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��Origin and Meaning of Proper Names.
��persons and places must be among the earliest forms of human s[)eech. " Of all the faculties," says Mr. Far- rar, wherewith God has endowed His noblest creature, none is more divine and ra3'sterious than the faculty of speech. It is the gift whereby man is raised above the beasts : the gift whereby soul speaks to soul ; the gift whereby mere pulses of articu- lated air become breathing; thouohts and burning words ; the gift whereby we understand the affections of men, and give expression to the worship of God ; the gift whereby the lip of di- vine inspiration uttering things sim- ple and unperfumed and unadorned, reacheth with its passionate voice through a thousand generations by the help of God." One of the earli- est uses on record of this divine gift to man was in the naming of the creatures which God had made ; and " whatsoever Adam called every liv- ing thing, that was the name thereof." The beasts, birds, fishes, and insects which Adam then named, have re- paid the debt of gratitude they owed him by returning the favor a thousand fold, and giving their names to whole families of his descendants. This is literally true in all languages. In our own tongue almost every animal has its representative man. Consider the following catalogue of surnames collected by Mr. Lower, which are common to men and quadrupeds: " Ass, Bear, Buck, Badger, Bull, Bul- lock, Boar, Beaver, Catt, Colt, Cone}', Cattle, Cow, Calfe, Deer, Doe, Fox, Fawn, Goat, Goodsheep, Hart, Hogg, Hare, Lamb, Hound, Heifer, Kine, Kitten, Kydd, Lyon, Leppard, Lev- eret, Mare, Mule, Mole, Oxen, Otter, Oldbuck, Panther, Puss, Poodle,
��Palfrey, Pigg, Roebuck, Ram, Rab- bit, Roe, Setter, Steed, Stallion, Steer, Squirrel, Seal, Stagg, Tiger, Wildbore, and Weatherhogg."
His list of birds, represented by human names, is so striking that it will perhaps repay perusal. It is this: "Bird, Blackbird, Bunting, Bulfinch, Buzzard, Coote, Crane, Cock, Cuckoo, Crake, Chick, Chick- en, Chaffinch, Crowe, Capou, Drake, Duck, Dove, Daw, Egles, Fowle, Finch, Falcon, Goshawk, Grouse, Gander, Goose, Gosling, Gull, Gold- finch, Hawke, Howlett, Heron, Hearne, Jay, Kite, Linnet, Lark, Mallard, Nightingale, Peacock, Par- tridge, Plieasant, Pidgeon, Parrot, Raven, Rooke, Ruff, Swan, Sparrow, Swallow, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stork, Swift, Turtle, Teale, Thrush, Throssel, Wildrake, Wildgoose, Woodcock, Woodpecker, and Wren." These are true and ancient names, as Tacitus says of the old German ap- pellations of tribes, — " Eaque vera et antiqua nomina." They are suffi- ciently unique yet authentic, having been all identified from written re- cords. The various finny tribes walk the earth with countenances erect, from the " Whale " to the " Smelt ; " from the " Sharke " to the "Sprat" and "Gudgeon." But there are still gradations of names descending to in- sects and vegetables. Think of a hero rejoicing in the euphonious name of "Flea," "Fly," "Spider," or "Worm." Could a man, bearing such a name, ever rise to eminence? Who would vote for a statesman whose name was " Bugg," "Wasp," or "Moth"? Yet, "What's in a name?"
If Alexander had borne the name
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