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Show BEFORE TIME OF BELLS. The Soniids Which Calle 1 to Cliurc). la OUlen Times. Before the time of bellsi various instruments in-struments were used to summon congregations con-gregations to worship. In Egypt they are said to have followed a Jewish custom in using a trumpet. In some Oi-iental churches a kind of rattle gave the signal. In monasteries monks took it in turns to go round the cells calling the inmates to their devotions by knocking with a hammer, which was called the "awakening instrument." instru-ment." Bells of one kind or another are, however, of very great, antiquity, having been used in religious ceremonies cere-monies by many of the ancient nations as a means of honoring their gods and summoning them to the feasts. For example, the feast of Osiils and Isis was always announced by lf;lls. Pliny says that bells were in ufra long before be-fore his time, being calle 1 "Tin tin nabula." The use of small bells (nolae) in England, says William of Malmesbury, may be traced back as far as the fifth century, and it is clear from Bede that even those f the largest larg-est kind (campanae), such ns sounded in the air and called a nun'erous congregation con-gregation to divine service were employed em-ployed in England as early .s the year 6S0, being that in which the Abbot Hilda died. |