KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



2G9 



wedged together like the oxen at Smithfield; this 

 and other matters, we could name, do not come 

 within our province, but if we can show that 

 many persons lose their lives by the bad ar- 

 rangement of our public conveyances in London, 

 our time will not have been unprofitably oc- 

 cupied. We need not inform medical readers, 

 that a certain number of people require a given 

 quantity of pure air, for proper respiration, and 

 that, according to the present size and ven- 

 tilation of the London omnibus, they cannot 

 obtain this. That if a person pre-dis- 

 posed to illness, breathe such an atmos- 

 phere, as he is frequently subjected to in one 

 of these carriages, he must soon be on a sick bed. 

 That an individual, during the prevalence of cho- 

 lera, or any other epidemic, Avhen the tendency 

 to disease, and the preservative powers of nature 

 are nicely balanced, need only get into an omni- 

 bus to turn the scale. If rheumatism should be 

 his bane, he may obtain draughts without a 

 doctor's prescription; or he may inhale the 

 vapors from bundles of dirty linen, reeking from 

 the bed of contagion. Let us now turn to 

 another evil respecting the public health, that 

 has been entirely overlooked. At the commence- 

 ment of the present year, we attended a very 

 beautiful woman, who fell a victim to that 

 former scourge of the human race, small-pox. A 

 few days before the eruption appeared, she was 

 on board a steam -boat at Southampton. The 

 man who gave the cheques, had his skin covered 

 with small-pox pustules. This lady believed 

 she had taken the disease, before it appeared, and 

 thought that it would prove fatal. But who can 

 get into a hired vehicle of any kind in London, 

 and feel sure that the lining is not saturated 

 with the miasms of small-pox, scarlatina, or 

 typhus? There can be no reason why the con- 

 veyances of London should not be as comfort- 

 able and as salubrious as those of Paris, We 

 would have vehicles in various districts, for the 

 express purpose of carrying those affected with 

 contagious diseases; and we would inflict a 

 severe penalty upon those, who, by infringing 

 this law, endanger the health of the commu- 

 nity." I think, Mr. Editor, you will agree with 

 me — that these matters are of weighty import. 

 They concern us one and all. — Philakthropos. 

 [We are greatly indebted to you for this com- 

 munication, and hope you will continue to aid us 

 in our endeavors to be useful.] 



THE EATAL GIFT. 



In the year — , about the end of October, 

 as 1 was returning on foot from Orleans to 

 the Chateau of Bardy, I beheld before me, 

 on the high road, a regiment of Swiss 

 Guards. I hastened forward to hear the 

 military music, of which I am extremely 

 fond ; but before I had overtaken the regi- 

 ment, the band had ceased playing ; and the 

 drum alone continued to mark the measured 

 footsteps of the soldiers. 



After marching for about half an hour, 

 the regiment entered a small plain, sur- 

 rounded by a wood of fir trees. I asked 



one of the captains, if the regiment was 

 going to perforin evolutions ? 



" No, Sir," he replied " we are going to 

 try, and probably to shoot, a soldier belong- 

 ing to my company, for having robbed the 

 citizen upon whom he was billeted." 



" What ! " I exclaimed, " is he to be tried, 

 condemned, and executed all in an instant? " 



" Yes," the captain replied ; " such are 

 the terms of our capitulations. 1 '* This to 

 him was an unanswerable reason ; as if all 

 things had been in the capitulations ; the 

 fault and its penalty, — -justice, and even 

 humanity. 



" If you have any curiosity to witness the 

 proceedings," said the captain, politely, " I 

 shall be happy to get you a place. They 

 will soon be over." 



I never avoid such scenes ; for I imagine 

 that I learn, from the countenance of a 

 dying man, what death is. I therefore fol- 

 lowed the captain. 



The regiment formed into square. Be- 

 hind the second rank, and on the borders 

 of the wood, some of the soldiers began to 

 dig a grave, under the command of a subal- 

 tern ; for regimental duty is always per- 

 formed with regularity, and a certain disci- 

 pline maintained, even in the digging of a 

 grave. 



In the centre of the square, eight officers 

 were seated on drums ; on their right, and 

 a little more in front, a ninth was writing 

 upon his knees, but with apparent negligence, 

 and simply to prevent a man from being put 

 to death without some legal forms. 



The accused was called forward. He was 

 a fine, well-grown young fellow, with mild, 

 yet noble features. By his side stood a 

 woman, who was the only witness against 

 him. The moment the colonel began to ex- 

 amine this woman, the prisoner interrupted 

 him : 



" It is useless, Colonel," he said, " I will 

 confess everything; I stole this woman's 

 handkerchief." 



The Colonel. You, Piter ! why you 

 passed for an honorable man, and a good 

 soldier. 



Piter. It is true, Colonel, that I have 

 always endeavored to satisfy my officers. 

 I did not steal for myself; it was for Marie. 



The Colonel. And who is this Marie? 



Piter. Why Marie who lives there 



in our own country near Arene- 



berg where the great apple-tree is 1 



shall, then, see her no more ! 



The Colonel. I do not understand you, 

 Piter ; explain yourself. 



* By the capitulations, are to be understood, 

 the treaties entered into between the Swiss Can- 

 tons and the foreign governments, under whom 

 their soldiers served. 



