Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-02-22

Ing oil that sort, and moaning as II goes;
and of trying, with is unseen hand,
the windows and doors and seeking
out some crevices BY which to enter.
And when it has got in,--as one not
finding what it seeks, whatever that
may bet walls and howls to issue
forth again: and not content with stalk
ing through the aisles and gliding round
and round the pillars, and tempting the
deep organ, scars up to the roof and
strives 10 rend the rafters; then filings
itself despairingly upon the stones be-
low, and passes, muttering, into the
vaults. Anon, it comes up stealthily,
and creeps along the walls: seeming to
read in whispers, the Inscriptions sa-
cred to the Dead. At some of these,
it breaks out shrilly, as with laughter !;
and at others, means and cries as if it
were iamcnting. 1t has a ghostly sound,
too, lingering in the alter. where it
seems to chant, in its wild way, OF
Wrong and Murder done, and false
Gods worshipped--in defiance of the
Tables of the Law, which look so fair
upon the ground and ply score OF
nimblc legs to save life High up in
the stecple Of an cid church, far above
the light and murmur of the town, and
far below the flying clouds that shad-
ow it, is the wild and drcary place at
night; and high up in the steeple of an
old church, dwelt the Chimes tell Of.
They were old Chimes, trust me-
Centuries ago, these Bells had been
baptised by bishops; so many centuries
ago, that the register of their baptism
was lost long, long before the memory
of man and no one knew their names.
They had their Godfathcrs and God
mothers, these bells. (for my own part,
by the way, l would rather incur the
responsibility Of being Godfather to a
Bell than Boy, and had had their
silver mug. no doubt besides. But
Time had moved their sponsors, and
Henry the Eighth had melted down
their mugs; and they now hung, name
less and mugless in the church tower.
Not spccchlcss, though. Far fromit.
and smooth, but arc so hawcd and
broken. Ugh. Heaven preserve US, sit
ting snugly round the fire It has an
aweful voice, that wind at Midnight,
singing in church
But high up in the stceplc There
the foul blast roars and whistles! High
up in the stce pie, where it is free to
como and go through many an airy
arch aud loopholc, and to twist and
Irvine itself about the giddy stair, and
twirl the groaning weathercock, and
make the very tower shake and quiyer!
High up in the stecplc, where the bel
fry is f; and iron rails are ragged with
rust /; and sheets Of lead and copper,
shrivelled by the changing weather,
crack!e and heave beneath the unac-
customcd tread; and birds stuff shabby
nests into corners of old oaken joists
and beams and dust grows old and
gray and specklcd spiders, INDECENT
and fat with long security, swing idly
to and fro in the vibration of the bells.
and never loose their hold upon their
thread-spun castles in the air, or climb
up, sailor-likc, in quick alarm, or drop
They had clear, loud, lusty, sounding
voices, had these Bells and far and
wide they might be heard upon the
wind. Mach too sturdy Chimes were
they to be dependent on the pleasures
of the wind, moreover for, fighting
gallautly against it when it took an ad-
verse within, they would pour out their
cheerful notes.-the listening ear right
royalty; and bent on being heard on
stormy nights, by some poor mother
watching a sick child, or some lone
wife whose husband was at sea, they
had sometimes been known to beat a
clustering Nor Wester-aye, "all to
fits" as Toby Week said for though
they chose to call him Trotty Week. his
name was Toby, and nobody could
make it anything else either Except
Tobias without special act of parlia-
mcnt: he having been as lawfully chris
tened in bis day as the Bells had been
in theirs, though with not quite so much
of solemnity or public rejoicing,
For my own part, confess myself OF
Toby Weeks belief, for / am sure he
had opportunities enough of forming a
correct one. And whatever Toby Week
said, say. And take my stand by
Toby Week, although he did stand all
day long land weary work it was) just