How many lasting prejudices, how many abiding errors are fixed in the mind by the inconsiderate threats of those who have the charge of youth! It is probable that many of the various defects, weaknesses and eccentricities of character,――those is some cases which are fatal to success in life,――are caused by the foolish and false modes of government to which we allude. We hardly know of a more unpardonable offence than for a person to endeavor to govern a child through fear of some fictitious evil. ―――― Names of Countries and Places. The following countries were named by the Phœnicians, the greatest commercial people of the ancient world. These names, in the Phœnician language, signify something characteristic of the place which they designated. _Europe_ signifies a country of white complexions, so named, because the inhabitants there were of a fairer complexion than those of Asia and Africa. _Asia_ signifies between, or in the middle, from the fact that the geographers placed it between Europe and Africa. _Africa_ signifies the land of corn ears; it was celebrated for its abundance of corn and all sorts of grain. _Lydia_ signifies thirsty or dry,――very characteristic of the country. _Spain_ signifies a country of rabbits or conies; this country was once so infested with these animals, that Augustus was besought to destroy them. _Italy_ means a country of pitch; and _Calabria_ has the same signification, for a similar reason. _Gaul_, modern France, signifies yellow-haired, as yellow hair characterized its first inhabitants. _Caledonia_ means a woody region. _Hibernia_ means last habitation; for, beyond this, westward, the Phœnicians never extended their voyages. _Britain_ signifies the country of tin, as there were great quantities of tin and lead found here and in the adjacent islands. The Greeks called it _Albion_, which signifies, in the Phœnician tongue, either white or high mountain, from the whiteness of its shores, or the high rocks on the western coast. _Corsica_ signifies a woody place, and _Sardinia_, the footstep of a man, which it resembles. _Rhodes_, means serpents or dragons, which it produced in abundance. _Sicily_ means the country of grapes; _Scylla_, the whirlpool, is destruction. _Syracuse_ signifies bad savor, so called from the unwholesome marsh upon which it stood. _Ætna_ signifies furnace, or smoke. ―――― Snuff-Taking.