KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



REAL CHARITY, 



"When thou hast done a good deed, do not show 

 It with thy finger, neither let it he 

 Profaned : else it will come hack unto thee 

 Like to a handled flower, where the glow 

 Of hue and sweetness of the perfume no 

 More dwells. Upon God's altar, with all the 

 First freshness on it, place it ; and then he 

 Will make its perfume everlasting, so 

 'Twill be a joy for aye. There are hut two 

 To whom it matters that thy deeds he known — 

 God and thyself. And if to these alone 

 They be so, then rejoice thereat ; for you 

 Thus know them to be good deeds, in the true 

 And sublime sense — true, like thy father's own ! 



Ellison. 



"tftnr SnoBl" ni ij]B fnMiL 



AS IT IS NOW SOME FIFTY-SIX WEEKS 



since we put forth a Prospectus of the 

 nature and objects of this Paper, it may be 

 as well, for the benefit of new readers, briefly 

 to re-state them. 



Let it be borne in mind then, imprimis, 

 that OUR Journal is a Journal of Nature. 

 We avowedly eschew all that is artificial ; 

 we lay bare the wretched hypocrisy that so 

 universally prevails in society ; and we call 

 all things by their proper names. We regard 

 life, not as a mere puppet to be played with 

 as -we will, but as a " reality" — involving 

 considerations of the deepest interest here 

 and hereafter. Thus viewed, it possesses a 

 new interest altogether. 



We are a grovelling nation, for the most 

 part. Our lives are sacrificed in the vain 

 pursuit of wealth. It is the only God that 

 we " worship." When we get it, it hardens 

 our heart ; and whilst we seek it, we neglect 

 most of the kind offices of life. "In the 

 midst of life we are in death," and know it 

 not. Neither care we for it. Here is a 

 daguerreotyped picture of humanity ! True 

 to the letter, nevertheless. Well might 

 Wordsworth say : — 



The world is too much with us ! Late and soon, 

 Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. 

 Little we see in Nature that is ours, — 

 We have giv'n our hearts away, a sordid boon 1 



Whatever progress we may make in the 

 mechanical arts, it is quite clear that, in 

 these matters, we remain totally unchanged. 

 Nay, we retrograde. Let us reform this 

 altogether ! 



We seek to unite, and make of one mind, 

 all who have hitherto prided themselves on 

 rigid exclusiveness. We want to establish 

 the fact, that we are, or rather ought to be, 

 to a certain extent, all of one family, — con- 

 nected by one object ; and that object, love to 

 God and to each other. We . labor hard to 

 make people what they " seem to be," but 



are not ; to show them that happiness does 

 not consist in selfishness ; and that true charity, 

 if sought after, can readily be found. W e 

 want to crush false pride wherever it inhabits, 

 and to cement a bond of brotherly and sisterly 

 love between those who now see no beauty 

 in such a union. We want to establish 

 common honesty among us ; a reign of 

 kindness instead of a reign of terror. We 

 desire to do away with a mass of the cool 

 calculation that now exists amongst us as to 

 " what we can get" by doing offices of so- 

 called kindness. In fact, we want to re- 

 generate the human heart. 



Should it be urged that this is an im- 

 possibility, — we admit that it is so, to a 

 certain extent. Yet have we evidence in 

 our possession, that we have not labored in 

 vain touching this matter. For twelve 

 months has our pen been unceasingly occu- 

 pied in the endeavor to accompli-h what 

 we now profess to be our aim. During that 

 period, our correspondence from all parts of 

 the world has been immense, — more par- 

 ticularly during the latter quarter of the 

 past year. 



Among this correspondence are letters, 

 whose value we can never sufficiently ap- 

 preciate. Entering fully into our views, and 

 fathoming our heart, the writers of these 

 letters have not hesitated to tell us the large 

 amount of good we have already done, in 

 certain quarters ; and they urge us to per- 

 severe with increased energy in " the noble 

 work we have undertaken." This it is that 

 has kept us so unflinchingly to our self-im- 

 posed task ; and that has induced us not to 

 give up all as lost, without a further effort. 



We have found out, that there is many a 

 heart seeking, — aye, pining, for feelings in 

 unison with its own ; but which, for lack of 

 opportunity, it has never been able to fall in 

 with. These hearts — not a few, have sought 

 and found a resting place, a harbour of 

 refuge, in our heart. There they have lived — 

 do live, and will live, whilst we are an in- 

 habitant of this lower w T orld. This is one of 

 the " rewards" we claim for our labor of 

 love. 



The other main objects of our Journal 

 are — harmless amusement, blended with solid 

 popular instruction; and an inter-communi- 

 cation of ideas between ourselves and the 

 Public, connected with Natural History and 

 matters of every-day life. 



This renders our Miscellany an amusing 

 one for the time being ; and stamps a lasting 

 value on it as a work of reference on Natural 

 History, and Things in General. 



Our two First Volumes are still in print ; 

 and we are well contented to let them speak 

 for us in the absence of a longer prospectus. 

 " Deeds, not words," is our motto ; and it is 

 one which is now very generally received. 



