LD 2159 B3 N5 Copy 1 THE BELLS or HARVARD C0LLE6E. A. H. NICHOLS, M.D. BOSTON : 1911. d ^&w m iBdl0 of ^ art) orb College THE BELLS OF MRYARD COLLEGE BY ARTHUR HOWARD NICHOLS, M.D. PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP & SON BOSTON 1911 Reprinted from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for July, 1911 .m -'* 1912 BELLS OF HAEVAED COLLEGE* In the college buildings, to each of which the term " College '' was in- variably applied from 1642 to 1720, there have been installed at various times no less than eight bells, as verified by information, authentic if often Yery meagre, that has come down to us. The recent discovery, incident to the excavation for the Cambridge Subway, of ancient foundation walls has been thought to strengthen the theory that the original College stood near the site of Gray's Hall, though Goffe's College, of which little is known, must have been situated in that vicinity. While no picture of the first College exists, detailed descriptions of the floor-plans make it possible to reproduce an approximate design of the ex- terior, the front of which we know was broken by a turret surrounded by a " lanthorn." This turret shows the intent to provide a bell, an instru- ment at that date of prime necessity in every community, clocks and watches not having come into general use. The following extractf from the " Rules and Precepts that are observed in the Colledge," contained in a book en- titled "New England's Fkst Fruits," published in London in 1643, in- dicates that a bell was already in use : FIRST BELL 7. Every schoUar shall be present in his Tutor's Chambers at the 7th houre in the morning immediately after the sound of the hell at his opening the Scrip- tures and prayer, so also at the 5th houre at night, and their give an account of his own private reading, as aforesaid, in particular the third, and constantly attend lectures at the houres appointed. But if any without necessary impedi- ment shall absent himself from prayer or lectures, he shall be lyable to admoni- tion, if he offend above once a week. A second reference to this bell is found in " Certain Orders by the Scholars and Ofiicers of the Colledge to bee observed, written, 28 March, 1650:" t The Butler upon every Sixt Day of the week at noon is to give an account to every SchoUar demanding his weeks sizings in the Buttery & is not bound to stay above half an hour at Bevers in Buttery after the Tolling of the bell, Nor above a quarter of an hour after Thanksgiving in the Hall at Meals, The Cook on the Sixt Day at Noon shall give in the weeks expenses of the whole society, wcb the Butler shall enter into his Book, according to Custome & shal keep the Bills from Quarter to Quarter and shew them to the Stewart at his demand for his satisfaction. A shade of doubt may, indeed, be cast upon the identity of this bell by the suggestion that the College may have had the use of the bell of the First Parish, with which close relations had been established from its founda- tion. In fact one of the reasons for selecting Cambridge as the site of the College was the proximity of this church, then under the ministry of Thomas Shepard,|| a clergyman of marked ability and piety, and the first Commencement was held in this meeting house. * Expanded from a paper read before The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, April 28, 1910. fPeirce's Hist, of Harv. Coll., Appendix, p. 4. X College Book I, p. 50. II Johnson, Wonder Working Providence, Poole's Reprint, p. 164. To remove all uncertainty on this point it becomes necessary to show that the College possessed the only bell in Cambridge at the time when these " Rules and Precepts " were framed. Now it is known that the first mention of any bell in use in Massachusetts occurs in the History of Cam- bridge by Prince, who says that in 1632 " the first house for public worship at Newtown [Cambridge] with a bell upon it " was built ; and Holmes states that the town records confirm this statement, and that the town meetings were called by the ringing of the bell. Goss* adds that for some reasons not known a drum was afterwards substituted, as mentioned by Edward Johnson in " Wonder Working Providence " when on approaching the town a drum was heard calling the people to meeting. Furthermore, in 1646, the records contain an order for the payment of fifty shillings to a man for his services to the town in beating the drum. The explanation of this temporary substitution of a drum is found in the history of the Society organized under Thomas Hooker. Of two hundred Puritans who came over in one company, many had settled in Newtown and built the first meeting house, which stood on the west side of Water, now Dunster Street, a little south of Spring, now Mt. Auburn Street. In the summer of 1636 Mr. Hooker with his entire congregation, one hundred in number, emigrated to the place in Connecticut called Hartford ; and it is recorded that they carried with them their bell. Here it is said to have been in use upon the First Church till it was broken in 1825. It was re- placed by another, cast in 182 7. f The meeting house in Cambridge thus left vacant was at once bought by the Society, which had been organized February 1, 1636, under Mr. Shepard, known thereafter as the First Church in Cambridge ; but for at least ten years thereafter the church seems to have been without a bell. That on the College therefore was the only one in use during this interval. A vote of the Parish in 1648 indicates that the first bell had then been replaced by another, for it was ordered : That there shall be an eight peny ordnary provided by the Townsmen [Select- men] every second munday of the month upon there meeteing day ; and that whoesoever of the Townsmen fail to be present within half an houre of the ringing of the bell, (which shall be halfe an houre after eleven of the clock) he shall both lose his dinner and, pay a pint of sacke, or the value thereof, to the present Townsmen. Tracing further the history of this second church bell, it was removed to the second meeting house, erected in 1650, upon Watch House Hill, within the present College Yard and near the site of Dane Hall. Replaced by a larger bell given in 1700 by Capt. Andrew Belcher, it was then voted by the Town to give " the little meeting house bell " to the Cambridge Farms, now Lexington. SECOND BELL In College Book III is the following entry in the handwriting of the Treasurer, Danforth. It is uncertain whether the date of this entry is 1658, 1659, or possibly a year or two later, but the reference is unques- tionably to a second bell. Mr. John Willet gave to the Colledge the Bell now hanging in the Turrett. Subsequent allusions to this bell are found in the College Records, for example : ♦Register, vol. 28, p. 279. fllist. of First Church in Hartford, Walker, pp. 222-3. At a meeting of the Overseers, in 1660, it was ordered: 4. Whereas (through long experience) former Laws have not been effectuall for tlie p^venting of unnecessary dammages to the CoUedge, by the violence or carelessness of those for whose Accommodation great cost & charges have from time to time been expended. The Overseers do therefore order, that henceforth all due care be taken for the p^venting thereof ; And that where any dammage shall be found done to any Study or Chamber inhabited, The p^son or p''sons resident therein shall make good the same, and where any dammage is done to ye Edifice of the Colledge (excepting by the inevitable providence of God) to any vacant Chamber, or Study, the Colledge fences about the yard, pump, Bell or clock &c. : the same shall be made good again by all the Students resident in the Colledge at the time when such dammages shall be done or discovered to be done & shall be duly payd in their Quarter Bills to the Steward of the Col- ledge, who shall repay the same to the Treasurer or oth^ such ofiicers of the Colledge as shall be appoynted to disburse the same. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 24.) At a meeting of the Overseers at the President's house, March, 1667 : The Orders following were confirmed untill the Overseers shall see cause to take them into further consideration. (Coll. Lawes. Eadem. Lib. I, p. 37.) 4. The Steward is from time to time to pay the CoUedge officers , viz. The Tuto'"s, Cook, Butler & BeUringer, their respective dues, sallaryes, also to allow the monitors Account. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 34.) 18. The Buttlar upon ev''y 6th day at noon shall give an Account to ev^y Schollar demanding his weeks sizings in the Buttery ; & he is not bound to stay above half e an hour at breakfast in the buttery, after the Tolling of y^ beU ; nor above a quarter of an hour after thanksgiving in the Hall, at meales. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 36.) 23. The Bell-Ringers office is to ring the Bell (except for meales) to keep the clock & call the president to prayrs, for which he shall receive from the Steward five pound per annum. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 36.) An abbreviate of the College Accounts conteyning both receits and disburse- ments from October, 1654, until Decemb. 1663. Extracted out of the Colledge Books, made and given in by Thomas Danforth, Trear. Harvard College is Debto^^ : Imp's. To m's Dunster in full of her demands 020 00 00 To Table Linnen and Utensills for y^ Buttery 006 08 06 To expences at M' Turners 007 03 06 To Sallaryes and Allowances payd to the Fellows & other CoUedge Officers for 9 years past ----- 445 13 06 To repairs of the Edifices Presidents Lodge and fences &c. for 9 years past 337 11 01 To loss in peage received at 8 a penny - 055 06 11 To freight of a chest of Books 001 00 00 To M"- Carter 005 00 00 To a stags head send to England to a Benef acto' ._---_ OOO 10 00 To moneys payd for exchange of a Bell 006 02 06 To a parcell of land on w<^^ the Coll. now stands 020 10 00 (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 46.) The amount allowed as above in exchange of a bell, doubtless the ori- ginal bell, indicates that its weight was about 150 pounds. Of the early bells of the colonists none are known to have exceeded three hundred pounds in weight. The steward shaU deliver in, to y^ Butler, his Bread at 5^ ye bushell, allowing to every Bushell 70 Loaves, ye weight of every Loafe being proportionable to ye Current price of wheate, as in ye Country statute, for white bread ; & shall deliver in his Beer at 2^^ the BarreU, each Barrell consisting of 16 Beer Gallons : allowing thereunto a Peck of Mault. — The steward is from time to tyme, to pay ye Colledge officers, viz ye Tutors, Cook, Butler, & Belleringer, y respective Dues and Sallaries ; & allso, to allow ye Monitors Account.— The steward shall be accountable, & pay unto ye Treasurer Quarterly, w* shall be given in, in ye q'tr Bill, in ye Ace" of Study-Rents & glass-mending. He shaU be allowed in his Acc"S 5^^ qurt'ly, for his salary. June 1, 1676. Ordered, That Will : Bordman, CoUedge Smith, be payd by the Treasurer 20 shill : for mending the Clock : & that he be allowed 12 shill : per annu for that Service for the future. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 68.) At a meeting of the Corporation, August 22, 1676 : 2. That the Butler ring y^ bell at five of y® clock in ye morning, winter & summer, and at nine of y^ clock at night throughout y^ yeare, beside his ringing at ye other stated times for prayers & Meales. (Coll. Bk. I, p. 81.) 7. If any Scholar shall be Absent from publick worship in the meeting house on either part of the Lord's day, without giving sufficient reason, he shall be fined three Shillings. And if bodyly Infirmity or any other Necessary occasion prevents his Attendance on said Worship, he shall Notilie his Tutor, and in his Absence y^ President, or some other Tutor, at the ringing of the first Bell, otherwise his Absence shall be esteemed Groundless. (Coll. Bk. I, pp 184-5, chap. 2.) 8. Inasmuch as complaints have been made of disorders in y^ meeting house, by Scholars going theither before the ringing of the Second Bell ; it is therefore ordered, y* no undergraduates Slia[ll] go to y® meeting House on the Lords day, before y® ringing of the Second Bell. And whoever shall transgress this LaAV, Shall be punished by the President or one of the Tutors, not exceeding Tw[o] ShiUings. (Coll. Bk. I, pp. 184-5, chap. 2.) 3. The waiters when the Bell tolls at meal tim[e] shall receive the Plates and Victualls at the Kitchen Hatch, & carry the same to the severall tables for which they are designed. And none shall receive their commons, ou[t] of the Hall, Except in case of Sickness, or som[e] weighty Occasion. And the Senior Tutor, or Other Senior Scholar in the Hall Shall crave a blessing & return thanks. And al[l] the Scholars while at their meals. Shall sit in then' Places, & behave themselves, decent[ly] & orderly; and whosoever shall be rude or Clamourous at such time, or shall go out o[f] the Hall before thanks be returned, Shall be punished by one of the Tutors, not exceeding five shillings. (Coll. Bk. I, p. 195, chap. 5.) 9. The Butler shall wait upon the President at the Hours for prayer in the Hall, for his Orders to ring the Bell ; and also upon the Professors for their Lectures, as usual ; he shall likewise ring the bell for commons according to custom, and at five a clock in y^ morning, & at nine at nigiit. And the said Buttler for these and Other Services (to which no particular reward is assigu'd) shall be Allow'd Sixteen pounds per annum, to be paid by the Undergraduates, and charged in their quarter bills. (Coll. Bk. I, p. 200, chap 7.) Peb. 2. 1679 Ordered, that the Treasurer pay Aaron Bordman 20 shill p annum for keeping y® clock in repayr. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 72.) . 1686. Rules & Orders respecting the Steward Cook & Butler of Harvard Col- lege. 9. The Butler shall call y^ Rector to Prayers Morning and Evening at the Set Times, and tole and ring y<= Bell at five of the clock in y^ Morning and at nine in the Evening. (Coll. Bk. Ill, p. 88.) It is to be observed that while the colonists brought from England an attachment for musical bells they were also accurate in the use of technical words relating to them, many of which, such as " gudgeons," " baldrick," " rowel,"* " brasses," " fillet," " flight," " clapper-clamps," having since be- come virtually obsolete in this country. Hence their discrimination in the use of the words " ring " and " toll." For instance, the bell was " rung " to give preliminary warning of approaching service, recitation or meals ; that is, it was swung so as to describe a comj^lete revolution, backward and for- ward, with each impact of the clapper, and the interval between the strokes was therefore long. But to give notice that service or recitation was about to begin, or that meals were about to be served, the bell was " tolled," or swung only over *Tlic word "rowel," a little wheel, apart from its use iu heraldry, is now cmploj'ed only iu conuection with a spur. MASSACHUSETTS HALL, from a Sketch circa 1798 a small arc of the circle in such a way as to allow the clapper to fall upon but one side of the sound bow. For deaths and funerals, however, it was customary to mount the belfry and toll the bell once in fifteen seconds by means of a rope hitched to the flight, or lower extremity of the clapper. In many country towns this custom is still kept up.^ The second Harvard College, built between 1672 and 1680, was a sub- stantial brick edifice from the middle of which arose a low but capacious belfry. Inasmuch as this building was designed to take the place of the original College, then ruinous and pulled down in 1680, it is probable that Willet's bell was transferred to the new belfry. Here it is believed to have done service for nearly a century ; and later was melted or, at least, badly damaged in the disastrous fire of 1764, which destroyed the library, philo- sophical apparatus, and personal effects of certain students who occupied rooms there. President Holyoke, writing to the General Court, declared the destruction to have been complete and that nothing was saved.f A passage from the Corporation Records of January 13, 1764, entered but a few days before this fire, furnishes final reference to this second bell : " The Governor came to town about one o'clock, soon after wliich all went into the Chapel [Holden] at the tolling of the bell, the President and Corpora- tion leading," THIRD BELL Massachusetts College, or Hall, was built 1718-20. | On September 5, 1722, it was " Voted, that M"^ Treasurer be desired to enquire what may be the cost of a bell and clock proper for the College." On June 2, 1725, it was " Voted, that the Steward be desired to see the bell for the clock to strike on, and give an account of the charges thereof ; and that the care of the clock be committed to him for this year to keep it going, and that he have £4 for his services in keeping it in order." The " Prospect of the Colledges in Cambridge in New England," en- graved in 1726 by W. Burgis, represents this clock on the western gable of Massachusetts ; and as the dormitory was topped with neither belfry nor bellcote, the bell must have been hung behind the dial-panel still affixed to the brick wall, the rectangular opening on each side permitting to a limited extent the exit of sound waves. Dr. Alexander Hamilton, an English traveller, in his itinerarium of 1744 notes his impressions as to the artistic merits of the three College buildings then standing, and incidentally transmits our last knowledge of this bell, the fate of which is not known, though it may have been returned to Eng- land in partial payment for another, as will appear later. * The tolling of the passing bell \yas a notification of death, while the number of strokes, called " tellers," indicated the sex. Three times three strokes (3x3) was the usual number for a male adult: hence the expression *'nine tellers make a man," which has been corruptly applied to the sartorial craft. fMrs. Mascarene, daughter of President Holyoke, states in a letter written Janu- ary 30, 1764 to her husband John Mascarene, who was then in London: "The Col- lege Bell also is gone." (See "The College Fire in 1764," by Henry F. "Waters, in the Harvard Register, iii, p. 297.) X It is hei-e pertinent to note that coincident with the erection of this dormitory there came into use the word "Hall," employed indifferently with the word "Col- lege " until 1780. With the demolition of Stoughton College in that year the term ''College" as an official designation of buildings became obsolete. For the use of the words "College" and "Hall," in the United States, see an exhaustive treatment of the subject by Albert Matthews, Esq., in Dialect Notes (American Dialect Society) for Dec. 1900, ii, 91-114, and Harvard Graduates Magazine for December, 1904, pp. 244-246. 8 ''The building upon the left hand as you enter the court [Harvard] is the largest, handsomest, and most ancient, being about 100 years old ; but the mid- dle, or front, building [Old Stoughton] is indifferent and of no taste. That upon the right hand [Massachusetts] has a little clock upon it which has a very good bell." Dr. Hamilton's estimate as to the superior quality of this instrument can be accepted as presumably correct, as it was doubtless of English casting, no bells at that date having been made in the Colonies ; and small bells of that period of foreign importation were more musical, mellow, and pene- trating than the products of modern founders. Thus the sweet-toned tre- bles of Christ Church, Boston, have a carrying power equal to the heaviest bells of the ring, and under favorable conditions are distinctly audible with- in the precincts of the College Yard. A bell, such as was connected with the clock upon JVIassachusetts, was generally of light weight, suspended rigid by means of iron straps and bolts from a beam, to be struck by a hammer on its outer sound bow. Not being supplied with headstock or wheel it could not be swung. FOURTH BELL Harvard Hall was promptly rebuilt after the fire at the expense of the Province, which assumed responsibility for the loss because the Legislature had been occupying it for its sessions in consequence of the prevalence of small-pox in Boston. In a new set of " articles respecting the diet of the College," adopted by the Corporation, September 10, 1765, reference is made to a fourth bell, doubtless raised to the newly erected belfry ; "4, The waiters when the bell rings [originally written 'tolls'] at meal times shall take the furniture of the tables and the victuals at the kitchen hatch, and carry the same to the several tables for which they are designed, immediate- ly upon which the bell shall toll," In prints and sketches of Harvard Hall taken in the latter part of the eighteenth century a clock dial is shown on the gable over the front en- trance. Peirce speaks of this clock as still attached to the building in 1831. It seems possible, therefore, that the clock may have been transferred thither from JNIassachusetts. FIFTH BELL Tbe fate of the fourth bell is briefly indicated by an entry of January 15, 1793 : ^ "Voted, that the President and the Treasurer be a Committee to procure the recasting of the College Bell lately split, according to their best discretion. This bell, like its predecessors was ordered from England, and was, doubtless, of heavier metal, weighing according to the following invoice 2 cwt. 3 q. 10 lb., or 318 pounds. Inasmuch as its diameter at the brim would measure about 24 inches, the cask charged in the invoice would pro- vide a convenient and safe method of packing for the ocean voyage. As to the identity of the two bells returned to the founder in part pay- ment, one was plainly the bell recently broken upon Harvard Hall, whose weight was ^^robably about 2 cwt. This would leave 1 cwt. 2 q. 141b. for the weight of a clock bell such as had about that time been removed from Massachusetts Hall. In view of the total destruction of Harvard Hall in 17 04, nothing but the bare walls being left standing, it is inconceivable that the Willet Bell should have alone escaped destruction and no record be made of it. • Coll. Bk. VIII, p. 348. Invoice of one Cask shipped by Peter Wainwright & C^. on board the Brig Diana Doane, Snow Master, for Boston on Account & Eisque of Eben^ Storer Esq' Merchant there & to him Consigned. Liverpool Sepf^. 10th, 1793. C. Q. lb. 1 Bell Weighing 2-3-10 @ 14d. 18.11.0 Cr. By 2 Old Bells \ ^ oi/i i^ i ^ o a ,r Allowing for Staples /@^i^- 16. 1 5 2. 9. 7 Charges Viz To Cash p'd Freight of 2 Bells from \ ^ „ Boston to Liverpool Cartage &c / ^ To Insurance on their Amt. £15.12.6. 2 Gu^ p C*. - 6.6 To Cask 6.6 To Carriage to & from the Founders ------- is.o To Commission on £20.8. @ 2^ p C*. 10.2 To Insui-ance on £20.8.0 @ 2 Gu^ p C*. 8.6 2.16.6 £5.6.1 Errors Excepted, Peter Wainwright & Co. SIXTH BELL In the autumn of 1807 the fifth bell appears to have been damaged by vandalism on the part of the students, for on November 23 it was " Voted, that the President and others be a committee to examine the state of Harvard Hall, and to consider the most effectual method of securing it against erruption, make an estimate of the expense, and report to the Corporation." At this same date it was also voted, " that the President be requested to cause a new bell to be purchased for the College on as reasonable terms as he can." On January II, 1808, this Committee made its report, when it was " Voted, that when a bell is procured for the College, the President be requested to cause good security to be provided against all improper access, and that a chain be used, instead of a rope, to ring the bell as far as [it] is exposed to common access, or below the floor next the bell." It may be added that this grotesque suggestion of a chain attach- ment, while affording no protection against trespass, would have made the proper management of the bell impracticable. This sixth bell was cast in 1808 by Paul Revere at his foundry, which had been removed in 1804 from the north end of Boston to Canton, this estate being still in the possession of his descendants. It weighed 434 pounds, as recorded in his old stock book now in the possession of William B. Revere. SEVENTH BELL Becoming cracked in 1836 this bell was replaced by another the same year weighing 450 pounds, cast by George Handel Holbrook of East Medway, Mass. The Holbrook bell was faultily suspended, and became broken in 1899, after having been rung for forty-two years by the veteran janitor, Mr. Jones. It was preserved for a few years as a relic by Mr. Jones, but in 1904 it was given by him to the Harvard Memorial Society and was broken up, a part of the bronze being used for tablets placed on Hollis and Holworthy Halls. A model of the old bell was made from the same metal and presented to Mr. Jones. It is a current tradition in Harvard, Mass., that a condemned bell once used in Harvard Hall was sold to be placed later on the Baptist church in 10 the parish of Still River. This story finds endorsement in the history of the town by Henry S. Nourse, while the name of the teamster who is said to have hauled the bell from Cambridge is cited by old residents, who are even able to describe the pranks by which it was injured. Inasmuch as legends of this character usually contain an element of truth, the writer, having traced all facts bearing on the matter, ventures to suggest the following as the most probable explanation of the error. The bell in question, which is indeed cracked, bears the inscription " George Holbrook, 1807," this being the year when the fifth Harvard bell was wantonly damaged ; and, as a further coincidence, it was also the year in which the first bell of the town was placed upon the Congregational Church, paid for chiefly by private subscription. If it is assumed then that this damaged belh was sold for old metal to Holbrook and recast in the same year, it would not be unnatural that he should attempt to impart a sentimental value by designating it the bell of Harvard Hall. But how, then, are we to account for its appearance at Still River, whose church was not erected till 1832 ? On this point light is thrown by the inscription on the bell now in. use on the Congregational Church, to wit : " G. H. Holbrook, Medway, 1827," ordered, it would appear, to replace the original bell of 1807 which had become cracked. And if the damage to the latter had not been con- siderable, or enough to impair materially its tone, it would probably have been retained on the chance of disposing of it later for further use. And this opportunity was certainly presented five years later, when a bell, now said to have been slightly cracked at the time of purchase, was given in 1832 to be hung upon the Baptist Church in Still River, completed in that year. If this theory is correct, then the fact that this cracked bell is composed in part at least of the metal of the Harvard bell may afford some consolation for the correction of this fiction. To most living alumni of Harvard the clear-toned, aggressive sound of Holbrook's bell will have been the most familiar, and it will be of interest to know that Major George Holbrook acquired the art of bell casting by serving as api^rentice to Paul Revere at his original foundry at the northern extremity of Boston. He started to cast bells on his own account in Brookfield, and was establishing a lucrative business when, by the endorse- ment -of -notes, he became financially ruined. He was thus obliged to re- linquish his home and retire impoverished to his native town, Wrentham. While livino- there in retirement he manao^ed to secure the contract for casting a bell for the new meeting-house in East Medway. The casting was done in an improvised structure and in the presence of a concourse of people in East Medway. His success in turning out a bell of excellent tone*, led to the oif er of capital and the establishment of a foundry in the place, conducted by four successive generations until the year 1880. During this period these bells acquired a rej^utation equal to that of the best English and Belgian founders, the best known in Boston being those in the Hollis Street and the West Church towers. No attempt was ever made at this foundry, nor by Revere, to cast a chime, or peal, a matter of much greater difiiculty than making single bells. EIGHTH BELL The present bell in Harvard Hall, cast by Meneely & Co. of West Troy, Y.', weighs 550 pounds. It was first rung January 7, 1900. In 181)4 an appeal was made througli the Harvard Graduates^ Magazine for a comjjlete ring of heavy bells to be hung in the tower of Memorial MASSACHUSETTS HALL, 1911 11 Hall, designed to facilitate the introduction of scientific change ringing, as practiced at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. In reponse to this appeal the entire amount necessary to defray the cost of such a peal was promptly offered, and from two different sources. The scheme, however, met with failure, for an inspection of the imposing tower by engineers disclosed the surprising fact that its walls were too unstable to withstand the thrust of even light bells swung upon the principle of the pendulum, while all other requirements of a ringing guild, including a ringing chamber, had been omitted from the architect's designs. NINTH BELL Memorial Hall now contains a clock and fine-toned bell of 3000 pounds, cast by Van Duzen & Co. of Cincinnati, the gift of the class of 1872, installed and formally presented after Commencement, 1897. It has been suggested that the site of old Stoughton might be appropri- ately marked by the erection of a lofty campanile which would serve for a clock and peal of bells. Indeed, within a few years a very large sum has been offered to the College, more than adequate to provide for the con- struction of such a monument. This offer was, however, declined from the feeling that any benefit thus accruing to the College would be hardly com- mensurate with the amount expended. Shortly afterwards came another offer of a ring of twelve heavy bells as a memorial of a graduate of the Class of 1847. This generous offer was likewise made in vain, one of the reasons assigned being that no tower was available for its installation. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that change ringing on tower bells has been systematically taught for several years at Groton School. Hence there can always be found at Cambridge graduates of this school sufficient in number to make up a guild of experienced ringers qualified to manage church bells of any weight. The data above collated establish the fact, not before noted, that of fif- teen bells listed below, comprising all known to have been in use in Mas- sachusetts up to 1680, inclusive, three were hung within the precincts of the present College Yard, viz. the original College bell, that of Willet, and the bell of the First Parish Church (Shepard). No. Locality Tear 1 Newtown (Cambridge; carried to Hartford in the Emi- 1632 gration of 1636) 2 Salem 1638 3 Boston, Eirst Church 1641 4 Original CoUege Bell 1643 5 Ipswich 1647 6 Watertown 1648 7 Cambridge, First Parish Church (Shepard) 1648 8 Charlestown, First Church 1657 9 Maiden 1658 10 Harvard College, Willet's BeU circa 1659 11 Medfield 1661 12 Dorchester 1662 13 Portsmouth, N. H. 1664 14 Hadley 1670 15 Plymouth 1679 For valuable assistance in searching the College Records the writer is indebted to the Librarian, William C. Lane, and to Albert Matthews, Esq. HARVARD HALL, 1911 . :6i f- ' '-•