Lovecraft Goes to Church: Part 3 (1923)

Lovecraft was not the first to elucidate the grandiose story of the bell !!

We read from: A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS, By Thomas Armitage: THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS IV. THE PROVIDENCE AND NEWPORT CHURCHES (published 1890 !!)

Under the ministry of Dr. Manning, this, however ceased to meet their necessities, and in 1774 the present beautiful edifice was erected at a cost of ,7,000, and dedicated to God on May 28th, 1775.

Our fathers delighted greatly in its tall steeple, 196 feet in height, and in their new bell, which weighed 2,515 pounds, bearing this motto:

'For freedom of conscience,
the town was first planted;
Persuasion, not force,
was used by the people;
This church is the eldest,
and has not recanted,
Enjoying and granting bell,
temple, and steeple.'

Mind you, reader, this was one year before the clang of that grand old sister bell at Philadelphia which rang in our independence.

But, alas for the vanity of noisy metal, the Baptist bell split its sides in 1787, and that at Independence Hall followed its example, since which time the Providence people have kept their best bell in the pulpit, without a crack.

...continued ...