ORIGIN oy CHURCH BELLS. 
26 ^- 
the scriptuie is silent, and authors are not agreed; but the sacred 
historian mentions the use and intent of them, in Exod. xxviii. 33 — ^ 
35. The kings of Persia are said to have had the hems of their 
robes adorned, like the Jewish high-priests, with pomegranates and 
gold bells. In the opinion of Cahnet, the high priest wore little 
bells on the hem of his robe, as a kind of public notice that he was 
going to the sanctuary ; for, as in the king of Persia’s court no one 
was allowed to enter the royal apartments without giving notice 
thereof by the sound of something ; so the high priest, out of respect 
to the divine presence, did, by the sound of little bells fastened to the 
bottom of his robe, desire, as it were, permission to enter, that the 
sound of the bells might be heard, and he not punished with death 
for intrusion. The hgnre of these bells is not known to us. The 
prophet Zachariah xiv. 20. speaks of bells hung to war-horses. 
Among the Greeks, those who went the nightly rounds in the camps 
or garrisons, carried with them a little bell, which they rang at each 
sentry box, to see that the soldiers on watch were awake. A codo- 
nophorus, or bell-man, also walked in funeral processions, at a dis- 
tance before the corpse, not only to keep off the crowd, but to adver- 
tise “flamen dialis” to keep out of the way, for fear of being polluted 
by the sight, or by the funeral music. The priest of Proserpine at 
Alliens, called Hierophant us, runga bell to call the people to sacrifice. 
There were also bells in the houses of great men, to call up the ser- 
vants each morning. Zonaras assures us, that bells were hung with 
whips on the triumphal chariots of their victorious generals, to put 
them in mind that they were still liable to public justice. Bells were 
put on the necks of criminals going to execution, that persons might 
be warned by the sound to get out of the way of so ill an omen as the 
sight of the hangman or the condemned criminal who was going to 
be sacrificed to the ‘‘dii manes.” Of bells hung on the necks of brutes, 
express mention is made in Phcedrus ; “ Celso cervice eminens, clarum- 
que collo jactans tintinabulura.” Taking these bells away, was con- 
strued by the civil law, theft ; and if the beast was lost by this means, 
the person who took away the bells was to make satisfaction. 
On the Origin of Church Bells, 
On the origin of Church bells Mr. Whitaker, in his History of 
Manchester, observes, that, bells being used, among other purposes', 
l)y the Romans to signify the times of bathing, were naturally applied 
by the Christians of Italy to denote the hours of devotion, and sum- 
mon the people to church. The first application to this purpose is, 
by Polydore Vired and others, ascribed to Pauluris bishop of Nola, 
a city of Campania, about the year 4000. Hence it is said the 
names Nolje and Campanicae were given them ; the one referring to 
the city, the other to the country. Though others say they took the 
latter of these names, not from their being invented in Campania, but 
because it was here the manner of hanging and balancing them now 
ill use, was first practised ; at least, they were hung on the model of a 
sort of balance invented or used in Campania ; for in Latin writers 
we find Campane statera, fora steel-yard ; and ponderare, to weigh. 
In Britain, bells were used in churches before the conclusion of the 
