Page:Address to the Mary Adelaide Nurses.djvu/8

 words, literally translated, mean "the spirit of the body," and I think you will not need much explanation of the idea conveyed by them. It is the idea which binds together the soldiers in a regiment, the sailors in a ship, the members of clubs, guilds, societies of all kinds in which men or women act in unison for a common object, and feel that they each ought to support a share of the honour and credit due to their common name. It might be said, perhaps, that as we are already bound to do our duty to the utmost of our power by our membership in that great body to which we were admitted at our baptism, no other bond or obligation can be needful; but that is no reason why we should not avail ourselves of additional motives and additional helps, and thus gather special strength and zeal for the performance of special duties.

Now you, Mary Adelaide Nurses, bear the name of one of our Princesses, who graciously gives you not only her name but also her personal interest and sympathy. We want you to be proud of this name, to cherish it and honour it, to strive each one of you so to wear it that a Mary Adelaide Nurse may be known, without further description, to be a good, upright, conscientious, skilful woman, understanding her work and doing it thoroughly, "not with eye service as men-pleasers." Remember that ours is a pioneer association; we are trying to occupy ground which has not been occupied in the same manner before, and to lead the way in what, we hope, will shortly be a general advance in the whole system of Workhouse Infirmary nursing. You, our nurses, are called upon to carry out this aim: upon you must depend the possibility of attaining it; for it lies with you, in many cases, to convince the guardians and doctors, by practical demonstration, of the advantages of trained over untrained nursing, and to dissipate the fears and prejudices with which some of them have met the effort to introduce it. There is, no doubt, greater variety and excitement in ordinary hospital nursing, greater comfort and independence in private nursing; but we think you will see, if you look