well-sounding, and as there already exists such a large stock of Janes and Maggies, perhaps we may be allowed to recommend some of them, keeping the others in store till further demand. We suggest, then, the Slavonic Kalina (Lovage), Smiljana (Everlasting), Perunika (Iris), Sokolitza (female hawk); the German Sumertocke (Butterfly), Rosamunde (rosy mouth), Sprinzle (little hawk); the Sanskrit Padmâvati (resembling Lotus); the Greek Abrotonon (southern-wood); the Spanish Esmeralda (Emerald), Azucena (from the Arabic form of Susanna, Lily), Estrella (the same word as the Persian Esther, Star); Zoraide (diminutive of the Arabic Zehra, flower, or the star Venus); the Turkish Vard (Rose), the Persian Lulu (Pearl), the Arabian Rihana (Basil). Not less euphonious are the biblical feminine names of Peninah (Pearl, the same as Margaret), Bashemath (Balsam), Tamar (Palm-tree), Keturah (incense), Hadassah (Myrtle), Deborah (Bee, the same as Ime in Dutch and Melissa in Greek), Rachel (Ewe), Jael (Antelope), Tabitha (the Aramaic equivalent of Dorcas, Roe), Hoglah (Partridge). Very gracious are the names of the three daughters of Job: Jemima (Dove); Keren-happuch (which could be rendered with the Latin Cornu-fuci, horn for the fucus or paint); Keziah, being an imported word, could be rendered by the same sound, Cassia. Let us not forget the lovely names of the two lovely women, Ruth (Benevolence, Friendship) and Naomi (Sweet, Sweetness), who said: "Call me not Naomi, call me Marah "- Embittered, or Bitterness). The last name could easily be rendered by the Latin word Amara; it would depend upon circumstances whether this name should be derived from amare or from amarus. A name similar to that of Naomi occurs in the name of the sister of Tubalcain, Naamah. These three names remind us of another peculiarity of feminine names, which is owing to their more quiet and domestic life. We find abstract nouns as proper names of women. Like the English Grace, we find the Greek names of Charis, Sophia (wisdom), Irene (peace), Elpis (hope); the Spanish names-which seem partly to be taken from holidays-of Consuelo (consolation), Mercedita (diminutive of Merced, Mercy), Encarnacion (incarnation), Natividad (Birth, Christmas), Dolores (pains). The German Mina seems not to be an abbreviation, but the old German word Minne (still existing in Dutch), for Love. Of the same character are the Russian Wära, Ljubow, Nadeshda (Faith, Love, Hope). The above-quoted saying of Naomi, and the happy application which Abigail, in order to mitigate the wrath of David, made out of the coincidence of her husband's name, Nabal, signifying at the same time a fool or wicked man (if she had read the Septuagint, she would have said, in allusion to his family-name, that he was a cynic-man), and many other instances, show us the difference between ancient and modern names. In olden times they could know and did understand the import of names. The oldest traces of etymology and of calembourgs, or puns, we find in reference to proper names. Our names are, for the most part, foreign and traditional; it may therefore often happen that a person does not know the meaning of his own name. But interesting as it may seem to know the original meaning of names, sometimes it is better not to know it, or at least not to tell it. The honest finder of an etymology is sometimes not rewarded, but punished. This was the case, some two hundred years ago, with the French savant Ménage. He had declared the surname Colbert to be nothing else but the Latin collibertus, a freedman. Colbert was at that time prime-minister of France; he considered this explanation as an intended satirical pun upon his name, and persecuted Ménage in every possible way. It was in vain that Ménage declared his innocence-he was disgraced. Whether this be true, or only an invention of Colbert's enemies, the writer of this essay, being aware of this unhap py effect of a happy etymology, is afraid that some such thing might happen to him, too. By going further he would perhaps hurt the feelings of some primeminister, and-who knows what would happen? He would therefore-although he has much more to say about John, Bridget, and many other namesprefer to take leave of his friend John, and to conclude (not finish-vide Crabb) his song about proper names, saying, with Ariosto: "Piacciavi udir nell' altro canto il resto, A MORNING AMONG AUTOGRAPHS. MR. OLD's collection is particularly rich in mementoes of the great civil war of England, and of the events that led to it. There are in it specimens not of the mere handwriting, but of the correspondence, of Charles I., Prince Rupert, Lord Falkland, Oliver Cromwell, Selden, Pym, Sir Harry Vane the younger, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and other leading men of that stirring and stormy period. From the king himself there are several, each set off by a rare portrait-in one instance, a curious equestrian one by Hollar, with a battle-field visible under the horse's legs; in another, also by Hollar, what seems to be facimile of the statue at Charing Cross; in another, a Vandyke engraved by Peter de Jode; in another, another Vandyke by W. Sharp; in still another, a head by Mytens from the inimitable burin of Delph. Here is one that lacks not a circumstantial interest. holograph despatch to Prince Rupert, dated from the field of Edgehill, and written at the top of a foolscap sheet which is much stained and frayed. The outside and the address are wanting. Thus it runs : It is a Nepheu, I have given order as you have desyred, so that I d'out not but all the foot and cañon will bee at Eggehill betymes this morning, where you will also fynde Your loving Oncle and faithfull frend, A different and far graver interest attaches to my next citation from the same source; nor is there probably extant any single letter from the king, III. which affords to the student of history and of human nature so deep an insight into his strangely complicated character. Often did the Puritans accuse him of a leaning toward Roman Catholicism, and of active sympathy with its professors. This confidential communication would seem to dispose of that charge; yet, at the same time, it is impossible not to recognize in it a suspicious readiness to temporize, and to adapt his policy to circumstances. At any rate, without further pause upon its merits or its meaning, it is reproduced as a document well worth attentive examination. Nor do I believe that this letter from Charles I. to the Marquis of Ormond, then administering the government in Ireland, is known to one reader in a hundred, since it has never been published heretofore, save in Carte's Memoirs of that nobleman, a work not in many hands. That it was written with deliberation is evident from the neatness and plainness of the text, all by the king's own hand. The envelope in which it was enclosed is very ragged and worn. Two small seals, with the royal arms thereupon, yet remain unbroken, though the silken fastening has disappeared. The contents are as follows; but, before giving them, I may add that, subsequently to the acquisition of this state-paper (as it may well be called) there fell into Mr. Old's possession a letter from Charles to Prince Rupert, dated July 26, 1645, in which he says: "I am sending new despache into Irland wherein 1 not only seeke to hasten the supplyes in generall, but lykewis in particular to incourage the Marquis of Ormond himselfe to come over." Five days later another proof, perhaps, of the care with which the missive was concocted-the hard-driven sovereign thus expressed himself: Cardif 31 July 1645 Ormond, it hath pleased God, by many successive misfortunes, to reduce my affaires of late from a very prosperous condition, to so low an eb, as to be a perfect tryel of all men's integrities to me, and you being a person whom I considered as most entyrly and generously resolved to stand and fali with your King, I doe principally rely upon you for your utermost assistance in my present hazards. I have comanded Digby to acquainte you at large with all particulars of my condition, what I have to hope, trust too, or feare, wherin you will fynde, that if my expectation of relife out of Irland be not in some good measure, and speedely, answered, I am lykely to be reduced to great extremities. I hope some of those expresses I sent you, since my misfortune by the Battaile of Nazeby, ar come to you, and am therfor confident that you ar in a good forwardness for the sending over to me a considerable supply of Men, Artillery, and Amunition. All that I have to add is, that the necessety of your speedy performing them, is made much more pressing by new disasters, so that I absolutly comand you (what hazard soever that Kingdome may run by it) personally to bring up all the Forces, of what sort soever you can draw from thence, and leave the Governement there (during your absence) in the fittest hands that you shall judge to discharge it, for I may not want you heere to comand those forces which will be brought from thence, and such as, from hence, shall be joyned to them. But you must not understande this, as a permission for you to grant to the Irish (in case they will not otherwais have a Peace) anything more in matter of Religion, than what I have alowed you allready, except only, in some convenient Parishes, where the much greater number ar Papists, I give you power to permitt them to have some places, which they may use as Chapells for theire Devotions, if there be no other impediment for obtaining a Peace, but I will rather chuse to suffer all extremities, than ever to abandon my Religion, and particularly ether to English or Irish Rebels, to which effect I have comanded Digby to wryt to their Agents that were employed hither, giving you power to cause deliver, or suppresse the letter, as you shall judge best for my services. To conclude, if the Irish shall so unworthily take advantage of my weake condition, as to presse me to that which I cannot grant with a safe Conscience, and withoute it to reject a Peace, I comand you, if you can, to procure a further Cessation, if not, to make what divisions you can among them, and rather leave it to the chance of Warr betweene them, and those Forces which you have not power to draw to my assistance, then to give my consent to any such allowance of Popery, as must evidently bring destruction to that Profession which, by the grace of God, I shall ever maintaine through all extremities. I know, Ormond, that I impose a very hard Taske upon you, but if God prosper me, you will be a happy and glorious subject; if otherwais, you will perishe, nobly and generously, with and for him who is Your constant reall faithfull Frend, In marked contrast with the foregoing composition, wherein the pathetic and the politic are so obviously mingled, is the blunt and unlabored epistle that follows. Whatever may be thought of Oliver Cromwell's sincerity at certain epochs of his career, there is no room to suspect this familiar but earnest communication. It breathes the spirit of the writer's time, and is essentially the outspeaking of his nature. Mr. Carlyle has found a place for it among his gathered Letters and Speeches of the Protector; but, in his pages, the spelling and the punctuation have been modernized by the penman who copiec it, or by the printer who put it int print, and this juxtaposition of ola phraseology, with the lettered mode of to-day, detracts somewhat from its effect. It is as though one should paint old Noll in a chimney-pot hat and in trowsers. I reproduce this letter, there fore, textually from the original, all the more that it is in itself remarkable. I made no note of the condition of the manuscript or in respect to the penmanship; but here are the words writ by Oliver's own hand, omitting only, for convenience sake, a reference in the margin of the original to "2 Peter, i. 4," apparently an afterthought, opposite the passage alluding to St. Paul. Dick Cromwell. I take your letteres kindlye. I like expressions when they come plainlye from the heart, and are not strayned nor affected. I am perswaded it's the Lord's mercye to place you where you are. I wish you may owne itt, and bee thankdfull, fullfillinge all relations to the therefore labor to knowe A Christ, wch the sidered desirable to leave no record.. Mr. Old, however, showed me a letter from Napoleon to the citizen Berlier dated "Antiber, Prairial, l'an 2," with the extremely rare signature Buonaparte. Again, the flatterers of the living Emperor of the French have taken pains to set aside an impression-possibly malicious-that his majesty's grandmother wooed and won the founder of his dynasty; that is to say, that the mother of Hortense made more marked advances to the rising General, than are usually considered becoming on the part of her sex. This, I say, may be all scandal; nevertheless, here is a little billet-doux from the fair Josephine, that has never been in print hitherto, and that may or may not elucidate that point. It is dated the 1st Ventose, and runs thus in terms reproachfully tender: than fragments Λ Intend to vnderstand the estate I have setled, it's your concernment to knowe itt all, and how itt stands. I have heretofore suffered much by too much trustinge others. I know my Brother Major wilbe helpful to you in all this. You will think (perhaps) I need not advisee you to love your wife; the Lord teach you how to doe itt, or else itt wilbee done ilfavoredly. Though moi, j'ai besoin de vous voir, et de causer avec marriage bee noe instituted sacrament, yett where the vndefiled bedd is, and love, this union aptlye resembles Christ and his Church. can If you trulye love your Wife, what doth to his minde. I would not have him solicitous. 0. CROMWELL. From and after the time when Napoleon Buonaparte became First Consul, infinite pains were taken, in all departments of the state and through many agencies, to destroy or obliterate every document that bore the great man's name, spelled as it is here printed. The u was obnoxious, because it testified to his Italian origin, of which it was con Vous ne venez plus voir une amie qui vous aime. Vous l'avez tout à fait délaissée. Vous avez bien tort, car elle vous est tendrement attachée. Venez demain sept déjeuner avec vous sur vos interêts. Bon soir, mon ami, je vous embrasse. VEUVE BEAUHARNAIS. Au Général Bonaparte. All the world knows the story of Mozart and the mysterious stranger; how the unknown one engaged, the composer to write him a requiem, paying in advance the whole or a large portion of the covenanted price; how he appeared suddenly at intervals, urging the completion of the work; how the engagement and the weird manner in which it was followed up preyed upon Mozart's fragile nerves and sensitive temperament; how he came to regard this requiem as his own funeral dirge; and how he died, under this impression, before the task was finished. The last letter that I borrow from one of Mr. Old's portfolios, furnishes convincing proof that there is no exaggeration in the tale. I do not know to whom it was addressed, as the superscription and envelope are wanting. It is in Italian, beautifully written in a fine clear hand. Several years ago, Mr. Old allowed a fac-simile of it to be made for the opening number of "The Autograph Souvenir," a periodical started in London for the purpose of reproducing the most valuable and authentic autographs in private collcctions, but not carried on beyond a few numbers. Translated into English, these are the contents: Most honored Sir, I would follow your advice, but know not how. My head is troubled, and I can scarcely compose; yet I cannot rid my sight of the figure of this unknown person. I see him perpetually; he requests, solicits, importunes me for the work. I continue, because composing fatigues me less than repose. Besides, I have no longer any thing to fear. I know by my own feelings that the hour approaches, and that I must shortly breathe my last. I have finished before I have enjoyed the fruits of my talent. Yet life has been so sweet, and my career opened before me under such fortunate auspices. But we cannot change our destiny. No one measures his own days; we must therefore be resigned. Whatever Providence ordains will be accomplished, and now I conclude; this is my funeral dirge, I ought not to leave it unfinished. Not content with correspondence that throws light on individual character, or on mooted historical points, Mr. Old has in his possession three or four very valuable manuscripts, with the mention of which I conclude my reminiscences. They are, by their form and bulk, inadmissible into the portfolios of assorted letters, though curiously rivalling some of these in interest. Thus, doubly strange did it seem to me to hold in hand a document that once belonged to Titian; and that bears the sign-manual of Charles V.; and well may Mr. Old pride himself on owning it. It is a deed engrossed in Latin, upon a sheet of parchment measuring eighteen inches by thirteen, whichafter reciting that the Emperor had previously conferred upon the artist a pension of the same amount-grants to him an additional annual pension of a hundred scudi or crowns. It is dated at Augusta Vindelicorum-the modern Augsburg-10 June, 1548; is countersigned by some official personage, whose name is not legible; and has sundry endorsements. The seal is missing, though its place is marked. The signature "Carolus" is in keeping with the text, and his various titles are thus recorded in the body of the deed itself: "Emperor, Imperator Augustus of the Roman Empire, and King of Germany, Jerusalem, Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy and Brabant, Count of Hapsburg, Flanders, and the Tyrol." I con fess that I could not but handle this precious relic with peculiar reverencenot awed by imaginary contact with the holder of so many dignities, but by ideal communion for the moment with him who painted "Peter Martyr.” Fitting companion to this is another parchment-sheet, twenty-two inches by thirteen, and also writ in Latin, by which Philip, the son of Charles V., recites the above-mentioned grant, and continues it to Titian's son Horace. This deed is dated at Madrid, 5 July, 1571, and is signed "Yo El Rey." It is very much stained and worn, and the name countersigned on it is also illegible. It is sealed-not in wax, but by a stamp-with the royal arms of Spain. Coming down a century later, here is something that brings back at a glance the palmy days of Marly and Versailles. Five sheets of foolscappaper, formally attached together, are covered by a notarial contract of mar riage, and by the names of attesting witnesses. The espousing parties are M. Emanuel de Crussol, Comte de Crus sol, and July Marie de Saint Maure. The great ones of their time and place, who approved and appended their respective signatures, are-Louis XIV. ; Marie Therèse, his wife; Anne of Austria, his mother; the Dauphin; Philip of Orleans, brother of the King and father of the future Regent; Henriette Anne, daughter of Charles I., and wife of Philip of Orleans; the Ducs de St. Simon, de Noailles, de Brissac, de Grammout, and de la Rochefoucauld ; Colbert, Le Tellier, and others. They are about forty in all; and every name is associated with the contemporaneous history or the abounding court-gossip |