The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-05-11
AZ lsi.l. CHUR BELL
81 IAriE ON LISBON iNO HAN2s
m j. MN. .C~.>GT CHURCH.

ih.. story nf it. Purchase by Captsil
ilasby nnG Its transportation to-
This Couatry-A Very Good ClocL
and Very Fine Bell.
Beneath The outlook in Nantucket
church is tie belfry. in which SWINGS
the "old SPANISH bell" Knowing that
this Is now !, Unitarian church, the Wis
itor Will be surprised to see 4 Catholic
cross on the bell If lie could read Por-
tugueSe and had not previously ac-
ouainted himself with the history Of
the bell he would be still more sur
prised at the inscription on it. The
translation Of this inscription is as fol-
lows: To the Good Jesus of the Noun
tain the derctees Of Lisbon direct their
PRAYERS, offering Him one complete set
of six bells, TO call the people to adore
him in his sanctuary. lose Domingos
Dacosta has made it in Lisbon in the
year 1S10.' OF course the bell must
have an interesting history to account
for this inscription. That history is
briefly as follows:
4 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 a very ven
erable church called as above. Shortly
after this the plague ceased, and, ac-
cepting this as the answer to their
prayers, these deyotees Of Lisbon pro-
ceeded to fulfill their vows. The Work
of casting these six bells was intrusted
to Jose Domingos Dacosta, the best
bell founder in 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 chances 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, 1t
seems, was q connoisseur in bells. Da-
costa applied the lever to one bell after
another as lie struck each to ascertain
its peculiar tone or tone quality, but
each time Captain Cary sale 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, Clasby," he said,
.syou need Iook no further. That's the
bell YOU want. She is a beauty. She
sounds on b
"Well, SIR remarked Dacosta, eve
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 1t 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 Clasby would have no other.
Finally Dacosta decided, since the bell
had not vet been consecrated and since
he could cast another to 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 he
set sail, Captain Cary heard of the dec
laration Of war with Great Britain,
for it was LOW the year 1872. On the
way over they were spoken by Brit
ish sloop Of war. Fortunately the Brit
isher had been at sea for some time
and had not yet heard Of the declara-
ton of war. The conA1ander asked
Captain Cary the news, but Captain
Cary says he look especial pains not
to 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 1t
might he swinging in the tower OF
some English church.
The bell vas landed in Nantucket
and placed in the store cellar OF SAM
uel Cary, where it remained until 1915,
when it was purchased and placed III
the tower where it now hangs. About
$500 was given for the beli-the society
paid about $500 and the rest YVES raised
by subscription. Even some Friends
Or Quakers subscribed.
After the bell had been in use little
while the agents of the historic Old
South church in Boston heard Of it. and
they sent Il letter 10 the agents OF the
South church in Nantucket. saying that
they had very good clock in their
iower. but no bell; that they had heard
hat the South church in Nantucket
lad i very line bell, and they would
like to know for how much the bell
could be bought.
The Nantu:keters replied that they
had very fine bell in their tower. but
no clock: thar they had heard that the
Old South church had a very fine tower
clock. and that they would like t.
know the price of the clock.
The agents offered to pay 81 pound