The hero of this narrative was born fully sixty years since, and happily before the rage for modern appellations, though he just escaped being named after another system which we cannot say we altogether admire; that of using a family, for a christian name.  This business of names is a sort of science in itself and we do believe that it is less understood and less attended to in this country than in almost all others.  When a Spaniard writes his name as Juan de Castro y[1] Munos, we know that his father belonged to the family of Castro and his mother to that of Munos.  The French, and Italian, and Russian woman, &c., writes on her card Madame this or that, born so and so; all which tells the whole history of her individuality Many French women, in signing their names, prefix those of their own family to those of their husbands, a sensible and simple usage that we are glad to see is beginning to obtain among ourselves.  The records on tomb-stones, too, might be made much more clear and useful than they now are, by stating distinctly who the party was, on both sides of the house, or by father and mother; and each married woman ought to be commemorated in some such fashion as this:  “Here lies Jane Smith, wife of John Jones,” &c., or, “Jane, daughter of Thomas Smith and wife of John Jones.”  We believe that, in some countries, a woman’s name is not properly considered to be changed by marriage, but she becomes a Mrs. only in connection with the name of her husband.  Thus Jane Smith becomes Mrs. John Jones, but not Mrs. Jane Jones.  It is on this idea we suppose that our ancestors the English—­every Englishman, as a matter of course, being every American’s ancestor—­thus it is, we suppose, therefore, that our ancestors, who pay so much more attention to such matters than we do ourselves, in their table of courtesy, call the wife of Lord John Russell, Lady John, and not Lady—­whatever her Christian name may happen to be.  We suppose, moreover, it is on this principle that Mrs. General This, Mrs. Dr. That, and Mrs. Senator T’other, are as inaccurate as they are notoriously vulgar.

     [Footnote 1:  Some few of our readers may require to be told that,
     in Spanish, y, pronounced as e, is the simple conjunction “and;”
     thus this name is de Castro and Munos.]

Mark Woolston came from a part of this great republic where the names are still as simple, unpretending, and as good Saxon English, as in the county of Kent itself.  He was born in the little town of Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.  This is a portion of the country that, Heaven be praised! still retains some of the good old-fashioned directness and simplicity.  Bucks is full of Jacks, and Bens, and Dicks, and we question if there is such a creature, of native growth, in all that region, as an Ithusy, or a Seneky, or a Dianthy, or an Antonizetty, or a Deidamy.[2] The Woolstons, in particular, were a plain family, and very unpretending in their external appearance, but