g. That the Bells should be rung, according to the Canon, in a steady, solemn, though more cheerful peal (kept strictly for this purpose) for five minutes after every Burial.[1]
h. That the Bells should be rung in peal at early morning (for a quarter of an hour) and at other specified times, on every Lord’s day, and on every other Festival commanded by the Church to be kept holy, and on the day of the dedication of the Parish Church.
i. That the Bells be not rung in peal (except the death and burial peals) for any purpose, on any Friday in the year, except it be Christmas day;—nor in the season of Lent, except upon the Lord’s day and the Feast of the Annunciation.
j. That at the opening of Christmas day, the Feast of The Circumcision, The Feast of The Epiphany, The Feast of The Purification, (Presentation of Christ in the Temple), The Feast of The Annunciation (Incarnation), Easter day, The Feast of The Ascension, and The Feast of Pentecost, the Bells should be rung in peal, for five minutes, at Midnight.
k. That on Fridays and other Fasting days the great and little Bell should be rung together, in alternate toll, for a quarter of an hour at early morning, and at other specified times.
l. That in order that they may have opportunity of practice, a special quarter or half hour be appointed, on each Festival, for the second company of Ringers to ring in peal.
11. That, in order to prevent any mercenary use of the Bells, or any difference being made between Rich and Poor, with respect to them, and in order to secure a fair remuneration to the Ringers, a regular definite yearly salary should be paid to the first company of Ringers; and no Ringer should be permitted to receive any payment or gratuity for the performance of his duty, on any special occasion.
Very beneficial results have been obtained from the following out of this system; and it has become evident to those who have tried it, that the more perfectly it is carried out, so, much more than in due proportion, are the benefits. Indeed, after the first difficulties are overcome, it is much easier to carry out the whole system than a part of it—for, when in action, as a whole, it has a completeness and consistency and beauty which approves it to the minds of thinking persons generally—of those even, who from circumstances, are a “not well affected to the Church.”
Perhaps the most difficult part of the system to carry out, or rather to begin upon, in some places, would be the Church’s rule concerning ringing at a death and before and after a burial; and yet in some parts of the Midland, Western and Northern Counties this rule is, and always has been, complied with. Not, indeed, for all—for the poor cannot pay the Ringers! and the rich consider it “vulgar”!!—but for yeomen and tradespeople; and in other parts of the country, e.g. in Cornwall, the doggrel verses which are found in the Belfries, bear witness that the observance of the rule was maintained up to no very distant period. However, people generally have such heathenish notions concerning death and burial that the great majority of them, in almost every parish, would require much instruction concerning them, according to the tone of our praise-breathing Burial Service, before they could be expected to understand and appreciate the Church’s rule with respect to her Bells on these occasions. If, however, careful explanation were tenderly and lovingly given, and the peals for the several occasions properly and judiciously chosen, and carefully kept for those occasions only, so that “the trumpet” should not at any time “give an uncertain sound,”—it would soon be found that the observance of the rule is greatly conducive in spreading and deepening more Christian principles and feelings concerning death.
It is true that occasions might occur, and that not unfrequently in many parishes, when the sound of thanksgiving for the death of one for whom he could have but little hope, would grate harshly upon the Clergyman’s ear, and wake up strange contending feelings in his heart. But surely the sound of thanksgiving from the Church tower cannot be inappropriate when the words of thanksgiving from the Priest’s own mouth, in the Burial Service, are not so; and it would not only be possible, but greatly beneficial to the parish, (both in its immediate effect, and as paving the way for a return to a more complete system of Christian discipline) to silence the Bells on particular occasions, and forbid the accustomed sound of public thanksgiving, on the departure of such as had lived unholy lives.[2]