In the Tales of the Wayside Inn occurs the pretty legend of The Bell of
Atri, "famous for all time"; and from his summer home in Nahant, from
across the waters he listens to

"O curfew of the setting sun! O bells of Lynn!
O requiem of the dying day! O bells of Lynn!"


In the Curfew he quaintly and beautifully reminds us of the old
_couvre-feu_ bell of the days of William the Conqueror, a custom
still kept up in many of the towns and hamlets of England, and some of
our own towns and cities; and until recently the nine-o'clock bell
greeted the ears of Bostonians, year in and year out. And who does not
remember the sweet carol of Christmas Bells?

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

* * * * *

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail,
The right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men!'"