CHURCH BELLS, we are told, originated in Italy, growing by degrees out of the cymbals and small hand bells, which, from time immemorial, have been used by the Orientals in their religious ceremonies. These were used in Egypt at the feasts of the god Osiris, and at Athens at the sacrifices of the goddess Cybele. Among Christian nations the most important use of Church Bells has ever been that of summoning together religious congregations. Prior to their employment, runners were engaged for this purpose. Afterwards the striking together of small pieces of boards was substituted, hence called sacred boards, which, to this day, are used by the Catholics during Passion-Week and Lent. Then horns, not unlike the well-known dinner-horns of our times, were used. These were superseded by the drum. Not long since, I was shown, in one of our country villages, a drum, which, in days of "auld lang syne," had been used on the Sabbath to summon from their scattered dwellings the solemnvisaged Puritans to the house of worship. I know not that that old drum had ever, by its stirring notes, aroused the flagging zeal and courage of warring hosts on the field of battle; but certain it is, I once saw it carried in the van of a sturdy militia company, as they tramped onward through the streets of the aforesaid village, each one seemingly intent on forming a line by, himself, and training on his own hook. And there was, in the husky, rattling tones of the old drum, that which to my ear spoke of former days, of a more honorable office, and of present disgrace. And ever and anon as the aristocratic bell told the hour, from its high station on the church tower, I fancied that the notes of the drum swelled to a prouder, firmer tone, as if trying to drown the voice of the noisy usurper. But this is a digres

sion.

History informs us, that when Clothair with his "furious Franks" laid siege to the city of Sens, and had pressed his efforts with so much vigor that the inhabitants had given themselves up for lost, Lupus, Bishop of Orleans, as a last expedient, at midnight ordered the

bells in the Church of St. Stephen to be tolled. Slowly and solemnly the bells swung to and fro in their "old grey turrets high," sending their voices through the city, over the battlements, into the heart of the enemy's entrenchments, and arousing from their slumbers the beleaguering hosts. Awe-struck at those strange unearthly sounds, they fancied that invisible spirits, leagued for their destruction, were sweeping down upon them, and, with one long, wild shout of terror, they fled away to the forests, leaving the astonished citizens half crazy with joy at the success of their stratagem.

During the dark ages, Church Bells were made the object of superstitious veneration, and the practice of baptizing and christening them prevailed to a great extent. Indeed, a bell, duly sprinkled and crossed with holy water, was considered capable of warding off lightning, of despoiling the tempest of its might, and of purifying the air from all noxious taints. Great attention was also paid to their inscriptions; a very common one of which was,

"Funera plango, fulgura frango, sabbata pango;
Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos,"

showing that centuries ago their influence in benefitting man was considered as no trifling one. And, as I conceive, their utility has not diminished since. Though Franklin has invented a more effectual method of taming the lightning, and sensible men have ceased to repose confidence in holy water as a cholera preventive, Church Bells have yet a power to bless mankind.

Church spires have often been remarked as one of the most distinctive features of a New England landscape. They crown the hilltops and adorn the valleys through all the length and breadth of our land. And of this feature we, as New Englanders, are especially proud. Our Puritan ancestors had carefully noted the intimate connection there is between the observance of the Sabbath and national prosperity, and the erection of their own rude dwellings was but a preparatory step to the construction of a church. This was fitted up with all the elegance of which their forest life would admit, and bells were among the earliest of foreign luxuries introduced into the wilderness. Long before the red men had left our shores for the broader hunting-grounds and deeper forests of the west, they had become familiar with its sound, and superstitiously regarded it as the voice of the white-man's God, calling him up to worship. I have often fancied that the sound of the bell, as it echoed through the wild woods, starting the deer from his covert and the wild beast from his lair, must have fallen on the Indian's ear as an omen portentous of evil-as a dirge over the graves of his forefathers, and the deathknell of his race.

We are often told that the Yankee's home is ubiquitous, that where on the face of the earth, wealth is to be gained or sought, there is his abode. Grant it. And yet no race of men in the world more ardently love the land of their birth than does the New Englander. In whatever corner of the globe you meet him you find him ever singing,