KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



185 



advertisements of steam-boats to Southend, 

 Ramsgate, and the wilderness of Heme Bay ; 

 also railway announcements of " Excursions" 

 to east, west, north, and south. Harrow-on- 

 the-Hill, Richmond, Watford, and how many 

 other lovely spots ? — all meet our eye in pro- 

 spective. Our stool reels, and we reel also. 

 This very instant, a gigantic greasy Italian 

 (near seven feet high), has unfurled his 

 appalling apparatus of agonising sounds, 

 which he is about to let loose with Her- 

 culean prowess under our very window. A 

 friend, "who has left his daughter in the 

 next street," has opportunely dropped in, 

 and decided us. We are off for the day; 

 and as our friend " has business to transact 

 which will occupy him some two hours," we 

 will, with his amiable daughter, take a de- 

 lightful stroll, till we can all re-assemble at 

 the " Euston Station," en route for Watford. 

 " The first time of asking " is quite suffi- 

 cient for us ! 



If there be one thing more grate- 

 ful than another to a public Journalist, 

 it is the pleasing knowledge he possesses of 

 his being welcomed all over the world. 

 " Masons" have their " signs," by which they 

 are known ; by which they obtain favor when 

 in distress. We are no " Masons," in the 

 proper signification of the word, — yet do we 

 largely participate in all the " exclusive pri- 

 vileges" of that body. Go where we will, 

 into what family we may — the name of Our 

 Journal, presented on a card, is an " Open 

 Sesame !" that makes us free of the house. 



The serious impediments thrown in our way 

 by those who ought to assist us, have been 

 the means of raising us up hosts of friends : 

 among these, " the three learned professions" 

 stand foremost. We do not use the word 

 li learned," with a view to argue therefrom 

 anything particularly important. We despise 

 the thought. We merely wish to indicate 

 the channels in which we are moving ; and to 

 show the powerful influence which is being 

 used in high quarters to prevent us from be- 

 ing wrecked. 



Sound, wholesome instruction, cheerfully 

 and playfully dispensed through the medium 

 of a Weekly Journal, is a desideratum which 

 we have labored hard to supply. No other 

 periodical extant, avowedly works out this 

 desideratum as we do. We have lived long 

 in the world, have mixed in the best society^ 

 know the ins and outs of everything and 

 everybody ; have made observations by the 

 way ; and noted them down for the benefit of 

 others. 



We have watched, with an eagle's eye, the 

 progress of education ; the follies of fashion ; 

 the manners of the world ; and the generally- 

 acknowledged " grand end of life." We have 

 looked for " the real," and found very little 



of it. We have looked for the superficial, 

 and found little else. Such, is life, — the life 

 Ave all daily lead ! 



Day by day we run our eye over the pub- 

 lic papers. We there see recorded the 

 names of many, well known to us, who have 

 for ever bade adieu to this world. Knowing 

 how they lived, and for what they lived-— 

 that " happiness" was their " aim," and never 

 attained unto, — we reflect thereon. We 

 ponder well upon what things are, and upon 

 what they ought to be. The former we 

 grieve over, the latter we strive to have an 

 active hand in. Society, as at present con- 

 stituted, is in an unsound state. It need not 

 remain so. 



We are induced to this train of thought, 

 by the many gratifying letters we continue 

 to receive from the heads of families, who 

 generously communicate to us the delight 

 with which the Journal is anticipated and 

 welcomed by their children, as well as by 

 themselves — u the time seeming so long till 

 it arrives !" We are exhorted to persevere 

 in our enterprise, with full purpose of heart ; 

 nothing doubting. We are, moreover, pro- 

 mised a co-operation which causes us to be 

 indeed glad. 



One of our kindly-disposed patrons — a 

 gentleman whom we have never seen — re- 

 marks, that "his aid is given willingly ; and 

 with the full conviction that in promoting 

 the circulation of such a publication as the 

 Journal, he is conferring a benefit, — not on 

 its proprietor, but upon every person whom 

 he can induce to become a subscriber." He 

 adds, " All good men will assuredly assist 

 you ; eventually, you must and will succeed ; 

 and your triumph will be enhanced by the 

 extent of unfair opposition that you have met 

 with from the very first." Such is our hope ; 

 such is our faith. 



One of our subscribers has gone at great 

 length into a careful examination of the 

 " Cheap Literature" of the day; and he has 

 indeed proved the great moral injury 

 that is inflicted week by week on the 

 minds of the million. They read, greedily, 

 what is cheap, and what is sensual. The 

 purveyors know this ; and accordingly, they 

 work upon the animal passions to an extent 

 that is alarmingly prejudicial to the vital 

 interests of society.* 



The great evil resulting from the " cheap 

 publications," is — the "power" they possess 

 for good or for evil. The pen in the hand of 



* It has afforded us real pleasure, from time to 

 time, to make little extracts from our "cheap" 

 contemporary The Family Herald. We feel in 

 duty bound to make a special exception in its 

 favor. Its aim is good ; and it studiously avoids 

 the evils of which we speak. This, seeing that 

 it has an enormous circulation (some 250,000, 

 we believe, weekly) deserves mention. 



