A bell is a hollow, somewhat cup-shaped, sounding instrument of metal. The metal from which bells are usually made (by founding) is an alloy, called bell-metal, commonly composed of eighty parts of copper and twenty of tin. The proportion of tin varies, however, from one-third to one-fifth of the weight of the copper, according to the sound required, the size of the bell, and the impulse to be given. The clearness and richness of the tone depend upon the metal used, the perfection of its casting, and also upon its shape; it having been shown by a number of experiments that the well-known shape with a thick lip is the best adapted to give a perfect sound. The depth of the tone of a bell increases in proportion to its size.
A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the ear or cannon, and the clapper or tongue. The lip or sound-bow is that part where the bell is struck by the clapper. It is uncertain whether the jangling instruments used by the Egyptians and Israelites can be correctly described as bells; but it is certain that bells of a considerable size were in early use in China and Japan, and that the Greeks and Romans used them for various purposes. They are said to have been first introduced into Christian churches about 400 AD by Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania (whence campana and nola as old names of bells); although their adoption on a wide scale does not become apparent until after the year 550, when they were introduced into France.
Benedict Biscop, abbot of Wearmouth, seems to have imported bells from Italy to England in 680, but their use in Ireland and Scotland is probably of earlier date. The oldest of those existing in Great Britain and Ireland, such as the 'bell of St. Patrick's will' and St Ninian's bell, are quadrangular and made of thin iron plates hammered and riveted together.
Until the thirteenth century bells were of comparatively small size, but after the casting of the Jacqueline of Paris (6.5 tons) in 1400 their weight rapidly increased. Among the more famous bells are the bell of Cologne, 11. tons, 1448; of Dantzic, 6 tons, 1453; of Halberstadt, 7.5, 1457; of Rouen, 16, 1501; of Breslau, 11, 1507; of Lucerne, 71, 1636; of Oxford,7.5 1680; of Paris, 12.8, 1680; of Bruges, 10.5, 1680; of Vienna, 17.75, 1711; of Moscow (the monarch of all bells), 193, 1736; three other bells at Moscow ranging from 16 to 31 tons, and a fourth of 80 tons cast in 1819; the bell of Lincoln (Great Tom), 5.5, 1834; of YorkMinster (Great Peter), 10.75, 1845; of Montreal, 134, 1847; of Westminster (Big Ben), 15.5, 1856, (St Stephen), 13.5, 1858; the Great Bell of St. Paul's, 17.5, 1882. Others are the bells of Ghent (5 tons), Gorlitz (10.75 tons), St Peter's, Rome (8 tons), Antwerp (7.25 tons), Olmutz (18 tons), Sacred Heart, Paris (27 tons), Novgorod (31 tons), Pekin (53.5 tons).
Besides their use in churches bells are employed for various purposes, formerly the most common use being to summon attendants or domestics in private houses, hotels, etc. Bells for this purpose were of small size and may be held in the hand and rung, but most commonly were rung by means of wires stretched from the various apartments to the place where the bells were hung. Bells rung by electricity became common in hotels and other establishments around 1905.
In the first ages of Christianity numerous churches were founded by the apostles and their successors in Greek-speaking countries; in Greece itself, in Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Thrace, and Macedonia. These were subsequently called Greek, in contradistinction to the churches, in which the Latintongue prevailed. The removal of the seat of empire by Constantine to Constantinople (Istanbul), and the subsequent separation of the eastern and western empires afforded the opportunity for diversities of language, modes of thinking, and customs to manifest themselves, and added political causes to the grounds of separation. During the earliest period the chief seats of influence in the Eastern Church were Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria, the seat of that mystical philosophy, by which the orientalchurch was distinguished. In 341, soon after the synod of Antioch, the rivalry between the Bishop of -Rome and the Bishop of Constantinople began to assume importance, and before 400 differences of doctrine with respect to the procession of the Holy Spirit appeared. The council of Chalcedon in 451 accorded to the eastern bishop the same honours and privileges in his own diocese as those of the Bishop of Rome, and in 484 each bishop excommunicated the other.
The title of (Ecumenical Patriarch was assumed by John, Bishop of Constantinople, in 588, and in the following year the phrase 'Filioque' ('and the Son') was added by the Latins to the Nicene creed (which now read 'proceeding from the father and the son'), an addition to which the Greek Church was opposed.
In 648 PopeTheodore deposed Patriarch Paul II; but a reconciliation of the churches was effected at the Council of Rome in 680. The doctrines of the Greek Church were defined by John Damascenus in 730. The disruption was hastened by the banishment of Ignatius by Michael the Drunken and the consecration of Photius in 858. The PopeNicholas I and Photius excommunicated each other in 867. The schism was temporarily healed after the death of Photius, but Michael Cerularius reopened it by charging the Latins with heterodoxy. He was excommunicated by Leo IX in 1054, and in turn excommunicated the pope in the same year, since which the Greeks have been severed from the Roman communion, though the Russo-Greek Church was not separated until the 12th century.
The presence of the Crusaders in the East aggravated the quarrel; Latin patriarchates were established in Antioch and Jerusalem, and, though on the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders a Latin patriarchate was set up there in 1204, the schism was revived there as soon as the Latinempire fell in 1262. .Reunion was proposed in 1273 by Patriarch Joseph, and effected, with the acknowledgment of the pope as primate, at the council of Lyons in 1274. The union, however, was annulled in 1282 by Emperor Andronicus II, and in 1283 and 1285 by synods of Constantinople. It was again effected under John Palasologus at Florence in 1439, but was repudiated in 1443 by the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
In 1453, when the patriarch fled from the Turks, a schismatic Gregory Scholarius was chosen in his place. In 1575 unsuccessful negotiations were commenced with a view to union with the Lutherans, and in 1723 the English bishops even proposed that the Greek and Anglican churches should unite, a proposal revived by the Archbishop of Moscow in 1866. The claims of the czar in 1853 to the protectorate of the Greek churches in Turkey was one of the causes of the Crimean War.
The Greek Church is the only church which holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father only; the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches deriving the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. Like the Roman Catholic Church it has seven sacraments - baptism; chrism; penance, preceded by confession; the eucharisfc; ordination;
marriage; and unction. Research Greek Church
The Third International (Comintern) was an organisation founded in Moscow in 1919 by delegates from twelve countries to promote Communism and support the Russian Revolution. It was dissolved in 1943. Research Third International
Alexander Herzen was a Russian writer. He was born in 1812 at Moscow and died in 1870. While a student at Moscow he imbibed extreme philosophical and socialistic views, which brought about his imprisonment and exile. He was afterwards pardoned, but spent the latter part of his life from 1847 onwards abroad. Among his numerous works are the novels, Who is to Blame? and Dr. Krupow; Letters from France and Italy; On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia; Recollections of my Lifetime; Memoirs of the EmpressCatharine, etc. Research Alexander Herzen
Alexander I was King of Scotland from 1107 to 1124. A son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret of England, he succeeded his brother Edgar in 1107, and governed with great ability until his death in 1124. He was a great benefactor of the church, and a firm vindicator of the national independence.
Alexander I was a King of Yugoslavia. He was born in 1888 and died in 1934. He was of the Karageorgevic dynasty of Serbia, ascending the throne in 1921 he tried to overcome the ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries in his country by means of a personal dictatorship in 1929, supported by the army. In the interest of greater unity, he changed the name of his kingdom, which consisted of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, to 'Yugoslavia' in 1929. In 1931 some civil rights were restored, but they proved insufficient to quell rising political and separatist dissent, aggravated by economic depression. He was planning to restore parliamentary government when he was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist.
Alexander I was an Emperor of Russia. He was born in 1777 and died in 1825. He was the son of Paul I, and is believed to have assisted indirectly in his father's murder. He ascended the throne in 1801 and reigned until 1825. He set out to reform Russia and correct many of the injustices of the preceding reign. His private committee - the Neglasny Komitet - introduced plans for public education, but his reliance on the nobility made it impossible for him to abolish serfdom. His adviser, Speransky, pressed for a more liberal constitution, but the nobles secured his fall in 1812. At first a supporter of the coalition against Napoleon, his defeats by the latter at Austerlitz in 1805 and Friedland in 1807 resulted in the Treaties of Tilsit and in his support of the Continental System against the British.
His wars with Persia from 1804 to 1813 and with Turkey from 1806 to 1812 brought territorial gains, including the acquisition of Georgia and his armies helped to defeat Napoleon's grande armee at Leipzig, after its retreat from Moscow in 1812. In an effort to uphold Christian morality in Europe he formed a Holy Alliance of European monarchs, and became increasingly conservative in his domestic policies. The constitution he gave to Poland scarcely disguised the rule of the military there. He was reported to have died while in the Crimea, but rumour persisted that he had escaped to Siberia and became a hermit. Research Alexander I
Alexander III was King of Scotland from 1249 to 1286. He succeeded his father, Alexander II when just a boy of eight. In 1251 he married Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry III of England. Like his father, Alexander II, he was eager to bring the Hebrides under his sway, and this he was enabled to accomplish in a few years after the defeat of the Norse King Haco at Largs, in 1263. The mainland and islands of Scotland were now under one sovereign, though Orkney and Shetland still belonged to Norway. Alexander III was strenuous in asserting the independence both of the Scottish kingdom and the Scottish church against England. He died in 1285 by the falling of his horse while he was riding in the dark between Burntisland and Kinghorn. He left as his heiress Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, daughter of Eric of Norway, and of Alexander's daughter, Margaret. Under him Scotland enjoyed greater prosperity than for generations afterwards.
Alexander III was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia. The son of Alexander II, he was born in 1845 and died in 1894 of kidney disease. He became heir to the throne on the death of his eldest brother, Nicholas in 1865, and succeeded in 1881, on the assassination of his father, being crowned in Moscow in 1883. He gave up the reforms begun by his father, and ruled in the old autocratic fashion, restricting the liberties of Finland and the Baltic Provinces, and encouraging persecution of the Jews. He spent much time in the closely-guarded castle of Gatchina, to be safe from Nihilistic attempts, several of which he narrowly escaped. 'He endeavoured to put down corruption and underhand dealing among the bureaucracy, and in his own habits gave an example of simplicity and economy. While showing himself suspicious of Germany and Austria-Hungary, he entered on friendly relations with France. He began to suffer from disease of the kidneys in 1893, and died at Livadia in 1894. Research Alexander III
Alexei Vasilievitch Suvarov was a Russian soldier. He was born in 1729 at Moscow and died in 1800. His early career as a soldier involved serving against the Swedes and in the Seven Years War, later earning himself a reputation in conflicts against the Poles and the Turks. As a general in command he was constantly in the field and won a number of victories between 1775 and 1795, securing the capitulation of Warsaw in 1794. In 1799 he emerged from an enforced retirement to lead an army to aid the Austrians in Italy. Having defeated the French in several engagements he took his troops across the Alps into Switzerland where he was defeated and forced to retreat back into Austria. Research Alexei Suvarov
Alexis Petrovitch was a Russian prince. He was born in 1690 at Moscow and died in 1718. He was the eldest son of Peter the Great and opposed the innovations introduced by his father, who on this account disinherited him by a ukase in 1718, and when he discovered that Alexis was paving the way to succeed to the crown he had his son tried and condemned to death. This affected the latter so much that he died in a few days, leaving a son, afterwards the emperor Peter II. Research Alexis Petrovitch
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian writer. He was born in 1860 at Taganrog and died in 1904. He studied medicine at Moscow University. In 1879 he began contributing humorous sketches to popular periodicals, and after graduating devoted his attention to writing novels and plays, mainly short stories. Research Anton Chekhov
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Abbreviations
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