The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable RuinsAllen, Grant
History
The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable Ruins
Allen, Grant
Europe, Southern -- Description and travel; Mediterranean Region -- Description and travel
Barcelona is very rich in philanthropic and charitable institutions.
Foremost of these is its Hospital of Santa Cruz, numbering six hundred
beds. It is under the conjoint management of sisters and brothers of
charity and lay nurses of both sexes. An asylum for the insane forms part
of the building, with annexes for the convalescent. The Hospital del
Sagrado Corazon, founded by public subscription in 1870 for surgical
cases, also speaks volumes for the munificence of the citizens. The only
passport required of the patient is poverty. One interesting feature about
this hospital is that the committee of management consists of ladies. The
nursing staff is formed of French Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. Besides
these must be named the orphanage for upwards of two thousand children of
both sexes--Casa de Caridad de la Provincia de Barcelona--asylums for
abandoned infants, for the orphaned children of seamen, maternity
hospitals, crêches, etc. There is also a school for the blind and deaf
mutes, the first of the kind established in Spain. Here the blind of both
sexes receive a thorough musical training, and deaf mutes are taught
according to the system known as lip-speech. All teaching is gratuitous.
Barcelona possesses thirty-eight churches, without counting the chapels
attached to convents, and a vast number of conventual houses. Several
evangelical services are held on Sundays both in the city and in the
suburb of Barceloneta. The Protestant communities of Spain, England,
France, Germany, Sweden, and other countries, have here their
representative and organization. Sunday-schools and night-schools for
adults are held in connection with these churches. The Protestant body
seems active. We find here a branch depôt of the Religious Tract Society;
various religious magazines, many of them translations from the English
and German, are published. Among these are the "Revista Christiana,"
intended for the more thoughtful class of readers; "La Luz," organ of the
Reformed Church of Spain; and several illustrated periodicals for
children. Will Protestantism ever take deep root in the home of the
Inquisition? Time will show.
That very advanced political opinions should be held here need hardly
surprise us. We find the following Democratic clubs in existence: The
Historic Republican Club ("Centro Republicano Historico"), the Possibilist
Republican Club ("Circulo Republicano Possibilista"), the Democratic
Progressist Club, the Federal Republican Club, and many others. When next
a great popular movement takes place in Spain--and already the event looms
in the distance--without doubt the first impulse will be given at
Barcelona.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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