ected by the women and children in the country, and sold in the
neighbouring towns by the quart. There is a double-flowered species of
bramble, and one which bears _white_ berries. The fruit of the dwarf
crimson (_R. araticus_), and that of the cloudberry (_R. chamaemorus_),
are highly prized in Scotland and Sweden, and in the latter country
are much used in sauces and soups, and for making vinegar; and Dr
Clarke says, that he was cured of a bilious fever by eating great
quantities. The cloudberry, which grows on the tops of the highest
mountains, is the badge of the clan Macfarlane. The bramble seems to
be of almost universal extent, at least it is found at the utmost
limits of phaenogamous vegetation; and we are led to remark the
goodness of God in thus providing a plant which combines so many
valuable qualities, and so many useful parts, capable of extending
itself so freely in defiance of all impediments, and of standing so
many vicissitudes of climate, without the aid of culture or care. The
bramble is emphatically the property of the poor; its fruit may be
gathered without restriction; its shoots, both in their young
medicinal state, and in their harder and tougher growth, are theirs to
use as they will; and their children may enjoy the sport of
blackberry-picking, and the profits of blackberry-selling, none saying
them nay; and many a pleasant and wholesome pudding or pie is to be
found on tables in blackberry season, where such dainties are not
often seen at any other time, unless, indeed, we except the
whortleberry season. The poet Cowper sings of--

Berries that emboss
The bramble black as jet;

and truly a plant which diffuses so many benefits, even under the
least advantageous circumstances, may well deserve encomium.

NICHOLAS POUSSIN.

Nicholas Poussin was born at Andelys, in Normandy, in June 1593. His
father, Jean Poussin, had served in the regiment of Tauannes during
the reigns of Charles IX., Henry III., and Henry IV., without having
risen to any higher rank than that of lieutenant. Happening to meet in
the town of Vernon a rich and handsome young widow, Jean Poussin
married her, left the service, and retired with his wife to the
pleasant village of Andelys, where, in a year afterwards, Nicholas was
born. His childhood resembled that of many other great painters.
Whitewashed walls scribbled over with landscapes--school-books defaced
with sketches, which _then_ drew down anger and