The Washington times., 1902-06-09
ALL HONOR TO THE
OLD LIBERTY BELL

Charles. London. The order specified
that The bell should weigh about 1000
pounds and be iettered as follows, in
weil-shaped letters:
BY order of the Assembly of the pro-
vince OF Pennsylvania. for the state
house in the city CT Philadelphia, 1852, "
and underneath. Proclaim liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabi-
tan;s thereof. In the casting OF the
bel :he legends were reversed and
around the crown of the bell is the quo
tation from Lcviticus xxv:10. and under
it the words quoted first above.
Arrived in 1882.
The bell arrived il Philadelphia from
London near the end of August. 1852. and
was hung. In September of that year it
was cracked by a heavy stroke of the
clanper The bell was then taken down
from the state house tower and was re-
cast by Messrs. Pass & Snow, of Phila-
de!phia, in 1853. The amalGam was hard
ened little by the addition of an ounce
ard a half Of copper to the pound
old Liberty Bell" is twelve feet in
circumference around the lip and around
the crown it is sevCn feet six inches. Il
is three feet following the line cf the
bell from the lip to the crown, and two
feet three inches over the crown. II
is three inches thick in the thickest
part near the lip, and one and quarter
inches thick n the thnnest place near
the crown. The length of the clapper is
three feet two inches, and the weight
Of the whole is 2,CS0 pounds. The model
Of the bell was one cast by order of
Henry III in the early part of the thir-
teenth century in memory of Edward the
Confessor, the bell being generally
known as Great Tom of Winchester"
Received Its Name.
The incident from which the Liberty
Bell received its name occurred on the
morning of July S. 1776. At that time
after the proclamation of the Declara-
ton of Independence had been made the
committee of safety, of Philadelphia, as
sembled in their lodge room to attend
upon the rea ing of the document, and
between the ours of II and l. o'clock
that day the bell on the state house
rang forth the proclamation, Andrew
McNair. the official ringer manipulate
ing the rope which worked the Clapper.
procession was formed by the COM
mittee OF safety and the committee of
inspection, and the two bodies proceeded
to independence Hall. ana entering the
yard. the Declaration of Independence
was read from an improvised stand on
the east side of the yard.
The bell had attracted a large crowd.
and the people listened intently as John
Nixon, to whom the reading had been
committed. rccited the stirring words
which declared that the American colo
MES were, and Of right ought to be, free
from the expressions of England. At
the completion of the reading the decla-
ration was formally adopted by ring
ing vote by those present, and TO ratify
the action of the people of Philadelphia
met in orderly town meeting the bell
sounded once more to ratify the compact
OF the colonies in enmity to the British
king.
That evening the coat of arms of the
King of England was removed from the
state house. and all public buildings IN
Philadelphia.
The great bell throughout the period
of the Revolution continued to sound /
from time to time to call the people to- |
gether, or to attract them to the state |
house to hear some important an
nouncement from the armies in the |
IL rang vi us EltSSdscS VI ptdCt
after the war down to 1895.
Death of John Marshall.
On July s, 1885. the bell was tolling
for the death of John Marshall. one of
the heroes of the Revolution and Amer |
ica's greatest iurist. He had died in
Philadelphia two days before, and on
July s his remains were being borne
from the city to Virginia for burial.
dences the grief of a nation. and at
one stroke of the clapper, little heav-
Ter than the others and little sadder, |
the great bell cracked through one side,
and was silent forever. II had tolled for
Washington. Lee, Hamilton, Adams, |
Franklin. Morris and Henry, and like
some old and revered human prophet
its heart was broken over the last OF /
the great heroes TO fall.
In the last year OF it's life the great |
bell was taken down from the tower |
where it had sounded so long and was
placed among the relics OF a reverent .
and grateful city. Save when on its
brief itineraries to the worlds EXPOSE |
tions. the bell has stood in a glass case.
constructed for the purpose. in the
chamber of relics in the old state house
in Philadelphia, called by common con-
sent the Cradle of Liberty" 1t is pos
sibly the most venerated memento OF
the fearful period when a nation was
born amid the paroxysms Of revolution.
LIBERTY BELL STARTS