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Show >lOG 1'11B LlllEHTY l!I·:J.I,, Lamnscric. Tt is only in tho extreme 'Vest that it has been banished from tho churches and made a child's toy and dcgrndcd, like other and inferior symbols of the faith of tho past, from its original honors, iut;o a more slave of tho shop and tho dining-room. It docs us good to freshen the imagination with :~ glance at tho original usc and meaning of familiar things. 'l'ho bells that still swing from the necks of our cattle, were once powerful amulets to protect tho scattered herd from mischievous spirits. l\Icn cursed tho robber, and drove out the devil "with candle, book, and bell." 'l'bc camels of Sheba and Dcdan were under tho protection of bolls; ancl tho long hair oxen that carry merchandise f1·om Lassa to Pekin, and the caravans that cross the sOOppcs of 'fa1·tary still wear bells. I have listened with ccstncy afar off to tho great musical bells of herds descending in the autumn from the Alps. 'ntere is that left still unquenched in tho hearts of men, which answers with deep emotion to this divine 'fit~>: m:u .. 307 souml. It is as if the race, grown old and practicnl, retains a memory of its earliest days, when some g1·eat Buddha. first conceived tho symbol of the bell and taught it to the wondering cars of men. Tho immensity of some existing bells, nnd records of tho casting of others, show with what enthusiasm tho idea was taken up by one race after another. 'I'IJO wealthy and the poor alike threw in their offerings, silver and gold and jewels, into tho furnace, and kings and queens stood sponsors at tho baptism. It is called a. kirk or church, by tho Germanic nations (glocke ;) and divine service is actually performed on holy days in tho great bell ut ~1oseow. In fa.ct, the idea of tho Bell is purely ecclesiastical, Tartarinn, or Druidic. 'l'he Druid was the man of the 'l'or, and worshipped tho oak, because it wns a. living tumulus or mountain, undCL· which, as under his Celtic barrow, he coulcl dwell in venerable solitude. For the same reason has the whole Druid or 'llnrtar section of tbe human race |