NAME AND DESTINY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 901, 22 August 1910, Page 8

NAME AND DESTINY.

fv'v SOCRATIC ADVICE. ,;_ :' WHAT THE STATEMIGHT DO.

; '•; '[By J.Q.X.] '■' -

|.:>..' '.If Jack.-Wellington, tho baby waif '..v; .who received his name with - duo for- .;:'.; mality in the Magistrate's Court, as ■':■ , r : reported in dast Monday's-paper, reads ■'/, Montaigne when he grows up, he may :■: 'see,, that, '.in one respect at least, his f.-'v lot could, reasonably., be ...coveted by l :; V vsome whohave had an apparently less t,-- .•"■' inauspicious -.'start/in, life.- Says that %■.■'['■: most informal of philosophers, "whoso P - . 'advice not'to'read his book I find myself f", less and less; inclined to; take.:— -.- , < ['. ;'■-■:"I "It'is--very commodious to have s'.: : -a woll-soundingi and smooth name, f-;:'..;. and which is'.'ea-sie:to be pronounced, [ ! ','; and facile to be remembered. For | ;':. Kings, Princes,. Lords, and Magis- {-'{.''-;";•; tratcs .know .and remember us the r.: ; v'better.'by them and'will not so soon Vv'r : ::'.forget:.us:": : ;."-- .'■' % 'And even if Jack Wellington does :.->■ '.-'. not stand .before kings (-before magis- ;; - tratcslet iis hope he will never stand), :,'he may-verify the next . sentence ■of ;,;>:"' Montaigne:—: .'-. ,;.: .' '.'■' . ■I-. ■■:. :"Marke:but of those that serve , :•:-,: .and,follow us, .whether.wo doe.not"' ■: ; -'.,-' r !.moreV ordinarily command and V. '...^sooner..employ such ...whoso names' . iv'-"-..-'■'." come .readier to: pur. ..tongue or- "••' memdrie." ■,-:'.' v.. 7.'■'-'.:'.•';. These:sentences are' a sufficient ■""-:-.'■ 'swer to: the Shakespearean question, :';;..''What's in a name?"— a question that ,':':. 6hakespeare, with his great;experience ;.,.-' : in naming the children.of'his imagiiia:.;::'ition, would 'never have asked in his 'V. . : '.own person;{.Hes-knew thateven: if;, "a ;- ; ; V rose by lanv -other name would smell .-■'.; .as sweet," it would not sound as sweet: '~.:';:.-.• "No one doubts," according to Mr. ::'.r : Zangwillj "that 'people's names, may hi .'have an: influence on their lives." He :";.'. proceeds:" to declare, -as equally in- ...;• '. duiitable,: that "in the case 'of the -.:/ Christian name at least, children ought" f...-,to:\be.'protected,by"the State against ■ o.■'0 .■' 'the .bad taste and. the cruelty■ of-tlieir 'parents." ' If so, Jack Wellington, is ::" " indeed to be envied in having'his whole •■'•'.: name reviewed and sanctioned, -by a ■.v.-'.-,'stipendiary magistrate. Should not all .:;;; babies in like: manner be,brought'inio .'■..court'to:bo named?'- -And, if so, why •'::(''should.his .Worship,stop.at that? Why: i.;> i'.should, he not protect other; infants, .;'';,•;besides Jack Wellington, against. tho ;-V ■ possible bad' taste and cruelty of'.their : : -.parents by fixing their, religion : and' ;;-V,, : committing.them, to the caro ; of some | r :;,";well-conducted institution ? Mr. Zang:':.;:'will -and the' other extenders of tho. .■f i ,'iunctiohs of the State .would lower— i'v-'.they .would;say riiisti—every .'• child' tu; ;.,,-.,'■;:the;level-'of .a. foundling. - ;•■ •',' -'■'.-.;.- ■ . c',',:v:;:.Without.taking'.'the.notion too seri--i\'':' ; : pusly, .1 would express a; fear-that a ;';;.;';Bystom:.bf State-revised: naming would :7-.A, lead. at, first to a monotonous' frequency :.';.-;i._of Joseph G. Wards, and afterwards :,:;;:;,: to a 'wearisome .reiteration of .William,while thero would.be quitd In -all-ages 'people' have; liked, to name their children 'after, their rulers, ;and-: the : tendency would .be enormously, encour- [;.;'. ;v ; :aged ..if'.the State,:.took :a. hand 1 'iii:.tho jV/; -business/.-;!;, assume ;that surnames, |iT:.' I 't:Which '.really, matter more;than -Chrisf,'",,,;:tiah',narnes, -would':come ' under -! the f; ;,';-samp. regulative'process. The obvious- }';...';. remedy forrthe"- thousand " inconveni T f,.;;; ehces ~ .-of.;'-the:-' loyal ,f.nd / partisan !,J;.';'{rnoriotony'. would, be, a .'comprehensive t;:';' system of lettering'and it, f'^'.wis:' well-'Juiown,' that .Government; De- 1 Apartments; always adopt- tho, compre-'. i': ;■'■; iensive and the obvious. I should hate |;Ji'-' because 'I-havo '■ a ; bad' rC ■.;'; memory';; for- figures. ''At :the end' of a j/; : ;V .twenty-minute dispute : with B 24,165 ti ■■:■■ %e should.discoyer-that I had been de-('.•-':;;faming K 43,692, while he had been depifi } fending ;K-':49,826.' : '- So other 'peo-. K';'■■ ;.-;plo' cannot; remember -figures 'that we fr...', : :'. should have'to, invent nicknames .for iv.;.-.:.,'eac.h other; .The nicknames would rush t:i.','.;:ihto.:.the. newspapers and: creep -into' tV',:-:legal- documents..We shoulduse.trade-[;.'';,-.'.names,'and :place-names in the 'same' rcV; way, and.after a:generation or two we |;,;,' '-should be; back again -in; the ; present v.-.. '.position.' The - process of getting tlio fi:,;,,; nation" ; Christian-named; and surnamed, [' : ;; ; .::-' all_ over again would be a■ mere : repo- ; T .-' :tition bf whatwas dono in a 'very simiE'_; ; 'V,,"lar:.faßbion. i a 'thousand, years, ago, ;ahd. SM,:-:;,lias -been -tinkered .at.ever since, and. i' : ; V"will ;be .tinkered at until the. end of f,;i'':;-timeiV''i''.'.'•'.'"'".-.: ':.-'.■■:."■'■'-■■■'"■ I' -. ;,',' Wherefore, it. appears that the power f:'.;.;■-..-:.:of.' the'Stateito protect people'. from i/:,'; cruelty; and' bad taste is not unlimited. !': ;- Jn the long,run, . ■'■■~" >;, ;'•■'. ;v '.":■ ';.;•' "The' right to': be a cussed f001'..- ;.':.'•-; M ls safe'from all devices human; : • fr.:-.:'":■: It's'common (ez-a gih'l;rule). [1; vi ;' To' every-.' critter born o'- • p.v 4 , : And it makes life much more interest- [-. i'/ing.,'Unfortunately, in. this matter of" s. ~; .iUaming,: the fool is not the one who :,,;.;, 'suffers, most'from .his folly, and there- .;,: fore we; shall all-be ready .to go-as far, ,i>.'- ; -as .Montaigne.when ho adopts the say-;'v-'ing of; Socrates:—"lt ;ought to' be- a ;\ ~..:; father's: special, care to give his children ;/:.;,; good,.and easie-sdunding names; 11 : , ,' '~y-.Who has not.'felt sorry,for Jchabod? ■';':> ('He-was,named thus because his father, ',-; ;' thought ''tho glory .had"> departed. 1 '; I ./..•.'suspect that' if things "took a .bettor :,.'.,'',''■'tarn when he. grew up, he called himself [■''.'.•'). 'something more: cheerful. 1:,:.'. 'Sobrews might name their ■ .children !'-. ■;:..'according /to their ' own passing moods, i;.-.-'>-'■ but-.to make n change later on was f. ; v,: : ;'considered quite ,a proper,-thing: : Our [■.':, .trouble is that, unless we 'are raised to ;.;' v the peerage, orgo.oh the O.stago, or I'';. ;• -j.'become.'inconveniently known to ■'■'■' tlio N::-'\';.-pDlice;;we;ar'e'oxpectcd. to carry through. i.':;:.;;,. life the names that were given, us When < t :";..we w.cre 100 young- to,object. ' i'-. .";■::'.:'Sometimes,'in what, appear to bo 'i J,.\th© '-■ most deplorable cases, there are. f .'compensations.' A.friend of mine whoso ;..;:' jiatronymic.-:is anything but "easie- ,::; :,Bouhding"; or "facile-;tb he remembered" . : :''.' '—kt.'.u's call. it'.-. Scroughwricghe—-tells '■'.I ;ine that he would not change.it.' He \ ; V,is.so fortunate.as not to be ' at. the "..-;'■ beck- and- call of:anybody,.and he does ,:.' not seek; the favours of kings, princes, : or magistrates... He.is.by disposition a- .■ rocluse,-, and'. he pleases himself,'with -,"'::, the -notion ■: that the difficulty of .;pro- '.'-. nouncing and spelling his name" has protected him from many introductions to. bores, and many-letters from busyI"',.bodies. On-one occasion his surname i • was the cause of an' incident which , anyone not so shy would have enjoj-ed.. ['.'.■•-■ He had-found.it necessary to spell and ;..'.' pronounce the uncouth syllables to a |. -charming and impulsive young lady; t- When she had grasped them,'she ex- ;, claimed, "Oh, how I should like a i.';,''. name like that! Tvo always said I t ''' would marry a man with an uncommon '/ ;:; name I" •Scroughwricghe blushed, and ■.■.- . made a remark about politics. He has : :' never.- had such another chance. -'■-.-.-,', - : "What's in a name?" Say, rather, '':.'■ a name?.. Miss Sichel, '.:-; in her. just-published book, "Gathered .Leaves," quotes the following from .' ' Mary Coleridge :— ; '~-.: "Sho sings : me; songs of. the' , North, so'that every evening, about '.- • 9.30, I become a furious Jacobite, and meditate profoundly on the ad- .-■■■■' vantage it gives a cause if you can call it "Charlie," or:' 'The Grand Old Man,' or 'Joe. 1 I wish wo had :, a Christian name- for Free-trade. . : ' 'Wha wadna l.'die for '. Cobden? 1 ' seem to come off." L .Thus it" would seem that, after '. Carlyle has declared with irresistible rhetoric that great men make history; and Herbert Spencer has proved with irrefutable logic that they don't, a flash of woman's wit shows us that history is really made by names.