Bonaparte and the Leg of Mutton.
Some forty years ago, we are told that in England, such was the horror generally entertained of Bonaparte, that he was not only the fear of statesmen, but the bug-bear of the nursery and the schoolroom. “If you do this,” said the schoolma’m, birch in hand, “I’ll send Bony after you;” and, “if you don’t do that, I’ll do the same thing.” Bony was, in fact, the great scare-crow,—and many a child grew up under the impression that he was a sort of secondary evil spirit.
We are told by an English writer, that, at a certain boarding school, upon one occasion, a leg of mutton was stolen, and, as almost every evil thing was laid to Bonaparte, the children immediately supposed that he must be the thief! The writer himself, then a child, fancied the emperor, with the mutton in his fist, running off with it, and taking enormous strides in his eagerness to escape.
How many lasting prejudices, how many abiding errors are fixed in the mind by the inconsiderate threats of those who have the charge of youth! It is probable that many of the various defects, weaknesses and eccentricities of character,—those is some cases which are fatal to success in life,—are caused by the foolish and false modes of government to which we allude. We hardly know of a more unpardonable offence than for a person to endeavor to govern a child through fear of some fictitious evil.
Names of Countries and Places.
The following countries were named by the Phœnicians, the greatest commercial people of the ancient world. These names, in the Phœnician language, signify something characteristic of the place which they designated. Europe signifies a country of white complexions, so named, because the inhabitants there were of a fairer complexion than those of Asia and Africa. Asia signifies between, or in the middle, from the fact that the geographers placed it between Europe and Africa. Africa signifies the land of corn ears; it was celebrated for its abundance of corn and all sorts of grain.
Lydia signifies thirsty or dry,—very characteristic of the country. Spain signifies a country of rabbits or conies; this country was once so infested with these animals, that Augustus was besought to destroy them. Italy means a country of pitch; and Calabria has the same signification, for a similar reason. Gaul, modern France, signifies yellow-haired, as yellow hair characterized its first inhabitants. Caledonia means a woody region. Hibernia means last habitation; for, beyond this, westward, the Phœnicians never extended their voyages.
Britain signifies the country of tin, as there were great quantities of tin and lead found here and in the adjacent islands. The Greeks called it Albion, which signifies, in the Phœnician tongue, either white or high mountain, from the whiteness of its shores, or the high rocks on the western coast. Corsica signifies a woody place, and Sardinia, the footstep of a man, which it resembles. Rhodes, means serpents or dragons, which it produced in abundance. Sicily means the country of grapes; Scylla, the whirlpool, is destruction. Syracuse signifies bad savor, so called from the unwholesome marsh upon which it stood. Ætna signifies furnace, or smoke.