great bell signed, "F. Hemony Amstelo-damia, 1658."

Speaking of the rich decorations which the Van den Gheyns and Hemony
lavished on their bells, he says, "The decorations worked in bas relief
around some of the old bells are extremely beautiful, while the
inscriptions are often highly suggestive, and even touching." These
decorations are usually confined to the top and bottom rims of the bell,
and are in low relief, so as to impede the vibration as little as
possible. At Malines on a bell bearing date "1697, Antwerp" (now
destroyed) there is an amazingly vigorous hunt through a forest with
dogs and all kinds of animals. I did not see this bell when I was in the
tower of St. Rombauld, as the light in the bell chamber was very dim.
The inscription was carried right around the bell, and had all the grace
and freedom of a spirited sketch.

[Illustration: Detail of the Chimes in Belfry of St Nicholas: Dixmude]

On one of Hemony's bells dated 1674 and bearing the inscription,
"Laudate Domini omnes Gentes," we noticed a long procession of cherub
boys dancing and ringing flat hand bells such as are even now rung
before the Host in street processions.

Some of the inscriptions are barely legible because of the peculiarity
of the Gothic letters. Haweis mentions seeing the initials J.R. ("John
Ruskin") in the deep sill of the staircase window; underneath a slight
design of a rose window apparently sketched with the point of a compass.
Ruskin loved the Malines Cathedral well, and made many sketches of
detail while there. I looked carefully for these initials, but I could
not find them, I am sorry to say.

Bells have been strangely neglected by antiquaries and historians, and
but few facts concerning them are to be found in the libraries. Haweis
speaks of the difficulty he encountered in finding data about the chimes
of the Low Countries, alleging that the published accounts and rumors
about their size, weight, and age are seldom accurate or reliable. Even
in the great libraries and archives of the Netherlands at Louvain,
Bruges, or Brussels the librarians were unable to furnish him with
accurate information.

He says: "The great folios of Louvain, Antwerp, and Mechlin (Malines)
containing what is generally supposed to be an exhaustive transcript of
all the monumental and funereal inscriptions in Belgium, will often
bestow but a couple of dates and one inscription upon a richly decorated
and inscribed carillon of thirty or