238 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKUT. 



" This splendid bell, which is said by travellers to 

 be the finest in the country, was purchased in Lisbon 

 by Capt. Charles Clasby of this town, in 1812, and 

 brought to this port by Capt. Thomas Cary, in the 

 schooner ' William and Nancy,' a vessel owned by 

 Samuel Cary and others. Captain Cary gave to the 

 writer hereof the following history of the procurement 

 of this bell. He said: — 



u ' Clasby invited me to go to the foundry with him 

 and assist in selecting a good-toned one. They had in 

 the yard where the bells were, a lever for raising them 

 from the ground, when they were about to ascertain 

 their quality or peculiar tone. Well, they applied the 

 lever to one, and struck her: " That will not answer," 

 said I. Then they raised another, with the same 

 result. When they raised the third one, and struck her, 

 "Ah, Clasby, you need look no farther! That's the 

 bell you want. She is a beauty. She sounds on B." * 

 u Well, sir," remarked the gentleman of the foundry, 

 " we consider that to be the sweetest toned bell we 

 have in our yard! " ' " 



Capt. Cary also said that while in Lisbon they heard 

 of the declaration of war with Great Britain, and on 

 the passage home they were spoken by a British sloop- 

 of-war which had been at sea some time, and was not 

 aware that war had been declared. The commander 

 asked Capt. Cary the news ; but he took especial good 

 care not to tell him all he knew. 



* An error on the part of Mr. Easton or his informant, Capt. 

 Cary, as the bell sounds on A, according to Mr. B. G. Tobey. 



