(_For the Mirror_.)
In the steeple of Glasgow is a great bell, which is twelve feet one inch in
circumference, and has a grave and deep tone. In 1789, it was accidentally
cracked by some persons who got admission to the steeple. It was,
therefore, sent to London, and cast anew. On the outside of it is the
following inscription:--
In the year of grace
1594,
Marcus Knox,
a merchant of Glasgow,
zealous for the interests of the reformed religion,
caused me to be fabricated in Holland
for the use of his fellow citizens in Glasgow,
and placed me with solemnity
in the tower of their cathedral.
My function
was to announce, by the impress on my bosom,
(Me audito venias doctrinam sanctam ut discas;[2])
and
I was taught to proclaim the hours of unheeded time.
195 years had I sounded these awful warnings,
when I was broken
by the hands of inconsiderate and
unskilful men.
In the year 1790,
I was cast into the furnace,
refounded at London,
and returned to my sacred vocation.
Reader,
thou also shall know a resurrection,
may it be to eternal life.