BELL, LIBERTY, a famous bell which was rung when the Continental Congress declared the independence of the United States in 1776. The order for founding it was given in 1751. The State House of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, work on which had been suspended for a num ber of years, was then approaching com pletion. The lower floors were already occupied by the Supreme Court in the Chamber, while in the other assembled the Freemen of the Province of Pennsyl vania, then consisting of one body. A committee was appointed by the Free men, with Peter Norris as chairman, and empowered to have a new bell cast for the building. The commission for the bell was, in the same year, awarded to Robert Charles, of London, the specifica tion being that the bell should weigh 2,000 pounds and cost £100 sterling. It was to be made by the best workmen, to be examined carefully before being shipped, and to contain, in well shaped letters around it, the inscription: "By order of the Province of Pennsylvnia, for the State House in the City of Philadel phia, 1752." An order was given to place underneath this the prophetic words from Leviticus xxv: 10: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." The reason for the selection of this text has been a sub ject of much conjecture, but the true reason is apparent when the full text is read: It is as follows: "And ye shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim lib erty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." In selecting the
text the Quakers had in memory the ar rival of William Penn and their fore fathers more than half a century before. In August, 1752, the bell arrived, but though in apparent good order, it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper while being tested. But it was also defective. It was again recast and a success, and was placed in position in June, 1753. On Monday, the 8th of July (not the 4th), at noon, true to its motto, it rang out the memorable message of "Liberty throughout the land and to all the in habitants thereof." For 50 years the bell continued to be rung on every festi val and anniversary, until it eventually cracked. Subsequently, it was placed on the original timbers in the vestibule of the State House, and, in 1873, it was suspended in a prominent position imme diately beneath a larger bell, presented to the city in 1866. In 1893 it was taken to Chicago and placed on exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition, and in 1915 to the Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco.