New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-06-24

''SS''S'
a SECOND WALK IN FLORENCE:
FROM TIE MlsEEIcoEDiA, THROUGH TIE PIAzzA DEL
GRAN DUCA TO THE rERGoLA.
ORR former walk ended before the doors of the
Bap,is;crv. If you will meet me there again in
fancy. al the moment that the bell is tolllng with
single, or double, or triple strokes Sounds which
n New orker convey the idea OF Fire districts,
Init which here have even ii saddcr meaning) you
will see a number Of persons, whose dress denotes
great difference OF rank, hastily enter small
building near you, and soon roappcar cnveloped
irom head 10 foot IN black shroud which covers
even their faces, and is only pierced with two
small holes for the eyes. Nothing can be more
horribly hideous than this costume before you
know the Grand of those who wear 1t, but it be-
comes positively beautiful when YOU learn that
they are the 6 Coagrega=ione della MlSericor-
dia," or" Brotherhood OF Mercy" Follow their
rapid steps, and you will sec them enter some
poor house, the master of which has been sud
denly stricken with violent disease, or has met
with some dangerous accident, demanding immc
date soccor. They place him in covered
litter, as tcnderly as if ne was their brother by
nearer ties than those of Adam, and raising the
litter TO their shoulders six OF them bear it
fully to the hospital while others follow behind,
TO take their turn in the service OF charity Their
gloomy costume is assumed that their good deeds
NAV not be known, and the Grand Duke Of Tus
cany himself is enrolled in their number, and often
secretly assists in the pious duty. The Brother
hood was instituted in the year 1914, when
pestilence dcsoatcd the city, and was composed
of seventy-two chief brethrcn-priests, gentle
men, and artistS-representing the higher cssses,
and hundred and five others of the people. y
single stroke of the bell summons them to am
ordinary accident two strokes to more serious
case ; and three to bear corpse to the church.
At the sound they leave the business or the thea.
ire, or the society in which they may be engaged,
and hasten to their place Of meeting, rich and
poor side by side, feeling that 4" a touch of nature
makes the whole world kim" When they have
Quilted the house Of the unfortunate whom they
have borne away, his suffering family will find
that some one of their unknown bcnefactors has
left behind q liberal aims. Such are some Of the
good deeds of this people, who arc so often
sandercd as being treacheyous, revengcful and
unprinciplcd, inasmuch as they are Italians, and
as being supcrstitious bigotcd and immoral, mas
much as they arc Catholics. When we add this
to the thousand other examples OF practical pieiy
toward the widow and the fathcrless," and Of
unsparing and unsclfish charity toward all men,
which irradiatc the gloom OF this lovely but
fallen country, we Protestants might better in.i-
tate their practice than assai their principles, and
the best among US might proftably Go and DO
likewise"
Leaving behind us the house of the Msericcrdia
and the Cathedral, and turning into the street
of little cheeses," we find in it the church OF
Or San Michele, once granary, (whence came
its name, Z" Horreum Sancti Michaelis,') but now
fayorite chapel, famous for it's Gothic taber-
nacle of white marble inlaid with precious stones
in rich Mosaic Arabesques. In inches around
its exterior stand seventeen statues OF SAINTS and
apostles, larger than life, and ranked among the
best productions of the ancient Florentlne school.
They were all erected at the expense of the va
rious trades Of Florence, such as the arniorcrs,
the shoemakers, the butchers, &c; and 1t Is
curious token Of the remains of superstition IN
an ultra Protestant country, that st. Eloy, BiSh
CD of Tourney, whose statue stands here erected
BY the blacksmiths is at the present day still the
PROTECTOR of" The Worshipful Company of Black
smiths" of LonSon.
The St. Mark, by Dondtello, is memorable for
the compliment of Michael Angelo, who with
his other great and varied gifts, possessed most
happy tact for refined hattery, and who cxclalm-
cd to the lfe-hke statue in the presence OF lis
sculptor, Mark, why don't you speak TO me =
A little farther we enter the Piazza del Grcn
Duca, or "Grand Dukes square, as we would
call it. The long low building on your night Is
the Post. Office, always an interesting locality to Il
stranger, and here doubiy SO as having been
built by the captves brought from Pisa, five hun.
dred years ago by the Florentlnes w,len they
had conquered that rival city. In front OF you is
the Loggia de- Lansi, and little to the left Il e
Palazso Vecchio, from which stretches toward
the river, the Imperial Gallery which among lis
other treasures numbers the Venus dc Medict.
In this square the soldiers OF the Grand Duke
are daily reviewed. The military music is very
le, as It could not fail to be in q country where
the poorest peasant is connaisseur and favor
lie overture is performed with perfect execution
and striking effects of light and shade, the stor
my passages of power being succeeded by gentle
echo like responses, and the trumpets breathing
out the soft ongdrawn notes OF the organ The
regimental maneuyers arc however almost as
= badly executed as those of our militia, and TO get
the soldiers into straight line the officers pull
them about by the skirts of their white coats
But this very awkwardness is happy proof tina,
Tuscany lie peaceful and therefore a prosperous
country.
The fine fountain Of the giant Neptune with
his spirited horses surrounded by tritons and sea-
nymphs is memorable as having been erected
there 10 put an end to the excitement which