Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1869-01-08
The Bells Of MOSCOW.

ptooapy TIC largest that eyor t00s in tho
world. A pieco is broken out Of its side, and
tho fragment is lying near. The breadth Of
tho bell is so great,--it is twenty feet across,
that tho cavity underneath has been used
as chapel, whore as many people can staud
| as in a circle sixty feet around.
In Russia tho bell is an instrument Of mu.
sic for the worship of God as truly and really
as tho organ in any other countryl This
fact is not mentioned in tho accounts we have
OF the wonderful, enormous, aud almost in.
orcdibly heavy bolls that have been cast in
Moscow. But it is the key to what would
otherwise be difficult to explain. 1t appears
absurd to cast bells SO large as to DO next to
Impossible for convenient use, in danger al.
ways Of falling and dragging others to ruin
in their fall. But when the boil is medium
Of communication with the InGnits, aud the
worship Of q people aud an ompiro finds ex-
preston Ia abe majestic tones Of u bell, it
ceases TO DO wonder that q boil should have
. tongue whteh requires tvansy .fOu, mou to
nove, asd vho=s me=is sAsuld send q thrill
OF praisa iaso evesy hoasa in the city. and
Roas avsy bsyond the river iato The plsius
afar.
Moscow 10 the holy city Of tho Grsok
Church. Pilgrims, como hither from thous.
ands of miles off, aud on foot, and sometimes
without shoes. Ihavc seen them, with slaves
In theft hand, aud their travel.uorn foct
wound up in cloths, vending their way to tho
sacred hill. And when they draw nigh unto;
tho city, and on the evening air tho music of
these holy bells is frst borne to their ears,
they fall upon their faces, PROSTATE, and wor.
ship God. If they could go no further, they
would be content to die there, for they have
heard tho bells Of Moscow, and on their ma
jestio tones their souls have bcen taken up to
heaven This is tho sentiment of the super.
stitious peasant, aud it is q beautiful sonti-
rnent, ideal indeed, but oil tho more delicate
and exalted
| AS long as, five hundred years ago, this
casting of bells was an art Ia Russia It is
one'of the fine arts now. Perhaps our great
| bell founders, the Meneelys, will not admit
that tho founders there have my more skill
tn'their manufacture than wo have, aud am
not sure that their bells have any tones more
\ exquisite than ours ,oould have if we would
Y put as m9ch silver and gold into our bell
II metsl rs they do. Blu. SO long e. those pre-.
'fcfoas metals are at the present premium, little
tor none Of them will find it's way into our
fchurch bellsI We have not the mistaken
tidea Of the Russian az to the use of a bell.----
RWo use it tosoall the people to the house of
fworship. They use the bell for worship. Our
bells speak to us. Their bells praise God
Ekey cast their silver and their gold into the
molten mass, and it becomes an Offering, as
Sn an altar, to Him whs is worshippod with
Il avery silvery note and golden tone OF the holy
lAell.
! This ono great bell is a growth Of ceutu-
rEes. In 1853 it was cast and weighed onlv
&c ae,ooo ooo pounds, Il fell in fre and was re,
cast in 1854, being increased to the a,tonish-
! ing weight of 2s8, 900 pounds This was too
vasta weight to be taken up to the top of the
tower; and it was sustained by frame at the
foot of it. In 17O6 it fell in another fire and
was broken into fragments which lay there on
tho ground about thirty years. It was rccast
in 1888, and four years afterwards piec@was
knocked out Of the side of it, and it has been
standing here on the ground moro than a
century. 1t weighs 444,O0O pounds In
tho thiokest part it ia two feet through. 1t
has relief pioturos on it of the Emperor and
Empress, Of the Saviour and the Virgin Ma
ry, and the Evangelists.
\ Ascending the Ivan tower, wc find on thrco
successive stories bells to tho number Of thir-
ty-four. Some of these arc Of q size to fill
one With astonishment had he not seon the
giant below. The largest is on the first story
abovosthe chapel and'weighs more than sixty
! tons It awnings freely and is easily rung. I
smee it with tho palm Of my hand, suppo.
sing that suoh blow could not produce the
slightest vibration ia such mighty mass Of
iron, but II rung out as clear and startling as
if sl'rit within had responded to my knock
without, Two bolls are Of solid silver and
their tohes are exquisitoly soft, liquid and
pure. Il WAS exciting to go from ono to an.
other andto strike them with their tongues,
or with yotr hand, and catch the variety and
richness oftheir several melodies.
The chapel below is dedicated to the patron
saint Of all ladies about to be married, and it