The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1905-03-29
AN OLD CHURCH BELL
IT CAME FROM LISBON AND HANGS
IN a NANTUCKET CHURCH.

AID = Very Fine Bell
Beneath the outlook in a Nantucket
church is the belfry. in which swings
the .oId Spanish bell" Knowing that
this is now a Unitarian church, the Wis
itor VIII be surprised to see Catholic
cross on the bell. II he could read Por-
tuguese and had not previously &C
Quainted himself with the history of
the bell he would be still more sur
prised at the inscription on IT. The
translation # this Inscription Is as fol-
lows: ITO the Good Jesus Of the Noun
tain the devotees of Lisbon direct their
prayers. Offering Him one complete set
OF six bells, to call the people to adore
him in his sanctuary Jose Domingos
DacOsta has made it In Lisbon in the
year 1870" OF course the bell must
have an interesting history to account
for this inscription That history Is
briefly as follows:
A 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 -Deiis iR-ths Cb9rsS of the Good
Jesus OF the Mountain L 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
cradle church called as above. Shortly
after this the plague ceased, and, ac
eepting this as the answer to their
prayers, these devotees of Lisbon pro-
eeeded to fulfill their vows. The work
OF casting these six bells was intrusted
tn 20 T6a
bell founder In Lisbon.
The six bells had been cast, the mas
tsr's labors had been crowned with
success, when Captain CLASSIFY of the
Nantucket whaling feet CHANGED 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 connoisseur in bells. Da-
costa applied the lever to one bell after
another as he struck each te ascertain
itS peculiar tone or tone quality, but
each time Captain Cary said, THAT
win 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 the
bell you want. She is a beauty. She
sounds on B."
'Wen, sir" remarked Dacosta, 1--WE
Aconsider that to be the finest bell that
Ne 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 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 10 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
I6Tation of war with Great Britain.
for it was now the year 1872 On the
way over they were spoken by a Brit
1Ah sloop of war. Fortunately the Brit
fzsAer had been at sea for some time
and had not yet heard of the declara-
tion Of war. The commander asked
Captain Cary the news, but Captain
Cary says he took especial pains not
to tell ali he knew. II 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 1915.
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 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 letter to the agents of the
South church In Nantucket, saying that
they had a very good clock in their
tower, but no bell: that they had heard
that the South church in Nantucket
had a very fine bell. and they would
Ike to know for how much the bell
could be bought.
The Nantucketers replied that they
had q very 1ne bell In their tower, but
no clock; that they had heard that the
Old South church had a very fine tower
clock. and that they would like to
know the price of the clock
The agents offered to pay 81 a pound
for the bell Since the bell weighs
1876 pounds, this would have made
the price 1875. making net profit of
1.075 above the price paid for the bell
and $1,225 above the amount contrib
uted by the society. 1t seems that the
old Nantucketers must have had some
sentiment after all and were not purely
mercantile In their spirit.
II 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
q great honor for the bell, but it would
have been a great deprivation for Nam
tucket. Moreover. it would now be
spending its time in elegant leisure in
stead of being a very useful bell where
Il Is. The history of this bell is like a
vsrttnsle parable of human life. The
possibilities which occur in the history
OF the bell remind us OF the possibilities
which abound in every life. - Coz.
Springfield Republican