Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-06-24
TIE BROTHERHOOD or MrRCY

Sbtnetifnes hi Florence, in the midst q
y caFatinn or a pas.de aep. q bell viii,
sharp, shrill, e&cotiating sound, will b,
heard 1t is the bell leila mieer iroytffa
Listens If It sound but once. il ia sdtps
ordinary accident; iftrire, TO- enr Of q 81
r'ous nature ; If il sounds three times. Il il
a tnse OF death. Ill you look AROUND. vi,
VII SEE n light ain In sJrie Of the bfse s,
and 1t will bfteh happen that the person
you 'hHy have been speaking 10, if a Flo
fen''ne, will excise himself for lea wing you.
will quietly 'ake hia hat and depart. You
enquire what that bell means, and WHY il
produces so STANCE an et1ect.-fot, are
told it ia the bell dcHa misertcoydio, md
that he with whom you were speaking is
"A brother Of the order. This btotheritood
ct mercy is one Of the npbiest institutions
In the world. II was founded in l244, on
occasion Of the frequent pestllencea which
Mt that period desolatei the town, md it
mas been peFpninated 10 The Present day.
without my alienation except in its details
none III 1t purely charitable stitit
Ii IS composed Of seventy Two t~folIats
called chiefs Of the watch, Who Hra earh
IN service four months III the fepf. or
these sevonty.two brotiieta, thltly dfe
priests. i%ontteen gentlemen. and twenty.
eight artists. To these, who represent the
hfistbtfattt Eltsses and the liberia arts. ate
addsd 200 labhrers and Rorhmen who may
he eaid to represent the people. The seat
81 Tie brotherhood is the place ac1 dunno,
Each brother has there, marked with his
own tame,a boy enclosing n black robe like
Unit ct tho penitohts, with openings OILY
TOR the eyes and mouth, In order that his
ee0od att'ons may have The further merit
OF being peffgrmed in secret. Immediate.
" after the news Of any accident or Jisss
ter Is brought to a brother who il upon
guard, The bell sounds its alarm once, twice
tlirice, according to the gravity of he
case and mt The sound Of The bell, eyetv
brother, wherever he ttay be. IL bound 10
retire at the instant, and llksttH II Tie FEN
There he learns what t1isf1f
Inne or what suffering has claimed his ri.
'us Offices he puts on his bInck robe md
| broad hat, takes the taper in ashland,
md goes forth where tho voice Of misery
sails him. If it is some wotndod man, {
hey bear him to the hospital ifthe man
$ dead, to n chapel the n%obIeman md
no day laborer, clothed with the same {
ODE, support together the SAM litter and ,
link which unltes these two extremes =
society IN some sick pauper, who know. =
neither, is praying equally for both.
nd when these brothers of mercy hs va s.
u'tted the house, The children whose futber z
hoy have carried ont, or tho wife whose a
usbHnd they have borne away, have bat {
. look around them, and Away ON some
piece Of furniture, there will V
@ found aims, deposited by an unknown a
and, The Grand Duke himself IL mem. II
or OF this fraternity, and | have been as. i,
ired that more than once, MT the sound IT.
{ that melancholy bell. he has clothed +
lmsolf in the uniform Of charity, and pom. A
'fated unknown, side by side. with n day q
'horet, to tho beds hend of sornn DYING Il
reich, and Tint his presence bad after, n
ards been detected only by tho aims he u
nd left behind.~-Damas in falv. -.