instruxi, vineas et pomares." Our word orchard is derived from the Saxon orceard, and that from an elder word ort. geard; q. d. weort-geard, a plantation of herbs*; so that its application to fruit-trees is of later date. 1775, Nov. MR. URBAN, R. G. I HAVE read with great satisfaction the controversy lately agitated concerning the culture of the vine in our island. But who shail decide, when such difference of opinion appears amongst men of approved abilities and eminent fame? Much may be said on the subject; yet as the disputants seem at present in perfect good humour with each other, perhaps more light may shortly be thrown upon the subject. Your intelligent correspondent Mr. G. has favoured us, in Nov. Magazine, with several observations new to me at least. I admire his ingenuity and critical sagacity; yet I apprehend he has committed a slight mistake in supposing that the carme, or vineyards, of Engeddi, were only what he calls proper vineyards, by which phrase your readers must understand plantations appropriated solely to the culture of the vine: on the contrary, Dom. Calmet asserts, "that Engeddi, formerly Hazazon Thamar, that is to say, the City of Palm-trees, received its name from the great number of that species of tree which flourished in the place, and the vines of Cypress were not only found there, but several shrubs which produced balsamt." A traveller, who was the contemporary of Calmet, and is not less distinguished for extent of erudition than accuracy of observation, the late Dr. Shaw, supposes the alban neh to be the cypress of the Canticles, common in Engeddi, and cultivated usually with the vine and other aromatic shrubs; a plant still in frequent use in oriental climates, and one of the cosmetics employed by the fair of the east, who, like the modern fine ladies of Britain, are solicitous to improve their personal charms, even at the expence of their health, though their ideas of beauty seem very different from those generally adopted here. Lye's Dictionary. + Vide Dictionaire de la Bible, edit. Geneve; 1750; tome 2, p. 343, art. Engeddi.-Josephus Antiq. 1. 9. c. 1, where Engeddi is said to produce not only the palm-tree, but the opobalsamum.-Pliny (lib. 12, c. 24.) describes the last-mentioned plant, which was brought into Italy by one of Vespasian's generals.—Herodotus says, that the beverage of the Egyptians was barley, the vine not being introduced into the country. He lived about 400 years before the building of Rome; but having forfeited credit as an historian, by the misrepresentation of facts, his testimony in this particular is less to be believed. Mr. G. is of opinion, that the French word vigne is always understood to mean a vineyard; and that it is by no means clear, that it should ever signify "a house including a small garden." If he will take the trouble to consult the learned lexicographers of that nation, I am apt to believe he will alter his opinion. Even Boyer, by no means the most diligent of compilers, has given us the word in this sense: vigne, Maison de Plaisance au tour de Rome. Others say, On appelle Vignes les Maisons de Plaisance aux environs de Rome, et de quelques autres villes d'Italie: Vigne Pamphile, Vigne Aldobrandine, Vigne Borghese, La Vigne de Madame aupres de Turin. To cite all the authorities of writers in justification of this sense of the word would tire the reader's patience. The names of streets in London and its suburbs, adduced by Mr. G. as proofs that vineyards were common to our ancestors, seem to prove much. Our city was not then so populous and well built as at present: many of the citizens had gardens annexed to their houses, especially those who resided at a distance from the centre of the metropolis; and our summers at that time ripened the grapes more kindly. Dr. Bulleyn, who died in 1576, relates that there was excellent fruit of this kind at Bloxhall, in Suffolk, of which parish he was rector from 1550 to 1554; and Suffolk, is well known to be a northern county. The attempt to cultivate the vine in this island, perhaps, has been rendered abortive as much by the unpropitiousness of the soil, and the unskilfulness of the managers, as by the unfavourableness of this northern climate. The gloomy suburbs of London, indeed, appear a very improper site for a vineyard, "fuliginously black" with the smoke of a thousand chimnies; yet, only a few years since, a gentleman of Southwark is said, now and then, to have entertained his guests with wine extracted from his own grapes; and even those who were well acquainted with the wines of France, have commended it. His vineyard was not far distant from the banks of the Thames; but, after much time and money had been spent, the scheme, which yielded its projector a rational entertainment, and employed some of the indigent part of the community, was obliged to be relinquished. No vestige of this vineyard at present remains, though I am not certain whether it did not give name to the street mentioned by Mr. G. in his note. If so, his descendants have converted the spot "where the vine once dropped her purple clusters through the green," to a purpose far more lucrative. These few observations may appear like "gleanings of grapes when the vintage is past," and, perhaps, by the malignant critic may be thought unnecessary; however, if they are not too much out of season, be so kind as to communicate them to the public, and particularly to Mr. G.I would not willingly give offence to him, or any of the gentlemen engaged in the dispute, nor can suppose any offence will be taken by their insertion. I acknowledge myself not violently attached to either party; but cannot avoid expressing my pleasure to see a controversy which promises innocent delight, if not obvious utility, conducted by persons of extensive knowledge as antiquaries, and singular politeness as gentlemen. And it would be happy for mankind, if every dispute was managed with as much temper, candour, and good-breeding. 1775, Supp. H.D. LXXXIII. A Sa nt whose emblems are naked Boys in a Tub. MR. URBAN, THE very ingenious writer of Observations in a Journey to Paris, in Aug. 1776, just now published in 2 vols. 8vo. at p. 122 of vol. 2, begs to be informed, through the channel of your Magazine, who is the saint whose emblems are two naked children in a bathing-tub, and what these circumstances allude to? The saint, no doubt, is St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Mira in Lycia, of whom I have a very large and fine French print, with the children and tub before him. I have also in my possession an Italian Life of this saint, on the title-page of which 4to. book is the same picture: it is thus intituled, "Historia della Vita, Miracoli, Traslatione, e Gloria dell' illustrissimo Confessor di Christo S. Nicolo il Magno, Arcivescovo di Mira. Composta dal Padre Antonio Beatillo da Bari, della Compagnia di Giesù, Terza Editione. In Napoli. 1645." I think I have discovered the occasion of the boys addressing themselves to his patronage at p. 73 of the book, where we are told the following story, which fully satisfied Isaiah 24, 13.—The ancient prophets and poets frequently mention vineyards: their allusions are too frequent to be transcribed here, but every person acquainted with the sacred writings will easily refer to them. my curiosity without proceeding any farther in a book of this sort, which contains between 4 and 500 pages in a small letter. "The fame of St. Nicholas's virtues was so great, that an Asiatic gentleman, on sending his two sons to Athens for education, ordered them to call on the bishop for his bene diction: but they, getting to Mira late in the day, thought proper to defer their visit till the morrow, and took up their lodgings at an inn, where the landlord, to secure their baggage and effects to himself, murdered them in their sleep, and then cut them into pieces, salting them, and putting them into a pickling-tub, with some pork which was there already, meaning to sell the whole as such. The bishop, however, having had a vision of this impious transaction, immediately resorted to the inn, and calling the host to him, reproached him for his horrid villainy. The man, perceiving that he was discovered, confessed his crime, and entreated the bishop to intercede, on his behalf, to the Almighty for his pardon; who, being moved with compassion at his contrite behaviour, confession, and thorough repentance, besought Almighty God, not only to pardon the murtherer, but also, for the glory of his name, to restore life to the poor innocents, who had been so inhumanly put to death. The saint had hardly finished his prayer, when the mangled and detached pieces of the two youths were, by divine power, reunited, and perceiving themselves alive, threw themselves at the feet of the holy man to kiss and embrace them. But the bishop, not suffering their humiliation, raised them up, exhorting them to return their thanks to God alone for this mark of his mercy, and gave them good advice for the future conduct of their lives: and then giving them his blessing, he sent them with great joy, to prosecute their studies at Athens." This, I suppose, sufficiently explains the naked children and tub; which I never met with in any of the legendaries that I have consulted before. The late learned and worthy Mr. Alban Butler, in his Lives of the Saints, vol. vi. p. 915, A. on December 6, only says, in general, that "St. Nicholas is esteemed a patron of children, because he was from his infancy a model of innocence and virtue; and to form that tender age to sincere piety, was always his first care and delight. I am, Sir, your constant reader, Milton, near Cambridge.. W. C. LXXXIV. The Antiquity of the Woollen Manufacture in England. MR. URBAN, YOUR correspondent, a Sceptical Englishman, doubts if the woollen manufacture was properly established in England before the reign of Edward III. In support of the opinion of the author of Observations on the Means of exciting a Spirit of National Industry, who contends that it was established in England at a much earlier period, I send you the following facts that have occurred in the course of my reading since I perused your Magazine for June last; and I doubt not but those, whose taste lead them more to the study of antiquities than mine does, could furnish many more of the same kind. Mr. Anderson, in the book quoted above, observes, that there was a lawful guild-fraternity of weavers in London so early as the year 1180. But we learn from Mr. Madox, in his History of the Exchequer, that such guild-fraternities were established, not only in London, but in many other parts of the kingdom before that period. Thus, 1140. The Weavers of Oxford pay a mark of gold for their gild. The Weavers of London for their gild £xvi. The Weavers of Lincoln two chasseurs, that they might have their rights. The Weavers of Winchester one mark of gold, to have their customs and liberties, and right to elect the alderman of their gild. And The Fullers of Winchester £vi. for their gild. Mad. Hist. Exch. p. 322. These short notices indicate, that fraternities of weavers were at that time common in many parts of England, and were even then of great antiquity. The business of clothmaking must have been carried on to a considerable extent when it gave rise to a guild-fraternity of Fullers. In farther confirmation of the great antiquity of the art of weaving in England, Gervase of Canterbury, who wrote about the year 1202, in his chronicle, col. 1349, says, when speaking of the inhabitants of Britain, that "the art of weav ing seemed to be a peculiar gift bestowed upon them by nature." Thus it appears, that, at a period long prior to that which modern historians assign as the time when the woollen manufacture was introduced into Britain, it was an art that had been so long practised, as to be reckoned by its |