d from proceeding, merely by the
roughness and asperity of the old Roman names, such as _Decius Mus_;
_Lucumo_; _Vibius Caudex_. The same thing has happened to a friend who
began an Epic on the subject of _Drake's_ discoveries; the name of the
hero often will produce a ludicrous effect, but one of the most unlucky
of his chief heroes must be _Thomas Doughty_! One of Blackmore's chief
heroes in his Alfred is named _Gunter_; a printer's erratum might have
been fatal to all his heroism; as it is, he makes a sorry appearance.
Metastasio found himself in the same situation. In one of his letters he
writes, "The title of my new opera is _Il Re Pastor_. The chief incident
is the restitution of the kingdom of Sidon to the lawful heir: a prince
with such a _hypochondriac name_, that he would have disgraced the
title-page of any piece; who would have been able to bear an opera
entitled _L'Abdolonimo_? I have contrived to name him as seldom as
possible." So true is it, as the caustic Boileau exclaims of an epic
poet of his days, who had shown some dexterity in cacophony, when he
chose his hero--

O le plaisant projet d'un poete ignorant,
Qui de tant de heros va choisir _Childebrand_!
D'un seul nom quelquefois le son dur et bizarre
Bend un poeme entier, ou burlesque ou barbare.
_Art Poetique_, c. iii. v. 241.

In such a crowd the Poet were to blame
To choose _King Chilperic_ for his hero's name.
SIR W. SOAMES.

This epic poet perceiving the town joined in the severe raillery of the
poet, published a long defence of his hero's name; but the town was
inexorable, and the epic poet afterwards changed _Childebrand's_ name
to _Charles Martel_, which probably was discovered to have something
more humane. Corneille's _Pertharite_ was an unsuccessful tragedy, and
Voltaire deduces its ill fortune partly from its barbarous _names_, such
as _Garibald_ and _Edvidge_. Voltaire, in giving the _names_ of the
founders of Helvetic freedom, says, the difficulty of pronouncing these
respectable names is injurious to their celebrity; they are _Melchthal_,
_Stawffarcher_, and _Valtherfurst_.

We almost hesitate to credit what we know to be true, that the _length_
or the _shortness_ of a _name_ can seriously influence the mind. But
history records many facts of this nature. Some nations have long
cherished a feeling that there is a certain elevation or abaseme