The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1855-10-27
Grlcft nlisfellanp.
A CHAPTER ON BELLS.

poets 0f man S lie: the UNCONSCIOUS ASSIST
ants of his deeds; the ministcring servants OF
his religion. At his birth, they rejoice: al
his marriage, theirs are the mcrricst voices
ut his death. alas they are too often his only
mourncrs. They swell the clamorous alarms
ocrcvolt they herald in the triumph-they
peal swcetly and holly over meadow and
valley. calling the prayerful to the old gray
church on the Sabbath morning. No other
object of common manufacture and general
use is hallowcd by memories so various: no
other tongue tells story SO touching to the
ear of universal humanity.
The use of bells is so ancient as to he lost
in the gloom of rcmotcst antiquity. Setting
aside that bell which, as we are told by an
Eastern writer, was manufactured by Tubal
Cain. and used by Noah to summon his ship.
carpenters TO their daily labors we may con-
tent ourselves with the earliest authentic
mention of them as it occurs in the Book OF
+ xodus. where we find that the high-prest
was ordained to wear golden bells, alternating
with soideA pomcgranates. OH the blue vest
Inent in which he was robcd during the per-
formancc Of religious ceremonies. 1t is re-
mar kahle that the same fashion was observed
in the decorations of the regal costume OF
the ancient Pcrsians.
The Romans had bells and knockers at
their doors, and porters to answer the IN.
quirics Of visitors, as we have in this pres.
rnt day: and their night-watch carried each
a bell, to give the alarm in case of accident
or danger. They hung bells, also, TO the
necks of criminals on their way to execution,
that persons might be warned from their
path. as it was deemed bad omen to meet
those sacrifices devoted to the di, names; and
Phedrus mentions that bells we've commonly
attached to the nccks Criminals 10 remove
them was theft, according to the civil laws Of
Rome: and if the animals were lost, the per
son who had stolen the bells remained an.
swerable for their value. That the ancient
Jews were in the habit Of suspcn3ing bells
round the ncckS Of animals. We ascertain by
these words Of the prophet Zcchariah: "ln
that day there shall be upon the bells Of
horses, Holiness unto the Lord"
The Greeks hung bells. with whips, to the
cl.ariois of victorious generals, by way of re.
winding them that. Notwithstanding their
services and valor, they were still within the
pale Of law and justice. Those soldiers who
went the rounds of their garrisonS and camps
by night. carried small bells, which it was
their duty to ring at each sentry-hox. Tn
funeral PROFESSIONS, bcll-man walked be.
fore the body: and at Athens, a pri est Of
Proserline, called tIierophantus, rang bell
TO summon the citizens to sacrifice. All
Greek and Roman markct-placcs, temples,
camps, and frontier towns, were furnished
with them: and in the vast public baths Of
Rome. notice was given Of the hours Of open.
ing by the ringing Of u bell.
1t is an agreeable instance OF the generous
rhivalry practiccd l'y the ancicut Florcntincs
that so far from seeking to obtain any adj
vantage over their enemies by means of n
surprise. they gave them a months warming
before they drew their army into the field,
by the continued tolling of q bell, named by
them Mortinella.
The earliest mention Of bells, as applied to
the purposes If religious worship, is by
l'olydorc Virgil, who slntcs that Panlinus
Bishop Of Nola. city Of Campania, in Italy
first adapted them to his church in the year
400; hence the word eampa"'is, bclfry, still
aScd i'll Italian. They were not adopted in
shc churches of Britain till near the end of
the seventh century, but they were in use in
Caledonia as carly as the sixth: and in the
year GlO, VIC read that the army Of the FIcncl,
anonsrch, Clotiarie H., was terrified from,
the siege Of tire city of Sens by the ringing
from the bells Of st. Stephens Church. The
second excerpt Of Egbcrt. in $50. command.
sng every priest to sound the bells of his
church. at the proper hours, and then to per-
form the sacred offices, is translated into
an antique Preach calitutsry of sol, favorilg
the snpposilion that, by this time, bells were
common to the parish churches Of both
countries. Anctms asserts that bells were
used for churches by the Greek Christians
up to the period wfcn Coustantinodc was
taken by the Turks, who forthwith prohibit
rd their bting rang, lest their clamor should
disturb the rclosc of souls. which, according
TO their b6icf, wander through the realms Of
air. He adds, that they were still used after
this in places remote from the ears of the new
rulers, and that there were very ancient bells
on Mount Athos.
The passng-bell took its origin in super.
stitution that dates back to the earliest
Egyptian pcriods-namdy, to the belief that
at the moment Of death good and evil spirits
dc in wait for the liberated soul, and fought
together for it on its way to heaven. These
wicked demons, according to Durandus, were
terrified sGn unto flight at the sound of bells:
and the louder the ringing, the more complete
THE victory over the powers of darkness
This singular superstition is thus recorded
BY W. DE- Worde i'll the pages of the Golden
Lsgend:"--
'It is said the evil spirytes that ben in the
rcgyon of thayre doubte mochc whan they
here the bellies rongen and this is the cause
why the bellies ben rongen whan it thondrc tn,
and when crete tempcste and Outragcs of
weather happen, to the cnde that the tcintls
and wicked spirytes should be abashcd and
fec, and cease of the movynge oftempcstc. -
Not only to drive away evil spirits, but in
later ages to counteract the natural influences
ofstorm ard pestilcnce, did it become Gus
tomary to ring the bellies of churches. LET
the bells in cities and towns be rung often"
says one Dr. Herring in treatise upon pes
tilential contagion, 1925, land let the ord.
nance be discharged; therefore the air is puri-
fed" And there still exists a belief in
Switzerland, that the inhalation of air caus-
ed by the sound Of bell breaks the electric
fluid of thundcr-cloud. Lobincau observes.
that the custom of ringing bells at the ap.
proach Of thunder is Of great antiquity; but
he adds that the design was mot so much to
shake the air, and so disSipate the thunder.
rs to call people to church to pray that the
parish might be preserved from that terrible
meteor" Be these opinions as they may,
they scarcely balance the written legendary
lore, the craven inscriptions upon bells them
selves, the still lingering superstitions of lands
and the graceful perpetuations ofthem in the
pages Of our poets.
Thus Longfelow, on the alarm and rout OF
evil spirits on the ringing of cathedra bells