Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/133

 106 HISTORY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. Directions, or Advertisements for this Time of pestilentiale Contagion, 1625," advises : " Let the beUs in cities and townes be rung often, and the great ordnance discharged ; thereby the aire is purified." The virtues of beUs is thus enumerated by Warner, in his "Topographical Remarks on the South-west parts of Hampshire" : — <' Men's death I teU By doleful knelL Lightning and thunder, I break asunder. On Sabbath all To church I call. The sleepy head I raise from bed. The winds so fierce I doe disperse. Men's cruel rage I doe asswage. ' The music of church beUs has been suggestive of much beautiful poetry, and we cannot better conclude our brief notice of those of St Andrew's than by quoting a sonnet by the Rev. W. L. Bowles, agreeably illustrative of feelings on hearing the bells of Ostend : — How sweet the tuneful bells responsive peal ! As when at opening mom, the fragrant breeze Breathes on the trembling sense of wan disease, So piercing to my heart, their force I feel ! And hark 1 with lessening cadence now they fall, And now, along the white and level tide, They fling their melancholy music wide ; Bidding me many a tender thought recall Of sunmier days, and those delightful years When by my native streams, in life's fair prime, The mournful magic of their mingling chime First wak'd my wandering childhood into tears ! But seeming now, when sdl those days are o'er. The sounds of joy once heard, and heard no more. Until within the last twenty-two or twenty-three years, the old edifice continued very much in the same state as it had been left in at the time when the gallery was erected and other disfigurements perpetrated. A little whitewash and a few bricked-up windows — ^to save the expense of glazing — ^was all that the fabric had received in the shape of either adornment or improvement. On the outside, the long-continued use of the ground for burial purposes had gradually caused the earth to rise considerably above the foundations of the outer walls, and this accumulation naturally brought with it dampness and decay. In the summer of 1851, this circumstance fortunately came under the notice of the late Bishop Maltby, and he gave the first impetus to those improvements in and about the parish church which have since restored it to comparative beauty and comfort. His lordship intimated to the churchwardens that he was willing, at his own expense, to clear away the soil from the foundations, and to put a drain entirely round the church, so as to carry ofi* the moisture which was then sapping the foundations. This was done in the course of the same year, and proved a most beneficial work. In the following year, the churchwardens expended a considerable sum for repairing the windows and walls of the church and in fixing new windows ; and in the same year handbills were ordered to be issued for tenders for the colouring of the interior. The tender of Mr. John Bainbridge was accepted, and the work was carried out some time prior to Easter, 1853. Digitized by Google