Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1844-04-18
THD BROTHERHOOD OF MERCY.

Sometimes al Florence III the midst ola ca
yaina, Or 'y-ts-ieue, a bell with siarp ex-
coliating sound. viii he heard; 1t is vic bel
detta misecordia. Listen il it sound but
once, 1t is for some ordinary accident, il
twice Tor one oi serious nature; if it sound
three times 1t is a case of death. IL you look
around, you will see slight stir in some of
The boxes, and it will often happen that the
person you have been speaking to, if Flor
ehtlne, viii excuse himself for leaving YOU.
and take his hat and depart You INQUIRE what
the bell means, aud why il produces so strange
an effect. You are told that it is the bell
deHe mtsecordia aud that he with whom YOU
were sPeakingis brother of the order. This
brotherhood of mercy is one of the mobiles,
institutions i'll the world. II was founded in
i241, on occasion of the frequent pestilences
which at that period desolated the town; and
IL has been perpetua,ed 10 the present dav.
without any alteration except in its details
with none IN lis purely charitable spirit. /, is
composed of seventy-two brothers. called
Chiefs oi the watch, who are each in service
Tour months IN the year. OF these seventy
TWO brothers, thirty are priests, fourteen are
gentlemen, and twenty-eight artists. To these
VINO represent the aristocratic classes and the
liberal arts, are added five hundred laborcrs
anu WORKING men, who may be said to repre-
sent The people. The seat of the brother
hood Is IN The place del Duomo. Each broth
er has there marked with his own name. a
ooN enclosing black robe like that of the
penitenis-wiih openings only for the ewes
ana mouth, IN order that his good actions NAV
have the further merit of being performed in
secret Immediately when the news of any
accident or disaster is brought To- the brother
who .rH h. HILL
once, twice. or thrice according to the gravity
of the case and at the sound of the hell. ev-
cry brother, wherever he may be, is bound to
retire at the instant and hasten 10 The rendez-
vouse. There he learns what misfortune or
what suffering has claimed his nious Offices.
he puts on his black robe and broad hat. takes
the taper III his hand and goes forth where
the voice OF misery calls him. If ii is Ia
some wou:idSd q z S:ey bear him 10 the hos
Pilal IL the man Is dead, To tic chanel The
nooieman and the day laborer, clothed with
me same robe, support together the same lii
; ter and the link which unies those Two ex-
tremes oil society Is some sick pauper who
showing neither, is praying equally for both
ana when these brothers of mercy have Quit
led the house, the children whose father thew
nave Carried out, or the wife whose husband
they have borne away, have but to look a.
round them, and always on some worm-eaten
piece oi furniture, there will be found pious
aims, deposited by some unknown hand. The
grand duke himself is member of this fra
{ ternity, and have been assured that more
than once at the sound of that melancholy
bell, he has clothed himself in the uniform, of
charity, and penetrated unknown, side by
SIDE, with day laborer, to The beds head of
some dying wretch, and that his presence had
afterwards been detected only by the aims he
had left behind.-Dumas im Naiy.