Page:The histories of Launceston and Dunheved, in the county of Cornwall.djvu/366

33o THE CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL. The bells, which were cast and hung in 1720 (see p. 324), bore the following figures and letters : The first, " 1720. God save the King;" the second, "1720. Peace and good neighbourhood ;" the third, " 1720. A. R. Prosperity to this town;" the fourth, "1720. Prosperity to the Church of England ;" the fifth, " 1720. Abr. Rudhall of Glocester cast us all;" and the sixth, " 1720. I to the church the living call, and to the grave doe summons all." Of these the first and sixth have been recast. We have no record of any recasting of others. The ancient pulsating or beating of the bells, and the modern ringing of them on state and festival occasions, are so frequently mentioned as to leave no reasonable doubt of the loyalty and religious observance of our fore- fathers. Ct)e Congregational Cfjapei stands at the junction of Castle Street with Northgate Street. When Mr. Oliver was deprived, in 1663, of the curacy of St. Mary Magdalene, which he had held for about seven years (p. 320), he began to preach in unlicensed places within the town. He appears thus to have collected around him a congregation of sympathizing people. He had been nominated to St. Mary Magdalene during Cromwell's pro- tectorate, and was probably of Puritanical or Presbyterian tendencies ; at all events, he declined to adopt the pre- scribed formularies of the Book of Common Prayer. We have seen that he was a Master of Arts, and Fellow of a good college, and he is said to have been a proficient in Greek and Latin. After, and possibly also before, his ex- pulsion from the Church of England he kept a school in Launceston. He was evidently esteemed as a man ; for we are told that, on the loss of his curacy, Sir William Morice (of Werrington), then Secretary of State, procured