Had Professor
Williams entertained a supposition of the previous existence of such
fires, he had then no means of verifying it, and long before the
advent of railroads and telegraphs, or even of stage lines, the
scientific theories of the dark day had passed from the general
memory.
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LIBERTY BELL.--In 1751 the Pennsylvania
Assembly authorized a committee to procure a bell for their State
House. November 1st of that year an order was sent to London for "a
good bell of about 2,000 pounds weight." To this order were added the
following directions: "Let the bell be cast by the best workmen and
examined carefully before it is shipped, with the following words well
shaped in large letters around it, viz.: 'By order of the Assembly
of the Province of Pennsylvania, for the State House, in the city of
Philadelphia, 1752.' And underneath, 'Proclaim Liberty Through All the
Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.--Levit. xxv. 10.'" In due time,
in the following year, the bell reached Philadelphia, but when it was
hung, early in 1753, as it was being first rung to test the sound, it
cracked without any apparent reason, and it was necessary to have it
recast. It was at first thought to be necessary to send it back to
England for the purpose, but some "ingenious workmen" in Philadelphia
wished to do the casting and were allowed to do so. In the first week
of June, 1753, the bell was again hung in the belfry of the State
House. On July 4, 1776, it was known throughout the city that the
final decision on the question of declaring the colonies independent
of Great Britain was to be made by the Continental Congress, in
session at the State House.
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