Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-11-22
AN OLD CHURCH BELL
IT CAME FROM LISBON AND HANGS
IN A NANTUCKET CHURCH.
.,. story of It's Purchase by Captain
Clasby and Hts Transportation to
r,,;s CCuntry-A Very Good Clock
and n Very Fine Bell.

church is the belfry. i'll which sWlnSs
the -od Spanish bell Knowing that
,,is is now IL Unitarian church. The vis-
;;or VIII be surprised 10 see Il CdtHosit'
cross on the bell If he could read 'or-
tnoi1eSe and had not previously ac-
,uointpd himself with the history OF
thn bell he would be still more sll1-
nri,ed at the inscription on it. Tie
translation of this Inscription is as fol
lows. TO the Good Jesus OF the Noun
tain ,he devotees of Lisbon direct then
pray,rs. offering Him one complete set
of six bells, to call the peopl" to adore
him in his sanctuary. Jose Doinn-oS
I,aossf;, has made ii i'll Lisbon i'll the
vaor 1910" OF course the bell must
have an interesting history to account
for this inscription. That history is
briefly as follows:
\ plague was raging in Lisbon and
certain people i'll that city prayed to
the Virgin Mary for the cessation OF
tho plague and vowed to place a set of
six bells in the Church of the Good
Iesus of the Mountain if their prayers
we're heard. The Mountain is the
name of certain district in the city
of Lisbon in which there is Il very ven,
cradle church called rs above. Shortly
sitter this the plague ceased. and, ac-
ceDting this rs the answer to their
Drayers, these devotees OF Lisbon pro-
ceetled to fulfill their vows. The work
of casting these six bells was intrusted
10 Jose Domingos Dacosta, the best
bell founder in Lisbon.
The six bells had been east, the mas
rer's hbors had been crowned with
success. when Captain CLASSIFY of the
Nantucket whaling feet chanced to
visit Lisbon He had long wished to
buy a bell for use in his native town.
In company with Captain Cary he
visited the bell foundry of Jose Do
mingos Dacosta. Captain Cary. it
seems, was a connoisseur in bells. Da
costa applied the lever to one bell after
another as he struck each to ascertain
its peculiar tone or tone quality. but
each time Captain Cary said. THAT
will not do"
At last Dacosta raised and struck
the bell whose history we are describ-
ing Captain Cary was delighted with
the result. "Ah. CLASSIFY he said.
you need look no further. That's tire
bell you want She is beauty. She
sounds on B.
well, sir remarked Dacosta, I'VE
consider that to be the finest bell that
we have in our foundry
At first Dacosta demurred and could
not sec his way clear to selling the
Del, since it belonged to the set of
chimes designed for the Church Of the
Good Jesus of the Mountain and was
appropriately inscribed and all, but
Captain CLASSIFY would have no other.
Finally Dacosta decided, since the bell
had not yet been consecrated and since
he could cast another to take its place.
that it would be all right to sell.
SO Captain CLASSIFY bought the bell,
and it was brought to Nantucket by
Captain Cary. whose vessel was going
home first. In Lisbon, just before he
set sail. Captain Cary heard of the dec
laration of war with Great Britain,
for it was now the year 1912. On the
way over they We're spoken by a Brit
lsi sloop Of war. Fortunately the Brit
Usher had been at sea for some time
and had not yet heard of the dec!ala-
ton of war. The commander asked
Captain Cary the news, but Captain
Cary says he took especial pains not
10 tell all he knew. If he had told. our
precious bell would probably never
have seen Nantucket 1t might now be
either at the bottom Of the sea or it
might be swinging in the tower Of
some English church.
The bell was landed in Nantucket
and placed in the store cellar of Sam
uel Cary, where it remained until 1918.
When il was purchased and placed in
tie tower where it now hangs. About
S1t@ WAS given for the bell the society
paid about $500 and the rest MAS raised
by subscription. Even some Friends
OF Qualers subscribed
After the bell had been in use IL little
While the agents OF the historic Old
South church IN Boston heard of it, and
they sent a letter to the agents of the
south church in Nantucket. saying that
'lley mad q very good clock in their
tower, but no bell; that they had heard
mat the South church in Nantucket
ilad very fine bell. and they would
IKE TO know for how much the bell
could be bought.
Inc Nantucketers replied that they
no.