BELL, LIBERTY

which is supposed to have been rung to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in Philadelphia, on July 4, 1776, but as a fact was not rung till several days later, when the document was ublicly read. It was brought to hila delph i a from England for the Colonial A embly Hall in 1752, but being injured in landing, was recast twice, in the following year, when there was engraved on it the -inscription ‘Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and the inhabitants thereof’ (Lev. xxx. 10). When the British occupied Philadelphia in 1777, they dumped the bell into the Delaware River, but it was recovered after they left the city. Every year it was rung on July 4th, until 1835 when, on July 8th, while being tolled for the funeral of Chief Justice Marshall, it cracked. Since then it has hung in the hallway of Independence Hail, Philadelphia, as a historic relic.