[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPEOTATOR.1
SIR,—Will you permit me to reply to the inquiry of your correspondent, E. D. Stone, " Was there ever an Englishman who named his son ' George' before the Hanoverian succes- sion ?" Let me indicate the well-known names in the pre- ceding century of George Jeffreys, the Chancellor, and George Fox, the Quaker ; George Monk, who restored good King Charles II.; two Georges, Dukes of Buckingham, father and son ; George Abbott, Archbishop of Canterbury 1610 ; George Montague of London, 1621; and to go further back in history, George Day, Bishop of Chichester 1543, and George Neville, Archbishop of York 1464, who was contem- porary with George, Duke of Clarence. These are only a few instances among names of note, but there must have neces- sarily been thousands among obscure individual; Omnes quiu carent vale sacre. No one believes the encounter with the dragon to be a literal fact, the represen- tation being merely symbolical, to display the saint's victory over the principle of evil. The common expression, "By George," is doubtless a survival of the honour formerly paid
to our patron, as we do not hear similar invocations of other Christian names. You will no doubt receive many replies to your correspondent's query from other quarters, but I trust you may find these few lines worthy of insertion.—I am, Sir,
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