ed in England for nearly four hundred years; but it is not known from what country it was imported. CURRANT TREE (Ribes rubrum).-This tree has been long cultivated in our gardens, and greatly improved. At present we have the following varieties: The common sort with small red fruit; another with pale fruit, commonly called the champagne currant, differing only in being of a pale red or flesh colour; the taste is the same, but the colour makes an apparent variety for the table. The introduction of the white and red Dutch currants has almost banished the original old sorts out of the English gardens. The fruit is very generally accepted, either as nature presents it, or made into a jelly, with equal weights of picked currants and pure sugar. The black currant is distinguished from the other sorts by its humbler growth and strong smelling leaves. The flowers are turban-shaped, of a rich brown red colour. The berries have a very peculiar flavour, which many persons dislike, and to which perhaps an equal number are partial. They are commonly eaten in puddings in some parts of England, and make a tart little inferior to the cranberry. The juice is frequently boiled down to an extract, with the addition of a small proportion of sugar, and is then called Rob; which is much used to cleanse and lubricate inflamed sore throats. Their excellency in this complaint has caused them to be vulgarly called quinancy berries. The jelly in common use has, however, too much sugar mixed with it to answer any medicinal purpose. The berries are sometimes put into brandy in the same way as black cherries; and the Russians make a wine of black currants, either by themselves or fermented with honey; and either with or without spirits. The Siberians make a drink from the leaves, which, when young, will tinge common spirits so as to resemble brandy. An infusion of the leaves is also said to resemble that execrable poison green tea, and to some persons is peculiarly agreeable. The common opinion is, that the black currants are the most wholesome of all the sorts; and this seems to be confirmed by experience, although they are all very friendly to most constitutions, especially in feverish, bilious, and scorbutic habits. This very useful fruit appears not to have been at all known to the Greeks or Romans; even the southern nations of Europe have no appropriate name for them to the present day our English name currant is evidently derived from the great similitude of this fruit to that of the small grape of Zante, or the common grocer's corinths, which has been corrupted inte currants. See GOOSEBERRY. MARCH. AMONG the Romans, March, from Mars, was the first month, and marriages made in this month were accounted unhappy. The Saxons called March lent-monat, or length moneth, because the days did first begin, in length, to exceed the nights." Remarkable Days In MARCH 1819. 1.-SAINT DAVID. SAINT David was the great ornament and pattern of his age. He spoke with much force and energy, but his example was more powerful than his eloquence; and he has in all succeeding ages been the glory of the British church. He continued in the see of St. David's many years; and having founded several monasteries, and been the spiritual father of many saints, both British and Irish, he died about the year 544, at a very advanced age. The leek worn on this day by Welshmen is said to be in memory of a great victory obtained by them over the Saxons; they, during the battle, having leeks in their hats, to distinguish themselves, by order of St. David. Another account adds, that they were fighting under their King Cadwallo, near a field that was filled with that vegetable. 2. SAINT CHAD. St. Ceadda or Chad was educated in the monastery of Lindisfarne, under St. Aidan; was afterwards Bishop of Lichfield, and died in the great pestilence of 673. Bede assures us that he zealously devoted himself to all the laborious functions of his charge, visiting his diocess on foot, preaching the gospel, and seeking out the poorest and most abandoned persons to instruct and comfort, in the meanest cottages and in the fields. See further particulars of this Bishop in T.T. for 1815, p. 76. 3.-EMBER WEEK. There are four Ember Weeks in the year, namely, after the first Sunday in Lent, after the feast of Pentecost, after the 14th of September, and after the 13th of December. It is enjoined by a canon of the church, that Deacons and Ministers be ordained, or made, but only on the Sundays immediately following these Ember feasts. (Nelson.) *6. 1818.-JOHN GIFFORD DIED, A literary character of considerable eminence and great attainments. He was the author of a Life of PITT, as well as of many other works of celebrity, and was for many years editor of the Anti-Jacobin Review. 7. PERPETUA. Perpetua, a noble lady of Carthage, only 22 years of age, suffered martyrdom in 203, by order of Minutius Firmianus, under the persecution of the Emperor Severus. In the amphitheatre, Perpetua was exposed to the attacks of a wild cow, and, after being much gored by this animal, she languished for some time under the wounds given her by a young and unskilful gladiator. *10. 1774.-SIR W. BROWNE DIED, Æt. 82, A physician of the last century, and a man of a most singular and whimsical cast of mind. His will is not the least remarkable of his multifarious compositions, and may be said to be written in Greek, Latin, and English. 12.-SAINT GREGORY. Saint Gregory, surnamed the Great, was born about the year 540. Gadianus, his father, enjoyed the dignity of a senator, and was very wealthy. Our saint, in his youth, applied himself to the study of grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy; and afterwards to the civil law, and the canons of the church, in which he was well skilled. He was consecrated Pope about the year 590, and died in 604. Before his advancement to the see, Gregory projected the conversion of the English nation, but did not accomplish his wishes until he had assumed the papal chair. 17.-SAINT PATRICK. The tutelar saint of Ireland was born in the year 371, in a village called Bonaven Taberniæ, probably Kilpatrick, in Scotland, between Dunbriton and Glasgow. He died at the good old age of 123, and was buried at Down, in Ulster. -See T. T. for 1815, p. 80, our last volume, p. 55, and Jocelyn's Life and Miracles of St. Patrick. Through Erin's Isle, To sport awhile, As Love and Valour wandered, A thousand arrows squandered; Shoots up, with dew-drops streaming, As emeralds seen Through purest crystal gleaming! Oh the Shanirock, the green, immortal Shamrock ! Of Bard and Chief, Old Erin's native Shamrock! Says Valour, See, Those leafy gems of morning!' But Wit perceives Three godlike friends, Love, Valour, Wit, for ever!' Oh, the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock ! Chosen leaf Of Bard and Chief, Old Erin's native Shamrock! Irish Melodies. *17. 1815.-JOHN HEY, d.d. died, For some years Norrisian Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. His 'Theo! logical Lectures,' in 4 volumes, 8vo, are a most valuable body of divinity. He published also some single sermons, and a volume of Discourses on the Malevolent Sentiments.' At the age of eighty, when he found himself unable any longer to discharge his pastoral duties, he resigned his preferment—a rare example of conscientious disinterestedness. |