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XII.
"Toll! Toll! becauſe there ends."
It Is a cuſtom at Dewſbury in Yorkſhire, to toll the paſſing bell on Chriſtmas Eve at three o'clock in the afternoon. This is called The Devil's Knell; and is intended to ſignify that when "Chriſt was born, the Devil died:" a ſtriking though exaggerated way of repreſenting the truth that the Birth of our Lord gave the death-blow to the Empire of Satan.
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1.Toll! toll! Becauſe there ends to-night,
An Empire old and vaſt:
An Empire of unqueſtion'd right
O'er preſent and o'er paſt.
Toll!
Stretching wide from Eaſt to Weſt,
Ruling over ev'ry breaſt,
Each nation, tongue, and caſte.
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