THE BABY'S BURDEN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 109, 31 January 1908, Page 3

THE BABY'S BURDEN.

Some parents do not realise their responsibility: toward, their children.. .At no time is. this carelessness moro- manifest than at the period when .the. child is formally • in'"vestw with the liame which he will-carry to ( . his grave—if one of earth's chosen, long after the grave has . taken hini. • His-pa-tronymic comes-as an accident; no child's father can. guard against an absurd or trilling surname. But his Christian, name is a thing as peculiarly his ..own as are his bones, and 'Ms. but fair that, those who choose it for ..shall choose carefully and fittingly, not' ~:..the mere whim of the moment. i\o girla.ever mado such a fearful mistake as Juliet,who declared that a rose by any other name would smell as si'eet, and asked Romeo whether his -name were a part of him. Suppose tho. roso had been called a "plog," would Juliet have troubled .to test its odour? Supposo Romeo to havo been named "Ginger,''would sho havo loved liira? Supposo her own sweet self to have been known as Sal—tlie play itself,... the lo.velipst talo of young passion ever giveii'to 'tlid'world, could never havo been written.'' Thero is a .fitness .and beauty and sentiment in names,'and ho who has a'fine name, hallowed -by noblo associations, has a slightly better chance of fineness and nobility, than ho who shares his title with tho clowns or criminals of histbry, since he lias something to keep untarnished and apart. Dante Gabriel Rossetti declared firmly that his name had inspired his art, and ono can readily believe it., v

It is told of Robert Louis Stevenson that one morning, as ho lay in bed reading, a friencl called. He tossed the book across to his caller. "Have you ever read any of this chap, A- ?" ho asked. "A-new man —out oi India. He's a 'rip-snorter'! But then—anyono could write with a namo liko that. Listen! R-rud-yard Kip-ling!" He rolled tho name lovingly in his mouth, and proceeded to lecture upon tho importanco of names. And no man was better qualified to draw the distinction between . mero everchanging matter and the imperishable adornment thereof which .we call a-name. The records of the Registrar-General show a variety that is well-nigh: inconceivable in this matter of names. Ono broad axiom is that whenever any ..- epoch-making event occurs, ono will find in tho year's index a few (in some cases a good many) unfortunate children whoso, pareiits havo got out of tho usual difficulty in a barbarous manner. One poor child, as a result of. the departure of tho Yictorian contingent for thc'South African war, staggers under tho proud title of "Noble Victoria's Champions." That any parent could bo so lacking in a senso of humour is difficult to believe, but there.it is in the archives of the State. Tho Boer war was responsible for a great deal of this kind of this peculiar nomenclature, several "Mafekings" and "Kimberleys," as well a*. innumerable "Baden-Powells," "Kitcheners," and < "Kandahars" being invested with names whicii will conduco in after years to somo hard thinking upon the subject of the honour duo to olio's parents. Ono child was named "Kruger," obviously by an ardent pro-Boer. In this class of names political fervour, is represented by such titles as "Referendum," "Federation," and "Bent." Ono baby is solemnly set down as "Royal .George." Amongst tho girls, "Ena" is at a discount just now; two years ago "Elsie May" was fashionable. May is still far commoner than Mary. One namo noted was "Amy Castles Barton." Frequently the difficulty of finding a really exclusive namo leads to coining. Wo havo such names as "Linous," "Loveina," "Araben," "Peachey.". Racehorses are tho inspiration of other parents, "Acrasia," "iNewhaven," "Autinous," and others-well-known thoroughbreds being well represented in tho pathetic record of the.30,000 souls which yearly como into being. Alliteration is a common device, "Bertha Bella Boleyn" being a stroke of genius, and "Celia Christina Carboys" being: another. Tho latter has another "C" beginning tho surname. Tho "ina" names aro commoner than ono would imagine, "Alexandrina Marceleno Victo/ina" being an elegant example. On tho other hand, some parents are content to allow their 6ft. sons to attain their Oft. under the simple name of "Baby." And whilo upon B, "Bridget" is no longer fashionable —ono names the infant "Bride" now. Then there are the long names. "William Leonard Young Dutton Gray Raymond Barclay" and "Jack Fred James William Horace AYoodworth Watson" aro twins. Ono man has 10 children. Thcso 10 boast 65 names amongst them, principally from tho Old Testament, and mixed judiciously with such names as VKnox," "Cranmer," and "Latimer." The fine ring of tho names of the great dead drives out this record of folly and vanity from the mind; They come crowding in upon this small people's pretentious and absurd and vastly tragic little bids for identity. Ludwig Yon Beethoven, liko tho opening of his Second Symphony; Sebastian Bach precise as his ' counterpoint; Percy Byssho Shelley, psychic titlo of tho soul's singer; John Milton, Ilach's compcor in nobility; and William Shakespeare, a name "terriblo as an army with banners." "What's in a name?" Why, the whole record, and littleness, and "reatness, and beauty, and tragedy of mankind,-t-hen. —"Tho Argus," Melbourne.

There is a possibility that Mmo. Judith Gauthier, tho authoress, and daughter of Thcophile Gauthier, the great French poot, will he elected to tho Academic. In this case she will ho tho first woman to occupy a placo among the forty Immortals,