that the court cried out shame on the emperor, and he was reluctantly obliged to consent to his ransom for the sum of about 300,000l. of our present money.

Richard's return to England was enthusiastically welcomed by his subjects, who venerated him the more for his renown, and delighted in him the more from an absence which had exceeded four years; three of which had been spent in the popular expeditions to the East. Richard gratified their feelings by repeating his coronation.

It might be expected that deeprooted animosities were formed in his heart against the King of France, the Duke of Austria, and the Emperor of Germany, for the display of which, many occasions occurred indeed, the remainder of the king's reign was but a scene of petty wars, scarcely worth detailing, in one of which appeared the anomaly of a bishop in arms, whom the king taking prisoner, somewhat of

BELLS:

H. S. A.

But Richard's career was short, and that proud heart which nothing else was able to tame, was soon conquered by the king of terrors. The Viscount of Limoges had found a treasure, part of which he sent to the king; Richard claimed the whole, as superior lord, and to show that he was in earnest, besieged his vassal in his retreat: the garrison was ready to surrender, but the king cruelly declared, that as he had had the trouble to come thither, he would certainly take it by force, and hang every one of the prisoners. Surveying the castle before the attack, Bertrand de Gourdon, a famous archer, pierced his shoulder with an arrow, which from the unskilfulness of the surgeon, proved fatal. The monarch, however, commanded the assault, took the place, and, horrible to relate, hung all the garrison, except Bertrand, whom he

THE Roman Catholics are accused by many Protestants of baptizing bells. This was one of the grievances complained of by the Germans at the time of the Reformation. The Catholics deny the charge; they allow that they bless bells, with the addition of certain ceremonies, as they do all other church utensils, one of which ceremonies is, the giving of a name to the bell, to distinguish it from others, or in honour of some saint. If this denial does not proceed from their being ashamed of the practice, and if they are really innocent of it, they ought to be acquitted of prostituting baptism in this case, and censured for consecration and benediction only. The bells of the priory of Little Dunmow in Essex were new cast in 1501, and are said to have been baptized by the following names; 1. St. Michael the Archangel. 2. St. John the Evangelist. 3. St. John the Baptist. 4. The Virgin Mary. 5. The Holy Trinity and All Saints. The bells of Wimmington in Bedfordshire were named Christ, Magdalene, The Lord, Raphael, and

Maria. In the times of popery, bells were baptized and anointed oleo Chrismatis. They were also exorcised, and blessed by the bishop; from a belief, that, when these ceremonies were performed, they had power to drive the devil out of the air, to calm tempests, to extinguish fire, and to recreate even the dead. The ritual for these ceremonies is contained in the Roman Pontifical; and it is usual in their baptism to give to bells the name of some saint. In Chauncy's History of Hertfordshire, is a relation of the baptism of a set of bells in Italy with great ceremony, a short time before the writing of that book.

Bells were fastened, in the early ages of the world, to the horns of sheep, to inform shepherds where to find their flocks; on the heads of cattle, for the same purpose; to the necks of horses in teams, to give notice to travellers of their approach in narrow passes; and to the necks of falcons, to prevent their being lost. They were also used by the Romans in their houses; and also in their baths, to give notice of the time of opening them for public use. The use of bells for the purpose of summoning persons to places of worship, was introduced about the fifth or sixth century; and is said by some to have been the invention about the year 400, of Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania, from which province they had their name. But it is thought by others that this is a popular error; that Pope Sabianus was the first who introduced this use of them; and that they were called Campana because they were hung on a kind of balance invented in that province. They were also fixed in the baptisteries, in imitation of the fixing of them in baths. It was about the year 960 that Pope John XIII. first consecrated a bell in the Lateran, and named it John the Baptist. Being found useful to call the people together, it was ordered that every church should have two at least; and, if they could be afforded, three.

ed in funeral processions, at a distance before the corpse, not only to keep off the crowd, but to advertise the flamen dialis (or priest) to keep out of the way, lest he should be polluted by the sight, or by the funerary music.

Before the bells were hung, they were washed, crossed, blessed, and named by the bishop. This was what some Protestants call baptizing them; but others say it ought to be called a lustrating of them, in imitation of the lustration of trumpets, &c. among the Romans. Whatever occasion some Catholics may have given for the reproach, that they attribute to bells the power of driving away demons, dispelling storms, and so on, the ancient canons of the church do not appear to ascribe this power to them directly. Their meaning seems to be this-Satan fears and flees from the bells, because he knows they summon good people to prayer, which he dreads. It was therefore to prayer, and not to bells, that such good effects were ascribed.

Bells were used in churches in England before the time of Bede, who died in the year 735; but the Greeks had none till the year 865, when a Doge of Venice sent some to the Emperor Michael. Cosolius says, that when he was in England the churches in London, like those in Holland, Germany, Scotland, and France, had each one bell, and one only. He adds, that the figure of a cock in some metal was placed on the top of all the steeples as an emblem of vigilance. A canon was made in the thirteenth century, commanding the bells of churches to be rung when the bishop of a diocese visited, or passed through or near the towns of his diocese. About the time of the Reformation there are several instances of fines for not ringing on those occasions. Bonner fined the town of BishopStortford for this omission, when he visited it with an intention to burn the Protestant inhabitants.

utensil provided by the parish. In brief, baptisteries were the first public edifices of Christians; they were the predecessors of the churches and the fonts; the pulpit and the great bell are the old furniture, inherited and modernized by their successors. Nothing was thought more proper than a bell to give notice to the catechumens in the adjoining vestries to proceed to baptism, the men to come out into the hall, and the women to repair to their own baths to be baptized by the deaconesses. This resembled the similar custom in the city baths.

The practice of ringing bells in change, or regular peals, is said to be peculiar to England; whence Britain has been termed the ringing island. This custom was common before the Conquest. In ringing, the bell, by means of a wheel and rope, is elevated to a perpendicular, during which motion the clapper strikes forcibly on one side; in its return it moves through a half circle, and the clapper strikes the other side of the bell: thus in each sound of the bell, it performs a semi-revolution. The sound is caused by the tremulous motion of the air, which is owing to the change of shape in the bell from a round to an oval, and its returning back to its old position, or rather its approaching nearer to the centre, changing its form each time less and less till the sound ceases.

It was an ancient custom to ring the bells for persons about to expire, partly for the purpose of informing people that a soul was passing into eternity, in order that they might pray for its happy reception in another world; and partly to drive away the evil spirits who stood ready to molest the soul in its passage. This was the origin of our passingbells.

Remarks. I. Bells were first used in places of public worship in connexion with the ordinance of Christian baptism: not the baptism of infants by sprinkling; but the immersion of such as had been instructed in the principles of the Christian religion.

II. How much has religion been

disgraced by superstition! And how great must have been the ignorance and darkness of those ages when the Bishop of Rome_consecrated a bell, and called it John the Baptist! and when other bishops of that church washed, crossed, and named bells before they were hung, and taught men that Satan fears and flees from the sound of them! How affecting that these men should call themselves the ministers of the gospel, and pretend to do these things as parts of the religion of Jesus Christ! The light of revela tion has dissipated much of this gloomy darkness in Protestant countries: but it is truly grievous to notice the ignorance that still remains among the lower orders of mankind; many of them regard spells, amulets, and charms, much more than the word of God; even the superstition of the sound of bells driving away evil spirits is not entirely eradicated from the minds of the vulgar.

III. We should be thankful for the enjoyment of so great a degree of religious liberty. The demon of persecution has of late years been confined within narrower bounds than formerly; yet human nature is still the same: it is not therefore to be ascribed to any tenderness or goodness in man, produced by the change of the times, but to the providence of God. Some persons seem to be insensible of this, and suppose that as light has increased, human nature has become better; but they are mistaken, Events which lately took place in France, and even in our own country, are sufficient to convince us, that the original enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent still continues; and that, were the fence of civil law which God has graciously placed around us, once removed, the disposition by which bloody Bonner, of infamous memory, was influenced, would soon make its appearance, and the bells might again ring at the burning of heretics. Let us be thankful for our privileges, and pray for grace to improve them. D.

G.

ANNA EMERY.

ANNA EMERY, aged twelve years; grand-daughter of the late Rev. John Emery, thirty years pastor of the Baptist church at Little Staughton, Bedfordshire; and of the late Rev. Joshua Symonds,* a successor of Mr. Bunyan, and upwards of twenty years Baptist minister of the church, over which the Rev. Samuel Hillyard now presides, both of whom were eminent and laborious ministers, and whose memory is still precious to many; was a child of a very sweet and affectionate disposition. When very young, she was much pleased with scripture | history. When she was about five years old, and was in great pain from the tooth-ache, she listened with considerable attention to what I said concerning the sufferings of Christ. "Pray tell me more," said she; "it eases my pain: I like to hear about Jesus Christ."

When she was nine years old, seeing me in great trouble, she manifested considerable concern, and, with sweet affection, said, "My dear mamma, I am very sorry to see you in so much distress; but I think I can tell you of some texts of scripture that are suitable, and may comfort you. One is, 'Rejoice not against me, oh mine enemy; though I fall, I shall arise.' An

other," said she, "is in the Psalms. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.'"

About this time she was very fond of singing the 377th hymn, second part, in Dr. Rippon's selection:

""Tis religion that can give
Sweetest pleasures while we live;
'Tis religion must supply
Solid comfort when we die.
After death its joys will be
Lasting as eternity."

Her favourite hymn was the 62d hymn, 1st book, of Dr. Watts: "Come, let us join our cheerful songs,"

which she frequently sang with great animation.

Her health began to decline in the early part of February, 1817. She had an abscess in her right arm, which was attended with acute pain, and many surgical operations were performed: the pain continued many months with little intermission. The surgeon frequently expressed his surprise at the fortitude and patience which she manifested. After her arm was partially healed, she / was attacked with an inflammation in her left leg, which occasioned a confinement of many weeks, but was never heard to utter the least complaint, although her sufferings were very distressing. During the winter she could go out but little. When able to attend at Mr. Yockney's meeting, she always used to write down the texts. No one proposed it to her; it was her own wish; as well as to select verses of hymus, and to write them.

From the above-mentioned period, she could never amuse herself with exercise and play; but would quietly divert herself with her books and needle. During the summer before her death, she was able to walk out, though with difficulty on account of her lameness. One day in the autumn, when walking in the garden, she looked up, as she afterwards told a friend, to a window very near, where a young gentleman, about her own age, lay dangerously ill. "I thought," said she, "that death is come very near now, and that, perhaps, he may come for me next."

I do not know that any durable impressions were made upon her mind till her long illness; which finally terminated all her sufferings. She was confined to her bed ten months; namely, from January 7, to November 2, 1818, except one day in February, when she was carried down for a few hours; but the Lord