Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1899 — Before Bells. [ARTICLE]

Before Bells.

Before the time of bells vario— to* struments were used to summon ets* gregations to worship. In Egypt they are said to have followed n Jewish cantom in using a trumpet In some Otiea. tal churches a kind of rattle give the signal. In monasteries monks took !| In tarn to go round the cells, calling the inmates to their devotions by knocking with a hammer, which was called the “awakening Instrument.” Bells of one kind or another are, however, of very, great antiquity, having been used In religious ceremonies by many of the an. dent nations as a means of honoring their gods and summoning them to the feasts. For example, the feast of Osiris and Isis was always announced by bells. Pliny says that bells were In use long before his time, being called “Tin tin nabula.” The use of small bells (nolae) in this country, says William of Malmesbury, may be traced back as far as the fifth century, and It is clear from Bede that even those of the larger kind (campanae), such ae sounded in the air and called a numerous congregation to divine service, were employed in England as early ae the year 680, being that In which tho Abbot Hilda died.