Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-11-19
A FAMOUS CHIME.
The r Bells ofss; ss, Miehssls, Z Charles

I 3.
Mrs Petrigu Carson, the daughter of
the late distinguished James L. Petrigu,
Of South Carslina, contributes to Apple
toms Journal On Interesting account of
old St. Michael church and the chime
of bells that once sounded in its steeple
carlton as sweet as floats from the
spire of Antwerp Cathedral These
bells were connected with the Revolu.
ton, but having escaped the perils of
the siege Of Charleston by the British in
lT80, they were destroyed nearly cen,
tury later by a mischance OF the war OF
secession. But we must let Mrs. Car
son tell the story Of their fate after Sum
teri -as sT aua p.
Time went on, and Charleston, be-
hind her defenses OF sand, resisted all
the efforts to carry her During the 500
(546) days of bombardment all the lower
part of the town had to be abandoned.
Houses and churches were shattered, the
cannon balls tore up the very grave
yards, and the bones Of the dead were
scattered. Yet the spire Of st. Michael's
was untouched. Perhaps the oannoneer
tried to spare it-perhaps good angels
BualuCu w. rpul nudt Rclbhof ufc ludllcc
OF the enemy nor the spite of fortune did,
the people themselves effected. For the
bells were taken down and sent to Colum-
bia to be cast into cannon. General
beaur5gard, perhaps shocked at the des-
ecration, pronounced them unfit for the
purpose; and the fate which heaped up
at Columbia for safe keeping everything
Of value in the State, there detained the
bells also. Then Sherman army passed
through, leaving its track Of lightning.
A party Of halfdrnnken soldiers, out for
a lark and for plunder, were accosted by
q negro, who offered to show them the
bells which had rung in secession.
Never, said the men, shall they play
that tune again. and they smashed them
into hundred pieces. Ii 5s
Sad was the return to the desolated
homes and the meeting in the dumb |
church, to which no miracle might now
restore the voice Of the chimes they
loved. ffIEY.7 HQav .rGlT |
'Bnt they were men of pluck still,
and as soon as they had shaken them
selves uf and provided for the first |
pressing needs, they resolved to tax
themselves to the utmost to get new |
chime. ,.-r1 ea l hsl ri.
Scarcely had the rector bread, and |
the yestry and congregation we're all !
very poor, but they wrote to G. r. Prio'
leau, of London, to inquire the cost Of
new set. This gentleman had lived so
long in England as to have become al
most an EDglishman, with fair Eng
lish wife, and 5lutf, handsome English
children, but his heart stirred at the rec
objection of the dear old voices that had
called him in childhood, and he took the
task With loving zeal that brought
about the most surprising results. There
was no record at Charleston of where
the bells came from. But Mr.. Prioleau
searched the directory for the Oldest
founders of the city, and went from one
to another until, at Meares 4 Co., White
chapel, London, q firm which has been
in existence three hundred years, he
found by patient examination the record
of bells cast for st. Michaels
Church, South Carolina, in 1853:
The proportions of the metal
all entered in the books; and the present
Meares engaged to turn ont new set,
which, when hung, should make the
Charlestonians think they heard their
old bells. But Mr.. Prioleau
was not content with this; be wrote back
% have all the fragments that could be
iound sent ont and this was done.
Meanwhile Meares found still in their
service an old man of seventy-six, who
lad been apprentice under the very
oreman who. more than hundred years
before, had cast those bells; and he,
by Prioleau's generosity 1
ieyer rested till he brought to light the
Tery original molds for the castings.
-ntO them the new metal was melted,
With careful distribution Of the broken
fragments. so ss 10 make the illusion
eality. All that was wanting to make
I'D the cast Mr.. Prioleau added, and the
eward Of his perseverance and gene.
.osity was to send to the yestry these