Show 1 L OF AJCIEXT TI ES tsedjn EgTptivnd I OWniJl China Kcarly 5000 Years Ago IFroro the Magazine of Art The invention of bells Is attributed by someof the bestforeJgtt campanologists I campanolo-gists to the Egyptians who are created creat-ed with having made use of sUch per cusslon instruments to announce the I sacred fetes ot Osiris IIi China they are said fo have been knowa nearly SOOO i years before Christ The Greeks and the Romans it Is said never used bells of ajarge lze Yet the hour of baithing1 and the opening of the marketplaces market-places were advertised daily by ring ing of bells and ifc appears to irie that small ones would scarcely have answered the purpose In the fame of Thucydldes 400 B Ct the ipatrols who went the midnight rounds in garrisons and camps bad a lhandbell or eodon by which the sentinels senti-nels were kept wide awake in their sentrytxJxes You may read too in Theocritus hoW the priests of Cybele the delirious Oorybantes or GalU always al-ways jingled bells during the wCd cele ibratlons ot their festivities ana also that the priests of the Cabin did the same while performing their obscene rites Tydeus one of the army of Atfrasfcus put bells on the handle of his shield and Rhesus a King of Thrace and a warrior of difficult and ravaging hand used them to decorate the harness of his swift and noted horses S A > we have seen In dlavandChina had very large bells long before the rest of the world Two Arabs who journeyed through China in tho ninth century have delivered down to us an interesting1 account of the great popular Justice belle then in use throughout the whOe of that country In each town ther was a bell of large size fixed to the wall above the head of the prince or governor and to It was attached a rope a anile or so In length and laid so temptingly along the main thoroughfare the humblest sufferer suffer-er from injustice seldom hesitated to tug at it without fear As soon as the bell sounded > the governor sent for the petitioner and serious business craving crav-ing quick dispatch met with Instant and honest recognition And even above the head of the emperor himself there was such a noisy friend to the people but he who rang It without sufficient causeand his celestial majesty was often difficult to please in this particular was switched in avery a-very lively manner I As for the celebrated quartette of monster bells at Nankin one is nearly 12 English feet high with a diameter of 7 and a circumference of 23 its metal about the edges is inches thick Its welght Is computed at 50000 pounds and its shape but for a bulging In the middle would be cylindrical Father Le Compte adds there are seven others in PeMn cast In the time of Joula and weighing 120000 pounds each but being struck with wooden clappers their tone is feeble I |