,JEZEBEL" AND " GUINEVERE."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTITOR."] SIR,—On reading your editorial note to my letter on the survival of Queen Guinevere's name, I at once thought of "Isabel" as compared with " Jezebel " as an illustration ; I should fancy, however, that the apparent connection of the words is purely accidental. At any rate, it does not bear upon the point I ventured to raise, for Jezebel was a bad woman up to her death, and one can hardly fancy that any Christian parents would be so cruel as to call a daughter after her intentionally. Queen Guinevere, as shown to us in Tennyson's wonderful "Idyll," is a very queen of penitents; and, just as " Eve " or "Magdalene" have become sweet names for girls in Christian homes, there should, I venture to think, be no prejudice against using the name of -one who, at the end of her life, so perfectly atoned for her tragic sin.
I may add that the name " Genefer," as formerly used in this parish, went out of use before the "Idylls" were pub- lished; and if used at all since would only have been chosen by people who would never have read or even beard of Tenny- son's poem. The traditional use of the name, however, does seem to show that when the story of Queen Guinevere was a local possession, her penitence, and "the power of ministra- tion in her," were accepted as reasons for giving her name to Christian children.—I am, Sir, Sze.,
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