FRANCIADE (Saint-Denis). P.S. by Fauconpret, secretary to the Directory of the District of Franciade, 23 nivôse II (January 12, 1794); 1 1/2 in-fol. pages, vignette and header Directory of the District of Franciade. Extrait des Séances (leg. effrang.). Curious document on bells. The communes of the District are invited to stop ringing the bells of Catholic churches. ... "the Freedom of Cults does not consist in their outward manifestation, and [...] does not require that a certain cult raise its head higher than another. [...] one does not see the Protestant publicly calling citizens to preach, the Jew to the Sinagogue, the Mohammedan to the Mosque", etc. What's more, the ringing of the bell could be a rallying signal for bad citizens: "the ringing of the vespers bell was, notably in Sicily, the signal for the massacre of several thousand Frenchmen"... The use of bells in worship is therefore forbidden.