Upon our youthful
sensibilities as to cause paroxysms of tears; and now in these later
years we are sure that should some genie set us down blindfolded in any
place where we had ever remained for a time the mere tones of the bells
would enlighten us as to our whereabouts.
"Those evening bells! Those evening bells!
How many a tale their music tells,
Of youth and home and that sweet time
When last I heard their soothing chime."
After the Port Royal settlement was broken up by Argall in 1613,
tradition says this church crumbled away into ruin, and, as the
supporting beams decayed, the bells sank to the ground, where, from
their own weight and the accumulations of Nature's débris they became
more and more deeply embedded until lost to view. Silver bells, from
France, they say. Of course! Who ever heard of any ancient bells which
were not largely composed of that metal? It is a pretty myth, however,
which we adopt with pleasure; though common sense plainly says that
silver would soon wear away in such use; that the noble patrons of a
struggling colony in a wild country would not have been so extravagant
as that; and that bell metal is a composition of copper and tin which
has been in use from the time of Henry III.
The people of Antwerp have special affection for the "Carolus" of their
famous cathedral; and that bell is actually composed of copper, silver,
and gold; but it is now so much worn that they are not allowed the
privilege of hearing it more than once or twice a year "Kings and nobles
have stood beside these famous caldrons" (of the bell founders), "and
looked with reverence on the making of these old bells; nay, they have
brought gold and silver, and pronouncing the holy name of some saint or
apostle which the bell was hereafter to bear, they have flung in
precious metals, rings, bracelets, and even bullion."
Possibly these old bells of Annapolis, the secret of whose hiding place
Nature guards so well, were made by Van den Gheyn or Hemony of Belgium,
who from 1620 to 1650 were such famous founders that those of their
works still extant are worth their weight in gold, or priceless, and
are noted the world over for their wonderful melody. If so, when they
"Sprinkled with sounds the air, as the priest with his hyssop
Sprinkles the congregation and scatters blessing among them,"
it was no doubt with silvery tone; and, as it is well known that bells
sound best when rung on a slope or in a valley where there is a lake or
river, doubtless this wide and lovely stream carried the music of the
mellow peal, and returning voyagers heard the welcome notes; as the
sailors of the North Sea, on entering the Scheldt, strain their ears to
catch the faint, far melody of the chimes of the belfry of Antwerp,
visible one hundred and fifty miles away.
