It is remarkable that there is no appearance of bells of any kind on the Egyptian monuments. Quite a number of bronze bells, with iron tongues, were dis- covered, however, among the Assyrian ruins in a cal-
Ancient Assyrian Tells.
dron at Nimroud by Mr. Layard, and are now in the British Museum. They vary in size from about 2 to 3 inches in height, and 1 to 2 inches in diameter, and in shape do not differ materially from those now in use among us (see Layard's Babylon and Nineveh, p. 150). II. Bells were not introduced into the Christian Church till a comparatively late period. Several in- ventions were common before the introduction of bells. In Egypt they seem to have used trumpets, in imita- tion of the Jews ; and the same custom prevailed in Palestine in the sixth century. In some monasteries they took the office by turns of going about to every one's cell, and calling the monks to their devotions by the sound of a hammer: this instrument was called the night signal and awakening instrument. Paulinus, the bishop of Nola, in Campania, who died A.D. 431, is usually regarded as the inventor of bells ; and hence the terms nola and campana are supposed to be de- rived. There is reason, however, to believe that this is a mistake, as it is remarkable that no mention of bells is made in his epistles, in his poems, or in the account of his life, which was compiled from his own works and the panegyrics of his contemporaries. The word campana is probably derived from a>s Campantem, mentioned by Pliny, the metal preferred for bells. The use of bells was not known in the Eastern Church till the year 865. when Ursus Patrisiacus made a pres- ent of some to Michael, the Creek emperor, who first built a tower in the church of Sancta Sophia in which to hang them. It is generally thought that Sabinianus, who succeeded Gregory the Great in 004, introduced them into the Latin Church, and applied them to ec- clesiastical purposes. Baronius speaks of the use of the Tintinnabida in the earliest ages of the Church {Ann. A.D. 58 and G4), and Giraldus Cambrensis says that portable bells were used in England in the time of SS. Germanus and Lupus, i. e. about 430. From all
which it appears that small portable bells were in use in the Church in very ancient times, and that the large church-bells were not introduced until a later period. Certain it is, however, that there were bells in the church of St. Stephen, at Sens, in 610, the ringing of which frightened away the besieging army of King Clothaire II, which knew not what they were. Yet Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History (lib. iv, c. 23), about 670, says, "audivit subito in aere notum campana; sc- num quo ad orationes excitari solebant." A form of speaking which would imply that they were at that period in general use ; and Stavely refers to Spelman's Concil. torn, i, fol. 62, 64, where it is stated that Oudo- ceus, bishop, or archbishop, of LlandafF, about A.D. 550, took down tho bells and crosses of his church as part of a sentence of excommunication. Ingulphus relates how Turketul, abbot of Croyland, who died about 870, gave one notable great bell to the abbey- church, which he called Guthlac, and afterward abbot Egelric gave six more, named Bartholomew, Bettelimis, Terketul, Taticyn, Pega, and Bega ; and he adds, "Non erat tunc tanta consonantia campanarum in tota An- glia." (See Maitland, Dark Ages, p. 251.) Proofs ex- ist that bells were common in France as early as the seventh and eighth centuries. During the reign of Charlemagne they became com- mon in France and German}'. Bells were first hung in towers separate from the church (cam-' panili) ; later, the tower was join- ed to the church. In Italy, Greece, the Ionian Isles, and Sweden, the towers are yet usu- ally separate. As early as the eighth century bells were dedi- cated with religious ceremonies very similar to those used in bap- tism. They were sprinkled with holy water; exorcism was sj o- ken over them, to free them from the power of evil spirits ; a name was given them (as early as the tenth century) ; a blessing was pro- nounced ; and they were anointed. Later, their ring- ing was supposed to drive away evil spirits, pestilence, and thunder-storms. Being thus made objects of re- ligious faith and affection, they were ornamented in the highest style of the sculptor's art with scenes from the Bible and other religious subjects. The largest bells are: the one at Moscow, 488,000 lbs.; at Tou- louse, 66,000 lbs. ; at Vienna, 40,000 lbs. ; Paris, 38,000 lbs. ; Westminster Abbey, 37,000 lbs. The usual com- position of bells is four parts of copper and one of tin. The proportions arc sometimes varied, and bismuth and zinc added. Legends of large parts of silver in certain bells, as at Rouen, have been found by chemical analysis to be fabulous. Strength of tone in bells ds- pends upon the weight of metal, depth of tone upon the shape. By varying these chimes are produced. (See Thiers, Des Cloches (Paris) ; Harzen, Die Clock- giesserie (Weimar, 1854) ; Otto, Clockenlunde (Leipzig, 1857); Chrysander, Historische Nachrkhtcn von Kirch- engloclcn).