BUONAPARTE, AND NAPOLEON.

Among the many fabulous tales that have been published respecting the origin of the name of Bonaparte, there is one which, from its ingeniousness and romantic character, seems deserving of notice. It is said that the "Man in the Iron Mask" was no other than the twin (and elder) brother of Louis XIV.; that his keeper's name was Bonpart; that that keeper had a daughter, with whom the Man in the Mask fell in love, and to whom he was privately married; that their children received their mother's name, and were secretly conveyed to Corsica, where the name was converted into Bonaparte or Buonaparte; and that one of those children was the ancestor of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was thus entitled to be recognised not only as of French origin, but as the direct descendant of the rightful heir to the throne of France.

The Bonapartes are said to have adopted the name of Napoleon from Napoleon des Ursins, a distinguished character in Ítalian story, with one of whose descendants they became connected by marriage; and the first of the family to whom it was given was a brother of Joseph Bonaparte, the grandfather of Napoleon I. Many are the jeux de mots that have been made on this name; but the following, which occurs in Littérature Française Contemporaine, vol. ii. p. 266, is perhaps the most remarkable.

The word Napoleon, being written in Greek characters, will form seven different words, by dropping the first letter of each in succession, namely, Ναπολέων, Απολέων, Ρολέων, Ολέων, Λέων, Εων, Ων. These words make a complete sentence, and are thus translated into French: "Napoléon, étant le lion des peuples, allait détruisant les cités."-Notes and Queries, vol. vii.

THE ST. ALBAN'S FAMILY.

The first ancestor of the St. Alban's family was the eldest son of king Charles II. by Mrs. Eleanor Gwyn, better recollected under the familiar appellation of Nell Gwyn. He was first created Earl of Burford by his royal sire, and afterwards Duke of St. Alban's, and Grand Falconer of England.

DUKE OF LEEDS.

The ancestor, who laid the foundation of this noble family, was a young man named Osborne, who served his apprenticeship to Sir William Hewit, lord mayor of London in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Sir William lived on London Bridge, was a pinmaker, and his daughter, during Edward Osborne's apprenticeship, accidentally fell from her father's window into the Thames, and

Osborne plunged after the young lady, and saved her life at the risk of his own. This act much added to the favourable opinion which the master had for the apprentice, and as soon as the latter had served his time, Sir William Hewit said to him, "Osborne, you are a deserving youth, and have faithfully served me for seven years. I am under considerable obligations to you; you have saved the life of my only daughter at the peril of your own. You have therefore the best claim to her; she is at your service if you choose to accept her in marriage, and the most considerable part of what I am possessed of shall hereafter be yours." Osborne gladly accepted the generous offer, and the eldest son of that marriage was Hewit Osborne, who was knighted by the Earl of Essex, under whom he served in Ireland, for his services in the field. The family soon after became ennobled. Thomas Osborne, the first duke of Leeds, was prouder of the circumstance of his ancestor having acquired wealth and station by his honesty and intrepid spirit, than he was of any of the subsequent services of the family, and once related the circumstance with conscious pride to Charles II.

WELLINGTON, OR WELLESLEY FAMILY.

The family of Wellesley, formerly Wesley, assumed their name from Wells-Leigh, a hamlet near Wells. The Duke of Wellington of Wellington, in the county of Somerset, is Baron Douro of Wells-Leigh; and the Marquess Wellesley sits as an English peer, as Baron Wellesley of "Wells-Leigh, in the county of Somerset." The late Duke selected the title of Wellington because that town is near the little village of Wensley, which bears a close resemblance in its name to that of Wesley, the old family name, since altered to Wellesley.

ORIGIN OF VARIOUS NOBLE FAMILIES.

The Marquis Cornwallis is lineally descended from Thomas Cornwallis, merchant, who was sheriff of London, 1378.

The house of Wentworth was founded by S. W. Fitzwilliam, who was an alderman of London, and sheriff in 1506; he was a retainer of Cardinal Wolsey, and knighted by Henry VIII. for his attachment to that prelate in misfortune. He built the greater part of the present church of Undershaft.

The Earl of Coventry is descended from John Coventry, mercer and lord mayor in the year 1425; he was one of the executors of the celebrated Whittington.

Laurence de Bouveries married the daughter of å silk-mercer at Frankfort on the Maine, and, settling in England, laid the foundation of the house of Radnor.

The ancestor of the Earl of Essex was Sir William Capel, lord mayor of London in 1503.

The ancestor of the Earl of Dartmouth, Thomas Legge, or Legget, a skinner, was twice lord mayor, in 1347 and 1354, and lent, King Edward III. no less a sum than £300 for his French

war.

Sir William Craven, merchant tailor and lord mayor of London, was ancestor to the present Earl Craven,

The Earl of Warwick is lineally descended from William Greville, a citizen of London, and "flower of the woolstaplers." Thomas Bennet, mercer, sheriff in 1594, and lord mayor of London 1603, laid the foundation of the fortunes of the Earls of Tankerville, who are lineally descended from him.

The ancestor of the Earls of Pomfret was Richard Fermour, who, having amassed a splendid fortune as a citizen in Calais, came to England, and suffered attaint under Henry VIII., and did not recover his property till the 4th of Edward VI.

The Earl of Darnley owes the first elevation of his family to John Bligh, a London citizen, who was employed as agent to the speculations in the Irish estates forfeited in the rebellion in 1641.

John Cowper, an alderman of Bridge Ward, and sheriff in 1551, was ancestor of Earl Cowper.

The Earl of Romney is descended from Thomas Marsham, alderman, who died 1624.

Lord Dacres' ancestor, Sir Robert Dacres, was banker to Charles I., and although he lost £80,000 by that monarch, left a princely fortune to his descendants.

Lord Dormer is descended from Sir Michael Dormer, lord mayor in 1541.

Viscount Dudley and Ward's ancestor was William Ward, a goldsmith in London, and jeweller to the consort of Charles I.

Sir Rowland Hill, who was lord mayor in the reign of Edward VI., was ancestor of Lord Berwick, Lord Hill, and all the Hills in Shropshire!"

LITERAL SIGNIFICATION/OF THE PRINCIPAL MALE AND FEMALE

CHRISTIAN NAMES;

WITH THE LANGUAGES FROM WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED.

Aaron, Hebrew, a mountain

Abel, Heb. vanity

Abraham, Heb. father of many
Absalom, Heb. father's peace

Achilles, Greek, a freer from pain
Adam, Heb. red earth

Adolphus, Saxon, happiness and
help

Adrian, Latin, helper
Alfege, Sax. always merry

Alan, British, swift like a greyhound
Albert, Sax. all bright
Aldred, Sax. dread of all

Alexander, Gr. a helper of men
Alfred, Sax. all peace

Alfric, German, all rich

Alphonso, Gothic, our help

Alwin, Sax. winning all
Ambrose, Gr. immortal

Amos, Heb. a burden

Andrew, Gr. courageous

Andronicus, Gr. a conqueror of men
Anselm, Ger. a defender

Anthony, Lat. flourishing

Apelles, Gr. not black at all
Archibald, Ger. a bold observer

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