The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-24
THE FEBRUARY MAGAZINES.
"IIARPER,a.v

"Tell Me-" ''Beast Bird, and Fish," fourth
paper) illustrated. "The Andes and the
Amazon" illustrated. ''South-coast Saun-
terings in England" (Saunter W. Illus
trated. The Consequences. "Anteros, IL;
Along the Wires Paraguay and her
Enemies" with map of Paraguay. "A
Promise is Promise ''The Game Water
fowl of America" ''Walpole; or, Every Man
has his Price" BY Lord Lytton. "a Chat
on Bells" EDITORS Easy Chair" Editors
Literary Record" Editors Scientific
Record" Editors Historical Record"
'sEditor's Drawer"
From the article entitled "a Chat on Bells,
we quote as follows
The bell most frequently heard in Catholic
countries is that which is rung in the morning,
at noon and in the evening, especially since
these sounds, originally intended as an admo-
milton to prayers, have become signals for the
beginning of school-hours and the return
home of the weary laborer in the fields
from his days work. The evening
bell is by far the oldest, as we may
Judge from the severity with which the
curfew (c0ucro .feU) was enforced by the Nor
man masters of England, who prohibited the
burning of any fire or light after this bell had
been rung at seven or eight o'clock. This was,
however, by no means an evidence of Nor
vailed nearly throughout Christendom, in
order to protect the houses, which were
almost universally of wood, from being
burned and robbed by evil-doers. 1t was only
under Pope John XXI, in 1880, that the
three recitals of the Ave Maria which are
now customary in Catholic countries, were
required during the ringing of this evening
bell. These prayers were originally prescribed
as a protection against the infdels and an in
tercession for the souls Of the slain crusaders;
now they are not unfairly suggestive of a
blessing invoked upon the finished labors of
the day. Travellers give most impressive
descriptions of the deep and touching
impression produced by the instanta-
neous effect of this custom, when
the first sound of the bell produces
in the house and on the high road, on the
public promenade and in the crowded assem-
bly,, an immediate cessation of work or move
ment-all doff their hats, the devout sink on
their knees, and a whole population invokes
in silence the aid of Heaven.
The tolling of bells arose originally, and in
the very Oldest times apparently, from de-
sire of dying persons thus to appeal to their
brethren to offer prayers in their behalf
Gradually, however, the custom prevailed Of
making this appeal not for the living but for
e the departed, and special notifications were
introduced in order to inform the neighbor-
hood of the sex, age, and condition of the
deceased. In Protestant countries this Gus
tom has become almost obsolete, although
in England the passing bell is yet occa-
sionally rung to announce a death. But the
tolling of bells during the funeral is all the
more generalin spite of its superstitious origin.
1t was first intended to keep off evil spirits
from the procession; and hence not only
church bells were rung but the mourners
also were armed with small hand-bells for the
same purpose. This is one of the most
curious cases in which Christianity long con-
tinued the usages of heathen antiquity, for
the latter also employed sounding brass" to
keep off demons at the time of public sacri-
fees and solemn ceremonies. A similar rea-
son led to the ringing of small bell which
precedes the priest who carries the holy
communion to dying person, and which
invariably accompanies the venerable"
on its white horse when the Pope is
on his travels. These bells obtained
in some mysterious way so sacred char
acter that oaths were sworn upon
them in England-a custom which still sur
wives in Ireland; so that, as late as 1882, a
rural justice Of the peace ing the county of
Glare allowed such an oath to be sworn on a
very ancient "Clog-orgha,' or Golden Boil.
Thieves are reported to have been SO afraid
of the powers of this bell that they have pre-
ferred confessing their guilt and restoring
the stolen property to being confronted with
the dread instrument. This Golden Bell has,
since the days OF queen Elizabeth, belonged
to family of Keane, of Beech Park. 1t is
of very rude shape, oval cast of bronze, and
covered with thin plates of gilt silver and
in its way, beyond doubt, one of the most
remarkable bells in existence
In Schiller's admirable poem, "The Bell, -
the words fulgtrG .fy0ng0, 81 break light
ming" are added toSthe other powers with
which bells are endowed, and present another
instance of the perversion of a good and ap-
propriate custom into vile superstition. The
early Church permitted the ringing of bells
upon the approach of violent storms and the
breaking out of fires, in order to summon good
Christians to offer their prayers to the Al
mighty in behalf of the poor sufferers
Soon, however, the opinion began to prevail
that the bells themselves possessed magic
power to scatter thunder-clouds, to
drive off hail, and to extinguish' fires, be-
cause all these pernicious occurrences were
vulgarly ascribsd to the agency of evil de-
mons, and the consecrated bell could defy the
emissaries of Satan. Even the Reformation
was not quite able to dispel this common
error and down to the last century violent
disputes were carried on on the question,
whether it was the magic power of holy bells,
or merely the concussion of the air caused by
their ringing which occasionally succeeded in
breaking tempest-clouds. Finally, however,
careful observation led to the conviction that
the ringing of bells, SO far from being useful
on such occasions, actually caused great
calamities; and the Academy Of Paris once
published remarkable ease of twenty-four
neighboring churches being destroyed by
lightning while their bells were rung, although
other churches, which lay between, remained