The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-04
THAT MIDDLE LETTER.
Its Use, Though Not its Possession, Is an
American Peculiarly.

Its Use, Though Net its Possession, Is an
american Peculiarly.
(From the Hartford, Conn, Courant)
It is a device of many English novel
lists, introducing to their readers an
American character to label him with
a name like Uriah B. Huoklns, Horatio
u. Stubs, or some other fantastic in
vention but whatever the nature Of
the first and last names the initial be-
tween the two is supposed to indicate
the nationality. To an Englishman that
initial is the earmark of a Yankee.
An American baptized with certain
names uses all of them constantly all
his life There are still parts of New
England where this remains true even
in the form of address, and where one
may find Hannah Marias and Mary
Elizabeths ready to answer to their
double barreled applications. People in
general, always excepting Richard
Harding Davis, who is caviar to all
generals are usually satisfied to allow
an initial to represent the second
Christian name, but that initial must
always be on duty. John X. Smith Will
never be fouond signing his name
"Jchn Smith," although at times he
may unVen the mystery Of the K. and
sign his name in full. 1t is regarded as
SO much a matter of course in America
that people should have at least two
Christian names, that directory agents
and men of similar pursuits always ask
for the middle letter"
That wa should retain in Use ALL OH
Christian names, either in full OF
through the proxy of the unlovely
| initial, is the fact that surprises Eng
| lishmen. They have plenty Of names
! over there, but they do not work them
so hard The author of THE Cele
brity' calls himself Winston Churchill
but the Almanach de GOtha informs us
that he has other names held in reserve,
possibly for his next book. When an
Englisnman constantly makes use Of
three names the last two will usually
prove to be the family name, whether
| they are connected by q hyphen or not,
These double names most often 1ndl-
cate that at some period in the FANNY
history the bearer Of one of the names
was an heiress who married a man OF
a rank either equal to her own or below
it, the husband adding the Wife's sur
name TO mis- own. This has happened
in many great English families. The
family name of the Duke Of Newcastle
is Pelham Clinton: that of the Duke Of
Hamilton, Douglas Hamilton. Of the
Duke of Norfolk, the lineal descendant
of Hereward Fitz-aian-H0Ward. The
family name of the Duke Of Leeds is
Godolphin Osborne, an example Of the
double name written without the by
phen The addition of the testatOr' $
name to that of his heir is often eXacted
by will as a condition to inheritance. In
this country hyphenated names have
usually no excuse for being, and may
be supposed to have been assumed from
affectation.
Englishmen, however, regarding our
names from their own viewpoint, when
| they hear of an American who uses
chree Names have q tendency to con-
slider the last two as forming the pa
tronymic To an Englishman, Mrs.
Harriet Beecher Stowe is always Mrs.
| Beecher- Stowe, with or without the
hyphen Before her brother, Henry
Ward Beecher became well known in
England, he was called Mr.. Beecher-
Stowe, though once the London Times,
in a burst of enthusiastic accuracy
called him Mr.. Beecher- Ward.
The use, then, not the possession Of a
second Christian name is the American
popularity. Its representation by its
initial letter a monument to the unused
name, is partly due to example,
partly due to a desire to get through a
signature as quickly as possible. That
| middle letter" we have always with
us. II is not a thing of beauty-no abb
breviation is; fame fights shy of it.
This is recognized by cheap humorists
who, by writing William Q. Shakes
peare or George x. Washington, trust
to the evident incongruity to make their
readers smile; it is not necessary eX-
c5pt for differentiation, and that in but
few cases. One rarely hears a name
SPOKEN with the middle initial letter
We speak of John Brown, James
Smith" but we write and print John
I X. Brown, James f. Smith"
Many men have the full name of
some famous warrior or statesman pre-
fixed to their own patrOnymic. 1t takes
no wizard to divine what the letter f.
represents in the name of Benjamin f.
Butler; George VS. are as numerous
as cherry trees-indeed, sometimes boys
are saddled with the name of some well
known man who had been named after
some great predecessor-Georg w.
Chllds DreXel is one such. That makes
a pretty ponderous name for daily use,
however honorable it may be- Some
times, but rarely. an American drops
Sleu
one of his. Perhaps he thought that
writing himself 5. Grover Cleveland,
while possibly attractive to mugwumps
might lose him some real democratic
votes, SO instead of sticking to his name
and calling himself Stephen G. CIeve-
land he dropped the first name entire
~ Few We're the wiser and the effect
is certainly much better
People are beginning now more and
more to give their sons one family
name apiece, instead OF the usual two
Christian names. This plan insures va
riety in names and serves in recording
relationship. A name of that sort con-
tains great amount of individuality.
and does not need to be adorned with
.. lost and lonely initial standing
stranded in the middle of it.
She had been Gliding him, and began
~ l.. Z