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IvIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



lavished, by thousands, on the most unlawful 

 of possessions — therefore is money bad. In 

 its place, wine is good — excellent. We 

 have spoken of it in a former number of our 

 Journal. Beer too, is good ; many people 

 cannot live without it.* spirits, likewise, 

 taken medicinally, are equally good. If we 

 are asked — do we individually indulge in these 

 things? we say '"no;"' simply because we 

 know we are better without them. There 

 are times, when one or two glasses of wine 

 are perfect cordials to our stomach ; times 

 too, when rambling in the country, that a 

 glass of genuine home-brewed ale is quite a ; 

 luxury to us ; and other times, when a glass 

 of diluted spirits are equally acceptable and 

 wholesome. We do not drink to excess : 

 nor do we ever eat to excess. And, if we 

 speak truth, we believe 20s. would abun- 

 dantly pay for all the wine, ale. and spirits 

 that we annually consume. But this is not , 

 the question. 



We say. let a man by all means abstain 

 from taking any and everything that he 

 thinks objectionable ; but don't let him 



* It would seem, that beer possesses wonderful 

 excellencies. Madame Pasta, the great singer, 

 was passionately fond of " half and half," and ; 

 Madame Mali bran yearned earnestly for porter. 

 Of the latter, Bunn. the theatrical manager, tells 

 us an apposite anecdote. It seems (for he was 

 a savage brute) that he had quarrelled with the 

 Prima Donna in the morning : — ; * I went into 

 her dressing-room previous to the commencement 

 of the third act of the Maid of Ariois, to ask 

 how she felt — and she replied ' Very tire 1, but ' 

 (and here her eye of fire suddenly lighted up) 



1 you angry d 1, if you will contrive to get me 



a pint of porter in the desert scene, you shall 

 have an encore to yoxafaiaU ; .' Had I been deal- 

 ing with any other performer, I should perhaps 

 have hesitated in complying with a request that 

 might have been dangerous in its application at 

 the moment ; but to check her powers were to 

 annihilate them. I therefore arranged that. 

 behind the pile of drifted sand on which she falls 

 in a state of exhaustion, towards the close of the 

 desert scene, a small aperture should be made 

 in the stage, and it is a fact that, from under- 

 neath the stage, through that aperture, a peufter 

 pint of porter was conveyed to the parched lips 

 of this rare child of song ; which so revived her. 

 after the terrible exertion the scene led to, that 

 she electrified the audience, and had strength to 

 repeat the charm, with the finale to the Maid of 

 Artois. Idie novelty of the circumstance so 

 tickled her fancy, and the draught itself wag so 

 extremely refreshing, that it was arranged, during 

 the subsequent run of the opera, for the negro 

 slave, at the head of the governor's procession, to 

 have in the gourd suspended to his neck the same 

 quantity of the same beverage, to be applied to 

 her lips, on his first leholding the apparently 

 dying Isoline." — We imagine thai ''total absti- 

 nence," in cases of physical exhaustion, goes but 

 a very little way. — Ed. K. J. 



u pledge " himself not to do it, or sign any 

 promise. We consider it morally wrong to 

 do it : for we must all know how irreligiously 

 such a pledge is kept. Nay. we see how it 

 is broken daily. The pledge encourages 

 hypocrisy : therefore Lb it that we turn our 

 back upon it. All things are good in their 

 places, and were sent for our use. It is 

 the abuse of them that works so much moral 

 evil.* 



No person who reads Our Journal, can 

 have failed to recognise our principle of 

 action. We detest excess in anything, and 

 contend for the men* sana in corpore sano — 

 a sound mind in a healthy body. Nor is 

 ours a mere theory ; we practice what we 

 preach to the very letter. Water is our 

 favorite ; almost our only drink — and it 

 agrees with us so well, that we want no 

 other. Of water, we think as favorably 

 as did that old veteran, Dr. Cheyne. 

 ■• Water," says he, " was the primitive 

 original beverage, as it is the only simple 

 fluid for diluting, moistening, and cooling — 

 the ends of drink appointed by nature. And 

 happy had it been for the race of mankind, 

 if other mixed and artificial liquors had been 

 never invented. It has been an agreeable 

 appearance to me, to observe with what 

 freshness and vigor those who, though 

 eating freely of flesb meat, yet drink nothing 

 but this element, have lived in health and 

 cheerfulness to a great age." — Still, we 

 '• pledge " ourself to nothing. Good sense 

 always decides us ; and whatever we know 

 does not agree with us. that we avoid, either 

 in meats or drinks. Why cannot others do 

 the same ? Do not even beasts, wild and 

 tame, know when they have had sufficient ? 

 And do they not avoid all that is foreign to 

 their stomachs ? assuredly they do. 



It happens, unfortunately for the advocates 

 of total abstinence, that we reside in the 

 immediate thoroughfare leading to Hampton 

 Court. The number of "total abstinence 

 professors " who pass our house in vans. 

 during the summer season, is immense. It 

 is curious to observe how quiet they are. 

 and how orderly on their way down — singing 

 hvmns. ccc. How much more curious it is 

 to see. or rather hear them on their return — 

 the pledge broken, their throats full of 

 ribaldrv, and their stomachs full of " the 

 enemy." Alas ! poor human nature ! 



But let us not slight the little pamphlet 

 of Mr. Edward Baines. It contains some 



* The cause of 

 the publication of 

 certain ignorant ,: 

 to us recently, has 

 lenge any man w 

 ardent spirits, and 

 the traffic, to sho.." 

 guilt of murder !— 



temperance is sadly injure'! by 

 many abusive tra: by 



be agues." One of them, sent 

 this passage in it ' — " I chal- 

 ho understands the nature of 

 yet continues to be engaged in 

 that he is not involved in the 

 -Ed. K. J. 



