Litchfield enquirer., 1845-02-06
ORIGIN OF BELLS

aa ORIGIN OF BELLS. y . ss.tt,s
A popular anecdots tells Us of a minister who
took for the subject Of bis sermon on the Sabbaths
the history and utility of Bells; and Of q waggish
Parishoner Of that minister, who coming out Of the
assembly remarked: " We have a very excellent
minister, in that he never Introduces anything Of
politics Or religion into his sermons 1--WE do not
introduce this subject to avoid religion or politics.
but having in our reading, fell upon some notices
Of TIE origin Of Church bells, we have thought we
should promote the interest Of many of our readers
by transcribing them. n 30 stAEtiHa a
Bells were first used upon the hotHs Of sheep, to
assist sheperds in finding their focks. Then upon
the heads of cows, cattle aud horses, for similar
purposes. They were Afterwards found useful in
houses. And the Romans had bell attached to
their public baths, ~ give notice when the baths
were open for use. The first great bells forthe use
of Christian churches were introduced about the
year 500. And because they were supposed to be
the invention Of Paulinus, Bishop Of Nolasin Cam
pania, they were called in Latin, Campana. The
practice baptisng consecrating bells with holy
water, was introduced into the Papal church, by
Pope John xiii, who consecrated one in the Late
ran, and named ii John the Baptist. sa tsfsf i
Some papists have attributed tobells the power
Of driving away demons, and dispelling storms:--i
But this is explained away BY saying that Satan
flies before the influence Of prayer; and bellsar
signal to summon men to prayer; AND are Therefore
inferentialIy, a terror to demohs.S Bells were in
use in churches ip England before the time of
Beda, who makes mention of them that is the Sth
century They were first introduced into the Greek
church, inthe year sos. .ssw sn9ifaia 81 aa5
There is cannon Of the Romish church, made
in the 18th century, requiring the bell Of the par
ish church tn be rung, when the Bishop Of the di-
Geese visited the parish, or when he even passed
through or near it. The clergy were the first bell
ringers Afterwards herewas an officer called bells
warden, who had the care Of the. bellfIy.g Ehe.u-
eo.f fhn had IN
told, in an inscription upon hell Venice, ss,
follows ssI worship the true God, call the peo-
pie, gather the clergy, adqrn the sairts, mourn
for the dead, adore the festivals, chase away
pestilence and deyils."--.E II Puritan. ptilit
NIAGARA FALLs---A CuTE YANxEE IN TIA
LA correspondent Of the Cincinnati Gazette
furnishes the following anecdote which occurred in
Naples; a., sgr5Bs gs.7sils5 n, - I.
/ ."VesuYius had been bclching forth its flame and
smoke all day, making the mountain tremble under
the fierce blows of its terrific engine, and as night
approached, began to light up the heavens withits
lurid glow, when Neapolitan accosting an Amer
lean traveller, exclaimed - iYegs -is,gf as'T
"Well, have you any thing like that in Ameri. I
ca" syaa gtf s.s ~. 81 4tass eds fsst4 ysa,
"No,' replied the Yankee, .tbnt we haye ., mill
dam that apoaid pusit out IN fine minutes
s." si f}ssf ------ *sssSst@ Ssst I5Trs{ !,
ANOTHER LEAaNEp The New
Orleans Protestant gives the following interesting
account of the successful efforts of slave to edn.
cate himself Welearn ftom another source that
Ellis is now studying Hebrew, and has made consid-
cradle progress. D q 4GsM aags BY gnss gts
IL the State of Alabama, (Greene county, we
think J lives colored man by the name, Of Ellis
/ who has wife and several children. He il %
blacksmith by trade, and worked at this business
in the shop Of his master. Hais believed TO be a
man Of sincere piety, and is member The Pses-
byteran Church, under the pastoral charge Of Rev.
Fields Bradshaw What is particularly noticsably
in his case, the state of his education and for
man who has been all his life slave, and hard at
work, and inherited only ignorance, we consider
it quite extraordinary He Is we'll acquainted with
reading. writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar,
history aud some other branches embraced in com
mon English education; besides which, he has
made atolerable acquaintance with Latin and Greek.
He has accomplished this mostly without the aid
of teachers, and he learned his alphabet without e.
ven book. Hisplan was, at first oget his young
masters, their return from school at evening, to
make for him the different letters of the alphabet
and tell hin their names. These he copied upon
his shop door with coal, and continued the process
until he had we'll learned the first elements ofread-
ing and writing. They,then brought him the spell
ling book and other elementary books, means of
which began tawepd hissway np,the hill of SCI
ence. We understand that in some Of the higher
branches he has had the aid ofothers, and that now
he is pursuing his studies under acomPetent teach
err. He still works at the anvil, as he has done
through his whole course, during the day and stud
les at night. What first prompted him to make
the effort to obtain anseducation, we do not know
All who know him, testify that he 10 a man Of me
common native energy of,mipd, as his present at;
tainments prove. His age is about 43. ,sts.fs.,
About two years since, his case was represented
to the synods OF Alabama and Mississippi, and they
jointly proposed to purchase him and family, and
send him to the Western coast Of Afiiea % mis-.
- -, k.nv1
will part with them for $3.50. This sum r. equal
ly divided between the two synods. and they are
Ellis Is pursuing course Il theological studier nm
der his pastor. We understand he has read the
standard theological works. Of Drs Dwight, Dick,
sc. and others pertaining to ministerial course
F1ENpssH RARBARrTY or a SLAvE.--on, Mon
day afternoon, his Honor the Mayor received
ing him, that there. was confined in house so. SO
Bayou Road, female, the prisoner Of her slaye,l
who for some time past, had been treatedjn Almost;
horrid manner. The Mayor accompanied by Re-
corder Genois and some officers efthe Police, i'm
medIately repaired to the spot designated in the
letter, Mheresfhey found Mrs. Rabeneck, the lady
Of the house, wiihihree Of her children, aged 2.
and years, confined in back cabinet. all Of them
in most horrjd condition dressed in rags, covered
with dirt and eaciafed, that 1t appeared astop-e
isbing that they could support life. " i
The body Of Mrs. r. was covered with. bruises
from her head to her feet, and in many places show
ed marks where the instruments Of Aagellation had
broken the skin. Both Of her eyes were bsackeneds
and her hair was matted with blood. The three
children presented nearly the same shocking con-
dition, the two eldest in particular. Upon being
questioned by the Mayor to the cause 81 her con-
dition, Mrs r. seeing that her slave Pauline was,
present. answered that she had been beatensby her
husband, and showed much agitation and fear.
whenever the eyes Of her servant were turned upon
her. Upon the servant being removed. Mrs r..