KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



130 



good sense ; and the writer is evidently 

 actuated by much kindly feeling. He 

 says : — 



I did not adopt total abstinence owing to any 

 illness or tendency to disease, nor because liquor 

 was any considerable temptation to me. I had 

 always used it moderately. My sole object was a 

 desire to induce some whom I knew, by example, 

 to abandon an indulgence which was leading them 

 to ruin. And it seemed to me, that if I could 

 do without strong drink, other persons in ordinary 

 health might do the same. My constitution is 

 not robust ; on the contrary, I have from child- 

 hood been rather pale and thin. Therefore the 

 experiment of total abstinence seemed in me a 

 very fair one. I was an average subject. Many 

 of my friends even thought that I needed a little 

 wine ; dissuaded me from giving it up ; and 

 mourned over my unwise persistence. I myself 

 had the prejudice that it helped digestion. Well, 

 I tried the experiment — first for a month, then 

 for another month, till at length I learned to 

 laugh at the prejudices of myself and my friends ; 

 and in the consciousness of firm health and good 

 spirits, I have continued the practice to the pre- 

 sent day. 



Within fifteen years of life, one passes through 

 various circumstances, which would be likely to 

 try the merits of any regimen. But I have never 

 felt as if strong drink would help me in any of 

 those circumstances ; — certainly not in protracted 

 study. As certainly not in the prolonged and 

 exciting public meeting ; not in active business, 

 however pressing ; not in travelling, by night or 

 by day; not in pedestrian rambles on the moun- 

 tains of Cumberland or Wales ; not in the cold of 

 winter ; not in the heat of summer ; not in the 

 raw damp of intermediate seasons ; not in the 

 morning, not at noon, nor yet at night. Not in 

 anxiety and trouble ; not in joy and social inter- 

 course. I need it in none of these circumstances ; 

 it would do me mischief in many. It might 

 cloud my intellect, or excite my brain, or disorder 

 my stomach, or cause local inflammation more or 

 less serious. There are those who think that 

 beer is needful, whenever they feel 

 But surely nature 

 vides her own restorative at a much easier 

 cheaper rate. He who is tired should rest, 

 who is weary should sleep. He who is exhausted 

 should take wholesome food or innocent beverages. 

 He who is closely confined should take air and 

 exercise. I repeat that, in my own case, alcoholic 

 drinks are never necessary, and would never do 

 me good. 



I claim no merit for total abstinence — 1st, 

 because it is no privation. A total abstainer 

 does not care or think about liquor , at least after 

 the first few days or weeks, he forgets it. 2ndly, 

 because I am firmly convinced that a total ab- 

 stainer has more physical comfort, and even more 

 gratification for his palate, than he who takes 

 liquors. The digestive organs being generally in 

 a healthier state, he enjoys food and innocent 

 beverages with greater relish. If he loses the 

 pungency of strong drink, he also escapes its 

 painful consequences. 3rdly, because abstinence 

 from liquor is no mean saving of money, which 

 may be so much better applied. 4thly, because 



wine or 



fatigued or exhausted 



pro- 

 and 

 He 



it is a still more important saving of precious 

 time ; and 5thly, because it obviously keeps men 

 out of many dangers and temptations. There- 

 fore, in my judgment, enlightened self-interest — 

 nay, an enlightened regard for mere physical en- 

 joyment, might make a man give up strong 

 drink. 



These arguments are admirable ; and we 

 second them, joyfully. Only do away with 

 the humbug of " the pledge," and advocate 

 temperance ; then we are satisfied. But never 

 set aside the use of reason. If a man 

 possesses no self-control over his passions, no 

 pledge that he may take, however solemn, 

 will ever keep him honest. Teach him, 

 first, to love nature ; and show him how tem- 

 perate everything is— but himself. This will 

 set him " thinking." His reason convinced, 

 the battle is already three parts won. Then 

 let him listen to Charles Swain, and he will 

 need no further " pledge :" — 



Let the Sun be thy nectar ! 



Drink deep of its beams ; 

 Let the greensward of nature 



Thy banquet-hall be ! 

 Fill thy spirit with sunlight, — 



'Tis richer than streams 

 Of the wine-flowing goblet, 



And better for thee ! 



Let the Sun be thy nectar ; 



'Tis next to divine ! 

 Where's a vintage more golden 



To gladden thine eyes ? 

 What's the charm of the goblet, 



The grace of the vine, 

 Compared to a banquet 



Thus brought from the skies ? 



Oh ! air of the mountain ! 



Best wine of the world ! — 

 Enrich 'd with the sweetness 



Of nature alone, — 

 I drink of thy spirit, 



With sun-gems impearl'd; 

 And challenge Man's vintage 



To equal thine own ! 



THE THRUSH'S NEST. 



BY JOHN CLARE. 



Within a thick and spreading hawthorn bush, 



That overhangs a molehill large and round, 

 I hear from morn to morn a merry thrush 



Sing hymns to sunrise ; and I drink the sound 

 With joy ; and, often an intruding guest, 



I watch her secret toils from day to day. 

 How true she warped the moss, to form a nest, 



And modelled it within with wood and clay ! 

 And by and by, like heath-bells gilt with dew, 



There lay her shining eggs, as bright as flowers, 

 Ink-spotted over shells of greeny blue ! 



And there I witness in the sunny hours, 

 A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly, 

 Glad as that sunshine and the laughing sky ! 



