The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-01-06
AN OLD CHURCH BELL
1T CAME FROM LISBON AND HANGS
IN A NANTUCKET CHURCH..


Clasby and KS Transportation to
THIS Ccuctry-t Very Good CLOCK
and q Very FiEc Bell.
Beneath the outlook in / Nantucket
church is tie bclfry, IN which swings
tie "eld Spanish bell knowing that
S.is Is now G Unitarian church, the vis-
itor will be surprised to see Catholic
cross on the bell If he could read Per
tuSucsc and h;:d not previously ac-
ouairted himself with the history Of
the bel! he would be still more sur
priscl at the inscription on 1t. The
translation CT this inscription IS as fol
lows: 10 the Good Jesus Of the Noun
tain the dcvctees Of Lisbon direct their
prayers, offering Hin, one complete set
Of six bells, to call the people to adore
him in his sanctuary. Jose Domlngos
Dacosta has made it In Lisbon in the
wear 1910" OR course the bell must
have an interesting history to account
for this inscription. That history IS
OciCuy as IO1IVNS
\ plague was raging in Lisbon and
certain people in that city prayed to
the Virgin Mary for the cessation OF
the plague and vowed to place set Of
six bells in the Church Of the Good
Jesus of the Mountain If their prayers
were heard. THE Mountain is the
name Of a certain district In the city
OF Lisbon in which there IS very ven
erable church called rs above. Shortly
after this the plague ceased, and, ac-
ceptilg this as the answer to their
prayers, these dcvotccs Of Lisbon pro-
ceetcd to fulfill their VOWS. The work
of casting these six bells was intrusted
to Jose Domingos Dacosta, the best
bell founder II Lisbon.
The six bells had been cast, the mas
ter's labors had been crowned with
success, when Captain Clasby Of the
Nantucket whaling feet Glanced to
visit Lisbon. He had long wished to
buy q bell FOR use in his native town.
In company With Captain Cary he
visited the bell foundry Of Jose Do
mincos Dacosta. Captain Cary, it
seems, was connoisscur in bells. Da-
costa applied the lever 70 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 descriD-
ing. Captain Cary was delighted with
the result. "Ah, Clasby." he said,
"you need look no further. That's the
bell YOU want. She Is O beauty. She
sounds on B.
'.Well, sir" remarked Dacosta, we
consider that to be the finest bell that
we have In our foundry"
at first Dacosta demurred and could
! not see his way clear to selling the
bell, since it belonged to the set OF
chimes designed for the Church OF the
Good Jesus of the Mountain and was
appropriately inscribed and oil, but
Captain Clasby would have no other.
Finally Dacosta decided, since the bell
had not vet been corsccratcd and since
he could cast another 10 take its place,
that it would be all right to sell.
So Captain Clasby bought the bell
and it was brought to Nantucket by
CAPTAIN Cary, whose vessel was going
| home first. In Lisbon, just before ne
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 were spoken by Brit
ish sloop Of war. Fortunately the Brit
isher had been at sea for some ume
and had not yet heard Of the declara-
tfon Of war. The commander asked
CAPTAIN Cary the news, but Captain
Cary SAYS he took especial pains not
to tell oil be knew. If he had told, our
precious bell would probably never
have seen Nantucket. 1t might now De
either at the bottom Of the sea or 1t
/ might be swinging in the tower OF
some English church.
The bel! was landed in Nantucket
and placed in the store cellar Of Sam.
uel Cary, where it remained until lelo'
when 1t was purchased and placed IN
the tower where it now hangs. About
$500 was given for the bell-the society
paid about $3.50 and the rest was raised
by subscription. Even some Friends
or Ouakcrs subscribed.
After the bell had been in use little
while the agents Of the historic Old
South church In Boston heard Of 1t, and
ttev sent Il letter to the agents OF the
South church in Nantucket, saying that
they had very good clock in their
i tower, but 10 bell; that they had heard
that the South church in Nantucket
j had very fine bell, and they would
| like to know for how much the Dell
| could be bought.
The Nantucketers replied that they
had very fine bell in their tower, but
no clock; that they had heard that the
Old South church had q very fine tower
clock, and that they would like to
know the price of the clock.
i The agents offered to pay 81 pound
for the bell. Since the bell weighs
1915 pounds, this would have made
the price S1,575, making a net profit OF
sl,075 above the price paid for the bell
and 81 ,225 above the amount contrlo-
uted by the society. 1t seems that the
old Nantucketers must have had some
sentiment after all and We're not purely
mercantile in their spirit.
If the Nantucketers had agreed to
sell, as they might have done, our bell
would probably be hanging in the his
toric tower Of Old South church IN
Boston today. That might have been
great honor for the bell, but 1t would
have been a great deprivation for Nan
tuckct. Moreover. it would now be
spending Its time In elegant leisure IN
stead Of being a very useful bell where
1t Is. The history Of this bell is like q
vcritablc parable Of human life. The