The Crater : Vulcan's Peak; A Tale of the Pacific: Large Print

There is nothing in which American Liberty, not always as much restrained as itmight be, has manifested a more decided tendency to run riot, than in the use ofnames.

As for Christian names, the Heathen Mythology, the Bible, Ancient History,and all the classics, have long since been exhausted, and the organ of invention hasbeen at work with an exuberance of imagination that is really wonderful for such amatter-of-fact people.

Whence all the strange sounds have been derived whichhave thus been pressed into the service of this human nomenclature, it wouldpuzzle the most ingenious philologist to say.

The days of the Kates, and Dollys, andPattys, and Bettys, have passed away, and in their stead we hear of Lowinys, andOrchistrys, Philenys, Alminys, Cytherys, Sarahlettys, Amindys, Marindys, &c. &c. &c.All these last appellations terminate properly with an a, but this unfortunate vowel,when a final letter, being popularly pronounced like y, we have adapted our spellingto the sound, which produces a complete bathos to all these flights in taste.