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HOSPITAL OF THE MATER MISERICORDIJE. 259
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Ladies, P Douj3t:Less Many Of Your Reade...
house . What I felt perhaps most sensitively during- this visit was the atmosphere of the place morally and sensibly .
First of all , womanly influence reigns supreme in this mansion dedicated to the service of the sick . The sisters are not alone the
proprietors , but have the entire control over every departmentfinancialadministrative , executive—of the establishment . They are
, the sole nurses , _carrying out the directions of the distinguished staff of medical officers , doing all the work , from calming the
troubled mind and praying over the dying , to dressing a wound and binding up a limb . There they are resting by the bed-side , or
gliding through the wards , and quite touching it is to see how the sick eyes follow them with a wondering interest .
The day of my visit happened to be the one on which the friends of the patients are admitted to see them . I noticed one poor
man with his sons and daughters in a group about him , and another sitting up in Ms bed to talk with his poor wife , who looked as
if , but for his face , she would have been . quite bewildered in the midst of such unimagined state and comfort . I sawtoothat the
sisters , who are well acquainted with the people , , as they , visit them , in their houses , and instruct their children in their schools ,
stopped on the corridors to _sjoeak to the visitors , asking after the rest of the family at homeand entering into that sort of " personal
, talk " which is so grateful to the heart of the poor . Again , the peace and order which prevail throughout are most
impressive . The organisation must be complete indeed . The Superioressconsciousno _doulbtthat the right person was in the
right place , every hour , of the , day , looked as disengaged and cheerfuland talked as agreeably of the affairs of the day—home ,
, colonial , and continental—as if her sole duty in life were courteously to receive and graciously entertain a casual visitor .
And now for the effect in a general sense : —The ventilation is admirableand the light thrown in freely and judiciously . Though
, _sj > ace is far from being economised , there is nowhere the sense of gloom and chill which great public institutions so often produce .
The mosaic pavement of the entrance hall , the niches , pilasters , domed ceiling , double staircase of sparkling moulded granite ,
corridors twenty feet high , groined above , —all give the impression of simplicity , solidity , and elegance .
Looking down the wards _tlie eye is pleased with the effect of light , shade , and color . The walls are distempered white , but the
light streaming in by the mahogany sashes , "buff blinds , and stained woodwork of the window casescasts a subdued glow upon the walls .
The slender iron bedsteads are , painted pale green ; the curtains , which , are mere shades , are , as well as the coverlets , of two colors
barred so fine as to give the effect of pale blue , and are bound with crimson braid . Even the cordsby whicli the smaller windows
opening near the _veiling into the corridor , are managed , are brought
into play , and the slanting lines of red vary the otherwise blank
Hospital Of The Mater Misericordije. 259
HOSPITAL OF THE MATER MISERICORDIJE . 259
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1861, page 259, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121861/page/43/
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