A closer scrutiny, however, soon dispels the illusion; and a comparison
of this with similar inscriptions on the old oak beams of the roof, soon
determines it to be nothing more than a rude, or somewhat defaced,
attempt to exhibit the sacred monogram "I.H.S."

J.W.
Burnley, April 27. 1850.


_American Aborigines called Indians_ (No. 16. p. 254.).--I believe the
reason is that the continent in which they live passed under the name of
_India_, with the whole of the New World discovered at the close of the
fifteenth century. It is, of course, unnecessary to dwell upon the fact
of Columbus believing he had discovered a new route to India by sailing
due west; or upon the acquiescence of the whole world in that idea, the
effects of which have not yet passed away; for we not only hear in
Seville, even now, of the "India House" meaning house of management of
affairs for the "New World," but we even retain ourselves the name of
the West Indies, given as unwarrantably to the islands of the Caribbean
Sea. It is needless to do more than allude to this, and to other
misnomers still prevalent, notwithstanding the fact of the notions or
ideas under which the names were originally given having long since been
exploded; such as the "four quarters of the globe," the "four elements,"
&c. If your correspondent searches for the solution of his difficulty on
different grounds from those I have mentioned, it would not satisfy him
to be more diffuse; and if the whole reason be that which I conceive,
quite enough has been said upon the subject.

G.W.
89. Hamilton Terrace, St. John's Wood.