The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-09-04
Origin Of Bells.

+. y" "N"h "'"N I" Nl9 lpbt' ~ order by thcl
/ sound to give notice Of hs approach TO th
4 mnoluary Bells were also appended 4
horses us an ornament (Iech., xvi, 90
, probably similar 10 those which arc stil uscr
~ many parts Of Europe
Small Bells we're used by the Greeks an,
Romans for civil and military purposes. nn,
'hey were sometimes Tubg In temples 10 cal
the people 10 their religious duties, stPauli
nus Bishop Of Nola, IN Campania, at the end
oI the ilh century, Is said to have been III,
first who used Bells In Christian churches IA
call The people 70 prayer, after which they
were gradually introduced into all the church
rs OF The west ~ also many Greek churches.
Large Bells appear 10 have come into use ln
The sixth century In the year GI0, Clothairc
u, King Of France, Vheu besieging the cty
OF Sens,ia said 20 have been so much alarmed
az the hitherto uHhcard olangor of the Bells
Ia 81 stephens Church, that he rclrcatcd In
alright aud abandoned the siege, They were
very generality adopted in England a. soon ns
parish churches were erected, and gave rise
10 that feature of cccesiastical architecture
the bell tower, The feryor Of mana Met,
being then estimated by the value Of his gifs
10 the church, large Bells we're often present.
ed 10y rich individuals Turkctul Abbot Of
Croyland in the iOih century, gave 10 the
church Of thnt abbey great bell, which he
named Guthlac in honor Of the patron saint
OF thp place and his successor, Egclric. who
died IN ga, presented six bells, TO which h,
gave the whimsical names ofPcga aud Bcgn,
Iniwiu Turkclul, Bctellm 4 bartholomew.
These bells were tuned to harmonic with
the great 'Guthlac, and 40 agreeable VAS the
effect Of Their combination that Ingulphus.
who often heard them, says "licbat miraba.
las harmoniu' nee crat tune tails consonantia
e'mpanorum in totu Anglia (Thcy made
a wonderful harmony, and there was not such
well tuned peal Of bell, IN all Enghnd.Y .
Bells were or old pa, 10 services which the
superior intelligence Of the present ngc has
totally abolished. Say, Aubrey. who wrote.
about the closr Of the I7h century, "At
Paris, when It begin, 20 thunder and tighten.
they do presently ring out the grca, bell at
the Abbey Of ST. German, " whcli-ilrrs. do hr.-
licye makes it cease. The like wa, wont to
bt done heretofore Ia wiltshire when II
thundcrcd and 'lighlcncd they did ring ST.
AdclmS bell at Mulmcshury Abbey. The
curious do say that the ringing Of hrHs great
y di'turbs spirits"
largrSl hell upnn this continent is that
upon the Notre Dame Cathedral, Montreal. I
he weight Of which is 20IoO lbs and which {
vas imported from England in 1913. Tho I
8TFtsJ ttiiin England nj The present day, is +
Great Peter Of York." which weighs about {
10000 lbs., previous to which the celebrated I
Great Tom of ONford" was the largest, which t
vas cast in 1850, and weighs 1900 lbs. At
Iouon jn France is bell weighing 10000 v
bs At Erfurt il Germany is another, and {
Which was long celebrated as the largest in &
europe, weighing 25,OOO lbs. But Russia is f
prominently the country of great bells where
hey may be heard in full vigor not q
"SwinRing slow with ,ulcn roar" "
Or they are too heavy to be swung, hut in. {
cssantly tolling and booming, and dcafcnng o
II ears but those Of Russians, who almost v
orship their bells. The largest Of these 81
fountains Of metal is at Moscow, and is call "
i in Russia the Tsurkolokol or King Of ii
ellis the weight Of which is yariously stated Al
, from 100000 to $4,000 lbs. According OF
} an inscription cast upon it, the former m
eight was that which it was intended it
lould be, but many Russian authors state ia
lat it oycrran that weight 10y 10000 lbs, IL
hich, as the founder probably melted large in
lrplus of metal, may be possible In any al
use it is twice as heavy as the large Russian a
I'll, which is now ringing in Moscow, cast co
that city in 1917 to take the place Of
achcd bell called, the Bolshoi, weighing 70
y 1000 lbs, and ten times as heavy as the pc
eat bell of Erfurt before ..aludcd TO. 1t an
as 20 feet high, and 20 IL feet in diameter ca
I'd as stated by Korb in his Diary QG9s) it tn
quired iiny men to pull the clapper, one sti
lf being on each side. II was suspended sw
cr the place where it now lies, in the year fal
81, upon immense beams and heavy frame rel
,rk, as shown in the accompanying cut, GU
Il which in the same year unfortunately pli
ok fire, and the bell falling, piece was res
oxen out of it large enough to admit two thi
] persons to pass in without STOPPING 1t thu
wing never been suspended since, there are VII
me who question the fact of its having been is
scd, but the fracture in it can only be uc-.- ills
united for upon the theory that it once fell rel
IN considerable height when in heated JOY
tie. When this bell was being cast, the wo
bles from all parts of Bussia vicd-with lat
n other in casting into the furnace gold eve
i silver plate, rings trinkets, &c. as did pos
Y also at the casting of the bell before
ldcd to at Moscow, weighing 1000 lbs, Is
Il in 1917. ber
The Chinese have soma large bells which a d
st weigh at least 10000 lbs. Father Yer be
st, in the 9TH century, states that he saw tioi
un,bcr of LARGO bells Mt pelin. which were bri