great day, may they who value themselves on their learning, their elegance, and their eloquence, give as good an account of their stewardship as the Bishop of Sodor and Man!' 8.-FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT. Dominica in Passione, or Passion Sunday, was the name given to this day in missals; as the church now began to advert to the sufferings of Christ. In the north, it is called Carling Sunday, and grey peas, first steeped a night in water, and fried with butter, form the usual repast. 12.-SAINT GREGORY. Saint Gregory, surnamed the Great, was born about the year 540. Gadianus, his father, enjoyedthe 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. 15.-PALM SUNDAY. In the missals, this day is denominated Dominica in ramis Palmarum, or Palm Sunday, and was so called from the palm branches and green boughs formerly distributed on that day, in commemoration of our Lord's riding to Jerusalem. Sprigs of boxwood are still used as a substitute for palms in Roman Catholic countries.-See also T. T. for 1815, P. 84. 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. When sixteen years old, he was carried into captivity by certain barbarians, together with many of his father's vassals and slaves, and was taken to Ireland, where he kept cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness, amid snows, rain, and ice. After six months, our saint escaped from this slavery, only to fall into the hands of another master. At length emancipated, he travelled into Gaul and Italy, and spent many years in preparing himself for the holy functions of a priest, studying intensely until his 55th or 60th year. Being successively ordained deacon, priest, and bishop, he received the apostolical benediction from Pope Celestine, and was sent by him, about the beginning of the year 432, to preach the gospel in Ireland. He died at the good old age of 123, and was buried at Down, in Ulster. See T. T. for 1815, p. 80, and Jocelyn's Life and Miracles of St. Patrick. - The order of St. Patrick was instituted by George III, in 1783. It consists of the sovereign, a grand master, a prince of the blood royal, and thirteen knights, making in the whole sixteen, and seven officers. The lord lieutenant for the time being is the grand master. The star is charged with three imperial crowns of gold, within a circle of gold, with the motto, QUIS SEPARABIT, MDCCLXXXIII, the whole surrounded with eight rays of silver; and is embroidered on the left side of the coat or cloak. The collar is of pure gold, composed of six harps and five roses, alternately joined together by five knots. In the centre before, is a crown, from which is suspended the badge or jewel of the order, of gold, enamelled, which (the rays excepted) is similar to the star. 18.-EDWARD, king of the west saxons. He was stabbed in the back by order of his mother-in-law, Elfrida, at Corfe-castle, in Dorsetshire. The youth and innocence of this prince (says Hume), with his tragical death, begat such compassion among the people, that they believed miracles to be wrought at his tomb; and they gave him the appellation of martyr, though his murder had no connexion with any religious principle or opinion. Elfrida built monasteries, and performed many penances, in order to atone for her guilt; but could never, by all her hypocrisy or remorse, recover the good opinion of the public, though so easily deluded in those ignorant ages. 19.-MAUNDY THURSDAY. This day is called in Latin dies Mandati, the day of the command, being the day on which our Lord washed the feet of his disciples, as recorded in the second lesson. This practice was long kept up in the monasteries. After the ceremony, liberal donations were made to the poor, of clothing and of silver money, and refreshment was given them to mitigate the severity of the fast. On the 15th April, 1731 (Maundy Thursday), the Archbishop of York washed the feet of a certain number of poor persons. James II was the last king who performed this in person. A relic of this custom is still preserved in the donations dispensed at St. James's on this day; the ceremonies of which, as also those at Rome and Moscow on this day, are described at length in T. T. for 1815, p. 86. 20.-GOOD FRIDAY. This day commemorates the sufferings of Christ, as a propitiation for our sins. Holy Friday, or the Friday in Holy Week, was its more antient and general appellation; the name Good Friday is peculiar to the English church. It was observed as a day of extraordinary devotion. Buns, with crosses upon them, are usually eaten in London and some other places on this day, at breakfast.-For an account of ceremonies in various places, consult T. T. for 1815, p. 88, and our last volume, pp. 89-91. 21.-SAINT benedict. Benedict, or Bennet, was born at Norcia in Italy, about the year 480, and of an honourable family. Being sent by his parents to Rome, to complete his studies, he became disgusted with the licentiousness of the Roman youth, and retired to the mountain of Subiaco, about forty miles from the city. Bennet was now only fifteen, and lived for three years in a cave, Romanus, a monk, giving him provisions; these were let down by a rope, with a bell affixed, to give notice to the holy recluse. Bennet founded the monastery of Cassino in 529: it was built on the brow of a very high mountain, on the top of which there was an old temple of Apollo, surrounded with a grove. The Benedictine order of monks, first instituted by our saint, was, in the ninth century, at its height of glory. 21.-EASTER EVE. Particular mortifications were enjoined to the earliest Christians on this day. From the third century, the fast was indispensable and rigid, being protracted always to midnight, sometimes to the cock-crowing, and sometimes to the dawn of Easter-day; and the whole of the day and night was employed in religious affairs. 22.-EASTER DAY, or EASTER SUNDAY. Much difference of opinion prevailed in the Eastern and Western churches respecting the precise time of observing Easter; till, in 325, the Council of Nice declared that the feast should be kept by all churches on the same day. Easter is styled by the fathers the highest of all festivals, the feast of feasts, the queen of festivals, and Dominica Gaudii, the joyous Sunday. Masters granted freedom to their slaves at this season, and valuable presents were made to the poor. The august ceremonies performed at Rome on this day, Whitsunday, and other festivals, are noticed. in T. T. for 1815, p. 165; the magnificent pageant at Moscow, on account of the Resurrection, is also described at p. 90 of the same volume. For a variety of old English customs observed at Easter, we refer to T. T. for 1814, pp. 82-84. 23, 24.-EASTER MONDAY AND TUESDAY. Every day in this week was formerly observed as a religious festival, sermons being preached and the sacrament administered. In many places, servants were permitted to rest from their usual employments, that they might constantly attend public worship. During fifteen days, of which the paschal solemnity consisted, the courts of justice were shut, and all public games, shows, and amusements, were prohibited it is unnecessary to observe that this practice has long ceased, and that the Easter week is usually devoted to relaxation and amusement. : 25.-ANNUNCIATION OF THE B. V. M., or Lady Day.: This day celebrates the angel's message to the Vir-. gin Mary, respecting our Blessed Lord. She was, probably, an only child, and but fifteen years of age when espoused to Joseph. She died A.D. 48, being about sixty years old. *26. 1756.-GILBERT WEST DIED. The learned translator of Pindar, and the pious author of the Essay on the Resurrection, which gave rise to the very excellent Observations on the Conversion of St. Paul, by Lord Lyttelton. *28. 1801.-SIR RALPH ABERCRombie died. This able general fell in Egypt in the moment of victory. An expedition having been ordered to dispossess the French of this country, Sir Ralph was appointed to command it, and he landed at Aboukir on the 8th of March 1801, after a severe battle in which the English were victorious. The landing, the first dispositions, the attack, and the courage opposed to attack, the high confidence of the army in their general, and the decided superiority of the British infantry under his command over the French, which was thought the bravest and best disciplined infantry in Europe, all demonstrated that the highest qualities of the greatest commanders were united in Sir Ralph Abercrombie. After having repulsed the French in a general attack |