Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-17
ITO call the fold 10 church in time,
We chime;
When joy and mirth is on the wing.
We ring;
When we lament q departed soul,

W. bOAs
Bells are solemnly blessed by the Roman
Catholics, - they are consscrated to their
holy work Of summoning worshipers to
their religious ritee. From the circum-
stance of The bell receivinga name snd be-
ing washed with holy water the ceremony is
frequently called the baptism of bells. 1t is
a mistake, however, TO uppote that the form
OF baptism ia used. There appears TO be
sometbIug poetical and a little playful in
the custom Of giving the bell spor s,rs, who
are usually persons who have presented the
bell to the church, or who contribute TO the
expense Of purchasing it. Chrism and oil
are used in the CEREMONY OF benediciion and
in all the more solemn conse cratiops of
utensils employed in the divine service. The
const Grafton OF bells dates back to a very early
period. In the old l~iturgies of the Catholic
Church is a form Of conservation directing
the PRESS to wash the bell with water,
auoint it with oil and mark it with the sign
Of the cross la the name of the Trinity.
Names were given 10 bells as Early a. 96S,
when the great bell OF the Lateran church
was nomsd by John XIII for himself-
John. The ancient custom of ringing the
passing bell that those who hea d
it msy pray for the soul that was leaving
this world appears TO have given to the bell
amyslerious connection with departed spirite,
and the belief has extensively prevailed that
the evil spirits waiting 10 receive the stranger
about entering their domain are driven off in
terror at it's SQUAD, and leave the neophyte
an entrance free aud unobstructed. And
when "lhe curfew tollsd the knell OF parting
day. a ssdder influence was sheApyer the
spirits of our fathers than was justified by the
fact tina the curfew bell was only q signal for
all to put out their tires. The passing bell
is still represented in some New England
villages as q funeral procession slowly wends
Its way TO the graveyard. The ROD me by
bells announced the time for bathing, and
the early Cbris,isns adopted the same signal
for designating the hour OF prayer; kept up
by the Catholics in the ringing of the hDgelus
at morning, noon and night, st the souod of
which all good Catholics Join in this rite.
The use of bells is IRON The old be-
lief that they served to slaru the
spirits of the air Sd those that
rule the storm are frightened away, its power
About the year 400, bells were first used fer
churches by 81, PAulinus, Bishop Of Nols, a
city of Camp3nia, and hence the names
given TO church bells 10 some OF the Eure-
psan langua ages of Nola and Campaus. In
England and France they we're in use as
esrly as the sixteenth century, and the FIRST
parish churches appear to have been fur
nished with their campsnile or believer,
which still continues TO be one of their dis
,inguishing features. Several We're used
ia q single church as is still the GUS
tom when arranged in chimes, as in Ro-
man Catholic countries, without regard
to harmony OF tones. The grest
bell OF MoseOv, kHown to be the largest ever
founded, is 10 a deep Pit in the midst of the
Hremlin and was cracked By the great fire.
Ii has never been suspended, and the changes
are it never will be on account OF its enor-
the United States is the alarm bell iR the
City Hall in New York, which weighs %, on
pounds, is eight feet 10 diameter al the mouth
and Elk feet high. The great bell which pro-
claimed liberty to the people of this broad
land July 4, 1915, is inscribed: proclaim
liberty throughout ell the land unto all the
inhabitants tbereofn