42 



On Church Bells. 



1640. Item, by reason of the danger w ch * the tower is in by 

 ringing of the bells, since they were high hung, and in other re- 

 spects, it is agreed that the bells shall bee hung lower at the same 

 pitch they formerly were hung att, and the churchwardens are 

 desired to do itt accordingly.' ' 



In the second place, and this I take to be the principal cause of | 

 the evil, churchwardens have been sadly negligent. With a little 

 grease and new ropes allowed now and then, they have imagined 

 that their duty to the bells and to the parish has been faithfully 

 done, whereas mischief of a three-fold nature has been growing and 

 increasing, — mischief to the building, to the bells, and to the 

 parishioners; — the one ending in its dilapidation and ruin; the 

 second, in their utter destruction; and the third, to the prejudice 

 of their pockets. In a tower in this county, I found three out of 

 six bells broken, as I firmly believe, from this cause, and several 

 peals of bells rendered nearly useless in consequence of the shaky 

 state of the towers. As an instance of the way in which some, I j 

 may say many, churchwardens speak and act, I will mention, that 

 I was warned by a parish clerk to be very careful where I stept in 

 the bell-loft, for, said he, "the tower be main crazy." On asking 

 the churchwarden for the key of the church, and mentioning the 1 

 clerk's humane warning, he said "Sir, I have known the tower these 

 forty years, and he never was no better than he is now. He's quite 

 safe. I'll tell'ee what, sir ; one day the bishop come, and he said, 

 muster churchwarden, you've a very pretty church, and he's in 

 very good order. Another day, another gentleman come, I think I 

 they call'un a rural dean, and he said, muster churchwarden, you've 

 a pretty church, and he's sadly out of repair." When I returned 

 the key I did not see the churchwarden, or I should have told him 

 that in my humble opinion both the rural dean and the parish clerk j 

 were right ; for I had seen very many churches and many belfries, 

 but few in a worse condition. 



And to illustrate the way in which these good easy parish officers 

 will sometimes suffer the house of God to fall into decay, while I ! 

 fear they expend what they rob Him of upon their own bodily 1 

 comforts, I will tell you, that in ascending a Wiltshire tower with 1 



