuenfzigster Jahres-Bericht_, p. 30.
+ [33] _Achtzehnter Bericht ueber die Diakonissen Stationen im
+ Morgenlande_, 1888.
+ [34] _Vierzehnten Bericht ueber die Diakonissen Stationen am Libanon._
+ [35] _Der Rheinisch Westfaelische Diakonissen Verein_, p. 64,
+ J. Disselhoff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE REGULATIONS AT KAISERSWERTH, AND THE
+DUTIES AND SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES.
+
+
+The regulations in daily use at Kaiserswerth are based on those that
+Fliedner drew up in the early days of the institution. They have been
+adopted with few alterations by the larger number of deaconess
+institutions that have since arisen, so that to understand the spirit
+and usages prevailing in them it is well to give these rules some study.
+They are contained in a book numbering one hundred and seven pages,[36]
+treating with great minuteness every question that affects the daily
+lives of the deaconesses. The qualities that the office demands are
+first dwelt upon as they are described in Acts vi, 3, and 1 Tim. iii, 8,
+9. The sisters are reminded that their life is one of service; that they
+serve the Lord Jesus; that they serve the poor and the sick and helpless
+"for Jesus' sake;" and that they are servants one of another.
+
+Special stress is given to the importance of cultivating unity, love,
+and forbearance in the relations of daily life, and the deaconesses are
+enjoined "to protect and further the honor of other sisters," "to form
+one family living unitedly as sisters, through the tie of a heartfelt
+love for the one great object that brings them to this place."
+
+There are two classes of deaconesses formally recognized, nurses and
+teachers; although there is another, deaconess whose work is year by
+year becoming more important, and that is the deaconess who is attached
+to a church in the capacity of a home missionary. She is designated by
+the term "commune-deaconess," or, as the English translate it,
+"parish-deaconess."
+
+Those who desire to become nurse-deaconesses must have the elements of a
+common school education, must be in good health, and, as a general rule,
+be over eighteen and not over forty years of age. Most important of all
+is it that she possess personal knowledge of the salvation of Christ,
+and a living experience of the grace of God. Those who desire to become
+teacher-deaconesses must, in addition, present certain educational
+certificates, and be able to sing. All must pass some months at the
+mother-house, taking care of children and assisting in housework, so
+that their fitness for the office can be proven. A great deal of care
+is taken to test the efficiency of the candidates, and only about one
+half the probationers finally become deaconesses in full connection. The
+teachers have, further, a seminary course of one year for those who are
+to teach in infant schools, of two years to prepare for the elementary
+schools, and of three years for the girls' high schools.
+
+While probationers, they receive, free of charge, board and instruction,
+and the caps, collars, and aprons that are their distinctive badges.
+Their remaining expenses they provide for themselves. Those who have
+completed the full term of probation, and have proved their fitness for
+the office, must pledge themselves to a service of at least five years.
+At the end of the time they may renew the engagement or not, as they
+wish. Should a deaconess be needed at home by aged parents, or should
+she desire to marry, she is free to leave her duties, but is expected to
+give three months' notice of her intention to do so.
+
+The deaconess performs her duties gratuitously. This is a main feature
+of the system. She is not even free to accept personal presents, for
+envy, jealousy, and unworthy motives might then creep into the system.
+She is truly "the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." All of her wants
+are supplied, and her future needs anticipated, so that, literally
+"taking no thought for the morrow," she can give herself with
+single-hearted devotion to the work in hand. The deaconess at
+Kaiserswerth receives from the institution her modest wardrobe,
+consisting of a Sunday suit, a working-dress of dark blue, blue apron,
+white caps and collars. A deaconess attired in her garb, with the
+placid, contented countenance that seems distinctively to belong to her,
+is a pleasant, wholesome sight that is constantly to be seen on the
+streets of German cities. Her deaconess attire is not only a protection,
+assuring her chivalrous treatment from all classes of men, but it is a
+convenient identification that insures her certain privileges on the
+State railroads and steamboats, for the German government recognizes the
+sisters as benefactors of society, and treats them accordingly. For her
+personal expenses the Kaiserswerth deaconess in Germany receives yearly
+twenty-two dollars and fifty cents; sometimes when in foreign lands she
+is paid a slightly larger sum. When she becomes unfitted for service by
+reason of sickness or old age, and has no means of her own, the Board of
+Direction provides for her maintenance.
+
+The rules for probationers are full of practical suggestions touching
+the details of daily life. There is not space to transcribe them here,
+but those who have charge of training schools will find them valuable
+reading. Every kind of house and hospital service is clearly defined.
+The deaconesses are instructed what duties are theirs in hospitals for
+women and in hospitals for men. In the latter the sister undertakes only
+such nursing as is suited to her sex, and for that reason she has a male
+assistant. She must follow strictly the doctor's orders in all matters
+pertaining to diet, medicine, and ventilation, and must inform him daily
+of the patient's state. She also assists the clergyman, if desired, in
+ministering to spiritual needs. But she must not obtrude her religion,
+when it is distasteful to her patients; rather manifest it in her deeds
+and manner of life.
+
+Every portion of the day has definite duties assigned to it. On reading
+them over you say, Can much be accomplished when the hours are
+subdivided into so many portions, and given over to so many objects? But
+the unvarying testimony is that no nurses accomplish more than the
+German deaconesses. No matter how busy they may be, the effort is made
+for each to have a quiet half hour for meditation and private devotion.
+Every afternoon the chapel is opened for this purpose, and all the
+sisters who can be spared meet here. A hymn is sung, and afterward each
+spends the time as she will in meditation, reading the Bible or silent
+prayer, the quietness and stillness being unbroken by words. The "Stille
+halbe Stunde," as it is called, is greatly prized by the sisters, and is
+observed by them in all their institutions, and in all lands. There are
+Bible-classes and prayer-meetings for the deaconesses during the week,
+and the first Sunday of every month there is a special service of prayer
+and thanksgiving for all sisters, all the affiliated houses, and similar
+homes wherever they exist. Fliedner prepared a book of daily Bible
+readings for the use of the sisters, and a hymn-book, used in all the
+Kaiserswerth institutions at home and abroad. "We have no vows," he
+said, "and I will have no vows, but a bond of union we must have, and
+the best bond is the word of God, and our second bond is singing."[37]
+The sisters of each house meet together to give their votes for the
+admission of new deaconesses and the election of the superintendents.
+Each deaconess is expected to obey those who are placed over her, and to
+accept the kind of work assigned her, except in the case of contagious
+diseases, when her permission is asked. What a tribute it is to these
+women that such a refusal has never yet been known! Every effort is made
+to harmonize the right of the individual with the needs of the whole
+body, a marked characteristic of the Protestant sisters of charity.
+
+When a probationer becomes a deaconess she is consecrated to her work by
+a service the main features of which it may be well to indicate. They
+are as follows:
+
+Singing. Address commending the deaconesses for acceptance. Address to
+the deaconesses, recalling the ever-repeated thought, "You are servants
+in a threefold sense: servants of the Lord Jesus; servants of the needy
+for Jesus' sake; servants one of another." Then, having answered the
+question, "Are you determined to fulfill these duties truly in the fear
+of the Lord, and according to his holy will?" the candidate kneels and
+receives the benediction: "May the Triune God, God the Father, Son, and
+Holy Ghost, bless you; may he give you fidelity unto death, and then the
+crown of life." After this is repeated the prayer of the _Apostolical
+Constitutions_, that beautiful prayer which has been said on similar
+occasions in many lands and in many tongues.[38] The service ends with
+the communion.
+
+A similar consecration service is used by nearly all the German
+deaconess houses. The features of those that meet together in the
+triennial Conferences at Kaiserswerth are strikingly similar; the spirit
+of the original founder pervades them all.
+
+The first of the Conferences was held in 1861, just twenty-five years
+after the founding of the first deaconess house at Kaiserswerth. It was
+celebrated as a Thanksgiving festival for the restoration of the
+diaconate of women to the Church. The representatives of twenty-seven
+distinct mother-houses met together to exchange their experiences, and
+to deliberate on matters touching the further usefulness of the order.
+
+Since then the Conferences have been continued at intervals of three and
+four years. The last General Conference assembled at Fliedner's old home
+in September, 1888.
+
+Just before it convened, as is the custom, statistics were obtained from
+the different mother-houses represented in the association, and pains
+were taken to verify their correctness. The results so obtained are
+given in the following table:[39]
+
+ Mother- Fields of
+ Conferences. houses. Sisters. Work.
+ 1861 27 1,197 ?
+ 1864 30 1,592 386
+ 1868 40 2,106 526
+ 1872 48 2,657 648
+ 1875 50 3,239 866
+ 1878 51 3,901 1,093
+ 1881 53 4,748 1,436
+ 1884 54 5,653 1,742
+ 1888 57 7,129 2,263
+
+Five additional houses had made application for entrance at the time the
+table was made, and were received at the ensuing Conference, among which
+was the Philadelphia mother-house of deaconesses in connection with the
+Mary J. Drexel Home.
+
+Over sixty mother-houses now belong to the association, and
+notwithstanding the necessary loss of deaconesses from death or removal
+from work since the preceding Conference, there are 1,476 more in number
+now than then. Surely the deaconess cause is striking deep root in the
+religious life of Protestant Europe. During Fliedner's life-time
+occasions arose which called the deaconesses outside their accustomed
+fields of work, and proved their value in the exceptional emergencies
+that so often arise. Here is an instance that occurred during the early
+days of the establishment:[40]
+
+"An epidemic of nervous fever was raging in two communes of the circle
+of Duisburg, Gartrop, and Gahlen. Its first and most virulent outbreak
+took place at Gartrop, a small, poor, secluded village of scarcely one
+hundred and thirty souls, without a doctor, without an apothecary in the
+neighborhood, while the clergyman was upon the point of leaving for
+another parish, and his successor had not yet been appointed. Four
+deaconesses, including the superior, Pastor Fliedner's wife, and a maid,
+hastened to this scene of wretchedness, and found from twenty to
+twenty-five fever patients in the most alarming condition, a mother and
+four children in one hovel, four other patients in another, and so on,
+all lying on foul straw, or on bed-clothes that had not been washed for
+weeks, almost without food, utterly without help. Many had died already;
+the healthy had fled; the parish doctor lived four German leagues off,
+and could not come every day. The first care of the sisters, who would
+have found no lodging but for the then vacancy of the parsonage, was to
+introduce cleanliness and ventilation into the narrow cabins of the
+peasants; they washed and cooked for the sick, they watched every night
+by turns at their bed-side, and tended them with such success that only
+four died after their arrival, and the rest were only convalescent after
+four weeks' stay. The same epidemic having broken out in the neighboring
+commune of Gahlen, in two families, of whom eight members lay ill at
+once, a single deaconess was able, in three weeks, to restore every
+patient to health, and to prevent the further spread of the disease.
+What would not our doctors give for a few dozen of such hard-working,
+zealous, intelligent ministers in the field of sanitary reform?"
+
+The Schleswig-Holstein war of 1864 was the first in which Protestant
+deaconesses were active as nurses. Already in the Crimean war the Greek
+Sisters of Charity among the Russians, the Sisters of Mercy among the
+French, and Florence Nightingale and Miss Stanley among the English, had
+wakened the liveliest gratitude on the part of the soldiers, and secured
+the respect and approbation of the surgeons.
+
+In the Austrian war of 1866 two hundred and eighty-two deaconesses were
+in the hospitals and on the battle-fields, fifty-eight of whom were from
+Kaiserswerth. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 was on a greater scale,
+and afforded wider opportunities for the unselfish, priceless labors of
+these Christian nurses. Neatly eight hundred deaconesses, sent from more
+than thirty mother-houses, cared for the sick and wounded in the camp
+hospitals or on the field. The willingness of a number of boards of
+administration to release sisters who were in their service, and the
+voluntary offers of other women to take their places, enabled
+Kaiserswerth to send two hundred and twenty of the number. Their
+experience in improvising hospitals, in aiding the surgeon in his
+amputations, and in ministering to the wounded and dying, throws a
+tender glow of compassionate sympathy over the terrible scenes of
+war.[41]
+
+The importance of trained deaconesses in times of war is now well
+understood by the military authorities at Berlin. In the winter of 1887,
+when war seemed imminent, the directors of the German deaconess houses
+were summoned by the government to a conference at the German capital to
+take measures for supplying nurses in case war should be declared.
+
+Deaconesses are now thoroughly incorporated into the religious and
+social features of the German national life, as must be admitted by any
+one who has weighed the facts that have been given.
+
+The example of Kaiserswerth has been far-reaching; the mission of
+Fliedner, that simple-hearted, true-souled, practical, energetic pastor,
+has been wonderfully successful.
+
+In this rapid sketch I have said but little of the hinderances he met,
+nothing of the ridicule which at first attacked him unsparingly. He paid
+no heed to these obstacles, and why should we waste time in detailing
+them? Steadfastly and undeviatingly he went forward toward the end he
+had in view; that is, to restore in all its aspects the devoted
+disciplined services of Christian women to the Church. He passed away
+from life October 5, 1864, leaving the great establishment that he had
+watched over in the charge of his son-in-law, Pastor Disselhoff, and
+other members of his family.
+
+The institution has become an imposing mass of building, forming an
+almost absurd contrast to the little garden house, the cradle of the
+whole establishment, which is still standing in the parsonage garden.
+
+When the fiftieth anniversary of the rise of the deaconess cause was
+celebrated in 1886 the Kaiserswerth sisterhood put their mites together
+and purchased the little house, to hold it in perpetuity as a monument
+of God's providence.
+
+The symbol of Kaiserswerth is a white dove, carrying an olive branch,
+resting against a blue ground. The blue flag floats from the old
+windmill tower on the river-bank, attracting the attention of the
+traveler as he floats up the Rhine.
+
+Other flags bear messages of conquest, of victory, of battles fought and
+won, of storm and stress and endeavor in the conflict of man against his
+fellow-man. But only peace and good-will, the victory of goodness and of
+love--these alone are the messages that are waved forth to the wind by
+the blue flag of Kaiserswerth.
+
+
+ [36] _Haus Ordnung und Dienst-Anweisung fuer die Diakonissen und
+ Probeschwestern des Diakonissen Mutterhauses zu Kaiserswerth._
+ [37] _Deaconesses_, Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D., p. 81.
+ [38] Refer back to page 23, chapter ii, where it can be found.
+ [39] _Der Armen und Kranken Freund_, August Heft, 1888.
+ [40] _Woman's Work in the Church_, p. 273, J. M. Ludlow. A. Strahan,
+ London, 1866.
+ [41] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, p. 215.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CONTINENT.
+
+
+In a book of these dimensions no exhaustive historical account can be
+given of all the developments of the deaconess movement in the various
+countries on the Continent. Only a few of the leading houses can be
+spoken of, but through a knowledge of these we can gain an insight into
+the life and characteristics of the movement as a whole.
+
+The mother-house at Strasburg is one of the oldest ones, dating from
+1842. It owes its origin to the holy enthusiasm and life experiences of
+Pastor Haerter, who exercised a deep religious influence in the city
+where he lived. In 1817, when he was a young man of twenty, the great
+Strasburg hospital was re-organized. The six to eight hundred patients
+were divided according to their religious faith. To the Catholics were
+assigned as nurses Sisters of Charity. For the Protestants there were
+paid women nurses.
+
+The magistrates appealed to the pastors to find at least two Protestant
+women of experience and ability to oversee the nurses, but the most
+persistent search in the various churches of Strasburg failed to procure
+suitable candidates. Years afterward, when death entered Haerter's family
+circle, and his life became clouded and darkened, he was called as a
+pastor to the largest church in Strasburg. He entered upon his new
+pastorate with a heart heavy and sad, and not until after ten months of
+struggle, in which the depths of his soul were stirred, did he come
+forth strong, confident, and positive as never before that "Jesus Christ
+came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Henceforth
+there was force to his life, conviction in his words, and never-ceasing
+energy in good works.
+
+When he heard of Fliedner's new undertaking below him on the Rhine he
+remembered the difficulty in finding Protestant nurses for the hospital,
+and declared that Strasburg must have a similar institution. He won the
+support of a number of Christian men and women, and the house was opened
+in October, 1842. From its beginning many branches of charitable and
+religious work were undertaken. Especial attention was at first given to
+preparing Christian teachers, and the schools in connection with the
+deaconess house were filled with pupils. The success in this particular
+aroused apprehension lest the deaconesses should be diverted from their
+legitimate duties in caring for outside interests, so for a time the
+schools were discontinued. They have been resumed, however, and are
+to-day prosperous as of old.[42] There are also a hospital, a home for
+aged women, a servants' training-school and a foundling asylum under the
+charge of the deaconesses. They are, as a class, of higher social rank
+than these of Kaiserswerth, the preponderating number of whom are from
+the lower grade of social life. They are also better educated. This is
+partly a necessity, from the fact that the city is on the border-land
+between two great nations and if the deaconesses are to be effective
+they must be familiar with the spoken and written speech of both
+peoples. Strasburg continues to be a great and powerful center of
+deaconess activities, having a number of branch houses and various
+fields of work.
+
+The affiliated house at Muelhausen has obtained an especially good report
+for its successful use of parish deaconesses. No other house has so
+systematized their labors or developed their possibilities as has the
+deaconess house at Muelhausen. All the authorities on deaconess work
+agree that the office of the parish deaconess is the crown and glory of
+the diaconate, and approaches most nearly the type of the deaconesses of
+the early Church.
+
+The parish deaconess has occasion to use every gift which she can
+possibly acquire in the varied training of the deaconess school. She
+must know how to care for the poor, the weak, the sick, and those
+needing help for either body or soul, as she finds them in her visits
+from house to house. She must be able to pray at the bedside of the rich
+man, and to serve in the kitchen of the poor man; to be motherly to
+children, sympathetic with the sorrowing, and silent with the
+complaining. She must be an intelligent nurse, having some knowledge of
+medicine, able to faithfully carry out the instructions of the
+physician. She must be keen in detecting imposition, and wise in the
+administration of charity, knowing that "to deny is often to help, and
+to give is often to corrupt." Truly, there is no gift of Christian
+womanhood which has not here its use.
+
+For many reasons Muelhausen was well adapted for a field of labor for
+parish deaconesses. It is an old city, dating back to mediaeval times,
+having a population of about sixty thousand inhabitants, half of whom
+are workmen. It has long been known for its noble and successful
+endeavors to promote the well-being of the working class. One of the
+first building and loan associations was started here to enable the
+operatives to earn their homes by gradual payments. Other organizations
+whose object is the moral elevation of the employees have united the
+different social circles by strong ties of sympathy. It was an easy
+matter, therefore, to raise a subscription of two hundred thousand
+francs to provide a home for the deaconesses who were invited here from
+Strasburg in 1861. There are now fourteen sisters in the deaconess
+house. Half of the number remain at the home to nurse the sick, and
+perform house duties. The remainder are parish deaconesses, who go forth
+early in the morning, each to her own quarter of the city, where she is
+busy at her labors during the day. In the evening she returns to the
+central home. In each of the seven districts into which the city is
+divided is located a district house; a pleasant, well-kept place. This
+contains a waiting-room for the deaconess and a consultation-room for
+the district physician, who comes at stated hours during the week. The
+poor who are recommended by the sister he treats gratuitously, and, so
+far as the physician directs, she furnishes food gratuitously. She keeps
+on hand a good stock of lint, bandages, and instruments. Each house has
+a kitchen and cellar. Every morning a woman comes in and prepares a
+large kettle of nourishing soup, and at 11 A. M. this is given out to
+the sick and poor.
+
+In the store-room are rice, sugar, coffee, meal, and similar articles of
+food. From here she sends out at noon such portions as are needed for
+the most destitute of the district. In winter she also sells from her
+stores to the poor. Then there is a closet amply provided with sewing
+materials, and when the deaconess obtains work for seamstresses she
+furnishes them at a small price the necessary outfit to begin sewing. At
+two o'clock the deaconess ends her duties at the district house, and
+spends the remainder of the day in making visits in her quarter. To
+provide means to support the constant expenditure, there is in each
+quarter of the city a committee of fifteen ladies and three gentlemen,
+being in all more than one hundred ladies and twenty gentlemen, who are
+responsible for the administration of the charity. Each committee has a
+yearly collection in its district, and in this way about forty thousand
+francs are gathered annually. In each quarter nine hundred francs (one
+hundred and eighty dollars) is set apart for the maintenance of the
+sister and the rent of the district house. The remaining sum is expended
+by the deaconesses in their several districts in caring for the sick and
+destitute. Every month each one receives the sum allotted her from the
+treasurer, and in return reports her expenditure. The ladies on the
+committee often give personal assistance to the deaconess, and sometimes
+assume responsibility for individual cases, or for an entire street. The
+arrangements are constantly being improved upon as knowledge is gained
+by practice. The experience that has been gathered at Muelhausen is very
+practical, and therefore very valuable. Similar work could be undertaken
+in any of our large American cities, with the anticipation of like
+beneficent results. For that reason the above detailed description has
+been ventured upon, with the hope that the Old World example will find
+imitators in the New.[43] Similar institutions, although not so
+carefully perfected, are found in Gorlitz and Magdeburg.
+
+In Berlin are a good many deaconess institutions. Among them is the
+Marthashof, a training-school for servants, and a home for those out of
+employment.
+
+The first impulse to care for the girls who come to large cities to
+obtain work, and to provide them a home where they can have respectable
+surroundings, came from Pastor Vermeil, the founder of the deaconess
+house at Paris. When Fliedner visited the Paris house his heart was
+touched by what he saw. He thought of the thousands of girls coming
+annually to Berlin from the provinces, and of the exposures and
+temptations to which they were subjected. He knew that many of them in
+their ignorance and inexperience were ruined body and soul in the
+lodging-houses to which they resorted, and drifted away on the streets
+of the city, only to find a place eventually in the hopeless wards of
+the great hospital, La Charite.
+
+He determined to do what he could to provide a remedy, and, as was his
+wont, "without money and without noise" he set to work. In the north of
+Berlin, at quite a distance from the railroad stations, he hired a small
+house on a street then called "The Lost Way"--a street well named, as it
+was unlighted and unpaved, and so poorly kept that when the queen came
+to visit the home, shortly after it was opened, her carriage, in spite
+of the strong horses, got stuck in the mud.
+
+By the aid of some ladies in the city the home was furnished with twelve
+beds; three deaconesses were put in charge, and after perplexing
+difficulties the authorization to open a registry for servants was
+obtained. The idea at first met with derision. It was said that such an
+institution was rightly located on "The Lost Way," for no one would ever
+come to it. But they came. In two years the number of beds increased to
+twenty, and the same year Fliedner purchased the entire court in which
+the house stood, containing five houses and a fine garden. Queen
+Elizabeth of Prussia became the patroness of the institution, and it
+grew in favor with the people. A training-school was added in which the
+girls were taught to wash, iron, cook, and sew, and also to work in the
+garden and to care for cows, the last two branches of domestic service
+being required of servant-girls in Germany. Later an infant school was
+added in which nursery girls were practiced in taking charge of
+children, a pleasant, helpful demeanor being made one of the requisites.
+Over two hundred children, mostly coming from the poorest and gloomiest
+homes, are in daily attendance. About three hundred and fifty more
+attend the girls' school for children of the working classes. In the
+home and training-school for servants about eight hundred girls are
+received annually, and sixteen thousand have been sheltered and taught
+during the years it has been open. They readily secure situations, over
+two thousand applications being annually received for the servants of
+the Marthashof. They remain in friendly relation to the home, receive
+good counsel and advice, and are encouraged to spend their free Sundays
+there.
+
+The Marthashof has had a beneficent influence over the moral and
+spiritual welfare of servants throughout Germany. In nearly all the
+cities similar homes are now established, while in the larger cities
+Sunday associations are formed to provide suitable places of meeting for
+the entertainment and instruction of those who are free Sunday
+afternoons and evenings. So far as I am aware, no similar work has been
+attempted for servant-girls in the United States. It is true that
+training-schools exist, but not with religious supervision, and with the
+moral and religious instruction of the inmates made a prominent feature.
+The Marthashof offers us a lesson well worth our learning.
+
+The deaconess house, "Bethanien," in Berlin, was founded by King
+Frederick William IV., who as the Crown Prince took a warm interest in
+Fliedner's undertakings.[44] It still remains under the protection of
+the emperor, and is one of the most important mother-houses. Over three
+thousand patients are annually admitted to the hospital connected with
+the house, and five hundred children are treated at a dispensary devoted
+solely to cases of diphtheria. Outside of the city it has thirty-three
+stations. There are also the Lazarus Hospital and Deaconess Home, the
+Paul Gerhardt Deaconess Home, provided for parish deaconesses, and the
+Elizabeth Hospital and Home, which started independently but is now
+allied to Kaiserswerth.
+
+The deaconess house in Neudettelsau stands in closest union with the
+Lutheran Church. The sisters are mostly from the higher ranks of
+society, and intellectual training is made prominent. Certain liturgical
+forms are used, and in the main deaconesses are employed in preparing
+ecclesiastical vestments and embroideries for church adornment.
+
+In marked contrast to Dettelsau is the deaconess house at Berne. It is
+almost a private institution, having only slight connection with the
+State Church. It owes its origin to Sophie Wurdemberger, a member of one
+of the old patrician families of Berne. A visit to England made her
+acquainted with Elizabeth Fry, with the usual beneficent result of
+increased interest and activity in good works. On her return to Berne
+she gained the support of a society of women, and through their aid
+secured a hospital and deaconess home. It is now fourth in number among
+the largest mother-houses, has two hundred and ninety-seven deaconesses,
+five affiliated houses, and forty-five different fields of work.
+
+The oldest mother-house in Switzerland is at St. Loup, not far from
+Lausanne, standing on one of the beautiful heights of that picturesque
+region. It was founded by Pastor Germond in 1841, through the direct
+influence of the work at Kaiserswerth. There are now seventy-three
+deaconesses, mostly acting as nurses either in private homes or public
+institutions.[45]
+
+There is also a large institution at Riehen near Basel, which sends out
+two hundred deaconesses. The greater number are of the peasant class,
+and are nearly all employed as nurses. The home at Zuerich was at first a
+daughter-house of Riehen, but is now an independent institution with
+twenty-seven stations. In Austria there is a mother-house at
+Gallneukirchen from which sisters are sent forth, four of them working
+in as many Vienna parishes. The story of deaconess work in Austria is an
+interesting one, and is told by Miss Williams in a recent number of
+_The Churchman_, from which the following extracts are taken:
+
+"The Protestants of Gallneukirchen were first formed into an independent
+parish in the year 1872, and it is the only one lying between the Danube
+and the Bohemian frontier. It is very widely extended, but numbers only
+three hundred and eighteen souls, and is so poor that with the greatest
+effort it can raise only four hundred florins a year (about one hundred
+and sixty dollars) for church and school. With the aid of those
+interested in the work a parish-house has been secured, where the pastor
+and his wife reside, and in which is the deaconess asylum for the aged,
+infirm, and insane of all classes. It has not as yet been possible to
+clear off the debt on the purchase. Still the sisters strive in every
+way to enlarge their usefulness, so that they now possess extensive
+buildings and farms--only partly paid for, it is true--wherein to house
+the many afflicted who apply to them for aid. In one building, standing
+alone on a hill, they purpose to collect the insane patients, and
+suitable additions are now being made to insure their safety and
+comfort. In another village, two hours' drive from here, is their
+school, where more than sixty boys and girls are taught, fed, and
+clothed, in most cases gratuitously, at worst at a nominal charge."
+
+"The sisters are bright and cheerful, and keep their various dwellings
+so exquisitely neat and clean, with their white-washed walls adorned
+with Scripture texts and pictures. No work, however menial, is beneath
+them. I have myself seen one scrubbing the stairs, and in turns they
+sleep on a hard straw bed on the floor, ready to rise in the night as
+often as a bell summons them to the aid of a suffering invalid or a
+refractory lunatic."
+
+There are a few institutions that exist independently of those
+represented at the Kaiserswerth General Conference. They stand alone for
+various reasons; perhaps they have not met the conditions required of
+those which belong to the association. Any house whose administration
+rests exclusively either in the hands of a man or a woman is excluded
+from the Conference. In every mother-house there represented the
+administrative head is twofold, consisting of a gentleman, who, with
+rare exceptions, is a clergyman, and a lady who is a deaconess. The
+Kaiserswerth authorities regard this joint management as an
+indispensable condition.
+
+The rector, as he is usually called, cares for the intellectual and
+spiritual instruction of the probationers, conducts public services in
+the chapel, and issues the publications and reports of the house.
+
+The oberin, or house-mother, is the direct head of the sisters. She is
+responsible for the interior management, regulates the duties of the
+sisters, and gives practical instruction. The two are jointly
+responsible for the acceptance and dismissal of probationers, for the
+assignment of the sisters to different fields of labor, and the kind of
+labor required. Every mother-house has its own peculiarities. The
+personal characteristics of those who conduct it are naturally impressed
+upon the house.
+
+Then, too, the influence of environment is to be reckoned with. The
+house may be located in a large city or in a small one; in the country
+or in towns. It may be under the influence of a State Church, as in
+Germany, or of Christians of all Churches, as at Mildmay. It will share
+the characteristics of the race of people from which come its workers.
+Doubtless in the Methodist Episcopal Church in America the deaconesses
+that eventually become recognized as set apart to special Christian
+service, through the training that is provided for them, will be women
+who are peculiarly adapted to the needs of that Church, with all the
+distinguishing American traits that will prepare them to understand the
+people whom they are to serve, and that will give them access to the
+hearts of this people.
+
+If the deaconess cause should gain favor with us as it has in Europe,
+and should the deaconesses become as established in the social life of
+the people as they are there, the effective agencies will be largely
+increased that are to deal with the questions that come to the front
+whenever, as in great cities, large numbers of people are massed
+together.
+
+Deaconess institutions now exist in Switzerland, France, Holland,
+Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Austria, England, and Germany, while
+the countries in which these homes have stations are literally too
+numerous to mention. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the countries of
+Northern Africa, and of Asia Minor, as well as isolated mission stations
+throughout the entire world are now served by deaconesses.
+
+If there were ten times the number of sisters, places could be at once
+found for them. It is instructive on this point to read what Pastor
+Disselhoff says[46] in the account he gives of the various demands made
+upon him, which he has been unable to meet. One of the letters he quotes
+was from an English missionary on the Cameron River. "Send us
+deaconesses for our hospital," he says. "It was built for European
+sailors, especially Germans. We hope and trust to overcome the
+superstitions of the natives, and that they too, may come to be healed."
+But there were no sisters to send.
+
+A similar call came from Shanghai, but as it was impossible to return a
+favorable answer, although the hospital was a Protestant institution,
+the Sisters of Mercy were invited in, and given control. From 1870 up to
+1886 over two hundred and twenty-seven places at widely remote
+distances, such as Madras, New Orleans, Port Said, Rio de Janeiro, and
+elsewhere, sent most urgent appeals for Kaiserswerth deaconesses to be
+assigned them, but invariably the same answer must be returned: "There
+are none to send." Disselhoff closes by saying, "How many open doors has
+God given! Whose fault is it that they remain closed?"
+
+
+ [42] Schaefer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 21.
+ [43] The details of the deaconess work at Muelhausen are largely
+ taken from Schaefer's _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. ii.
+ [44] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London,
+ 1867, p. 133. "The favor of the great, especially the
+ condescending kindness of our late Sovereign, he took as a gift
+ from the King of kings, who allowed his own work to be thus
+ promoted. He strenuously avoided all personal distinction, and
+ never wore the order which had been sent him; 'for a servant of
+ the Church,' he said, 'there should be but one order--the Cross
+ of the Lord.'"
+ [45] _Der Armen und Kranken Freund_, August, 1888.
+ [46] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, pp. 248, 249.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.
+
+
+The good results of the work of deaconesses in the other Protestant
+bodies of Germany doubtless had their influence upon German Methodism.
+As far back as 1868 in Wurtemberg, and later in Frankfort, some
+preachers introduced parish deaconesses for the care of the sick; but
+well-directed efforts, and unity in management, were lacking.
+
+The existing association was started July 8, 1874, under the title of
+"Bethanienverein," or the Bethany Society, through the efforts of
+several members of the German Conference, among whom were Rev. G. Weiss,
+who, with two deaconesses, initiated the work in Bremen, Rev. Frederick
+Eilers, the present inspector, and Rev. G. Hausser, who for several
+years was president of the board of direction, and now resides in
+America.[47] A further number of ministers showed themselves inclined to
+stand by the society, both by their influence and through contributions
+taken in their churches, so that in 1876 the first trained deaconesses
+were set at work in the city of Frankfort.
+
+As has been said,[48] the little institution in its early days had to
+pass through a series of critical experiences, as a young child has to
+encounter the series of childhood diseases that assail it; but it
+outlived them all, and is now enjoying a vigorous youth. It was but
+another illustration of the truth that all beginnings are difficult, and
+that successful experience has to be bought by overcoming hinderances
+and obstacles.
+
+To-day there is no branch of German Methodism more successfully and
+substantially incorporated into the Church life than the deaconess
+society, and none that wins greater favor among those outside of
+denominational lines.
+
+The first printed report was issued in October, 1884. In this the
+inspector says: "Our society is now in three cities, Frankfort, Hamburg,
+and Berlin, and our sisters are not able to meet all the demands upon
+them for service." At that time there were thirteen deaconesses and
+twenty probationers. The last report, issued in July, 1888, shows an
+increase in numbers both of deaconesses and their stations. There are
+now eighty-nine deaconesses, eleven of whom are probationers, and there
+are stations in five places. Besides the ones previously mentioned in
+Germany, two additional stations have been started in Switzerland: one
+in Zuerich, and one in St. Gall.
+
+Nearly all the Methodist German deaconesses are engaged in caring for
+the sick; it is only recently that attempts have been made in some other
+directions of charitable endeavor. In the last report we are told that
+at Frankfort steps have been taken to reform fallen women. One of the
+sisters seems to be especially endowed with tact and ability for this
+difficult work. She has already induced twenty-two of these girls to
+enter the asylum at Sachsenhausen. The police authorities and city
+magistrates have given this same sister access to the women prisoners,
+which is a decided favor, coming from German officials. Besides her work
+in this particular, she has devoted her remaining time to the care of
+the poor and the sick.
+
+Many deaconesses were called upon to go out as nurses in private
+families, and, in order to obtain room to accommodate the added number
+these services required, it has been necessary to rent an additional
+house. There are two clinics in connection with the institution; one for
+those suffering from nose, throat, or lung diseases, the other for
+diseases of women. In both, the hours of consultation are free, and
+attract numerous visitors. Two hundred and forty-six people were
+received in the hospital last year, and were cared for in four thousand
+one hundred and fifty days of nursing. Spiritual results are also
+anticipated from the seed of God's word sown in the hearts of the sick
+through daily prayer and Sunday services.
+
+The house at Frankfort is too small for its increasing needs, and a
+permanent home of more ample dimensions is greatly to be desired.
+
+In Hamburg the house has been enlarged, and there is now room for
+thirty-five sisters; yet still there are more demands made than can be
+met. In one month ninety requests were handed in for the aid of the
+deaconesses. The city authorities offered them a large lot of land at a
+very moderate sum, which is at present used as a garden, and adds much
+to the enjoyment of the home.
+
+On the 4th of March, 1888, occurred the anniversary of the founding of
+the Hamburg house, at which time six sisters were set apart to their
+life calling by a service of consecration. As in all places where our
+deaconesses are employed, so also in Hamburg their influence is felt in
+the increase of religious life among the families they serve.
+
+In Berlin, again, there is an imperative call for enlarged house
+accommodations, and more sisters are needed to meet the requests for
+help that are constantly coming to them. As the report expresses it,
+"Something must happen!"[49] After six years of activity in Berlin the
+deaconesses find themselves well appreciated, and with a broad field of
+labor. The city authorities gave them permission to take a house
+collection during the months of February and March. One of the German
+ministers said, "This is an unusual favor, only granted in exceptional
+cases, as when a village is swept away, or there is an inundation, or a
+failure of harvests." This collection was no easy task. In the depth of
+winter, in rigorous cold and snow the sisters had to climb weary flights
+of stairs, in houses four and five stories high, arranged in flats; to
+knock at many doors, often meeting with but slight success or a positive
+refusal; yet daily they went with fresh courage to their work,
+encouraged by the thought that they were toiling not for themselves, but
+to serve the needy, "for Jesus' sake." The collection resulted in
+obtaining nearly twenty thousand marks, to which has been added the loan
+of a larger sum at a small rate of interest, so that there is good
+prospect of soon obtaining a permanent home as the property of the
+deaconess society.
+
+St. Gall is one of the newer stations, but from the beginning it has
+been a work of promise. In this old center of missionary operations,
+where Irish missionaries founded one of the most famous monasteries of
+mediaeval times, is now to be erected a hospital under the care of
+Methodist deaconesses, who have already begun to collect means for this
+purpose. In Scheffel's famous story of _Ekkehard_ the only way in which
+the Duchess Hadwig could enter the monastery of St. Gall (as there was a
+law that no woman should set her foot upon the threshold) was by the
+ingenious device of a young monk, who lifted her over in his arms. These
+peaceful women of Methodism are finding no obstacle now as did Hadwig of
+old; they do not need even figuratively to be lifted over the entering
+threshold; they are gladly welcomed, and are introducing a new element
+into the life of the old city.
+
+In Zuerich seven deaconesses are at work under the protection, and with
+the sympathetic co-operation, of the pastor and the church. I saw
+something of the deaconesses and their duties in this place. The
+inspector, Rev. Fr. Eilers, came with the first deaconesses and
+introduced them to their new field when I was a resident of the city. On
+Sunday morning he occupied the pulpit, preaching from Rom. xvi, 1,
+commending the deaconesses to the kindness and helpful aid of the
+members of the church. I used often to see Sister Myrtha, who was the
+head sister, hastening hither and thither on her errands of mercy. In
+her plain black dress and round shoulder-cape to match, and broad white
+collar and white cap, she was a pleasant and attractive figure. She was
+always happy and contented, ready to answer the many questions with
+which I plied her in my desire to look through the eyes of a deaconess,
+and to obtain her views of the office to which she belonged. She had a
+great love for her work, and believed that she was doing service for
+Christ in a true missionary field. Her simple uniform was a
+distinguishing mark that insured her respect and attention wherever she
+went, and she regarded it as a garb of honor that marked her as
+belonging to the daughters of the great King. You could not call such a
+life an austere or unnatural one. It was too thoroughly filled with
+thoughts of love to others to be either morbid or introspective. I
+obtained my first favorable impressions of the usefulness of deaconesses
+and their importance to the Church from the cheerful, contented labors
+of Sister Myrtha and her associates among the poor and sick of
+Zuerich--quiet women, of no particular prominence in the social world,
+and not learned or accomplished; "_nur einfache Maedchen_" (only simple
+maidens, quiet, ordinary women, as we might translate Sister Myrtha's
+own phrase), but living "not to be ministered unto, but to minister,"
+commending their creed by their deeds, and winning sympathy by the
+loving, self-denying spirit that they manifest.
+
+During the last year a house of rest has been opened similar to the
+house Salem at Kaiserswerth. This is called by the beautiful name
+"_Gottestreue_," or "God's Fidelity." The report says that they have
+named it God's Fidelity in recollection of this: "That the Lord has so
+faithfully led us and has cared for us in all storms which, especially
+at the beginning of the work, threatened to overwhelm it, has watched
+over us and upheld us, and has so richly blessed us." The acquisition of
+this house came through the work of the sisters. One of them was caring
+for an aged widow, whose sympathies were so won that she offered to give
+her property, amounting to about ten thousand marks, to the deaconess
+society, asking only that she be cared for for the remainder of her
+life. This sum enabled the house to be built, and last summer it was
+opened for use. It lies upon a mountain, has a pleasant outlook to the
+south, and a beautiful view over the valley of the Main and off to the
+distant forests. Near at hand is a grove of chestnut trees, and farther
+removed are extensive pine forests with pleasant walks. The house is in
+the charge of one of the older sisters.
+
+The regulations touching the training and duties of the sisters are
+similar to those of Kaiserswerth. Two years of probation are required,
+part of which is devoted to practical work under the superintendence of
+an older deaconess. The rules of daily life are much the same; a quiet
+half hour of prayer and meditation is strongly urged, and the same
+freedom in control of personal property and withdrawal from the office
+exists. It is pleasant to record that our deaconesses have secured to
+themselves such good report for their usefulness that the city officials
+in Germany accord to them the free use of steamboats and street-cars;
+and the Prussian government does the same for roads that are under State
+control.
+
+The Bethany Society of the German Methodists is self-supporting and is
+independent of the Conference, save only that the board of direction is
+composed of Methodist preachers chosen by the Conference. Each of the
+homes at the five stations has also its board of control, made up of the
+inspector, the pastor in charge, and the head sister. The inspector is a
+member of the Conference, but has no appointment, as his whole time is
+devoted to the duty of superintendence. Last year the society took the
+further step of deciding that henceforth the deaconesses should not be
+sent, as heretofore, to outside hospitals or other institutions to
+complete their training, but should be given the advantages they require
+at our own homes. Owing to this decision only six probationers can be
+received for the coming year, and others who have made application to
+enter must wait their turn.
+
+The German Methodist Church, the daughter of American Methodism,
+anticipated the parent Church in utilizing the womanly gifts and
+services of deaconesses as members of her aggressive forces, and
+furnished it a very helpful and stimulating example.
+
+
+ [47] _Jahresbericht des Bethanienvereins_, 1884, Bremen.
+ [48] _Der Christliche Apologete_, article by Rev. G. Hausser,
+ September 20, 1888.
+ [49] _Jahresbericht_, 1888, page 8.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DEACONESSES IN PARIS.
+
+
+When in Paris we visited the deaconess establishment on the Rue de
+Reuilly, and had the pleasure, ever to be remembered, of seeing the
+institution in all its workings under the guidance of Mademoiselle Sara
+Monod, the daughter of Adolphe Monod; members of a family that have been
+Protestants of the Protestants in the annals of France. We examined with
+some degree of thoroughness the different departments, and saw them in
+the busy working hours, when the full activities of the great
+establishment were in exercise.
+
+In addition to the information and reports then secured I am under
+further obligation to Mademoiselle Monod for other material lately
+received, among which is a pamphlet entitled _Une Visite a la Maison de
+Diaconesses_, by Madame W. Monod, "the worthy daughter of one of the
+founders, and the worthy wife of one of the present chaplains of the
+institution." I have translated freely from this in the following pages,
+as it is pervaded by a tone of intimate knowledge, and nothing can take
+the place of the long years of close personal relation that make this
+little book so fresh and attractive in its recital.
+
+The institution is situated on the outskirts of the Faubourg St.
+Antoine, upon an elevation, where the view in one direction is limited
+by Mont St. Genevieve, and on the other embraces a large territory
+intersected by the windings of the Seine and by lines of railroad. The
+space is thickly dotted by the high chimneys of manufactories and
+massive constructions of various forms. A great pile of buildings which
+fronts upon the street forms one of the sides of the court within; two
+long wings extend at right angles, which seem to have been built at
+different intervals of time. That on the right ends with the
+penitentiary, or house of correction; the left wing terminates more
+modestly at the garden entrance; while farther, at the extreme portion
+of the grounds, still to the left, rises the hospital, standing apart
+from the rest. The whole establishment, including the gardens, has an
+extent of fifty-five hundred square meters.
+
+In the little room at the entrance, where the _concierge_ is usually
+found in these French houses, sits one of the sisters, surrounded by
+bell-cords and tubes and bells which are constantly in use, bringing
+messages to and fro in all directions. A sister is always on duty,
+morning, afternoon, and at night when it is necessary, responding with
+discreet politeness to the inquiries made. Adjoining are the little
+reception rooms, where comers and goers are met, and the consulting-room
+of the distinguished oculist, who twice a week gives gratuitously his
+valuable services. Then come the office and reception-room of the
+chaplain of the house, followed by the little "prophet's chamber,"
+occupied by the former directress when she returns upon visits which her
+age and poor health render only too infrequent.
+
+What the French call the "_economat_" or business office, next demands
+our attention. A dozen registers admirably kept, portfolios of all
+kinds, and numberless papers are arranged upon different shelves. The
+sister in charge notes in her journal every entrance and every
+departure, and all the journeys and leaves of absence of the sisters. In
+a safe she has the necessary money for current expenses, the rest being
+deposited in the bank. She provides the stores, examines the accounts of
+the pharmacy and the kitchen, pays the salaried employees, gives or
+sends to each deaconess the modest sum allowed her for personal needs,
+and transacts the daily business of the house. She must also every
+month hand in three reports--one to the Prefect of Police, another to
+the Minister of the Interior, and the third to the Minister of Finance,
+giving detailed statistics concerning the age, occupation, and progress
+of her _proteges_. "How many know how to read? How many to read and
+write? How many to read, write, and cipher? What progress has been made
+since the last report?" These are some of the questions she has to
+answer; and, meanwhile, if a crowd of little children come in, she turns
+from her writing and calculations and plays with them as if she had
+nothing else to do.
+
+Let us see where these children come from. Here is the "Salle d'Asile,"
+as it is called, with its benches and chairs for the little ones, maps
+and historical pictures suspended upon the walls, slates and globes, and
+all the belongings of a school-room. The sister who has directed this
+school for thirty-five years has seen sons and daughters succeed fathers
+and mothers. More than nineteen hundred children have passed through her
+hands. With what pride she showed us the copy-books, and pointed out
+some particularly good compositions. Hers was no perfunctory task; a
+mother could not have displayed greater interest in her children. The
+number of pupils varies from one hundred and ten to one hundred and
+thirty, a little less than half of them being Catholics. All kinds of
+primary instruction are given, including gymnastics, singing, and
+marching. Bible stories hold an important place in this elementary
+teaching, even those which are sometimes considered to be beyond the
+reach of children; for there is nothing in any other book to take their
+place. It is useless to add that not only lessons are given, but shoes,
+aprons, and garments of all kinds, some of the little ones being clothed
+from head to foot by the institution. Every day soup is distributed,
+ostensibly to the poor and the ill-nourished, but practically partaken
+of by all. Even during the siege of Paris the soup continued to appear.
+It gradually became less substantial, it is true, but still it was soup.
+
+From four to six o'clock the mothers and older sisters and brothers, or
+perhaps some old lady who has been engaged to have the care of several
+children, come to take the little ones home. The influence of these
+children is felt beyond the school-room; it is a visible, constant
+force. Such a little girl has persuaded her grandmother not to work on
+Sundays. Another asks for a book that her father can read aloud to the
+family. And similar instances could be multiplied; they are always to be
+obtained where loving Christian hearts are interested in children, and
+when they remember that fine saying of Jacqueline Pascal; "_Parler a
+Dieu des petites ames plus qu' aux petites ames de Dieu._"[50]
+
+There used formerly to be attached to this a "_Creche_," where a mother
+could bring her babe when she went to work in the morning, and could
+come for it at night. But the government has now started a day-home for
+this district of the city, so this part of the work of the deaconesses
+has been discontinued.
+
+Passing by the vegetable garden, which is also a pleasure garden for the
+sick and infirm, we come to the hospital. This was opened in September,
+1873, and can accommodate sixty to seventy patients. There are two large
+wards for women, one for children, a dormitory for aged women, and rooms
+with one, two, and three beds. All are perfectly heated, lighted, and
+ventilated. The medical inspector visits the house every month, and
+gives it due praise for meeting every condition of modern medical
+science.
+
+A committee of ladies takes the hospital as an especial object of its
+care. They have organized a system of patronage, by which beds are
+furnished poor patients at a low rate, in some cases gratuitously.
+Fifteen subscribers give each two francs, or forty cents, a month; the
+sick man or his patron pays a franc a day, to which the Deaconess Home
+adds also a franc daily. These three francs represent the bare expenses
+of a hospital bed. Of course, sixty cents a day is far from meeting the
+entire cost of rent, food, baths, medicine, and service; but those
+patients who have been accustomed to a certain degree of comfort in
+life, when paying three francs, are freed from the painful impression of
+receiving charity.
+
+Many of the patients, when sent forth from the hospital, are directed to
+the Convalescents' Home, at Passy. This is an inestimable benefit; what
+could this poor servant do, whose strength is not yet sufficient to
+undertake fatiguing labor? Or this mother of a family, who would
+certainly fall ill again if obliged to resume the heavy burden of
+housekeeping, accompanied by privations and wearing economies, were it
+not for the home at Passy? Such homes of rest and convalescence are a
+necessity in connection with every well-equipped deaconess institution.
+The pharmacy is in the charge of a deaconess trained especially for her
+duties. A deaconess director, several nurse deaconesses and
+probationers, with one or two aged women, constitute the working force
+of the hospital outside of the physicians. So many denominational
+hospitals are now arising in America that the arrangement of hospitals
+under the care of deaconesses in Germany, France, and England, cannot
+fail to have interest for us.
+
+There are no nurses like the deaconesses. Other nurses, however well
+prepared in the best of training-schools, do not have the same high
+motive that lifts the service onto the plane of religious duty, where
+the question of self-interest is wholly lost sight of. It was the
+perception of this truth that led the authorities of the German Hospital
+in Philadelphia to send to Germany for deaconesses as nurses, and that
+has brought about the erection of the magnificent Mary J. Drexel Home
+for Deaconesses.
+
+But let us return to Paris and our examination of the home on the Rue de
+Reuilly. Leaving the hospital, and turning in the opposite direction
+from that to which we came, we are at the house of correction. Bars of
+iron before the windows apprise us of the character of the building.
+There are two divisions of inmates; the one in which the discipline is
+more rigid is called the _retenue_. Those placed here are generally
+between fourteen and twenty-one years of age, although occasionally a
+child of precocious depravity is met with, who has to be separated from
+those under less restriction even at ten years of age. The
+_disciplinaire_ is the division of milder restraint. The twenty-five or
+twenty-six places in each of the two divisions are ordinarily applied
+for in advance. Pastor Louis Valette said: "We shall not have room
+enough until we have too much room."
+
+There are three classes of inmates: those who are put here by their
+parents for insubordination or other grave faults; those who are sent
+here by order of a judge of the court for a limited period, and those
+who are recognized guilty of a misdemeanor, but are acquitted on account
+of their age, and must remain a certain time, sometimes until they have
+attained their majority, in houses of correction and education.
+
+The Minister of the Interior pays twelve cents a day for pupils of the
+third class; the Prefect of Police four hundred dollars a year for those
+of the second class, whatever their number, only the establishment is
+bound to receive them at any time and at any hour.
+
+There is a system of rewards, to promote good behavior, and those who
+profit by it can accumulate a small sum of money, sometimes amounting to
+sixteen or eighteen dollars, to have when they go out from here. In
+other cases there is a large indebtedness on the opposite side, which
+can never be collected.
+
+The days are occupied in household work, washing, ironing, and sewing,
+and two hours of schooling. When the nature of the work will permit,
+instructive books are read aloud, or the deaconesses give pleasant talks
+on different subjects that will keep the thoughts of the workers busy,
+and give them helpful ideas to store away in their minds. As we went
+about in the sewing-classes, we noticed that the time was invariably
+utilized in some way that was profitable to the girls. Most of them are
+pitiably ignorant of even the commonest knowledge demanded in life.
+There are separate court-yards for the recreations of the two divisions.
+The girls of the _disciplinaire_ are sometimes taken outside the
+institution for walks; those of the _retenue_, never. The work in this
+last division is especially difficult, and requires the utmost patience
+and love. These poor girls have to be watched carefully, and kept
+isolated from one another. Some are greatly influenced by the atmosphere
+of the place, the gentle, firm kindness of the sisters, and the
+restriction they receive. Others go out to take up again the old life of
+immorality, and are dragged away into the meshes of sin, finding their
+place, after brief delay, in the wards of a hospital, or sometimes a
+suicide's grave. It is a singular fact that the numerical appreciation
+of those influenced by this school of reform is precisely the same as
+that given in the report of the similar work at Kaiserswerth, although
+the two reports have no connection with one another, and one in no wise
+supposes the other. Thirty-three years ago one of the founders of the
+institution, Pastor Valette, said in answer to a question as to the
+amount of good accomplished, "Sixteen years ago this question came to my
+ears, and I stated as a principle that one cannot and ought not to
+answer it precisely and absolutely, because no one but God can give an
+appreciation of its real value. However, out of curiosity, I set myself
+at work to gather and register some results; and, matured by the
+experience of six years, I offer them, such as they are: One third of
+the moral results may be considered excellent; another third as offering
+good guarantees, and a final third has no value. It seems to me,
+however, as I am sure it will seem to you, that here is cause for
+rejoicing. Here is something for which to praise the Lord, and to
+encourage those who administer our affairs. For, I ask of the merchants
+who listen to me, if any one were to offer you thirty-three and one
+third per cent. assured, with the hope of a dividend, would you refuse
+the investment?"
+
+In 1871 an occurrence took place worthy of being recorded. On April 13,
+at ten o'clock in the evening, emissaries of the Commune entered the
+house, revolvers in hand. Armed men were posted at all the entrances.
+The deaconesses were summoned to one of the parlors, and held prisoners
+until three o'clock the following morning. Meanwhile an investigation
+took place among the girls in the penitentiary, as they would be the
+most likely of any of the inmates of the house to have complaints. The
+officers of the Commune interrogated them closely. Their answers were
+favorable beyond all expectation. "Are you happy here?" "Oh, yes, very
+happy." "What have you done deserving punishment?" "Nothing that we need
+talk to you about." "How are you punished here?" "The sisters don't
+punish us; they advise us what to do, and warn us." "Now," said the
+chief to one, "just tell me quietly, no one else need hear; if you are
+not contented I will take you away with me." "What a coward you are,"
+she answered, quite scornfully. Not one of them thought of escaping. All
+this time the prison wagon had been waiting in the street, and would
+have been filled with deaconesses had the slightest cause of complaint
+been found; but it went away empty. Later the sisters had occasion to go
+to the head-quarters of the Commune in their ward, and they met with
+polite consideration. This is not the only experience of the troubled
+political life of the great city that the deaconesses have had. The
+Faubourg St. Antoine has been noted ever since the time of the Fronde as
+being the haunt of all that is turbulent and revolutionary. In February
+1848, a great barricade was thrown across the Rue de Reuilly, men,
+women, and children hurrying with bricks and stones to help in building
+it. Then came the moment of storm and attack, and forty-two men lay dead
+in the street. Some of the wounded were received by the sisters, crowded
+as they were with the children whom the mothers had brought for safety.
+Meanwhile the deaconesses went about unmolested, bought food and
+medicine, hunted friends and relatives for the sick, and through all
+that period of excitement and strife kept up their ministrations of
+mercy.
+
+There is no distinct home for women who are left alone and desire
+Christian surroundings, as is the case in several German institutions,
+but about sixty such ladies are received as boarders in the Paris home.
+Frequently also the hospitality of the house is enjoyed by young girls
+who come to Paris alone to earn a livelihood, or who have to stop here
+for some hours on their way to another place; a great advantage for
+inexperienced young women, unversed in the ways of a city, who find
+themselves alone in the great world for the first time.
+
+The preparatory school for deaconesses is on the first floor, below the
+rooms of the sisters. For two years the candidates are under the
+instruction of superior sisters. They are received into the house
+gratuitously, and accept its regulations while they remain. They have to
+pass through all practical duties of house-work, and care of the sick
+and children. They also pursue practical and theoretical courses in
+hygiene, and receive lessons in singing and pedagogics. The chaplains of
+the institution give them courses of religious instruction, and lectures
+on Church history. Some (the larger number) need very elementary
+lessons; others come with a good education. Each is directed according
+to her education and experience. In fact, all classes are represented
+among the deaconesses; servants, teachers, ladies, and shepherdesses.
+They come from different parts of France, but in larger numbers from the
+South.
+
+Deaconesses are constantly in demand to go out in the city as nurses in
+private families. Such requests often meet with refusals, because
+sisters cannot be spared for such duties. Their work is limited by the
+smallness of their numbers. The last report gives sixty deaconesses
+attached to the Home on the Rue de Reuilly.
+
+The work is upon sterile soil as compared to Germany. The Protestants of
+France are in a small minority, surrounded by an overwhelming majority
+of Catholics; while in the beginning of the work some influential
+members of the Protestant faith, having an inadequate comprehension of
+the good in the movement, and a misconception of its plans, exerted a
+powerful influence that for awhile told adversely to the cause. The home
+has now passed beyond the stage when it can be affected by adverse
+criticisms; and it to-day not only has the approbation of Christians,
+but also of those who regard it solely from the point of view of
+philanthropy.[51]
+
+There are but two parish deaconesses who are at work in Belleville and
+Ste. Marie. The directors of the institution would be glad to increase
+the number, as they regard the work of the sisters under the direction
+of the city pastors as that which presents the widest opportunities for
+doing good, while it perpetuates those aspects of the deaconess work
+which most closely resemble those of the early Church. But Calvin's
+reply from Geneva to the Church of France is theirs. When petitioned to
+send more pastors over the boundary into France he replied, "Send us
+wood and we will send you arrows." So the want of deaconesses is a
+continual hinderance to the furtherance of the cause, both in the city
+and the provinces.
+
+The prisons for women in France are under the supervision of women, save
+the office of chief director, which is filled by a man. The great
+majority of the prisoners in France being Catholics, the number of
+Sisters of Charity is naturally much larger than the number of
+deaconesses employed. At the prison of Clermont four of the Paris
+deaconesses are kept constantly at work among the prisoners.
+
+In connection with the old prison of St. Lazare, the women's prison of
+Paris, the deaconesses have a mission especially concerned with caring
+for discharged female convicts. As was the case at Kaiserswerth, this,
+in its initiation, is closely connected with the saintly life of
+Elizabeth Fry. When she came to Paris, in 1835, a drawing-room meeting
+was held at the residence of the Duchess de Broglie, in which she told
+of her efforts to effect a reform in prisons in England. None of the
+ladies of rank and wealth who heard her were stirred to greater effort
+than was demanded by the keen interest with which they listened to her
+words; but a quiet governess was present, Mademoiselle Dumas, and with
+her the seeds of truth fell into prepared ground. She determined to
+attempt for her own country a portion of the work Mrs. Fry had
+accomplished for England. Obtaining permission from the authorities to
+visit the prison of St. Lazare, she went daily to the prisoners shut up
+in the rooms of this great building, formerly the monastery of St.
+Vincent de Paul, the founder of the Sisters of Charity. After the
+deaconess home was established, some deaconesses were set apart to aid
+Mademoiselle Dumas in her work. All these years the mission has
+continued, not interrupted even during the dark days of the Commune. A
+committee of ladies aids in providing shelter and work for the prisoners
+when they are discharged. The great publishing house of Hachette & Co.,
+although the head of the firm is a Catholic, provides employment in
+folding paper for books.
+
+Through the kind offices of Mademoiselle Monod we called on Mademoiselle
+Dumas. She is now an extremely aged woman; but her interest in the
+Christian reformation of prisoners of her sex is as keen as it was over
+fifty years ago, when her labors began. The registers of many years
+stand by her desk, and from these we were shown how the records of the
+mission are kept, and in what way the lives of those assisted are
+watched and followed for years. Narratives of individual reformation
+were related to us, and through the long correspondence of many years
+she was enabled to tell us of those who had turned to a better life and
+held to it permanently. As she talked her eyes brightened, the tones of
+her voice became stronger and clearer, her manner more vivacious, and
+the years seemed to slip from her. Finally, as if overcome by the
+memories that the long retrospect had brought to her, and thrilled by
+the recollections, of all this work meant to her, she ended by
+exclaiming, "O, my dear St. Lazare!" I looked at her astonished. I had
+just come from the walls of the gloomy prison, and the place had chilled
+me with horror as I walked through its corridors, and read the stories
+of shame and guilt in the faces of its inmates; most hopeless looking
+faces, belonging to little children of ten and twelve up to hardened and
+prematurely aged women of fifty and sixty. I could not comprehend a term
+of endearment applied to such a place. But a moment's consideration led
+me to see that this aged saint had there fought and won the best of her
+life's battles, and the place remains glorified in her thoughts by most
+hallowed and Christ-like memories.
+
+Now that Mademoiselle Dumas is kept to her room, the deaconesses still
+come to her weekly, make their reports, and keep up the proper entries
+in her books.
+
+A recent letter from Mademoiselle Monod says: "Mademoiselle Dumas still
+lives, having completed her ninety-sixth year the 26th of last December
+(1888). Only yesterday our prison committee met at her house, she acting
+as presiding officer."
+
+The life of this quiet woman is but little known outside the circle of
+her immediate influence, but it has been more valuable to her country
+than that of many a general or statesman who has been ranked among the
+famous of the earth.
+
+The deaconess home has also branches of work in different parts of
+France. These include nine hospitals, two homes for the aged and infirm,
+four orphanages, two work-rooms for young girls, and a convalescents'
+home. The house has established close connection with the deaconess
+houses at St. Loup in French Switzerland, and with Strasburg. The ties
+of a common language and former memories are strong, and these are the
+homes most akin to the Paris home.
+
+The ordinary expenses of the Paris deaconess home are about thirty
+thousand dollars a year. Nearly seven thousand dollars are collected
+annually by subscriptions, the remaining sum being made up of returns
+arising from service.
+
+The institution was founded in 1841 by Rev. Antoine Vermeil, a
+distinguished minister of the Reformed Church, aided by a devout and
+worthy minister of the Lutheran Church, Rev. Louis Valette. It has grown
+up under the joint and harmonious patronage of these two State Churches.
+
+A later deaconess home, entirely devoted to training and employing
+parish deaconesses, was started in 1874, under the sole control of the
+Lutheran Church. Some pastors secured the co-operation of a few young
+Christian women to consecrate a portion of their strength and time to
+the service of the Church. From this beginning sprang the work that
+exists to-day. The home is located in the Rue de Bridaine. There are now
+sixteen deaconesses, six of whom are probationers. Five of them are
+located in different parishes in Paris, usually at a long distance from
+the central house. Each goes forth early in the morning to her parish,
+where is a room of some kind serving as a center to the work. Materials
+used in nursing and medicines are stored here, and there is an office
+for the physician, who comes at stated periods to give free
+consultation. From the district house the deaconess goes in all
+directions and in all weather to look up families which have fallen away
+from the Church, to gather in children for the Sunday-school, to visit
+the sick, and to collect garments and money from the rich in order to
+distribute them among the poor. Such are some of their duties. Each
+sister is under the direction of a pastor, and is aided by his advice,
+while still remaining a member of the community to which she belongs.
+
+In both of the deaconess houses of Paris, as in the German houses, a
+special service sets apart those sisters who have passed their period of
+probation, and have been received into full connection. As one of the
+deaconess reports beautifully says: "When Christ calls the soul to a
+special vocation he gives it special grace, and those who consecrate
+themselves to him he consecrates to their task by the strength of his
+Spirit. So in conformity with the usages of the primitive Church we give
+consecration to our sisters by the laying on of hands. The consecration
+is not a sacramental act, conferring a particular character, greater
+sanctity, or special powers; neither is it simply a ceremony or pious
+formality. It is a real and efficacious benediction, which the Saviour
+accords to our sisters to consecrate them to their holy work, as he
+accorded it to the deacons who received the imposition of the apostles'
+hands."
+
+The good that can be accomplished by deaconesses working together with
+ministers in behalf of the manifold interests of the Church is
+incalculable. The most faithful pastor can make only short and
+unsatisfactory visits. Many sorrows which he overlooks the deaconess can
+discern and assuage. She knows best how to reach the heart of a
+sorrowing woman, to care for her needs, to discern her wants, and to
+bring solace to the sorrowing and succor to the needy. Deaconesses who
+have been specially trained for service cannot be spared now that the
+world has learned to know of them. For "charity cannot take the place of
+experience, nor good-will replace knowledge;" and trained Christian
+service is the highest of all service.
+
+The old spirit of the Huguenots has not died out of France, and with
+that ready susceptibility to noble ideas which is a marked
+characteristic of the French character, we can expect to see the
+deaconess cause thrive and prosper as it has done in other lands.
+
+
+ [50] Speak to God about the little ones, rather than to the little
+ souls of God.
+ [51] See a sympathetic study of the work by Maxime du Camp, a
+ member of the French Academy, in his book _Paris Bienfaisant_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DEACONESSES IN ENGLAND.
+
+
+To learn the first facts about deaconesses in England, we must go back
+to the early days of the Puritans. In 1576, under Queen Elizabeth, about
+sixty non-conformist ministers of the eastern counties assembled to make
+regulations concerning Church constitution and discipline, and one of
+them was as follows: "Touching deacons of both sorts, namely, both men
+and women, the Church should be admonished what is required by the
+apostle, that they are not to choose men by custom or course, or for
+their riches, but for their faith, zeal, and integrity; and that the
+Church is to pray in the meantime to be so directed that they may choose
+them that are meet. Let the names of those that are thus chosen be
+published the next Lord's Day, and after that their duties to the
+Church, and the Church's duty toward them. Then let them be received
+into their office with the general prayers of the whole Church."[52]
+
+There are other references in the works of the early Puritans that
+indicate that the office of deaconess was as well known and recognized
+as were the other offices that were named in accordance with the usages
+of the primitive Church.
+
+In the early part of the seventeenth century it still survived, as we
+shall see from a quaint and curious picture that is of especial interest
+to all Americans, because it portrays what took place in that community
+of pious souls who furnished us the men we delight to honor as the
+Pilgrim Fathers. A number of these heroic souls, who could give up their
+country, but would not yield their faith, went forth from England in
+1608, and settled in Amsterdam. They preserved in a foreign land their
+own Church usages, as the following words show: "In Amsterdam there were
+about three hundred communicants, and they had for their pastor and
+teacher those two eminent men before named (Johnson and Ainsworth); and
+had at one time four grave men for ruling elders, three able, godly men
+for deacons, and one ancient widow for a deaconess, who did them service
+many years, though she was sixty years of age when she was chosen. She
+honored her place, and was an ornament to the congregation. She usually
+sat in a convenient place in the congregation, with a little birchen rod
+in her hand, and kept little children in awe from disturbing the
+congregation. She did frequently visit the sick and weak, especially
+women, and as there was need called out ladies and young women to watch
+and do them other helps as their necessity should require; and if there
+were poor she would gather relief for them of those that were able, or
+acquaint the deacons. And she was obeyed as a mother in Israel and an
+officer of Christ."[53]
+
+Whether the "ancient widow" with the little "birchen rod" had any
+followers in the early Puritan communities of the Plymouth Colony we
+cannot say, as there are no records that throw light on the subject; but
+the history of early New England Congregationalism gives us one
+indication that the office was recognized in the New World. In the
+Cambridge Platform, a system of Church discipline agreed upon by the
+elders and messengers of the New England churches assembled in synod at
+Cambridge, in 1648, the seventh chapter enumerates the duties of elder
+and deacons, and then adds, "The Lord hath appointed _ancient widdows_,
+where they may be had, to minister in the Church, in giving attendance
+to the sick, and to give succor unto them and others in the like
+necessities." The same confusion of thought concerning the Church widow
+and the deaconess is here seen, but there is evident the recognition of
+the services that women were officially to render the Church.
+
+In the early part of the present century Southey voiced the complaint,
+long reiterated, that Protestantism had no missionaries. We who live in
+the closing years of the same century, surrounded by the multiplied
+evidences of the extent of missions, when the Protestants of the world
+are expending nearly ten millions of dollars annually, and employing
+nearly six thousand men and women as missionaries, cannot realize the
+change that has taken place. In 1830 Southey again wrote: "Thirty years
+hence another reproach may also be effaced, and England may have her
+Sisters of Charity." He had learned to know their value when serving as
+a volunteer in Wellington's army, and a year after the battle of
+Waterloo he had visited the Beguines at Ghent, and what he saw deeply
+impressed him. "We should have such women among us," he said. "It is a
+great loss to England that we have no Sisters of Charity. There is
+nothing Romish, nothing unevangelical in such communities; nothing but
+what is right and holy; nothing but what belongs to that religion which
+the apostle James has described as 'pure and undefiled before God the
+Father.'"[54]
+
+Southey's prophecy has come true. England to-day in her deaconesses
+possesses her Sisters of Charity. How has this change been brought
+about? The acquaintance of Mrs. Fry with Fliedner, and her visit to
+Kaiserswerth, led her to introduce into England the practical training
+of nurses for the sick. The Nursing Sisters' Institution in Devonshire
+Square, Bishop's Gate, was founded through her efforts in 1840, and
+still exists "to train nurses for private families, and to provide
+pensions for aged nurses."[55]
+
+In 1842, Fliedner came to London, accompanied by four sisters, at the
+invitation of the German Hospital at Dalston. These deaconesses won
+golden opinions from the hospital authorities for their quiet, efficient
+manner, and their trained skill. The hospital continues to be served by
+them, but the Sisters now come from the mother house at Darmstadt.
+
+Kaiserswerth and its deaconesses became more widely known through the
+life and inestimable services of Florence Nightingale. When a child,
+one of Fliedner's reports fell into her hands. Its perusal marked an
+era in her life. It made clear to her what she should do. She would go
+to Kaiserswerth, and fit herself for a nurse. Her childish resolve never
+wavered. "Happy is the man who holds fast to the ideals of his youth."
+Florence Nightingale held fast to hers. She went to Kaiserswerth at two
+different times, and through her deeds and her writings the care of the
+sick in England has been completely transformed. She has won a nation's
+gratitude, and now is living in honored old age in one of the London
+institutions founded mainly by the money that she contributed, and which
+she obtained by selling some valuable gifts given her by a foreign
+government in acknowledgment of her care of its wounded soldiers during
+the Crimean war.
+
+Another woman distinguished in England's philanthropies is Agnes Jones,
+who left a home of wealth and refinement to receive her training also at
+Kaiserswerth. Returning to England she gave her time and talents in
+single-hearted devotion to the care of the poor in the Liverpool
+work-house, and met death in the midst of her labors. The training which
+led two such women to accomplish such noble deeds naturally was
+recognized as valuable, and Kaiserswerth soon became an honored name in
+England.
+
+In 1851 Miss Nightingale sent out anonymously her little book entitled
+_An Account of the Institution of Deaconesses_, which added to the
+knowledge already in circulation about the movement in Germany.
+Meanwhile articles were appearing in the reviews. In 1848 one was
+written in the _Edinburgh Review_ by John Malcolm Ludlow, who later, in
+1866, gave the results of the thoughts and studies of a number of years
+in _Woman's Work in the Church_, the best historical study of the
+subject up to the date at which it was written. Since then the Germans
+have pushed their historical investigations further, and the work needs
+to be revised and to be brought down to the present time.
+
+In _Good Words_ for 1861 there were two articles by Dr. Stevenson, of
+the Irish Presbyterian Church, entitled "The Blue Flag of Kaiserswerth,"
+afterward incorporated in his work, _Praying and Working_, a book too
+little known among us.
+
+The great upholder of the deaconess cause in the Church of England was
+the late Dean of Chester, Rev. J. S. Howson. His essay, first published
+in the _Quarterly Review_, was amplified and issued in book form in 1860
+under the title _Deaconesses_. It won many friends. The cause remained a
+favorite one with him, and he constantly advocated it by speech and by
+deed. Since his death his latest thoughts, which remained substantially
+the same as those that he first advanced, have been published in a work
+entitled _The Diaconate of Women_.
+
+Within the Church of England, however, the deaconess cause has not met
+the same prosperous development that it has obtained in connection with
+certain independent institutions, notably that of Mildmay.
+
+Among the institutions on the Continent, as well as in the pages of this
+work up to the present, the terms "sister" and "deaconess" are used
+synonymously, to indicate one and the same person. But when we come to
+consider the deaconess institutions within the Church of England we
+cannot continue to use these two names in the same way. A deaconess is a
+member of a deaconess institution, actively engaged in charitable deeds,
+but, like the deaconess on the Continent, she can sever her connection
+with it when adequate cause presents itself, and return to her family
+and friends. A sister belongs to a sisterhood which closely resembles
+the Roman Catholic sisterhoods in many features. These sisterhoods began
+in 1847 with a number of ladies brought together through the influence
+of Dr. Pusey, who formed themselves into a community to live under its
+rule. Their influence and number increased, and twenty-three
+sisterhoods are mentioned in the last official report.[56]
+
+Doubtless it was the activity and great usefulness of the continental
+deaconess houses that provided the stimulating examples which acted on
+the Church of England and led to the rise of sisterhoods and deaconess
+institutions. But the two opposing tendencies within the Episcopal
+Church--namely, that which desires to approach the Church of Rome, with
+which it feels itself in sympathy on many points, and that which views
+with disfavor any conformity to it, and strives to keep to the landmarks
+set at the great Reformation--these two distinct tendencies are closely
+reflected in the woman's work of the Anglican Church.[57] The
+sisterhoods are distinctly under the fostering care of the former
+element, the deaconesses are manifestly favored by the latter.
+Sisterhoods, again, differ among themselves, some being strongly
+conventual in their life and practice, adopting the three vows of
+poverty, chastity, and obedience, and a few even advocating penance and
+confession. The vows are taken for life, and, in connection with the
+view of the sacred obligation to life-long service, great stress is laid
+upon the position of the sister as the "bride of Christ"--the same
+thought of the mysterious union with the heavenly Bridegroom that is so
+dwelt upon in the nunneries of the Catholic Church. With such views
+Protestants, distinctly such, can have no sympathy. Those who look upon
+the deaconess as a valuable member of the Church economy do so because
+they regard her as a Christian woman, strengthened and disciplined by
+special training to do better service for Christ in the world. This is
+the recognized difference: "The sisterhood exists primarily for the sake
+of forming a religious community, but deaconesses live together for the
+sake of the work itself, attracted to deaconess work by the want which
+in most populous towns is calling loudly for assistance; and with a view
+of being trained, therefore, for spiritual and temporal usefulness among
+the poor."[58]
+
+There are now seven deaconess establishments in the Church of England,
+each having a larger or smaller number of branches, with diocesan
+sanction and under the supervision of clergymen.[59]
+
+The first of these was founded in 1861, and is now known as the London
+Diocesan Deaconess Institution. At that time Kaiserswerth was accepted
+as its model; deaconesses were sent there to be trained; Kaiserswerth
+rules were adopted as far as possible, and a modification of the
+Kaiserswerth dress for the sisters. The house was then represented at
+the triennial Conferences in Germany, and in the list of mother houses
+published at Kaiserswerth[60] the name still appears. It would seem,
+however, that now the Kaiserswerth connection is entirely set aside by
+the London house, for in an historical sketch of the revival of
+deaconesses in the Church, that is found in the organ of the
+institution, called _Ancilla Domini_, for March, 1887, there is no
+mention made of any of the continental houses. The Anglican Church
+apparently dates the entire work from the setting apart of its first
+deaconess, Elizabeth C. Ferard, in 1861, as she was the first to receive
+consecration through the touch of a bishop's hand. The former connection
+with Kaiserswerth and the great work carried on in Germany from 1836 to
+the present time are quite ignored.
+
+Besides the London house already mentioned an East London deaconess home
+was opened in 1880, to provide deaconesses and church-workers for East
+London. Besides the deaconesses and probationers thirty-two associates
+are connected with this home. The associates are ladies who do not
+intend to become deaconesses, but give as much time as they can to the
+work. They live with the deaconesses, conform to the rules, and wear the
+garb, but pay their own expenses. These associates are a highly
+important part of the working force. They form a valuable tie connecting
+the sisters with sources of influence and aid that would otherwise be
+closed to them. Nearly always they are ladies of independent means, and
+come for longer or shorter periods to relieve the deaconesses, their
+zeal often being as great as that of the sisters whose places they take.
+
+Besides these houses there are homes located at Maidstone, Chester,
+Bedford, Salisbury, and Portsmouth, in the respective dioceses of
+Canterbury, Chester, Ely, Salisbury, and Winchester.
+
+In the home at Portsmouth sisters not only engage in nursing and parish
+work, but are also given special training for penitentiary and
+out-of-door rescue work. They also have a home for the rescue of
+neglected children.
+
+The Salisbury Home is beautifully situated in the quiet cathedral city
+of the same name. The house is a picturesque and venerable mansion,
+covered with clinging green vines, opening out into a garden which in
+olden times belonged to the convent. There is in connection with the
+home an institution for training girls for domestic service, supported
+by the funds of a charity given for that purpose. The whole service of
+the house is done by the girls. They attend upon the deaconesses and the
+ladies who board there to receive training in the hospital. Each
+deaconess pays for board and lodging while training, and, if able to do
+so, when she returns for rest, or a visit to her old home.
+
+In other houses the deaconess is expected to keep her own room in order,
+and may have some duties in the house, but servants do the rough work.
+The social status of the English deaconesses is, as a rule, markedly
+different from the German deaconesses. Here ladies of rank and inherited
+social traditions, of refinement, of accomplishments, and of education,
+many of them women of means, defraying their entire expenses and often
+those of their poorer sisters, are largely represented among the
+deaconesses. On the other hand, the German deaconesses, as we have seen,
+are largely of that station in life that furnishes many for domestic
+service. Although of course there are among them women of all ranks and
+all degrees of education, still such women form the larger number; and
+the conditions under which Fliedner began the work, as well as the
+difference of custom and habit in the two countries, incline the German
+houses to maintain the rules of service by which nearly every detail of
+domestic service in their institutions is cared for by the deaconesses.
+There is more of ceremony and formality in the English deaconess
+institutions which are under the direction of the Church of England. At
+Salisbury, for instance, the candidate must reside in the home for three
+months, that her ability and efficiency may be tested. If accepted, she
+then puts on a gray serge habit, a leathern girdle, white cap, black
+bonnet, the veil and cloak of a probationer, and is admitted to the
+"degree" of a probationer at a special service. The year of probation
+having come to an end, she is again presented to the bishop, and is set
+apart as a deaconess by the laying on of hands. This time the habit is
+changed from gray to blue, and a black ebony cross, with one of gold
+inlaid, is hung upon her neck.[61]
+
+This is very different from the way in which Fliedner regarded the dress
+and adornment of the deaconesses for whom he was responsible. The king
+of Prussia desired to present them with a small silver cross as their
+badge of service, but the simple-hearted German pastor dissuaded him,
+saying that the deaconesses needed no ornament save a meek and quiet
+spirit, and they must avoid symbols which would suggest Romish
+imitations.
+
+The Strasburg deaconesses also at first wore a small cross, but Pastor
+Haerter discontinued it when he found that the wearing of it gave
+occasion for complaint.
+
+Yet however we may differ in the lesser details, of garb, of rules, and
+of ceremonies, from those accepted by some of the Church of England
+deaconess institutions, we can give unstinted admiration to the lives of
+self-denial, and active, unceasing efforts in behalf of others, that we
+see among their numbers. Take, for instance, the little publication _The
+Deaconess_, issued by the East London Home, and notice the undertakings
+carried on by the members--district-visiting, nursing of the sick,
+mothers' meetings, Sunday-school teaching, Bible classes, and all the
+multitudinous ways of meeting the squalor, poverty, ignorance, sickness,
+and sin of the poor of the east of London. There is no poetic enthusiasm
+that strengthens one for such work, the dirt, the degradation, the
+forlorn condition are so trying. The little children so precociously
+wicked, so preternaturally cunning, that the natural charm and
+attraction of childhood have wholly disappeared; the sights and sounds
+that assail the senses; the dulled, hopeless faces, the apathy, the
+stunted intellectual growth--these are the depressing influences that
+continually beset the deaconesses, and nothing short of God-given
+strength and Christ-like enthusiasm can enable these women to devote
+six, eight, and ten years of service to this worst city district, and to
+come forth with sunshiny, peaceful faces, and sympathetic, loving
+hearts.
+
+Taking the total number of deaconess institutions under the Church of
+England, there are eighty one deaconesses, thirty-four probationers, and
+two hundred and twenty-nine associates.[62]
+
+So far, sisterhoods have proved more attractive to the women of the
+Church of England than have deaconess establishments. The latter do not
+seem to increase largely in numbers. Vexing questions have arisen as to
+how the deaconess should be set apart to her work. Should she be
+consecrated by the imposition of the bishop's hands? What relation
+should she have to the Church? These questions have been partially
+settled by the principles and rules that were drawn up in 1871 and were
+signed by the two archbishops and eighteen bishops. They define a
+deaconess as "a woman set apart by a bishop, under that title, for
+service in the Church;"[63] placing her under the authority of the
+bishop of the diocese. These recommendations have not been formally
+adopted by the Church of England; they hold good only so far as they are
+accepted.
+
+But there are other institutions, lying outside of the boundaries of the
+State Church, which have developed more fully and prosperously than
+those within it. Of these we must speak first of the institution of
+Dr. Laseron, which is more closely connected with Kaiserswerth than any
+other in England. In 1855 Dr. Laseron and his wife lost their only
+child; and as Mrs. Laseron walked through the streets with burdened
+heart she looked at the little children with quickened sympathy, and
+noticed how many were poor and hungry and scantily clothed. She talked
+with her husband, and they opened a "ragged school" for children. This
+increased and branched off, until now there is an orphanage, workhouses
+for boys, and a servants' training school for girls. Requests were
+frequently made for some of the older girls to act as nurses among the
+poor; and, finally, Dr. Laseron, who was a German by birth, determined
+to found a deaconess house and hospital. A small hospital of twelve beds
+was opened, and proved insufficient to meet the demands; and none could
+be accepted as deaconesses, as there was no opportunity to train them in
+so small a place. While waiting to see how the house could be enlarged,
+he mentioned his perplexity to Mr. Samuel Morley. This gentleman heard
+him with interest, and said that he was one of the directors of a large
+hospital; that at a recent meeting of the directors a Catholic bishop
+had offered to send Sisters of Charity who, without compensation, should
+nurse the sick, and he had thought what a fine thing it would be if the
+Protestant Church had also its women of piety who could devote
+themselves to a similar work. The result of the conversation was that
+Mr. Morley contributed forty thousand dollars, with which Dr. Laseron
+purchased a site in Tottenham, built a hospital with fifty beds, and a
+deaconess was called from Kaiserswerth to superintend it. The hospital
+has been again enlarged, so that it now accommodates one hundred
+patients. Sixty-four deaconesses are connected with it, who are at
+service in the hospitals of Cork, Dublin, Scarborough, and Sunderland.
+This institution is unsectarian, and has met with special aid from
+non-conformists. It still keeps in close relation to Kaiserswerth, and
+is represented at the Conferences. It has constantly thriven, and the
+mother-house at Tottenham is a center for various benevolent
+enterprises.
+
+In connection with Dr. Barnardo's Orphanage there is also a deaconess
+house. Harley House, the missionary training-school under the direction
+of Dr. and Mrs. Grattan Guinness in East London, has a deaconess home as
+one of its branches. The Kilburn (St. Augustine's) Orphanage of Mercy,
+and the London Bible-women's Mission are also centers for the training
+and organizing of women's work in London.
+
+We must pause more at length over the prison mission under the care of
+Mrs. Meredith. American women are beginning to occupy themselves with
+questions of philanthropy and religious activity to an extent not before
+equaled. The women's prisons in England are especially fruitful of
+suggestions to us, as many here are interested in having our women
+prisoners separated in prisons by themselves, as has already been
+attempted in a few States. Mrs. Meredith's work is in behalf of the
+prisoners after they have served their sentence and are discharged. She
+is the daughter of General Lloyd, who was formerly governor-general of
+prisons in Ireland. As a little child she was accustomed to go about
+with her father, and the interior of prisons became familiar to her.
+Later in life, when her family ties were broken, and her hands left free
+for service, her interest was engaged in behalf of the women convicts
+who were discharged from prison. She enlisted the support of other
+ladies of like views, able to assist her, and in 1866 the Prison Gate
+Mission began, which has continued to the present day. Every morning, as
+the gate of Millbank prison swings back to allow those who have been
+released from penal bondage to come forth, a sister stands waiting to
+invite those who will go with her to a room near by, where breakfast
+awaits them; there are ladies to inquire about their plans and to offer
+them work. A great laundry was opened in 1867 to provide employment for
+these women. Here washing is done for two classes: for the poor and
+sick, to whom the service is given as a charity, and to those who pay
+for the work and whose money enables the mission to be partly
+self-supporting. Then the ladies extended their plans to take in the
+children of the prisoners. A law was passed by Parliament which enabled
+Mrs. Meredith and her associates to have the care of those children at
+the Princess Mary Village Home until they are sixteen years of age. This
+home was founded at Addlestone in 1870, and was named after the Princess
+Mary, Duchess of Teck, who aided in obtaining funds to build it. The
+institution takes not only the female children of criminal mothers, but
+also little girls who are likely to drift into a career of crime. It is
+conducted on the cottage plan, each little house having ten inmates and
+a house mother to superintend it, and being complete in its own
+arrangements. There are eighteen cottages, a large, generous
+school-room, a small infirmary for the sick, and a little church. About
+two hundred children of criminals and the unfortunate class are here
+cared for. Instead of allowing them to drift away and to perpetuate
+vice, crime, and immorality, they are taken entirely from their old
+surroundings, and new influences of knowledge and purity are thrown
+about them. There is no part of Mrs. Meredith's mission which has such
+hope for the future and is so valuable in results as this preventive
+work among the children.
+
+There are also a woman's medical mission (1882), a Christian woman's
+union, a girls' school, and a deaconess house in Jerusalem under the
+control of the same association. How it arose is well intimated by the
+following extract from a letter from Mrs. Meredith to the author, dated
+March 9, 1889: "You will know that my course has been progressive with
+regard to the mode of congregating the women who joined me in working.
+At first we merely came together daily from our own homes, as those who
+make a business concern do. Then to spare time and money we began to
+live together. The next step was to admit useful and devoted women who
+had no property, and to form an association with degrees of membership.
+When we found ourselves becoming a corporation of importance, and having
+combined to acquire property and to found institutions, we invited the
+help and counsel of some men of known eminence. Our institutions are all
+branches of a parent stock, and are now placed in the charge of these
+good men, and we have taken the name of the Church of England Woman's
+Missionary Association. I am daily persuaded of the value of such
+organizations."
+
+In connection with the London West Central Mission there is an
+association of ladies called the Sisters of the People. "They are
+expected to be worthy of the beautiful name they bear. They are true
+sisters of the unprivileged and the disheartened; as ready to make a
+bed, cook a dinner, or nurse a baby as to minister to the higher need of
+the immortal spirit. The sisters live together in the neighborhood of
+their work, and wear a distinctive dress as a protection and for other
+reasons; but they take no vows, and are at liberty to withdraw from the
+mission at any time. Their work is directed by Mrs. Hughes. Katherine
+House, the residence of the Sisters of the People, was opened early in
+November, 1887, and from that day the work of the sisters dates its
+commencement. Their daily labors are very similar to those of the
+deaconesses of Mildmay, who work among the London parishes. Each sister
+has a district allotted to her, which she visits regularly and
+systematically. The first object which she sets before herself is to get
+to know the people, and to make them feel that she is their true sister
+and friend, irrespective of the fact that they are themselves good or
+bad, respectable or degraded. When once true friendliness is
+established, the way is opened for direct religious influence; and many,
+who in the first instance would never pay any attention to religion,
+will listen to an appeal from one whom they love and respect."[64]
+
+Katherine House accommodates twelve sisters. A second house is urgently
+needed, and a strong plea is made for it in the Report.
+
+There are besides "out sisters," who work with the sisters but reside at
+their own homes. This is a valuable feature of this mission, as it
+interests ladies who are living in their own homes, and yet who can be
+very useful to those who devote their whole work to the sisters' labor.
+In the Report a great many instances are given which show what an
+intimate knowledge of the poor people is obtained by these sisters, and
+in what practical ways they minister to the bodily and spiritual needs
+of those whom they find in their house-to-house visitations. The term
+"sister," as it is used in the report of the London West Central
+Mission, is in all respects a synonym for "deaconess," as the name is
+understood in the large deaconess establishment at Mildmay. To the study
+of this we shall devote the following chapter.
+
+
+ [52] Daniel Neal's _History of the Puritans_, London, 1703, vol. i,
+ pp. 344-346.
+ [53] _Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth,
+ from 1602 to 1625._ By Alex. Young. Second edition. Boston:
+ C. E. Little & J. Brown, 1844, pp. 455, 456.
+ [54] Schaefer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 207.
+ [55] _The Royal Guide to London Churches_ for 1866, 1867. By Herbert
+ Fry, p. 162.
+ [56] _Official Year-book of the Church of England_, 1889.
+ [57] _Andover Review_, June, 1888, art., "European Deaconesses,"
+ p. 578.
+ [58] _Deaconesses in the Church of England._ Griffith & Farran:
+ London, 1880, p. 22.
+ [59] _Official Year-book of the Church of England_, 1889.
+ [60] _Armen und Kranken Freund_, October, 1888.
+ [61] "Deaconess Work in England," _The Churchman_, May 19, 1888.
+ [62] I am indebted to the kindness of the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of
+ Wakefield for these numbers, upon whom the mantle of Dean Howson
+ seems to have fallen in caring for the deaconess cause.
+ [63] _London Diocesan Deaconess District Services._
+ [64] _First Annual Report of the London West Central Mission_,
+ pp. 14-42.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS.
+
+
+Valuable suggestions will be obtained from the study of every successful
+deaconess institution, and none will perhaps furnish more practical
+models for American Methodism than does the establishment at Mildmay
+Park in North London. Its methods of work are flexible, and allow place
+for a diversity of talent among the workers, while a wide variety of
+charitable and evangelistic effort is undertaken. These two causes give
+a breadth and vigor to the work at Mildmay that impress every one who
+has knowledge of it.
+
+Whenever we find a good cause carried on successfully and prosperously,
+we know that behind it there must be a strong man or woman who has
+"thought and wrought" to good purpose. So the first question that arises
+in the mind of the visitor who for the first time forms one of the
+audience in the great Conference Hall, or looks about in the adjoining
+building to see the deaconess home, is, "Who first thought this out? Who
+was the founder of this wonderful mission?" And the answer tells us
+that Mildmay originated, as did Kaiserswerth, in the prayerful
+determination of a Christian minister and his wife to reach out to every
+good end that God's spirit of enlightenment could suggest to them. Rev.
+William Pennefather was rector of Christ's Church at Barnet, and while
+devoted to his ministerial duties his sympathies did not end with his
+own people, nor his own denomination. His home was sometimes called the
+"Missing Link," for it was a meeting-place for noblemen and farmers,
+bishops and clergymen of all churches; a place "where nationalities and
+denominations were easily merged in the broad sunshine of Christian
+love."[65] He carried his principle of Christian fellowship further,
+for, after mature deliberation, in 1856, he issued a call for a
+conference to be held at Barnet whose object was "to bring into closer
+social communion the members of various Churches, as children of the one
+Father, animated by the same life, and heirs together of the same
+glory."[66] These conferences have been continued from then to the
+present time, and are known and prized in many lands. I was present at
+the conference of 1888, and representatives were there from nearly
+every Protestant country, while on the platform were leaders of nearly
+every Protestant denomination, furnishing a wonderful illustration of
+the union of the Christian Church in Christ; a spiritual union so real
+and eternal that the minor differences of faith were swallowed up in the
+great fact that in Christ Jesus all are one.
+
+Gradually a variety of missionary and evangelistic agencies grew up
+about the conferences. In 1860 the little Home was opened at Barnet
+which subsequently developed into the deaconess house at Mildmay Park.
+The question of calling into more active exercise the energies of
+educated Christian women, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, was
+one that was attracting attention at the time in England. Mr. and Mrs.
+Pennefather had long desired to do something in this direction, and
+their desire took this practical form. In its beginning it had to battle
+with all the "definite and indefinite objections" that could be advanced
+against any attempt at organizing woman's work. But those days of latent
+suspicion or more open antagonism are long past. The institution has
+justified its right to be by doing a work that otherwise would have
+remained undone.
+
+In 1864 Mr. Pennefather was called to St. Jude's, Mildmay Park, and the
+philanthropic and religious undertakings which he had begun were
+transferred to his new home. He took with him the "iron room" that had
+been erected for the conferences at Barnet, and continued to use it for
+the same purposes at Mildmay; while the missionary training-school and
+home were accommodated in a house which he hired for the purpose.
+
+His new parish was in a part of London where poverty and want abounded.
+There was no adequate provision for the education of the poor and
+neglected children, so he erected a building where elementary
+instruction could be given at a very low price. A soup-kitchen was
+started at the iron room: clubs of various kinds were formed, and other
+agencies were set at work, both for the temporal and spiritual welfare
+of the people. The degraded and miserable neighborhood gradually
+underwent a transformation, and the police testified that there was a
+manifest restraint on the lawless locality. "To many of the waifs of
+life no human hand was stretched in kindness until he came to the
+district and taught them what Christianity was."[67]
+
+A small legacy coming to him, he bought a house with a large garden
+attached, and made it a mission center for the needs of the infirm and
+aged; while the ignorant and careless, who would not enter a church,
+were often induced to attend meetings here.
+
+The training-school had been started at Barnet for the purpose of
+training foreign missionaries; but Mr. Pennefather now saw that there
+was as great a demand for home mission workers in the sorrowful and
+benighted portions of the vast metropolis, so, after much deliberation
+and consultation between himself and his wife, he decided to initiate
+the ministry of Christian women as deaconesses. He hesitated about the
+name to be given to the women whom he employed as Christian workers, but
+no other was suggested conveying the same idea of service to Christ
+among his suffering and needy ones, and, as the appellation had already
+won respect through the good reports of the deaconess houses on the
+Continent, he decided to adopt the same name. They continued to work in
+his parish only until the terrible visitation of the cholera in 1866.
+Then when men were swept into eternity by hundreds, and hundreds more
+were in dire distress, the deaconesses were invited by the minister of
+another parish to come to his assistance. In this way the bounds of the
+work began to enlarge. A small hospital was added to the home and a
+medical-school mission was begun.
+
+It now became necessary to build a large hall; the iron room was too
+small for the conferences, the church too small for the congregation,
+and the missions had outgrown the capacity of the mission room. When the
+plan for a new building was made known money came in unsolicited from
+various sources. The undertaking was pushed rapidly forward, and in
+October, 1870, the hall was opened. It will seat 2,500 people, having a
+platform at the west end, and a gallery running around the sides and
+east end.
+
+Thanksgiving and prayer were built into the walls from the very
+foundation; and before the basement rooms were cleared of rubbish, or
+the floor laid, a prayer-meeting was held to ask for a blessing upon the
+future undertakings of the mission. The basement was divided into five
+rooms, to be used for night-schools and other agencies for the benefit
+of the poor.
+
+Adjoining the hall, at the west end, was built the deaconess house. From
+his home near by Mr. Pennefather had watched the completion of the work
+with great interest. In one of his letters he says:[68] "Sometimes I can
+scarcely believe that it is a reality, and not all a dream--the
+Conference Hall, with its appendages, and the deaconess house actually
+in existence. May the Holy Spirit fill the place, and may he make it a
+center from whence the living waters shall flow forth."
+
+From a letter written to one of these deaconesses, we gain his opinion
+as to the need of deaconesses, and what was his ideal of a Home.[69]
+"The need for such an institution is great indeed. I do not suppose
+there was ever a time in the history of Christianity in which the
+openings for holy, disciplined, intelligent women to labor in God's
+vineyard were so numerous as at present. The population in towns and
+rural districts are waiting for the patient and enduring love that
+dwells in the breast of a truly pious woman, to wake them up to thought
+and feeling. O! if I had the women and had the means, how gladly would I
+send out hundreds, two by two, to carry the river of truth into the
+hamlets of our country, and the streets and lanes of our great cities.
+Will you pray for the Home? Ask for women and for means. I want our Home
+to be such a place of holy, peaceful memories that, when you leave it,
+it may be among the brightest things that come to your mind in a distant
+land, or in a different position; and each inmate can help to make it
+what it should be." But Mr. Pennefather did not live to see the great
+extension in usefulness and importance that the Deaconess Home was to
+obtain in later years. He passed away from life April 28, 1873, leaving
+to his wife, who had ever been his sympathetic and devoted helper, the
+care of continuing the work he had begun. She is still the head of the
+Mildmay Institutions, assisted by a resident superintendent, and aided
+by the counsels of wise, experienced men, who form the board of
+trustees.
+
+From the beginning of the erection of the new building every portion of
+it was put to use. In one of the basement rooms is the invalid kitchen,
+where, daily, puddings, jellies, and little delicacies are prepared and
+sent out to sufferers in the neighborhood, who could not otherwise
+obtain suitable nourishment. From eleven to two o'clock tickets are
+brought in, which have been distributed by the sisters or by the
+district visitors; and those who come to take the dinners, while waiting
+their turn, have a kind word, or sympathetic inquiry about the sick one,
+from the deaconess in charge.
+
+A flower mission occupies another room. Kind friends send here treasures
+from the garden and green-house, field and wood, and children contribute
+bouquets of wild flowers. A deaconess superintends the willing hands
+that tie the bunches, each of which is adorned with a brightly colored
+Scripture text. Ten hospitals and infirmaries were regularly visited
+during 1888; and more than thirty-eight thousand bunches of flowers were
+distributed, each accompanied by an appropriate text.
+
+Near at hand is the Dorcas room, where deaconesses are kept busy in
+cutting out clothing and superintending the sewing classes. During the
+winter of 1887 thirty widows attended this class three times a week,
+glad to earn a sixpence by needlework done in a warm, lighted room,
+while a deaconess entertained them by reading aloud. A large amount of
+sewing is given out from the same room, and the garments that are made
+are often sold to the poor at a low price. A most impressive scene is
+witnessed during the winter months, when, on three evenings of the week,
+all the basement rooms are crowded with the men's night-school, which
+has, it is believed, no rival in England. The ordinary number of names
+on the books exceeds twelve hundred. There are forty-nine classes, all
+taught by ladies, the majority of them being deaconesses. The subjects
+range from the elementary to the higher branches of general and
+practical knowledge, including arithmetic, geography, geometry, freehand
+drawing, and short-hand. The Bible is read in the classes on Monday and
+Friday, and a scriptural address is given by some gentleman on
+Wednesday. The school always closes with prayer and singing. The men
+may purchase coffee and bread and butter before leaving, and of this
+they largely avail themselves. A lending library is also attached to the
+school. The highest attendance during last session was five hundred and
+eighty-one, the lowest two hundred and eighty-seven.
+
+The influence of this school is very great, and many pass on from it to
+the men's Bible-class, which is held on Sunday afternoons in the largest
+basement room.[70]
+
+A servants' registry is attached to the deaconess house, and through its
+means about four hundred servants are annually provided with places.
+
+Nearly fifty deaconesses make their home at this central house, many of
+them having work in the different parts of the city, perhaps at remote
+distances, but returning at night to the home-like surroundings and
+purer air of the central house. The large sitting-room, the common
+living-room of the deaconesses, is a charming place. It is of great
+size, but made cheerful and attractive by pictures, flowers, and bright
+and tasteful decorations that are restful to the eyes. Both Mr. and Mrs.
+Pennefather made it a principle of action to have the home life
+cheerful, pleasant, and attractive, so that when the sisters come in
+toward evening, tired physically, and mentally depressed and exhausted
+by the long strain of hearing tales of misery, and seeing sights of
+wretchedness and squalor the day through, they could be cheered not only
+by the words of sympathy and love of their associates, but by the
+silent, restful influences of their surroundings.
+
+As I looked around the great room with deep-set windows, brightened by
+flowers, and still more by the happy faces of the deaconesses, some of
+whom were young girls with the charms of happy girlhood set off by the
+plain, black dress and wide white collar of the deaconess garb, I could
+but think the founders wise in arranging such pleasant, home-like
+surroundings for their workers.
+
+From the windows you look down into a beautiful garden, a rare luxury
+for a London dwelling. This garden was among the later accessions of Mr.
+Pennefather, being purchased by him shortly before his death. A train of
+circumstances led to its possession which he regarded as markedly
+providential; and the delightful uses to which "that blessed garden," as
+it has been called, has since been put, seem to justify the importance
+he attached to securing it. During the conference times great tents are
+reared here for the refreshments which the weary body needs. A fine old
+mulberry tree extends its branches, and under its ample shade meetings
+of one kind or another are held at all hours of the day. The lawn, with
+its quiet, shady walks, furnished with comfortable garden seats,
+provides a meeting place for friends, where, in the intervals between
+the services, those who perhaps never see each other during any of the
+other fifty-one weeks of the year may walk or sit together. "Here in
+more ordinary times may be seen the children of the Orphanage (where
+thirty-six girls form a happy, busy family) playing together, or the
+deaconesses in their becoming little white caps, who have run out for a
+breath of air. Here, too, during the summer, a succession of tea-parties
+is held for the different classes which have been reached by the
+deaconesses in the more densely populated parts of London, to whom the
+garden is a very paradise."[71]
+
+Before leaving the Central Deaconess Home I must speak of one branch of
+work--the artistic illustration of Scripture texts--because it so
+illustrates the happy freedom and wisdom of the Mildmay methods, which
+seek to develop the strength of each sister in the line of her special
+aptitudes. Two of the deaconesses have marked ability as artists, and
+they devote their time to illuminating texts and adorning Christmas and
+Easter cards with rare and exquisite designs. From the sale of these
+illuminations over five thousand dollars were realized last year for the
+benefit of the institution.
+
+The Conference Hall, too, should have a further word of recommendation
+for the truly catholic spirit in which it serves the interests of a
+myriad of good causes. Besides the crowded meetings of the conference
+there are held Sunday services throughout the year. The hospitality of
+its rooms is readily granted to every good cause with which the mission
+has sympathy. During 1887 "temperance society meetings, railway men and
+their wives, Moravian missions, Pastor Bost's mission at La Force, the
+MacAll Paris missions, the Sunday closing movement, young men's and
+young women's Christian associations, a Christian police association,
+the Children's Special Service mission, the Christmas Letter mission,
+Bible readings for German residents, and various other foreign and home
+missions have all in turn been advocated here."[72]
+
+The larger number of the deaconesses at the central house, as well as
+the twenty-five at the branch house in South London, are employed in
+twenty-one London parishes, where their work has been sought by the
+clergymen; they go to all, undertaking every kind of labor that can
+give them access to the hearts and homes of the people. While
+co-operating with the clergyman in charge of a parish their work is
+superintended from the Deaconess Home. They visit from house to house
+among the sick and poor, hold mothers' meetings, teach night-schools,
+hold Bible-classes separately for men, women, and children; hold special
+classes for working women and girls who are kept busily employed during
+the day, and during the winter months have a weekly average of more than
+nine thousand attendants on their services. They are solving the problem
+of "how to save the masses" by resolving the masses into individuals,
+and then influencing these individuals by the power of personal effort
+and love.
+
+But a few steps from Conference Hall is the Nursing Home, where about
+one hundred "nurse sisters," nurses, and probationers make their home in
+the intervals between their duties, and are presided over by a lady
+superintendent of their own. Adjoining is the Cottage Hospital, a
+beautiful building, the gift of a lady in memory of her son. The walls
+have been painted and decorated throughout by some ladies who delight in
+using their skill to make beautiful the homes of the sick.
+
+A large hospital and medical mission also exist in Bethnal Green, a
+densely populated part of London that in some portions can vie with the
+worst slums of the city. It was so necessary to provide better
+accommodations for nursing the sufferers than could be found in their
+poor homes that a warehouse was fitted up with beds and transformed into
+a small hospital. In 1887 four hundred and thirteen patients were
+received at the hospital, and in the dispensary for outside patients
+sixteen thousand four hundred and eighteen visits were paid during the
+year, nearly two thirds of which number were to patients in their own
+houses. There is no place in which a hospital could be more sorely
+needed than in this destitute part of London, and perhaps no place where
+it could be more appreciated. "I had no idea," said a man of the better
+class who was brought in, "of there being such a place as this; you give
+as much attention to the poorest man you get out of the street as could
+be given to a prince."[73]
+
+Every Christmas some kind of an entertainment is arranged for the
+hospital patients, and, through the gift of friends, articles of warm
+clothing are distributed to protect against the winter's cold.
+
+A variety of mission work is carried on in connection with Bethnal
+Green. There is a Men's Institute, open every evening except Sunday and
+Monday, in connection with which is a savings' bank that is well
+patronized. There is a Lads' Institute, where the deaconesses have
+classes and meet the boys in a friendly way; a men's lodging-house,
+where a comfortable bed and shelter can be had for eight cents a night.
+The latter is an enterprise which could be imitated with profit in all
+our large American cities, where it is very difficult for the homeless
+and poverty-stricken to obtain a decent lodging, or to find any place,
+in fact, where liquor is not sold. There are also evangelistic services
+in the mission here, Sunday-schools, Bible-classes, temperance meetings,
+a soup kitchen, and a coffee bar, where, during Christmas week, between
+four and five hundred men and boys were given light refreshments, and at
+the same time some idea of the kindliness and good-will that are
+associated with this happy season of the year.
+
+There are also two convalescent homes, one at Barnet and one at
+Brighton. The home at Brighton is especially designed for the poor
+patients of the East End mission. The report for the year ending
+December 31, 1887, says that five hundred and fifty men, women, and
+children enjoyed its benefits for a fortnight or longer.[74]
+
+Mildmay nurse deaconesses have also charge of the Doncaster General
+Infirmary, the Nurses' Institute at Malta, and the Medical Mission
+Hospital at Jaffa, where two hundred and nineteen patients were received
+the last year, of whom one hundred and seventy-five were Moslems.
+
+There also exists under the supervision of Mildmay workers a railway
+mission that was begun in 1880 for men on duty at two of the London
+stations. An organized mission has sprung up from this small beginning
+that has now extended over three great lines of railroads which employ
+thousands of men.
+
+The long list of labors given do not exhaust the efforts of Mildmay
+workers, for, besides special teas for policemen and postmen, and the
+mission room and day-school at Ball's Pond, there is also an educational
+branch that is meeting the demand for higher educational advantages for
+women, under distinctly religious influences, by the Clapton House
+School.
+
+The questions involuntarily present themselves, when reading the
+undertakings just enumerated, that involve not only faithfulness and
+devotion in service, but disciplined, practiced faculties, "What class
+of women are these by whom so much has been accomplished? And what is
+the training that has made them so effective?" It is difficult to
+answer the first question. The deaconesses are of all classes, many of
+them being ladies who devote their time, talent, and means to forward
+the cause. There are a good many daughters of clergymen, who are
+carrying out the associations of their life at home. Just how many are
+self-supporting and just how many are maintained by the Institution are
+facts that are never known; as Mrs. Pennefather says in a letter of
+February 11, 1889, "There are certain points we deal with as strictly
+private. While every probationer pays four guineas for her first month,
+the after monetary arrangements are never known except to myself and the
+resident lady superintendent."
+
+
+ NOTE.--There is a further department at Mildmay that has never been
+ named, but is certainly an important and busy one; it might be
+ called the "Department of Inquiry," for certainly the personal
+ visits and letters received, inquiring into the details of the
+ institution, must be very large. My obligations to Mrs. Pennefather
+ are great, who, both by letter and printed matter, has placed a
+ great number of facts at my disposal, of which I have availed myself
+ freely in writing this sketch. Mrs. Pennefather's words, "we are
+ glad when we can help any Christian work with the experience God has
+ permitted us to gather," echo the words of the great apostle, "Let
+ him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in
+ all good things." I remember, too, the gracious patience with which,
+ during one of the crowded days of the last conference, Miss
+ Coventry, the superintendent, spent a long hour with us, answering
+ fully and minutely the many questions which we put when trying to
+ supplement our want of knowledge by her long experience. Indeed, the
+ spirit of Mildmay impressed me as generous and helpful; as has been
+ said, "Over the whole house rules the spirit of love, devotion, and
+ prayer."*
+
+ * "Deaconess Work in England," _The Churchman_, May 12, 1888.
+
+
+The second question is more easy of response. There is a probation
+house, where ladies that present themselves as candidates are received
+for a month, and are given work in teaching orphan children, or go out
+to the city missions and the night-schools under the care of a
+deaconess. If the probation has proved satisfactory the candidate enters
+the training-school called "the Willows," a mile or two from the Central
+House, a pleasant home which about three years ago came into the
+possession of the institution and the inmates of the school, formerly
+accommodated in five small houses, are now gathered, at slightly greater
+expense, under one roof in the larger, pleasanter home. The following
+extracts, taken from a little circular called "A Missionary
+Training-school," will give us a good idea of the life of the embryo
+deaconesses, and the instruction, practical and theoretical, that they
+receive. "The house, which lies a little back from the road, is entered
+through a conservatory passage, and on the other side of the spacious
+hall, with its illuminated motto, 'Peace be to this house,' above the
+fireplace, are the lady superintendent's sitting-room and the large
+dining-room, where, on the day when I visited 'the Willows,' about
+thirty of us sat down to dinner. Several others were absent in
+connection with their medical studies. Both these rooms open on a
+terrace, and beyond stretches a garden which, even in lifeless
+winter-time, looked inviting, and, in its spring beauty and summer
+loveliness, must be in itself a training for the young natures which are
+learning in the slums of Bethnal Green and Hoxton their hard
+acquaintance with sin and sorrow. Perhaps in these days of strain and
+toil too little has been thought of the need of young hearts for some
+gentle relief from the first shock of meeting with the evil with which
+older workers have a mournful familiarity."
+
+The inmates of the Training-school are not deaconesses alone. The school
+was started to prepare workers for the foreign field, but the crying
+need of the vast metropolis turned attention to the home field. The
+Church of England Zenana Society sends its candidates to Mrs.
+Pennefather for training, and she is glad to accept them, believing that
+a variety of companionship is needed by those who, in zeal for their
+personal work, might lose the broad sympathy for all kinds of Christian
+labor, which is an invaluable cultivation for wise and useful laborers.
+
+The several classes who pass through the course of training may be
+designated as follows:
+
+a.) Those who pass on to the deaconess house.
+
+b.) Candidates for (1) the Church of England Zenana Society; (2) the
+Church Missionary Society.
+
+c.) Those who receive medical training for working among the women and
+children of India.
+
+d.) Those who are as yet unconnected with any society.
+
+e.) When vacancies occur some few are received who merely return to home
+or parish work, but who are greatly benefitted by training and
+experience.
+
+"The general routine of life seems to be as follows: Prayers at eight
+o'clock, then breakfast, followed by a certain amount of domestic duty
+which falls to the lot of each. For it is not forgotten that these years
+of training are not for the sake of home life, but as preparation for
+the self-denials of missionary life. Speaking broadly, the mornings seem
+to be chiefly devoted to classes; afternoons to out of door and district
+work; and thus theory and practice pleasantly relieve and support each
+other."
+
+There are regular Bible-classes held by different clergymen, and once a
+fortnight there are lectures on the history of missionary work. There
+are classes in Hindustani, drawing, and singing, and for those whose
+education is defective, elementary classes in arithmetic, geometry, and
+short-hand. The probationers are also given training in the duties of
+the store-room, and the order and method that they are taught in caring
+for the minutest details must certainly form valuable habits in all
+those who have any desire to profit by the instruction they receive.
+
+For those who are destined for medical work among the women of India
+there is a special course of medical training, both theoretical and
+practical.
+
+The age requirement is not so strictly maintained at Mildmay as at many
+other deaconess houses, but, as a rule, ladies from about twenty to
+thirty years of age are preferred as students in the training-school.
+The sum of three hundred dollars is charged for the year's expenses at
+the training-school, medical students paying one hundred dollars
+additional.
+
+Our study of the Mildmay Institutions has been somewhat extensive. As
+was said at the beginning of the chapter, the great freedom and
+simplicity of the Mildmay methods, as well as the happy faculty that its
+directors possess of utilizing all varieties of individual talent, make
+this deaconess establishment one that is full of valuable suggestions to
+the similar institutions that are now arising in American Methodism. No
+working force is wasted; if a deaconess possess a special talent, she is
+given a field in which to exercise it; and if exceptional conditions
+arise workers are found ready to meet them. This training provides
+well-equipped missionaries for the foreign field, and equally
+well-prepared missionaries for the great field of the present hour--the
+home mission work in the crowded wards of great cities.
+
+The annual expenses of the Mildmay Institutions vary from one hundred
+and ten thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Sixty
+thousand dollars are received in voluntary contributions, and the
+remaining sum is generally obtained from friends who are immediately
+concerned in the work.
+
+It is certainly a marvelous tribute to Christian faith, although it is
+never heralded as such, that an establishment of the extent and
+magnitude of Mildmay has been maintained for years with no permanent
+endowment to fall back upon, and that annually the renewed self-denial
+of constant friends has to supply the large amount of money needed to
+meet the entire expenses. Besides those outward and visible services
+which it renders "for the love of Christ, and in his name" Mildmay
+furnishes a constant testimony to the fidelity of the Christian faith in
+the hearts of many believers.
+
+
+ [65] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 279.
+ [66] _Ibid._, p. 305.
+ [67] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 435.
+ [68] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 471.
+ [69] _Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather_, p. 471.
+ [70] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 7.
+ [71] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 6.
+ [72] _A Retrospect of Mildmay Work During the Year 1887._
+ [73] _Mildmay Deaconesses and their Work_, p. 13.
+ [74] _A Light in a Dark Place_, p. 21.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DEACONESSES IN SCOTLAND.
+
+
+When Fliedner went on his second tour to England he extended his journey
+to Scotland, and ventured to Edinburgh at a time when the cholera was
+sweeping with fearful ravages through the city in order to become
+acquainted with Dr. Chalmers. The great Scotch divine and his good
+deeds, that were connected with all kinds of charitable endeavor, moved
+the German pastor to admiration and stirred him to holy emulation. On
+the other hand, that Chalmers was profoundly touched by the work that
+Fliedner had accomplished in Germany there can be no doubt; we have his
+own words to testify to the importance he attached to the diaconate of
+women. In his lectures on Romans, he says: "Here, too, we are presented
+with a most useful indication, the employment of female agency, under
+the eye and with the sanction of an apostle, in the business of the
+Church. It is well to have inspired authority for a practice too little
+known, and too little preached on in modern times. Phebe belonged to
+the order of deaconesses, in which capacity she had been the helper of
+many, including Paul himself. In what respect she served them is not
+particularly specified. Like the women in the gospels who waited on our
+Saviour, she may have ministered to them of her substance, though there
+can be little doubt that, as the holder of an official station in the
+Church, she ministered to them by her services also." It is but
+recently, however, that deaconesses have become incorporated into the
+religious life of Scotland, and, so far, they do not exist in connection
+with the Free Church, of which Chalmers was the able and heroic leader,
+but only in connection with the national Church--the old historic Church
+of Scotland. Within this Church the question has assumed the form, not
+alone of the revival of the apostolic order of deaconesses, but also of
+the organization of all the manifold activities of women within the
+Church into one whole, which is put under the authority and direction of
+the officers of the Church.
+
+Isolated attempts in this direction had previously been made, but in
+1885 the first definite steps were taken when the Committee on Christian
+Life and Work, of which Dr. Charteris was the Convener, presented to the
+General Assembly a report on "The need of an organization of women's
+work in the Church," part of which is as follows: "The organization of
+women's work in the Church has become a subject of pressing interest.
+The Assembly has already sanctioned and regulated the organization of
+women's work in collecting for foreign missions, and in sending out and
+superintending missionaries. The great and growing strength of the
+movement thus recognized is one of the most gratifying things in our
+mission; ... but of still older date, and not less powerful, is the part
+taken by women in the home work of the parish church. Lady visitors are
+carrying messages of divine truth and of human sympathy into the
+dwellings of the poor both in town and country. Many have been trained
+as nurses that they may be skilled ministrants to the suffering and
+sick; and there can be little doubt that the greater part of the actual
+personal help which ministers receive in parishes is from the women of
+the congregations. But those who have done most of the good work are
+most instant in asking from the Church some means of doing still more.
+From ministers and from their female helpers have come many requests to
+the committee for some provision for training; some recognition and
+organization of those who are trained.... In the Church of England are
+many homes for nurses and deaconesses; training institutions for female
+mission work of every kind; and the rapidity with which they are
+multiplying proves of itself how much they are needed; also
+non-conformist institutions of the kind, and some separate from all
+Churches. Your committee believe that the time has fully come for our
+Church's taking steps to supply her own wants in this important
+department of mission work."[75]
+
+The General Assembly then directed the committee to inquire into the
+subject of women's work in the Church, and to bring up a definite report
+to the next assembly. The committee accepted the task, sent out requests
+to every parish for suggestions as to the forms of Christian work to be
+carried on by women, and the best means of making preparation for their
+special training, and prepared themselves by personal inspection of the
+leading institutions for training women workers in England to be able to
+answer intelligently the same questions. A scheme was reported in 1886
+which should incorporate all existing parish organizations, such as
+Sabbath-school teachers' and women's societies of all kinds, and should
+aim at increasing their number and working power. In 1887 regulations
+were perfected for working this scheme, and the approval of this by the
+Assembly of 1887 made the new plan a part of the organized work of the
+Church.
+
+The comprehensive character of the new departure in the Church of
+Scotland is plainly seen from a view of the organization as it now
+exists. The three grades into which the Christian women workers are
+divided embrace every kind of work done in connection with the Church.
+The first grade is general in its character, and forms an association
+called the Women's Guild. In each parish the members of Bible-classes,
+of Young Women's Congregational Associations, of mission working
+parties, of Dorcas societies, as well as tract distributers,
+Sabbath-school teachers, members of the Church choir, and any who are
+engaged in the service of Christ in the Church are all to be accepted as
+members of the guild. The next higher grade is the Women Workers' Guild,
+for which a certain age is required, and an experience of at least three
+years, with the approval of the kirk session which enrolls them. In
+connection with this guild are associates, who have a similar relation
+to the members of the Women Workers' Guild that the associates have to
+deaconesses in the English deaconess houses. They are not pledged to
+regular or constant service, but engage to do some work or contribute
+some money every year. They can go to the deaconess house, put on the
+garb of the deaconess while there, and as long as they remain can assume
+the responsibilities and enjoy the privileges belonging to deaconesses.
+The third higher grade is that of the deaconesses. Any one desiring to
+become a deaconess "must purpose to devote herself, so long as she shall
+occupy the position of a deaconess, especially to Christian work in
+connection with the Church, as the chief object of her life."[76]
+Provision was also made for a training-school and home where deaconesses
+could be prepared for their duties.
+
+There are a great many ladies who for a long time have been engaged in
+doing the practical work of a deaconess without being clothed in the
+garb, or invested with the office. The Church of Scotland recognized
+these workers by providing two classes of deaconesses, who should be
+equal in position, but have different spheres of activity. Those who for
+seven years had been known as active workers, and who have given their
+lives largely to Christian service, are accepted as deaconesses of the
+first class, and are free to work wherever they find themselves most
+useful within the limits of the Church. The second class embraces those
+who shall have received training in the deaconess institution, or have
+been in connection with it for at least two years.
+
+When the measure was finally passed by the General Assembly there was no
+delay in carrying into execution the details indicated by the plan of
+work. The Deaconess Institution and Training Home was at once started.
+It was located at Edinburgh, as the most central and convenient place
+for the institution, and as furnishing the most available advantages for
+the instruction and training of the deaconesses. From here as a center
+the work is expected to penetrate into every part of Scotland by means
+of the trained workers whose services will be available for all parts of
+the country when desired by the ministers and kirk sessions. With true
+Scotch prudence and wisdom it was arranged that the lady who was chosen
+to be the superintendent should fit herself thoroughly for the duties of
+her responsible place by becoming familiar with the workings of similar
+institutions in England. She was accordingly given six months' leave of
+absence, which she spent among the great London Homes, and only assumed
+the duties of her position May 1, 1888. Meanwhile the Home had opened
+under the temporary care of a lady who had been a worker in Mrs.
+Meredith's Prison Mission, and for six years a Mildmay deaconess. It had
+from the beginning the warm co-operation of sympathizing, influential
+friends. Regular courses of lectures were arranged on subjects connected
+with Christian work, and as similar courses will be demanded of like
+institutions in America it may be interesting to give the syllabus in
+full:
+
+
+ SYLLABUS OF LECTURES.
+ (On Tuesdays at 12.)
+
+ 1. B.--Professor Charteris. Four Lectures.
+ "How to Begin a Mission."
+
+ Nov. 29.--1. Whom to visit, and why. The ills we know of, bodily,
+ spiritual, social; and seek to lessen.
+ Dec. 6.--2. How to induce the people who belong to no church--perhaps
+ care for none--to come in.
+ Dec. 13.--3. What to do with the children; (a) to attract, (b) to
+ influence them.
+ Dec. 20.--4. What agencies besides Sunday services prove best.
+
+ 2. C.--Dr. P. A. Young. Six Lectures.
+ "Medical Hygiene for the Use of Visitors."
+
+ Jan. 3.--1. Object and scope of the course of lectures; short sketch
+ of the structure and functions of the human body, including a
+ brief description of the functions of digestion, absorption,
+ circulation, respiration, excretion, secretion, and enervation.
+ Jan. 10.--2. Fractures, how to recognize and treat them temporarily;
+ bleeding, and how to treat it; the use of the triangular bandage.
+ Jan. 17.--3. Treatment of fainting, choking, burns and scalds, bites
+ from animals, bruises and tears from machinery, convulsions,
+ sunstroke, persons found insensible, suspected poisoning and
+ frostbite; how to lift and carry an injured person.
+ Jan. 24.--4. Sick-room, its selection, preparation, cleaning, warming,
+ ventilation, and furnishing, bed and bedding, infection and
+ disinfection.
+ Jan. 31.--5. Washing and dressing patients, bed-making, changing
+ sheets, lifting helpless patients, food administration, medicines
+ and stimulants, what to observe regarding a sick person.
+ Feb. 7.--6. Taking temperature, baths, bedsores, nursing sick
+ children, application of local remedies, poultices, fomentations,
+ blisters, etc.; management of convalescents.
+
+ 3. D.--Rev. George Wilson. Four Lectures.
+ "Difficulties Encountered by District Visitors."
+
+ Feb. 14.--1. Difficulties proceeding from indifference.
+ Feb. 21.--2. Difficulties proceeding from ignorance.
+ Feb. 28.--3. Difficulties proceeding from adversity.
+ Mar. 6.--4. Difficulties proceeding from anxiety.
+ Note.--Questions invited from the ladies.
+
+ 4. E.--Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod. Four Lectures.
+ "Some Qualifications of a Church Worker, especially among the Poor."
+
+ March 13.--1. Motives and aims.
+ March 20.--2. Difficulties and hindrances, how to overcome them.
+ March 27.--3. Conditions of success.
+ April 3.--4. Helps, agencies, etc.
+
+ 5. F.--Rev. John McMurtrie. Two Lectures.
+ "History and Methods of Missions to the Heathen."
+
+ April 10.--1. History of missions.
+ April 17.--2. Methods of missions.
+
+
+Another wise provision in this Scotch home is the arrangement by which
+those who do not wish to become deaconesses, but who want to become
+competent Christian workers in their own homes, can come here and spend
+some months in receiving training and instruction in various methods of
+Christian work. There is no department in life in which many blunders
+and much loss of time and usefulness cannot be prevented by making use
+of the experience of others who have previously overcome the
+difficulties to be encountered. In other words, we need to obtain all
+the preparation and discipline we can possibly have in order to do our
+work well; and especially is this true of Christian work, which demands
+the highest service that the heart and soul of humanity can give. Many
+individuals will come to the home to be trained and fitted to work in
+their own homes, and will start new lines of Christian activity that
+will win the sympathies and efforts of many who are eager to be employed
+in good works, if only they can have competent direction.
+
+A pamphlet entitled _The Deaconess Institution and Training Home_ says:
+"Are there not many parts all over Scotland--mines, quarries,
+etc.--where the population is poor and hard-working? Would it not in
+such places be an advantage both to minister and people to have a
+Christian lady, trained, experienced, and devoted, to live and work
+among them? Or, which would be possible in every parish, would it not be
+a great advantage that in case of need--in a mining accident, an
+outbreak of sickness--a trained Christian nurse should be available
+during the emergency?"
+
+The General Assembly provided that deaconesses should be solemnly
+inducted into their office at a religious service in church. It also
+provided "that along with the application for the admission of any
+person to the office of a deaconess there shall be submitted a
+certificate from a committee of the General Assembly intrusted with that
+duty stating that the candidate is qualified in respect of education,
+and that she has had seven years' experience in Christian work, or two
+years' training in the Deaconess Institution and Training Home." Also,
+"Before granting the application, the kirk session shall intimate to the
+presbytery their intention of doing so, unless objection be offered by
+the presbytery at its first meeting thereafter." On Sunday, December 9,
+1888, the first deaconess was set apart to her duties. The kirk session
+was already in possession of the necessary certificates testifying to
+her "character, education, experience, devotedness, and power to serve
+and co-operate with others." Due intimation had been made to the
+presbytery. The questions were put that were appointed by the General
+Assembly:
+
+"Do you desire to be set apart as a deaconess, and as such to serve the
+Lord Jesus Christ in the Church, which is his body?
+
+"Do you promise, as a deaconess of the Church of Scotland, to work in
+connection with that Church, subject to its courts, and in particular to
+the kirk session of the parish in which you work?
+
+"Do you humbly engage, in the strength and grace of the Lord Jesus
+Christ, our Lord and Master, faithfully and prayerfully to discharge the
+duties of this office?"
+
+The lady who, by answering the above questions, received the sanction of
+the Church as one of its appointed officers was Lady Grisell Baillie, of
+Dryburgh Abbey. She writes to the author of this book: "I count it a
+great honor to be permitted to serve in the Church of my fathers, and I
+pray that I may be enabled faithfully and prayerfully to fulfill the
+duties to which I am called, and that it maybe for the glory of our God
+and Saviour that I am permitted to work in his vineyard."
+
+Miss Davidson, who was temporary superintendent of the home, but who is
+now engaged in organizing branches of the Women's Guild throughout
+Scotland, and Miss Alice Maud Maxwell, the present superintendent of the
+home, have also been set apart to the same office. As has been said,
+"Each represents an old Scottish family, whose members have been
+distinguished for Christian and philanthropic labors;" and "each
+represents a different type of deaconess work." Lady Grisell Baillie is
+engaged in gentle ministrations among the people of her own home. Miss
+Davidson is at the service of every minister who desires aid in
+organizing women's work in his parish. And Miss Maxwell is at the
+training-home, leading a busy life in directing the class labors and
+missionary activities that center around it and in impressing her life
+and spirit upon a band of workers who are to further Christ's cause both
+at home and in the mission field.
+
+The mention of any facts that can bring before us the varied character
+that the deaconess work can assume is valuable. For to be truly useful,
+this cause needs to provide a place for women of very unlike qualities,
+and also to allow a certain degree of freedom which will insure the
+individuality of each worker.
+
+The action of the Church of Scotland has had its influence upon the
+Reformed Churches throughout the world holding the presbyterial system.
+At the session of the London Council of the Alliance of Reformed and
+Presbyterian Churches during the summer of 1888, Dr. Charteris presented
+a report embracing many of the features of the elaborate scheme which
+he had previously devised for the Church of Scotland. And the Council,
+in receiving the report, not only approved it, but "commended the
+details of the scheme stated in the report to the consideration of the
+churches represented in the Alliance." We may regard the Presbyterian
+churches of Great Britain, therefore, as committed, not only to the
+indorsement of deaconesses as officers in the service of the Church, but
+to the organization of the whole work of women in the churches, under
+ecclesiastical authority and direction.
+
+There is one feature of the deaconess cause as it has been developed in
+the Church of Scotland that is of especial interest to the Methodists of
+America. Most of the great deaconess houses of England have sprung from
+the personal faith and works of earnest-souled individuals. Mildmay, for
+example, is a living testimony to the faithfulness and energy of the
+Rev. Mr. Pennefather and those associated with him. Within the Church of
+England the recognition accorded deaconesses is a partial one, resting
+on the principles and rules signed by the archbishops and eighteen
+bishops, and suggested for adoption in 1871. But as yet the English
+Church has not formally accepted this utterance, and made it
+authoritative. The German deaconess houses, while receiving the
+practical indorsement of the State Church of Germany, are not in any
+way officially connected with it. Even Kaiserswerth itself is solely
+responsible to those who contribute to its support for a right use of
+the means placed at its command. The same fact applies to the Paris
+deaconess houses. They are all detached efforts, not parts of a general
+system. But the Scotch deaconesses are responsible to a church, and a
+church is responsible for their work. The Church of Scotland is,
+therefore, justified in its claim when it says that the adoption of the
+scheme of the organization of women's work by the assembly of 1888, "is
+the first attempt since the Reformation to make the organization of
+women's work a branch of the general organization of the Church, under
+the control of her several judicatories."[77] The second attempt was
+made, which was the first also for any Church in America, when, May 18,
+1888, the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States instituted the
+office of deaconess, and made it an inherent part of the Church economy,
+under the direction and control of the Annual Conferences.
+
+
+ [75] _Organization of Women's Work in the Church of Scotland._
+ Notes by A. H. Charteris, D.D.; p. 4.
+ [76] _Report of Committee on Christian Life and Work_, 1888, p. 36.
+ [77] Nearly all of the facts, both printed and personal, concerning
+ the deaconess cause in Scotland have been furnished the writer
+ through the kindness of Lady Grisell Baillie, Dryburgh Abbey,
+ Scotland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.
+
+
+It was no part of the plan of this book, when first projected, to treat
+of the deaconess cause as it is developing within the United States of
+America, but gradually, through the kindness of many friends belonging
+to different denominations, a number of facts have been obtained which
+bear directly upon the question of how the example of European deaconess
+houses has influenced and is influencing the Protestant Churches of
+America; and it seems unwise to omit them from the consideration of the
+subject.
+
+Naturally the German Lutherans, who were well acquainted with the
+deaconess work in their native land, were the first to try to introduce
+it among their churches. In the yearly report sent out from
+Kaiserswerth, January 1, 1847, Fliedner mentions that an urgent appeal
+had been made to him to send deaconesses to an important city in the
+United States, there to have the oversight of a hospital, and to found a
+mother-house for the training of deaconesses. In the report for the
+following year Fliedner again refers to the call from America, and
+states his intention to extend his travels to the New World, and to take
+with him sisters who shall aid in founding a mother-house. In the summer
+of 1849 he was enabled to carry out his intention, and July 14, 1849,
+accompanied by four deaconesses, he reached Pittsburg, Pa., where Rev.
+Dr. W. A. Passavant, who had written so many urgent appeals for his aid,
+was awaiting him. The building had already been secured for a hospital
+and deaconess home, and, July 17, was solemnly dedicated at a service
+where Fliedner delivered the principal address, and a large audience
+testified to their interest.
+
+Before his return to Europe Fliedner visited the New York Synod, and, in
+an English discourse, described the character and aims of Kaiserswerth,
+and commended the newly founded institution at Pittsburg to the sympathy
+and aid of the German Lutheran Church in America. No further results
+were reached, as the synod contented itself with resolving that "this
+Ministerium awaits with deep interest the result of the work made in
+behalf of the institution of Protestant deaconesses at Pittsburg."[78]
+
+The institution is occasionally heard of afterward in the proceedings
+of the Pittsburg Synod, and in the paper, _The Missionary_, published
+under the auspices of the same Church. Urgent appeals were also sent out
+for devoted Christian women to come to the aid of the sisters and to
+join their numbers; but although the hospital, commended by their
+skillful and able ministrations as nurses, had the full approval of the
+public, there were few, if any, who came to join them, and they were
+unduly burdened by a task too great for their small number.
+
+In 1854 Dr. Passavant resigned his pastoral charge, and devoted his
+entire time to the furtherance of the cause, but, up to the present, it
+has not attained the complete organization and wide extension that its
+friends in the German Lutheran Church have desired.
+
+The institutions which owe their existence to Dr. Passavant's efforts
+are the infirmary at Pittsburg; the hospital and deaconess home in
+Milwaukee; the hospital in Jacksonville, Ill.; the orphanages for girls
+in Rochester and Mount Vernon, N. Y., and one for boys in Pennsylvania.
+
+There is, at the present time, only one of the original Kaiserswerth
+sisters left, and that is Sister Elizabeth, the head deaconess at
+Rochester. Dr. Passavant still continues to labor at forming a complete
+organization on the basis of the Kaiserswerth system, and, to quote the
+words of Dr. A. Spaeth, "As he succeeded forty years ago in bringing the
+first sisters over from Kaiserswerth to Pittsburg, I have no doubt that
+now, when the Church is at last awakening to the importance of this
+work, he will succeed in the completion of his undertaking."
+
+A more recent development of the deaconess work in the German Lutheran
+Church has arisen in connection with the German hospital in
+Philadelphia. The hospital was well equipped for its work, but there was
+much dissatisfaction with the nursing, which was inefficient and
+unskillful. In the fall of 1882 the hospital authorities turned for
+advice and co-operation to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and other
+clergymen of the denomination in Philadelphia. It was determined to
+secure German deaconesses as nurses. Several attempts were made to
+induce Kaiserswerth, or some other large mother-house in Germany, to
+give up a few sisters to the hospital, but on all sides the applications
+were refused. The deaconesses were too greatly needed in the Old World
+to be spared for work in the New. At length, through the unremitting
+efforts of Consul Meyer, and of John D. Lankenau, president of the board
+of managers, a small independent community of sisters under the
+direction of Marie Krueger, who had herself been trained in
+Kaiserswerth, acceded to the proposal, and the head-deaconess, with six
+sisters, arrived in Philadelphia June 19, 1884. They left the field of
+their self-denying work in the hospital and poor-house at Iserlohn, in
+Westphalia, sadly to the regret of the authorities and citizens of the
+place, but to the hospital at Philadelphia they gave invaluable aid.
+From the first their good services met with appreciation. The efficiency
+of the hospital service was greatly increased; and from physicians and
+hospital authorities there was only one testimony, and that a most
+favorable one, to the value of deaconesses as trained nurses. Mr.
+Lankenau, who has ever been the wise and munificent patron of the
+institution, determined to insure a succession of these admirable nurses
+for the service of the hospital, and, at an expense of over five hundred
+thousand dollars, he built an edifice of palace-like proportions, and
+made over this munificent gift to the hospital corporation. It was
+accepted by them January 10, 1887. The western wing of the building is
+used as a home for aged men and women; the eastern wing is a residence
+and training-school for the deaconesses, the chapel uniting the two, and
+the whole being known as the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia
+Mother-house of Deaconesses.
+
+A visit to the Home convinced me that the regulations of the house, the
+work of the sisters, and the devotion to duty that characterize the
+mother-houses in Germany rule also in this home in the New World. The
+imposing entrance hall with the great stair-way, the floor and stairs of
+white marble, the wide halls and spacious reception-rooms and offices
+seemed at first almost incongruous surroundings for the modest active
+deaconesses, some of whom were busy in the hospital wards, others
+hanging clothes on the line, and others occupied in duties within the
+building. But place and environments are only incidental matters; the
+spirit within is the determining quality; and a conversation with the
+_Oberin_ (head deaconess) and the rector left me with the persuasion
+that the spirit of earnest devotion to God and humanity is the
+main-spring of duty in this house.
+
+The arrangement of the rooms for the sisters is similar to that at
+Kaiserswerth; each consecrated sister has a small apartment simply
+furnished for her own use. The older probationers are divided two and
+three in a room. Those who have recently entered are placed in two large
+rooms, but here every one has her own four walls--even if they are only
+made by linen curtains. When Elizabeth Fry first visited Kaiserswerth,
+among the arrangements that she at once recognized and commended was
+that by which each deaconess was given the privacy of her own apartment.
+In the deaconess houses that are so rapidly springing up in different
+parts of the United States this provision ought to be guarded with care,
+for a life that is so constantly drawn out in ministrations to others
+should have some moments of absolute privacy upon which no one can
+intrude.
+
+There are at present thirty-two deaconesses at the Philadelphia
+Mother-house, twenty of whom are probationers. The house was admitted to
+the Kaiserswerth Association, and will henceforth be represented at the
+Conferences. The direction is vested in a rector and head deaconess,
+neither of whom can be removed except on just cause of complaint. The
+distinctive dress is black, with blue or white aprons, white caps and
+collars. There is one addition to their garb which Fliedner would have
+looked upon with disfavor, and that is a cross--worn by the sisters from
+the time they are fully accepted as deaconesses.
+
+The first consecration took place in the beautiful chapel of the Home,
+January 13, 1889, when three deaconesses were accepted as members of the
+order.
+
+For those who desire to form a good conception of the deaconess
+institutions as they are conducted in Germany, a visit to the
+Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses will be fruitful of valuable
+suggestions.[79]
+
+In July, 1887, a Swedish Lutheran pastor in Omaha sent a probationer to
+Philadelphia to be trained as a sister for a deaconess house to be
+established in that central city of the United States. In 1888 four
+others joined her, and the building of a hospital and deaconess home is
+now progressing by the generous support of all classes of
+philanthropists in Omaha. A deaconess home has also recently been
+founded by Norwegian Lutherans in South Brooklyn, L. I.
+
+In the German Reformed Church a layman endeavored in 1866 to arouse
+interest in the deaconess office. The Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of
+Hagerstown, Md., at Christmas gave five thousand dollars to the
+congregation, and with it sent a proposition to the consistory that
+three ladies of the congregation should be chosen and ordained to the
+order of deaconesses, with absolute control of the income of said fund
+for the purposes and duties as practiced in the early days of the
+Church.[80] This, and the action of the Lebanon Classis in 1867,
+requesting the synod "to take into consideration the propriety of
+restoring the apostolic society of deaconesses," seem to have been the
+only steps taken by those connected with this denomination.
+
+In the Protestant Episcopal Church of America the bishop of Maryland
+first instituted an order of deaconesses in connection with St. Andrew's
+Parish, Baltimore, Md. Two ladies gave themselves to ministering to the
+poor, and, with the sanction and approval of the bishop, a house was
+obtained and given the name of St. Andrew's Infirmary. In 1873 there
+were four resident deaconesses and four associates.[81] An early report
+of the infirmary says: "The deaconesses look to no organization of
+persons to furnish the pecuniary aid required by the demands of their
+position. Their first efforts have been for the destitute and sick. At
+the home they minister daily to the suffering and destitute sick
+wherever found; some requiring only temporary medical aid and nursing;
+others, whom God has chastened with more continuous suffering,
+requiring, in their penury, constant care and continual ministration."
+There is also under their charge a church school for vagrant children,
+and one also for the children of those comfortably situated in life.
+
+The "Forms for Setting Apart Deaconesses," the "Rules for
+Self-Examination," and the "Rules of Discipline" in the order of
+deaconesses in Maryland are largely patterned after the Kaiserswerth
+rules. In truth, the general questions for self-examination in regard to
+external duties, spiritual duties to the sick, the conduct of the
+deaconesses or sisters to those whom they meet, and the means for
+improving in the duties of the office are in many cases selected, and
+but slightly altered, from the series prepared by Pastor Fliedner.[82]
+The influence of the devout German pastor is indelibly stamped upon the
+deaconess cause in whatever denomination it has developed during the
+nineteenth century.
+
+In 1864 the deaconesses of the Diocese of Alabama were organized by
+Bishop Wilmer. Under the supervision of the bishop the three deaconesses
+with whom the order originated were associated in taking charge of an
+orphanage and boarding-school for girls. In 1873 there were five
+deaconesses, one probationer, and two resident associates.[83]
+
+In the Church Home all of the work is done by the inmates. As in the
+foreign Homes, the deaconesses are provided with food and raiment, and
+during sickness or old age they are cared for at the expense of the
+order. They are forbidden to receive fee or compensation for their
+services. Any remuneration that is made is paid to the order. In one
+feature, however, the deaconesses of Alabama differ from either their
+German or English sisters, and that is in the care of their individual
+means. The "Constitution and Rules" says: "The private funds of
+deaconesses shall not be expended without the approval of the chief
+deaconess or the bishop."[84] This usage prevails in sisterhoods, but,
+outside of this instance, so far as the author has been able to learn is
+not known in deaconess institutions.
+
+The rules for the associates in connection with the order are given
+somewhat at length, from which the following are taken. After defining
+an associate as a Christian woman desiring to aid the work of the
+deaconesses, and admonishing her that, although not bound by the rules
+of the Community, yet she must be careful to lead such a life as is
+becoming one associated in a work of religion and charity, she is
+requested "to state what kind of work she will undertake, under the
+direction of the chief deaconess, and to report the result to her at
+such intervals as may be agreed upon." The following modes of assistance
+are suggested as most useful; namely, "to provide and make clothing for
+the poor; to collect alms; to procure work, or promote its sale; to
+teach in the school; to assist in music or other classes; to relieve the
+destitute; to minister to the sick; to visit and instruct the ignorant;
+to attend the funeral arrangements for the poor; and to take charge of
+or assist in the decoration of the church."
+
+The feature of the union of the associates with the deaconesses is one
+whose importance can scarcely be exaggerated. There are many who would
+be able to serve for a short time in this relation whose valuable aid
+would be entirely lost if none but deaconesses who give all their time
+and strength could work in the order.
+
+In the Diocese of Long Island Bishop Littlejohn instituted an
+association of deaconesses by publicly admitting six women to the office
+of deaconess in St. Mary's Church, Brooklyn, February 11, 1872. The
+association has not continued in the form in which it originated, but
+has now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist. Still
+this sisterhood retains many of the distinctive deaconess features. A
+sister may, for instance, withdraw from the sisterhood for proper
+cause. She labors without remuneration, and the sisters live together in
+a home, or singly, as they may please, in any place where their work is
+located.
+
+In the Diocese of Western New York there are five deaconesses, with
+their associates and helpers, under the direction of the bishop of the
+diocese.
+
+In America, however, as in England, within the Episcopal Church
+sisterhoods are more influential and more rapid in their growth than are
+deaconess institutions. In a list of the sisterhoods of the Episcopal
+Church in America, given in the monthly magazine devoted to women's work
+in the Church,[85] fourteen sisterhoods are named, one religious order
+of widows, and two orders of deaconesses, one of which is that which is
+now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist.
+
+In 1871 the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church
+discussed at some length the relation of women's work to the Church, and
+there resulted increased interest in the subject of sisterhoods and
+deaconess institutions. An effort has been made to obtain for the order
+of deaconesses a wider recognition than it now enjoys, as it simply has
+the support of the bishop within whose diocese the deaconesses are at
+work. To this end, in the General Convention of 1880, a canon was
+presented to the House of Bishops, and accepted by a large vote. But it
+reached the Lower House too late for consideration, and no further
+action has been taken since that time.
+
+In the Presbyterian Church of America the question of the revival of the
+office of deaconess has already claimed some attention. The late Dr.
+A. T. McGill for many successive years earnestly recommended the revival
+of the office to the members of his classes in the theological seminary
+at Princeton; and his views, matured by years of reflection, were given
+for publication in an article published in the _Presbyterian Review_,
+1880.
+
+In the Minutes of the General Assembly for 1884, page 114, and of 1888,
+page 640, we find an overture asking if the education of deaconesses is
+consistent with Presbyterian polity, and, if so, should they be
+ordained, answered in the negative in the following words: "_The Form of
+Government_ declares that in all cases the persons elected [deacons]
+must be male members. (Chap. 13. 2.) In all ages of the Church godly
+women have been appointed to aid the officers of the Church in their
+labors, especially for the relief of the poor and the infirm. They
+rendered important service in the Apostolic Church, but they do not
+appear to have occupied a separate office, to have been elected by the
+people, to have been ordained or installed. There is nothing in our
+constitution, in the practice of our Church, or in any present
+emergency, to justify the creation of a new office." The next year an
+explanation of this action, which so obviously contradicts the facts of
+history, was asked, but the committee declined to say any thing more.
+
+The Southern Presbyterian Church has proceeded further, and in the
+direction of the female diaconate, as it is characterized in its main
+features wherever it has existed, when it declares in its _Book of
+Church Order_, adopted in 1879, that "where it shall appear needful, the
+church session may select and appoint godly women for the care of the
+sick, of prisoners, of poor widows and orphans, and, in general, in the
+relief of the sick."[86]
+
+In isolated Presbyterian congregations deaconesses have already obtained
+recognition. At the Pan-Presbyterian Council, held in Philadelphia in
+1880, Fritz Fliedner, the son of Dr. Theodor Fliedner, was present as a
+member, and through the influence of his words the Corinthian Avenue
+Presbyterian Church set apart five deaconesses, whose duty it should be
+to care for the poor and sick belonging to the congregation.
+
+"More recently the Third Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, Cal.,
+empowered its three deacons to choose three women from the congregation
+to co-operate with them in their work, granting them seats and votes in
+the board's monthly meeting."[87]
+
+The very interesting article from which the quotation has just been made
+seems to think the term "deaconess" a misnomer for the Kaiserswerth
+deaconess, as she belongs to a community, whereas the deaconess of the
+early Church was attached to a congregation and belonged to a single
+church as an officer; but it may well be questioned whether the class of
+duties assigned to the deaconess of the early Church and of modern times
+alike, that is, the nursing of the sick, the care of the infirm in body
+and mind, the succoring of the unfortunate, and the education of
+children, are not the main characteristics of the office of a deaconess,
+while the fact of her connection with a number of like-minded women in
+community life is merely an external feature of the office as it has
+developed in the nineteenth century. Whatever form the question may
+assume, with the Presbyterian churches of Scotland and England so far
+committed to the adoption of the office of the deaconess as an effective
+part of the organization of the Church, it seems inevitable that the
+Presbyterian Church of America will have to meet this question in the
+near future.
+
+The Methodist Episcopal Church of America, although occupying itself
+with the question of the diaconate of women later than any of the
+denominations previously mentioned, by its acceptance of the office and
+by making it an inherent part of its ecclesiastical organization has
+taken a higher ground than any Protestant body, with the exception of
+the Church of Scotland. The Methodist Episcopal Church has ever offered
+a freer scope for the activities of its women members than any other
+body of Christians save the Quakers, who are still the leaders in this
+respect; but it may be questioned if any furnishes a larger number who
+are actively engaged in promoting philanthropic and religious measures.
+
+The honor of practically beginning the deaconess work in connection with
+the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States belongs to Mrs. Lucy
+Rider Meyer, of the Chicago Training-school, who, during the summer
+months of 1887, aided by eight earnest Christian women, worked among the
+poor, the sick, and the needy of that great city without any reward of
+man's giving. In the autumn the Home opened in a few hired rooms, and
+Miss Thoburn came to be its first superintendent. The story of the
+growth of the work, the securing of a permanent home, and the
+enlargement of its resources is a most interesting one.[88]
+
+The Rock River Conference, within whose boundaries the Chicago Home is
+situated, had from the beginning an earnest sympathy and confidence in
+the work as it was developing in its midst. A memorial was prepared, and
+was presented to the General Conference in May, 1888, by the Rock River
+Conference, through its Conference delegates, asking for Church
+legislation with reference to deaconesses. At the same time the Bengal
+Annual Conference, through Dr. J. M. Thoburn, also presented a memorial
+asking for the institution of an order of deaconesses who should have
+authority to administer the sacrament to the women of India. Our
+missionaries in India have long felt the need of some way of ministering
+to the converted women who are closely secluded in zenana life, and who,
+though sick and dying, are precluded by the customs of the country from
+any religious service of comfort or consolation that male missionaries
+can render. If it had been possible for our women missionaries to
+administer the sacrament many Indian women could have been received into
+the Church. All of the papers and memorials on this subject were put
+into the hands of a committee, of which Dr. J. M. Thoburn (afterward
+made missionary bishop to India and Malaysia) was chairman; and the
+report of the committee was as follows:
+
+
+ "THE NEW OFFICE OF DEACONESSES IN THE
+ METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
+
+ "For some years past our people in Germany have employed this class
+ of workers with the most blessed results, and we rejoice to learn
+ that a successful beginning has recently been made in the same
+ direction in this country. A home for deaconesses has been
+ established in Chicago, and others of a similar character are
+ proposed in other cities. There are also a goodly number of similar
+ workers in various places; women who are deaconesses in all but
+ name, and whose number might be largely increased if a systematic
+ effort were made to accomplish this result. Your committee believes
+ that God is in this movement, and that the Church should recognize
+ the fact and provide some simple plan for formally connecting the
+ work of these excellent women with the Church and directing their
+ labors to the best possible results. They therefore recommend the
+ insertion of the following paragraphs in the Discipline, immediately
+ after ¶ 198, relating to exhorters:
+
+
+ "DEACONESSES.
+
+ "1. The duties of the deaconesses are to minister to the poor, visit
+ the sick, pray with the dying, care for the orphan, seek the
+ wandering, comfort the sorrowing, save the sinning, and,
+ relinquishing wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves in a
+ general way to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to
+ their abilities.
+
+ "2. No vow shall be exacted from any deaconess, and any one of their
+ number shall be at liberty to relinquish her position as a deaconess
+ at any time.
+
+ "3. In every Annual Conference within which deaconesses may be
+ employed, a Conference board of nine members, at least three of whom
+ shall be women, shall be appointed by the Conference to exercise a
+ general control of the interests of this form of work.
+
+ "4. This board shall be empowered to issue certificates to duly
+ qualified persons, authorizing them to perform the duties of
+ deaconesses in connection with the Church, provided that no person
+ shall receive such certificate until she shall have served a
+ probation of two years of continuous service, and shall be over
+ twenty-five years of age.
+
+ "5. No person shall be licensed by the board of deaconesses except
+ on the recommendation of a Quarterly Conference, and said board of
+ deaconesses shall be appointed by the Annual Conference for such
+ term of service as the Annual Conference shall decide, and said
+ board shall report both the names and work of such deaconesses
+ annually, and the approval of the Annual Conference shall be
+ necessary for the continuance of any deaconess in her work.
+
+ "6. When working singly each deaconess shall be under the direction
+ of the pastor of the church with which she is connected. When
+ associated together in a home all the members of the home shall be
+ subordinate to and directed by the superintendent placed in charge.
+
+ "J. M. THOBURN, _Chairman_.
+ "A. B. LEONARD, _Secretary_."
+
+
+The adoption of this report made its contents a portion of the organic
+law of the Church.
+
+It is doubtful if there was any measure taken at the General Conference
+of 1888 that will be more far-reaching in its results than that which
+instituted the office of deaconess. The full and complete recognition
+accorded by the highest authority of the Church commended it to the
+people, who showed a remarkable readiness to accept the provisions.
+Nearly simultaneously, at important points distinct from each other,
+steps were taken to establish deaconess homes, and to provide lectures
+and practical training to educate deaconesses for their work.
+
+The terms of the law in which the Conference action was expressed were
+not closely defined. It was felt that in establishing a new office for a
+great Church there must be room for a wide interpretation, to meet the
+various exigencies that will arise. It is true, also, that there can be
+no final interpretation until there shall be a basis of experience wide
+enough and varied enough to furnish facts that will justify us in
+forming conclusions from them. Still it was thought by those who were
+practically engaged in the work that there should be a common agreement
+on certain practical points: What was to be the training that the
+deaconesses were to receive during the two years of "continuous
+service?" What was to be their distinctive garb? What was to be the
+relation of the deaconess homes, that were arising, to the Conference
+board appointed by the Annual Conference? To discuss these and other
+questions a Conference was held in Chicago, December 20 and 21, 1888, of
+those who were actively engaged in the work. The outcome of the
+deliberations was the "Plan for Securing Uniformity in the Deaconess
+Movement." Regulations were suggested concerning homes and their
+connection with the Conference boards, conditions of admission were
+agreed upon, and a Course of Study and Plan for Training
+recommended.[89] Of course the recommendations set forth in the "Plan"
+are not obligatory, but there has been remarkable unanimity so far in
+accepting them.
+
+In addition to the Chicago Deaconess Home, and the branch in New
+Orleans, there is the Elizabeth Gamble House in Cincinnati, of which
+Miss Thoburn is superintendent; the Home in New York city, instituted by
+the Board of the Church Extension and Missionary Society, under the
+superintendence of Miss Layton; the home in Detroit, under the auspices
+of the Home Missionary Society; and homes under way or projected in
+Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Minneapolis; while individually deaconesses
+are employed in Kansas City, Jersey City, Troy, and Albany. It is also
+well to add that since his return to India, Bishop Thoburn has opened a
+deaconess house in Calcutta, with four American ladies as deaconesses,
+while at Muttra a second home has been opened, of which Miss Sparkes, so
+long connected with our mission work in India, is superintendent.
+
+Pastor Fliedner thought it strange that in the New World where there is
+such ceaseless activity in good works, the deaconess cause should make
+such slow progress; but the season of sowing had to precede that of
+reaping, and it seems now as though the fullness of time had arrived for
+the incorporation into the agencies of the churches of America of the
+priceless activities of Christian deaconesses.
+
+
+ [78] _Phoebe die Diakonissen_, Dr. A. Spaeth, p. 31.
+ [79] For facts concerning the Philadelphia Mother-house of
+ Deaconesses, and other important assistance rendered me, I desire
+ to express acknowledgements to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and
+ Rev. A. Cordes, the rector of the house.
+ [80] McClintock and Strong's _Cyclopedia_, vol. ii, art.
+ "Deaconesses."
+ [81] _Sisterhoods and Deaconesses_, Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D.. 1873,
+ p. 118.
+ [82] _Sisterhoods and Deaconesses_, p. 105.
+ [83] _Ibid._, p. 181.
+ [84] Constitution and Rules for the Order of Deaconesses of Alabama,
+ Art. vi.
+ [85] _Church Work_, May, 1888.
+ [86] For this and other suggestions regarding the deaconess question
+ in the Presbyterian Church, I am greatly indebted to the kindness
+ of Dr. Hastings, President of the Union Theological Seminary.
+ [87] _Presbyterian Review_, April, 1889, art. "Presbyterian
+ Deaconesses."
+ [88] Mrs. Meyer's book on _Deaconesses_, containing also the story of
+ the Chicago Training-school and Deaconess Home, gives the best
+ description to be obtained of the rise of the work in Chicago.
+ [89] A more extended and elaborate course of study has been prepared
+ by the Rev. Alfred A. Wright, D.D., Cambridge, Mass.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK
+FOR DEACONESSES IN AMERICA.
+
+
+The deaconesses of the early Church differed from those of modern times,
+as we have seen, in being directly responsible to a church society, and
+in belonging to a church congregation in numbers of two or more. Modern
+life shows a strong tendency to organization. Wherever there are workers
+in a common cause they are banded together in societies and
+associations. It was in accordance with the spirit of the age in which
+he lived that Fliedner united his workers in the Rhenish-Westphalian
+Deaconess Society, in 1836. It was a happy inspiration--shall we not say
+a _providential_ one?--that furnished a convenient organization for the
+office under present conditions. The mother-houses in Germany offered
+good working-models, and their practical advantages were so obvious that
+in whatever Protestant denomination the diaconate of women has revived,
+it has been in connection with these homes. There is no place where the
+training of a deaconess in all its aspects can be so well obtained as in
+the deaconess home and training-school, which is our synonym for the
+German mother-house.
+
+Besides the advantages of a permanent home, under careful supervision,
+to which the probationers and deaconesses have access, in such a home
+care is taken to train the deaconesses in the doctrines of the Church,
+and there is an atmosphere favorable to the virtues of faith and
+devotion that the work demands. The deaconesses are never allowed to
+forget that they serve in a threefold capacity: "Servants of the Lord
+Jesus; servants of the sick and poor, 'for Jesus' sake;' servants one to
+another." The motto of the indomitable little republic of Switzerland,
+"All for each and each for all," might well be accepted as that
+characteristically belonging to them.
+
+Then, too, there is a tradition of service in such a home. One deaconess
+learns from another. The physician is at hand to give his suggestions
+and medical instruction, and the lectures on Church history, on the
+history of missions, and on methods of evangelization make the home a
+center of information on all questions that affect the usefulness of the
+office. There is no other one place in which to obtain the practical and
+theoretical instruction that is needed for the education of a deaconess
+well equipped for her work.
+
+Furthermore, the deaconess home offers a wide and varied field for those
+possessing different gifts. None can be so highly educated and
+cultivated that places cannot be found to utilize their talents to good
+advantage; while those who are sadly lacking in the education of the
+schools can, by talent, untiring industry, and energy make up for
+defects in early training.
+
+The field of work of the deaconess in modern times is a large one. It
+would be easier to define what it is not than what it is. In orphanages,
+in asylums for fallen women, in women's prisons, in reform schools, in
+Sunday-schools, infant schools, and higher schools, in classes among
+working-girls and servants, in industrial homes, in asylums for the
+blind and deaf and dumb, in hospitals of various kinds, and in churches,
+working under the direction of the pastor--in all of these relations and
+many others we find deaconesses in Germany, France, England, and other
+European countries.
+
+The service in hospitals seems especially incumbent upon Christian
+women, and in the early history of these institutions we find
+deaconesses mentioned in connection with them.
+
+Before the birth of Christ hospitals were unknown. It is true that in
+Rome and Athens a certain provision was made for the poor, and largesses
+were given them from time to time. But this was done from motives of
+political expediency, and not from sympathy or commiseration with their
+ills. But as soon as the early Christians were free to practice their
+religion openly, hospitals arose in all the great cities. In the latter
+half of the fourth century the distinguished Christian teacher, Ephrem
+the Syrian, in Edessa, placed rows of beds for the sick and starving.
+His contemporary, Basil, the great bishop of Caesarea, founded a number
+of institutions for strangers, the poor, and the sick, caring especially
+for the lepers.[90] Little houses were built closely together, but so
+that the patients could be separated one from another, and cared for
+separately. Even at that early date the hospitals were arranged into
+divisions for either sex, as they are at the present time. To use a
+modern phrase, the wards of the men patients were placed under the
+charge of a deacon while the deaconesses ministered to the sick of their
+own sex, according as their services were required. "It was a rule for
+the deacons and deaconesses to seek for the unfortunate day by day, and
+to inform the bishops, who in turn, accompanied by a priest, visited
+the sick and needy of all classes."[91]
+
+In the Middle Ages there were orders of Hospitallers, consisting of
+laymen, monks, and knights, who devoted themselves entirely to the care
+of the sick. Under their influence great and splendid hospitals were
+built, of which the old Hotel Dieu in Paris was a conspicuous example.
+The Hospital of the Holy Ghost in Rome, and the service of the same
+order, originated like hospitals all over Europe. In late years, with
+the development of medical and surgical art, hospital arrangements have
+arrived at a degree of perfection never before known; and the care of
+the sick, as it has been studied and practiced by Protestant deaconesses
+and Catholic Sisters of Mercy, has also greatly improved.
+
+The state to which the hospitals had degenerated in Fliedner's time, and
+the need of experienced nurses who should be actuated by the highest
+Christian motives, were among the strong reasons he advanced for
+providing the Church with deaconesses as helpers. Here are his
+words:[92] "The poor sick people lay heavily on my mind. How often had
+I seen them neglected, their bodily wants miserably provided for, their
+spiritual needs quite forgotten, withering away in their often unhealthy
+rooms like leaves in autumn; for how many cities, even those having
+large populations, were without hospitals! And I have seen many on my
+travels in Holland, Brabant, England, and Scotland, as in our own
+Germany; I often found the portals of glittering marble, but the nursing
+and care were wretched. Physicians complained bitterly of the
+drunkenness and immorality of the attendants, and what shall I say of
+the spiritual care? In many hospitals preachers we're no longer found;
+hospital chaplains yet more seldom. In the pious olden time these men
+were always in such institutions, especially in the Netherlands, where
+evangelical hospitals bore the beautiful name of "God's house," because
+it was recognized that God especially visits the inmates of such houses,
+to draw them to himself. Do not such wrongs cry to heaven? Is not our
+Lord's reproachful word addressed to us, 'I was sick and in prison and
+ye visited me not?' And shall not our Christian women be capable and
+willing to undertake the care of the sick for Christ's sake?" It was by
+such words, and similar ones, as in his famous appeal "Freiwillige vor"
+(Volunteers to the front!) which he sent out from Wurtemberg to Basel
+in 1842, that he aroused the Christian women of Germany to give
+themselves to this service. By their aid he instituted a system of
+nursing that has changed the aspect of every hospital ward in Germany;
+and, through the training that Florence Nightingale enjoyed at
+Kaiserswerth, the reform that was there instituted passed to England,
+and has effected a transformation in the entire hospital system of
+England.
+
+In Germany deaconesses are often trained to special duties that are
+required in hospitals for certain diseases or certain classes of
+patients, and they are becoming so skillful in their duties that the
+present system of hospital nursing could not be continued without their
+aid.
+
+The nursing care of deaconesses in insane asylums is especially
+valuable. The large and well-ordered Insane Asylum for Female Patients
+in Kaiserswerth, with its long lists of cases soundly cured, shows how
+healthful and important is the quiet, constant influence of intelligent
+Christian attendance upon those who are mentally unsound.
+
+The usefulness of deaconesses as care-takers in all kinds of hospitals
+and homes for the aged, and asylums of every description, is so apparent
+that it does not need to be dwelt upon. The _creche_, or day home,
+where infants and young children can be sheltered and watched during the
+day while their mothers are at work, is an institution that started in
+Paris in 1834, through the efforts of M. Marbeau, one of the mayors of a
+district of the city. This is now incorporated into the government
+system of Paris, and the idea has spread to neighboring lands, so that
+such homes are found in many of the cities in South Germany and
+Switzerland. It is true that there are no nurses that can care for
+children as the true mother, but where mothers have to be absent from
+morning until night engaged at hard work, and the little ones are left
+neglected at home, or in the care of other children who are themselves
+young enough to need very nearly the same attention that is bestowed on
+the infants; or where the mothers are such in name, but in reality are
+failing in every quality which we attach to that sacred office; or where
+the foundling hospital is the only alternative to which the real mother,
+confronted by the necessity of earning bread for herself and child, can
+turn--in such cases the _creche_ is a real benefaction whose existence
+has enabled families to keep together, and children to be given a chance
+in life who otherwise would have had small prospect of keeping soul and
+body together.
+
+There is another institution, called the waiting-school, where children
+from two to four years of age are received, whose parents both go daily
+to work, and who would be left to wander about the streets unless this
+place of refuge were opened to them. The _creche_, or day home, seeks
+only to watch over the infants who are put in its care, or to amuse them
+and keep them contented; the waiting-school goes further, and tries to
+give the little ones some ideas of discipline and the elementary
+beginnings of instruction. Fliedner, who was a lover of children, took
+great interest in both these institutions, and in his school for
+infant-school teachers prepared deaconesses especially for the duties
+that are required in teachers of this class. The motherly heart, the
+gift of story-telling and singing, a pleasant and unruffled demeanor,
+the quiet but firm inculcation of order and obedience--these and other
+qualities Fliedner sought to develop in instructors for these schools.
+
+The day homes have already been introduced into many places in the
+United States, and often cover the field of both the _creche_ and
+waiting-school, but there is a wide opportunity for the extension of
+their usefulness; and whether in the future, when the demands upon
+Christian deaconesses shall be much more multiplex than they are now, it
+may be necessary to provide special training for Christian teachers in
+America for such special work, time alone can decide. The question of
+Christian education is one that has not yet been determined in its full
+extent. In the year 1800 Mother Barat, of the Catholic Church, founded
+the order of Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which is especially devoted to
+the education of daughters belonging to the higher social ranks. At her
+death it numbered three thousand five hundred members, and had over
+seventy establishments, which are located in every civilized land. It
+cannot be maintained that the education given in these schools is either
+extensive or profound, but the influence of the order upon the women
+whom it has reached has been both. Fliedner, at Kaiserswerth, went as
+far as his age and environments would permit him to go. He provided
+schools where teachers were prepared as instructors for all grades of
+schools, from the most elementary up to the girls' high-schools; and no
+other institution in Germany, with one or two exceptions, such as the
+Victoria Institute at Berlin, yet offers positions to women teachers of
+a higher grade than is afforded by these schools. But in other lands,
+where the educational facilities for women are far beyond those that
+Germany can offer at the present time, positions of higher importance
+and wider influence are held by women; and it is an important question
+for the future what class of women shall fill these places. If Fliedner
+had had to meet the problem we can imagine he would have done so with
+the boldness and energy that he showed in solving those that his times
+and circumstances afforded him. He would, doubtless, have enlisted among
+his deaconesses those whose talents gave him reason to provide them with
+the widest training the schools can offer; and then he would have
+endeavored to place them where they could do the most effective service
+for Christ and his Church. It may be that in the future which opens
+before the women of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America there will
+be just such questions seeking and finding solution.
+
+Doubtless at the present time the deaconess who will answer to the
+greatest number of immediate wants is the "parish-deaconess," or the
+home mission deaconess, as we may call her. Her usefulness has been well
+tested in the great cities of Germany, France, and England, as we have
+seen. Perhaps nowhere is her work better appreciated than in London, the
+greatest city of modern times. The tendency of this age of manufactures
+and commerce is to attract laborers and workers from country homes,
+where work has become less open to them through the increased use of
+agricultural machines of all kinds, into cities, where factories,
+shops, counting-rooms, and offices constantly afford openings. London
+has felt the full force of this movement. In 1836 her population was
+about equal to that of New York, including Brooklyn and Jersey City. Now
+the great city contains 5,500,000 inhabitants. It is growing at the rate
+of over 100,000 a year, nor is there any influence at work to stop its
+growth. The same causes that produce it are constantly at work. The
+great massing of the population together, with the unequaled increase in
+the wealth of the people, make the contrast of riches and poverty
+striking and obvious. The west of London, with its vast wealth, its
+homes of refinement and elegance, and its appliances for the enjoyment
+of art, science, and literature, is separated from the poverty, the
+degradation, the misery, and the sorrow of the East End by a gulf as
+great as that which separated Lazarus from Dives. It is difficult for
+those who are at ease, whose lives, to use Wordsworth's felicitous
+phrase, are made up "of cheerful yesterdays and confident
+to-morrows"--it is difficult for such even faintly to apprehend the
+dullness, the drudgery, and the hardships of those who, even at the best
+estate, are obliged to live in such surroundings. The vast metropolis a
+few years ago was for a short time shaken out of its lethargy by a
+voice that would be heard, when _The Bitter Cry of Outcast London_ was
+published. "Few who will read these pages have any conception of what
+these pestilential human rookeries are, where tens of thousands are
+crowded together amid horrors which call to mind what we have heard of
+the middle passage of the slave-ship. To go into them you have to
+penetrate courts reeking with poisonous malodorous gases arising from
+accumulations of sewerage, refuse scattered in all directions, and often
+flowing beneath your feet; courts, many of them, which the sun never
+penetrates, which are never visited by a breath of fresh air. You have
+to ascend rotten stair-cases, grope your way along dark and filthy
+passages swarming with vermin. Then, if you are not driven back by the
+intolerable stench, you may gain admittance into the dens in which these
+thousands of beings herd together. Eight feet square! That is about the
+average size of many of these rooms.... Where there are beds they are
+simply heaps of dirty rags, shavings, or straw, but for the most part
+the miserable beings find rest only upon the filthy boards.... There are
+men and women who lie and die day by day in their wretched single room,
+sharing all the family trouble, enduring the hunger and the cold,
+without hope, without a single ray of comfort, until God curtains their
+staring eyes with the merciful film of death."[93]
+
+Such are the places where the deaconesses of East London go in and out
+from morn to eve, like angels of mercy, succoring the miserable and
+unhappy, often rebuking vice, and encouraging with friendly words those
+who are worn and discouraged in the battle of life. Here they nurse the
+sick, hold mothers' meetings, start evening classes for working young
+men, and gather the children of all ages in every kind of class that can
+interest and instruct them. They are always ready to provide for
+individual cases that they meet. If they find a friendless young
+servant-girl who is out of work, they send her to the servants' home,
+where, for very little payment, sometimes nothing at all, she can be
+taken care of long enough to give her fresh courage and strength. Then
+she is aided in seeking a situation, and so she is saved from the
+innumerable temptations to vice and misery that are sure to assail her
+if she stands alone.
+
+Many of these deaconesses are educated women, gladly devoting their
+whole life and energies to the work, and who with "food and raiment" are
+quite content. Nothing but a strong indomitable faith in God's love and
+promises can stand the strain of such work. But if there is the faith
+and love to deny self and dare all "for the love of Christ and in His
+name," where can such rewards for labor be found? The dull streets
+become filled with friends, sodden countenances brighten, the little
+children come with loving faces and gladdened hearts, and the deaconess
+is recognized as interpreting to the hearts of these weary, forlorn,
+helpless people the love of God who, when He came upon earth, shared the
+burdens that belonged to His humanity. He came as a Man of Sorrows and
+acquainted with grief, and it was the "common people" that heard Him
+gladly. The deaconess, in her distinctive dress, is becoming a
+well-known figure in the east of London, and not only protected but
+recommended by her garb, she visits the lowest parts of the city without
+danger. Just such deaconesses are needed in the cities of America. The
+cities of the United States are increasing as wonderfully as the great
+cities of the Old World. With the surplus population of Europe pouring
+in upon us by the hundreds of thousands annually our country is doubling
+in numbers every twenty-five years; and the growth of the towns absorbs
+a larger proportion of this multitude than does the country. The cities
+attract the immigrants because there they find others of their own
+nationality. In some cities there are whole foreign colonies where the
+people speak a foreign tongue, read foreign newspapers, and have very
+few interests in common with the people of the land in which they live.
+They continue the same customs and the same habits of thought that
+belonged to them in the Old World. Examples of such colonies are found
+in the thirty thousand Poles in Buffalo, and the sixty thousand
+Bohemians in Chicago.
+
+Then the cities offer attractions that are irresistible to the young men
+and women from the country. Thousands leave quiet country homes every
+year, and, with no certain prospects before them, cast themselves into
+the busy life of the nearest great metropolis. In many places,
+especially in New England, the villages number less, and farm land is
+much less valuable than it was fifty years ago. It is this massing of
+population that is causing us already to experience some of the evils
+that are old problems in the great cities of Europe. There is the same
+gulf between the rich and the poor, with the added element that the
+great mass of the poor are composed of foreigners and their children.
+And the difference in race is a hinderance to a common ground of
+sympathy. A greater hinderance is the difference in religious faith. The
+preponderating number of native Americans are Protestants, and their
+thoughts and beliefs are permeated with the principles that their
+fathers held so dear, and which they sacrificed home and country to
+preserve. They hold a faith that is inseparably connected with free
+institutions, personal liberty, and personal responsibility. But the
+mass of foreigners that are in the great cities largely belong to the
+working-class, and, with the large proportion of the poor who are the
+wards of the city, are Roman Catholic in faith, a faith that has little
+in sympathy with republican institutions, and which least prepares its
+followers to exercise the duties of citizens of a republic. Keeping
+these facts in mind, the statistics contained in the following extracts
+are of telling force: "If the laboring class should contribute its due
+proportion to the congregations, the churches, many of which are now
+half empty, would not begin to hold the people. In 1880 there was in the
+United States one evangelical organization to every 516 of the
+population; in Boston, _counting churches of all kinds_, there was but
+one to every 1,600 of the population; in Chicago, one to every 2,081; in
+New York, one to every 2,468; in St. Louis, one to every 2,800." "The
+worst of it is that, instead of improving, the condition of things has
+been growing worse every year. While the prosperous classes are moving
+away to the suburbs, and the laborers are being more densely massed
+together in the heart of the city, the church accommodations, even if
+fully used, are becoming more inadequate to the needs of the community.
+Including religious organizations of all sorts, New York had in 1830 one
+place of worship for every 1,853 of its inhabitants; in 1840, one for
+every 1,840; in 1850, one for every 2,095; in 1860, one for every 2,344;
+in 1870, one for every 2,004; in 1880, one for every 2,468; and the
+religious history of Chicago is even more noteworthy in this respect:
+Chicago had in 1840 one church for every 747 of its population; in 1851
+there was one for every 1,009; in 1862, one for every 1,301; in 1870,
+one for 1,593; in 1880, one for 2,081; in 1885, one for 2,254. All the
+large cities have districts which are destitute of church
+accommodations, and have not seats in Sunday-school for more than one
+tenth of their children."[94]
+
+Have we not as great need of deaconesses as any of the cities of the Old
+World? Most of our pastors stand alone. They do not have the assistant
+curates and pastors that are connected with large city churches in
+Berlin and London. When the minister makes pastoral calls, and, entering
+working-men's homes, finds sickness and scanty resources, he has no
+deaconess to call to his aid with her cheerful words of encouragement
+and her loving sympathy, that are better than money and medicine. It is
+not charity alone that is wanted in such cases; it is the knowledge of
+how to use proper means to make the sick one comfortable, how to lessen
+the burden on the family that a small additional call for work and care
+has so sadly taxed; how to enlighten the ignorance that is so common
+without wounding the susceptibilities that are so human. For, to quote
+the words of the Christ in the _Vision of Sir Launfal_:
+
+ "Not what we give, but what we share,
+ For the gift without the giver is bare;
+ Who gives himself with his alms feeds three:--
+ Himself, his hungry neighbor, and Me."
+
+It is for such ministrations that we need deaconesses in every
+evangelical church of the United States; may the women that are ready to
+"publish the tidings" be "a great host."
+
+
+ [90] _Der Diakonissenberuf nach seiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart._
+ Emil Wacker, Guetersloh, 1888, p. 196.
+ [91] McClintock and Strong's _Cyclopedia_, vol. iv, art. "Hospitals."
+ The editors give as authority for this statement, Augustine, _De
+ Civit. Dei_, i, xxii, c. 8.
+ [92] Theodor Fliedner, _Kurzer Abriss seines Lebens_. Kaiserswerth,
+ 1886, p. 60.
+ [93] _The Bitter Cry of Outcast London_, pp. 3-10.
+ [94] _Modern Cities_, by S. L. Loomis, New York, 1887, pp. 88, 89.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.
+
+
+"Success and glory are the children of hard work and God's favor," is
+the inscription upon the tablet erected in Christ's Hospital, London, to
+the memory of Sir Henry Maine.
+
+Upon these two elements depends the future of the deaconess cause in
+America. We are assured of the one; will the other be forthcoming? Will
+the individual members of the Church give this cause their hearty
+support? Surely the facts that have been stated must have convinced the
+judgment, but perhaps there are certain prejudices to be overcome. "I
+fear that deaconesses too closely resemble Catholic nuns for Protestants
+to accept them," says one. No; these helpful Christian women are
+thoroughly Protestant. Deaconesses are no Catholic institution. Wherever
+they have appeared they have been met by open antagonism from the
+Catholic Church. Witness the calumnies with which the papers of that
+capital have constantly assailed the deaconess home of Paris.
+
+There is good in the Catholic sisterhoods, but mingled with much that we
+disapprove. The deaconess institutions have the good features, but have
+avoided the ill. Much of the success of the Catholic Church in winning
+the poor and in retaining its influence over the lowly is due to the
+power exerted by the sisters who go about from house to house among the
+poor, and are received as friends.
+
+There is a great army of Catholic sisters. It is calculated that there
+are about 28,000 Sisters of Vincent de Paul, 22,000 Franciscan Sisters
+caring for the sick, 6,000 Sisters of the Holy Cross, 5,000 Sisters of
+Charles, making a total of about 60,000 sisters of various orders
+belonging to the Catholic Church[95] who are occupied with works of
+mercy. The sisters engaged in education are often well-trained and
+accomplished. The order of Charles will not accept widows, orphans
+without property, girls from asylums, or those that have served as
+maids. As a rule, those that join it must make some contribution of
+money to the order when they are received. This order is small, but one
+of the most active and aggressive of any. The great number of the
+sisters, however, are women of few advantages, taken from poor homes and
+lives of toil. There is wisdom in this course, for a great deal of the
+work to be done depends upon qualities that can be developed by
+training, while the exceptional education and talents are employed in
+the exceptional places.
+
+A contemplation of these facts just recorded causes us better to
+understand the importance that the co-operation of women has for the
+Catholic Church. It causes us, too, to appreciate better the opening
+before the Protestant women of all evangelical churches, so wide, so
+all-embracing that every variety of talent can find a place.
+
+Gifts of clothes or food or fuel are not so well appreciated as the
+respectful hearing which clothes the teller with self-respect, the kind
+word and loving sympathy that feed the heart, the inspiring consolations
+of religious faith that animate and warm the soul, and such gifts women
+of sympathetic Christian hearts can ever render. As has been well said,
+"Shall the advantages of such a system be monopolized by those who have
+so little else to offer?"[96]
+
+You may say, "I do not object to the deaconess and her work, but I do
+object to her distinctive dress. I do not believe in a uniform of
+charity." But let us consider the arguments that can be brought forward
+in favor of it. It is a distinctive garb because its wearer is a
+distinctive officer of the Church. Unless she were "set apart" by some
+uniform immediately and widely recognized how could she have the
+protection that is accorded her? Alike in every land where she is known,
+as we have seen, the deaconess can venture into any part of the great
+cities at any hour, and is invariably treated with respect. There is in
+the heart of the rudest and most lawless some trace of chivalry which
+recognizes the self-denying lives of these women. Then, in making her
+visits, the deaconess finds her dress an introduction that opens doors
+that would otherwise remain closed to her. It certainly is a convenient
+and economical garb, that saves a great deal of time and money to the
+wearer.
+
+Are not these advantages more than an offset to an ill-defined objection
+to the dress because it has been associated with women who are alien to
+our Protestant faith? This is a minor matter, however, and one that can
+be adjusted at liking.
+
+You may say, "I do not like to think of a woman who is dear to me cut
+off from the pleasures of home life, and devoted to a life-time of work
+among those who, in many respects, must be repugnant to her tastes. It
+does not seem so high and beautiful a life as that which makes home a
+center, and carries on its activities from there."
+
+But there are many women debarred from the pleasures of home life by
+God's direct providence to whom other duties and responsibilities have
+been allotted. And then this work may not necessarily be for life. It is
+true that when a Christian woman occupies the position of a deaconess
+she must relinquish wholly all other pursuits so long as she holds this
+office. Neither without grave and weighty reasons should she seek to
+leave it. It is her calling. The period of probation has its uses, not
+only in making the probationer familiar with the duties and tasks
+demanded of her, but in giving her time to test the strength of her call
+to service, that she may not, through enthusiasm, lightly assume the
+duties of the office, nor as lightly throw them aside.
+
+But if a deaconess is called away to perform her duties as a sister or
+daughter, or if she desires to marry, she is free to do so, after giving
+due information to those with whom she is connected in work. Freedom and
+liberty are in every phase of this office.
+
+As to the highest life for a woman, an archbishop of England well said
+some years ago, "that whatever life God gives to any woman is the
+highest life for that woman," and that "in becoming a deaconess a woman
+devoting herself to this life must believe that it is the highest life
+for her, and that in it she gives herself wholly to the Lord."[97]
+
+There should be no country like America for the favorable development of
+the deaconess cause, because in no other have women such large freedom
+of action, and, if we may believe our friends, they have improved it
+well. A distinguished English historian has just given us what we are
+fain to accept as words of just and discriminating praise. "In no other
+country have women borne so conspicuous a part in the promotion of moral
+and philanthropic causes.... Their services in dealing with charities
+and reformatory institutions have been inestimable.... The nation, as a
+whole, owes to the active benevolence of its women, and their zeal in
+promoting social reforms, benefits which the customs of continental
+Europe would scarcely have permitted women to confer.... Those who know
+the work they have done and are doing in many a noble cause will admire
+still more their energy, their courage, their devotion. No country seems
+to owe more to its women than America does, nor to owe to them so much
+of what is best in social institutions, and in the beliefs that govern
+conduct."[98]
+
+Nor in any denomination should we expect women to be more ready to adopt
+this work than in the Methodist Episcopal Church, because women members
+have been accustomed to exercise nearly all the obligations and duties,
+and many of the privileges, that are accorded the laity of the great
+connection, and they are prepared to accept new duties in new relations.
+This Church has over a million women enrolled as members, able to serve
+it in every capacity, from the lady in her home dispensing gracious
+Christian hospitality, to the one standing quite alone, who will
+welcome, as a brevet of rank, this new call to service. There are many
+such women ready to respond. Many, too, whose hearts have been left
+desolate by bereavement, who will be glad to fill the empty hands and
+vacant life by work for God and humanity. To such a woman the wide world
+is her home; the dear ones of her family are the poor and sick and needy
+who crave her aid.
+
+The beautiful Mildmay motto is: "They dwell with the King for his work."
+There are thousands of women all over the land who are ready to become
+"King's Daughters" in this additional sense of the word. The
+possibility of what such women can accomplish in the furtherance of
+God's kingdom upon earth has not begun to be fathomed.
+
+Think of a great city church, with the manifold interests clustering
+around it, left to the care of a single pastor! He has not only the
+preparation of his weekly sermons, the care of the social meetings of
+the church, but a long line of other duties that are equally important
+to maintain. He must perform pastoral duties, push forward aggressive
+movements in behalf of the masses not touched by the church services,
+and fulfill public duties in connection with great charities,
+philanthropies, and moral reforms that he cannot neglect without injury.
+If the efforts of such a pastor could be furthered by one, two, or more
+deaconesses, as are many of the pastors of the London churches, how
+greatly would the working force of such a Church be increased!
+
+It is true that we must develop the work in accordance with our American
+ideas and institutions. Through the study of the methods that have been
+adopted in European institutions, and the experience that has been there
+won through long years of patient toil, we are prepared in a measure to
+start where their work leaves off. But we shall find that our
+circumstances require new adjustments, and that we shall have our own
+problems to solve, so that eventually our work will assume a
+distinctively American form.
+
+We have only to plant the seed and to give it favorable conditions for
+growth. The outcome is not ours: "In the morning sow thy seed, and in
+the evening withhold not thy hand." The results are with Him who giveth
+the increase.
+
+The practical question may occur to some one who reads these pages,
+"What shall I do to become a deaconess?" Write to the superintendent of
+the nearest deaconess home, and ask for directions. It is best not to
+multiply homes until we have a larger number of trained deaconesses that
+are ready to take charge of them, and until the number of applicants
+desiring to enter them is much greater than at present.
+
+Many churches that need the services of a deaconess will doubtless
+select one of their number whose heart God has inclined to this service,
+and will provide the means by which she can secure the necessary
+training at a home and training-school. There are many devout Christian
+women in every community who have for years been deaconesses in labors,
+if not in title and prerogatives. It is very important for such women to
+give their sympathies and fostering care to this new institution. If not
+deaconesses by office, they can ally themselves as associates. The
+associate is a real officer in many of the deaconess establishments in
+London. Ladies who have great sympathy with the cause, and an earnest
+desire to do what they can to advance it, give some portion of their
+time, their labor, or their means to promote its interests. They will go
+to the home and reside there for some weeks or months, being under the
+direction of the superintendent and filling all the duties of a sister.
+Or, if such duties are not practicable, they will work in behalf of the
+home, often securing the aid of those whose assistance is most valuable.
+In some places it is arranged that a woman who earns her bread by daily
+toil shall be assigned to labor at her regular vocation, consecrating a
+certain portion of her wages (perhaps one twenty-fourth) to the cause
+with which she is allied.
+
+The Church has been accused of being too abstract, too ideal, too far
+removed from the life of the people in its every-day aspects. It is well
+for Church members to examine themselves, and the Church communities to
+which they belong, to judge how much ground there is for such criticism.
+None are so sharp-sighted as hostile critics, and from none can such
+good lessons be learned. But this accusation is not a new one, and the
+only effectual way to meet it is to point to what the Church has
+accomplished. Over eighteen hundred years ago, when John the Baptist was
+in danger of mistaking our Lord, he sent to him, saying: "Art thou he
+that should come? or look we for another?" and the answer was: "Go your
+way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the
+blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
+dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."
+
+Let us be prepared to make a similar answer to-day, and the Church need
+fear no accusation of holding aloof from the needs of the daily life of
+the people.
+
+"Christianity, as it stands in the Bible and in our creeds, will neither
+be read nor understood by millions; Christianity as it is revealed in
+the loving service of deaconesses will be recognized by the dullest
+eyes."[99]
+
+We have reached a new departure in Methodism. The Church has added
+another to its aggressive forces. How is it to be received? What welcome
+will be given it? May pastors and people, one and all, be in that
+attitude of spirit where we shall respond readily to the command:
+"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."
+
+
+ [95] _Die Diakonissenberuf nach seine Vergangenheit und gegenwart._
+ Emil Wacker. Guetersloh, 1888, chap. vi.
+ [96] _Modern Cities._ S. L. Loomis, The Baker & Taylor Co., New York,
+ 1887, p. 192.
+ [97] _Deaconesses in the Church of England_, Griffith & Farran, 1880,
+ p. 31.
+ [98] _The American Commonwealth_, James Bryce. MacMillan & Co., 1889,
+ vol. ii, pp. 586, 589.
+ [99] _Phoebe die Diakonissen_, p. 8.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.
+
+YEARLY EXPENDITURES AT KAISERSWERTH.
+
+
+While the book is in press the following interesting statistics are
+received, which are deemed of sufficient importance to insert here.
+
+Receipts and expenditures of Kaiserswerth for the three years from 1885
+to 1888:
+
+ Year. Receipts. Expenses.
+
+ 1885-1886 333,476 m. 74 pf. 331,812 m. 12 pf.
+ 1886-1887 371,523 m. 46 pf. 370,626 m. 45 pf.
+ 1887-1888 337,508 m. 14 pf. 492,384 m. 21 pf.
+
+In the year 1887-1888, the excess of expenses over receipts was caused
+by the construction of a new building, and special funds were
+contributed which more than met the deficit.
+
+Rev. F. Fliedner, the son of Pastor Fliedner further writes: "This does
+not include the expenses in the East and other foreign stations. In
+truth, about six hundred thousand marks pass yearly through our
+treasury." What an amount of good accomplished by the yearly expenditure
+of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+ Acts vi, 3, 13, 79.
+ Addlestone, 161.
+ Africa, Northern, 108.
+ Age requirements, 29, 187.
+ Alabama, 213.
+ America, 73, 107, 252.
+ AMERICA, THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN, 204: German Lutherans, 204;
+ W. A. Passavant, Pittsburg, 205; Mary J. Drexel Home and
+ Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses, 208; Swedish
+ Lutherans, Omaha, 211; Norwegian Lutherans, Brooklyn, 211;
+ German Reformed, Hagerstown, 211; Protestant Episcopal
+ Church, Baltimore, 212; Alabama, 213; Long Island, 215;
+ Western New York, 216; Presbyterian Church, 217; Southern
+ Presbyterian Church, 218; Methodist Episcopal Church, Lucy
+ Rider Meyer, 220; Rock River Conference, Bengal Conference,
+ 221; General Conference action, 222; Conference, "Plan,"
+ Homes, 226.
+ AMERICA, THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR
+ DEACONESSES IN, 228: threefold service, 229; hospitals, 230;
+ day-homes, 236; home-mission deaconesses, 238; London, 239;
+ cities, 242; parish deaconesses, 245.
+ Amprucla, a deaconess, 25.
+ Amsterdam, 43, 143.
+ Andrews, Edward G., 6.
+ _Andover Review_, 150.
+ Apostolic Constitutions, 19, 21, 24, 85.
+ _Armen und Kranken Freund_, 66.
+ "Associates," 193, 213-215, 256.
+ Asia Minor, 76, 108.
+ Austria, 104, 108.
+ Author's facilities, 4.
+
+ Baillie, Lady Grisell, 200, 201, 203.
+ Ball's Pond, 182.
+ Balsamon, Professor, 31.
+ Baltimore, St. Andrew's, 212.
+ Baptism, 22, 32.
+ Barat, Mother, 237.
+ Barnet, 167, 181.
+ Bartholomew's prayer, 23.
+ Basil, of Caesarea, 231.
+ Beghards, The, 37.
+ Beguines, The, 35-37, 145.
+ Beirut, Syria, 76.
+ Belgium, 34, 37.
+ Belleville, France, 134.
+ Bengal Conference, 221.
+ Berlin, 72, 99, 102, 111, 113, 114, 237, 245.
+ Barnardo, Dr., 159.
+ Berne, Switzerland, 103.
+ Bertheau, Caroline, 72.
+ Bethany House, 72, 102.
+ Bethany Society, 110, 118.
+ Bethnal Green, 180, 185.
+ Bible-classes, 175, 186.
+ Bible stories, 65, 124.
+ Bible study, 84.
+ Birthdays, 64, 71.
+ Boarders in Home, 132.
+ Bohemian brethren, 40.
+ Bohemians, Chicago, 243.
+ Boston churches, 244.
+ Bremen, Germany, 110.
+ Brighton, England, 181.
+ Brooklyn, N. Y., 211, 215.
+ Brotherhood in Christ, 10, 11.
+ Brotherhood of the Common Life, 37.
+ Buffalo, Poles in, 243.
+
+ Calcutta, India, 227.
+ Calvin, John, 42, 134.
+ Cambridge Platform, 144.
+ Catechumens, female, 21.
+ Celibacy. See Monks, Nuns.
+ Chalmers, Thomas, 57, 189.
+ Charitable institutions, 9, 54, 57.
+ Charite, La, 100.
+ Charlotte, Sister, 75.
+ Charteris, A. H., 190, 192, 201.
+ Chicago, Ill., 73, 243-245.
+ Chicago Training-school, 220, 221.
+ Children, 10, 64, 123.
+ Cholera, 48, 170.
+ Christ, 246.
+ Christianity, 257.
+ Christmas, 178, 180, 181.
+ Chrysostom, 25, 26.
+ Church of England, 149, 150, 157, 191.
+ Church of England Woman's Missionary Association, 163.
+ Church of England Zenana Society, 185.
+ Church of Scotland, 190, 193, 195, 201, 203.
+ Church of the Deaconesses, 31.
+ _Churchman, The_, 105, 155.
+ Cincinnati, O., 226.
+ Cities, 242, 243, 245.
+ Clapton House School, 182.
+ Classes of deaconesses, 186, 194.
+ Collecting money, 53, 54, 114.
+ Commune, 131.
+ Commune deaconess. See Parish deaconesses.
+ Compassion, Christian, 11, 13.
+ Conference, Chicago, 226.
+ Kaiserswerth, 86, 106, 152.
+ Mildmay, 167.
+ Conference Hall, 171, 178.
+ Consecration, 23, 29, 85, 140, 199, 210, 211, 217.
+ Contagious diseases, 84, 88, 170.
+ CONTINENT, OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE, 93: Strasburg,
+ Pastor Haerter, 93; Muelhausen, parish deaconesses, 95;
+ Berlin servants, 99; Bethany House, 102; Dettelsau, Berne,
+ Sophie Wurdemberger, 103; Saint Loup, Pastor Germond, 104;
+ Riehen, Zuerich, Gallneukirchen, 104; joint management, 106;
+ environment, 107; many deaconesses, more needed, 108.
+ Convalescent homes, 181.
+ Convalescents' home, 126.
+ Cordes, A., 211.
+ Constantinople, 25, 28, 31.
+ Cottage Hospital, 179.
+ Coventry, Miss, 183.
+ Creche, 125, 234, 236.
+
+ Dalston, 146.
+ Damsels of Charity, 43.
+ Darmstadt, 146.
+ Daughter-houses, 71, 138.
+ Davidson, Miss, 200, 201.
+ Day homes, 235, 236.
+ "Deaconess," 149.
+ how become? 255.
+ Deaconess Institution and Training-home, 195, 198.
+ Deaconesses, numerous, 107.
+ world-wide demand, 108.
+ See "Associates," America, Consecration, Continent,
+ Diaconate, Early, England, Fliedner, German, Kaiserswerth,
+ Literature, Methodist Episcopal Church, Mildmay,
+ Objections, Paris, Scotland, Twelfth, etc.
+ Deacons appointed, 13.
+ De la Mark, Henry Robert, 44.
+ Denmark, 108.
+ Detroit, Mich., 226.
+ Devonshire Square, 146.
+ Devotions, 83, 118.
+ DIACONATE, THE, 9: brotherhood of all in Christ, 10; foreign
+ missions, 11; home missions, 12; diaconate, 13; female
+ diaconate, 14; meaning, 16; qualities, field, 17.
+ Diaconate, female, 13, 17, 20, 24, 30, 34, 45, 46, 189.
+ organic, 203.
+ Discipline, 127, 129.
+ Dispensary, 69, 75, 103, 180.
+ Disselhoff, J., 31, 41, 48, 76, 91, 108, 109.
+ Doellinger, 10.
+ Doncaster General Infirmary, 182.
+ Dorcas room, 174.
+ Dove, symbol, 91.
+ Dress, distinctive, 36, 82, 116, 155, 156, 210, 242, 249.
+ Du Camp, Maxime, 134.
+ Dumas, Mademoiselle, 135, 138.
+ Duesseldorf, 56.
+ Duesselthal, 56.
+
+ Early Church, 231.
+ EARLY CHURCH, DEACONESSES IN THE, 18: Pliny's letter, 19;
+ apostolic constitutions, 19; deaconesses, widows, virgins,
+ 20; deaconess' duties, 21; prayer of ordination, 23;
+ greatest growth in Eastern Church, 24; Chrysostom, 25;
+ Olympias, 27; age, property, 29; in Western Church, 30;
+ decay, extinction, 32.
+ East London Deaconess Home, 152, 156.
+ Easter cards, 178.
+ Eastern Church, 24.
+ Eccl. xi, 6, 255.
+ Edinburgh, Scotland, 189.
+ Eilers, Frederick, 110, 115.
+ Elberfeld, 58, 71.
+ Elizabeth of Prussia, 101.
+ Endowment, 67.
+ England. See London.
+ ENGLAND, DEACONESSES IN, 142: Puritans, 142; Amsterdam, 143;
+ Plymouth colony, widows, 144; Southey, Protestants, 145;
+ Mrs. Fry, Fliedner, Florence Nightingale, 146; Agnes Jones,
+ 147; Ludlow, Stevenson, Howson, 148; "sister," "deaconess,"
+ 149; Church of England, 150; outside institutions, 158;
+ Tottenham, 159; Prison Gate Mission, 161; London West
+ Central Mission, 163. See Mildmay.
+ Environment, 107.
+ Eppstein, 50.
+ Epidemic, 87.
+ Ephrem the Syrian, 231.
+ Europe. See Continent.
+ Expenses, 82, 187, 188, 258.
+
+ Faith and works, 202, 230.
+ Fallen women, 112.
+ Farming, 69.
+ Faubourg Saint Antoine, 121, 132.
+ Feierabend Haus, 71.
+ Ferard, Elizabeth C., 152.
+ Flag at Kaiserswerth, 91.
+ FLIEDNER, THE RESTORER OF THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS, 46:
+ Kloenne, 46; Amalie Sieveking, 47; Count von der Recke, 49;
+ Theodor Fliedner, 50; Idstein, Giessen, Goettingen, 51;
+ Herborn, Cologne, Kaiserswerth, 52; collecting money, 53;
+ Elizabeth Fry, 55; Prison Society, Frederika Muenster, 56;
+ convict Minna, refuge, 57; Fraeulein Goebel, deaconesses, 59;
+ Rhenish Westphalian Deaconess Society, 60.
+ Fliedner, Theodor, 44, 50, 55, 56, 60, 61, 66, 68, 73, 74,
+ 90, 100, 102, 146, 155, 189, 205, 213, 232, 237, 238.
+ wife of, 56, 58, 62, 63, 65-67.
+ wife, second, 72.
+ Fliedner, Fritz, 218, 258.
+ Florence, Italy, 77.
+ Florentius, 38.
+ Flower mission, 173.
+ Foreign missions, 170.
+ France, 67. See Paris.
+ Frankfort, 72, 110, 111, 113.
+ Frederick William IV., 49, 69, 72, 102.
+ Free Church of Scotland, 190.
+ Friends, The, 220.
+ Fry, Elizabeth, 55, 57, 60, 103, 135, 146, 209.
+ Fry, Herbert, 146.
+
+ Gal. vi, 6, 183.
+ vi, 10, 13.
+ Gallneukirchen, 104, 105.
+ Gamble, Elizabeth, 226.
+ Garden 57, 125, 176.
+ General Conference, 221.
+ action, 4, 222.
+ German hospital, 127, 146.
+ German Lutherans, 204, 205, 206, 207.
+ GERMAN METHODISM, DEACONESSES IN, 110: Bethany Society, 110;
+ reports, 111; fallen women, nurses, 112; Frankfort, Hamburg,
+ Berlin, 113; collection, 114; Saint Gall, Zuerich, 115;
+ Sister Myrtha, 116; "God's Fidelity," 117; regulations,
+ Bethany Society, 118; home training, 119.
+ German Reformed Church, 211.
+ Germany, 46, 118, 202, 235.
+ See Berlin.
+ Germond, Pastor, 104.
+ Giessen, University, 51.
+ Gobat, Dr., 74.
+ Goebel, 59.
+ Gottestreue, or God's Fidelity, 117.
+ Goettingen, University, 51.
+ Greece, 108.
+ Greek Church, 24.
+ Groot, Gerhard, 37, 38.
+ Guinness, Grattan, 160.
+
+ Hachette & Co., 136.
+ Hadwig, Duchess, 115.
+ Hagerstown, Md., 211.
+ Hamburg, 111, 113.
+ Harley House, 160.
+ Haerter, Pastor, 93.
+ Hastings, President, 218.
+ Hausser, G., 110, 111.
+ Headship, twofold, 106.
+ Herborn, 52.
+ Herford, 41.
+ Herzog, 32.
+ Holland, 108.
+ Home, pleasures of, 250.
+ Home missionary. See Parish deaconess.
+ Home missions, 170.
+ Hospitals. 48, 62, 69, 71, 73-75, 83, 93, 100, 103, 115,
+ 125, 127, 146, 158, 170, 179, 180, 206, 207, 230, 232.
+ House-mother, 106.
+ House of correction, 127.
+ House of Evening Rest, 71.
+ Howson, J. D., 15, 27, 84, 148, 157.
+ Hoxton, 185.
+ Hughes, Mrs., 163.
+ Huguenots, 141.
+ Humanitarianism, 11.
+ Huss, John, 40.
+
+ Idstein, gymnasium, 51.
+ Ignatius, 21, 29.
+ Infirmary, 206.
+ _Imitation of Christ_, 38.
+ Immigrants, 242.
+ India, 186, 187, 221, 227.
+ Inquiry, Department of, 183.
+ Insane, 68, 105, 234.
+ Introduction, 3.
+ Invalid kitchen, 173.
+ Iserlohn, Westphalia, 208.
+ Italy, 77, 78, 108, 232.
+
+ Jacksonville, Ill., 73, 206.
+ Jaffa, 182.
+ Jerusalem, 74, 162.
+ John ii, 5, 257.
+ John the Baptist, 257.
+ Jones, Agnes, 147.
+ Jubilee anniversary, 91.
+
+ Kaiserswerth, 52, 57, 147, 152, 203, 234.
+ yearly expenses, 258.
+ KAISERSWERTH, THE INSTITUTIONS AT, 61: deaconess home,
+ hospital, first deaconess, 63; normal-school for
+ infant-school teachers, 64; Bible stories, 65; Fliedner's
+ wife, 65; publishing house, _Kaiserswerth Almanac_, _The
+ Poor and Sick Friend_, finance, 66; orphan asylum, 67;
+ normal-school for female teachers, insane asylum, 68; farm,
+ 69; refuge, Salem, 70; House of Evening Rest,
+ daughter-houses, 71; Berlin, 72; Pittsburg, 73; Jerusalem,
+ 74; Beirut, Smyrna, 76; Salem in the Lebanon, 77.
+ KAISERSWERTH, THE REGULATIONS AT, AND THE DUTIES AND
+ SERVICES OF THE DEACONESSES, 79; service, 79; nurses,
+ teachers, visitors, 80; probation, 81; dress, expenses, 82;
+ duties, quiet half-hour, 83; union, obedience, 84;
+ consecration, 85; conferences, statistics, 86; emergencies,
+ 87; wars, 89; Fliedner's death, successors, 91.
+ _Kaiserswerth Almanac_, 86.
+ Katherine Home, 163.
+ Kempis, Thomas a, 38.
+ Kilburn Orphanage, 160.
+ King's Daughters, 253.
+ Kloenne, Johann Adolph Franz, 46, 54.
+ Krueger, Marie, 207.
+
+ Lads' Institute, 181.
+ Lambert le Begue, 34.
+ Lankenau, John D., 207, 208.
+ Laseron, Dr. and Mrs., 157, 158.
+ Laundry, 161.
+ Layton, M. E., 226.
+ Lectures, syllabus of, 196.
+ Leonard, A. B., 224.
+ Library, lending, 175.
+ Life, the highest, 251.
+ Lightfoot, Bishop, 15.
+ Literature referred to, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26,
+ 31, 33, 44, 47, 49, 55, 66, 68, 70, 76, 79, 110, 111, 120,
+ 134, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150-152, 155-157, 164, 167, 175,
+ 178, 181, 192, 194, 205, 212, 214, 216, 217, 221, 226, 232,
+ 241, 245, 253.
+ Littlejohn, Bishop, 215.
+ Liverpool work-house, 147.
+ London, 166, 238-241, 245, 256.
+ See Mildmay.
+ London Diocesan Deaconess Institution, 151.
+ London Bible-women's Mission, 160.
+ London West Central Mission, 163, 164.
+ Loomis, S. L., 245.
+ Los Angeles, Cal., 219.
+ "Lost Way, The," 100.
+ Love, Christian, 11, 13.
+ Lucian, 22.
+ Ludlow, John Malcolm, 20, 23, 37, 87, 148.
+ Luke x, 5, 184.
+ Luther, Martin, 40, 42.
+
+ McClintock & Strong, 23, 232.
+ McGill, A. T., 217.
+ MacMaster, 11.
+ Makrina ordained, 29.
+ Maine, Henry, 247.
+ Malta, 182.
+ Mann, W. J., 207, 211.
+ Marbeau, M. 235.
+ Marthashof, 99, 102.
+ Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Mother-house of
+ Deaconesses, 87, 127, 210, 211.
+ Matt. xi, 3-5, 257.
+ Maxwell, Alice Maud, 200, 201.
+ Medical mission, 179.
+ Medical training, 186, 187.
+ Mennonites, 44, 54, 59.
+ Men's Bible-class, 175.
+ Men's Institute, 180.
+ Men's Night-school, 174.
+ Meredith, Mrs., 160, 162.
+ Methodism, German, 110.
+ Methodist Episcopal Church, 107, 203, 220, 253, 257.
+ Meyer, Consul, 207.
+ Meyer, Lucy Rider, 220, 221.
+ Middle Ages, 232.
+ Middleburg, 42.
+ Mildmay, 202, 253.
+ MILDMAY INSTITUTIONS, 166: William Pennefather, Barnet,
+ Conferences, 167; Mildmay Park, 168; missionary
+ training-school and home, 169; deaconesses, 170; conference
+ hall, deaconess house, 171; Pennefather's death, successor,
+ 173; invalid kitchen, flower mission, 173; Dorcas room,
+ men's night school, 174; lending library, men's Bible-class,
+ servants' registry, 175; sitting-room, 175; garden, 176;
+ orphanage, Scripture texts, 177; conference hall, parish
+ deaconesses, 178; nursery home, cottage hospital, medical
+ mission, 179; Bethnal Green, 180; convalescent homes, 181;
+ nurses, railway mission, 182; deaconesses of all classes,
+ 183; missionary training-school, 184; classes trained, 186;
+ expenses, 188.
+ Milwaukee, Wis., 73, 206.
+ Ministrae, 19.
+ Minna, convict, 57.
+ Minneapolis, Minn., 226.
+ Missionary training school, 169, 170, 184, 185, 186.
+ Missions, 11, 12.
+ Mohammedans, 75.
+ Monks, 32, 41, 136.
+ Monod, Sara, 120, 136, 138.
+ Monod, W., 120.
+ Moravians, 44, 45.
+ Morley, Samuel, 159.
+ Mother-houses, 64, 72, 74, 80, 86, 106.
+ Mothers, 235.
+ Mount Vernon, N. Y., 206.
+ Muelhausen, 95.
+ Muenster, Frederika, 56.
+ Muttra, India, 227.
+ Myrtha, Sister, 116.
+
+ Neal, Daniel, 142.
+ Neander, 23, 24.
+ Nectarius, Bishop, 28.
+ Netherlands, 35, 37, 39, 42, 44.
+ Neudettelsau, 103.
+ New Orleans, La., 226.
+ New York, N. Y., 226, 244, 245.
+ Nicarete, deaconess, 25.
+ Night-school, 174.
+ Nightingale, Florence, 146-148, 234.
+ Normal school, 64, 66, 68.
+ _North American Review_, 12.
+ Norway, 108.
+ Norwegian Lutherans, 211.
+ Nuns, 32, 37, 41, 151, 247.
+ Nursery girls, 101.
+ Nursery home, 179.
+ Nurses, 68, 71, 80, 83, 89, 90, 93, 104, 112, 113, 127, 133,
+ 182, 191, 208.
+ Nursing sisters' institution, 146.
+
+ OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED, 247: hard work and
+ God's favor, 247; not nuns, 247; Roman Catholic sisters,
+ 248; distinctive dress, 249; cut off from home life, 250;
+ America favorable, 252; Methodist Episcopal Church
+ favorable, 253; how become deaconess? 255; "do it," 257.
+ Orleans, Synod of, 30.
+ Olympias, 26, 27.
+ Omaha, Neb., 211.
+ Ordination. See Consecration.
+ Origen, 30.
+ Orphanages, 67, 73, 75-77, 159, 177, 206.
+ "Outsiders," 164.
+
+ Palestine, 76.
+ Paris, 232, 235.
+ PARIS, DEACONESSES IN, 120: Sara Monod, W. Monod, 120;
+ deaconess establishment, 121; reports, children, 123;
+ creche, hospital, 125; convalescents' home, 126; house of
+ correction, 127; moral results, 130; Commune investigation,
+ 131; wounded, boarders, 132; preparatory school, nurses,
+ 133; success, parish deaconesses, 134; prisons for women,
+ 135; Mademoiselle Dumas, 136; branches, 138; parish
+ deaconesses, 139; consecration, 140.
+ Paris, Matthew, 37.
+ Parish Deaconesses, 72, 80, 96, 103, 110, 134, 139, 191,
+ 238, 254.
+ Pascal, Jacqueline, 125.
+ Passavant, W. A., 73, 205, 206.
+ Passy, 126.
+ Pastors, 245, 254.
+ Pegran, Pasteur, 44.
+ Pentadia, 26.
+ Pennefather, William, 167, 173, 202.
+ wife of, 173.
+ 1 Pet. ii, 5, 40.
+ iii, 4, 155.
+ Pharmacy, 126.
+ Philadelphia, Pa., 87, 127, 207, 210, 218, 226.
+ Phoebe, 14, 22, 189, 205.
+ Pilgrim fathers, 143, 144.
+ Pittsburg, Pa., 73, 205.
+ Plan for securing uniformity, 226.
+ Plato, 10.
+ Pliny, letter, ministrae, 19.
+ Poles in Buffalo, 243, 244.
+ Poor Men of Lyons, 39.
+ _Poor and Sick Friend_, 66, 104, 152.
+ Portsmouth, 153.
+ Potter, H. C. 212.
+ Prayer, 23, 83, 84, 118.
+ Presbyterian Church, 202, 217.
+ _Presbyterian Review_, 217, 219.
+ Preparatory school, 133.
+ Princess Mary Village Home, 161.
+ Prison Gate Mission, 161.
+ Prisoners, 55-58, 60, 70, 112, 135, 160, 161.
+ Probation, 81, 118, 184, 187.
+ Procla, deaconess, 26.
+ Protestant Episcopal Church, 212.
+ Protestants, 48, 105, 145, 151.
+ Psa. lxviii, 11, 246.
+ Publishing House, 66, 136.
+ Pudentiana, deaconess, 30.
+ Puritans, 142, 144.
+ Pusey, Dr., 149.
+
+ Railway mission, 182.
+ Recke, Count von der, 49.
+ Rector, 106.
+ Reformed Church, 42.
+ Regulations, 79, 118, 193, 213.
+ Reichardt, Gertrude, 63.
+ Rest, 70, 71, 117.
+ Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess Society, 228.
+ Riehen, near Basel, 104.
+ Rochester, N. Y., 73, 206.
+ Rock River Conference, 221.
+ Roman, J. Dixon, 211.
+ Roman Catholic Church, 30, 34, 244, 248, 249.
+ Rom. xvi, 1, 14, 115, 189.
+ Rome, 30, 78, 232.
+ Rue de Bridaine, 139.
+ Rue de Reuilly, 120, 127, 132.
+ Russia, 108.
+
+ Sabiniana, 25.
+ Sachsenhausen, 112.
+ St. Christopher's Church, 35.
+ St. Gaul, 112, 115.
+ St. Louis, Mo., 226.
+ St. Loup, 104.
+ St. Marie, 134.
+ Salem, 70, 77, 117.
+ Salisbury Home, 153.
+ Salle d'Asile, 123.
+ Savings Bank, 181.
+ Schaefer, Theodor, 22, 27, 39, 42, 49, 95, 99, 146.
+ Schaff, Philip, 23, 24, 30.
+ Scheffel, 115.
+ SCOTLAND, DEACONESSES IN, 189: Church of Scotland, A. H.
+ Charteris's report, 190; three grades of women workers, 193;
+ Deaconess Institution and Training-home, 195; syllabus of
+ lectures, 196; consecration, seven years' experience or two
+ years' training, 199; Presbyterian Churches of Great
+ Britain, 202; office of deaconess made organic, 203.
+ Scripture texts, illustration of, 177.
+ Servants, 85, 99, 101, 102.
+ Servants Home, 241.
+ Servants' Registry, 175.
+ Service, threefold, 79, 229.
+ Shanghai, 109.
+ Sieveking, Amalie, 47.
+ Singing, 84, 85.
+ "Sister," 149, 165.
+ Sisterhoods, 47, 150, 157, 212, 215, 216, 248.
+ Sisters of Charity, 93, 136, 145.
+ Sisters of the Common Life, 37, 39.
+ Sisters of the People, 163, 164.
+ Sisters of the Sacred Heart, 237.
+ Smyrna, 76.
+ Soup Kitchen, 169.
+ Southern Presbyterian Church, 218.
+ Southey, 145, 146.
+ Spaeth, A., 205, 207, 211.
+ Spain, 108.
+ Sparkes, Miss, 227.
+ Sparta, 10.
+ Spee, Count, 58.
+ Spee, Countess, 59.
+ Statistics, 86, 87.
+ Stevenson. Dr., 148.
+ "Stille halbe Stunde," 84.
+ Strasburg, 93.
+ Success and glory, 247.
+ Superintendent, 72, 195.
+ Support. See Expenses.
+ Sweden, 108.
+ Swedish Lutherans, 211.
+ Switzerland, 104, 112, 235.
+ Syllabus of Lectures, 196.
+ Syria, 76.
+
+ Talitha Cumi, 75.
+ Teachers, 68, 76, 80.
+ See Normal.
+ Theodosius, Emperor, 28.
+ Thoburn, Isabella, 226.
+ Thoburn, J. M., 5, 221, 222, 224, 227.
+ 1 Tim. iii, 8, 17.
+ iii, 8, 9, 79.
+ iii, 11, 15.
+ v, 9, 16.
+ Tit. ii, 3, 16.
+ Tottenham, 159.
+ Training-school, 62, 70, 229.
+ Turkey, 108.
+ TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURIES, DEACONESSES FROM THE,
+ 34; Belgium, Lambert le Begue, 34; Beguines, 35; Sisters
+ and Brothers of the Common Life, Gerhard Groot, 37; Thomas a
+ Kempis, 38; Waldenses, 39; Bohemians, Huss, 40; Luther, 40;
+ Calvin, 42; Netherlands, 42; Damsels of Charity, 43;
+ Mennonites, Moravians, 44; Zinzendorf, 45.
+
+ Uniformity, Plan, 226.
+ United States. See America.
+
+ Valette, Pastor, 130, 139.
+ Vermeil, Pastor, 100, 139.
+ Vienna, 104.
+ Virgins, 20, 21, 25.
+ Von Stein, 48.
+
+ Wacker, Emil, 21, 40, 66, 231, 248.
+ Waiting-school, 235, 236.
+ Wakefield, Bishop of, 157.
+ Waldenses, 39.
+ Wars, nurses in, 89.
+ Weiss, G., 110.
+ Wesel, 42.
+ Western Church, 30.
+ Western New York, 216.
+ Widows, 16, 20, 21, 144.
+ Williams, Miss, 104.
+ "Willows, The," 184.
+ Wilmer, Bishop, 213.
+ Winckworth, C., 102.
+ Women, Old Testament, 24.
+ Apostolic times, 13, 16.
+ Early Church, 20.
+ Methodist, 6.
+ Women's Guild, 193, 200.
+ Women Workers' Guild, 193.
+ Wordsworth, 15, 239.
+ Work, hard, 247.
+ Wounded, 89, 131.
+ Wurdemberger, Sophie, 103.
+ Wurtemberg, 110.
+ Work-house, 72, 147.
+
+ Young, Alexander, 144.
+
+ Zinzendorf, Count, 45.
+ Zuerich, 104, 112, 115, 116.
+
+
+
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | Transcriber's notes: Obvious spelling/typographical and |
+ | punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison |
+ | with other occurrences within the text and consultation of |
+ | external sources. |
+ | |
+ | The original book was published by HUNT & EATON at New York, and |
+ | by CRANSTON & STOWE at Cincinnati. The copyright date was 1889. |
+ | |
+ | Occasional discrepancies between index and text (for example, |
+ | "Harter" in the index but "Haerter" in the text) have been |
+ | corrected to match the text. |
+ | |
+ | Some inconsistent mid-line hyphenations have been retained: |
+ | "bedside" and "bed-side" occur once each |
+ | "housework" and "house-work" occur once each |
+ | "workhouse[s]" occurs twice and "work-house" occurs three times |
+ | |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Deaconesses in Europe, by Jane M. Bancroft
+
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