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to himself. Many unfortunate, and probably most worthy men, annoyed and hunted by the wits of the court of Charles II., have among all their sorrows, left on record their thanks to God that their name was not capable of being made the subject of an anagram or a pun!

Subjoined are a few examples. The first lines were written on one of the Earls of Kildare :

Who killed Kildare-who dared Kildare to kill?
Death killed Kildare, who dares kill whom he will.

On Lord Rendlesham's elevation to the peerage, the following lines were written :

Says Thellusson to Huskisson, you're not a true peer as I am-
Says Huskisson to Thellusson, you're only Rendle-sham!

The next lines were written by a witty friend on the bankruptcy of a person of the name of Homer:

That Homer should a bankrupt be,

Is not so very Odd-d'ye-see;
If it be true, as I'm instructed,
So Ill-he-hud his books conducted.

The distinction between a nickname and a surname is very small; in fact a nickname, hallowed by the sacred touch of the historian's pen, becomes immediately transformed into a lasting surname. A nickname

has often fixed the wavering love of a people for their sovereign, or banished from him the last vestige of their affection. A coarse and degrading nickname descriptive of a man's wickedness or folly, will circulate rapidly from mouth to mouth, and soon overwhelm his name with contempt and hatred

name.

Discit enim citius meminitque libentius illud

Quod quis deridet, quam quod probat et veneratur.

The common proverb "give a dog a bad name and you hang him," originated in the following manner :-A dog snatched a piece of meat out of a butcher's stall, and ran off with it. The butcher, who was a quaker, said," Friend, I will not hurt thee, but I will give thee a bad With that he ran after it, shouting out lustily, "Mad dog-mad dog!" Upon which a number of boys who were at play in the street, pursued the dog and soon destroyed him. And many a man since then, who has not had the courage to strike the blow himself, has procured the destruction of an enemy by raising the cry " Mad dog-mad dog," in the form of a bitter or satirical nickname.

The nicknames that adhere most tenaciously to the memory of an individual are often derived from his own name slightly altered-in fact from a pun upon his own name. Thus Tiberius Nero, who was inordinately fond of wine, was nicknamed Biberius Nero; and the fourth Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes-The Illustrious-was, from his destruction of Jerusalem and cruelty to the Jews, surnamed by them Epimanes-The Furious!

The first revolutionists of Holland (like the Sans Culottes of France) were contemptuously called "Les Greux"- the beggars. This name they accepted in defiance, and wore in their hats, instead of brooches,

NAMES AND SURNAMES.

The

small wooden platters, similar to those used by the beggars.
Lazaroni of Naples derived their name in the same manner, from the word
Lazar, which signifies literally "a leprous beggar." So also in our own
country, the grim functionaries of the law glory in the name of Jack
Ketch, which is by no means a fabulous creation of the mind as some
may suppose, but was the execrated name of the executioner who, on
the 15th of July, 1685, beheaded on Tower-hill the amiable and popular
And, to go back to ancient times, Diogenes the
Duke of Monmouth.
Cynic adopted the name of dog (Kunos), with which his enemies desig-
nated him, in consequence of his snarling temper, which name was also
adopted by the sect of which he was the founder-the Cynic.

Some names are singularly fortunate in their derivations. Addison, it is well known, signed the papers he wrote in the Spectator with some one or other of the four letters that spell the name "Clio," which we have already seen signifies "Glory." The name of the Emperor of France is probably one of the most extraordinary in the whole realms of history. This subject is treated with his usual skill by the present Archbishop of Dublin, in a very extraordinary production entitled "Historic Doubts relative to Napoleon Buonaparte." "Is it not just possible," he says, "that during the rage for Greek derivations the title of Napoleon' (Naroλewv), which signifies Lion of the Forest, may have been conferred by the popular voice on more than one favourite general, distinguished for irresistible valour? Is it not also possible that BUONA PARTE may have been originally a sort of cant term applied to the good (that is bravest or most patriotic) part of the French army collectively; and have been afterwards mistaken for the proper name of an individual?

This double meaning in the name of Buonaparte was on one occasion employed to advantage: When the French were in Italy the following sentence was found written on the wall of one of the public buildings in Rome "Tutti i Francesi sono ladroni." To which the next morning the following words were affixed-" Non tutti-ma buona parte."

A man once well known in Ireland, was called Jerusalem Whally. He was married to the eldest sister of the present Lord Cloncurry. He got this nom de guerre from the following circumstance as related by Lord C. in his late memoirs. He won a wager by performing a journey to Jerusalem on foot, except so far as it was necessary to cross the sea, and finished the exploit by playing ball against the walls of that celebrated city. "He was a perfect specimen," says Lord Cloncurry, "of the Irish gentleman of the olden time. Gallant, reckless, and profuse, he made no account of money, life, or limb, when a bet was to be won or a daring deed accomplished. He spent a fine fortune in pursuits not more profitable than his expedition to play ball at Jerusalem; and rendered himself a cripple for life by jumping from the dining-room window of Daly's Coffee-house upon the roof of a hackney coach which was passing."

A more distinguished man than Jerusalem Whally was Manlius Torquatus. He obtained his surname as follows:-In a war between the Romans and the Galls, he accepted the challenge of one of the enemy, whose gigantic stature and ponderous arms had rendered him terrible, almost invincible in the eyes of the Romans. Manlius stripped him of his arms, including a remarkable collar (called torquis) the Gall wore round his neck, and from which he was ever afterwards surnamed Torquatus: for he, like Malachi,

Wore the collar of gold,

Which he won from the proud invader.

Another of the same family, Marcus Manlius, who, alarmed by the cackling of a flock of geese, saved the capitol when it was attacked by the enemy, gained the surname of Capitolinus; but when he was afterwards found guilty of a conspiracy against the state, and thrown down the Tarpeian rock, a decree was passed declaring that none of the family should ever afterwards bear the name of Marcus.

There was rather a classical superstition among the ancient Romans and Greeks. They believed that the shades of the dead would receive pleasure from hearing their names repeated frequently upon the earth; and that their spirits would continue happy and blessed, as long as their names lived among us. For this reason, countries and cities were named after individuals, from a pious regard to their memories, or in expiation of some fault. Thus, Hercules, having unintentionally contributed to the death of Pholus, one of the Centaurs, buried him with care, and called the mountain where his remains were deposited "Pholoe."

Rather a singular circumstance occurs to us in relation to the name of God. A belief in the divinity is not only spread over the whole surface of the earth, but the different names by which he is distinguished, appear to have all emanated from one common root. Thus-Theos, Theo, Deo, Dia, Zeu, Jove, and Jehovah (which in the oriental has but four letters), all originally sprang from the same root.

The Romans, it has already been remarked, attached great weight to the name borne by an individual. Those who possessed favoured names enjoyed many privileges denied probably to more meritorious citizens. Such names were styled by Cicero "Bona nomina," and by Tacitus, "Fausta nomina;" and even the philosophic Livy so far forgot his philosophy, as to style Atrius Umber-" abominandi ominis nomen. This feeling was so general, as to give birth to proverbs embodying that idea in probably every country in the world. Thus

And our own—

"Bonum nomen-bonum omen;

"Like name-like nature."

"

Those who possessed propitious names amongst the Romans, were first called to assist at the sacrifices and the solemnities that accompanied the foundation of a new colony; and, although we may ridicule such superstition in others, yet it is a feeling by which we are, to a certain extent, influenced.

"I appeal to your good sense and candour," said Sterne, "if any motive could have prevailed upon you to consent that your son should have been christened Judas Iscariot; had a Jew made you the offer, with a very large sum of money in case you complied, I am sure you would have turned from the tempter with abhorrence; convinced that the name, accompanying him through life like his shadow, would affect his moral qualities, and make him a miserly, treacherous rascal."

J. P.

MILDREIADOS:

(From un old MS.)

EDITED BY CAMDEN VAVASOUR, LL.D.

IT hath been suggested to me by certain ingenious persons, that, in giving to the world, from the original manuscript, this hitherto unpublished Threnode, I should do well if I appended to the same some few critical indicia and annotations. Deferring to their worthy judgments, I have here set down, after my own poor fashion, a few hasty observations, which, albeit they are not required by the skilful, may yet peradventure be both pleasant and profitable to those less conversant in such matters. I will not deny, that they are slight, or as it may seem to some-superficial; yet were he but an ill-advised seaman who should endanger the safety of his bark by overloading it: and, to be frank-as is my wont-this Threnode, or poetic lament upon the defunct Lady Mildred, is not calculated to sustain a heavy freightage in the way of criticism or comment. Nathless, it possesseth a reasonable portion of desert, and although the author's Helicon be at times somewhat muddy, showing that he hath drunk of the stream rather in its downward course than at its fountain-head, still hath he a zeal and earnestness in his delivery that may supply the place of other qualities, and even excuse him, though he often indulgeth in that vice of speech which is known by the name of bombast or fustian.

The heroine of this Threnode was a daughter of Sir Gamaliel Capel, of Rookwood Hall, in Abbess-Rothing, or Roding-Abbess. She married Sir William Luckyn, and brought him two daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom, Sir Capel Luckyn, Bart., married Mary, daughter of Sir Harbottle Grimston, who in his day was Speaker to the House of Commons, and was seated at Messing Hall. Their son, William Luckyn, Esq., M.P. for St. Alban's, inherited the large estates of his uncle, Sir Samuel Grimston, and was created a Peer of Ireland in 1719, under the title of Viscount Grimston. His descendant and representative is the present Earl of Verulam. Any farther particulars in regard to the family descent I pretermit and pass by, as belonging rather to the province of the genealogist, and shall rather shew how and in

what manner the manuscript fell into my hands; and this for the removing of any doubts that might else arise as touching its authenticity.

This document was kindly imparted to the Editor of our Magazine by the Rev. Dr. Mountain,* of the Heath, Herts, Rector of Blunham, who did himself receive it about thirty years agone, from a maiden maternal aunt, Mrs. Jane Kentish, formerly of Little Bardfield Hall, Essex. The same did come into

her possession with other family papers, on the death of her grandmother, Mrs. Wale, who died at the advanced age of ninety-four.

Having thus imparted to the reader all that I have thought worthy of his attention, in connection with the Lady Mildred, I must now commend him to the perusal of the Threnode.

C. V.

Mildreiados.

ΤΟ

THE BLESSED MEMORY OF THAT FAYRE MANUSCRIPT OF VIRTUE AND

UNBLEMISH'D HONOR

MILDRED

LADY LUCKYN,

LATE WIFE OF SIR WILLIAM LUCKYN,

OF LITTLE WALTHAM IN THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, BART.,

THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF SIR GAMALIEL CAPELL, OF ROOKWOODS HALL, IN THE SAME COUNTY, KNIGHT;

CONSECRATED

Semper honorandt

ΤΟ

MY HONBLE AND DEARE FRIEND

SIR WILLIAM LUCKYN,

BARONET.

Sr, to whom can these leaves so properly owe themselves as to you, whose the author is, and to whom the blessed life and death of this Saynted Lady hath bin and is, (to my knowledge) a religious and continued Meditation; she was yours, and the tearms whereon you parted with her was no ill Bargayne; having a double interest (and in that a treble blessing) for yeares, how could you expect lesse then to lose the Principall? But Almighty God hath showne himself so gratious a dealer, that we look for extraordinary Penyworths from his bountiful hand. Your wisdom knows practically that our Affections must keepe silence, when his Will's a Speaker. He knew her fitter for Heav'n then earth,

* Dr. Mountain is the eldest son of the late Dr. Jacob Mountain, Bishop of Quebec, by Elizabeth Mildred Wale Kentish, his wife, co-heiress of Bardfield Hall, Essex. †The mice have, critic-like, nibbled at this corner of the manuscript, and destroyed it. The lacuna, however, or place which remains to be supplied is not much.-C. V.

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