The age-herald., 1898-12-16
Mrs. Taliafsrro Lectures
 Before the Wom9n's Club

Mrs. E. T. Taliaferro, the principal or the Pollock-Stephens Institute, was invited 10 address the Woman's club yesterday alter noon. The lecture was made under the aus pices of the department of philosophy, science and literature of which Mrs. L Cro- zier French is director, and was most de- uphtful and interesting talk Mrs. 1aila- ferro is one of the most prominent mem bers of the Woman's club and one Of the most brilliant of Alabama women. She sooxe yesterday in a thoroughly informal way, Illustrating her lecture by diagrams.
 Mrs. Taliaferros subject was "Folk-lore." She began by saying that folklore is the history of people in their own words, hls- tory not meant for history-hstory as illus trated by legends, tales and songs of peo- pie, which for ages existed without the aid of written language. She emphasized that folklore, together with the sciences of archaeology, ethnology and phiology. is the foundation of all history and literature, and that the very origin of people may be intei- ligently traced through folklore. Before the invention of letters, Mrs. Taliaferro said man naturally sought to express his l.eas by other means than spoken language. Pictures, of course, first presented them- selves to his mind. These rude pictures We call hyerogliphs. The first hyerogiyph was what is known to the cult as "Swastika," word taken from the Sanskrit and used In all languages by folk-lorists. The origin of this symbol was traced to the discovery of fire. From the rapid whirl of two dry sticks, producing a spark, from which blaze was ignited, was elaborated the fire sticks, which were especially selected Tor lAis work, and so bent and arranged as to whirl rapidly and regularly, giving out the spark in the shortest possible time. These instruments placed in position became the emblem to the primitive man of the one blessed and true God, and was symbolical of blessed good or holy. The swastika is found among the prehistoric remains or every people on whom the sun has ever shown Mrs Taliaferro explained that every formal design in drawing made up Of either straight or curved lines my be traced to this. She dwelt upon the interesting re- searches that have revealed beyond doubt the use of this symbol. It has been found in old Babylon, in Ninevah, in Egypt, among the remains of barbarous tribes. in the relics of the Aztecs and mound-builders in America. It is found on the graves of the persecuted Christians, and just outside the catacombs on the funeral urns of their Roman prosecutors.
 The French explorer, Dr. Le Plongeon, as- serts that from Central America this sym bo was transported to the east. thus from all parts of the world does archaeology con- firm folke-lore.
 Mrs. Taliaferro spoke of the early sacred history being handed down in legendary form for about 5000 years before Moses wrote the Book of Genesis.
 All Asiatic, European, African and Ameri- can people have in their folklore in promi- nent form legends of the serpent as the enemy of mankind of a power that should finally arise and destroy the serpent.
 The field of secular history was also spoken of as giving undeniable evidence of folklore.
 Tt is curious" continued Mrs. Taliaferro, Ito think of the African mother, who knows nothing beyond her own tribe, hush ing her little ones to sleep with the same tales that our "black mammies'' told over
 our cradles, and the Chinese working wo- man grooming the same nursery lore that the French and German peasants teach their children to prattle.
 Mrs. Taliaferro said that the uneducated class in East Tennessee and southwest l Virginia have a peculiar form of speech which we call dialect, yet many of eSeir word forms are good middle English, crys- tali ed so to speak, thus telling the his- tor of these people. They use Init" for it, Journ'' for yours, "hern' for hers, etc. IT SC words are not corruptions, but old word forms-forms used by Chancer and Wiclif and they show plainly that these people came to this country speaking middle English. The settlers of the mountain dis tricts were provincials in England and spoke provincial English, were uneducated and unprogressive, then clung to their early speech, and brought it to the new country with them, although at this time | modern English obtained among the edu-
 cated class in England
 Mrs. Taliaferro called attention to some assertions which are branded as "Ameri- canisms" by the English and by Anglo- maniacs
 Americans are frequently criticised by these-for instance, for the use of the word ''well' an interjection, but this is fre- quently done by Shakespeare. The same IS
 true of stage" used as verb, and
 square" meaning honest. So 1t may be re-